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# Possible astrophysical signatures of heavy stable neutral relics in supergravity models

## I Introduction

Solving gauge hierarchy problem via hidden sector supersymmetry breaking at a high scale due to non-perturbative dynamics which is then mediated to the visible sector through gravity leads to a phenomenologically successful prediction where sfermions and gauginos get a mass of order electroweak scale . In addition, the superpartner of a graviton, the gravitino, also gets a mass of order $`1`$ TeV from super-Higgs mechanism . Although the gravitino interactions with matter are suppressed by the Planck scale, they can be generated in a thermal bath from scattering of gauge and gaugino quanta with an abundance given by ***Recently, non-thermal production of helicity $`\pm 3/2`$ gravitino , and helicity $`\pm 1/2`$ gravitino  from time varying inflaton oscillations have been considered. Helicity $`\pm 1/2`$ gravitino for a single chiral multiplet is the superpartner of the inflaton known as inflatino. The decay channels of inflatino have been discussed in Ref. . Also, it has been suggested , and explicitly shown  that in realistic models with several chiral multiplets helicity $`\pm 1/2`$ gravitino production is not a problem, so long as the inflationary scale is sufficiently higher than the scale of supersymmtery breaking in the hidden sector and the two sectors are gravitationally coupled.

$$\frac{n_{3/2}}{s}10^{11}\frac{T_\mathrm{R}}{10^{11}},$$
(1)
where $`s`$ defines the entropy density and $`T_R`$ denotes the reheating temperature of the Universe in units of GeV. The gravitinos can then be a source of potential trouble if they decay very late. The decay rate of gravitino into gaugino and gauge, or, sfermion and fermion quanta goes as $`\mathrm{\Gamma }m_{3/2}^3/M_\mathrm{p}^2`$, provided the decay products have negligible mass compared to gravitino. This posses a problem for nucleosynthesis for $`m_{3/2}𝒪(\mathrm{TeV})`$. The gravitinos decay after nucleosynthesis and the decay products can change the abundance of $`{}_{}{}^{4}\mathrm{He}`$ and $`\mathrm{D}`$ by photodissociation. For $`100\mathrm{GeV}m_{3/2}1\mathrm{TeV}`$ a successful nucleosynthesis limits the gravitino abundance to be $`n_{3/2}/s(10^{14}10^{12})`$, which translates to $`T_\mathrm{R}(10^710^9)\mathrm{GeV}`$ . This is the simplest illustration of late decaying particles in cosmology which may release huge entropy while decaying. Various cosmological and astrophysical observations put some useful constraints on the abundance of late decaying particles. There are many other examples within supergravity inflationary model which has similar features as gravitinos, such as the moduli fields and the dilaton .

Massive particles which decay after nucleosynthesis may also distort the spectrum of cosmic microwave background, or the gamma-ray background. The exact astrophysical signature of such unstable relics depends on their lifetime, thus some part of mass-lifetime parameter space can be ruled out from the present experimental/observational bounds .

On the other hand, stable Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), denoted here as $`X`$, generally respect the astrophysical constraints, and can even account for the dark matter in the Universe if they are produced in an interesting abundance. A famous example is the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle (LSP) in supersymmetric extensions of the standard model with unbroken $`R`$-parity. If LSPs are created in a thermal bath, LSPs pair annihilate to lighter particles when the temperature of the Universe drops below their mass. However, once the annihilation rate drops below the Hubble expansion rate, the LSP comoving number density freezes at its final value. The lower bound on the mass of such species, in order not to overclose the Universe is a few GeV, the so called Lee-Weinberg bound , while unitarity provides a firm upper bound on their mass $`100`$ TeV .

The abovementioned bound on the mass of LSP can be evaded if there is no initial thermal equilibrium. In recent years, several mechanisms have been put forward for creating very heavy WIMPs, even superheavy ones with a mass $`m_X>10^{10}`$ GeV, in cosmologically interesting abundances . For instance, the production of WIMPs could take place during the phase transition from inflationary to the radiation-dominated or matter-dominated phase . The quantum fluctuations of the field $`X`$ in a time-varying classical gravitational background may lead to a significant production provided $`X`$ is stable . This mechanism is largely independent of the nature of $`X`$ (boson or fermion) and its coupling to other fields. It also works in a variety of inflationary models  but abundances close to the dark matter abundance are created for $`10^{11}\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^{13}\mathrm{GeV}`$ and $`T_R10^9`$ GeV.

Another possibility is to create a bosonic field $`X`$ during the rapid oscillations of the inflaton field from vacuum fluctuations via a coupling $`g^2\varphi ^2X^2`$, where $`g𝒪(1)`$ . However, one then requires $`m_X10m_\varphi `$ and a low reheat temperature, e.g. $`T_\mathrm{R}10^2`$ GeV for $`m_\varphi 10^{13}`$ GeV, which makes the mechanism model-dependent.

If the plasma of the inflaton decay products has an instantaneous temperature $`T(T_\mathrm{R}^2HM_{\mathrm{Planck}})^{1/4}`$ for $`H\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{d}`$, where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{d}`$ is the inflaton decay rate, it can be much higher than the reheat temperature of the Universe . Then particles of mass $`m_X>T_\mathrm{R}`$ and with gauge strength interactions can be produced from the annihilation of the relativistic particles in the thermal bath and their abundance freezes at its final value once temperature becomes sufficiently low .

However, none of the above mentioned scenarios for creating WIMPs in the mass range $`(10^{10}10^{13})`$ GeV has been actually realized in a supersymmetric set-up. For instance, the identity of $`X`$ is largely unknown apart from the fact that it should be a Standard Model (SM) gauge singlet. However, if one assumes that $`X`$ comes from a hidden sector which interacts only gravitationally, they could act as a candidate for dark matter. Within supersymmetry, a heavy particle $`X`$ is accompanied by its superpartner $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ with an almost degenerate mass. This is due to the fact that supersymmetry in the visible sector is broken at a scale $`1\mathrm{TeV}`$. Moreover, in supergravity $`X`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ have gravitationally suppressed couplings to other fields, among which most notable are the inflaton $`\varphi `$, its superpartner inflatino $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }`$, and the gravitino. This opens up another possibility for creating $`X`$ via gravitationally suppressed decay of the inflaton. Also, couplings of $`X`$; $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ to $`\varphi `$; $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }`$ and the gravitino, together with a small mass difference between $`X`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$, can result in the decay of $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) into its superpartner and a photon-photino pair, or a gravitino. These decay channels however preserve any symmetry which is necessary to forbid $`X`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ directly decaying into the SM fields. The startling point is that while decaying into its own superpartner, the process changes the identity of a possible dark matter candidate. However, while doing so the process releases some energy into a cosmic thermal bath. In this paper we discuss the astrophysical bounds on such decays for gravitino masses ranging from $`100`$ GeV to $`1`$ TeV.

## II Production of $`X`$ from its coupling to the inflaton sector

We may consider a complex scalar field $`X`$ and its fermionic partner $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ with a superpotential mass term $`W(1/2)m_X\mathrm{𝐗𝐗}`$. In the limit of unbroken supersymmetry $`X`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ have a common mass $`m_X`$. However, hidden sector supersymmetry breaking generally results in the soft mass term; $`m_{3/2}^2|X|^2`$, and the $`A`$-term; $`Am_{3/2}m_XXX+\mathrm{h}.\mathrm{c}`$. The former elevates the masses of both the components of $`X`$ above the mass of $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$, while the latter one results in the splitting of $`X`$ into two mass eigenstates $`X_1`$ and $`X_2`$, where we may take $`m_{X_1}>m_{X_2}`$. When $`m_Xm_{3/2}`$, only the contribution of $`A`$-term has any significance and yields

$$m_{\stackrel{~}{X}}m_X;m_{X_1}+m_{X_2}2m_X.$$
(2)
We denote the inflaton multiplet by $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$; it comprises of the inflaton $`\varphi `$ and the inflatino $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }`$. Around the global minimum of the potential, the inflation sector superpotential can be approximated as $`W(1/2)m_\varphi (\mathrm{\Phi }v)^2`$, where $`v`$ is the vev of $`\varphi `$ at the minimum. The new inflationary and hybrid inflationary models usually give rise to such a non-zero VEV for either inflaton or some auxiliary field. There may exist a superpotential term $`h_X\mathrm{\Phi }\mathrm{𝐗𝐗}`$ which couples $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ and $`𝐗`$ multiplets Note that a superpotential term $`𝐗\mathrm{\Phi }\mathrm{\Phi }`$ which is linear in $`𝐗`$ provides a decay channel for $`X`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ thus ignored in our discussion.. In general they can also be coupled via higher dimensional Planck suppressed terms. For example, consider the minimal supergravity where the scalar potential is given by

$$V=e^G\left(\frac{G}{\phi _i}\frac{G}{\phi _i^{}}\frac{3}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2}\right).$$
(3)
Here $`G`$ is the kähler function defined by

$$G=\frac{\phi _i\phi _i^{}}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2}+\mathrm{ln}\left(\frac{|W|^2}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^6}\right),$$
(4)
where $`\phi _i`$ are scalar fields in the theory. There also exists a term in the Lagrangian

$$e^{G/2}\left(\frac{G}{\phi _i}\frac{G}{\phi _j}\frac{^2G}{\phi _i\phi _j}\right)\overline{\stackrel{~}{\phi }_i}\stackrel{~}{\phi }_j+\mathrm{h}.\mathrm{c}.,$$
(5)
with $`\stackrel{~}{\phi }_i`$ being the fermionic partner of $`\phi _i`$. For our choice of superpotential the following terms can then be identified in the Lagrangian

$$\frac{vm_X}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2}\varphi \stackrel{~}{X}\stackrel{~}{X};\frac{vm_X}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2}\stackrel{~}{\varphi }\stackrel{~}{X}X;\frac{vm_\varphi m_X}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2}\varphi XX.$$
(6)
and the coupling $`h_X`$ recognized as

$$h_X=\frac{vm_X}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2},$$
(7)
### A Production by direct inflaton decay

The terms in Eq. (6) result in $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) production from inflaton decay if $`m_X<m_\varphi /2`$, with a rate $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_Xh_X^2m_\varphi /8\pi `$. The total inflaton decay rate is given by $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_d\sqrt{8\pi /3}T_\mathrm{R}^2/M_{\mathrm{Planck}}`$, while the inflaton number density at the time of decay is given by $`n_\varphi T_\mathrm{R}^4/m_\varphi `$. This constrains the overall coupling to

$$h_X^232\pi \sqrt{\frac{8\pi }{3}}\frac{T_\mathrm{R}}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}}\frac{10^9}{m_X},$$
(8)
where $`m_X`$ is in units of GeV. This is required due to the fact that the produced $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) must not overclose the Universe which, for $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.3`$ and $`H_0=70`$ km $`\mathrm{sec}^1\mathrm{Mpc}^1`$, reads

$$\frac{n_X}{n_\gamma }\frac{4\times 10^9}{m_X},$$
(9)
when $`m_X`$ is expressed in units of GeV. In the particular case when $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ and $`𝐗`$ multiplets are gravitationally coupled one finds

$$m_X^3\left(\frac{v}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}}\right)^210^7M_{\mathrm{Planck}}T_\mathrm{R}.$$
(10)
If $`vM_{\mathrm{Planck}}`$, then $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) within the mass range $`10^3\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^7\mathrm{GeV}`$ can be produced in interesting abundances for a range of reheat temperatures $`1\mathrm{MeV}T_\mathrm{R}10^{10}\mathrm{GeV}`$.

