dense core mass function

A dense core mass function (DCMF, or simply core mass function or CMF) is an unnormalized probability density function giving the occurring masses of dense cores, a type of small, extra-dense molecular cloud or portion of one. Such functions are analogous to initial mass functions, and it is assumed that DCMFs, be they heuristic or theorized, must have a relation to IMFs. The relation between the two is a topic for further theorizing.

Similarly, a cloud mass function is such a function for molecular clouds and a clump mass function is such a function for clumps of higher density within a cloud but not considered a dense core. The density of the interstellar medium is observed to show a fractal nature through a range of dexes, i.e., a power law spectrum.

Note that the term mass function used here is not in the sense of a probability mass function, a function yielding the probability that some discrete random variable takes on a given value.