1999/03/22 by C. J. Clarke, Cathie J. Clarke, Ian A. Bonnell +5
Physics and Astronomy · #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #FOS: Physical sciences #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9903323
Problem with Figure 1 fixed. To appear in the conference proceedings for Protostars and Planets IV. 31 pages, incl. 3 figures
openalex publication_date 1999/03/22 · arxiv created 1999/03/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We review recent work that investigates the formation of stellar clusters, ranging in scale from globular clusters through open clusters to the small scale aggregates of stars observed in T associations. In all cases, recent advances in understanding have been achieved through the use of state of the art stellar dynamical and gas dynamical calculations, combined with the possibility of intercomparison with an increasingly large dataset on young clusters. Among the subjects that are highlighted are the frequency of cluster-mode star formation, the possible relationship between cluster density and the highest stellar mass, subclustering and the dynamical interactions that occur in compact aggregates, such as binary star formation. We also consider how the spectrum of stellar masses may be shaped by the process of competitive accretion in dense environments and how cluster properties, such as mass segregation and cluster morphology, can be used in conjunction with numerical simulations to investigate the initial conditions for cluster formation. Lastly, we contrast bottom-up and top-down scenarios for cluster formation and discuss their applicability to the formation of clusters on a range of scales.