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A universal brown dwarf desert formed between planets and stars.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	A universal brown dwarf desert formed between planets and stars.
Authors:	Cui, Kaiming^1,2, Xiao, Guang-Yao¹, Feng, Fabo^1,3 ffeng@sjtu.edu.cn, Liu, Beibei^4,5, Nayakshin, Sergei⁶, Hall, Cassandra^7,8, Guo, Kangrou¹, Lai, Dong^1,9, Ogihara, Masahiro^1,3, Rui, Yicheng¹, Boss, Alan P.¹⁰, Butler, R. Paul¹⁰, Xuan, Yifan¹
Source:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 3/3/2026, Vol. 123 Issue 9, p1-8. 8p.
Subjects:	Origin of planets, Star formation, Radial velocity of stars, Gas giants, Astrometry, Astronomical observations
Abstract:	Giant planets and brown dwarfs play a crucial role in star and planet formation as they are situated at the boundary between planets and stars with uncertain formation mechanisms. Previous observational searches for the formation boundary were hampered by the lack of large unified samples of wide-orbit giant planets and substellar companions. A combined analysis of radial velocity and astrometry mitigates this problem and has significantly enlarged the sample. Here, we present a rigorous statistical analysis of the sample of 55 giant planets, brown dwarfs, and low-mass stellar companions orbiting FGK stars. We quantitatively analyze the occurrence rates of brown dwarfs and identify a distinct brown dwarf desert at approximately 30 MJ, with no evidence of disappearance up to 20 au. Unlike previous studies that predicted a declining planet occurrence rate beyond the water-ice line, we identify a population of giant planets and low-mass brown dwarfsin thisregion.Themetallicity and eccentricity trends in our sample suggest that these are the consequences of two different formation scenarios. Our combined population synthesis model successfully accounts for the observed brown dwarf desert, supporting the dual formation hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Abstract:	Giant planets and brown dwarfs play a crucial role in star and planet formation as they are situated at the boundary between planets and stars with uncertain formation mechanisms. Previous observational searches for the formation boundary were hampered by the lack of large unified samples of wide-orbit giant planets and substellar companions. A combined analysis of radial velocity and astrometry mitigates this problem and has significantly enlarged the sample. Here, we present a rigorous statistical analysis of the sample of 55 giant planets, brown dwarfs, and low-mass stellar companions orbiting FGK stars. We quantitatively analyze the occurrence rates of brown dwarfs and identify a distinct brown dwarf desert at approximately 30 MJ, with no evidence of disappearance up to 20 au. Unlike previous studies that predicted a declining planet occurrence rate beyond the water-ice line, we identify a population of giant planets and low-mass brown dwarfsin thisregion.Themetallicity and eccentricity trends in our sample suggest that these are the consequences of two different formation scenarios. Our combined population synthesis model successfully accounts for the observed brown dwarf desert, supporting the dual formation hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	00278424
DOI:	10.1073/pnas.2524764123