The dependence of stellar properties on initial cloud density

Abstract

We investigate the dependence of stellar properties on the initial mean density of the molecular cloud in which stellar clusters form using radiation hydrodynamical simulations that resolve the opacity limit for fragmentation. We have simulated the formation of three star clusters from the gravitational collapse of molecular clouds whose densities vary by a factor of a hundred. As with previous calculations including radiative feedback, we find that the dependence of the characteristic stellar mass, $M_{\mathrm{c}}$, on the initial mean density of the cloud, $\rho$, is weaker than the dependence of the thermal Jeans mass. However, unlike previous calculations, which found no statistically significant variation in the median mass with density, we find a weak dependence approximately of the form $M_{\mathrm{c}}\propto {\rho }^{-1/5}$. The distributions of properties of multiple systems do not vary significantly between the calculations. We compare our results to the result of observational surveys of star-forming regions, and suggest that the similarities between the properties of our lowest density calculation and the nearby Taurus-Auriga region indicate that the apparent excess of solar-type stars observed may be due to the region's low density.

Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 14 pages, 8 figures

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• What is the role of stellar radiative feedback in setting the stellar mass spectrum?
• Testing the role of environmental effects on the initial mass function of low-mass stars
• Looking deep into the Rosette Nebula's heart: the (sub)stellar content of the massive young cluster NGC 2244
• The statistical properties of stars at redshift, z=5, compared with the present epoch
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