Abstract
The fact that the shapes of the Present-Day Prestellar Core Mass Function (PDPCMF) and the Stellar Initial Mass Function (StIMF) appear to be very similar is purely coincidental, unless the mapping from the PDPCMF to the StIMF is statistically self similar. Either way, there is a huge amount of physics that occurs between a prestellar core and a protostar, and theories for the genesis of the PDPCMF should be presented as such, not as theories for the origin of the StIMF. Here we explore the constraints that the observed statistical properties of stars place on self-similar mappings. We find a simple mapping that is able to deliver the observed StIMF, the binary frequency as a function of primary mass, and the distribution of mass ratios for binaries with Sun-like primaries. This mapping implies that the local efficiency is high (typically a core spawns ∼ 4 stars, and these stars comprise ∼ 87% of the core’s initial mass); that most of the stars spawned by a single core have masses within a factor ∼ 4 of each other; that most cores deliver one long-lasting binary into the field, and in ∼ 75% of cases this binary involves the two most massive stars formed in the core; that the remaining ∼ 25% of binaries involve random pairings of the stars formed in the core.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Note that an observed prestellar core that contributes to the PDPCMF is likely to accumulate further mass during the time that it collapses and fragments to form stars, and so η > 1 is possible.
- 2.
Note that we are concerned here with the overall PDPCMF of the ensemble of cores that forms the field-star population, rather than the PDPCMF for a particular star formation region.
- 3.
For non-integer values of \(\mathcal{N}\) we consider a mixture of the integer values immediately above and below, having mean equal to \(\mathcal{N}\). Thus, for example, if \(\mathcal{N} = 3.2\), 80 % of cores spawn three stars, and 20 % spawn four stars.
- 4.
There are two ways of performing this normalisation, but the results are essential indistinguishable.
- 5.
But recall that between the epoch when a core is observed and its mass estimated, and the epoch when it forms stars, it may accumulate further mass. Therefore the mass of the envelope may exceed \((1-\eta )M_{_{\mathrm{C}}}\).
References
G. Basri, A. Reiners, AJ. 132, 663 (2006)
C. Bergfors, W. Brandner, M. Janson, S. Daemgen, K. Geissler, T. Henning, S. Hippler, F. Hormuth, V. Joergens, R. Köhler, A&A, 520, A54 (2010)
G. Chabrier, PASP, 115, 763 (2003)
L. M. Close, N. Siegler, M. Freed, B. Biller, ApJ, 587, 407 (2003)
A. Duquennoy, M. Mayor, A&A 248, 485 (1991)
B. D. Mason, D. R. Gies, W. I. Hartkopf, W. G. Bagnuolo, Jnr., T. ten Brummelaar, H. A. McAlister, AJ, 115, 821 (1998)
J. M. McDonald, C. J. Clarke, MNRAS, 262, 800 (1993)
J. M. McDonald, C. J. Clarke, MNRAS, 275, 671 (1995)
T. Preibisch, Y. Balega, K. Hofmann, G. Weigelt, H. Zinnecker, NewA, 4, 531 (1999)
D. Raghavan, H. A. McAlister, T. J. Henry, D. W. Latham, G. W. Marcy, B. D. Mason, D. R. Gies, R. J. Whitw, T. A. ten Brummelaar, ApJS, 190, 1 (2010)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Holman, K., Walch, S.K., Goodwin, S., Whitworth, A.P. (2014). Mapping the Present-Day Prestellar Core Mass Function into the Stellar IMF. In: Stamatellos, D., Goodwin, S., Ward-Thompson, D. (eds) The Labyrinth of Star Formation. Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, vol 36. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03041-8_61
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-03041-8_61
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-03040-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-03041-8
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)