  Obtaining accurate measurements of the initial mass function (IMF) is often
considered to be the key to understanding star formation, and a universal IMF
is often assumed to imply a universal star formation process. Here, we
illustrate that different modes of star formation can result in the same IMF,
and that, in order to truly understand star formation, a deeper understanding
of the primordial binary population is necessary. Detailed knowledge on the
binary fraction, mass ratio distribution, and other binary parameters, as a
function of mass, is a requirement for recovering the star formation process
from stellar population measurements.

Astrophysics of Galaxies