Formation and Evolution of very Low Mass Stars and Brown Dwarfs
Jochen Eislöffel (Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, TLS)
Subhanjoy Mohanty (CFA)
Alexander Scholz (TLS)
Goals of the session:
In recent years, large populations of objects with masses between stars
and planets have been found in the solar neighborhood, in young open
clusters, and in star-forming regions. The formation and evolution of
these very low mass (VLM) stars and brown dwarfs is one of the current
"hot topics" in cool stars research. This splinter meeting is intended
to bring together the community to discuss latest results and future
directions of research in this rapidly evolving field.
After the discovery of large numbers of VLM objects one of the most
debated questions is that of their origin. Scenarios have been put
forward ranging from star-like formation through the fragmentation
and collapse of molecular cloud cores, ejection of the lowest mass
objects from forming multiple systems, to planet-like formation in
circumstellar disks. Initial observations to distinguish between these
different scenarios are becoming available now. These seem to indicate
that very young VLM objects and brown dwarfs are surrounded by dusty
disks from which they accrete matter. Such observations also deliver
information on the rotation and activity of these objects. These
parameters are directly connected to the interior structure and the
atmospheres, and give insights into the physics of dynamo generation,
magnetic fields, surface spots and winds.
Comparing the early evolution of VLM objects and brown dwarfs with
that of stars delivers the crucial information necessary to
distinguish between the various formation scenarios and to build a
consistent picture of the physics of these objects.
Conveners: Jochen Eislöffel, Subhanjoy Mohanty, Alexander Scholz
(contact: http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/cs13bd/)
List of participants:
Participants planning to give a talk:
Daniel Apai, Coryn Bailer-Jones, Jochen Eislöffel, Matilde Fernandez,
Pavel Kroupa, Kevin Luhman, Subhanjoy Mohanty, Reinhard Mundt,
Alexander Scholz, Beate Stelzer, Hans Zinnecker
Further participants (some of which are also thinking of giving
an oral presentation):
Eric Feigelson, Ray Jayawardhana, Chris Koen, Diane
Paulson, Sarah Ragan, Ansgar Reiners, John Stauffer, Jürgen Steinacker
Format:
We suggest a split format for this session: In the first part we
plan contributed talks about recent results in this rapidly evolving
field. These talks should be of 10 min + 5 min discussion.
Some of these talks have firmly been offered already; a few more
could be accepted (and are expected - see above) after the official
announcement of the splinter sessions.
Subsequently we would welcome additional short contributions
(1 transparency - 2 min) from the audience.
The remaining time of the session we would use for a moderated
general discussion of "hot topics" in this field with the audience.
Proposed duration: 3 hrs.
Commitment:
The conveners will deliver a summary of this splinter meeting for the
proceedings of CS13.
http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/cs13bd/