BGPS. XIII. Mass functions

To account for Malmquist bias, we estimate that the present sample of BGPS sources is 90% complete above 400M_{sun}_ and 50% complete above 70M_{sun}_. The mass distributions for the entire sample and astrophysically motivated subsets are generally fitted well by a lognormal function, with approximately power-law distributions at high mass.

Power-law behavior emerges more clearly when the sample population is narrowed in heliocentric distance (power-law index {alpha}=2.0+/-0.1 for sources nearer than 6.5kpc and {alpha}=1.9+/0.1 for objects between 2 and 10 kpc). The high-mass power-law indices are generally 1.85<={alpha}<=2.05 for various subsamples of sources, intermediate between that of giant molecular clouds and the stellar initial mass function. The fit to the entire sample yields a high-mass power-law {alpha}^\^^=1.94_-0.10_^+0.34^.