Related papers: The evolution of the core mass function by gas acc…
We have performed fully 3D simulations of the collapse of molecular cloud cores which obey the logatropic equation of state. By following the collapse of these cores from states of near hydrodynamic equilibrium, we are able to produce…
We present virial models for the global evolution of giant molecular clouds. Focusing on the presence of an accretion flow, and accounting for the amount of mass, momentum, and energy supplied by accretion and star formation feedback, we…
We review computational approaches to understanding the origin of the Initial Mass Function (IMF) during the formation of star clusters. We examine the role of turbulence, gravity and accretion, equations of state, and magnetic fields in…
We present a model for the formation of massive ($M > 10 M_\odot$) stars through accretion-induced collisions in the cores of embedded dense stellar clusters. This model circumvents the problem of accreting onto a star whose luminosity is…
Star formation is intimately linked to the dynamical evolution of molecular clouds. Turbulent fragmentation determines where and when protostellar cores form, and how they contract and grow in mass via accretion from the surrounding cloud…
Accretion studies have been focused on the flow around bodies with point mass gravitational potentials, but few general results are available for non-point mass distributions. Here, we study the accretion flow onto non-divergent, core…
We describe the results of a sequence of simulations of gravitational collapse in a turbulent magnetized region. The parameters are chosen to be representative of molecular cloud material. We find that several protostellar cores and…
Molecular clouds have complex density structures produced by processes including turbulence and gravity. We propose a triangulation-based method to dissect the density structure of a molecular cloud and study the interactions between dense…
We present results from our numerical simulations of collapsing massive molecular cloud cores. These numerical calculations show that massive stars assemble quickly with mass accretion rates exceeding 10^-3 Msol/yr and confirm that the mass…
We present accretion rates obtained from three-dimensional self-gravitating radiation hydrodynamical models of giant planet growth. We investigate the dependence of accretion rates upon grain opacity and core/protoplanet mass. The accretion…
We show that the ambipolar-diffusion--initiated fragmentation of molecular clouds leads simply and naturally to an initial core mass function (CMF) which is very similar to the initial stellar mass function (IMF) and in excellent agreement…
We describe the growth of gas giant planets in the core accretion scenario. The core growth is not modeled as a gradual accretion of planetesimals but as episodic impacts of large mass ratios, i.e. we study impacts of 0.02 - 1 Earth masses…
The formation of massive stars is currently an unsolved problems in astrophysics. Understanding the formation of massive stars is essential because they dominate the luminous, kinematic, and chemical output of stars. Furthermore, their…
In this paper, we review some of the properties of dense molecular cloud cores. The results presented here rely on three-dimensional numerical simulations of isothermal, magnetized, turbulent, and self-gravitating molecular clouds (MCs) in…
Observations of the Pipe Nebula have led to the discovery of dense starless cores. The mass of most cores is too small for their self gravity to hold them together. Instead, they are thought to be pressure confined. The observed dense…
We discuss how the conditions at high redshift differ from those at low redshift, and what the impact is on the galaxy population. We focus in particular on the role of gaseous dissipation and its impact on sustaining high star formation…
In this contribution we review our recent numerical work discussing the essential role of the local cluster environment in assembling massive stars. First we show that massive stars are formed from low mass pre-stellar cores and become…
Context: Stars form in the cold dense cores of interstellar molecular clouds and the detailed knowledge of the spectrum of masses of such cores is clearly a key for the understanding of the origin of the IMF. To date, observations have…
Linear analysis of the formation of protostellar cores in planar magnetic interstellar clouds yields information about length scales involved in star formation. Combining these length scales with various distributions of other environmental…
The distributions of stars and prestellar cores by mass (initial and dense core mass functions, IMF/DCMF) are among the key factors regulating star formation and are the subject of detailed theoretical and observational studies. Results…