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The Effect of Unresolved Binaries on the Low-Mass IMF

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2016

Oleg Malkov  and
Hans Zinnecker
Oleg Malkov
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Acad. Sci., 48 Pyatnitskaya St., Moscow 109017, Russia
Hans Zinnecker
Affiliation:
Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany

Abstract

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We have carried out a thought experiment in which we generate a random pairing of objects drawn from a pre-assumed single star power-law IMF, which we call the fundamental IMF. We show how the mass function of primary stars, secondary stars (if we could resolve them) and the mass function of the total mass of systems differ from the underlying fundamental IMF. We also compare our results with observations and conclude that the fundamental IMF of subsolar mass stars could be steeper than currently believed. In other words: the low-mass turn-over of the observed (“apparent”) IMF could be spurious, if the binary fraction of field stars is close to 100% (perhaps due to invisible companions).

Type
XII. Invited Debate: The Status of PMS Tracks
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 200: The Formation of Binary Stars , 2001 , pp. 501 - 504
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2001 

References

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