Stellar Multiplicity

Abstract

Stellar multiplicity is an ubiquitous outcome of the star formation process. Characterizing the frequency and main characteristics of multiple systems and their dependencies on primary mass and environment is therefore a powerful tool to probe this process. While early attempts were fraught with selection biases and limited completeness, instrumentation breakthroughs in the last two decades now enable robust analyses. In this review, we summarize our current empirical knowledge of stellar multiplicity for Main Sequence stars and brown dwarfs, as well as among populations of Pre-Main Sequence stars and embedded protostars. Clear trends as a function of both primary mass and stellar evolutionary stage are identified that will serve as a comparison basis for numerical and analytical models of star formation.