Young massive star clusters: Achievements and challenges

Abstract

In spite of significant recent and ongoing research efforts, most of the early evolution and long-term fate of young massive star clusters remain clouded in uncertainties. Here, I discuss our understanding of the initial conditions of star cluster formation and the importance of initial substructure for the subsequent dynamical-evolution and mass-segregation timescales. I also assess our current understanding of the (initial) binary fraction in star clusters and the shape of the stellar initial mass function at the low-mass end in the low-metallicity environment of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Finally, I question the validity of our assumptions leading to dynamical cluster mass estimates. I conclude that it seems imperative that observers, modellers and theorists combine efforts and exchange ideas and data freely for the field to make a major leap forward.

9 pages, 3 figures. Review talk. To appear in Proc. IAU Symp. 266 (Star clusters), eds. R. de Grijs and J. Lepine

References in corpus (11)

• Analytical theory for the initial mass function: CO clumps and prestellar cores
• The UKIDSS Galactic Plane Survey
• Dynamical mass segregation on a very short timescale
• The structures of embedded clusters in the Perseus, Serpens and Ophiuchus molecular clouds
• Dense cores in the Pipe Nebula: An improved core mass function
• On the Mass of Dense Star Clusters in Starburst Galaxies from Spectro-Photometry
• The Complete Initial Mass Function Down to the Sub-Solar Regime in the Large Magellanic Cloud with Hubble Space Telescope ACS Observations
• Limits on initial mass segregation in young clusters
• Cluster and nebular properties of the central star-forming region of NGC 1140
• The initial mass function of the rich young cluster NGC 1818 in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• What does a universal IMF imply about star formation?