EPoS Contribution

Disks and the formation of stellar systems Kaitlin M. Kratter University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Accretion disks mediate the flow of gas and angular momentum from molecular clouds down to the protostar. I describe the role of disks in the formation of binary and multiple systems, and the subsequent evolution of their orbital parameters. Using global numerical experiments, I show that we can characterize the onset of disk instability and fragmentation as a function of the infall rate. These models provide a useful framework for connecting observations of the earliest phases of star formation, theoretical models of disk evolution, and the stellar initial mass function.

Caption: This movie shows the formation of a binary from a disk, and the corresponding power in low order azimuthal fourier modes within the disk . The color shows column density, and 'x's' mark the location of sink particles.
Collaborators: C.D. Matzner, University of Toronto, Canada M.R. Krumholz, UC Santa Cruz, USA R.I. Klein, UC Berkeley/LLNL, USA	Key publication Suggested Session: Early Phases of Disks, Massive Stars