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Adilkhan Assilkhan

Publications and source records attributed to Adilkhan Assilkhan.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Centrally concentrated star formation in young clusters II: Jet feedback

Protostellar jets are one of the earliest forms of stellar feedback, but their impact on star formation and cluster assembly in centrally concentrated molecular clouds remains poorly understood. We study how protostellar jets affect the star formation efficiency, the temporal variability of star formation, star cluster structure, and the early dynamical state of centrally concentrated, newly forming star clusters using the Torch star cluster formation framework. We adopt a centrally concentrated initial cloud model with mass M = 2.5 x 10^3 solar masses and compare six pairs of simulations with and without protostellar jets, supplemented by one additional higher resolution pair of simulations. We analyze our simulations using global star formation diagnostics together with structural and dynamical measures of the stellar population. Models with jet feedback achieve star formation efficiencies of 12-16%, while the corresponding models without jets yield higher efficiencies of 19-33%. Jets also cause star formation to occur in discrete bursts rather than continuously, to produce more extended and substructured stellar systems, and to leave behind stellar populations that are less tightly bound and have higher virial parameters. In our centrally concentrated initial conditions, runs with jets form stellar systems that better reproduce the observed range of the projected structural parameter Q_2D in young clusters than runs without jets, indicating that protostellar jets are an important early feedback channel even in centrally concentrated clouds that regulates star formation efficiencies and shapes the emerging cluster structure.

astro-ph.GA

Evolution of fractality in centrally concentrated young clusters

We investigate the structural evolution of young star clusters forming within centrally concentrated molecular clouds. Our simulations use the Torch framework, which integrates the FLASH magnetohydrodynamics code with the AMUSE environment, enabling a self-consistent treatment of gas dynamics, star formation, stellar evolution, radiative transfer, and gravitational interactions. We quantify cluster structure using the $Q$ parameter for fractality and compute fractal dimensions via two methods: box-counting and correlation dimension. Our results show that clusters generally inherit fractal substructure from their parental clouds, which is typically erased within $\sim 2.5\,t_\mathrm{ff}$ through dynamical relaxation. Massive stars can induce the formation of secondary subclusters via feedback, with outcomes strongly dependent on stellar mass and formation timing. Interactions among subclusters, including mergers and dispersal, can extend fractal structure beyond $4\,t_\mathrm{ff}$. We also find systematic correlations between the fractality parameter $Q$ and the fractal dimension: fractality is positively correlated with both the correlation and box-counting dimensions, with the correlation dimension exhibiting a stronger correlation. These results demonstrate how stellar feedback and internal dynamics jointly shape the measurable fractal properties of embedded star clusters.

astro-ph.GA

Centrally concentrated star formation in young clusters

The study of star cluster evolution necessitates modeling how their density profiles develop from their natal gas distribution. Observational evidence indicates that many star clusters follow a Plummer-like density profile. However, most studies have focused on the phase after gas ejection, neglecting the influence of gas on early dynamical evolution. We investigate the development of star clusters forming within gas clouds, particularly those with a centrally concentrated gas profile. Simulations were conducted using the \texttt{Torch} framework, integrating the \texttt{FLASH} magnetohydrodynamics code into \texttt{AMUSE}. This permits detailed modeling of star formation, stellar evolution, stellar dynamics, radiative transfer, and gas magnetohydrodynamics. We study the collapse of centrally concentrated, turbulent spheres with a total mass of $2.5\times 10^3\, M_\odot$, investigating the effects of varying numerical resolution and star formation scenarios. The free-fall time is shorter at the center than at the edges of the cloud, with a minimum value of $0.55\,\mathrm{Myr}$. The key conclusions from this study are: (1) the final stellar density profile is more centrally concentrated than analytically predicted, reflecting the role of global gas collapse and feedback; (2) sub-clusters can initially form even in centrally concentrated gas clouds; (3) gas collapses globally toward the center on the central free-fall time scale, contradicting the assumption in analytical models of local fragmentation and star formation; and (4) the mass of the most massive star formed is directly correlated with the cluster effective radius and inversely correlated with the velocity dispersion, while the duration of star formation correlates with the star formation efficiency.

astro-ph.GA