Related papers: Characteristic structure of star-forming clouds
In this paper we investigate the level of star formation activity within nearby molecular clouds. We employ a uniform set of infrared extinction maps to provide accurate assessments of cloud mass and structure and compare these with…
Dense molecular filaments are central to the star formation process, but the detailed manner in which they fragment into prestellar cores is not yet well understood. Here, we investigate the fragmentation properties and dynamical state of…
The observed increase in star formation efficiency with average cloud density, from several percent in whole giant molecular clouds to ~30 or more in cluster-forming cores, can be understood as the result of hierarchical cloud structure if…
Context: Filaments are common features in molecular clouds and they play a key role in star formation (SF). Studying their life cycle is essential to fully understand the SF process. Aims: We aim to characterise the impact of magnetic field…
The fragmentation of filaments in molecular clouds has attracted a lot of attention as there seems to be a relation between the evolution of filaments and star formation. The study of the fragmentation process has been motivated by simple…
Recently Stanchev et al. (2015) proposed a technique to derive density scaling relations in a star-forming region from analysis of the probability distribution function of column density. We address the possible dependence of the outcome on…
We analyse column density and temperature maps derived from Herschel dust continuum observations of a sample of massive infrared dark clouds (G11.11-0.12, G18.82-0.28, G28.37+0.07, G28.53-0.25). We disentangle the velocity structure of the…
The probability density functions (pdfs) of molecular line centroid velocity fluctuations and fluctuation differences at different spatial lags are estimated for several nearby molecular clouds with active internal star formation. The data…
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,…
We introduce a model for the large-scale, global 3D structure of molecular clouds. Motivated by the morphological appearance of clouds in surface density maps, we model clouds as cylinders, with the aim of backing out information about the…
We aim to develop a new method to infer the sub-beam probability density function (PDF) of H2 column densities and the dense gas mass within molecular clouds using spatially unresolved observations of molecular emission lines in the 3 mm…
The properties of filamentary interstellar clouds observed at sub-millimetre wavelengths, especially by the Herschel Space Observatory, are analysed with polytropic models in cylindrical symmetry. The observed radial density profiles are…
We show that the inter-cloud Larson scaling relation between mean volume density and size $\rho\propto R^{-1}$, which in turn implies that mass $M\propto R^2$, or that the column density $N$ is constant, is an artifact of the observational…
The study of star cluster evolution necessitates modeling how their density profiles develop from their natal gas distribution. Observational evidence indicates that many star clusters follow a Plummer-like density profile. However, most…
We investigate the dependence of stellar properties on the initial mean density of the molecular cloud in which stellar clusters form using radiation hydrodynamical simulations that resolve the opacity limit for fragmentation. We have…
Stars in galaxies form in giant molecular clouds that coalesce when the atomic hydrogen is converted into molecules. There are currently two dominant models for what property of the galactic disk determines its molecular fraction: either…
High resolution surveys reveal that the interstellar medium in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies consists of interlinked hierarchies of filamentary structure and superbubbles extending from galactic to subpc scales. The characterization of…
Performing 1D hydrodynamical calculations coupled with non-equilibrium processes for H2 formation, we pursue the thermal and dynamical evolution of filamentary primordial clouds and attempt to make an estimate on the mass of population III…
Filaments are ubiquitous in the universe. Recent observations have revealed that stars and star clusters form preferentially along dense filaments. Understanding the formation and properties of filaments is therefore a crucial step in…
Star-forming regions presenting a density gradient experience a higher star formation rate than if they were of uniform density. We refer to the ratio between the star formation rate of a spherical centrally-concentrated gas clump and the…