If the inflaton VEV is lowered down to $`v/M_{\mathrm{Planck}}10^6`$, then $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) with a mass range $`10^7\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^{11}\mathrm{GeV}`$ can become a dark matter candidate for the same range of reheat temperature It is evident from the overclosure bound that $`h_X`$ needs to be very small. This may look ad-hoc for a superpotential coupling between $`\mathrm{\Phi }`$ and $`𝐗`$, while a non-renormalizable gravitationally suppressed coupling in the context of supergravity offers a natural explanation for such a small coupling if $`X`$ belongs to a hidden sector..

### B Production from the thermal bath

Another possibility for production of $`X`$ is from its indirect coupling to the thermal bath via the inflaton sector. The simplest situation will be for the case when inflaton is coupled to two fermions (hence the inflatino is coupled to a fermion-boson pair). As an example consider the $`\varphi \stackrel{~}{\gamma }\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }\stackrel{~}{\gamma }\gamma `$ couplings§§§The situation when $`\gamma `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ are replaced by a light particle and its superpartner is similar.. These couplings are supersymmetric partners and the latter one is responsible for a Hubble-induced gaugino mass term $`H\stackrel{~}{\gamma }\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$. Then $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) can be produced in a thermal bath from the s-channel diagram which includes $`h\varphi \stackrel{~}{\gamma }\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ ($`h\stackrel{~}{\varphi }\stackrel{~}{\gamma }\gamma `$) and $`h_X\varphi \stackrel{~}{X}\stackrel{~}{X}`$ ($`h_X\stackrel{~}{\varphi }\stackrel{~}{X}X`$) couplings at the first and second vertices respectively. Assuming that $`m_XT_\mathrm{R}`$, the rate for $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) production is given by

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_X\frac{h^2h_X^2}{16\pi ^2m_\varphi ^2}T_\mathrm{R}^3,$$
(11)
where $`m_\varphi m_{\stackrel{~}{\varphi }}`$, since hidden sector supersymmtery breaking only results in $`|m_\varphi m_{\stackrel{~}{\varphi }}|m_\varphi `$. The coupling $`h`$ obeys the following relationship

$$h^2\frac{m_\varphi }{8\pi }\sqrt{\frac{8\pi }{3}}\frac{T_\mathrm{R}^2}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}},$$
(12)
and the number density of created $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) particles follows

$$\frac{n_X}{n_\gamma }\frac{h_X^2}{2\pi }\left(\frac{T_\mathrm{R}}{m_\varphi }\right)^3.$$
(13)
Here the main contribution to $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) production occurs at $`H\mathrm{\Gamma }_\mathrm{d}`$. In order for $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) not to overclose the Universe it is necessary to have $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.3`$, which implies

$$h_X^2\frac{3\times 10^8}{m_X}\left(\frac{m_\varphi }{T_\mathrm{R}}\right)^3.$$
(14)
We always have $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_X<H`$ since $`h_X^2T_\mathrm{R}^3<m_\varphi ^3`$ (note that for perturbative inflaton decay $`T_\mathrm{R}<m_\varphi `$). This ensures that $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) will never reach equilibrium with the thermal bath. However, the bound on $`h_X`$ from (8) is much stronger than the bound in (14). This implies that $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) production from thermal bath is always subleading with respect to production by direct inflaton decay in order for the latter not to saturate the overclosure bound.

It is interesting that direct inflaton decay in supergravity may produce $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) in a wide range of mass with a cosmologically interesting abundance. This is particularly significant as some of the proposed mechanism for creating heavy WIMPs might not work in a supersymmetric set-up. For example, it is known that scalar fields, and also fermions if allowed by symmetry considerations, acquire a Hubble-induced mass term during and after inflation in supergravity models. This suggests that production of such particles from a time-varying gravitational backgrouned might not be possible at all unless such Hubble-induced term is small, or cancelled for a particular choice of superpotential.

## III Very Late decay of $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})`$

There exist strong astrophysical bounds on the late decay of particles to photons or charged particles. For a detailed study of various constraints on such decays we refer the reader to Refs. . Here we briefly mention the relevant bounds. For a late decay such as $`10^5\mathrm{s}\tau 10^{13}\mathrm{s}`$, where $`\tau `$ denotes the lifetime of a particle, the decay products can alter the chemical potential of the microwave background photons. Note that recombination occurs at $`10^{13}`$ s. The reason is that photon number changing interactions such as $`e\gamma e\gamma \gamma `$ go out of equilibrium at $`t>10^5`$ s thus inducing an effective chemical potential for the microwave background photons. The chemical potential has been given in  for the case that decay photons thermalize instantly and the current experimental bound is

$$\mu =\frac{\rho _\mathrm{d}}{\rho _\gamma }3.3\times 10^4,$$
(15)
where $`\rho _d`$ and $`\rho _\gamma `$ denote the energy density in the decay and background photons respectively. If the decay occurs after recombination and before the present era, then the non-thermal decay photons may be directly visible today if the optical depth back to the decay epoch is small enough. Then the main astrophysical constraint is that the flux of decay photons must not exceed that of the observed differential photon flux which is given by  Decay photons generally trigger an electromagnetic shower, since their scattering off the microwave background photons can create $`e^+e^{}`$ pairs, which themselves undergo Compton scattering off photons. Moreover, $`\gamma \gamma `$ scattering redistribute photon energy. Therefore one must take these effects into account in order to compare with the observed photon flux, as done in .

$$_\gamma (\mathrm{E})\frac{\mathrm{MeV}}{\mathrm{E}}\mathrm{cm}^2\mathrm{sr}^1\mathrm{s}^1,$$
(16)
where $`\mathrm{E}`$ is the photon energy and the observed photon flux is denoted by $`_\gamma `$.

There are also bounds on late decay to photons coming from nucleosynthesis. If $`\tau 10^4`$ s the photonic showers can change the abundance of light elements The $`\gamma \gamma `$ scattering dominates photon interactions for $`t<10^4`$ s and hence photonic showers will not affect light element abundances.. For $`10^4\mathrm{s}\tau 10^6\mathrm{s}`$ photodestruction of D will reduce its abundance, while for $`\tau >10^6`$ s photoproduction of D and 3He from the destruction of 4He will give the main constraint.

### A $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X)+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ via off-shell gravitino

Henceforth, we shall consider the case where $`𝐗`$ multiplet has only gravitationally suppressed couplings to the matter sector\**\**\**In the case when $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) has common gauge interactions with matter fields the three-body decays $`X_1(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X_2)+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ can occur via gauge interactions (in fact through the same diagrams which results in the production of $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) in a thermal bath). In this case the decay rate is quite large $`\mathrm{\Gamma }\alpha ^2\mathrm{\Delta }m^3/m_{X}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}`$, notice that there is a phase space suppression, and the decay occurs before nucleosynthesis. Again note that $`X_2`$ component is the strictly stable particle.. Depending on the mass differences among scalar and fermionic components of $`X`$ different situations may arise. If $`\mathrm{\Delta }m|m_{X_{1,2}}m_{\stackrel{~}{X}}|>m_{3/2}`$, the decay channels; $`X_1\stackrel{~}{X}+\stackrel{~}{G}`$, and $`\stackrel{~}{X}X_2+\stackrel{~}{G}`$ are kinematically allowed. For $`\mathrm{\Delta }m<m_{3/2}`$, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }m>m_{\mathrm{LSP}}`$, provided the gravitino is not the LSP, the three-body decay $`X_1\stackrel{~}{X}+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ (and correspondingly $`\stackrel{~}{X}X_2+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$) can occur. We indeed expect that such decays take place since $`\mathrm{\Delta }mm_X`$ implies that any production mechanism shall produce $`X_1`$, $`X_2`$, and $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ (at least $`X_1`$ and $`X_2`$) in comparable abundances. Moreover, we notice that in both the cases $`X_2`$ component is the strictly stable particle and hence a dark matter candidate. Then its abundance, which is the same as the initial abundance of $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$), must not saturate the overclosure bound in (9).

Let us first consider the case when $`\mathrm{\Delta }m<m_{3/2}`$. This is the situation in the hidden sector supersymmetry breaking scenario with the Polonyi field where $`\mathrm{\Delta }m(1\sqrt{3}/2)m_{3/2}`$ . As long as $`\mathrm{\Delta }m>m_{\mathrm{LSP}}`$, the three-body decay $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X)+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$, via an off-shell gravitino, is kinematically allowed. The decay diagram includes two vertices: at the first vertex $`X`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ couple to $`\stackrel{~}{G}`$, while gravitino is coupled to a $`\gamma \stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ pair at the second vertex. The decay rate is doubly Planck mass suppressed, and with phase space suppression leads to

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_1\frac{1}{32(2\pi )^3}\times \frac{m_X^2(\mathrm{\Delta }mm_{\mathrm{LSP}})^3}{M_\mathrm{p}^4}.$$
(17)
Here we have assumed that the decay matrix element is constant over the phase space. An interesting observation is that the decay rate is model-independent except for the appearance of $`\mathrm{\Delta }m`$. We make the resonable assumption that $`100\mathrm{GeV}\mathrm{\Delta }mm_{\mathrm{LSP}}800`$ GeV, for $`m_{3/2}1`$ TeV. Then the lifetime $`\tau \mathrm{\Gamma }_1^1`$ can be of the same order as the age of the Universe $`10^{17}`$ s for the mass range

$$10^{13}\mathrm{GeV}<m_X<10^{15}\mathrm{GeV}.$$
(18)
For a lighter $`m_X`$, the lifetime is longer than the age of the Universe.

The decay usually releases entropy, which is worth estimating in our case. Since $`\mathrm{\Delta }mm_{\mathrm{LSP}}m_X`$, the released momentum is distributed among all the three decay products while the energy in the mass difference is practically carried by $`\gamma `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$. It is therefore reasonable to consider the energy which is taken away by $`\gamma `$ to be $`(\mathrm{\Delta }mm_{\mathrm{LSP}})/2`$. Then the released entropy is $`s_d((50400)n_X)^{3/4}`$, while the entropy in the cosmic microwave background photons is $`sn_\gamma `$, resulting in

$$\frac{s_d}{s}\left(\frac{4\times 10^7}{T_\gamma m_X}\right)^{3/4},$$
(19)
where we have used the overclosure bound. Here $`T_\gamma `$ denotes the temperature of the background photons at the time of decay and has its smallest value $`5\times 10^{13}`$ GeV for the decays occurring at the present moment. This implies that for $`m_X10^6`$ GeV, the decay products increase the entropy of the Universe at the time of decay. However, in this case the decay occurs much later than today and hence entropy release will not be substantial at present epoch. Therefore, the three-body decay does not release any significant entropy within the lifetime of the Universe.

Nevertheless, the observed photon flux puts a severe constraint on the abundance of $`X`$. For a decay energy of order $`(50400)`$ GeV the most stringent limit is

$$\frac{n_X}{n_\gamma }10^{19},$$
(20)
while for a wide range of decay lifetimes $`10^{17}\mathrm{s}\tau 10^{21}\mathrm{s}`$, the bound is given by

$$\frac{n_X}{n_\gamma }(10^{18}10^{13}).$$
(21)
The most conservative mass range which leads to a decay lifetime in this range is $`10^{11}\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^{17}\mathrm{GeV}`$. The overclosure limit now reads $`n_X/n_\gamma 4\times 10^{20}`$, which is more stringent by several orders of magnitude. Therefore, the three-body decay satisfies bounds on photon flux, if $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.3`$.

