An Expanding Trapezium Cluster?

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Simulations with Aarseth's (1994) NBODY5 code are presented of an initially dense binary-rich cluster. It is assumed that the star formation efficiency is 50 per cent with instantaneous mass loss. The model central density and velocity dispersion agree with the observational constraints if expansion is only about 6x10⁴ yr old. Additionally, the observed binary proportion constrains the primordial proportion to have been significantly less than in Taurus--Auriga. The claim that a variation of the birth binary proportion with gas cloud parameters has been detected, however, can only be verified if the cluster can be shown to be expanding rapidly.