Comparison of Low-Mass and High-Mass Star Formation

Abstract

I review theoretical models of star formation and how they apply across the stellar mass spectrum. Several distinct theories are under active study for massive star formation, especially Turbulent Core Accretion, Competitive Accretion and Protostellar Mergers, leading to distinct observational predictions. These include the types of initial conditions, the structure of infall envelopes, disks and outflows, and the relation of massive star formation to star cluster formation. Even for Core Accretion models, there are several major uncertainties related to the timescale of collapse, the relative importance of different processes for preventing fragmentation in massive cores, and the nature of disks and outflows. I end by discussing some recent observational results that are helping to improve our understanding of these processes.

9 pages, to appear in proceedings of IAU Symp. 315, From interstellar clouds to star-forming galaxies: universal processes?, eds. P. Jablonka, P. Andre, F. F. S. van der Tak

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• The chemical structure of the Class 0 protostellar envelope NGC 1333 IRAS 4A
• Stellar initial mass function variation in massive early-type galaxies: the potential role of the deuterium abundance