DISK DISSIPATION IN SINGLE AND BINARY YOUNG STAR SYSTEMS IN TAURUS

We compare the timescales for dissipation of circumstellar disks radiating in the thermal IR in single and binary star systems in the Taurus star-forming region. We accomplish this using data from the multiplicity surveys, available and new 10 mu m photometry of the unresolved systems, and the approach of Simon, Ghez, and Leinert to estimate the ages of the singles and the brighter member of the binaries. We find a very wide range of survival times of such disks (<2 x 10(4) to 10(7) yr) with no statistically significant difference between the singles and the binaries for the range of separations considered here. The timescale for the transition from an optically thick to thin disk in the thermal IR is very short(<10(5) yr).