Related papers: Progress in Modeling Very Low Mass Stars, Brown Dw…
We use HST/STIS optical spectroscopy of ten M dwarfs in five closely separated binary systems to test models of M dwarf structure and evolution. Individual dynamical masses ranging from 0.083 to 0.405 Mo for all stars are known from…
Spectral retrieval has long been a powerful tool for interpreting planetary remote sensing observations. Flexible, parameterised, agnostic models are coupled with inversion algorithms in order to infer atmospheric properties directly from…
Low-mass stars play a key role in many different areas of astrophysics. In this article, I provide a brief overview of the evolution of low-mass stars, and discuss some of the uncertainties and problems currently affecting low-mass stellar…
The understanding and modeling of the structure and evolution of stars is based on statistical physics as well as on hydrodynamics. Today, a precise identification and proper description of the physical processes at work in stellar…
The EBLM project aims to characterise very low-mass stars that are companions to solar-type stars in eclipsing binaries. We describe the history and motivation for this project, the methodology we use to obtain precise mass, radius and…
The atmospheres of substellar objects contain clouds of oxides, iron, silicates, and other refractory condensates. Water clouds are expected in the coolest objects. The opacity of these `dust' clouds strongly affects both the atmospheric…
Stellar, substellar, and planetary atmosphere models are all highly sensitive to the input opacities. Generational differences between various state-of-the-art stellar/planetary models are primarily because of incomplete and outdated…
In this brief contribution, I touch on a subset of recent efforts in spectral and opacity modeling aimed at improving our understanding of brown dwarfs, L dwarfs, and T dwarfs. I discuss theoretical calculations of the alkali line profiles,…
Metal-poor massive stars drive the evolution of low-mass galaxies, both locally and at high redshift. However, quantifying the feedback they impart to their local surroundings remains uncertain because models of stellar evolution, mass…
Brown dwarfs are essential targets for understanding planetary and sub-stellar atmospheres across a wide range of thermal and chemical conditions. As surveys continue to probe ever deeper, and as observing capabilities continue to improve,…
Significant populations of field L and T dwarfs are now known, and we anticipate the discovery of even cooler dwarfs by Spitzer and ground-based infrared surveys. However, as the number of known L and T dwarfs increases so does the range in…
We developed a simple, physical and self-consistent cloud model for brown dwarfs and young giant exoplanets. We compared different parametrisations for the cloud particle size, by either fixing particle radii, or fixing the mixing…
Recent discoveries from red optical proper motion and wide-field near-infrared surveys have uncovered a new population of ultracool subdwarfs, metal-poor stars and brown dwarfs extending into the late-type M, L and possibly T spectral…
Warm Saturn type exoplanets orbiting M-dwarfs are particularly suitable for in-depth cloud characterisation through transmission spectroscopy due to their favourable stellar to planetary radius contrast. However, modelling cloud formation…
We summarize some of the compelling new scientific opportunities for understanding stars and stellar systems that can be enabled by sub-milliarcsec (sub-mas) angular resolution, UV-Optical spectral imaging observations, which can reveal the…
We summarise recent progress in the understanding of the rotational evolution of low-mass stars (here defined as solar mass down to the hydrogen burning limit) both in terms of observations and modelling. Wide-field imaging surveys on…
The formation of low-mass protostars and especially of brown dwarfs currently are ``hot topics'' in cool star research. The talks contributed to this splinter session discussed how low in mass and how low in luminosity objects might exist,…
We apply the new generation of theoretical models of low-mass stars to secondaries in CVs, focussing on systems above the period gap. The models confirm that the spectral type should be a good indicator of the donor mass. The orbital…
In this review, we examine the successes and weaknesses of modern low-mass star and brown dwarf theory.(1) We first focus on the mechanical (equation of state) and thermal (atmosphere) properties and on the evolution. We then examine the…
Directly-imaged planetary-mass companions offer unique opportunities in atmospheric studies of exoplanets. They share characteristics of both brown dwarfs and transiting exoplanets, therefore, are critical for connecting atmospheric…