Early evolution and three-dimensional structure of embedded star clusters
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 521, pp. 1338–1352
Abstract
ABSTRACT We perform simulations of star cluster formation to investigate the morphological evolution of embedded star clusters in the earliest stages of their evolution. We conduct our simulations with Torch, which uses the Amuse framework to couple state-of-the-art stellar dynamics to star formation, radiation, stellar winds, and hydrodynamics in Flash. We simulate a suite of 104 M⊙ clouds at 0.0683 pc resolution for ∼2 Myr after the onset of star formation, with virial parameters α = 0.8, 2.0, 4.0 and different random samplings of the stellar initial mass function and prescriptions for primordial binaries. Our simulations result in a population of embedded clusters with realistic morphologies (sizes, densities, and ellipticities) that reproduce the known trend of clouds with higher initial α having lower star formation efficiencies. Our key results are as follows: (1) Cluster mass growth is not monotonic, and clusters can lose up to half of their mass while they are embedded. (2) Cluster morphology is not correlated with cluster mass and changes over ∼0.01 Myr time-scales. (3) The morphology of an embedded cluster is not indicative of its long-term evolution but only of its recent history: radius and ellipticity increase sharply when a cluster accretes stars. (4) The dynamical evolution of very young embedded clusters with masses ≲1000 M⊙ is dominated by the overall gravitational potential of the star-forming region rather than by internal dynamical processes such as two- or few-body relaxation.
Authors 11
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Claude Cournoyer-Cloutier corresponding
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University , 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University , 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, McMaster University , 1280 Main Street West Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4L8, Canada
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Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University , 136 Frelinghuysen Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Drexel University , 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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American Museum of Natural History · Heidelberg University
Affiliation as printed
Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History , 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USA
Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Universität Heidelberg , Albert-Ueberle-Straße 2, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Astronomy, Columbia University , 538 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , P.O. Box 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
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American Museum of Natural History · Drexel University · Columbia University
Affiliation as printed
Department of Astronomy, Columbia University , 538 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History , 200 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024, USA
Department of Physics, Drexel University , 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics, Drexel University , 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , P.O. Box 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
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