If $`X`$ is very massive it will also be possible that the decay occurs before recombination. For example, if $`m_X10^{16.5}`$ GeV, which can be related to the string scale in M-theory, and $`\mathrm{\Delta }mm_{\mathrm{LSP}}1TeV`$, the process $`X\stackrel{~}{X}+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ may take place after the photon number changing interactions $`e\gamma e\gamma \gamma `$ have gone out of equilibrium, but before the recombination era. For an energy release of order $`(50400)\mathrm{GeV}`$, in order to satisfy the present constraint on the chemical potential, from Eq. (15), we obtain the bound $`n_X/n_\gamma 10^{14}`$. This is again much weaker than the overclosure bound $`n_X/n_\gamma 4\times 10^{25}`$. We therefore conclude that avoiding the overclosure of the Universe puts a stronger bound on the abundance of $`X`$ than astrophysical constraints from the decay process $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X)+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$, via off-shell gravitino.

### B $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X)+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ via off-shell inflatino

Now, we turn our attention to another possible decay channel where the three-body decay of $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})`$ can occur via an off-shell inflatino. The decay diagram will include the $`h_XX\stackrel{~}{X}\stackrel{~}{\varphi }`$ coupling at the first vertex while at the second vertex $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }`$ is coupled to a $`\gamma \stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ pair (as discussed in the previous section). The significance of $`X`$ decay via off-shell inflatino now depends on the dominant decay channel of inflaton (inflatino). If the inflaton (inflatino) dominantly decays to a three body final state, we will have a four-body $`X`$ decay. This is even more phase space suppressed (and perhaps forbidden) than the three-body decay via off-shell gravitino. On the other hand, if the inflaton (inflatino) mainly decays to two body final state, in particular to a $`\gamma \stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ pair, we may have a three-body decay of $`X`$ via the inflatino. Then the rate for the decay $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X)+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ is found to be

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_210^2h_X^2\frac{T_\mathrm{R}^2M_{\mathrm{Planck}}}{m_\varphi ^3}\frac{(\mathrm{\Delta }mm_{\mathrm{LSP}})^3}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2}.$$
(22)
As pointed out earlier, the coupling $`h_X`$ must satisfy the inequality in (8) in order for $`X`$ not to overclose the Universe, if $`m_X<m_\varphi /2`$. This yields

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_2\frac{4\times 10^9}{m_X}\left(\frac{T_\mathrm{R}}{m_\varphi }\right)^3\frac{(\mathrm{\Delta }mm_{\mathrm{LSP}})^3}{M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2}.$$
(23)
Let us first consider the case with a decay energy of order $`400`$ GeV. Then for $`m_X=10^5(10^{10})\mathrm{GeV}`$ the decay lifetime is $`\tau _210^{17}(10^{22})\mathrm{s}`$, provided $`T_\mathrm{R}m_\varphi `$. The gamma-ray background and the overclosure bounds then translate to $`n_X/n_\gamma 10^{17}(10^{12})`$ , and $`n_X/n_\gamma 10^{14}(10^{19})`$, respectively. For masses $`10^5\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^7\mathrm{GeV}`$ the gamma-ray bound is indeed stronger. Therefore, providing a clear signal that within this mass range $`X`$ can not act as a stable dark matter candidate. For $`T_\mathrm{R}/m_\varphi 10^1`$ astrophysical constraints turn out to be more stringent than the overclosure bound within the mass range $`10^3\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^5\mathrm{GeV}`$. While for a smaller $`T_\mathrm{R}/m_\varphi `$, the main constraint appears from the overclosure bound. For example, for $`T_R/m_\varphi 10^2`$ the overclosure bound ensures that for $`m_X1`$ TeV the three-body decay will not be atsrophysically dangerous.

For a decay energy of order $`50`$ GeV a mass $`m_X=10^3(10^7)\mathrm{GeV}`$ results in the decay lifetime $`\tau _210^{18}(10^{22})\mathrm{s}`$, provided $`T_\mathrm{R}m_\varphi `$. The gamma-ray background and the overclosure bounds yield $`n_X/n_\gamma 10^{18}(10^{13})`$ , and $`n_X/n_\gamma 10^{12}(10^{16})`$, respectively, where for $`10^3\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^5\mathrm{GeV}`$ the gamma ray bound will be stronger. For $`T_\mathrm{R}/m_\varphi 10^1`$ astrophysical constraints are more stringent within a narrow mass range $`10^3\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^4\mathrm{GeV}`$, while for a smaller $`T_\mathrm{R}/m_\varphi `$ the main constraint appears from the overclosure bound.

If we desire to have a supermassive $`X`$ with a mass $`m_X>m_\varphi /2`$, the production of $`X`$ through direct decay of the inflaton cannot be possible. Therefore, even if such massive $`X`$ might have been created, their decay would follow Eq. (22) and could easily occur before recombination. However, mechanisms which could create $`X`$ in this case prefer a mass $`m_X>10^{10}`$ GeV . The overclosure bound then yields $`n_X/n_\gamma 10^{19}`$, which for an energy release $`50400`$ GeV in the three-body decay is always stronger than the astrophysical constraints.

Our overall conclusion is that for $`m_{3/2}1`$ TeV the decay process $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X)+\gamma +\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ can be astrophysically dangerous when mediated by inflatino. In particular, the astrophysical bounds are stronger than the overclosure bound for the mass range $`10^3\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^7\mathrm{GeV}`$, when $`10^1T_R/m_\varphi 1`$.

### C $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X)+\stackrel{~}{G}`$

Let us finish by discussing the two-body decay case which occurs when $`\mathrm{\Delta }m>m_{3/2}`$. This is also quite plausible, since, as pointed out in Ref. , for a generic supersymmetry breaking scenario one may not have $`\mathrm{\Delta }m<m_{3/2}`$. The decay rate for the process $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X)+\stackrel{~}{G}`$ is however Planck mass suppressed, and phase space suppression gives

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }_3\frac{m_X^2m_{3/2}}{8\pi M_{\mathrm{Planck}}^2}.$$
(24)
As we have mentioned earlier, in such a case the most important bounds come from the success of big bang nucleosynthesis. Here the main danger arises from the produced gravitinos with a mass $`m_{3/2}=100`$ GeV, which decay into energetic photons thus constraining their abundance to $`n_X/n_\gamma 10^{14}`$  (here we obviously assume that the gravitino is not the LSP). This requires that $`m_X10^6`$ GeV, if $`X`$ is produced with an abundance $`\mathrm{\Omega }_X0.3`$. On the other hand, for a gravitino mass $`m_{3/2}=1`$ TeV, the nucleosynthesis bound results in $`n_X/n_\gamma 10^{12}`$ , which relaxes the mass range of $`X`$ and masses beyond $`10`$ TeV could easily be accommodated.

Some comments are in order. The decay of a particle into its superpartner and a gravitino can in general occur for unstable species as well. However, in such cases the suppression of this decay mode relative to other decay channels ensures that nucleosynthsis will not be disrupted (e.g. the case for inflaton decay has been considered in Ref. . On the other hand, for a particle which is stable in the limit of unbroken supersymmetry, this decay mode (and the three-body decays discussed earlier) are the only possible channels. We also limited our discussion to gravity-mediated models of supersymmtery breaking. The reason is that in gauge-mediated models the gravitino mass is substantialy samller than the weak scale implying that the gravitino is the LSP. Then a possible two-body decay does not pose a threat to nucleosynthsis, while three-body decays are kinematically forbidden. Finally, we only considered neutral stable particles in this paper. For a charged particle, the dominant decay mode will be $`X(\stackrel{~}{X})\stackrel{~}{X}(X)+\stackrel{~}{\gamma }`$ which occurs much before nucleosynthsis. Moreover, the abundance of such particles is severely constrained by their searches in the sea water which is much more stringent than the overclosure bound .

## IV Conclusion

We have discussed the possible astrophysical signatures of a neutral stable particle within the context of supergravity. We considered a multiplet $`𝐗`$ which has a mass $`m_X`$ and is stable in the limit of unbroken supersymmtery. Supersymmtery breaking in the hidden sector generally results in the pattern $`m_{X_1}>m_{\stackrel{~}{X}}>m_{X_2}`$, so long as $`m_Xm_{3/2}`$, where $`X_1`$, $`X_2`$, and $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ are the two scalar components and the fermionic component of the multiplet respectively. We have noticed that a gravitationally suppressed inflaton decay could lead to production of $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) in interesting abundances in a wide mass range $`10^3\mathrm{GeV}10^{11}`$ GeV. Details depend on the inflaton VEV at the minimum and the reheat temperature of the Universe, which we always assume to be smaller than $`10^{10}`$ GeV, in order to avoid thermal gravitino overproduction.

We also considered the decay of $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) into its superpartner and a photon-photino pair, or a gravitino, and discussed the various astrophysical and overclosure bounds which restrict the decay channels. If $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$)is produced with an abundance large enough to account for the dark matter in the Universe, such decays merely change the identity of the dark matter candidate. Depending on the supersymmetry breaking scenario, the mass difference between $`X`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ can be smaller or larger than the mass of the gravitino. In the former case, the two-body decay channels are kinematically forbidden. However, the three-body decay via off-shell gravitino and/or off-shell inflatino may still occur. The three-body decays release an energy which is just the mass difference between $`X`$, $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ and LSP. In the case where $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) decays into $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ ($`X`$) and a photon-photino pair, via an off-shell gravitino, for the mass range $`10^{11}\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^{17}`$ GeV the main constraint comes from the overclosure bound yielding $`n_X/n_\gamma 10^{20}`$. For $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) decaying via off-shell inflatino the situation depends on a number of model parameters such as the reheat temperature, and mass of the inflaton.

We also pointed out that for larger ratios of $`T_\mathrm{R}/m_\varphi `$ the gamma ray background could in principle constrain the lower half of the mass range $`10^3\mathrm{GeV}m_X10^7\mathrm{GeV}`$, while the upper half is constrained by the overclosure limit. We also considered the decay of $`X`$ ($`\stackrel{~}{X}`$) to $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ ($`X`$) and a gravitino when the mass difference between them is larger than the gravitino mass. In this case the main constraint comes from avoiding the photodissociation of light elements. Indeed, the abundance of $`X`$ must be smaller than $`10^{14}`$ for $`m_{3/2}=100`$ GeV implying that $`m_X10^6`$ GeV, if $`X`$ is the dark matter in the Universe.

## V acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to A. Özpineci, A. Perez-Lorenzana, and S. Sarkar for valuable discussions. R.A. is supported by “Sonder-forchschungsberich 375 f$`\ddot{\mathrm{u}}`$r Astro-Teilchenphysik” der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft, K.E. partly by the Academy of Finland under the contract 101-35224, and A.M. acknowledges the support of The Early Universe network HPRN-CT-2000-00152, and the hospitality of the Helsinki Institute of Physics where part of the work has been carried out.


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# Single electron transistors with high quality superconducting niobium islands

## Abstract

Deep submicron Al/AlOx/Nb tunnel junctions and single electron transistors with niobium islands were fabricated by electron beam gun shadow evaporation. Using stencil masks consisting of the thermostable polymer polyethersulfone (PES) and germanium, high quality niobium patterns with good superconducting properties and a gap energy of up to $`2\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{Nb}}=2.5`$ meV were achieved. The $`I(U)`$ characteristics of the transistors show special features due to tunneling of single Cooper pairs and significant gate modulation in both the superconducting and the normal state.

