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J.E. Gizis (IPAC/Caltech)
The Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) has enabled the identification of one hundred nearby cool objects belonging to the new L dwarf spectral class. I argue that the relation between temperature and spectral class is now strongly constrained. Observables such as the fraction of L dwarfs with lithium, the space density, and the kinematics allow the ages and masses of the L dwarf population to be modeled. I discuss the fraction of L dwarfs which are actually brown dwarfs and the best current value of the substellar mass function.
This publication makes use of data products from 2MASS, which is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and IPAC/Caltech, funded by NASA and NSF.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: gizis@ipac.caltech.edu