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The relationship between the prestellar core mass function and the stellar initial mass function

Goodwin, S. P., Nutter, David John, Kroupa, P., Ward-Thompson, Derek ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1140-2761 and Whitworth, Anthony Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1178-5486 2008. The relationship between the prestellar core mass function and the stellar initial mass function. Astronomy and Astrophysics 477 (3) , pp. 823-827. 10.1051/0004-6361:20078452

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Abstract

rs form from dense molecular cores, and the mass function of these cores (the CMF) is often found to be similar to the form of the stellar initial mass function (IMF). This suggests that the form of the IMF is the result of the form of the CMF. However, most stars are thought to form in binary and multiple systems, therefore the relationship between the IMF and the CMF cannot be trivial. We test two star formation scenarios - one in which all stars form as binary or triple systems, and one in which low-mass stars form in a predominantly single mode. We show that from a log-normal CMF, similar to those observed, and expected on theoretical grounds, the model in which all stars form as multiples gives a better fit to the IMF.

Item Type: Article
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: Physics and Astronomy
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Uncontrolled Keywords: stars: formation -- ISM: clouds -- binaries: general
Publisher: EDP Sciences
ISSN: 0004-6361
Last Modified: 25 May 2023 19:46
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/19155

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