The HST large programme on $\omega$ Centauri -- V. Exploring the Ultracool Dwarf Population with Stellar Atmosphere and Evolutionary Modelling

TL;DR

This study develops stellar models for brown dwarfs in $ ext{ω}$ Centauri, predicting their observable properties and aiding future JWST detections of the substellar population in this ancient globular cluster.

Contribution

The paper introduces new stellar models tailored for low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in $ ext{ω}$ Centauri, incorporating complex chemical abundance variations and providing predictions for upcoming JWST observations.

Findings

A single stellar population can explain the main sequence distribution.

The luminosity function aligns with two populations of different helium content.

Brown dwarf detection in $ ext{ω}$ Centauri is feasible with JWST.

Abstract

Brown dwarfs can serve as both clocks and chemical tracers of the evolutionary history of the Milky Way due to their continuous cooling and high sensitivity of spectra to composition. We focus on brown dwarfs in globular clusters that host some of the oldest coeval populations in the galaxy. Currently, no brown dwarfs in globular clusters have been confirmed, but they are expected to be uncovered with advanced observational facilities such as JWST. In this paper we present a new set of stellar models specifically designed to investigate low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in $\omega$ Centauri -- the largest known globular cluster. The parameters of our models were derived from iterative fits to HST photometry of the Main Sequence members of the cluster. Despite the complex distribution of abundances and the presence of multiple Main Sequences in $\omega$ Centauri, we find that the modal colour-magnitude distribution can be represented by a single stellar population with parameters determined in this study. The observed luminosity function is well-represented by two distinct stellar populations having solar and enhanced helium mass fractions and a common initial mass function, in agreement with previous studies. Our analysis confirms that the abundances of individual chemical elements play a key role in determining the physical properties of low-mass cluster members. We use our models to draw predictions of brown dwarf colours and magnitudes in anticipated JWST NIRCam data, confirming that the beginning of the substellar sequence should be detected in $\omega$ Centauri in forthcoming observations.