Jupiter mass binaries and cosmic ray viscosity

Abstract

The fraction of planetary mass objects in the Trapezium cluster that are in wide binaries is much greater than implied by extrapolation to lower masses of the fraction of stars that are wide binaries. Wide binaries may be produced by gravitational collapse of a medium with fluid vorticity. In a uniform medium with uniform vorticity the collapse criterion is independent of the size and mass of the collapsing region, which would imply a wide binary fraction independent of mass, in contradiction to observation. Angular momentum, rather than thermal pressure, may be the chief obstacle to star formation. The excess of Jupiter Mass Binary Objects in the Trapezium cluster may be attributed to cosmic ray viscosity that transports angular momentum to surrounding material. Viscosity is more effective in smaller and less massive collapsing regions, preferentially producing planetary mass wide binaries.