Superconducting quantum coherent devices with small tunnel junctions offer the possibility of manipulating single Cooper pairs and may be used to construct current standards Likharev85  and charge qubits Makhlin01 . For optimum performance, many devices require that the Josephson coupling energy $`E_\mathrm{J}(\mathrm{}/2e)I_c=(R_\mathrm{K}/R)\mathrm{\Delta }/8`$ is of the same order as the charging energy $`E_\mathrm{c}=e^2/2C_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$, where $`R_\mathrm{K}=h/e^225`$ k$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, $`R`$ is the junction tunnel resistance, $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ the superconducting gap energy, and $`C_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ the total capacitance of the island. With modern nanotechniques it is possible to reduce $`C_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and hence to increase $`E_\mathrm{c}`$ in Al based junctions ($`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{Al}}0.2`$ meV), but it is hard to keep $`E_\mathrm{J}E_\mathrm{c}`$ because this would require very transparent barriers. With the use of Nb based junctions ($`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{Nb}}^{\mathrm{bulk}}1.5`$ meV) it should be possible to increase the Josephson coupling energy by almost one order of magnitude for the same tunnel resistance. Further, an increased $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ is important since it should suppress disturbing quasiparticle tunneling onto/from the island Tuominen92 . Al-Nb junctions are a first step in this direction because $`2.2E_\mathrm{J}^{\mathrm{Al}\mathrm{Al}}E_\mathrm{J}^{\mathrm{Al}\mathrm{Nb}}0.3E_\mathrm{J}^{\mathrm{Nb}\mathrm{Nb}}`$. These relations follow from the equation for the Josephson coupling energy in junctions with different electrode materials A and B for $`k_\mathrm{B}T\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{A},\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{B}`$ (see, e.g., Barone82 ):

$$E_\mathrm{J}^{\mathrm{A}\mathrm{B}}=\frac{R_\mathrm{K}}{2\pi R}\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{A}\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{B}}{\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{A}+\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{B}}𝒦\left(\frac{|\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{A}\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{B}|}{\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{A}+\mathrm{\Delta }_\mathrm{B}}\right).$$

Here, $`𝒦(x)`$ is the complete elliptic integral of the first kind.

It has been shown that rather small Nb based junctions (areas about 0.1 $`\mu `$m2) with high quality $`I(U)`$ characteristics can be fabricated from Nb/AlOx/Nb trilayers by etching and planarization techniques Pavolotsky99 , but single charge devices prepared with these junctions still suffer from high capacitances ($`C_\mathrm{\Sigma }6`$ fF).

Shadow or angle evaporation through a suspended mask is a common technique for the fabrication of ultrasmall tunnel junctions with low capacitance Niem-Dolan . Usually, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and related copolymers (PMMA-MAA) are used to create high resolution suspended stencil masks by electron beam lithography. These masks provide easy lift-off and are successfully used for the preparation of devices based on soft materials such as aluminum Geerligs90 . Unfortunately, for the fabrication of submicron Nb structures, the use of PMMA entails strong deterioration of the superconducting properties Harada94 ; Hoss99 ; Dubos00 . The most important reason for this is the outgassing of the PMMA polymer during the evaporation of the high-melting Nb due to radiation heating from the evaporation source Hoss99 ; Dubos00 . For high-melting materials nonorganic evaporation masks were developed, made of two metallic Howard78 ; Zant90  or two dielectric layers Hoss99 . However, the metallic masks pose problems in the fabrication of deep submicron structures because of their rough edges, and dielectric masks cannot be lifted off after evaporation. Dubos et al. developed a novel lift-off process for the preparation of high quality submicron Nb structures, based on the use of the thermostable polymer polyethersulfone (PES) Dubos00 . PES remains mechanically tough up to temperatures of about 200 C and shows very low outgassing compared to PMMA.

In this paper, we present for the first time results on high quality superconducting Al/AlOx/Nb tunnel junction samples fabricated using PES based stencil masks. In the first step, the PES layer (Ultrason E6020P made by BASF, dissolved in N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP)) was spun onto thermally oxidized three-inch Si wafers and baked for 20 minutes at 230 C to form the bottom layer 420 nm in thickness. Next, a 35 nm thick Ge layer was thermally evaporated onto the PES layer. Finally, a PMMA layer 130 nm thick was spun on top of the germanium. This layer was patterned by electron beam lithography and served as a mask for reactive ion etching of the Ge layer in a CF4 plasma. An undercut of approximately 300 nm in the PES layer was created by oxygen plasma etching. In this etching step, the PMMA top layer was completely removed, the final stencil mask was composed of a PES bottom layer and a Ge top layer formed the suspended bridges. The samples were fabricated by two-angle E-gun evaporation in an ultrahigh vacuum system with a base pressure of about $`6\times 10^8`$ mbar onto a substrate wafer thermally anchored to a copper block at room temperature. The sample was tilted to a first angle and an Al layer 35 nm in thickness was evaporated. Next, the AlOx tunnel barrier was formed by oxidation in pure O2. Process time and pressure were varied for different wafers. After pumping down of the O2, an Nb layer 40 nm thick was evaporated using a second tilt angle. Finally, the stencil mask was lifted off in NMP.

We prepared single junctions and single electron transistors that allowed four terminal measurements to be made. The transistors consisted of Al wires, an Nb island and an Al/Nb gate electrode (Fig. 1). Several devices of varying junction size were included on every wafer, and the maximum nominal junction size was about 100 nm $`\times `$ 100 nm. Experiments were carried out in a dilution refrigerator at a base temperature of $`T=25`$ mK. Electrical biasing and signal amplification were performed using symmetrical current (or voltage) bias and low-noise preamplifiers with all signal lines RF filtered by Thermocoax cable pieces 1 m long. We investigated samples from two wafers prepared under different barrier oxidation conditions and found a yield of the working structures of about 80 %. The sample layouts on the two wafers were similar except for the length of the island which led to different gate capacitance values.

On the first wafer (heavier oxidation), we found transistor samples with gap voltages $`U_{\mathrm{gap}}=`$ between 2.5 and 2.65 mV according to the maxima of the differential conductivity plots in the superconducting state ($`B=0`$ T). Total resistances $`R_\mathrm{n}`$ from 70 to 250 k$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ were derived from the $`I(U)`$-curves when the samples were driven to the normal state ($`B=5`$ T), and the values for the total island capacitance were $`C_\mathrm{\Sigma }0.3`$ \- 0.6 fF. On the second wafer (lighter oxidation), we had single Al/AlOx/Nb junctions ($`U_{\mathrm{gap}}1.45`$ meV, $`R_\mathrm{n}=9`$ \- 45 k$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$) and transistors with $`U_{\mathrm{gap}}=2.8`$ \- 2.9 mV, $`R_\mathrm{n}=12`$ \- 70 k$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, $`C_\mathrm{\Sigma }0.3`$ \- 0.6 fF. The $`C_\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ achieved in our Al/Nb transistors thus was of the order of the island capacitance for typical Al devices Geerligs90 ; Tuominen92 . Switching currents $`I_\mathrm{s}`$ up to some nA were measured on samples of the second wafer (inset in Fig. 2) Footnote . The ratios $`E_\mathrm{J}/E_\mathrm{c}`$ of the transistors were estimated to be in the range of 0.03 - 0.3 for the first and of 0.16 - 1.2 for the second wafer.

The gap voltages observed are significantly higher compared with recent results reported for similar Al/AlOx/Nb transistors Harada94 ; Born01 . From the maximum gap voltages of about 2.9 mV observed for single junctions and transistors on the second wafer, we find that $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{Nb}}+\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{Al}}1.45`$ meV (Fig. 2). Assuming that $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{Al}}0.2`$ meV Tuominen92 ; Harada94 ; Born01 ; JQP , we derive the gap energy $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{Nb}}`$ of the Nb islands to be about 1.25 meV. Preliminary $`I(U)`$ measurements showed that signatures of superconductivity persist up to temperatures of about $`T=7`$ \- 8 K, which we identify with the critical temperature $`T_\mathrm{c}`$ of the Nb islands (cf. $`T_\mathrm{c}9`$ K for bulk Nb). According to the formula $`2\mathrm{\Delta }=3.52k_\mathrm{B}T_\mathrm{c}`$ from BCS theory, this agrees well with the values for $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{Nb}}`$ derived from the gap voltage.

Significant current peaks appeared in the subgap voltage range of the transistors’ $`I(U)`$ curves, especially marked in samples on the wafer with the more heavily oxidized barrier where the ratios $`E_\mathrm{J}/E_\mathrm{c}`$ were only 0.03 - 0.3. These features, showing up as rhombic structures in the $`U`$-$`V_\mathrm{g}`$ plane (Fig. 3), are attributed to different resonant tunneling processes involving combined single Cooper pair and quasiparticle tunneling, known as “Josephson quasiparticle” cycles JQP . The current peaks could be modulated by the gate voltage with a period corresponding to $`e`$. They disappeared when a magnetic field of $`B=0.3`$ T was applied, sufficient to suppress the superconductivity in the Al electrodes. This supports that the current peaks were linked with the superconductivity of the two electrodes. An influence of the magnetic field upon the shapes of the $`I(U)`$ curves was observed up to $`B5`$ T, indicating the persistence of superconducting domains in the Nb film island.

Besides the gate modulation in the normal state, we also investigated the variation of the switching currents $`I_\mathrm{s}`$ with $`V_\mathrm{g}`$ on the transistors with measurable critical currents (Fig. 4). Measurements of $`I_\mathrm{s}`$ were performed using a sample-and-hold technique while the sample was biased with a sawtooth-shaped signal at frequencies $`f=1040`$ Hz. In all samples we found that $`I_\mathrm{s}`$ was modulated $`e`$-periodically. Together with the leakage currents observed in the subgap regions of the single junctions, this suggests the presence of quasiparticles that might enter the Nb island via parasitic conductance channels, or the presence of intra-gap energy states caused by impurities and allowing quasiparticle tunneling at low bias.

In summary, we have fabricated Al/AlOx/Nb single electron tunnel devices by shadow evaporation using a PES based trilayer mask. This method allows the junction dimensions to be further reduced. The superconducting Nb islands are characterized by a gap energy of up to $`\mathrm{\Delta }_{\mathrm{Nb}}=1.25`$ meV close to the bulk value. Unexpectedly, all gate modulation characteristics measured on the single electron transistors showed a periodicity corresponding to $`e`$, so that further investigations are called for. The ratio of characteristic energies in these samples varies over a wide range, clearing the way for devices operating on single pairs. Our results are a first step towards the highly desirable Nb/AlOx/Nb junctions for future mesoscopic devices.

The authors wish to thank BASF for providing a sample of PES, and P. Ågren for discussions about the sample-and-hold measurement technique.


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# Flaring Up All Over — Radio Activity in Rapidly-Rotating Late M and L Dwarfs

## 1. Introduction

Activity in dwarf stars, as measured through the ratios of H$`\alpha `$ and X-ray luminosities to bolometric luminosities, drops significantly in spectral types later than M7, and is possibly dominated by flares (Liebert et al. 1999; Reid et al. 1999; Gizis et al. 2000; Kirkpatrick et al. 2000). In addition, the dependence of activity on rotation appears to break down in sources with spectral type later than early-mid M, so that even rapidly rotating sources ($`v\mathrm{sin}i20`$ km sec-1) show a decrease in emission (Basri & Marcy 1995; Tinney & Reid 1998) . On the other hand, the transition from a radiative-convective ($`\alpha \mathrm{\Omega }`$) to a turbulent ($`\alpha ^2`$) dynamo (Durney, De Young & Roxburgh 1993) around the convective mass limit of 0.3 M (spectral type $`\mathrm{M3}`$) is not accompanied by a drop in activity (Hawley, Gizis & Reid 1996), indicating that in early M dwarfs the turbulent dynamo can sustain active coronae. It has been suggested that the observed shift to weak flaring activity in late M and L dwarfs is possibly due to a change in the nature of the dynamo, or decreased photospheric ionization levels. If radio activity follows the same pattern, then late M and L dwarfs would exhibit at most only weak flaring, and possibly weaker quiescent radio emission.

