Related papers: Protostellar fountains do shape the regional core …
Magnetic stresses collimate protostellar winds into a common distribution of force with angle. Sweeping into the ambient medium, such winds drive bipolar molecular outflows whose properties are insensitive to the distribution of ambient gas…
The distribution of protostar masses is studied for core-environment systems whose duration of infall follows a waiting-time distribution. Each core-environment system has a continuous density profile with no barrier to mass flow. The core…
We examined the gravitational contraction of isothermal molecular cloud cores with slow rotation by means of two-dimensional numerical simulations. Applying a sink-cell method, we followed the evolution of the cloud cores up to the stages…
We review the properties of low mass dense molecular cloud cores, including starless, prestellar, and Class 0 protostellar cores, as derived from observations. In particular we discuss them in the context of the current debate surrounding…
In the present work we examined the hypothesis that, a core mass function (CMF), such as the one deduced for cores in the Orion molecular cloud (OMC), could possibly be the primogenitor of the stellar initial mass function (IMF). Using the…
I describe a turbulence-inspired model for the stellar initial mass function which includes feedback and self-regulation via protostellar outflows. A new aspect of the model provides predictions of the star formation rate in molecular…
We utilize the more than 100 gravitationally-bound dense cores formed in our three-dimensional, turbulent MHD simulations reported in Chen & Ostriker (2015) to analyze structural, kinematic, and magnetic properties of prestellar cores. Our…
The envelopes and disks that surround protostars reflect the initial conditions of star and planet formation and govern the assembly of stellar masses. Characterizing these structures requires observations that span the near-infrared to…
We have performed a 1 square degree 1.2mm dust continuum survey in the rho Oph molecular cloud. We detect a number of previously unknown sources, ranging from extended cores over compact, starless cores to envelopes surrounding young…
The fragmentation of molecular clouds (MC) into protostellar cores is a central aspect of the process of star formation. Because of the turbulent nature of super-sonic motions in MCs, it has been suggested that dense structures such as…
Motivated by recent observational and numerical studies suggesting that collapsing protostellar cores may be replenished from the local environment, we explore the evolution of protostellar cores submerged in the external counter-rotating…
We investigate how the removal of interstellar material by stellar feedback limits the efficiency of star formation in molecular clouds and how this determines the shape of the mass function of young star clusters. In particular, we derive…
Context. Understanding the conditions in which stars and stellar clusters form is of great importance. In particular the role that stellar feedback may have is still hampered by large uncertainties. Aims. We investigate the role played by…
Magnetic fields are often invoked as playing a primary role in star formation and in the formation of high-mass stars. We investigate the effect of magnetic fields on the formation of high-mass cores using the 3-dimensional smoothed…
(Abridged) The formation of large-scale (hundreds to few thousands of AU) bipolar structures in the circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (post-AGB) stars is poorly understood. The shape of these structures, traced…
Feedback from protostellar outflows can influence the nature of turbulence in star forming regions even if they are not the primary source of velocity dispersion for all scales of molecular clouds. For the rate and power expected in star…
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is playing a critical role in the history of our universe. We propose a theory that is based solely on local processes, namely the dust opacity limit, the tidal forces and the properties of the…
Improving our understanding of the initial conditions and earliest stages of star formation is crucial to gain insight into the origin of stellar masses, multiple systems, and protoplanetary disks. We review the properties of low-mass dense…
Astronomers have yet to establish whether high-mass protostars form from high-mass prestellar cores, similar to their lower-mass counterparts, or from lower-mass fragments at the heart of a pre-protostellar cluster undergoing large-scale…
We review current theories for the origin of the Stellar Initial Mass Function (IMF) with particular focus on the extent to which the IMF can be considered universal across various environments. To place the issue in an observational…