Using both the Very Large Array (VLA) at 7mm wavelength, and the Australia
Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) at 3mm, we have searched for microwave emission
from from cool dust in the extrasolar planetary system Gliese 876 (Gl 876).
Having detected no emission above our 3-sigma detection threshold of 135
microJy, we rule out any dust disk with either a mass greater than 0.0006 Earth
masses or less than ~250 AU across. This result improves on previous detection
aperture thresholds an order of magnitude greater, and it has some implications
for the dynamical modeling of the system. It also is consistent with the
Greaves et al. hypothesis that relates the presence of a debris disk to
close-in planets. Due to the dust-planetesimal relationship, our null result
may also provide a constraint on the population or composition of the dust and
small bodies around this nearby M dwarf.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astonomical Journal. 13 pages including 1
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