The evolutionary tracks of young massive star clusters

TL;DR

This paper combines analytical methods and N-body simulations to map the early evolution of young massive star clusters over 10 million years, revealing their formation, development, and observational properties.

Contribution

It introduces evolutionary tracks for young massive clusters that account for observational masking effects and the density-dependent star formation efficiency.

Findings

Massive clusters form and evolve faster than lower-mass ones.

The evolutionary tracks explain the scarcity of observed massive cluster progenitors.

The approach links cluster evolution to star formation efficiency and observational challenges.

Abstract

Stars mostly form in groups consisting of a few dozen to several ten thousand members. For 30 years, theoretical models provide a basic concept of how such star clusters form and develop: they originate from the gas and dust of collapsing molecular clouds. The conversion from gas to stars being incomplete, the left over gas is expelled, leading to cluster expansion and stars becoming unbound. Observationally, a direct confirmation of this process has proved elusive, which is attributed to the diversity of the properties of forming clusters. Here we take into account that the true cluster masses and sizes are masked, initially by the surface density of the background and later by the still present unbound stars. Based on the recent observational finding that in a given star-forming region the star formation efficiency depends on the local density of the gas, we use an analytical approach combined with \mbox{N-body simulations, to reveal} evolutionary tracks for young massive clusters covering the first 10 Myr. Just like the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a measure for the evolution of stars, these tracks provide equivalent information for clusters. Like stars, massive clusters form and develop faster than their lower-mass counterparts, explaining why so few massive cluster progenitors are found.