299 research outputs found

    The observable prestellar phase of the IMF

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    The observed similarities between the mass function of prestellar cores (CMF) and the stellar initial mass function (IMF) have led to the suggestion that the IMF is already largely determined in the gas phase. However, theoretical arguments show that the CMF may differ significantly from the IMF. In this Letter, we study the relation between the CMF and the IMF, as predicted by the IMF model of Padoan and Nordlund. We show that 1) the observed mass of prestellar cores is on average a few times smaller than that of the stellar systems they generate; 2) the CMF rises monotonically with decreasing mass, with a noticeable change in slope at approximately 3-5 solar masses, depending on mean density; 3) the selection of cores with masses larger than half their Bonnor-Ebert mass yields a CMF approximately consistent with the system IMF, rescaled in mass by the same factor as our model IMF, and therefore suitable to estimate the local efficiency of star formation, and to study the dependence of the IMF peak on cloud properties; 4) only one in five pre-brown-dwarf core candidates is a true progenitor to a brown dwarf.Comment: ApJ Letters, accepte

    Turbulence-Induced Relative Velocity of Dust Particles II: The Bidisperse Case

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    We extend our earlier work on turbulence-induced relative velocity between equal-size particles (Pan and Padoan, Paper I) to particles of arbitrarily different sizes. The Pan and Padoan (PP10) model shows that the relative velocity between different particles has two contributions, named the generalized shear and acceleration terms, respectively. The generalized shear term represents the particles' memory of the spatial flow velocity difference across the particle distance in the past, while the acceleration term is associated with the temporal flow velocity difference on individual particle trajectories. Using the simulation of Paper I, we compute the root-mean-square relative velocity, ^1/2, as a function of the friction times, tau_p1 and tau_p2, of the two particles, and show that the PP10 prediction is in satisfactory agreement with the data, confirming its physical picture. For a given tau_p1 below the Lagrangian correlation time of the flow, T_L, ^1/2 as a function of tau_p2 shows a dip at tau_p2~tau_p1, indicating tighter velocity correlation between similar particles. Defining a ratio f=tau_pl/tau_ph, with tau_pl and tau_ph the friction times of the smaller and larger particles, we find that ^1/2 increases with decreasing f due to the generalized acceleration contribution, which dominates at f<1/4. At a fixed f, our model predicts that ^1/2 scales as tau_ph^1/2 for tau_p,h in the inertial range of the flow, stays roughly constant for T_L <tau_ph < T_L/f, and finally decreases as tau_ph^-1/2 for tau_ph>>T_L/f. The acceleration term is independent of the particle distance, r, and thus reduces the r-dependence of ^1/2 in the bidisperse case.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures, Accepted to Ap

    On star formation in primordial protoglobular clouds

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    Using a new physical model for star formation (Padoan 1995) we have tested the possibility that globular clusters (GCs) are formed from primordial mass fluctuations, whose mass scale (10810^8 - 10910^9 M⊙_{\odot}) is selected out of a CDM spectrum by the mechanism of non-equilibrium formation of H2H_2. We show that such clouds are able to convert about 0.003 of their total mass into a bound system (GC) and about 0.02 into halo stars. The metal enriched gas is dispersed away from the GC by supernova explosions and forms the galactic disk. These mass ratios between GCs, halo and disk depend on the predicted IMF which is a consequence of the universal statistics of fluid turbulence. They also depend on the ratio of baryonic over non-baryonic mass ,XbX_b, and are comparable with the values observed in typical spiral galaxies for Xb≈0.1−0.2X_b \approx 0.1-0.2. The computed mass and radius for a GC ( 5×1055\times 10^5 M⊙_{\odot} and 30 pc) are in good agreement with the average values in the Galaxy. The model predicts an exponential cut off in the stellar IMF below 0.1 M⊙_{\odot} in GCs and 0.6 M⊙_{\odot} in the halo. The quite massive star formation in primordial clouds leads to a large number of supernovae and to a high blue luminosity during the first two Gyr of the life of every galaxy

    The relative and absolute ages of old globular clusters in the LCDM framework

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    Old Globular Clusters (GCs) in the Milky Way have ages of about 13 Gyr, placing their formation time in the reionization epoch. We propose a novel scenario for the formation of these systems based on the merger of two or more atomic cooling halos at high-redshift (z>6). First generation stars are formed as an intense burst in the center of a minihalo that grows above the threshold for hydrogen cooling (halo mass M_h~10^8 Msun) by undergoing a major merger within its cooling timescale (~150 Myr). Subsequent minor mergers and sustained gas infall bring new supply of pristine gas at the halo center, creating conditions that can trigger new episodes of star formation. The dark-matter halo around the GC is then stripped during assembly of the host galaxy halo. Minihalo merging is efficient only in a short redshift window, set by the LCDM parameters, allowing us to make a strong prediction on the age distribution for old GCs. From cosmological simulations we derive an average merging redshift =9 and narrow distribution Dz=2, implying average GC age =13.0+/-0.2 Gyr including ~0.2 Gyr of star formation delay. Qualitatively, our scenario reproduces other general old GC properties (characteristic masses and number of objects, metallicity versus galactocentric radius anticorrelation, radial distribution), but unlike age, these generally depend on details of baryonic physics. In addition to improved age measurements, direct validation of the model at z~10 may be within reach of ultradeep gravitationally lensed observations with the James Webb Space Telescope.Comment: ApJL accepted, minor content changes to highlight the robust predictions for GC ages; for an animated version of Fig. 1 (minihalo mergers movie) see http://www.ph.unimelb.edu.au/~mtrenti/trenti_padoan_jimenez_2015_fig1_GC_movie.gi
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