We present near-infrared K-band spectra for a sample of seven Class 0 protostars in the Perseus and Orion star-forming regions. We detect Br{gamma}, CO overtone, and H_2_ emission, features that probe the near-circumstellar environment of the protostar and reveal evidence of magnetospheric accretion, a hot inner disk atmosphere, and outflows, respectively. Comparing the properties of these features with those of Class I sources from the literature, we find that their Br{gamma} emission and CO emission are generally consistent in strength and velocity width. The Br{gamma} line profiles are broad and centrally peaked, with FWHMs of ~200km/s and wings extending to ~300km/s. The line ratios of our H_2_ emission features, which are spatially extended for some sources, are consistent with shock excitation and indicate the presence of strong jets or a disk wind. Within our small sample, the frequency of CO band emission (~67%) is high relative to that of Class I samples (~15%), indicating that Class 0 sources have high inner disk accretion rates, similar to those of the most actively accreting Class I sources. Collectively, our results suggest that Class 0 sources have similar accretion mechanisms to the more evolved classes, with strong organized stellar magnetic fields established at the earliest observable stage of evolution.

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/921/110/table1 (*Journal of observations)