A Salpeter-like filament linear density function across nearby molecular clouds

Abstract

The high-mass slope of the stellar initial mass function (IMF), first measured by Salpeter in 1955, appears nearly universal across star-forming environments, yet its physical origin remains unknown. Using the multiscale extraction method getsf, we measure the filament linear density function (FLDF) across seven nearby molecular clouds ($140-920$ pc) spanning a wide range of star-forming activity. The FLDF slope shows no systematic trend with spatial scale. Combining all clouds and scales, the composite FLDF follows a power law $\mathrm{d}N/\mathrm{d}\log \hat{I}›\propto \hat{I}{›}^{-\hat{I}\pm }$ with $\hat{I}\pm \approx 1.40$, close to the Salpeter value of $1.35$, and the same composite slope is found in every cloud despite an order-of-magnitude spread in their supercritical-filament fractions. The close similarity between the composite FLDF slope and the Salpeter value suggests a possible physical link between the hierarchical filamentary structure of the cold interstellar medium and the IMF.

10 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ Letters