The Stellar Initial Mass Function from Turbulent Fragmentation

The morphology and kinematics of molecular clouds (MCs) are best explained as the consequence of super--sonic turbulence. Super--sonic turbulence fragments MCs into dense sheets, filaments and cores and large low density ``voids'', via the action of highly radiative shocks. We refer to this process as "turbulent fragmentation". In this work we derive the mass distribution of gravitationally unstable cores generated by the process of turbulent fragmentation. The mass distribution above one solar mass depends primarily on the power spectrum of the turbulent flow and on the jump conditions for isothermal shocks in a magnetized gas. For a power spectrum index \beta=-1.74, consistent with Larson's velocity…