Related papers: Observational Diagnostics of Self-Gravitating MHD …
Turbulence is essential for understanding the structure and dynamics of molecular clouds and star-forming regions. There is a need for adequate tools to describe and characterize the properties of turbulent flows. One-point probability…
We conduct numerical experiments to determine the density probability distribution function (PDF) produced in supersonic, isothermal, self-gravitating turbulence of the sort that is ubiquitous in star-forming molecular clouds. Our…
Simulations generally show that non-self-gravitating clouds have a lognormal column density ($\Sigma$) probability distribution function (PDF), while self-gravitating clouds with active star formation develop a distinct power-law tail at…
It has been recently shown that molecular clouds do not exhibit a unique shape for the column density probability distribution function (Npdf). Instead, clouds without star formation seem to possess a lognormal distribution, while clouds…
We derive an analytical theory of the PDF of density fluctuations in supersonic turbulence in the presence of gravity in star-forming clouds. The theory is based on a rigorous derivation of a combination of the Navier-Stokes continuity…
We present N-PDFs of 29 Galactic regions obtained from Herschel imaging at high angular resolution, covering diffuse and quiescent clouds, and those showing low-, intermediate-, and high-mass star formation (SF), and characterize the cloud…
The Velocity Gradients Technique (VGT) and the Probability Density Functions (PDFs) of mass density are tools to study turbulence, magnetic fields, and self-gravity in molecular clouds. However, self-absorption can significantly make the…
Aims: We derive the probability density functions (PDFs) of column density for a complete sample of prominent molecular cloud complexes closer than 200 pc. Methods: We derive near-infrared dust extinction maps for 23 molecular cloud…
We study the probability distribution function (PDF) of the mass density in simulations of supersonic turbulence with properties appropriate for molecular clouds. For this study we use Athena, a new higher-order Godunov code. We find there…
We compare velocity structure in the Polaris Flare molecular cloud at scales ranging from 0.015 pc to 20 pc to simulations of supersonic hydrodynamic and MHD turbulence computed with the ZEUS MHD code. We use several different statistical…
The structure of molecular clouds can be characterized with the probability distribution function (PDF) of the mass surface density. In particular, the properties of the distribution can reveal the nature of the turbulence and star…
We perform three-dimensional (3D) compressible MHD simulations over many dynamical times for an extended range of sonic and Alfven Mach numbers and analyze the statistics of 3D density and 2D column density, which include probability…
We derive an analytic expression for the transitional column density value ($s_t$) between the lognormal and power-law form of the probability distribution function (PDF) in star-forming molecular clouds. Our expression for $s_t$ depends on…
In this Letter we investigate the shape of the probability distribution of column densities (PDF) in molecular clouds. Through the use of low-noise, extinction-calibrated \textit{Herschel}/\textit{Planck} emission data for eight molecular…
The density distribution within molecular clouds offers critical insights into their underlying physical processes, which are essential for understanding star formation. As a statistical measure of column density on the cloud scale, the…
(Abridged) We derive an analytical formula which provides estimates on multiscale gravitational energy distribution using the observed surface density PDF. Our analytical formalism also enables one to convert the observed column density PDF…
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,…
The probability density functions (PDFs) for energy dissipation rates, created from time-series data of grid turbulence in a wind tunnel, are analyzed in a high precision by the theoretical formulae for PDFs within multifractal PDF theory…
We present three numerical simulations of randomly driven, isothermal, non-magnetic, self-gravitating turbulence with different rms Mach numbers Ms and physical sizes L, but approximately the same value of the virial parameter, alpha approx…
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…