Does turbulence determine the initial mass function?

Abstract

We test the hypothesis that the initial mass function (IMF) is determined by\nthe density probability distribution function (PDF) produced by supersonic\nturbulence. We compare 14 simulations of star cluster formation in 50 solar\nmass molecular cloud cores where the initial turbulence contains either purely\nsolenoidal or purely compressive modes, in each case resolving fragmentation to\nthe opacity limit to determine the resultant IMF. We find statistically\nindistinguishable IMFs between the two sets of calculations, despite a factor\nof two difference in the star formation rate and in the standard deviation of\n$\\log(\\rho)$. This suggests that the density PDF, while determining the star\nformation rate, is not the primary driver of the IMF.\n