The ALMA-QUARKS Survey. IV. Core Mass Function and Evolutionary Trends in Core Formation Efficiency and Chemistry
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: The ALMA-QUARKS (Querying Underlying Mechanisms of Massive Star Formation with ALMA-Resolved Gas Kinematics and Structures) survey targets 139 massive protoclusters selected from the ATOMS survey. The targets were observed at 1.3~mm wavelength with an angular resolution of $\sim0.3^{\prime\prime}$, corresponding to $\sim10^3$~au at the sample's median distance of $\sim3.8$~kpc. Using \texttt{getsf}, we identify 3374 dense cores and classify them as starless, protostellar, hot core, or H{\sc ii} region candidates based on spectral-line diagnostics (e.g., H30$α$, CH$_3$CN, and CH$_3$OH) and CO outflow associations. The resulting catalog provides core physical properties and enables statistical investigations of dense core populations in massive protocluster environments. The derived global core mass function (CMF) after excluding H{\sc ii} region candidates, which is biased by distance effects, has a relatively flat power-law slope at the high-mass end ($\mathrm{d}N/\mathrm{d}\log M \propto M^{-γ}$, with $γ=0.98\pm0.03$). In contrast, the measured high-mass slopes in individual distance bins are approximately Salpeter-like, while their fitted lower mass limits increase with distance. We further examine the core formation efficiency (CFE) across the full sample and find that it positively correlates with the luminosity-to-mass ratio of the parental clumps, consistent with an evolutionary increase in the fraction of mass concentrated into dense cores. We also investigate the detection rates of different molecular tracers and find systematic chemical variations with evolutionary stage. Compared with the ASHES survey, we find that the detection rates of deuterated species vary significantly even for cores at the same evolutionary stages, suggesting an important environmental influence on the chemical evolution of cores.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Jiao, Wenyu, Liu, Tie, Yang, Dongting, Xu, Fengwei, Garay, Guido, Sanhueza, Patricio, Kim, Kee-Tae, Zhang, Yankun, Zhang, Siju, Liu, Xunchuan, Zhu, Lei, Stutz, Amelia M., Juvela, Mika, Evans, Neal J., Li, Shanghuo, Dib, Sami, Goldsmith, Paul F., Yang, Aiyuan, Hwang, Jihye, Li, Di, Lee, Gyuho, Tang, Xindi, Lee, Chang Won, Saha, Anindya, Bhadari, Naval Kishor, Yang, Yuhan, Das, Swagat R., Ladeyschikov, Dmitry A., Gupta, Shivani, Qin, Sheng-li, Liu, Hong-li, Mai, Xiaofeng, Gorai, Prasanta, Baug, Tapas, Chibueze, James O., García, Pablo, Bronfman, Leonardo, Sobolev, Andrej M., Zhou, Jian-Wen, Jiao, Yunfan, Zhou, Jianjun, Chen, Li, Li, Chuanshou, Zhang, Zhenying, Weng, Jixiang, Tóth, L. Viktor
Institutions: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, University of Chile, The University of Tokyo, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Korea University of Science and Technology, Leiden University, Leiden Observatory, University of Concepción, University of Helsinki, The University of Texas at Austin, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Kyushu University, Kyushu University Institute for Advanced Study, Tsinghua University, Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Peking University, Ural Federal University, University of South Africa, Yunnan University, Heidelberg University, S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, University of Debrecen
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, California Institute of Technology, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Science and Technology Major Project, Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, National Science and Technology Council, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences
OpenAlex ID: W7222629348