The Formation of Stellar Clusters in Magnetized, Filamentary Infrared Dark Clouds

Understand

Star formation in a filamentary infrared dark cloud (IRDC) is simulated over a dynamic range of 4.2 pc to 28 au for a period of $3.5\times 10^5$ yr, including magnetic fields and both radiative and outflow feedback from the protostars.

• At the end of the simulation, the star formation efficiency is 4.3 per cent and the star formation rate per free fall time is $\epsilon_{\rm ff}\simeq 0.04$, within the range of observed values (Krumholz et al.
• 2012a).
• The total stellar mass increases as $\sim\,t^2$, whereas the number of protostars increases as $\sim\,t^{1.5}$.