| 9 | 8 | Forming stars are difficult to observe directly because they are deeply embedded in dust and gas. To better understand the star formation process and explore key physics, investigators perform large-scale, physically detailed numerical simulations. However, many different simulations that include many different inputs can reproduce a fundamental observational result: the initial mass function of stars. In this talk, I will discuss how I perform and post-process simulations to compare directly with observational metrics such as gas linewidths and protostellar kinematics. I will reflect on what this implies about current simulations and about the nature of star formation. |
