The Stellar IMF as a Property of Turbulence

Abstract

We propose to interpret the stellar IMF as a property of the turbulence in the star--forming gas. Gravitationally unstable density enhancements in the turbulent flow collapse and form stars. Their mass distribution can be derived analytically from the power spectrum of the turbulent flow and the isothermal shock jump conditions in the magnetized gas. For a power spectrum index β=1.74, consistent with Larson's velocity dispersion--size relation as well as with new numerical and analytic results on supersonic turbulence, we obtain a power law mass distribution of dense cores with a slope equal to 3/(4-β)=1.33, consistent with the slope of Salpeter's stellar IMF. Below one solar mass, the mass distribution flattens and turns around at a fraction of a solar mass, as observed for the stellar IMF in a number of stellar clusters, because only the densest cores are gravitationally unstable. The mass distribution at low masses is determined by the Log--Normal distribution of the gas density. The intermittent nature of this distribution is responsible for the generation of a significant number of collapsing cores of brown dwarf mass.