Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011phdt........16h&link_type=abstract
Ph.D. Thesis, 2011, 138 pages
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Star Formation, Imf, Molecular Clouds, X-Rays, Uv, Ism, Agn, Radiative Transfer, Numerical
Scientific paper
This thesis tries to gain insight in the formation of stars in extreme environments. In particular, the dependence of the renowned initial mass function (IMF) is considered. The initial mass function gives the relative distribution of stellar masses in a given volume of space. It is an empirically derived function that behaves as a power law according to observations. This distribution has become an important diagnostic tool for astronomers and is of fundamental importance in many research areas. The idea is that the IMF should be a universal function. However, it is uncertain whether stars in extreme environments form in the same way and if the IMF is similar to those in our Galaxy. In this thesis, the universality of this debated function is tested under different environmental conditions, using detailed numerical simulations. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of star formation. Chapter 2 focuses on the fragmentation properties of giant molecular clouds. Chapter 3 focuses on the formation of stars in X-ray dominated molecular clouds and the resulting stellar mass functions and Chapter 4 focuses on the formation of stars in molecular clouds under different, but strong feedback effects from black holes. All the results of the various studies in this thesis lead to the same outcome. If the environmental conditions are extreme enough, chemically, mechanically, or radiatively, then the initial mass function differs from the IMF as observed in our galaxy and deviates from the theorized universal form.
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