Two Models for the Radio Spectra of Stellar Flares

Abstract

AbstractThere are two current models for the typical radio spectra of flare stars, which have a broad peak around a frequency typically 1 – 10 GHz. One model involves both optically thick and optically thin emission, with the turnover attributed to the source becoming self-absorbed. The other model involves only emission at optical depth unity, so that observing different frequencies corresponds to ‘seeing’ different regions in the source. The two models are reviewed, and new calculations for an inhomogeneous source presented.