Related papers: Probing brown dwarf formation mechanisms with Gaia
White dwarfs (WDs) are powerful tools to study the evolutionary history of stars and binaries in the Galaxy. But do we understand their multiplicity from a theoretical point of view? This can be tested by a comparison with the sample of WDs…
We examine the dynamical destruction of binary systems in star clusters of different densities. We find that at high densities (10^4 - 10^5 Msun pc^-3) almost all binaries with separations > 10^3 AU are destroyed after a few crossing times.…
We have undertaken a series of hydrodynamic + N-body simulations in order to explore the properties of young stars. Our results suggest that the IMF may be sensitive to environment in its substellar region, with more brown dwarfs being…
Simulations of galaxy formation are mostly unable to resolve the energy-conserving phase of individual supernova events, having to resort to subgrid models to distribute the energy and momentum resulting from stellar feedback. However, the…
Most stars form in highly clustered environments within molecular clouds, but eventually disperse into the distributed stellar field population. Exactly how the stellar distribution evolves from the embedded stage into gas-free associations…
Hundreds of circumstellar disks in the Orion nebula are being rapidly destroyed by the intense ultraviolet radiation produced by nearby bright stars. These young, million-year-old disks may not survive long enough to form planetary systems.…
The birth of stars involves not only accretion but also, counter-intuitively, the expulsion of matter in the form of highly supersonic outflows. Although this phenomenon has been seen in young stars, a fundamental question is whether it…
The smallest dwarf galaxies are the most straight forward objects in which to study star formation processes on a galactic scale. They are typically single cell star forming entities, and as small potentials in orbit around a much larger…
The preponderance of binary systems in all known stellar populations makes them exciting dynamical agents for research on topics as varied as star formation, star-cluster dynamics and the interiors of young and old stars. Today we know that…
We suggest that planets, brown dwarfs, and even low mass stars can be formed by fragmentation of protoplanetary disks around very massive stars M>~100 solar masses. We discuss how fragmentation conditions make the formation of very massive…
I review observational studies of the large-scale star formation process in nearby galaxies. A wealth of new multi-wavelength data provide an unprecedented view on the interplay of the interstellar medium and (young) stellar populations on…
We address the question of the occurrence of star formation bursts in the solar neighbourhood by using the metallicity distribution of the G dwarfs. We present a method to recover the star formation history using simultaneously the…
The process that leads to the formation and early evolution of low-mass stars is in a broad sense well understood theoretically and carefully traced observationally. The largest uncertainties in this framework reside in the poorly known…
Surveys of the binary populations in the solar neighbourhood have shown that the periods of G- and M-type stars are log-normally distributed. However, observations of young binary populations suggest a log-uniform distribution. Clearly some…
Blue stragglers are thought to be formed from the merger or coalescence of two stars, but the details of their formation in clusters has been difficult to disentangle. We discuss the two main formation mechanisms for blue stragglers…
Stars form in embedded star clusters which play a key role in determining the properties of a galaxy's stellar population. Physical mechanisms discussed in this paper are runaway stars shot out from young clusters, binary-star disruption in…
Dynamical evolution plays a key role in shaping the current properties of star clusters and star cluster systems. A detailed understanding of the effects of evolutionary processes is essential to be able to disentangle the properties which…
The formation of globular clusters remains an open debate. Dwarf starburst galaxies are efficient at forming young massive clusters with similar masses as globular clusters and may hold the key to understanding their formation. We study…
Stars rarely form in isolation. Nearly half of the stars in the Milky Way have a companion, and this fraction increases in star-forming regions. However, why some dense cores and filaments form bound pairs while others form single stars…
The earliest evolution of star clusters involves a phase of co-existence of both newly-formed stars, and the gas from which they are forming. Observations of the gas in such regions provide a wealth of data that can inform the simulations…