Related papers: Evidence for Dynamically Important Magnetic Fields…
Observations of magnetic field strengths imply that molecular cloud fragments are individually close to being in a magnetically critical state, even though both magnetic field and column density measurements range over two orders of…
Magnetic fields are dynamically important in the diffuse interstellar medium. Understanding how gravitationally bound, star-forming clouds form requires modeling of the fields in a self-consistent, supernova-driven, turbulent, magnetized,…
The question whether magnetic fields play an important role in the processes of molecular cloud and star formation has been debated for decades. Recent observations have revealed a simple picture that may help illuminate these questions:…
Magnetic fields are believed to play an important role in the evolution of molecular clouds, from their large scale structure to dense cores, protostellar envelopes, and protoplanetary disks. How important is unclear, and whether magnetic…
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…
The diffusion of astrophysical magnetic fields in conducting fluids in the presence of turbulence depends on whether magnetic fields can change their topology via reconnection in highly conducting media. Recent progress in understanding…
The magnetic field of molecular clouds (MCs) plays an important role in the process of star formation: it determins the statistical properties of supersonic turbulence that controls the fragmentation of MCs, controls the angular momentum…
One of the key problems in star formation research is to determine the role of magnetic fields. Starting from the atomic inter-cloud medium (ICM) which has density nH ~ 1 per cubic cm, gas must accumulate from a volume several hundred pc…
Velocity anisotropy induced by MHD turbulence is investigated using computational simulations and molecular line observations of the Taurus molecular cloud. A new analysis method is presented to evaluate the degree and angle of velocity…
The molecular component of the Galaxy is comprised of turbulent, magnetized clouds, many of which are self-gravitating and form stars. To understand how these clouds' evolution may depend on their level of turbulence, mean magnetization,…
Stars form in highly-magnetised, supersonic turbulent molecular clouds. Many of the tools and models that we use to carry out star formation studies rely upon the assumption of cloud isotropy. However, structures like high-density filaments…
We revisit the relation between magnetic-field strength ($B$) and gas density ($\rho$) for contracting interstellar clouds and fragments (or, cores), which is central in observationally determining the dynamical importance of magnetic…
Magnetically aligned velocity anisotropy over varying physical conditions and environments within the Taurus Molecular Cloud is evaluated from analysis of wide field spectroscopic imaging of 12CO and 13CO J=1-0 emission. Such anisotropy is…
The mass-to-magnetic flux ratio of molecular clouds is a parameter of central importance as it quantifies the dynamical significance of the magnetic field with respect to gravitational forces. Therefore, it can provide invaluable…
Magnetic fields are a dynamically important agent for regulating structure formation in the interstellar medium. The study of the relative orientation between the local magnetic field and gas (column-) density gradient has become a powerful…
Magnetic field are transported and tangled by turbulence, even as they lose identity due to nonideal or resistive effects. On balance field lines undergo stretch-twist-fold processes. The curvature field, a scalar that measures the tangling…
The relative importance of magnetic fields, turbulence, and gravity in the early phases of star formation is still not well understood. We report the first high-resolution dust polarization observations at 850 $\mu$m around the most massive…
We examine the effects of self-gravity and magnetic fields on supersonic turbulence in isothermal molecular clouds with high resolution simulations and adaptive mesh refinement. These simulations use large root grids (512^3) to capture…
Magnetic fields (B-fields) play an important role in molecular cloud fragmentation and star formation, but are very difficult to detect. The temporal correlation between the field strength (B) and gas density (n) of an isolated cloud has…
Atomic gas in the diffuse interstellar medium (ISM) is organized in filamentary structures. These structures usually host cold and dense molecular clumps. The Galactic magnetic field is considered to play an important role in the formation…