The Luminosity Problem: Testing Theories of Star Formation

Abstract

Low-mass protostars are less luminous than expected. This luminosity problem is important because the observations appear to be inconsistent with some of the basic premises of star formation theory. Two possible solutions are that stars form slowly, which is supported by recent data, and/or that protostellar accretion is episodic; current data suggest that the latter accounts for less than half the missing luminosity. The solution to the luminosity problem bears directly on the fundamental problem of the time required to form a low-mass star. The protostellar mass and luminosity functions provide powerful tools both for addressing the luminosity problem and for testing theories of star formation. Results are presented for the collapse of singular isothermal spheres, for the collapse of turbulent cores, and for competitive accretion.

8 pages, 1 figure, to appear in the Proceedings of IAU Symposium 270: Computational Star Formation

References in corpus (4)

• Theory of Star Formation
• Analytical theory for the initial mass function: CO clumps and prestellar cores
• The Formation of the First Stars I. Mass Infall Rates, Accretion Disk Structure and Protostellar Evolution
• Evidence for a Turnover in the IMF of Low Mass Stars and Sub-stellar Objects: Analysis from an Ensemble of Young Clusters

Cited by in corpus (4)

• The impact of episodic outflow feedback on stellar multiplicity and the star formation efficiency
• Turbulence and its connection to episodic accretion in binary YSOs
• Completing the Protostellar Luminosity Function in Cygnus-X with SOFIA/FORCAST Imaging
• Turn up the light: Radiative efficiency of protostars at birth