Protostellar Jets in Star Cluster Formation and Evolution. I. Implementation and Initial Results

The Astronomical Journal, vol. 172, pp. 12

Abstract

Abstract Stars form in clusters from the gravitational collapse of giant molecular clouds, which is opposed by a variety of physical processes, including stellar feedback. The interplay between these processes determines the star formation rate of the clouds. To study how feedback controls star formation, we use a numerical framework that is optimized to simulate star cluster formation and evolution. This framework, called Torch , combines the magnetohydrodynamical code FLASH with N-body and stellar evolution codes in the Astrophysical Multipurpose Software Environment (AMUSE). Torch includes stellar feedback from ionizing and nonionizing radiation, stellar winds, and supernovae, but, until now, did not include protostellar jets. We present our implementation of protostellar jet feedback within the Torch framework and describe its free parameters. We then demonstrate our new module by comparing cluster formation simulations with and without jets. We find that the inclusion of protostellar jets slows star formation, even in clouds of up to M = 2 × 10 4 M ⊙ . We also find that the star formation rate of our lower-mass clouds ( M = 5 × 10 3 M ⊙ ) is strongly affected by both the inclusion of protostellar jets and the chosen jet parameters, including the jet lifetime and injection velocity. We follow the energy budget for each simulation and find that the inclusion of jets systematically increases the kinetic energy of the gas at early times. The implementation of protostellar jet feedback in Torch opens new areas of investigation regarding the role of feedback in star cluster formation and evolution.

Authors 11

1. Sabrina M. Appel

   Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey · American Museum of Natural History

   Affiliation as printed

   American Museum of Natural History

   Rutgers University

2. Blakesley Burkhart

   Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey · Flatiron Institute

   Affiliation as printed

   Flatiron Institute

   Rutgers University

3. Mordecai‐Mark Mac Low

   American Museum of Natural History · Drexel University

   Affiliation as printed

   American Museum of Natural History

   Drexel University

4. Eric P. Andersson

   American Museum of Natural History

   Affiliation as printed

   American Museum of Natural History

5. Claude Cournoyer-Cloutier

   Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics · McMaster University

   Affiliation as printed

   Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics

   McMaster University

6. Sean C. Lewis

   Drexel University

   Affiliation as printed

   Drexel University

7. Stephen L. W. McMillan

   Drexel University

   Affiliation as printed

   Drexel University

8. Brooke Polak

   American Museum of Natural History · Heidelberg University

   Affiliation as printed

   American Museum of Natural History

   Universität Heidelberg

9. Simon Portegies Zwart Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University

10. Aaron Tran

    University of Wisconsin–Madison

    Affiliation as printed

    University of Wisconsin–Madison

11. Maite J. C. Wilhelm Aachen

    Leiden University

    Affiliation as printed

    Leiden University