Journal
ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS
Volume 439, Issue 2, Pages 565-569Publisher
EDP SCIENCES S A
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20052654
Keywords
stars : formation; binaries : general; stars : low-mass, brown dwarfs
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Most stars - especially young stars - are observed to be in multiple systems. Dynamical evolution is unable to pair stars efficiently, which leads to the conclusion that star-forming cores must usually fragment into >= 2 stars. However, the dynamical decay of systems with >= 3 or 4 stars would result in a large single-star population that is not seen in the young stellar population. Additionally, ejections would produce a significant population of close binaries that are not observed. This leads to a strong constraint on star formation theories that cores must typically produce only 2 or 3 stars. This conclusion is in sharp disagreement with the results of currently available numerical simulations that follow the fragmentation of molecular cores and typically predict the formation of 5 - 10 seeds per core. In addition, open cluster remnants may account for the majority of observed highly hierarchical higher-order multiple systems in the field.
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