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| Paper: |
How Radiation Feedback Affects Fragmentation and the IMF |
| Volume: |
440, UP2010: Have Observations Revealed a Variable Upper End of the Initial Mass Function? |
| Page: |
91 |
| Authors: |
Krumholz, M. R. |
| Abstract: |
The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is determined by a process of fragmentation and accretion in the opaque, dense center of a giant molecular cloud. This environment effectively traps radiation from newborn stars, and the interaction between the gas and the radiation is the dominant feature controlling the thermodynamics and in some extreme cases the bulk motion of the gas. Not surprisingly, radiation feedback therefore plays a dominant role in determining how gas fragments to produce the IMF. In this contribution I focus on simulations exploring two radiative effects particularly relevant to the formation of massive stars: suppression of fragmentation by radiative heating, and interruption of accretion by radiation pressure. Contrary to past theoretical expectations, simulations show that the former is a dominant effect that may ultimately control when and where massive stars form, while the latter does not appear to have a significant effect on stellar masses. |
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