Related papers: On the shape and completeness of the column densit…
We performed a numerical experiment designed for core formation in a self-gravitating, magnetically supercritical, supersonically turbulent, isothermal cloud. A density probability distribution function (PDF) averaged over a converged…
Volume density is a key physical quantity controlling the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) and star formation, but it cannot be accessed directly by observations of molecular clouds. We aim at estimating the volume density…
The emergence and development of a power-law tail (PLT) at the high-density end of the observed column-density distribution is thought to be indicative for advanced evolution of star-forming molecular clouds. As shown from many numerical…
We investigate the form of the one-point probability distribution function (pdf) for the density field of the interstellar medium using numerical simulations that successively reduce the number of physical processes included.…
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,…
We present a first principle approach to obtain analytical predictions for spherically-averaged cosmic densities in the mildly non-linear regime that go well beyond what is usually achieved by standard perturbation theory. A large deviation…
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 main observational evidence for turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) and molecular clouds is the power-law energy spectrum for velocity fluctuations, E(k) \propto k^{\alpha}. The Kolmogorov scaling exponent, \alpha=-5/3, is…
We compare the structure of star-forming molecular clouds in different regions of Orion A to determine how the column density probability distribution function (N-PDF) varies with environmental conditions such as the fraction of young…
We revisit the mass-size relation of molecular cloud structures based on the column density map of the Cygnus-X molecular cloud complex. We extract 135 column density peaks in Cygnus-X and analyze the column density distributions around…
The mass function of clumps observed in molecular clouds raises interesting theoretical issues, especially in its relation to the stellar initial mass function. We propose a statistical model of the mass function of prestellar cores (CMF),…
Stars form from molecular gas under complex conditions influenced by multiple competing physical mechanisms, such as gravity, turbulence, and magnetic fields. However, accurately identifying the fraction of gas actively involved in star…
We present an analysis of probability distribution functions (pdfs) of column density in different zones of the star-forming region Perseus and its diffuse environment based on the map of dust opacity at 353 GHz available from the Planck…
We propose a new, physically motivated fitting function for density PDFs in turbulent gas. Although it is known that when gas is isothermal, the PDF is approximately lognormal in the core, high-resolution simulations show large deviations…
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…
Compressive isothermal turbulence is known to have a near lognormal density probability distribution function (PDF) with a width that scales with the sonic Mach number and nature of the turbulent driving (solenoidal vs compressive).…
We investigate the behavior of the magnetic pressure, $b^2$, in fully turbulent MHD flows in ``1+2/3'' dimensions by means of its effect on the probability density function (PDF) of the density field. We start by reviewing our previous…
Molecular clouds are supersonically turbulent. This turbulence governs the initial mass function and the star formation rate. In order to understand the details of star formation, it is therefore essential to understand the properties of…
We introduce a theory for the development of a transitional column density $\Sigma_{\rm TP}$ between the lognormal and the power-law forms of the probability distribution function (PDF) in a molecular cloud. Our turbulent…
We present new high resolution and dynamic range dust column density and temperature maps of the California Molecular Cloud derived from a combination of Planck and Herschel dust-emission maps, and 2MASS NIR dust-extinction maps. We used…