Abstract

The ALMA-IMF Large Program provides multi-tracer observations of 15 Galactic massive protoclusters at a matched sensitivity and spatial resolution. We focus on the dense gas kinematics of the G353.41 protocluster traced by N2H+ (1-0), with a spatial resolution of similar to 0.02 pc. G353.41, at a distance of similar to 2kpc, is embedded in a larger-scale (similar to 8 pc) filament and has a mass of similar to 2.5 x 10(3) M-circle dot within 1.3 x 1.3 pc(2). We extracted the N2H+ (1-0) isolated line component and decomposed it by fitting up to three Gaussian velocity components. This allows us to identify velocity structures that are either muddled or impossible to identify in the traditional position-velocity diagram. We identify multiple velocity gradients on large (similar to 1 pc) and small scales (similar to 0.2pc). We find good agreement between the N2H+ velocities and the previously reported DCN core velocities, suggesting that cores are kinematically coupled with the dense gas in which they form. We have measured nine converging "V-shaped" velocity gradients (VGs) (similar to 20 km s(-1) pc(-1)) that are well resolved (sizes similar to 0.1 pc), mostly located in filaments, which are sometimes associated with cores near their point of convergence. We interpret these V-shapes as inflowing gas feeding the regions near cores (the immediate sites of star formation). We estimated the timescales associated with V-shapes as VG(-1), and we interpret them as inflow timescales. The average inflow timescale is similar to 67 kyr, or about twice the free-fall time of cores in the same area (similar to 33 kyr) but substantially shorter than protostar lifetime estimates (similar to 0.5 Myr). We derived mass accretion rates in the range of (0.35-8.77) x 10(-4) M-circle dot yr(-1). This feeding might lead to further filament collapse and the formation of new cores. We suggest that the protocluster is collapsing on large scales, but the velocity signature of collapse is slow compared to pure free-fall. Thus, these data are consistent with a comparatively slow global protocluster contraction under gravity, and faster core formation within, suggesting the formation of multiple generations of stars over the protocluster's lifetime.