Abstract
Abstract We have used Monte Carlo simulation techniques and published radial velocity surveys to constrain the frequency of very low-mass star (VLMS) and brown dwarf (BD) binary systems and their separation (a) distribution. Gaussian models for the separation distribution with a peak at a= 4 au and 0.6 ≤σlog(a/au)≤ 1.0, correctly predict the number of observed binaries, yielding a close (a < 2.6 au) binary frequency of 17–30 per cent and an overall VLMS/BD binary frequency of 32–45 per cent. We find that the available N-body models of VLMS/BD formation from dynamically decaying protostellar multiple systems are excluded at >99 per cent confidence because they predict too few close binary VLMS/BDs. The large number of close binaries and high overall binary frequency are also very inconsistent with recent smoothed particle hydrodynamical modelling and argue against a dynamical origin for VLMS/BDs.
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Schedule a callMore From: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
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