The ALMA-QUARKS Survey. IV. Core Mass Function and Evolutionary Trends in Core Formation Efficiency and Chemistry

@misc{jiao2026almaquarks,
  title = {{The ALMA-QUARKS Survey. IV. Core Mass Function and Evolutionary Trends in Core Formation Efficiency and Chemistry}},
  author = {Wenyu Jiao and Tie Liu and Dongting Yang and Fengwei Xu and Guido Garay and Patricio Sanhueza and Kee-Tae Kim and Yankun Zhang and Siju Zhang and Xunchuan Liu and Lei Zhu and Amelia M. Stutz and Mika Juvela and Neal J. Evans and Shanghuo Li and Sami Dib and Paul F. Goldsmith and Aiyuan Yang and Jihye Hwang and Di Li and Gyuho Lee and Xindi Tang and Chang Won Lee and Anindya Saha and Naval Kishor Bhadari and Yuhan Yang and Swagat R. Das and Dmitry A. Ladeyschikov and Shivani Gupta and Sheng-li Qin and Hong-li Liu and Xiaofeng Mai and Prasanta Gorai and Tapas Baug and James O. Chibueze and Pablo García and Leonardo Bronfman and Andrej M. Sobolev and Jian-Wen Zhou and Yunfan Jiao and Jianjun Zhou and Li Chen and Chuanshou Li and Zhenying Zhang and Jixiang Weng and L. Viktor Tóth},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.20738},
  eprint = {2610.20738},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20738},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - The ALMA-QUARKS Survey. IV. Core Mass Function and Evolutionary Trends in Core Formation Efficiency and Chemistry
AU  - Wenyu Jiao
AU  - Tie Liu
AU  - Dongting Yang
AU  - Fengwei Xu
AU  - Guido Garay
AU  - Patricio Sanhueza
AU  - Kee-Tae Kim
AU  - Yankun Zhang
AU  - Siju Zhang
AU  - Xunchuan Liu
AU  - Lei Zhu
AU  - Amelia M. Stutz
AU  - Mika Juvela
AU  - Neal J. Evans
AU  - Shanghuo Li
AU  - Sami Dib
AU  - Paul F. Goldsmith
AU  - Aiyuan Yang
AU  - Jihye Hwang
AU  - Di Li
AU  - Gyuho Lee
AU  - Xindi Tang
AU  - Chang Won Lee
AU  - Anindya Saha
AU  - Naval Kishor Bhadari
AU  - Yuhan Yang
AU  - Swagat R. Das
AU  - Dmitry A. Ladeyschikov
AU  - Shivani Gupta
AU  - Sheng-li Qin
AU  - Hong-li Liu
AU  - Xiaofeng Mai
AU  - Prasanta Gorai
AU  - Tapas Baug
AU  - James O. Chibueze
AU  - Pablo García
AU  - Leonardo Bronfman
AU  - Andrej M. Sobolev
AU  - Jian-Wen Zhou
AU  - Yunfan Jiao
AU  - Jianjun Zhou
AU  - Li Chen
AU  - Chuanshou Li
AU  - Zhenying Zhang
AU  - Jixiang Weng
AU  - L. Viktor Tóth
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/14
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.20738
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.20738
AB  - 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 ∼0.3^′′, corresponding to ∼10^3~au at the sample's median distance of ∼3.8~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., H30α, CH_3CN, and CH_3OH) 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 (dN/dlog M ∝ M^−γ, with γ=0.98±0.03). 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.
ER  -