The Initial Mass Function for Brown Dwarfs in Young Clusters

Details The Initial Mass Function for Brown Dwarfs in Young Clusters The Initial Mass Function for Brown Dwarfs in Young Clusters

Dec 1992

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1992aas...181.2802h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, 181st AAS Meeting, #28.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 24, p.1163

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

We have computed luminosity functions for objects in the mass range 0.01 to 0.2 M_&sun; using improved theoretical models of brown dwarfs and late M dwarfs, with special emphasis on properties at early ages (10(6) to 10(8) years), for comparison with new data on low-luminosity objects in young galactic clusters. In the age range of interest, deuterium burning produces a series of narrow, rapidly-moving peaks in the luminosity functions for our assumed initial deuterium abundances (Y_d ~ 2 times 10(-5) ). We compare our theoretical calculations with new observational data on low-luminosity objects in rho Oph (Comeron et al. 1992, Ap.J., in press), and the Hyades (Bryja et al. 1992, Ap.J. Lett., 388, L23). The models confirm that several young brown dwarfs have probably been detected in rho Oph, while the Hyades star counts now penetrate down to the hydrogen-burning limit at M ~ 0.08 M_&sun;. Comparison of star counts and theoretical luminosity functions indicate that an initial mass function of the form \xi (M) dM = CM^{-\alpha} dM can be used to describe rho Oph and the Hyades in the mass range of interest. Fitting models to the data with a single value of alpha for both clusters, we conclude that the Salpeter value alpha = 2.35 may be too steep, while alpha = 0 may be too shallow. A reasonable compromise is alpha ~ 1. This research was supported by NSF grants AST89-10780 and AST89-14346, and by NASA grant NAGW-2145.

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