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What does the IMF really tell us about star formation?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 April 2010

M. B. N. Kouwenhoven  and
S. P. Goodwin
M. B. N. Kouwenhoven
Affiliation:
The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University, Yi He Yuan Lu 5, Hai Dian Qu Beijing 100871, P. R. China email: kouwenhoven@kiaa.pku.edu.cn University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, United Kingdom email: s.goodwin@sheffield.ac.uk
S. P. Goodwin
Affiliation:
University of Sheffield, Hicks Building, Hounsfield Road, Sheffield S3 7RH, United Kingdom email: s.goodwin@sheffield.ac.uk
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Abstract

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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.

Keywords

binaries: generalstars: formationmass function
Type
Poster Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 5 , Symposium S262: Stellar Populations – Planning for the Next Decade , August 2009 , pp. 368 - 369
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

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