Journal
ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 655, Issue 1, Pages L45-L48Publisher
IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1086/511763
Keywords
globular clusters : general; methods : n-body simulations; open clusters and associations : general; stars : formation; stellar dynamics
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Some young star clusters show a degree of mass segregation that is inconsistent with the effects of standard two-body relaxation from an initially unsegregated system without substructure, in virial equilibrium, and it is unclear whether current cluster formation models can account for this degree of initial segregation in clusters of significant mass. In this Letter we demonstrate that mergers of small clumps that are initially mass segregated, or in which mass segregation can be produced by two-body relaxation before they merge, generically lead to larger systems that inherit the progenitor clumps' segregation. We conclude that clusters formed in this way are naturally mass segregated, accounting for the anomalous observations and suggesting that this process of prompt mass segregation due to initial clumping should be taken into account in models of cluster formation and dynamics.
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