Related papers: Tracing Turbulent Ambipolar Diffusion in Molecular…
We estimate the turbulent ambipolar diffusion length scale and magnetic field strength in the massive dense cores CygX-N03 and CygX-N53, located in the Cygnus-X star-forming region. The method we use requires comparing the velocity…
We present the results of a 2-D, two fluid (ions and neutrals) simulation of the ambipolar filamentation process, in which a magnetized, weakly ionized plasma is stirred by turbulence in the ambipolar frequency range. The higher turbulent…
In order to investigate the origin of the interstellar turbulence, detailed observations in the CO J=1--0 and 3--2 lines have been carried out in an interacting region of a molecular cloud with an HII region. As a result, several 1,000 to…
Stars form within molecular clouds but our understanding of this fundamental process remains hampered by the complexity of the physics that drives their evolution. We review our observational and theoretical knowledge of molecular clouds…
The Zeeman effect and dust grain alignment are two major methods for probing magnetic fields (B-fields) in molecular clouds, largely motivated by the study of star formation, as the B-field may regulate gravitational contraction and channel…
Cold clouds embedded in warm media are very common objects in astrophysics. Their disruption timescale depends strongly on the dynamical configuration. We discuss the evolution of an initially homogeneous cold cloud embedded in warm…
We aim to understand the formation of dense cores by magnetosonic waves in regions where the thermal to magnetic pressure ratio is small. Because of the low-ionisation fraction in molecular clouds, neutral and charged particles are weakly…
The chemistry of molecular clouds has been studied for decades, with an increasingly general and sophisticated treatment of the reactions involved. Yet the treatment of turbulent diffusion has remained extremely sketchy, assuming simple…
Several topics in the theory of magnetized turbulence are reviewed with application to star formation and the interstellar medium. The density, pressure, and temperature distribution in a turbulent interstellar medium is described in…
Astrophysical fluids, including interstellar and interplanetary medium, are magnetized and turbulent. Their appearance, evolution, and overall properties are determined by the magnetic turbulence that stirs it. We argue that examining…
The linewidth of ions has been observed to be systematically narrower than that of the coexisting neutrals in molecular clouds (Houde et al. 2000) and been interpreted as the signature of the decoupling of the neutral turbulence from…
Recent observations have revealed that the ion-neutral drift velocity in star-forming molecular clouds and dense cores is on the order of 100 m s^-1. Theoretical studies have shown that, in ambipolar diffusion, the process responsible for…
The formation of protostellar disks out of molecular cloud cores is still not fully understood. Under ideal MHD conditions, the removal of angular momentum from the disk progenitor by the typically embedded magnetic field may prevent the…
Solar wind is probably the best laboratory to study turbulence in astrophysical plasmas. In addition to the presence of magnetic field, the differences with neutral fluid isotropic turbulence are: weakness of collisional dissipation and…
We revisit the problem of the star formation timescale and the ages of molecular clouds. The apparent overabundance of star-forming molecular clouds over clouds without active star formation has been thought to indicate that molecular…
In the broad line region of AGN, acceleration occurs naturally when a cloud condenses out of the hot confining medium due to the increase in line opacity as the cloud cools. However, acceleration by radiation pressure is not very efficient…
Recent advances in understanding of the basic properties of compressible Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence call for revisions of some of the generally accepted concepts. First, MHD turbulence is not so messy as it is usually believed. In…
It is generally believed that turbulence has a significant impact on the dynamics and evolution of molecular clouds and the star formation which occurs within them. Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic effects are known to influence the nature of…
Supersonic turbulence in molecular clouds is a dominant agent that strongly affects the clouds' evolution and star formation activity. Turbulence may be initiated and maintained by a number of processes, acting at a wide range of physical…
Turbulence dissipation is an important process affecting the energy balance in molecular clouds, the birth place of stars. Previously, the rate of turbulence dissipation is often estimated with semi-analytic formulae from simulation.…