Non-isothermal gravoturbulent fragmentation: Effects on the IMF

Details Non-isothermal gravoturbulent fragmentation: Effects on the IMF Non-isothermal gravoturbulent fragmentation: Effects on the IMF

May 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005assl..329p..31j&link_type=abstract

Starbursts: From 30 Doradus to Lyman Break Galaxies, Held in Cambridge, UK, 6-10 September 2004. Edited by R. de Grijs and R.M.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

Identifying the processes that determine the initial mass function (IMF) of stars is a fundamental problem in star-formation theory. One of the major uncertainties is the exact chemical state of the star-forming gas and its influence on the dynamical evolution. Most simulations of star-forming clusters use an isothermal equation of state (EOS). However, this might be an oversimplification given the complex interplay between heating and cooling processes in molecular clouds. Theoretical predictions and observations suggest that the effective polytropic exponent γ in the EOS changes with density. We study the effect of a piecewise polytropic EOS on the formation of stellar clusters in turbulent, self-gravitating molecular clouds using three-dimensional, smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations. We increase the polytropic exponent γ from 0.7 to 1.1, at some chosen density. This change in the EOS selects a characteristic mass scale, which we relate to the peak of the observed IMF. Primordial gas may have effective γ>1.0. Our results then suggest that population III stars should have formed as isolated, massive objects.

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