On the fragmentation of cosmic gas clouds. III - The initial stellar mass function

Details On the fragmentation of cosmic gas clouds. III - The initial stellar mass function On the fragmentation of cosmic gas clouds. III - The initial stellar mass function

Jun 1977

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1977apj...214..718s&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol. 214, June 15, 1977, p. 718-724. Research supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation;

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

80

Interstellar Gas, Protostars, Star Clusters, Stellar Evolution, Stellar Mass, Stellar Models, Abundance, Chemical Composition, Correlation, Fragmentation, Heavy Elements, Hydrogen Clouds, Radio Astronomy

Scientific paper

Radiation from the first opaque protostellar fragments to form in a nonhomologously collapsing molecular cloud can provide a significant heat source in regions where the matter remains relatively diffuse over the initial free-fall time scale. This energy input provides a negative feedback that gradually inhibits fragmentation as larger protostellar fragments form that are also more effective radiators. A highly simplified model is described that yields an expression for the initial mass function in stellar clusters. Dynamical dissipation, driven by the more massive protostars, tends to decouple the gas and grain temperatures and steepen the mass function. Fragmentation of less massive stars appears to proceed more efficiently when the heavy-element abundance is decreased, indicating the possibility of an inverse correlation between gradients in Z and M/L. Other possible observational tests of fragmentation are also suggested.

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