title: The onset of planet formation in brown dwarf disks.
abstract: The onset of planet formation in protoplanetary disks is marked by the growth and crystallization of sub-micrometer-sized dust grains accompanied by dust settling toward the disk mid-plane. Here, we present infrared spectra of disks around brown dwarfs and brown dwarf candidates. We show that all three processes occur in such cool disks in a way similar or identical to that in disks around low- and intermediate-mass stars. These results indicate that the onset of planet formation extends to disks around brown dwarfs, suggesting that planet formation is a robust process occurring in most young circumstellar disks.
authors.affiliation: Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. apai@as.arizona.edu
authors.forename: Dániel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Apai
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pascucci
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bouwman
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Natta
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Henning
authors.forename: Cornelis P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Dullemond
mesh_terms: D055580:Astronomical Phenomena; D001256:Astronomy; D019443:Cosmic Dust; D003460:Crystallization; D019419:Evolution, Planetary; D016083:Planets; D013057:Spectrum Analysis
chemical_list: D019443:Cosmic Dust