Related papers: Brown Dwarfs from the Stellar Perspective
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…
We present a comparison of low-resolution spectra of 60 stars covering the whole M-dwarf sequence. Using the most recent PHOENIX BT-Settl stellar model atmospheres (see paper by F. Allard, in this book) we do a first quantitative compari-…
Precise measurements of the fundamental properties of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs are key to understanding the physics underlying their formation and evolution. While there has been great progress over the last decade in studying the…
Context. Being the most numerous and oldest stars in the galaxy, M dwarfs are objects of great interest for exoplanet searches. The presence of molecules in their atmosphere complicates our understanding of their atmospheric properties. But…
We present preliminary non-grey model atmospheres and interiors for cool brown dwarfs. The resulting synthetic spectra are compared to available spectroscopic and photometric observations of the coolest brown dwarf yet discovered, Gl229B…
Brown dwarfs are commonly regarded as easily-observed templates for exoplanet studies, with comparable masses, physical sizes and atmospheric properties. There is indeed considerable overlap in the photospheric temperatures of the coldest…
Brown dwarfs -- substellar bodies more massive than planets but not massive enough to initiate the sustained hydrogen fusion that powers self-luminous stars -- are born hot and slowly cool as they age. As they cool below about 2,300 K,…
We present a new generation of substellar atmosphere and evolution models, appropriate for application to studies of L, T, and Y-type brown dwarfs and self-luminous extrasolar planets. The atmosphere models describe the expected…
The results of a search for cool subdwarfs are presented. Kinematic (U, V, and W) and stellar parameters (Teff, log g, [Fe/H], and V_t) are derived for 134 candidate subdwarfs based on high resolution spectra. The observed stars span 4200K…
We have conducted a search for L subdwarf candidates within the photometric catalogues of the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey and Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Six of our candidates are confirmed as L subdwarfs spectroscopically at optical…
Ultracool subdwarfs are low luminosity, late-type M and L dwarfs that exhibit spectroscopic indications of subsolar metallicity and halo kinematics. Their recent discovery and ongoing investigation have led to new insights into the role of…
We present results of modeling of spectra of M-, L-, T-dwarfs. Theoretical spectra are fitted to observed spectra to study the main parameters of the low-mass objects beyond the bottom of Main Sequence. Application of ``lithium'' and…
We present a method for measuring the physical parameters of the coldest T-type brown dwarfs using low resolution near infrared spectra. By comparing H_2O- and H_2-sensitive spectral ratios between empirical data and theoretical atmosphere…
A number of so-called ultra-cool white dwarfs have been detected in different surveys so far. However, based on anecdotal evidence it is believed that most or all of these ultra-cool white dwarfs are low-mass products of binary evolution…
After a discussion of the physical processes in brown dwarfs, we present a complete, precise definition of brown dwarfs and of planets inspired by the internal physics of objects between 0.1 and 0.001 M_sun. We discuss observational…
Binary statistics of the latest-type T and Y brown dwarfs are sparse and it is unclear whether the trends seen in the multiplicity properties of their more massive counterparts hold for the very coolest brown dwarfs. We present results from…
Y dwarfs are the coolest spectral class of brown dwarf. They have effective temperatures less than 500 K, with the coolest detection as low as ~250 K. Their spectra are shaped predominantly by gaseous water, methane, and ammonia. At the…
We present a large forward-modeling analysis for 55 late-T (T7-T9) dwarfs, using low-resolution ($R\approx150$) near-infrared spectra and cloudless Sonora-Bobcat model atmospheres. We derive the objects' effective temperatures, surface…
We present evolutionary models for low mass stars and brown dwarfs ($m \le 1.2 \msol$) based on recent improvement of the theory: equation of state, atmosphere models, ... We concentrate on early evolutionary phases from the initial…
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,…