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| EPoS Contribution |
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The mass function of dense molecular cores and the origin of the IMF
Joao Alves Calar Alto Observatory, Almeria, Spain | |
| We use observations of near-infrared extinction in the nearby Pipe dark cloud to identify the population of dense cores in the cloud and measure their masses. We construct a relatively robust mass function for this dense core population and find it to be surprisingly similar in shape to the stellar IMF but scaled to a higher mass by a factor of about 3. This suggests that the distribution of stellar birth masses (IMF) is the direct product of a dense core mass function and a uniform star formation efficiency of 33% plus/minus 7%. The typical density of 10^4 cm^(-3) measured for the dense cores in this cloud suggests that the mass scale that characterizes the dense core mass function may be the result of a simple process of thermal (Jeans) fragmentation. | |