Isella, Andrea2023-08-092023-08-092023-052023-04-19May 2023Ling, Jason. "Characterization of Radio Emission from Young Stellar Objects." (2023) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/115181">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/115181</a>.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/115181The discovery and characterization of planetary systems have been a prime focus in the field of astronomy for the past few decades. However, in spite of such collective interest and efforts, there still remain many under-explored paths, such as in the realm of star and planet formation. Additionally, these stars and their planets do not act in isolation, as their interactions with one another may produce observable signals. And although these exosolar planets have been probed all across the electromagnetic spectrum, one particularly undersampled region has been radio wavelengths at centimeter scales and larger. As such, the intersection of star/planet formation, along with their associated star-planet interactions, and long-wavelength/low-frequency radio observations is a pursuit that contains a wealth of unexplored potential. %\ai{[I would add that radio observations might inform about the star-planet interaction.]} This thesis explores the observational results of detecting radio emissions from young stellar objects (YSOs), primarily using the Very Large Array (VLA). The findings are discussed in the context of likely physical mechanisms that produce the observed signals, which would inform us of the energetic phenomena that occur at a time when planets are still undergoing formation. Novel results are presented from large surveys at radio wavelengths, revealing new detections and characterization of the emission from YSOs, as well as providing constraints on such emission from planetary-mass objects. Results from numerous low-frequency projects were studied, including all-sky surveys such as the 74 MHz VLA Low-frequency Sky Survey redux, the 150 MHz TIFR GMRT Sky Survey, the 1.4 GHz NRAO VLA Sky Survey, and the 3 GHz VLA Sky Survey, as well as a targeted large program of 66 young stellar systems with the Disks@EVLA project at 5.8 GHz, 21 GHz, 34 GHz, and 41 GHz. These findings are analyzed in the context of possible emission mechanisms, connecting to the physics that explains what we are detecting. By consulting various models and theories on low-frequency radio emissions, estimates of physical quantities related to the emission are calculated using our results. Altogether, we present an observationally-motivated and comprehensive view of the low-frequency radio spectrum of YSOs.application/pdfengCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.AstronomyYoung Stellar ObjectsRadio AstronomyThesis2023-08-09