On the properties of young multiple stars

Abstract

Abridged/ We present numerical results on the properties of young binary and multiple stellar systems. Our analysis is based on a series of SPH + Nbody simulations of the fragmentation of small molecular clouds, that fully resolve the opacity limit for fragmentation. We have produced a statistically significant number of stable multiple systems, with components separations in the range 1-1000 AU. At the end of the hydrodynamical evolution (0.5 Myr) we find that ~60% of stars and brown dwarfs are members of multiples systems, with about a third of these being low mass, weakly bound outliers in wide eccentric orbits. Our results imply that in the stellar regime most stars are in multiples (~80%) and that this fraction is an increasing function of primary mass. After Nbody integration to 10.5 Myr, the percentage of bound objects has dropped to ~40%, as most very low mass stars and brown dwarfs have been released to the field. Brown dwarfs are never found to be very close companions to stars (brown dwarf desert at very small separations), but one case exists of a brown dwarf companion at intermediate separations (10 AU). Our simulations can accommodate the existence of brown dwarf companions at large separations, but only if the primaries of these systems are themselves multiples. We have compared the outcome of our simulations with the properties of real stellar systems as deduced from the IR CM diagram of the Praesepe cluster and from spectroscopic and high-resolution imaging surveys of young clusters and the field.