Related papers: How do binary clusters form?
The evolution of star clusters is determined by several internal and external processes. Here we focus on two dominant internal effects, namely energy exchange between stars through close encounters (two-body relaxation) and mass-loss of…
The fraction of stars in binary systems within star clusters is important for their evolution, but what proportion of binaries form by dynamical processes after initial stellar accretion remains unknown. In previous work, we showed that…
We analyze the observed distribution of the orbital eccentricity and period of binary radio pulsars in globular clusters using computational tools to simulate binary-single star interactions. Globular clusters have different groups of…
In this paper we study the formation, evolution and disruption of hierarchical systems in open clusters. With this purpose, N-body simulations of star clusters containing an initial population of binaries have been carried out using…
Observations have revealed that most stars are born in clusters. These systems, containing from tens to thousands of stars and typically significant mass in gas in the youngest systems, evolve due to a combination of stellar and star-gas…
Star clusters stand at the intersection of much of modern astrophysics: the interstellar medium, gravitational dynamics, stellar evolution, and cosmology. Here we review observations and theoretical models for the formation, evolution, and…
A binary star system is the most common result of the star formation process, and binary companions can disrupt both the formation of terrestrial planets and their long term prospects for stability. We present results from a large set of…
Sub-virial gravitational collapse is one mechanism by which star clusters may form. Here we investigate whether this mechanism can be inferred from observations of young clusters. To address this question, we have computed SPH simulations…
Multiple systems play an important role in the evolution of star clusters. First we discuss several formation mechanisms which depend on the presence of binaries, either primordial or of dynamical origin. Hierarchical configurations are…
Blue stragglers are thought to be formed from the merger or coalescence of two stars, but the details of their formation in clusters has been difficult to disentangle. We discuss the two main formation mechanisms for blue stragglers…
Star formation is triggered in essentially three ways: (1) the pressures from existing stars collect and squeeze nearby dense gas into gravitationally unstable configurations, (2) random compression from supersonic turbulence makes new…
How starburst clusters form out of molecular clouds is still an open question. In this article, I highlight some of the key constraints in this regard, that one can get from the dynamical evolutionary properties of dense stellar systems. I…
Gravitationally-bound clusters that survive gas removal represent an unusual mode of star formation in the Milky Way and similar spiral galaxies. While forming, they can be distinguished observationally from unbound star formation by their…
In young star clusters, the density can be high enough and the velocity dispersion low enough for stars to collide and merge with a significant probability. This has been suggested as a possible way to build up the high-mass portion of the…
In this review, we summarize the observed statistical properties of visual binaries in various young stellar clusters. The binary frequency, orbital period distribution and mass ratio distribution are considered for populations of both…
This chapter reviews the dynamical processes in young stellar clusters. The accretion of gas by individual stars affects the dynamics of the cluster, and the masses of the stars. Dynamical mass segregation cannot explain the degree of mass…
Physical collisions between stars occur frequently in dense star clusters, either via close encounters between two single stars, or during strong dynamical interactions involving binary stars. Here we study stellar collisions that occur…
Massive stars (> 8 $M_\odot$) are known to have high degrees of multiplicity, e.g., with about 60% in triples or higher-order multiples. Such high levels of multiplicity may arise during formation (primary multiplicity) or through dynamical…
In this review, I present the case for how massive stars may form through stellar collisions. This mechanism requires very high stellar densities, up to 4 orders of magnitude higher than are observed in the cores of dense young clusters. In…
It is often stated that star clusters are the fundamental units of star formation and that most (if not all) stars form in dense stellar clusters. In this monolithic formation scenario, low density OB associations are formed from the…