Abstract
Traditionally, astronomers have separated giant planets from brown
dwarfs based on the object’s mass. Objects more massive than 13 Jupiter
masses but less massive than 80 Jupiter masses are considered to be
brown dwarfs. However, in detail, the lower mass threshold is 11 to 16
Jupiter masses depending on the metallicity of the object. This betrays
how arbitrary a purely mass-based distinction between planets and brown
dwarfs is. Instead, we take a critical look at the population of brown
dwarfs for which we have the most fundamental information: transiting
brown dwarfs. Transiting brown dwarfs provide us their mass, radius, and
sometimes age, which makes them useful for directly testing substellar
evolutionary models. Through a better understanding of how well these
models describe the population of transiting brown dwarfs, we will
develop a better definition of what makes a brown dwarf different than a
giant planet: its formation mechanism. It is certainly true that in the
mass range spanning between giant planets and low-mass stars that the
dominant formation mechanism must change in a significant way. If we can
determine which mass or distribution of masses that this change occurs
at, then we will have a more physical way to distinguish planets from
brown dwarfs. This poster provides an overview of the substellar
mass-radius diagram and highlights several of the recent discoveries
facilitated by the TESS mission.