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We use $^{12}$CO (J=1-0) MWISP data to study turbulence in a segment of the Local Arm. Velocity slices at different kinematic distances show similar spatial power spectra (SPSs) and structure functions (SFs), demonstrating that the entire…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2025-11-18 Yuehui Ma , Miaomiao Zhang , Hongchi Wang , Xuepeng Chen , Zhenyi Yue , Suziye He , Xiangyu Ou , Li Sun

We compile a holistic scenario for molecular cloud (MC) evolution and control of the star formation efficiency (SFE), and present a first set of numerical tests of it. A {\it lossy} compressible cascade can generate density fluctuations and…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-07 E. Vazquez-Semadeni , J. Ballesteros-Paredes , R. S. Klessen

We present results from two-dimensional numerical simulations of a supersonic turbulent flow in the plane of the galactic disk, incorporating shear, thresholded and discrete star formation (SF), self-gravity, rotation and magnetic fields. A…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-10-28 T. Passot , E. Vazquez-Semadeni , A. Pouquet

Guided by the duality of turbulence (random versus coherent we seek coherent structures in the turbulent velocity field of molecular clouds, anticipating their importance in cloud evolution. We analyse a large map (40' by 20') obtained with…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2015-05-13 Pierre Hily-Blant , Edith Falgarone

Star formation is intimately linked to the dynamical evolution of molecular clouds. Turbulent fragmentation determines where and when protostellar cores form, and how they contract and grow in mass via accretion from the surrounding cloud…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Ralf Klessen

Surface roughness significantly impacts transition to turbulence, especially over high-speed, blunt geometries where surface ablation is necessary to mitigate heat loads during atmospheric entry. Inspired by sand-grain roughness experiments…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2026-02-04 Sean Dungan , Mateus Braga , Robyn Macdonald , Christoph Brehm

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-01-19 G. Kowal , A. Lazarian , A. Beresnyak

Supersonic motions are common in molecular clouds. (Sub)sonic turbulence is usually detected toward dense cores and filaments. However, it remains unknown whether (sub)sonic motions at larger scales ($\gtrsim$1~pc) can be present in…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2022-07-20 Yan Gong , Shu Liu , Junzhi Wang , Weishan Zhu , Guang-Xing Li , Wenjin Yang , Jixian Sun

We present an alternative explanation for the nature of turbulence in molecular clouds. Often associated with classical models of turbulence, we instead interpret the observed gas dynamics as random motions, induced when clumpy gas is…

Astrophysics · Physics 2016-08-31 Clare Dobbs , Ian Bonnell

Many questions remain in turbulence research---and related fields---about the underlying physical processes that transfer scalar quantities, such as the kinetic energy, between different length scales. Measurement of an ensemble-averaged…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2007-05-23 M. K. Rivera , W. B. Daniel , S. Y. Chen , R. E. Ecke

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…

Astrophysics · Physics 2007-05-23 Volker Ossenkopf , Mordecai-Mark Mac Low

X-ray observations of galaxy clusters provide insights on the nature of gaseous turbulent motions, their physical scales and on the fundamental processes they are related to. Spatially-resolved, high-resolution spectral measurements of…

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics · Physics 2019-09-25 N. Clerc , E. Cucchetti , E. Pointecouteau , P. Peille

Turbulence plays a critical role in regulating star formation in molecular clouds and is also observed in simulations of primordial halos that host Population III (Pop III) stars. The relative velocity between baryons and dark matter at the…

I discuss the role of self-gravity and radiative heating and cooling in shaping the nature of the turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) of our galaxy. The heating and cooling cause it to be highly compressible, and, in some regimes of…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2012-02-22 Enrique Vazquez-Semadeni

The Interstellar Medium (ISM) is a complex, multi-phase system, where the history of the stars occurs. The processes of birth and death of stars are strongly coupled to the dynamics of the ISM. The observed chaotic and diffusive motions of…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2011-02-02 D. Falceta-Goncalves

We present a comparison of molecular clouds (MCs) from a simulation of supernova-driven interstellar medium (ISM) turbulence with real MCs from the Outer Galaxy Survey. The radiative transfer calculations to compute synthetic CO spectra are…

Astrophysics of Galaxies · Physics 2016-08-03 Paolo Padoan , Mika Juvela , Liubin Pan , Troels Haugbølle , Åke Nordlund

I present an overview of the hierarchy of structures existing in the interstellar medium (ISM) and the possible mechanisms that cause the fragmentation of one level into the next, with the formation of stars as its last step. Within this…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 Enrique Vazquez-Semadeni

Turbulence is a crucial component of dynamics of astrophysical fluids dynamics, including those of ISM, clusters of galaxies and circumstellar regions. Doppler shifted spectral lines provide a unique source of information on turbulent…

Astrophysics · Physics 2016-01-27 A. Lazarian

As a first step to a more complete understanding of the local physical processes which determine star formation rates (SFRs) in the interstellar medium (ISM), we have performed controlled numerical experiments consisting of hydrodynamical…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 A. Slyz , J. Devriendt , Greg Bryan , Joseph Silk

We conduct a systematic numerical study of passive scalar structures in supersonic turbulent flows. We find that the degree of intermittency in the scalar structures increases only slightly as the flow changes from transonic to highly…

Fluid Dynamics · Physics 2015-05-27 Liubin Pan , Evan Scannapieco