CARMA interferometric observations of 2MASS J044427+2512: the first
  spatially resolved observations of thermal emission of a brown dwarf disk
  We present CARMA 1.3 mm continuum data of the disk surrounding the young
brown dwarf 2MASS J044427+2512 in the Taurus molecular cloud. The high angular
resolution of the CARMA observations (0.16 arcsec) allows us to spatially
resolve for the first time the thermal emission from dust around a brown dwarf.
We analyze the interferometric visibilities and constrain the disk outer radius
adopting disk models with power-law radial profiles of the dust surface
density. In the case of a power-law index equal to or lower than 1, we obtain a
disk radius in the range of about 15 - 30 AU, while larger disks are inferred
for steeper radial profiles. By combining this information on the disk spatial
extent with the sub-mm spectral index of this source we find conclusive
evidence for mm-sized grains, or larger, in this brown dwarf disk. We discuss
the implications of our results on the models of dust evolution in
proto-planetary disks and brown dwarf formation.
