Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Formation of Low-Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Book cover The Labyrinth of Star Formation

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings ((ASSSP,volume 36))

Abstract

It is estimated that ∼ 60 % of all stars (including brown dwarfs) have masses below 0. 2 M⊙. 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: turbulent fragmentation, ejection of protostellar embryos, disc fragmentation, and photo-erosion of prestellar cores. I will focus on the disc fragmentation theory and discuss how it addresses critical observational constraints, i.e. the low-mass initial mass function, the brown dwarf desert, and the binary statistics of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs. I will examine whether observations may be used to distinguish between different formation mechanisms, and give a few examples of systems that strongly favour a specific formation scenario. Finally, I will argue that it is likely that all mechanisms may play a role in low-mass star and brown dwarf formation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Ahmic, M., Jayawardhana, R., Brandeker, A., et al. 2007, ApJ, 671, 2074

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. André, P., Ward-Thompson, D., & Greaves, J. 2012, Science, 337, 69

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Attwood, R., Goodwin, S., Stamatellos, D., & Whitworth, A. 2009, A&A, 495, 201

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  4. Bastian, N., Covey, K. R., & Meyer, M. R. 2010, ARA&A, 48, 339

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Bate, M. R. 2009a, MNRAS, 392, 1363

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Bate, M. R. 2009b, MNRAS, 392, 590

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Bate, M. R. 2012, MNRAS, 419, 3115

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Bate, M. R., Bonnell, I. A., & Bromm, V. 2002, MNRAS, 332, L65

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bate, M. R., Bonnell, I. A., & Bromm, V. 2003, MNRAS, 339, 577

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  10. Boley, A. C. 2009, ApJ, 695, L53

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Burgasser, A. J., Kirkpatrick, J. D., & Lowrance, P. J. 2005, AJ, 129, 2849

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  12. Burgasser, A., Reid, I., Siegler, N., et al. 2007, Protostars and Planets V, 427

    Google Scholar 

  13. Chabrier, G. 2003, PASP, 115, 763

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  14. Chabrier, G. 2005, The Initial Mass Function 50 years later. Edited by E. Corbelli and F. Palle, 327, 41

    Google Scholar 

  15. Commerçon, B., Hennebelle, P., Audit, E., Chabrier, G., & Teyssier, R. 2010, A&A, 510, L3

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  16. Dunham M. M., Evans, II N. J., Terebey S., Dullemond C. P., Young C. H., 2010, ApJ, 710, 470

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Dapp, W. B., Basu, S., & Kunz, M. W. 2012, A&A, 541, A35

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  18. Dhital, S., Burgasser, A. J., Looper, D. L., & Stassun, K. G. 2011, AJ, 141, 7

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Faherty, J. K., Burgasser, A. J., Cruz, K. L., et al. 2009, AJ, 137, 1

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Faherty, J. K., Burgasser, A. J., West, A. A., et al. 2010, AJ, 139, 176

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. Goodwin, S., Whitworth, A., & Ward-Thompson, D. 2004, A&A, 414, 633

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Greaves, J. S., Richards, A. M. S., Rice, W. K. M., & Muxlow, T. W. B. 2008, MNRAS: Letters, 391, L74

    Google Scholar 

  23. Grether, D. & Lineweaver, C. H. 2006, ApJ, 640, 1051

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  24. Hennebelle, P. & Chabrier, G. 2008, ApJ, 684, 395

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Hennebelle, P. & Chabrier, G. 2009, ApJ, 702, 1428

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Hennebelle, P. & Fromang, S. 2008, A&A, 477, 9

    Article  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  27. Hester, J. J., Scowen, P. A., Sankrit, R., et al. 1996, AJ, 111, 2349

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Janson, M., Hormuth, F., Bergfors, C., et al. 2012, ApJ, 754, 44

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  29. Joos, M., Hennebelle, P., & Ciardi, A. 2012, A&A, 543, 128

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. Jumper, P. H. & Fisher, R. T. 2012, ArXiv e-prints

