A role for self-gravity at multiple length scales in the process of star formation

Self-gravity plays a decisive role in the final stages of star formation, where dense cores (size |[sim]|0.1|[thinsp]|parsecs) inside molecular clouds collapse to form star-plus-disk systems. But self-gravity|[rsquo]|s role at earlier times (and on larger length scales, such as |[sim]|1|[thinsp]|parsec) is unclear; some molecular cloud simulations that do not include self-gravity suggest that |[lsquo]|turbulent fragmentation|[rsquo]| alone is sufficient to create a mass distribution of dense cores that resembles, and sets, the stellar initial mass function.

, , , , , &

To read this article in full you may need to log in, make a payment or gain access through a site license (see right).