Kouwenhoven, M.B.N. and Goodwin, S.P. (2010) What does the IMF really tell us about star formation? Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 5 (262). pp. 368-369. ISSN 1743-9213
Abstract
Obtaining accurate measurements of the initial mass function (IMF) is often considered to be the key to understanding star formation, and a universal IMF is often assumed to imply a universal star formation process. Here, we illustrate that different modes of star formation can result in the same IMF, and that, in order to truly understand star formation, a deeper understanding of the primordial binary population is necessary. Detailed knowledge on the binary fraction, mass ratio distribution, and other binary parameters, as a function of mass, is a requirement for recovering the star formation process from stellar population measurements.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © International Astronomical Union 2010. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | binaries: general; stars: formation; mass function |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 16 Feb 2018 13:36 |
Last Modified: | 19 May 2020 10:13 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743921310003261 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Cambridge University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S1743921310003261 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:127505 |