2006AJ....132..749W

We present the results of a study aimed at assessing whether low- and high-mass stars form similarly. Our approach is (1) to examine the observed projected rotational velocities among a large sample of newly formed stars spanning a range in mass between 0.2 and 50 M_☉ and (2) to search for evidence of a discontinuity in rotational properties that might indicate a difference in the stellar formation process at some characteristic mass. Our database includes recently published values of vsini for young intermediate- and low-mass stars in Orion, as well as new observations of O stars located in young clusters and OB associations. We find that the median of the quantity v_obs/v_c (observed rotational speed divided by equatorial breakup velocity) is typically about 0.15 and shows no evidence of a discontinuity over the full range of stellar masses, while the quantity Jsini/M (derived angular momentum per unit mass) exhibits a slow, monotonic rise (J/M∼M^0.3) with increasing mass with no evidence of a discontinuity. We suggest that these observations are most simply interpreted as indicative of a single stellar formation and angular momentum regulation mechanism, one that results in rotation rates well below breakup and angular momenta per unit mass that differ systematically by no more than a factor of 3-4 over a mass range spanning a factor of 250.