Formation of young massive clusters from turbulent molecular clouds

TL;DR

This study uses N-body simulations based on hydrodynamical models of turbulent molecular clouds to explore the formation of young massive clusters, revealing the importance of high local star formation efficiency and hierarchical merging.

Contribution

It demonstrates that young massive clusters form from dense regions with high star formation efficiency and evolve through hierarchical mergers, aligning simulations with observed cluster properties.

Findings

Young massive clusters require >50% local star formation efficiency.

Simulated clusters match observed mass, size, and density profiles.

Clusters evolve via hierarchical mergers within a few Myr.

Abstract

Young massive clusters are as young as open clusters but more massive and compact compared with typical open clusters. The formation process of young massive clusters is still unclear, and it is an open question whether the formation process is the same as typical open clusters or not. We perform a series of $N$-body simulations starting from initial conditions constructed from the results of hydrodynamical simulations of turbulent molecular clouds. In our simulations, both open clusters and young massive clusters form when we assume a density-dependent star formation efficiency. We find that a local star formation efficiency higher than 50 % is necessary for the formation of young massive clusters, but open clusters forms from less dense regions with a local star formation efficiency of $<50$ %. We confirm that the young massive clusters formed in our simulations have mass, size, and density profile similar to those of observed young massive clusters such as NGC 3603 and Trumpler 14. We also find that these simulated clusters evolve via hierarchical mergers of sub-clusters within a few Myr, as is suggested by recent simulations and observations. Although we do not assume initial mass segregation, we observe that the simulated massive clusters show a shallower slope of the mass function ($\Gamma\sim-1$) in the cluster center compared to that of the entire cluster ($\Gamma\sim-1.3$). These values are consistent with those of some young massive clusters in the Milky Way such as Westerlund 1 and Arches.