Related papers: Astro2020 Science White Paper: Fundamental Physics…
A suite of discoveries in the last two decades demonstrate that we are now at a point where incorporating magnetic behavior is key for advancing our ability to characterize substellar and planetary systems. The next decade heralds the…
Macroscopic dark matter -- "macros"-- refers to a broad class of alternative candidates to particle dark matter with still unprobed regions of parameter space. These candidates would transfer energy primarily through elastic scattering with…
Being one of the most fundamental physical parameter of astronomical objects, mass plays a vital role in the study of exoplanets, including their temperature structure, chemical composition, formation, and evolution. However, nearly a…
We describe spectroscopic observations of 21 low-mass (<0.45 M_sun) white dwarfs (WDs) from the Palomar-Green Survey obtained over four years. We use both radial velocities and infrared photometry to identify binary systems, and find that…
White dwarfs and neutron stars are stellar objects with masses comparable to that of our sun. However, as the endpoint stages of stellar evolution, these objects do not sustain any thermonuclear burning and therefore can no longer support…
White dwarfs are a class of stars with unique physical properties. They present many challenging problems whose solution requires the application of advanced theories of dense matter, state-of-the-art experimental techniques, and extensive…
Understanding demographic properties of planet populations and multiple star systems constrains theories of planet and star formation. Surveys for very low-mass companions to M-A type stars detect brown dwarfs from multiple star formation…
The fundamental properties of low-mass stars are not as well understood as those of their more massive counterparts. The best method for constraining these properties, especially masses and radii, is to study eclipsing binary systems, but…
6500+ exoplanets have been detected using various techniques. This prompted the emergence of many recent works on the taxonomy, or classification, of exoplanets. However, there is still no basic, fundamental definition of 'What is a…
Young brown dwarfs and directly-imaged exoplanets have enticingly similar photometric and spectroscopic characteristics, indicating that their cool, low gravity atmospheres should be studied in concert. Similarities between the peculiar…
Magnetic fields are present in roughly 10% of white dwarfs. These fields affect the structure and evolution of such stars, and may provide clues about their earlier evolution history. Particularly important for statistical studies is the…
It is estimated that ~60% of all stars (including brown dwarfs) have masses below 0.2Msun. Currently, there is no consensus on how these objects form. I will briefly review the four main theories for the formation of low-mass objects:…
Probing the existence of hypothetical particles beyond the Standard model often deals with extreme parameters: large energies, tiny cross-sections, large time scales, etc. Sometimes laboratory experiments can test required regions of…
The initial-final mass relationship of white dwarfs, which is poorly constrained, is of paramount importance for different aspects in modern astrophysics. From an observational perspective, most of the studies up to now have been done using…
The physics of brown dwarfs has continuously improved since the discovery of these astrophysical bodies. The first important developments were devoted to the description of their mechanical structure, with the derivation of an appropriate…
This paper gives an overview of the properties of all possible equilibrium sequences of compact strange-matter stars with nuclear crusts, which range from strange stars to strange dwarfs. In contrast to their non-strange counterparts,…
Having discovered that Earth-sized planets are common, we are now embarking on a journey to determine if Earth-like planets are also common. Finding Earth-like planets is one of the most compelling endeavors of the 21st century - leading us…
Since the discovery of the first bona-fide brown dwarfs and extra-solar planets in 1995, the field of low mass stars and substellar objects has considerably progressed, both from theoretical and observational viewpoints.Recent developments…
Aims. The project aims to understand better the role of wide brown dwarf companions on planetary systems. Methods. We obtained high-resolution spectra of six bright stars with co-moving wide substellar companions with the SONG, CARMENES,…
I report the results of a survey for low-mass (0.030 <~ M <~ 0.013 M_solar) brown dwarfs in the direction of the TW Hya association using 2MASS. Two late-M dwarfs show signs of low surface gravity and are strong candidates to be young,…