In addition, Guedel & Benz (1993), and Benz & Guedel (1994) have shown that for a broad range of coronally active stars (up to spectral type M7) there is a correlation between the radio and X-ray luminosities. Simply, the quiescent luminosities are related by $`L_{\mathrm{rad},\mathrm{q}}L_{\mathrm{X},\mathrm{q}}/10^{15.5}`$ Hz-1, while the relation for flaring luminosities is slightly non-linear with $`L_{\mathrm{rad},\mathrm{f}}L_{\mathrm{X},\mathrm{f}}/10^{15.5}`$ Hz-1 for radio flares with $`L_{\mathrm{rad}}10^{14}`$ erg sec-1 Hz-1. These relations are explained in terms of a heating process in which there is a causal relation between the radio-emitting electrons and the X-ray emitting thermal plasma. The extension of the Guedel–Benz relations to spectral types later than M7 based on X-ray observations (Neuhäuser et al. 1999; Rutledge et al. 2000) predicts radio emission well below the detection limit of the Very Large Array. Past observations seemed to confirm this prediction (Krishnamurthi, Leto & Linsky 1999).

The recent detections of an X-ray flare (Rutledge et al. 2000) and persistent and flaring radio emission (Berger et al. 2001; hereafter B01) from the brown dwarf LP 944-20 (spectral type M9) pose a serious challenge to these ideas, since they demonstrate that late dwarfs can exhibit strong activity closely related to magnetic fields. The quiescent radio emission in particular indicates that the magnetic activity is persistent, contrary to H$`\alpha `$ and X-ray observations of this source (Rutledge et al. 2000). Moreover, the observed emission violates both Guedel–Benz relations by approximately four orders of magnitude despite the fact that LP 944-20 is only an M9 source, hinting at a possible breakdown in the relation between radio and X-ray activity between spectral types M7 and M9. Finally, the rapid rotation of LP 944-20, $`v\mathrm{sin}i30`$ km sec-1, is puzzling given that the radio emission requires the presence of magnetic fields and ionized material, which should lead to magnetic braking.

These observations raise several crucial questions: Is LP 944-20 a unique object, or do other late-type stars and brown dwarfs show similar levels of radio activity? What is the underlying mechanism that gives rise to the emission, and is it similar to the mechanism in early M dwarfs? Is the same process responsible for the observed H$`\alpha `$ and X-ray flares, and in some cases persistent emission? Is the activity correlated with particular physical properties?

To address these questions, we have undertaken a survey of twelve late-type dwarfs (ranging from M5 through T6) that span a wide range of properties. The purpose of this survey is to search for flaring and/or persistent radio emission, and to investigate whether this emission, and presumably magnetic field production, are correlated with particular physical properties of the sources.

We summarize the properties of the survey sources in §2. The radio observations and data reduction are detailed in §3. In §4 we show that three of the twelve sources exhibit radio emission. We analyze the radio emission, show that at least in one case it violates the Guedel–Benz relations, and estimate the magnetic field strengths and coronal densities in §5. We also discuss the implications for coronal heating mechanisms (§5.3). Finally, in §6 we compare the results of the survey to previous radio surveys of M and L dwarfs, as well as LP944-20, and we draw preliminary conclusions about possible correlations between radio activity and physical parameters.

## 2. Target Selection

We observed twelve late M and L dwarfs, two of which are confirmed brown dwarfs, ranging in distance from $`8160`$ pc, and spanning a wide range of ages, rotation, activity, and spectral types. Below and in Table 1 we summarize the main properties of each source in the survey.

CRBR 15: This source is a brown dwarf candidate in the $`\rho `$ Oph molecular cloud (Wilking, Greene & Meyer 1999). The mass and age of CRBR 15, $`M0.1`$ M and $`t3`$ Myr, are estimated by a comparison to evolutionary models and isochrones (Burrows et al. 1997; Wilking, Greene & Meyer 1999). Wilking et al. (1999) claim that while the age of this source is secure relative to other sources in the $`\rho `$ Oph cloud, the absolute scale is model-dependent. Still, this source is the youngest in our sample. The temperature and bolometric luminosity of CRBR 15 are estimated at $`29003000`$ K and $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{})1.0`$ to $`1.3`$ (Luhman & Rieke 1999; Wilking, Greene & Meyer 1999). In a recent observation of the $`\rho `$ Oph molecular cloud with Chandra (Imanishi, Tsujimoto & Koyama 2001) an upper limit of $`L_\mathrm{X}<1.1\times 10^{28}`$ erg sec-1 was found for this source, with $`\mathrm{log}(L_\mathrm{X}/L_{\mathrm{bol}})<4.2`$, well below the X-ray saturation limit, $`\mathrm{log}(L_\mathrm{X}/L_{\mathrm{bol}})3`$. In addition, CRBR 15 exhibits excess emission at 2.2 $`\mu `$m (Wilking, Greene & Meyer 1999), and has a flux density of 40 mJy at 1.3 mm (Motte, Andre & Neri 1998). These observations indicate that it is associated with a circumstellar envelope or an accretion disk. Thus, radio emission from this source can be due to accretion or deuterium burning.

LHS 2243: This source is a slowly rotating, $`v\mathrm{sin}i<5`$ km sec-1, M8 dwarf. It shows evidence for weak persistent H$`\alpha `$ emission, as well as H$`\alpha `$ flares, with an increase of $`30`$ in the line equivalent width (Martín, Rebolo & Magazzu 1994; Gizis et al. 2000). The temperature of LHS 2243 is estimated to be $`2900`$ K (Martín, Rebolo & Magazzu 1994) based on the calibration of Kirkpatrick et al. (1993). This calibration provides the highest temperatures among the published temperature conversions (Martín, Rebolo & Magazzu 1994). Bessell (1991) suggested that this source is possibly as young as a $`\mathrm{few}\times 10^8`$ yr, based on its smaller proper motion compared to bluer stars. For an age of $`10^9`$ yr, the inferred mass, based on an upper limit on Li abundance and several evolutionary models is $`0.060.07`$ M (Martín, Rebolo & Magazzu 1994). If the source is younger than $`10^9`$ yr, the mass would be slightly higher.

TVLM 513-46546: This is a nearby M8.5 dwarf (Tinney 1993; Tinney et al. 1995; Reid et al. 2001). TVLM 513-46546 (hereafter TVLM 513) is the fastest rotator in our sample with $`v\mathrm{sin}i60`$ km sec-1, but it has only weak H$`\alpha `$ emission with equivalent width of 2.5Å (Martín, Rebolo & Magazzu 1994). Based on $`12.5`$ $`\mu `$m spectroscopy, and synthetic spectra fitting, Leggett et al. (2001) find $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{})3.65`$ and $`T2200`$ K for this source. We note however, that their temperature scale provides consistently lower temperatures relative to other estimates (see notes on LHS 2065 below).

LHS 2065: This source has spectral type M9 and relatively slow rotational velocity, $`v\mathrm{sin}i9`$ km sec-1 (Tinney & Reid 1998; Martín et al. 1999; Reid et al. 2001). It is active in H$`\alpha `$, exhibiting strong flares with a recurrence of $`<0.03`$ hr-1, and possibly more frequent weak flares at a rate $`0.5`$ hr-1 (Martín & Ardila 2001). There are several estimates of the effective temperature of this source in the literature, ranging from $`21002600`$ K. Leggett et al. (2001) provide an estimate of 2100 K (see notes on TVLM 513 above). Another estimate, based on near infrared photometry, provides a temperature of 2300 K (Leggett, Allard & Hauschildt 1998; Martín et al. 1999), while Martín, Rebolo & Magazzu (1994) provide a value of 2630 K (see notes on LHS 2243 above). The luminosity of LHS 2065 is estimated to be $`\mathrm{log}(L/L_{\mathrm{bol}})3.5`$ (Leggett et al. 2001), and its mass is estimated at $`0.060.1`$ M (Martín, Rebolo & Magazzu 1994) which places it close to the brown dwarf cutoff.

BRI 0021$``$0214: This nearby, M9.5 dwarf is a rapid rotator, $`v\mathrm{sin}i40`$ km sec-1 (Basri & Marcy 1995; Tinney & Reid 1998), but it exhibits no persistent H$`\alpha `$ emission (Tinney & Reid 1998). Reid et al. (1999) discovered an H$`\alpha `$ flare from this source, with a peak emission three times lower than the mean quiescent emission of early M dwarfs. In addition, BRI 0021$``$0214 (hereafter BRI 0021) has an upper limit on X-ray emission of $`\mathrm{log}(L_X/L_{\mathrm{bol}})<4.7`$, well below the X-ray saturation limit of $`\mathrm{log}(L_X/L_{\mathrm{bol}})3`$ for X-ray active stars (Neuhäuser et al. 1999). Leggett et al. (2001) estimate the temperature of this source at 2100 K, and its luminosity at $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{})3.4`$. Finally, Martín, Basri & Zapatero Osorio (1999) find an upper limit on Li EW of $`<0.08`$ Å. The rapid rotation, flaring emission, and lack of persistent H$`\alpha `$ and X-ray emission indicate that this source is an analog of LP 944-20.

PC 0025+0447: This source is possibly a young ($`<1`$ Gyr) brown dwarf (M$`<0.06`$ M; Martín, Basri, & Zapatero Osorio 1999), based on the detection of Li with EW$`=1.0\pm 0.3`$ Å. PC 0025+0447 (hereafter PC 0025) exhibits very strong and persistent H$`\alpha `$ emission (Graham et al. 1992; Mould et al. 1994). Burgasser et al. (2000), on the other hand, suggest that PC 0025 is an interacting binary in order to explain the Li and H$`\alpha `$ observations. The rotational velocity of PC 0025 is surprisingly low, $`v\mathrm{sin}i13\pm 3`$ km sec-1, given the strong level of H$`\alpha `$ activity. In addition, PC 0025 has an upper limit on X-ray emission of $`\mathrm{log}L_\mathrm{X}<27.2`$ erg sec-1 (Neuhäuser et al. 1999). The bolometric luminosity of this source is estimated at $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{})3.7`$ (Schneider et al. 1991), giving $`\mathrm{log}(L_X/L_{\mathrm{bol}})<2.7`$. The slow rotation and strong H$`\alpha `$ activity place PC 0025 on the opposite end of the activity-rotation spectrum from BRI 0021 and LP 944-20.

2MASP J0345432+254023: This source is an isolated L0 dwarf, but it is still not clear whether it is a low mass star or a brown dwarf younger than $`1`$ Gyr (Kirkpatrick, Beichman & Skrutskie 1997). Leggett et al. (2001) estimate the luminosity of 2MASP J0345432+254023 (hereafter 2MASP 0345+25) at $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{})3.6`$, with an effective temperature of 2000 K (see notes on TVLM 513 above). 2MASP 0345+25 has an upper limit on H$`\alpha `$ emission of $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{H}\alpha }/L_{\mathrm{bol}})5.6`$.

2MASSW J0036159+182110: This source is a recently-discovered L3.5 candidate brown dwarf (Kirkpatrick et al. 2000; Gizis et al. 2000; Reid et al. 2000). 2MASSW J0036159+182110 (hereafter 2MASS 0036+18) shows no evidence of Li or H$`\alpha `$, with upper limits of EW$`<0.1`$Å (Reid et al. 2000; Kirkpatrick et al. 2000). The temperature of 2MASS 0036+18 is estimated to be 1800 K based on the spectra and models of Leggett et al. (2001).

