  Angular momentum loss requires magnetic interaction between the forming star
and both the circumstellar disk and the magnetically driven outflows. In order
to test these predictions many authors have investigated a rotation-disk
connection in pre-main sequence objects with masses larger than about 0.4Msun.
For brown dwarfs this connection was not investigated as yet because there are
very few samples available. We aim to extend this investigation well down into
the substellar regime for our large sample of BDs in the Orion Nebula Cluster,
for which we have recently measured rotational periods. In order to investigate
a rotation-disk correlation, we derived near-infrared (NIR) excesses for a
sample of 732 periodic variables in the Orion Nebula Cluster with masses
ranging between 1.5-0.02 Msun and whose IJHK colors are available.
Circumstellar NIR excesses were derived from the Delta[I-K] index. We performed
our analysis in three mass bins.We found a rotation-disk correlation in the
high and intermediate mass regime, in which objects with NIR excess tend to
rotate slower than objects without NIR excess. Interestingly, we found no
correlation in the substellar regime. A tight correlation between the
peak-to-peak (ptp) amplitude of the rotational modulation and the NIR excess
was found however for all objects with available ptp values. We discuss
possible scenarios which may explain the lack of rotation-disk connection in
the substellar mass regime. One possible reason could be the strong dependence
of the mass accretion rate on stellar mass in the investigated mass range.
