We study the core mass function ( CMF ) of the massive protocluster G286.21+0.17 with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array via 1.3 mm continuum emission at a resolution of 1.0″ ( 2500 au ) .
We have mapped a field of 5.3′ \times 5.3′ centered on the protocluster clump .
We measure the CMF in the central region , exploring various core detection algorithms , which give source numbers ranging from 60 to 125 , depending on parameter selection .
We estimate completeness corrections due to imperfect flux recovery and core identification via artificial core insertion experiments .
For masses M \gtrsim 1 \ > M _ { \odot } , the fiducial dendrogram-identified CMF can be fit with a power law of the form { d } N / { d } { log } M \propto { M } ^ { - \alpha } with \alpha \simeq 1.24 \pm 0.17 , slightly shallower than , but still consistent with , the index of the Salpeter stellar initial mass function of 1.35 .
Clumpfind-identified CMFs are significantly shallower with \alpha \simeq 0.64 \pm 0.13 .
While raw CMFs show a peak near 1 \ > M _ { \odot } , completeness-corrected CMFs are consistent with a single power law extending down to \sim 0.5 \ > M _ { \odot } , with only a tentative indication of a shallowing of the slope around \sim 1 \ > M _ { \odot } .
We discuss the implications of these results for star and star cluster formation theories .