Stellar Populations in STARFORGE: The Origin and Evolution of Star Clusters and Associations

TL;DR

This study uses advanced simulations to explore how stars form in clusters or associations, revealing the influence of initial cloud conditions on the evolution and bound state of stellar groups.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the long-term evolution of star-forming regions, emphasizing the role of initial cloud properties and feedback processes in cluster formation.

Findings

Largest clusters form in densest, low-velocity clouds

Bound cluster fraction depends on early dynamical state

Stellar groups follow a mass-velocity dispersion power law

Abstract

Most stars form in highly clustered environments within molecular clouds, but eventually disperse into the distributed stellar field population. Exactly how the stellar distribution evolves from the embedded stage into gas-free associations and (bound) clusters is poorly understood. We investigate the long-term evolution of stars formed in the STARFORGE simulation suite -- a set of radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of star-forming turbulent clouds that include all key stellar feedback processes inherent to star formation. We use Nbody6++GPU to follow the evolution of the young stellar systems after gas removal. We use HDBSCAN to define stellar groups and analyze the stellar kinematics to identify the true bound star clusters. The conditions modeled by the simulations, i.e., global cloud surface densities below 0.15 g cm$^{-2}$,, star formation efficiencies below 15%, and gas expulsion timescales shorter than a free fall time, primarily produce expanding stellar associations and small clusters. The largest star clusters, which have $\sim$1000 bound members, form in the densest and lowest velocity dispersion clouds, representing $\sim$32 and 39% of the stars in the simulations, respectively. The cloud's early dynamical state plays a significant role in setting the classical star formation efficiency versus bound fraction relation. All stellar groups follow a narrow mass-velocity dispersion power law relation at 10 Myr with a power law index of 0.21. This correlation result in a distinct mass-size relationship for bound clusters. We also provide valuable constraints on the gas dispersal timescale during the star formation process and analyze the implications for the formation of bound systems.