Non-Thermal Radio Emission From Flare Stars and RS CVn Systems

Abstract

We review the observations of continuum radio emission from flares on red dwarf stars and from outbursts on RS CVn Systems. In the RS CVn systems, the emission appears to be mainly incoherent, whereas in the flare stars, particularly at the lower frequencies, a coherent mechanism must be at work. In the RS CVn systems, it appears that during a radio outburst, a large fraction of the coronal electrons become highly energetic. We interpret this in the context of deposition of mechanical energy in the corona, followed by a turbulent cascade, and find that the electric fields induced in the corona of an RS CVn star may be large enough to give rise to electron runaway in certain large magnetic loops.