{
  "id": "1503.00724",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2015-03-02T21:00:12.000Z",
  "updated": "2015-03-02T21:00:12.000Z",
  "title": "The M-dwarfs in Multiples (MinMs) survey - I. Stellar multiplicity among low-mass stars within 15 pc",
  "authors": [
    "K. Ward-Duong",
    "J. Patience",
    "R. J. De Rosa",
    "J. Bulger",
    "A. Rajan",
    "S. P. Goodwin",
    "Richard J. Parker",
    "D. W. McCarthy",
    "C. Kulesa"
  ],
  "comment": "Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2015 February 20. 34 pages and 21 figures, with 7 tables presented here in their entirety. All tables and the full set of figures in the Appendix to appear in the electronic version of the journal",
  "categories": [
    "astro-ph.SR"
  ],
  "abstract": "We present a large-scale, volume-limited companion survey of 245 late-K to mid-M (K7-M6) dwarfs within 15 pc. Infrared adaptive optics (AO) data were analysed from the Very Large Telescope, Subaru Telescope, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, and MMT Observatory to detect close companions to the sample from $\\sim$1 au to 100 au, while digitised wide-field archival plates were searched for wide companions from $\\sim$100 au to 10,000 au. With sensitivity to the bottom of the main sequence over a separation range of 3 au to 10,000 au, multiple AO and wide-field epochs allow us to confirm candidates with common proper motions, minimize background contamination, and enable a measurement of comprehensive binary statistics. We detected 65 co-moving stellar companions and find a companion star fraction of $23.5 \\pm 3.2$ per cent over the 3 au to 10,000 au separation range. The companion separation distribution is observed to rise to a higher frequency at smaller separations, peaking at closer separations than measured for more massive primaries. The mass ratio distribution across the $q = 0.2 - 1.0$ range is flat, similar to that of multiple systems with solar-type primaries. The characterisation of binary and multiple star frequency for low-mass field stars can provide crucial comparisons with star forming environments and hold implications for the frequency and evolutionary histories of their associated disks and planets.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2015-03-02T21:00:12.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "keywords": [
      "low-mass stars",
      "stellar multiplicity",
      "common proper motions",
      "digitised wide-field archival plates",
      "detect close companions"
    ],
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 34,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable"
    }
  }
}