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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
This contribution is concerned with the origin of binary stellar systems (cf. Abt 1977, Huang 1977). The hierarchical fragmentation scheme of rotating interstellar clouds, proposed by Bodenheimer (1978), is combined with the role of magnetic fields in the early stages of star formation (Mouschovias 1978, Dorfi 1981). The possible influence of the local strength of the mean interstellar magnetic field on the local fraction of binary systems in a galaxy is stressed.