Related papers: A measurement of the turbulence-driven density dis…
We analyse extinction maps of nearby Giant Molecular Clouds to forge a link between driving processes of turbulence and modes of star formation. Our investigation focuses on cloud structure in the column density range above the self…
The compressibility of molecular cloud (MC) turbulence plays a crucial role in star formation models, because it controls the amplitude and distribution of density fluctuations. The relation between the compressive ratio (the ratio of…
Constraining the physical and chemical evolution of molecular clouds is essential to our understanding of star formation. These investigations often necessitate knowledge of some local representative number density of the gas along the line…
Turbulence influences the structure and dynamics of molecular clouds, and plays a key role in regulating star formation. We therefore need methods to accurately infer turbulence properties of molecular clouds from position-position-velocity…
Supersonic flows in the interstellar medium (ISM) are believed to be a key driver of the molecular cloud formation and evolution. Among molecular clouds' properties, the ratio between the solenoidal and compressive modes of turbulence plays…
We review recent advances in the analytical and numerical modeling of the star formation rate in molecular clouds and discuss the available observational constraints. We focus on molecular clouds as the fundamental star formation sites,…
The one-point statistics of column density distributions of turbulent molecular cloud models are investigated and compared with observations. In agreement with the observations, the number N of pixels with surface density S is distributed…
We use a suite of 3D simulations of star-forming molecular clouds, with and without stellar feedback, magnetic fields, and driven turbulence, to study the compression and expansion rates of the gas as functions of density. We show that,…
Studying the driving modes of turbulence is important for characterizing the impact of turbulence in various astrophysical environments. The driving mode of turbulence is parameterized by $b$, which relates the width of the gas density PDF…
Using self-gravitational hydrodynamical numerical simulations, we investigated the evolution of high-density turbulent molecular clouds swept by a colliding flow. The interaction of shock waves due to turbulence produces networks of thin…
The interstellar medium (ISM) is ubiquitously turbulent across many physically distinct environments within the Galaxy. Turbulence is key in controlling the structure and dynamics of the ISM, regulating star formation, and transporting…
We determine the physical properties and turbulence driving mode of molecular clouds formed in numerical simulations of a Milky Way-type disc galaxy with parsec-scale resolution. The clouds form through gravitational fragmentation of the…
We have computed line emission cooling rates for the main cooling species in models of interstellar molecular clouds. The models are based on numerical simulations of super-sonic magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. Non-LTE radiative…
The nature of turbulence in molecular clouds is one of the key parameters that control star formation efficiency: compressive motions, as opposed to solenoidal motions, can trigger the collapse of cores, or mark the expansion of Hii…
The probability density function (PDF) of the gas density in turbulent supersonic flows is investigated with high-resolution numerical simulations. In a systematic study, we compare the density statistics of compressible turbulence driven…
We present the results of a velocity correlation study of the high latitude cloud MBM16 using a fully sampled $^{12}$CO map, supplemented by new $^{13}$CO data. We find a correlation length of 0.4 pc. This is similar in size to the…
Star formation is primarily controlled by the interplay between gravity, turbulence, and magnetic fields. However, the turbulence and magnetic fields in molecular clouds near the Galactic Center may differ substantially from spiral-arm…
Recent observations of column densities in molecular clouds find lognormal distributions with power-law high-density tails. These results are often interpreted as indications that supersonic turbulence dominates the dynamics of the observed…
The universality of interstellar turbulence is examined from observed structure functions of 27 giant molecular clouds and Monte Carlo modeling. We show that the structure functions, dv=v0 l^gamma, derived from wide field imaging of CO…
Supersonic turbulence in molecular clouds is a key agent in generating density enhancements that may subsequently go on to form stars. The stronger the turbulence - the higher the Mach number - the more extreme the density fluctuations are…