A Possible Correlation between Metallicity and Near-IR Color for Late-M and L Dwarfs

We examine the relationship between metallicity and J - K color for 64 benchmark late-M and L dwarfs, all of which are wide companions to higher-mass stars, and six of which are new discoveries. We assess the correlation between the Delta(J - K) color anomaly (the difference in an object's J - K color from the median color for field objects of the same spectral type) and the metallicity of the host star to investigate how metallicity affects ultracool photospheres. Using Spearman's rank correlation test and Student's t-test, the late-M dwarf (L dwarf) sample's Delta(J - K) and metallicity show a positive correlation at the 95% (90%) confidence level. A linear fit to color anomaly as a function of metallicity finds a slope of 0.17 +/- 0.07 for the late-M dwarfs and a slope of 0.20-0.08+0.07 for the L dwarfs. We also computed the Delta(J - K) versus metallicity relationship predicted by multi-metallicity model spectra generated using Drift-Phoenix. The modeled late-M dwarfs show a slope of 0.202 +/- 0.03, which is close to our observational results, but the modeled L dwarfs show a slope of 0.493 +/- 0.02, steeper than our observational results. Both our empirical results and the models indicate that more metal-rich objects should appear redder photometrically. We speculate that higher metallicity drives more condensate formation in these atmospheres, thus making these ultracool dwarfs appear redder.