Bridging the gap between stars and planets
Abstract
The formation mechanisms of brown dwarfs (BDs) and free-floating planets (FFPs) are poorly constrained. The two main competing scenarios include the star-like scenario, where these objects correspond to the least massive gravitationally unstable fragments of molecular clouds, and the planet-like scenario, where these objects form in a circumstellar disk and are subsequently ejected after a dynamical interaction. A new generation millimeter interferometer, such as ALMA2040, is required to disentangle the relevance of these scenarios. For this, ALMA2040 must provide the appropriate performance to explore BD/FFP formation from the cloud scale (~10 pc) down to the disk scale (~10 au). At cloud scales, ALMA2040 must detect a ~1 Mjup embedded FFP in the outer Galaxy (~10 kpc) in 1 h, or the same object in nearby clouds (<~ 400 pc) in about tens of seconds so that large-scale surveys of entire clouds can be performed. This would provide key censuses to compare the results with the predictions from each scenario. At disk scales, ALMA2040 must detect CO outflows from first hydrostatic cores in the substellar regime and potential molecular outflows from ~1 Mjup FFPs in nearby clouds, both with specific predictions in the star-like scenario. In addition, the planet-like scenario predicts a disk mass-to-star mass ratio for BDs larger than the star-like case, and testing this requires detecting disks of ~2 Earth masses around young BDs. Furthermore, the predicted emission for the star-like case of complex organic molecules in proto-BDs at 400 pc must be detected with ALMA2040, requiring a factor of 10 increase in line sensitivity at a spatial resolution of 5-10 au. Finally, ALMA2040 must detect Earth-like protoplanets around young BDs at 400 pc, in order to provide key observational constraints on the radial drift behaviour and planet formation mechanisms in the substellar regime.
Related
- The occurrence rate of planets around subgiant stars from the TESS photometric survey
- Evolved stars, multiplicity and planets: Shaping and Being Shaped by Stellar Evolution
- The Occurrence Rate of Planets Around Subgiant Stars from TESS Photometric Survey
- Stellar magnetic activity and rocky planets in cool dwarf stars
- Young Planets around Young Accreting Stars: II. Circumplanetary Disk Formation and Accretion
BibTeX
@misc{palau2026bridging,
title = {{Bridging the gap between stars and planets}},
author = {Aina Palau and Dimitris Stamatellos and Matthew Bate and Manuel Zamora-Avilés and Gisela Ortiz-León and O. Sergio Rojas-García and Mariana Gómez-Cuartas and Nuria Huélamo and Álvaro Ribas and Philippe André and Carlos Carrasco-González and Eduardo Martín and Stella Tsilia and Myriam Benisty and Pamela Freeman and Emmanuel Caux and Audrey Coutens and Ryohei Kawabe and Pavel Kroupa and Aleks Scholz and Richard Parker and Amelia Bayo and Alejandro Santamaría-Miranda and Swastik Chowbay and Patricia Luppe and Kengo Tomida and José Juan González-Avilés and Álvaro Sánchez-Monge and Luis Felipe Rodríguez and Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo and Stefano Facchini and Ian Czekala and Fumitaka Nakamura and Lukasz Tychoniec and Genaro Suárez and Ngoc Phan-Bao and Adnan-Ali Ahmad and Benoit Commerçon and Ricardo Hernández-Garnica and Aurora Sicilia-Aguilar and Claudia Toci and Paola Pinilla and Quentin Kral and Yinuo Han and Matthew De Furio and William DeRocco and Catherine Walsh and Luca Matrà and Hervé Bouy and Adam Burgasser and Catherine Espaillat and Daniel Harsono and Masahiro N. Machida and Koraljka Muzic and Rakesh Pandey and Ignasi Ribas and Carlos Román-Zúñiga and Jeremy Smallwood and Anthony Whitworth and Luis Zapata},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.22246},
eprint = {2610.22246},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.22246},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Bridging the gap between stars and planets
AU - Aina Palau
AU - Dimitris Stamatellos
AU - Matthew Bate
AU - Manuel Zamora-Avilés
AU - Gisela Ortiz-León
AU - O. Sergio Rojas-García
AU - Mariana Gómez-Cuartas
AU - Nuria Huélamo
AU - Álvaro Ribas
AU - Philippe André
AU - Carlos Carrasco-González
AU - Eduardo Martín
AU - Stella Tsilia
AU - Myriam Benisty
AU - Pamela Freeman
AU - Emmanuel Caux
AU - Audrey Coutens
AU - Ryohei Kawabe
AU - Pavel Kroupa
AU - Aleks Scholz
AU - Richard Parker
AU - Amelia Bayo
AU - Alejandro Santamaría-Miranda
AU - Swastik Chowbay
AU - Patricia Luppe
AU - Kengo Tomida
AU - José Juan González-Avilés
AU - Álvaro Sánchez-Monge
AU - Luis Felipe Rodríguez
AU - Itziar de Gregorio-Monsalvo
AU - Stefano Facchini
AU - Ian Czekala
AU - Fumitaka Nakamura
AU - Lukasz Tychoniec
AU - Genaro Suárez
AU - Ngoc Phan-Bao
AU - Adnan-Ali Ahmad
AU - Benoit Commerçon
AU - Ricardo Hernández-Garnica
AU - Aurora Sicilia-Aguilar
AU - Claudia Toci
AU - Paola Pinilla
AU - Quentin Kral
AU - Yinuo Han
AU - Matthew De Furio
AU - William DeRocco
AU - Catherine Walsh
AU - Luca Matrà
AU - Hervé Bouy
AU - Adam Burgasser
AU - Catherine Espaillat
AU - Daniel Harsono
AU - Masahiro N. Machida
AU - Koraljka Muzic
AU - Rakesh Pandey
AU - Ignasi Ribas
AU - Carlos Román-Zúñiga
AU - Jeremy Smallwood
AU - Anthony Whitworth
AU - Luis Zapata
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/15
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.22246
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.22246
AB - The formation mechanisms of brown dwarfs (BDs) and free-floating planets (FFPs) are poorly constrained. The two main competing scenarios include the star-like scenario, where these objects correspond to the least massive gravitationally unstable fragments of molecular clouds, and the planet-like scenario, where these objects form in a circumstellar disk and are subsequently ejected after a dynamical interaction. A new generation millimeter interferometer, such as ALMA2040, is required to disentangle the relevance of these scenarios. For this, ALMA2040 must provide the appropriate performance to explore BD/FFP formation from the cloud scale (~10 pc) down to the disk scale (~10 au). At cloud scales, ALMA2040 must detect a ~1 Mjup embedded FFP in the outer Galaxy (~10 kpc) in 1 h, or the same object in nearby clouds (<~ 400 pc) in about tens of seconds so that large-scale surveys of entire clouds can be performed. This would provide key censuses to compare the results with the predictions from each scenario. At disk scales, ALMA2040 must detect CO outflows from first hydrostatic cores in the substellar regime and potential molecular outflows from ~1 Mjup FFPs in nearby clouds, both with specific predictions in the star-like scenario. In addition, the planet-like scenario predicts a disk mass-to-star mass ratio for BDs larger than the star-like case, and testing this requires detecting disks of ~2 Earth masses around young BDs. Furthermore, the predicted emission for the star-like case of complex organic molecules in proto-BDs at 400 pc must be detected with ALMA2040, requiring a factor of 10 increase in line sensitivity at a spatial resolution of 5-10 au. Finally, ALMA2040 must detect Earth-like protoplanets around young BDs at 400 pc, in order to provide key observational constraints on the radial drift behaviour and planet formation mechanisms in the substellar regime.
ER -