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Fundamental Reasons for the Similarity and Differences of the Mass Spectra of Various Astronomical Objects

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The mass spectra of astronomical objects of various kinds are compared: cosmic dust, asteroids, planets, stars, star clusters, galaxies, and galactic clusters. The authors have previously noted a similarity in the (initial) mass functions for relatively massive objects (stars, galaxies, galactic clusters). In this paper the range of masses of astronomical objects is extended to the limit and covers roughly 68 orders of magnitude. It is confirmed that the initial mass spectra of objects in ensembles formed by fragmentation (a fast process) may, in a first approximation in a statistically significant range be represented by a basis (reference) function dN / dM ∞ M-2, where dN is the number of objects in a range [M, M+dM] of masses. The significance of this function is the probability density of formation of objects, which total mass in a range [d ln M] of masses is independent of the mass M or, in other words, reduces to the absence of a distinct mass scale. The physical reasons determining the deviation of the initial mass functions from the reference function are discussed briefly. It is noted that the mass spectra in ensembles of objects formed by mergers (coagulation in the case of dust), i.e., in a relatively slow evolutionary process, can also be of a form close a reference function. The main reason for this universality lies in the random character of the processes of formation and evolution of these ensembles of astronomical objects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    A. V. Tutukov & B. M. Shustov

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  1. A. V. Tutukov
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  2. B. M. Shustov
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Correspondence to A. V. Tutukov.

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Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 63, No. 4, pp. 631-647 (November 2020)

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Tutukov, A.V., Shustov, B.M. Fundamental Reasons for the Similarity and Differences of the Mass Spectra of Various Astronomical Objects. Astrophysics 63, 552–565 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10511-020-09658-9

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