Related papers: Star formation in Perseus. IV. Mass dependent evol…
A fraction of the dense cores within a turbulent molecular cloud will eventually collapse to form stars. Identifying the physical criteria for instability and analyzing critical core properties is therefore necessary to star formation…
We present a new analysis of the properties of star-forming cores in the Perseus molecular cloud, identified in SCUBA 850 micron data. Our goal is to determine which core properties can be robustly identified and which depend on the…
The current knowledge on the stellar IMF is documented. It appears to become top-heavy when the star-formation rate density surpasses about 0.1Msun/(yr pc^3) on a pc scale and it may become increasingly bottom-heavy with increasing…
In this paper we use N-body simulations to study the effects of primordial mass segregation on the early and long-term evolution of star clusters. Our simulations show that in segregated clusters early mass loss due to stellar evolution…
The semi-empirical initial-final mass relation (IFMR) connects spectroscopically analyzed white dwarfs in star clusters to the initial masses of the stars that formed them. Most current stellar evolution models, however, predict that stars…
We present a theoretical framework in which bound stellar clusters arise naturally at the high-density end of the hierarchy of the interstellar medium (ISM). Due to short free-fall times, these high-density regions achieve high local star…
We present a complete survey of current star formation in the Perseus molecular cloud, made at 850 and 450 micron with SCUBA at the JCMT. Covering 3 deg^2, this submillimetre continuum survey for protostellar activity is second in size only…
We use magnetic collapse models to place some constraints on the formation and angular momentum evolution of circumstellar disks which are embedded in magnetized cloud cores. Previous models have shown that the early evolution of a…
The initial mass function (IMF) of stars is a key quantity affecting almost every field of astrophysics, yet it remains unclear what physical mechanisms determine it. We present the first runs of the STARFORGE project, using a new numerical…
Knowledge of protostellar evolution has been revolutionized with the advent of surveys at near-infrared to submillimeter wavelengths. This has enabled the bolometric luminosities and bolometric temperatures (traditional protostellar…
Mass accretion onto (proto-)stars at high accretion rates > 10^-4 M_sun/yr is expected in massive star formation. We study the evolution of massive protostars at such high rates by numerically solving the stellar structure equations. In…
The measured star-formation rates (SFRs) of galaxies comprise an important constraint on galaxy evolution and also on their cosmological boundary conditions. Any available tracer of the SFR depends on the shape of the mass-distribution of…
We present and discuss the results of the Herschel Gould Belt survey observations in a ~11 deg^2 area of the Aquila molecular cloud complex at d~260 pc, imaged with the SPIRE/PACS cameras from 70 to 500 micron. We identify a complete sample…
High-mass prestellar cores are extremely rare. The search for such objects has long been hindered by small sample sizes, leading to large uncertainties in their lifetimes and the conditions in which high-mass stars ($> 8\,M_{\odot}$) form.…
During their evolution, star clusters undergo mass segregation, by which the orbits of the most massive stars shrink, while the lighter stars move outwards from the cluster centre. In this context, recent observations and dynamical…
We investigate the molecular evolution and D/H abundance ratios that develop as star formation proceeds from a dense-cloud core to a protostellar core, by solving a gas-grain reaction network applied to a 1-D radiative hydrodynamic model…
Among the most central open questions regarding the initial mass function (IMF) of stars is the impact of environment on the shape of the core mass function (CMF) and thus potentially on the IMF. The ALMA-IMF Large Program aims to…
Massive stars are linked with diverse astronomical processes and objects including star formation, supernovae and their remnants, cosmic rays, interstellar media, and galaxy evolution. Understanding their properties is of primary importance…
Protostellar core formation is probably much more dynamic, and magnetic fields are probably much less important, than has been previously assumed in the standard model of low-mass star formation. This revised picture has important…
We review the progress that has been made in observing and analyzing molecular cloud structure in recent years. Structures are self-similar over a wide range of scales with similar power law indices independent of the star forming nature of…