Modes of Multiple Star Formation

This paper argues that star forming environments should be classified intofiner divisions than the traditional isolated and clustered modes. Using theobserved set of galactic open clusters and theoretical considerations regardingcluster formation, we estimate the fraction of star formation that takes placewithin clusters. We find that less than 10% of the stellar populationoriginates from star forming regions destined to become open clusters,confirming earlier estimates. The smallest clusters included in theobservational surveys (having at least N=100 members) roughly coincide with thesmallest stellar systems that are expected to evolve as clusters in a dynamicalsense. We show that stellar systems with too few members N < N_\star havedynamical relaxation times that are shorter than their formation times (1-2Myr), where the critical number of stars N_\star \approx 100. Our resultssuggest that star formation can be characterized by (at least) three principalmodes: I. isolated singles and binaries, II. groups (NN_\star). Many -- if not most -- stars form through theintermediate mode in stellar groups with 10

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