An ALMA study of hub-filament systems I. On the clump mass concentration within the most massive cores

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to analyze how mass concentrates in the most massive cores within hub-filament systems, revealing early efficient mass concentration in infrared-dark clumps.

Contribution

It provides new high-resolution ALMA data on mass distribution in hub-filament systems and compares infrared-dark and bright clumps, highlighting early mass concentration processes.

Findings

MMC masses range from 15-911 solar masses.

Infrared-dark clumps have significantly higher mass fractions in MMCs.

No significant difference in median MMC mass fraction between hub and non-hub systems.

Abstract

The physical processes behind the transfer of mass from parsec-scale clumps to massive-star-forming cores remain elusive. We investigate the relation between the clump morphology and the mass fraction that ends up in its most massive core (MMC) as a function of infrared brightness, i.e. a clump evolutionary tracer. Using ALMA 12 m and ACA we surveyed 6 infrared-dark hubs in 2.9mm continuum at $\sim$3" resolution. To put our sample into context, we also re-analysed published ALMA data from a sample of 29 high mass-surface density ATLASGAL sources. We characterise the size, mass, morphology, and infrared brightness of the clumps using Herschel and Spitzer data. Within the 6 newly observed hubs, we identify 67 cores, and find that the MMCs have masses between 15-911 $\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ within a radius of 0.018-0.156 pc. The MMC of each hub contains 3-24% of the clump mass ($f_\mathrm{MMC}$), becoming 5-36% once core masses are normalised to the median core radius. Across the 35 clumps, we find no significant difference in the median $f_\mathrm{MMC}$ values of hub and non-hub systems, likely the consequence of a sample bias. However, we find that $f_\mathrm{MMC}$ is $\sim$7.9 times larger for infrared-dark clumps compared to infrared-bright ones. This factor increases up to $\sim$14.5 when comparing our sample of 6 infrared-dark hubs to infrared-bright clumps. We speculate that hub-filament systems efficiently concentrate mass within their MMC early on during its evolution. As clumps evolve, they grow in mass, but such growth does not lead to the formation of more massive MMCs.