    Google Scholar 

  31. Kaplan, M., Stamatellos, D., & Whitworth, A. P. 2012, Ap&SS, 341, 395

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  32. Krasnopolsky, R., Li, Z.-Y., & Shang, H. 2010, ApJ, 716, 1541

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  33. Kroupa, P. 2001, MNRAS, 322, 231

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  34. Li, Z.-Y., Krasnopolsky, R., & Shang, H. 2011, ApJ, 738, 180

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  35. Luhman, K. L., Mamajek, E. E., Allen, P. R., Muench, A. A., & Finkbeiner, D. P. 2009, ApJ, 691, 1265

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  36. Machida, M. N., Inutsuka, S., & Matsumoto, T. 2011, ApJ, 729, 42

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  37. Machida, M. N., Shu-ichiro Inutsuka, & Matsumoto, T. 2009, ApJ, 699, L157

    Google Scholar 

  38. Marcy, G. W. & Butler, R. P. 2000, PASP, 112, 137

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  39. Marois, C., Macintosh, B., Barman, T., et al. 2008, Science, 322, 1348

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  40. Marois, C., Zuckerman, B., Konopacky, Q. M., Macintosh, B., & Barman, T. 2010, Nature, 468, 1080

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  41. Maury, A. J., André, P., Hennebelle, P., et al. 2010, A&A, 512, 40

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  42. Offner, S., Klein, R., McKee, C., & Krumholz, M. 2009, ApJ, 703, 131

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  43. Padoan, P. & Nordlund, A&A. 2004, ApJ, 617, 559

    Google Scholar 

  44. Reggiani, M. M. & Meyer, M. R. 2011, ApJ, 738, 60

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  45. Reipurth, B. & Clarke, C. 2001, AJ, 122, 432

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  46. Sahlmann, J., Ségransan, D., Queloz, D., et al. 2011, A&A, 525, 95

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  47. Seifried, D., Banerjee, R., Pudritz, R. E., & Klessen, R. S. 2012, MNRAS: Letters, 423, L40

    Google Scholar 

  48. Stamatellos, D., Hubber, D. A., & Whitworth, A. P. 2007, MNRAS, 382, L30

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  49. Stamatellos, D., Maury, A., Whitworth, A., & André, P. 2011a, MNRAS, 413, 1787

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  50. Stamatellos, D. & Whitworth, A. P. 2009a, MNRAS, 392, 413

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  51. Stamatellos, D. & Whitworth, A. P. 2009b, MNRAS, 400, 1563

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  52. Stamatellos, D., Whitworth, A. P., & Hubber, D. A. 2011b, ApJ, 730, 32

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  53. Stamatellos, D., Whitworth, A. P., & Hubber, D. A. 2012, MNRAS, 427, 1182

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  54. Sumi, T., Kamiya, K., Bennett, D. P., et al. 2011, Nature, 473, 349

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  55. Thies, I. & Kroupa, P. 2007, ApJ, 671, 767

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  56. Thies, I., Kroupa, P., Goodwin, S. P., Stamatellos, D., & Whitworth, A. P. 2010, ApJ, 717, 577

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  57. Vorobyov, E. I. 2011, ApJ, 729, 146

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  58. Whitworth, A. P. & Zinnecker, H. 2004, A&A, 427, 299

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  59. Whitworth, A. P. & Stamatellos, D. 2006, A&A, 458, 817

    Article  ADS  MATH  Google Scholar 

  60. Zhang, Z. H., Pinfield, D. J., Day-Jones, A. C., et al. 2010, MNRAS, 404, 1817

    ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK

    Dimitris Stamatellos

Authors
  1. Dimitris Stamatellos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dimitris Stamatellos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Dimitris Stamatellos

  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom

    Simon Goodwin

  3. Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Derek Ward-Thompson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Stamatellos, D. (2014). The Formation of Low-Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs. In: Stamatellos, D., Goodwin, S., Ward-Thompson, D. (eds) The Labyrinth of Star Formation. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03041-8_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation