Abstract
It is suggested that the thermal physics of star-forming clouds may play a more important role than has usually been recognized in the origin of the stellar IMF and in determining a characteristic mass scale. The importance of the thermal physics has been clearly demonstrated for the formation of the first stars in the universe, where it is well understood and results in cooling to a characteristic minimum temperature at a preferred density, and hence in a characteristic scale for fragmentation.
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Larson, R.B. (2005). Understanding the IMF. In: Corbelli, E., Palla, F., Zinnecker, H. (eds) The Initial Mass Function 50 Years Later. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 327. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-3407-7_63
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