Dynamical Evolution of Young Embedded Clusters: A Parameter Space Survey

TL;DR

This study uses extensive N-body simulations to statistically analyze the dynamical evolution of young embedded stellar clusters across various initial conditions, providing insights into their properties and environmental effects on planet formation.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive parameter space survey of young cluster evolution with about 25,000 simulations, including new statistical descriptions of cluster properties and FUV radiation fields.

Findings

Cluster bound fraction varies with initial conditions.

Radial distributions depend on initial cluster parameters.

FUV radiation fields are characterized for different cluster environments.

Abstract

This paper investigates the dynamical evolution of embedded stellar clusters from the protocluster stage, through the embedded star-forming phase, and out to ages of 10 Myr -- after the gas has been removed from the cluster. The relevant dynamical properties of young stellar clusters are explored over a wide range of possible star formation environments using N-body simulations. Many realizations of equivalent initial conditions are used to produce robust statistical descriptions of cluster evolution including the cluster bound fraction, radial probability distributions, as well as the distributions of close encounter distances and velocities. These cluster properties are presented as a function of parameters describing the initial configuration of the cluster, including the initial cluster membership N, initial stellar velocities, cluster radii, star formation efficiency, embedding gas dispersal time, and the degree of primordial mass segregation. The results of this parameter space survey, which includes about 25,000 simulations, provide a statistical description of cluster evolution as a function of the initial conditions. We also present a compilation of the FUV radiation fields provided by these same cluster environments. The output distributions from this study can be combined with other calculations, such as disk photoevaporation models and planetary scattering cross sections, to ascertain the effects of the cluster environment on the processes involved in planet formation.