Related papers: Competitive Accretion and the IMF
Some recent observations of the abundances of s-process, r-process, and alpha elements in metal-poor stars have led to a new scenario for their formation. According to this scenario, these stars were born in a globular cluster and accreted…
In an improved model of protostar mass functions (PMFs), protostars gain mass from isothermal cores in turbulent clumps. Their mass accretion rate is similar to Shu accretion at low mass, and to reduced Bondi accretion at high mass.…
Binary stars often move through an ambient medium from which they accrete material and angular momentum, as in triple-star systems, star-forming clouds, young globular clusters and in the centres of galaxies. A binary form of…
Young stars and planetary systems form in molecular clouds. For classical T Tauri stars (CTTS, F-K type precursors) the accretion disk does not reach down to the central star, but it is truncated near the co-rotation radius. The inner edge…
How do stars that are more massive than the Sun form, and thus how is the stellar initial mass function (IMF) established? Such intermediate- and high-mass stars may be born from relatively massive pre-stellar gas cores, which are more…
We propose a new model for the evolution of a star cluster's System Mass Function (SMF). The model involves both turbulent fragmentation and competitive accretion. Turbulent fragmentation creates low-mass seed proto-systems (i.e. single and…
Essentially all stars form in giant molecular clouds (GMCs). However, inside GMCs, most of the gas does not participate in star formation; rather, denser gas accumulates in clumps in the GMC, with the bulk of the stars in a given GMC…
We investigate the physical processes which lead to the formation of massive stars. Using a numerical simulation of the formation of a stellar cluster from a turbulent molecular cloud, we evaluate the relevant contributions of fragmentation…
The current status of both the observational evidence and the theory of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) is reviewed, with particular attention to the two basic, apparently universal features shown by all observations of nearby…
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…
The luminosities of the centers of nearby elliptical galaxies are very low compared to models of thin disc accretion to their black holes at the Bondi rate, typically a few hundredths to a few tenths of a solar mass per year. This has…
The stellar dynamical evolution of massive star clusters formed during starburst periods leads to the segregation of $\gtrsim10^4 M_\odot$ stellar-mass black hole sub-clusters in their centres. In gas-rich environments, such as galactic…
We show how the mass function of dense cores (CMF) which results from the gravoturbulent fragmentation of a molecular cloud evolves in time under the effect of gas accretion. Accretion onto the cores leads to the formation of larger numbers…
Accretion rates of order 10^-8 M_\odot/yr are observed in young protostars of approximately a solar mass with evidence of circumstellar disks. The accretion rate is significantly lower for protostars of smaller mass, approximately…
We analyse a hydrodynamical simulation of star formation. Sink particles in the simulations which represent stars show episodic growth, which is presumably accretion from a core that can be regularly replenished in response to the…
Massive stars influence their surroundings through radiation, winds, and supernova explosions far out of proportion to their small numbers. However, the physical processes that initiate and govern the birth of massive stars remain poorly…
The standard picture of accretion is a steady flow of matter from the disc onto the young star - a concept which assumes the star-disc system to be completely isolated. However, in a dense cluster environment star-disc systems do interact…
Several observational and theoretical studies suggest that the initial mass function (IMF) slope for massive stars in globular clusters (GCs) depends on the initial cloud density and metallicity, such that the IMF becomes increasingly…
Some ultra-compact dwarf galaxies have large dynamical mass to light (M/L) ratios and also appear to contain an overabundance of LMXB sources, and some Milky Way globular clusters have a low concentration and appear to have a deficit of…
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…