N-body simulations of star forming regions

This thesis contains a body of work using N-body simulations and numerical methods to
study star forming regions.
It begins by introducing relevant topics, such as the basic picture of star formation, the en-
vironment(s) that stars form in, stellar dynamics, and statistical methods of analysing star forming
regions. In the following chapter information is provided surrounding the computational methods
used by the field to simulate star forming regions. N-body simulations are described in particular
detail.
This alternative format thesis then includes the paper ‘How do binary clusters form?’
(Arnold et al. 2017) which details a study into the origins of binary clusters. Using N-body sim-
ulations it concludes that binary clusters may originate from single star forming regions which
divide in two.
The next paper presented in this alternative format thesis is ‘A method to analyse velocity
structure’ (Arnold & Goodwin 2019), which presents a statistical method for analysing the velocity
structure of star forming regions (although the method also has wider capabilities).
The third paper presented is ‘The velocity structure of Cygnus OB2’ (Arnold et al. 2019;
submitted) which applies the method presented in Arnold & Goodwin (2019) to observations of the
Cygnus OB2 association. The results are used to investigate and interpret the region’s dynamical
history.
The fourth paper presented is ‘Dynamical evolution of star-forming regions: III. Unbound
stars and predictions for Gaia’ (Schoettler et al. 2019), a study conducted in conjunction with C.
Schoettler and a number of others. My contribution to this project is clearly outlined at the start of
this chapter.