Radiation pressure in super star cluster formation

TL;DR

This study uses advanced radiation hydrodynamical simulations to show that radiation pressure modestly reduces star formation efficiency in super star clusters, but does not halt star formation, allowing the formation of extremely massive stars.

Contribution

First detailed radiation hydrodynamical simulation of super star cluster formation demonstrating radiation pressure's limited impact due to turbulence.

Findings

Radiation pressure reduces star formation efficiency by 30-35%.

Star formation rate decreases by 15-50% with radiation pressure.

Final cluster mass is approximately 1.3 million solar masses.

Abstract

The physics of star formation at its extreme, in the nuclei of the densest and the most massive star clusters in the universe - potential massive black hole nurseries - has for decades eluded scrutiny. Spectroscopy of these systems has been scarce, whereas theoretical arguments suggest that radiation pressure on dust grains somehow inhibits star formation. Here, we harness an accelerated Monte Carlo radiation transport scheme to report a radiation hydrodynamical simulation of super star cluster formation in turbulent clouds. We find that radiation pressure reduces the global star formation efficiency by 30-35%, and the star formation rate by 15-50%, both relative to a radiation-free control run. Overall, radiation pressure does not terminate the gas supply for star formation and the final stellar mass of the most massive cluster is $\sim 1.3\times10^6\,M_\odot$. The limited impact as compared to in idealized theoretical models is attributed to a radiation-matter anti-correlation in the supersonically turbulent, gravitationally collapsing medium. In isolated regions outside massive clusters, where the gas distribution is less disturbed, radiation pressure is more effective in limiting star formation. The resulting stellar density at the cluster core is $\ge 10^{8}\,M_{\odot}\,\textrm{pc}^{-3}$, with stellar velocity dispersion $\gtrsim 70\,\text{km}\,\text{s}^{-1}$. We conclude that the super star cluster nucleus is propitious to the formation of very massive stars via dynamical core collapse and stellar merging. We speculate that the very massive star may avoid the claimed catastrophic mass loss by continuing to accrete dense gas condensing from a gravitationally-confined ionized phase.