A minimum hypothesis explanation for an IMF with a lognormal body and power law tail
Abstract
We present a minimum hypothesis model for an IMF that resembles a lognormal distribution at low masses but has a distinct power-law tail. Even if the central limit theorem ensures a lognormal distribution of condensation masses at birth, a power-law tail in the distribution arises due to accretion from the ambient cloud, coupled with a non-uniform (exponential) distribution of accretion times.
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