2024/04/11 by Philip F. Hopkins, Hopkins, Philip F., Michael Y Grudić +9 · 1 citation
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) #FOS: Physical sciences #High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) #SAS software applications and methods #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2404.08046
openalex publication_date 2024/04/11 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Recently, we demonstrated self-consistent formation of strongly-magnetized quasar accretion disks (QADs) from cosmological radiation-magnetohydrodynamic-thermochemical galaxy-star formation simulations, including the full STARFORGE physics shown previously to produce a reasonable IMF under typical ISM conditions. Here we study star formation and the stellar IMF in QADs, on scales from 100 au to 10 pc from the SMBH. We show it is critical to include physics often previously neglected, including magnetic fields, radiation, and (proto)stellar feedback. Closer to the SMBH, star formation is suppressed, but the (rare) stars that do form exhibit top-heavy IMFs. Stars can form only in special locations (e.g. magnetic field switches) in the outer QAD. Protostars accrete their natal cores rapidly but then dynamically decouple from the gas and wander, ceasing accretion on timescales ~100 yr. Their jets control initial core accretion, but the ejecta are swept up into the larger-scale QAD flow without much dynamical effect. The strong tidal environment strongly suppresses common-core multiplicity. The IMF shape depends sensitively on un-resolved dynamics of protostellar disks (PSDs), as the global dynamical times can become incredibly short (≪ yr) and tidal fields are incredibly strong, so whether PSDs can efficiently transport angular momentum or fragment catastrophically at \lesssim 10 au scales requires novel PSD simulations to properly address. Most analytic IMF models and analogies with planet formation in PSDs fail qualitatively to explain the simulation IMFs, though we discuss a couple of viable models.