Massive pre-stellar cores in radiation-magneto-turbulent simulations of molecular clouds

Abstract

ABSTRACT We simulate the formation and collapse of pre-stellar cores at few-au resolution in a set of radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) using the grid-based code RAMSES-RT. We adopt, for the first time to our best knowledge, realistic initial/boundary conditions by zooming in on to individual massive pre-stellar cores within the GMC. We identify two distinct modes of fragmentation: ‘quasi-spherical’ and ‘filamentary’. In both modes, the fragments eventually become embedded in a quasi-steady accretion disc or toroid with radii ∼500–5000 au and opening angles H/R ∼ 0.5 − 1. The discs/toroids are Toomre stable but the accreted pre-existing fragments are found orbiting the outer disc, appearing as disc fragmentation. Each core converts nearly 100 per cent of the gas mass into a few massive stars forming near the disc centre. Large and massive discs around high-mass stars are supported by magnetic pressure in the outer disc, at radii >200–1000 au, and turbulent pressure in the inner disc. The most massive core accretes several times more mass than its initial mass, forming a cluster of 8 massive (proto)stars enshrouded by a toroid, suggesting a competitive accretion scenario for the formation of stars above ∼30 M⊙. We also find that the H ii regions produced by a single massive star remain trapped in the dense circumstellar discs for a few hundred kiloyears, while the dynamic motions of massive stars in wide binaries or multiple systems displace the stars from the densest parts of the disc, allowing UV radiation to escape producing steady or pulsating bipolar H ii regions.