THE FAINTEST STARS - THE LUMINOSITY AND MASS FUNCTIONS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MAIN-SEQUENCE

We present infrared K-band photometry of complete samples of VLM candidates constructed from IIIaF and IVN plates in 10 fields taken as part of the POSSII and UKSRC surveys. Using the I-K colors constructed for these stars we estimate a bolometric luminosity function which extends to M(Bol) = 13.75. We find significant evidence for a luminosity function decreasing toward these luminosities. We also find that our results are consistent with those of studies based on the Nearby Star sample, when those data are presented as a bolometric luminosity function. We convert our observed luminosity function into a mass function, which extends with reasonable statistics to 0.08 M.-the H-burning minimum mass. We find significant evidence for features in the mass function at these masses. Specifically, the mass function ''turns over'' at 0.25 M., goes through a local minimum at almost-equal-to 0.15 M., and may increase again below 0.1 M.-none of these features are predicted by any of the current theories of star formation. Lastly, the mass density we observe just above the H-burning minimum mass makes it difficult to envisage brown dwarfs contributing significant quantities of missing mass without invoking either a mass function in this region significantly steeper than that seen for main-sequence stars, or an extremely low cutoff mass to the mass function.