Alexei G. Kritsuk
ABSTRACT
We use deep adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) simulations of isothermal self-gravitating supersonic turbulence to study the imprints of gravity on the mass density distribution in molecular clouds. The simulations show that the density distribution in self-gravitating clouds develops an extended power-law tail at high densities on top of the usual lognormal. We associate the origin of the tail with self-similar collapse solutions and predict the power index values in the range from −7/4 to −3/2 that agree with both simulations and observations of star-forming molecular clouds.
- D. Arzoumanian and et al. Characterizing interstellar filaments with Herschel in IC 5146. A&A, 529:L6, 2011.Google Scholar
- J. Kainulainen, H. Beuther, T. Henning, and R. Plume. Probing the evolution of molecular cloud structure. From quiescence to birth. A&A, 508:L35--L38, 2009.Google ScholarCross Ref
- R. S. Klessen. One-Point Probability Distribution Functions of Supersonic Turbulent Flows in Self-gravitating Media. ApJ, 535:869--886, 2000.Google Scholar
- A. G. Kritsuk, M. L. Norman, P. Padoan, and R. Wagner. The Statistics of Supersonic Isothermal Turbulence. ApJ, 665:416--431, 2007.Google Scholar
- R. B. Larson. Numerical calculations of the dynamics of collapsing proto-star. MNRAS, 145:271, 1969.Google ScholarCross Ref
- T. Passot and E. Vázquez-Semadeni. Density probability distribution in one-dimensional polytropic gas dynamics. Phys. Rev. E, 58:4501--4510, 1998.Google ScholarCross Ref
- M. V. Penston. Dynamics of self-gravitating gaseous spheres-III. Analytical results in the free-fall of isothermal cases. MNRAS, 144:425, 1969.Google ScholarCross Ref
- A. Whitworth and D. Summers. Self-similar condensation of spherically symmetric self-gravitating isothermal gas clouds. MNRAS, 214:1--25, 1985.Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- On the density distribution in star-forming interstellar clouds
Recommendations
Study of forced turbulence and its modulation by finite-size solid particles using the lattice Boltzmann approach
The paper describes application of the mesoscopic lattice Boltzmann (LB) method to the simulations of both single-phase turbulence and particle-laden turbulence which are maintained by a large-scale forcing. The disturbance flows around finite-size ...
Lattice Boltzmann simulation of turbulent flow laden with finite-size particles
The paper describes a particle-resolved simulation method for turbulent flow laden with finite size particles. The method is based on the multiple-relaxation-time lattice Boltzmann equation. The no-slip boundary condition on the moving particle ...
Compressible large eddy simulations of wall-bounded turbulent flows using a semi-implicit numerical scheme for low Mach number aeroacoustics
Large eddy simulations (LES) of low-speed, wall-bounded turbulent flows were conducted by numerically integrating the compressible Navier-Stokes equations in a generalized curvilinear coordinate system. An efficient numerical scheme based on a third-...
Comments