GD 165B: This source is a rapidly-rotating, $`v\mathrm{sin}i37`$ km sec-1, L4 dwarf orbiting a white dwarf primary (Becklin & Zuckerman 1988). Kirkpatrick et al. (1999) used model atmospheres, including the effects of condensation and dust opacities, to estimate the temperature of this source, $`T1900`$ K, and in addition used the cooling age of the white dwarf primary to estimate the age of GD 165B at $`1.25.5`$ Gyr. Based on these two quantities they conclude that this source is likely a brown dwarf. The luminosity of GD 165B is estimated at $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{})4.1`$ (Leggett et al. 2001). Along with DENIS-P J1228.2$``$1547 (see below), and possibly PC 0025, observations of GD 165B can be used to test the effect of binarity on radio emission from late dwarfs, and the 4” separation between the binary members allows us to pinpoint the source of any radio emission from the system.

2MASSW J1507476$``$162738: This source is a nearby L5 dwarf (Reid et al. 2000,2001). 2MASSW J1507476$``$162738 (hereafter 2MASS 1507$``$16) has only upper limits on Li and H$`\alpha `$ of $`<0.1`$ Å and $`<0.5`$ Å, respectively (Kirkpatrick et al. 2000; Reid et al. 2000).

DENIS-P J1228.2$``$1547: This source is an L5 brown dwarf exhibiting relatively slow rotation, $`v\mathrm{sin}i11`$ km sec-1, and no detectable H$`\alpha `$ emission, $`\mathrm{log}(L_{H\alpha }/L_{\mathrm{bol}})5.3`$ (Martín et al. 1997; Delfosse et al. 1997; Tinney, Delfosse & Forveille 1997). The bolometric luminosity of DENIS-P J1228.2$``$1547 (hereafter DENIS 1228) is estimated to be $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{})4`$ to $`4.3`$ (Leggett et al. 2001; Martín et al. 1997; Delfosse et al. 1997; Tinney, Delfosse & Forveille 1997), and its effective temperature is 1800 K (Leggett et al. 2001). In addition, DENIS 1228 has an upper limit on X-ray emission of $`\mathrm{log}L_\mathrm{X}<27.3`$ erg sec-1, and $`\mathrm{log}(L_X/L_{\mathrm{bol}})<2.3`$. Based on the detection of Li and the estimated effective temperature, the age and mass of DENIS 1228 are estimated to be M$`<0.065`$ M and $`t<1`$ Gyr (Tinney, Delfosse & Forveille 1997). Finally, Martín, Brandner & Basri (1999) have shown that DENIS 1228 is in fact a brown dwarf binary with a projected separation of approximately 5 AU. While our observations cannot resolve the system, we can study the combined emission, and effect of binarity on the production of this emission.

SDSS J134646.45-003150.4: This is the only methane (spectral class T6; Burgasser et al. 2001; Geballe et al. 2001) brown dwarf in the sample. It has a slightly higher effective temperature than that of two other known methane brown dwarfs, GL 229B and SDSS J162414.37+002915.6 (Tsvetanov et al. 2000), and it is inactive in H$`\alpha `$, with $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{H}\alpha }/L_{\mathrm{bol}})5.3`$ (Burgasser et al. 2000). The bolometric luminosity of SDSS J134646.45-003150.4 (hereafter SDSS 1346) is $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{bol}}/L_{})5.3`$ (Burgasser et al. 2001; Tsvetanov et al. 2000). At a distance of only $`11`$ pc (Tsvetanov et al. 2000) SDSS 1346 is an excellent candidate for the detection of radio emission from this class of objects.

## 3. Radio Observations

Very Large Array (VLA111The VLA is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.) observations were conducted at 8.46 GHz in the standard continuum mode with $`2\times 50`$ MHz contiguous bands. A log of all observations is given in Table 2. Following the detection of emission from BRI 0021 at 8.46 GHz, we also observed this source at 4.86 GHz. In all observations we used the extra-galactic sources 3C 48 (J0137+331) and 3C 286 (J1331+305) for flux calibration, while the phase was monitored using calibrator sources within $`5^{}`$ of the survey sources.

The first set of observations was undertaken in the A and A$``$B configurations. Unfortunately, half the data in these observations had to be discarded due to a malfunction of the lower Intermediate Frequency channel, and the resulting rms noise levels are therefore higher than the theoretical values by $`\sqrt{2}`$. We repeated a subset of these observations over a period of approximately three weeks in the CnB configuration. The final set of observations, with five new targets was undertaken in the DnC configuration.

The data were reduced and analyzed using the Astronomical Image Processing System (AIPS, release 31DEC1999; Fomalont 1981). Both the visibility data and maps were inspected for data quality and noisy points were removed. To search for flares, we constructed lightcurves using the following method. We removed all the bright background sources in each image using the AIPS/IMAGR routine to CLEAN the region around each source, and the AIPS/UVSUB routine to subtract the resulting source models from the visibility data. We then plotted the real part of the complex visibilities at the position of each target source as a function of time using the AIPS/UVPLT routine. The background source subtraction is necessary since the side-lobes of these sources, and the change in the synthesized beam shape during the observation result in flux variations over the map, which may contaminate any real variability or generate false variability.

The uncertainties in the resulting lightcurves (Figures 14) are dominated by system thermal noise. The system temperature includes contribution from background sources, the sky, and hardware (e.g. receivers). At the observing frequency used in this survey, 8.46 GHz, the dominating term is the receiver noise. As a result, there are no significant systematic effects since in all cases the sources were located within a few arcseconds of the array pointing center, and the background source subtraction successfully removed possible contaminating sources. In fact, the plotted uncertainties, as well as the rms noise from the maps, are within a few percent of the theoretical noise estimates for the VLA at 8.46 GHz.

To further test the veracity of the resulting lightcurves and uncertainty estimates we constructed equivalent lightcurves for random positions on each map. We find that on average the fluctuations in these lightcurves do not exceed $`2\sigma `$, and the noise estimates are similar.

## 4. Results

We detected flares and persistent emission from TVLM 513, 2MASS 0036+18, and, with lower significance, from BRI 0021. Figures 14 show the lightcurves for observations of these sources. The peak flux densities range from $`360`$ $`\mu `$Jy in BRI 0021 to $`980`$ $`\mu `$Jy in TVLM 513, and the flare timescales (FWHM) range from $`6`$ min in BRI 0021 to $`20`$ min in 2MASS 0036+18. The resulting duty cycles, defined as the ratio of the time the sources produce flares to the total observing time, are $`210\%`$. In the case of BRI 0021, the value of 2% is consistent with a duty cycle of $`7\%`$ for H$`\alpha `$ flares (Reid et al. 1999). The duty cycles of all three sources are consistent with an average H$`\alpha `$ flare duty cycle of $`7\%`$ for late M dwarfs (Gizis et al. 2000).

The fraction of circular polarization during the flares is significant in TVLM 513, $`f_{\mathrm{circ}}66\pm 4\%`$, and 2MASS 0036+18, $`f_{\mathrm{circ}}62\pm 5\%`$, but is somewhat lower in BRI 0021, $`f_{\mathrm{circ}}30\pm 20\%`$ (see Figures 1 and 3, and Table 3). The negative value for 2MASS 0036+18 indicates that the emission is left-handed circularly polarized.

In addition, we clearly detect persistent emission from TVLM 513 and 2MASS 0036+18, with flux densities of $`190`$ $`\mu `$Jy and $`240`$ $`\mu `$Jy, respectively. In the initial observation of 2MASS 0036+18 the persistent flux density was only $`130`$ $`\mu `$Jy. The detection of persistent emission from BRI 0021 is marginal, with an average value of $`40\pm 13`$ $`\mu `$Jy at 8.46 GHz from the combined observations is January and May. At 4.86 GHz the flux from this source is $`40\pm 18`$ $`\mu `$Jy, and it is not clear whether persistent emission is detected.

In addition to the change in persistent flux between the two observations of
2MASS 0036+18, the persistent emission from this source and TVLM 513 appears to vary within each observation. In the case of 2MASS 0036+18 the source brightened over the last 60 min of observation on Oct 9, possibly indicating a second strong flare (Figure 3). The sharp decrease in flux over the first 30 min of the observation could be the exponential tail of an earlier strong flare. An increase in flux was also observed towards the end of the observation from Sep 23 (Figure 2). In both cases, the rise time is similar to the observed flare from Oct 9, indicating that perhaps strong flares from this source are common, and have similar profiles.

It is therefore possible that the persistent emission is simply a superposition of several, possibly weaker, flares. If this is the case, the flare duty cycles for these two sources approach 100%. This is similar to LHS 2065, in which Martín & Ardila (2001) find that weak H$`\alpha `$ flares may be more common than strong flares (see §2). The implications of such sustained flaring emission are discussed in §6.

We find no evidence for flares from the other nine sources. However, for most of the sources this is not surprising given the observed duty cycles of strong flares, and the required luminosities for a significant detection. The most luminous flare in the sample, from TVLM 513, can only be detected out to a distance of $`20`$ pc with significance $`5\sigma `$. Five of the nine undetected sources lie at or beyond this distance. For the other four sources the flares could be weaker, undetected in the short observations ($`2`$ hr), or simply do not exist. Therefore, the lack of radio emission does not significantly constrain the production of flares in these sources, and the upper limits only provide constraints on the persistent emission.

The strong quiescent emission in TVLM 513 and 2MASS 0036+18 can only be detected out to a distance of $`15`$ pc in similar observations. Thus, some of the non-detections do not provide significant constraints given the detected luminosities. In Figures 5 and 6, and §6 we show that most of the upper limits on the ratio of radio luminosity to bolometric luminosity are consistent with the persistent luminosities of the detected sources. The most notable exception is the upper limit on emission from LHS 2065. We see from Figures 5 and 6 that the upper limit is comparable to the detection of quiescent emission from LP944-20 and the possible quiescent emission from BRI 0021. This non-detection also contrasts with the detection of H$`\alpha `$ emission from this source (Martín & Ardila 2001). In addition, a comparison of the upper limits from Krishnamurthi, Leto & Linsky (1999) to the detections in this survey provides significant constraints on the lack of emission from their M7-M9 objects. As shown in Figures 5 and 6, their upper limits are up to an order of magnitude fainter in $`L_{\mathrm{rad}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ than the detected sources in this survey. We discuss the implications of these non-detections in detail in §6.

## 5. Analysis of the Radio Emission

To derive the properties of the flares and persistent emission, and the physical conditions that give rise to this radio emission, we model the lightcurves of TVLM 513 and BRI 0021 with a Gaussian profile:

$$F_\nu (t)=F_{\nu ,\mathrm{q}}+F_{\nu ,0}\mathrm{exp}\left[\frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{tt_0}{\sigma _\mathrm{t}}\right)^2\right].$$
(1)
Here, $`F_{\nu ,\mathrm{q}}`$ is the quiescent component, $`t_0`$ is the flare peak time relative to the start of the observation, $`\sigma _\mathrm{t}`$ is the HWHM duration of the flare, $`F_{\nu ,0}`$ is the peak flux, and we absorbed the normalization factor of $`1/\sqrt{2\pi \sigma _\mathrm{t}^2}`$ into the definition of $`F_{\nu ,0}`$. The lightcurve of 2MASS 0036+18 from Oct 9 is not well-described by this model, and we instead use an exponential profile, in which the Gaussian in Equation 1 is replaced by rising and decaying exponentials with timescales $`\tau _\mathrm{r}`$ and $`\tau _\mathrm{d}`$, respectively (Figure 3). In Table 3 we summarize the derived parameters for each source. We note that the profile of the flare from 2MASS 0036+18 is somewhat unusual since flares usually exhibit a rapid rise and exponential decay as opposed to the slow rise and fast decay in this case (Figure 3). A similar profile was found for two of the three flares from LP 944-20 (B01).

The fits to the lightcurves of TVLM 513 (Figure 1) and 2MASS 0036+18 (Figure 3), have unsatisfactory $`\chi ^2`$ values, $`3`$ per degree of freedom. This is due to significant variability in the persistent component, indicating that it is possibly a superposition of multiple flares, rather than a truly constant component.

