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

Abstract

Stars 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.

7 pages, 3 figures, A&A in press

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Cited by in corpus (8)

• The Mass Distribution and Lifetime of Prestellar Cores in Perseus, Serpens, and Ophiuchus
• Dense Stellar Populations: Initial Conditions
• Exploring the consequences of pairing algorithms for binary stars
• The initial conditions of star formation VIII: an observational study of the Ophiuchus cloud L1688 and implications for the prestellar core mass function
• Core Mass Function: The Role of Gravity
• Simulating star formation in molecular cloud cores IV. The role of turbulence and thermodynamics
• Mass distributions of stars and cores in young groups and clusters
• Pairing mechanisms for binary stars