Bridging the Gap Between Stars and Planets: The Formation and Early Evolution of Brown Dwarfs

Subhanjoy Mohanty, Adam Burgasser, Gilles Chabrier, Paolo Padoan, Patrick Hennebelle, Ilaria Pascucci, Adam Kraus, Isabelle Baraffe, Keivan Stassun, Jane Greaves, Ansgar Reiners, Mike Dunham, Aleks Scholz, Ben Oppenheimer, Tom Ray, Daniel Apai, Alyssa Goodman, Kelle Cruz, Louisa Rebull, Estelle Moraux

Published 2009-03-13, updated 2009-03-19Version 2

This White Paper, submitted to the National Academy of Sciences' Astro2010 Decadal Review Committee, focuses on 2 central themes in the study of young brown dwarfs -- their formation mechanism and disk characteristics -- which are of direct relevance to fundamental questions of stellar and planetary origins and properties.