The statistical significance of the flare detections are determined by the level at which we can rule out the hypothesis that $`F_{\nu ,0}=0`$ in Equation 1, coupled with the number of time bins in each lightcurve. For the flares from TVLM 513 and 2MASS 0036+18 the detections are secure, with significance levels of $`20\sigma `$. The flare from BRI 0021 has a lower statistical significance of $`4.5\sigma `$, but this is still high enough for a significant detection. We further tested the significance of this flare by constructing equivalent lightcurves for random positions on the map. We find an average fluctuation of $`2\sigma `$, and no fluctuations larger than $`2.5\sigma `$, indicating that the increase in flux in BRI 0021 is a likely flare.

It is important to note that even if the short-timescale increase in flux in the BRI 0021 lightcurve is simply a $`4.5\sigma `$ statistical fluctuation in the lightcurve, the flux density of this source from the combined observations on Jan 25 and May 21 is $`83\pm 15`$ $`\mu `$Jy, and hence significant at the $`5.5\sigma `$ level. Therefore, whether this detection is of persistent emission or a faint flare, this source is radio active.

The peak-flare luminosities are in the range $`L_{\nu ,\mathrm{f}}(613)\times 10^{13}`$ erg sec-1 Hz-1, more luminous than the brightest Solar flares, $`L_{\nu ,\mathrm{f}}2\times 10^{12}`$ erg sec-1 Hz-1 (Bastian, Benz & Gary 1998), but somewhat weaker than flares from active early M dwarfs (e.g. White, Jackson & Kundu 1989). The ratio of flaring radio to bolometric luminosity is higher by a factor of $`10^5`$ than for Solar flares, but is very similar to flares on early M dwarfs (see Figures 5 and 6) since the lower luminosity of the flares relative to those from early M dwarfs is compensated by the lower bolometric luminosity of the late M and L dwarfs in this sample. The persistent luminosities are lower by factors of 3, 5, and 9 than the flare luminosities in 2MASS 0036+18, TVLM 513, and BRI 0021, respectively.

The radio band energy release in the flares is $`E_R1.4\times 10^{23}d_{\mathrm{pc}}^2\nu _{\mathrm{GHz}}F_{\nu ,\mathrm{mJy}}\sigma _{t,\mathrm{min}}(210)\times 10^{26}`$ erg, with the lowest energy release in the flare from BRI 0021, and the highest in the flare from TVLM 513. In making this estimate we have assumed that the flare spectral energy distribution peaks near 8.5 GHz, and has steep spectral slopes below and above this frequency, so that the bulk of the energy release is at $`8.5`$ GHz. This assumption is justified since for synchrotron emission (see §5.2) the spectral slope below the peak (self-absorbed portion) is $`F_\nu \nu ^{2.5}`$, while above the peak typical values ranges from $`\nu ^{1.5}`$ to $`\nu ^4`$ (e.g. Dulk & Marsh 1982). The high fraction of circular polarization in the two bright flares from TVLM 513 and 2MASP 0345+25 indicates that the observing frequency (8.46 GHz) lies at or above the peak frequency, while observations of flares from several early M dwarfs (Leto et al. 2000) show that in these sources the flux drops significantly above 8.5 GHz. In fact, for the M5.5 dwarf UV Cet the spectral slope above 8.5 GHz is constrained to be lower than $`2.3`$. Therefore, it is likely that most of the energy in the observed flares in this survey is released at 8.5 GHz.

### 5.1. Violation of the Guedel–Benz relations

One of the puzzling facts about the radio emission from LP 944-20 (B01) is that despite its spectral type (M9) it violates the Guedel–Benz relations (which hold for spectral types $`<`$M7) by four orders of magnitude. Here we examine whether any of the sources detected in this survey show a similar violation of these relations.

Based on these relations, and the flare duty cycle we find that the expected X-ray luminosity of BRI 0021 is $`L_{\mathrm{X},\mathrm{pred}}2.6\times 10^{28}`$ erg sec-1, dominated by the persistent component. This value is $`10^3`$ times larger than an upper limit of $`L_\mathrm{X}<2.6\times 10^{25}`$ erg sec-1 from a 63.2 ksec ROSAT observation (Neuhäuser et al. 1999). Even if we neglect the persistent emission, the predicted luminosity due to flares is a factor of $`>150`$ too high. Finally, if the observed increase in the radio flux is a statistical fluctuation rather than a genuine flare, and the flux of the source is steady at $`83\pm 15`$ $`\mu `$Jy, this emission violates the Guedel–Benz relations by a factor of $`>1700`$. Therefore, regardless of whether the radio emission from this source is flaring or persistent (or both), it violates the Guedel–Benz relations by several orders of magnitude. This is puzzling since, as in the case of LP 944-20, BRI 0021 has spectral type M9.5, indicating that radio and X-ray emission become uncorrelated over a narrow range of spectral type.

As far as we know, TVLM 513 and 2MASS 0036+18 have not been observed in X-rays, so a similar analysis is not possible. However, we can still show that the radio emission from these sources is much stronger relative to the bolometric luminosity than in early-mid M dwarfs, based on a comparison of the predicted peak X-ray luminosity and the bolometric luminosity. In the case of TVLM 513, the predicted peak X-ray luminosity is $`4\times 10^{29}`$ erg sec-1, which is approximately 25% of the bolometric luminosity of this source. In 2MASS 0036+18 this ratio is even higher, $`50\%`$. Liebert et al. (1999), among others, have found a similar result for H$`\alpha `$ flares, and noted that these flares may release more energy relative to the bolometric luminosity than in earlier spectral types.

Therefore, while the Guedel–Benz relations hold for spectral types $`<`$M7, there is some indication from LP 944-20 and BRI 0021 that these relations break down around spectral type M9. This possibly indicates a sudden change in the mechanism that gives rise to the radio emission. We note that radio and X-ray observations of a larger sample are required to test this idea comprehensively.

### 5.2. Magnetic Fields and Coronal Densities

So far, we have analyzed the radio emission in a relatively model-independent way. However, the next step is to determine the emission mechanism and physical conditions that gave rise to the flares and persistent emission. The first step in this analysis is to calculate the brightness temperatures:

$$T_\mathrm{b}2\times 10^9F_{\nu ,\mathrm{mJy}}d_{\mathrm{pc}}^2\nu _{\mathrm{GHz}}^2(R/R_\mathrm{J})^2.$$
(2)
Assuming that the emission is coronal, we can use $`R(24)R_\mathrm{s}(24)R_\mathrm{J}`$ as the size of the corona in units of Jupiter radii (Linsky & Gary 1983; Dorman, Nelson, & Chau 1989; Burrows, Hubbard, & Lunine 1989; Chabrier et al. 2000; Leto et al. 2000). These size estimates lead to brightness temperatures of $`10^810^9`$ K during the flares, and $`10^710^8`$ K for the persistent emission. Alternatively, it is possible that the flares arise from much smaller regions (e.g. coronal loops), in which case the brightness temperatures would exceed $`10^{11}`$ K, if $`R_{\mathrm{loop}}0.1R_\mathrm{s}0.1R_\mathrm{J}`$. While we have no data to constrain the size of the coronae in these sources, it is likely that the actual brightness temperatures are within the range defined by these estimates.

The high brightness temperatures indicate that the emission is non-thermal. Most likely it arises from the incoherent gyrosynchrotron or synchrotron processes (Dulk & Marsh 1982; Dulk 1985), but coherent emission is also applicable if the flares actually have $`T_\mathrm{b}10^{11}`$ K. The high degree of circular polarization in the flares from TVLM 513 and 2MASS 0036+18 possibly favors coherent emission, but can also be achieved in gyrosynchrotron emission (Dulk 1987). On the other hand, the high frequency of the observed emission, $`\nu =8.46`$ GHz, favors incoherent emission since coherent emission is limited to $`10`$ GHz (Bastian, Benz & Gary 1998; Stepanov et al. 2001). Since it is not clear which emission process produces the observed radio emission, we estimate the magnetic field strengths and coronal densities using both.

To accurately calculate the magnetic field strengths and coronal densities in the radio active sources using the gyrosynchrotron formulation, requires detailed spectral and geometrical information, since the results depend sensitively on the high-frequency spectral slope, the viewing angle, and the geometry of the emission region (Dulk & Marsh 1982; Dulk 1985). For approximate values we can instead use the synchrotron formulation, along with the approximation $`f_{\mathrm{circ}}3/\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}`$, where $`\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}`$ is the minimum Lorentz factor of the radio-emitting electron distribution. For TVLM 513 and 2MASS 0036+18, the Lorentz factor is $`\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}5`$, while for BRI 0021 it is $`\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}10`$. The resulting magnetic field strengths are $`B57\nu _{\mathrm{m},\mathrm{GHz}}\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}^220`$ G in TVLM 513 and 2MASS 0036+18, and $`5`$ G in BRI 0021. These values should be treated with caution, and they can vary upward by an order of magnitude or more. In fact, if we choose characteristic values for the radio spectral index and the viewing angle, we find gyrosynchrotron values of $`B350`$ G for TVLM 513 and 2MASS 0036+18, and $`B50`$ G for BRI 0021.

For comparison, the Solar magnetic field as inferred from a multi-wavelength study of three Solar flares (Kundu et al. 2001) ranges from $`300900`$ G at the loop footpoints, while fields in active early M dwarfs reach strengths of a few kG (Saar & Linsky 1985; Haisch, Strong & Rodono 1991; Johns-Krull & Valenti 1996; Stepanov et al. 2001).

The total number of electrons in the synchrotron formulation is easily calculated using $`N_\mathrm{e}10^{36}d_{\mathrm{pc}}^2F_{\nu a,\mathrm{mJy}}\gamma _{\mathrm{min}}^2B_{\mathrm{min}}^2(520)\times 10^{33}`$. However, to calculate the densities we have to know the geometry of the flare region. In the gyrosynchrotron formulation, using the magnetic field values quoted above, we find column densities of $`10^{19}`$ cm-2 for TVLM 513 and 2MASS 0036+18, and $`10^{22}`$ cm-2 for BRI 0021. These densities are similar to those calculated for Solar and M dwarf flares (Bruggmann & Magun 1990; Stepanov et al. 2001).

Alternatively, if the flare brightness temperatures are of the order of $`10^{11}`$ K, then we must use coherent emission to estimate the magnetic field strengths and the densities. There are two main coherent processes, electron cyclotron maser (ECM), and plasma emission, which operate at the fundamental frequencies $`\nu _c2.8B`$ MHz and $`\nu _p9n^{1/2}`$ kHz, respectively. Recently, Stepanov et al. (2001) have shown for the flare star AD Leonis that emission due to the ECM process is strongly damped by thermal electrons in the corona. They conclude that for typical coronal temperatures and densities plasma emission is the more likely process.

Plasma radiation is primarily emitted at $`\nu \nu _p`$. Thus, we can simply use $`\nu _p8.5`$ GHz to find $`n10^{12}`$ cm-3, and approximate $`\nu _c0.5\nu _p`$ to find $`B1500`$ G. These values are consistent with the gyrosynchrotron-derived values. Therefore, we conclude that regardless of the exact emission mechanism or magnetic field configuration, the observations are consistent with magnetic fields in the range $`1010^3`$ G, and coronal densities of the order of $`10^{12}`$ cm-3. We discuss the implications of the inferred magnetic field values and coronal densities in more detail in §6.

