Related papers: Probing brown dwarf formation mechanisms with Gaia
Recent observations point to the presence of structured dust grains in the discs surrounding young brown dwarfs, thus implying that the first stages of planet formation take place also in the sub-stellar regime. Here, we investigate the…
The Taurus-Auriga complex is the prototypical low-mass star forming region, and provides a unique testbed of the star formation process, which left observable imprints on the spatial, kinematic, and temporal structure of its stellar…
Star cluster formation is a major mode of star formation in the extreme conditions of interacting galaxies and violent starbursts. Young clusters are observed to form in a variety of such galaxies, a substantial number resembling the…
The formation of brown dwarfs (BDs) due to the fragmentation of proto-stellar disks undergoing pairwise encounters was investigated. High resolution allowed the use of realistic initial disk models where both the vertical structure and the…
We present a comprehensive Bayesian statistical analysis of brown dwarf companions to investigate the physical mechanisms responsible for the observed ``brown dwarf desert'' -- the notable paucity of brown dwarf companions at orbital…
The origin of very low-mass hydrogen-burning stars, brown dwarfs, and planetary-mass objects at the low-mass end of the initial mass function is not yet fully understood. Gravitational fragmentation of circumstellar discs provides a…
Theory and simulations suggest that it is possible to form low-mass hydrogen-burning stars, brown dwarfs and planetary-mass objects via disc fragmentation. As disc fragmentation results in the formation of several bodies at comparable…
The Friends of Friends algorithm identifies groups of objects with similar spatial and kinematic properties, and has recently been used extensively to quantify the distributions of gas and stars in young star-forming regions. We apply the…
Brightness distribution of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) is studied in detail under the assumption that GRB rate is related to cosmic star formation rate. The two populations of the long- and short-duration bursts in the 4B BATSE catalog are…
We use the results of realistic N-body simulations to investigate the appearance of the white dwarf population in dense star clusters. We show that the presence of a substantial binary population in a star cluster, and the interaction of…
The lowest-mass stars, brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets present challenges and opportunities for understanding dynamics and cloud formation processes in low-temperature atmospheres. For brown dwarfs, the formation, variation and rapid…
After summarizing the characteristics of different types of dwarf galaxies I briefly review our current state of knowledge of dwarf galaxy evolution in the Local Group, for which we now have a fairly detailed although by no means…
Most stars are born in clusters and the resulting gravitational interactions between cluster members may significantly affect the evolution of circumstellar discs and therefore the formation of planets and brown dwarfs. Recent findings…
Direct imaging searches have begun to detect planetary and brown dwarf companions and to place constraints on the presence of giant planets at large separations from their host star. This work helps to motivate such planet searches by…
We discuss the observations and theory of star cluster formation to argue that clusters form dynamically cool (subvirial) and with substructure. We then perform an ensemble of simulations of cool, clumpy (fractal) clusters and show that…
As astronomers, we are living an exciting time for what concerns the search for other worlds. Recent discoveries have already deeply impacted our vision of planetary formation and architectures. Future bio-signature discoveries will…
Almost all young stars are found in multiple systems. This suggests that protostellar cores almost always fragment into multiple objects. The observed properties of multiple systems such as their separation distribution and mass ratios…
Whilst there is a generally accepted evolutionary scheme for the formation of low-mass stars, the analogous processes when moving down in mass to the brown dwarfs regime are not yet well understood. In this first paper we try to build the…
The evolution of star clusters is determined by several internal and external processes. Here we focus on two dominant internal effects, namely energy exchange between stars through close encounters (two-body relaxation) and mass-loss of…
Planets have been detected around a variety of stars, including low-mass objects, such as brown dwarfs. However, such extreme cases are challenging for planet formation models. Recent sub-millimeter observations of disks around brown dwarf…