Abstract
As the lowest-mass objects created by star formation processes, brown dwarfs are essential to understanding the star formation history of our galaxy. To this end, a complete volume-limited sample of brown dwarfs in the solar neighborhood is critical for testing formation theories. To create such a sample, we have measured parallaxes for 348 L and T dwarfs using the wide-field infrared camera WFCAM on UKIRT to reach well beyond the limits of Gaia, producing the largest single batch of parallaxes for brown dwarfs to date. We constructed a volume-limited sample of L0-T8 dwarfs out to 25 pc, covering two-thirds of the sky and ~90% complete. Using this sample, I will discuss what we are learning about how brown dwarfs cool as they age, and how we can place new constraints on the substellar initial mass function and formation history.
