3 research outputs found
Post-T Tauri stars: a false problem
We consider the problem of the apparent lack of old T Tauri stars in low-mass
star forming regions in the framework of the standard model of low-mass star
formation. We argue that the similarity between molecular cloud lifetime and
ambipolar diffusion timescale implies that star formation does not take place
instantaneously, nor at a constant rate. We conclude that the probability of
finding a large population of old stars in a star forming region is
intrinsically very small and that the post-T Tauri problem is by and large not
existent.Comment: 6 pages (LaTeX), no Figures to be published in The Astrophysical
Journal Letter