### 5.3. Heating Mechanisms

We next investigate whether our radio data support a particular model of coronal particle acceleration. Heating can be due to acoustic waves generated by the same turbulent convection that presumably gives rise to the magnetic fields (Bohn 1984; Ulmschneider, Theurer, & Musielak 1996). Ulmschneider et al. (1996) provide an estimate of the total flux due to acoustic heating, $`F_\mathrm{A}`$, as a function of effective temperature and surface gravity based on an extended Kolmogorov turbulent energy spectrum. We use their Table 1 to estimate $`\mathrm{log}(L_\mathrm{A}/L_{\mathrm{bol}})13`$ for our survey sources. In comparison, the values for the observed radio flares are $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{rad},\mathrm{f}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}})6`$ (Figures 5 and 6). Therefore acoustic heating cannot supply the necessary energy to power the flares, and similarly, cannot explain the persistent emission with $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{rad},\mathrm{q}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}})7`$.

A more plausible heating mechanism is magnetic reconnection (Bastian, Benz & Gary 1998; Sturrock 1999). This model can also explain the persistent emission if it is a superposition of weaker flares. In the context of this model, the flares are produced when coronal magnetic loops reconnect, release energy, and create a current sheet along which ambient electrons are accelerated. Recent work on three-dimensional reconnection shows that the particles are accelerated into a power-law energy distribution (Schopper, Birk & Lesch 1999), as required for the synchrotron and gyrosynchrotron discussion in §5.2. The accelerated electrons drive an outflow of hot plasma into the corona as they interact with, and heat chromospheric material (i.e. chromospheric evaporation). The interaction of the outflowing plasma with the same electons produces X-ray emission via the bremsstrahlung process (Neupert 1968; Hawley et al. 1995; Guedel et al. 1996). This so-called Neupert effect indicates that there is a causal connection between particle acceleration, which is the source of radio emission, and plasma heating, which results in X-ray emission. This connection explains the phenomenological Guedel–Benz relations.

It is possible that the violation of the Guedel–Benz relations in the emission from LP 944-20 and BRI 0021 indicates that the Neupert effect no longer holds in late M dwarfs. A direct test of this possibility requires simultaneous observations of such sources in the radio and X-rays. Future surveys of activity in late M and L dwarfs would be considerably more effective if they followed such a strategy.

It is also possible that the energy source for the radio emission in the active survey sources and LP 944-20 is an altogether different process, in which case a causal relation between radio emission and activity in other bands would not be required. At present it is not possible to distinguish between these different possibilities, but future observations with wide spectral coverage will likely provide an answer.

## 6. Discussion

Before we proceed to interpret the results of this survey in the context of correlations between radio activity and physical source parameters, we summarize the main observational results: (i) the observed flares have approximately equal luminosity, ratio of radio to bolometric luminosity, and released energy, (ii) the persistent emission has approximately the same luminosity, and it appears to be variable, (iii) LHS 2065 has an upper limit on the ratio of radio to bolometric luminosity which is lower than the detected persistent emission, despite being active in H$`\alpha `$, (iv) the emission from BRI 0021, as well as LP 944-20, violates the Guedel–Benz relations by several orders of magnitude, (v) the inferred magnetic field strengths are $`1010^3`$ G, and the coronal densities are $`10^{12}`$ cm-3, and (vi) the heating mechanism is probably magnetic reconnection, but it is possible that the Neupert effect is violated.

A comparison of these results to the radio properties of LP 944-20 (B01) is illustrative. The peak luminosity of the flares from all four sources varies by only a factor of two, and the energy release only varies by a factor of five. The ratio of the flare peak luminosity to the bolometric luminosity of each source is $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{rad},\mathrm{f}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}})6`$, and the ratio for the quiescent luminosities is $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{rad},\mathrm{q}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}})7.5`$ to $`6.5`$ (Figures 5 and 6).

We find similar results when we compare this sample to other M dwarfs that have been observed in the radio. For example, flares have been detected from the dM3.5e dwarf Ad Leo (Stepanov et al. 2001), the dM4e dwarf Rst 137B (Lim 1993), and the dM5.5e dwarf Proxima Centauri (Lim, White & Slee 1996), with ratios of $`L_{\mathrm{rad}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ that are in the range of $`6`$ to $`8`$. These values are plotted in Figures 5 and 6a, and we can see that with the exception of the flare from Proxima Centauri, which is fainter by approximately two orders of magnitude, these values are similar to those observed in this survey and in LP 944-20. The flat distribution of $`L_{\mathrm{rad}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ for the flares from the sources with spectral types M8-L3.5, and perhaps M3.5-L3.5 (with the exception of Proxima Centauri), possibly points to a “saturation” effect, in which $`L_{\mathrm{rad},\mathrm{f}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ reaches a maximum value that is independent of spectral type or other physical properties. It is beyond the scope of this paper and data to assess this possibility in detail.

The pattern of persistent radio emission in early M dwarfs through L dwarfs is more puzzling. In Figures 5 and 6b we plot the ratios of persistent radio to bolometric luminosities for the detections and upper limits in this survey, the upper limits from Krishnamurthi, Leto & Linsky (1999), and detections in the range M3-M6.5 (Cash, Charles & Johnson 1980; Pallavicini, Wilosn & Lang 1985; Leto et al. 2000). Despite the small sample, there is a clear increase in the ratio of persistent radio to bolometric luminosity over the range M3-L3.5 (dashed and dotted lines in Figure 6b). This increase is in direct contradiction with the steep decline in H$`\alpha `$ activity beyond spectral type M7 (Gizis et al. 2000). In fact, while the H$`\alpha `$ activity drops by approximately 1.5 orders of magnitude between M7 and L3.5, the radio activity appears to increase by a similar amount in the same spectral range. This indicates that the radio and H$`\alpha `$ activity are probably not correlated at the bottom of the main sequence.

Another interesting result from Figure 6b is that there are several upper limits, which appear to fall below the apparent steady increase in $`L_{\mathrm{rad}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$. These upper limits are for 2MASS 1507$``$16 (L5) and SDSS 1346 (T6) from this survey, and five sources from Krishnamurthi, Leto & Linsky (1999): VB 8 (M7), VB 10 (M8), GL 569B (M8.5), LHS 2065 (M9), and Gl 229B (T); we use the upper limit for LHS 2065 from Krishnamurthi, Leto & Linsky (1999) since it is approximately 3 times lower than the value measured in our survey. While some variance in activity levels within the sample of M and L dwarfs is not unexpected, it is interesting to investigate whether these source have some property which differentiates them from the detected sources. In Figure 7 we plot the ratio of persistent radio to bolometric luminosity as a function of the source rotational velocity, and we find that of these seven sources the three with measured rotational velocities have $`v\mathrm{sin}i<10`$ km sec-1, while the detected sources have $`v\mathrm{sin}i>30`$ km sec-1. In fact, the source with the most constraining upper limit (VB 8) has the lowest rotational velocity in the sample, while the source with the highest value of $`L_{\mathrm{rad}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ (TVLM 513) has the highest rotational velocity. The upper limit on the radio activity from the fast rotator Kelu 1 (Krishnamurthi, Leto & Linsky 1999), with $`v\mathrm{sin}i60`$ km sec-1 (Basri et al. 2000) is three times higher than the detected fast rotators, and therefore does not constrain the possible relation between radio activity and rotational velocity.

We note that while these sources provide tantalizing evidence for a relation between rapid rotation and radio activity, the sample is still very small. Future observations of a larger sample will provide a better test of this possible relation. However, it is already possible to rule out the idea that high rotational velocities quench the magnetic dynamo through supersaturation (Randich 1998), as was inferred from the drop in persistent H$`\alpha `$ and X-ray activity in late M and L dwarfs.

The most puzzling implication of the observed radio emission, regardless of its possible correlation with fast rotation, is that late M and L dwarfs posses appreciable and sustained magnetic fields, as well as high particle densities in at least some regions of their coronae. This result seems to contradict recent calculations by Mohanty et al. (2002) which indicate that the generation and propagation of magnetic energy decreases with decreasing effective temperature, resulting in a decrease of coronal activity in late spectral types.

In addition, the presence of magnetic fields and ionized material indicates that magnetic braking should have slowed these sources down considerably. Thus, it is not clear how these sources maintain such high rotational velocities.

No other correlations are apparent from the data. For example, the upper limit on the young object CRBR 15 is approximately five times higher than the faintest detected persistent emission, and therefore precludes any conclusion on the role of age in the production of radio emission. Similarly, the upper limits on emission from the confirmed binary systems DENIS 1228 and GD 165B are approximately forty times higher than the detected sources, and it is therefore not possible to assess the role of binary interaction in the production of radio emission.

## 7. Conclusions

We detected flaring and persistent emission at 8.46 GHz from the M and L dwarfs TVLM 513, 2MASS 0036+18, and BRI 0021, but no emission from the nine other survey sources. These observations lead to several interesting conclusions, which are puzzling given the decrease in persistent H$`\alpha `$ and X-ray activity in late M and L dwarfs.

The flares and persistent emission from the three survey sources, as well as LP 944-20 (B01) have similar properties. In particular, the emission from these sources has similar $`L_{\mathrm{rad}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}}`$ values, and energy release. This probably points to a common emission mechanism and physical conditions (e.g. magnetic fields) in these sources.

In addition, while the dependence of H$`\alpha `$ activity on rotation appears to break down in early-mid M dwarfs, the radio active sources for which the rotational velocity is known are rapid rotators, with the most luminous source in the sample, TVLM 513, having the highest rotational velocity, $`v\mathrm{sin}i60`$ km sec-1. At the same time, the limits on radio activity in three slow rotators from Krishnamurthi, Leto & Linsky (1999) indicate that they are less active than the detected sources in this sample, pointing to a possible relation between rotation and radio activity. Regardless of whether a correlation actually exists, the radio emission requires magnetic fields and coronal densities that should have resulted in significant slow-down due to magnetic braking. It is still not clear how these sources maintain their rapid rotation.

Possibly related to the differences in radio activity and other activity indicators is the violation of the Guedel–Benz relations in BRI 0021 and LP 944-20. In these two sources, the predicted X-ray emission is over-luminous relative to X-ray observations. This indicates that radio and X-ray activity are no longer correlated in some late M dwarfs, in the same way that radio and H$`\alpha `$ activity appear to be uncorrelated. Moreover, it appears that the breakdown in the Guedel–Benz relations occurs over a narrow spectral type range, M7-M9.

The observed persistent emission is clearly variable, possibly on a timescale of the order of one hour (Figures 1 and 3). It is possible that this emission is simply a superposition of weak flares, in which case the activity duty cycle is $`100\%`$. However, if this component is truly persistent over long timescales, it means that our understanding of magnetic field generation in very low mass stars is far from complete. Longer, multi-frequency observations are required for a thorough understanding of the origin of this emission component.

To address the possible correlation between rotation and radio activity, as well as the differences between the activity indicators (i.e. radio, H$`\alpha `$, and X-rays), and to gain a deeper understanding of physical processes in dwarf stars it is necessary to carry out a comprehensive, multi-wavelength survey of nearby M and L dwarfs. In particular, it is crucial to observe a wide variety of objects for each spectral type, and to reach ratios of $`\mathrm{log}(L_{\mathrm{rad}}/L_{\mathrm{bol}})<8`$. Despite the complexity of such an effort, the results will impact a wide range of fields from dynamo theory to the formation of brown dwarfs.

I thank B. Clarke for re-scheduling some of the VLA time awarded to this project. I also thank R. Rutledge, D. Frail, S. Kulkarni, and D. Reichart for valuable discussions, and the anonymous referee for many helpful comments and suggestions. This research has made use of the Online Brown Dwarf Catalog (http://ganymede.nmsu.edu/crom/cat.html), which is compiled and maintained by Christopher R. Gelino at New Mexico State University, the SIMBAD database operated at CDS, Strasbourg, France, and NASA’s Astrophysics Data System Abstract Service