Tidally Delayed Spin-Down of Very Low Mass Stars

Abstract

Very low-mass main-sequence stars reveal some curious trends in observed rotation period distributions that require abating the spin-down that standard rotational evolution models would otherwise imply. By dynamically coupling magnetically mediated spin-down to tidally induced spin-up from close orbiting substellar companions, we show that tides from sub-stellar companions may explain these trends. In particular, brown dwarf companions can delay the spin-down and explain the dearth of field, late-type M dwarfs with intermediate rotation periods. We find that tidal forces also strongly influence stellar X-ray activity evolution, so that methods of gyrochronological aging must be generalized for stars with even sub-stellar companions. We also discuss how the theoretical predictions of the spin evolution model can be used with future data to constrain the population distribution of companion orbital separations.