The CORALIE survey for southern extra-solar planets - VIII. The very low-mass companions of HD 141937, HD 162020, HD 168443 and HD 202206: Brown dwarfs or "superplanets"?

Doppler CORALIE measurements of the solar-type stars HD141937, HD 162020, HD 168443 and HD 202206 show Keplerian radial-velocity variations revealing the presence of 4 new companions with minimum masses close to the planet/brown-dwarf transition, namely with m(2) sin i = 9.7, 14.4, 16.9, and 17.5 M-Jup, respectively. The orbits present fairly large eccentricities (0.22 less than or equal to e less than or equal to 0.43). Except for HD 162020, the parent stars are metal rich compared to the Sun, as are most of the detected extra-solar planet hosts. Considerations of tidal dissipation in the short-period HD 162020 system points towards a brown-dwarf nature for the low-mass companion. HD 168443 is a multiple system with two low-mass companions being either brown dwarfs or formed simultaneously in the protoplanetary disks as superplanets. For HD 202206, the radial velocities show an additional drift revealing a further outer companion, the nature of which is still unknown. Finally, the stellar-host and orbital properties of massive planets are examined in comparison to lighter exoplanets. Observed trends include the need of metal-rich stars to form massive exoplanets and the lack of short periods for massive planets. If confirmed with improved statistics, these features may provide constraints for the migration scenario.