Probing brown dwarf formation mechanisms with Gaia

TL;DR

This paper explores whether brown dwarfs form like stars or planets by analyzing their spatial distribution in star-forming regions, using Gaia data and dynamical history modeling.

Contribution

It introduces a method to distinguish formation mechanisms of brown dwarfs from stars through spatial distribution analysis and dynamical history reconstruction.

Findings

In the Orion Nebula Cluster, spatial distribution differences are likely due to dynamical evolution.

The proposed method can help determine if brown dwarfs form differently from stars.

Gaia data combined with dynamical modeling can reveal formation histories.

Abstract

One of the fundamental questions in star formation is whether or not brown dwarfs form in the same way as stars, or more like giant planets. If their formation scenarios are different, we might expect brown dwarfs to have a different spatial distribution to stars in nearby star-forming regions. In this contribution, we discuss methods to look for differences in their spatial distributions and show that in the only nearby star-forming region with a significantly different spatial distribution (the Orion Nebula Cluster), this is likely due to dynamical evolution. We then present a method for unravelling the past dynamical history of a star-forming region, and show that in tandem with Gaia, we will be able to discern whether observed differences are due to distinct formation mechanisms for brown dwarfs compared to stars.