Explaining inter-study scatter in fragment masses via disk aspect ratio

Determine whether variations in disk aspect ratio h (or equivalently in Mtot at fixed Q ≃ 1) account for most of the scatter in the initial fragment masses reported by previous global 3D simulations by compiling and analyzing the necessary quantities h and mfrag/Mtot across those studies.

Background

Reported typical fragment masses from global 3D simulations vary widely. The authors argue that because the characteristic fragment mass scales with h (or Mtot) when Q ≃ 1, even modest differences in aspect ratio could produce large differences in fragment mass.

However, most prior simulations do not report h or mfrag/Mtot, preventing a quantitative assessment of this explanation for the observed scatter.

References

Unfortunately, we cannot quantitatively determine whether this explains most of the scatter in mfrag because previous 3D simulations seldom include measurements of h or mfrag/Mtot.

— Global Simulations of Gravitational Instability in Protostellar Disks with Full Radiation Transport. I. Stochastic Fragmentation with Optical-depth-dependent Rate and Universal Fragment Mass (2410.12042 - Xu et al., 15 Oct 2024) in Section 5.3