Related papers: Shocks and Molecules in Diffuse Interstellar Cloud…
The character of star formation is intimately related to the supersonic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulent dynamics of the molecular clouds in which stars form. A significant amount of the turbulent energy dissipates in low velocity…
We utilize observations of sub-millimeter rotational transitions of CO from a Herschel Cycle 2 open time program ("COPS", PI: J. Green) to identify previously predicted turbulent dissipation by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shocks in molecular…
Turbulent diffuse molecular clouds can exhibit complicated morphologies caused by the interactions among radiation, chemistry, fluids, and fields. We performed full 3D simulations for turbulent diffuse molecular interstellar media,…
With Hubble Space Telescope Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 observations of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, we examine the interaction of an interstellar cloud with the blast wave on physical scales of 10^15 cm. The shock front is…
The interstellar medium (ISM) is a key ingredient of galaxies and their evolution, consisting of multiphase, turbulent dust and gas. Some of the star-forming regions in our Galaxy originate from cloud-cloud and wind-cloud collisions, which…
We report three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of shocks (${\cal M_{\rm shock}}\geq 4$) interacting with fractal multicloud layers. The evolution of shock-multicloud systems consists of four stages: a shock-splitting phase in which…
We present 2D adiabatic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of a shock interacting with groups of two or three cylindrical clouds. We study how the presence of a nearby cloud influences the dynamics of this interaction, and explore the…
Formation of interstellar clouds as a consequence of thermal instability is studied using two-dimensional two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We consider the situation of converging, supersonic flows of warm neutral medium in the…
Supernovae from core-collapse of massive stars drive shocks into the molecular clouds from which the stars formed. Such shocks affect future star formation from the molecular clouds, and the fast-moving, dense gas with compressed magnetic…
We extend previous studies of the physics of interstellar cloud collisions by beginning investigation of the role of magnetic fields through 2D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations. We study head-on collisions between equal mass,…
An overview is presented of the main properties of the interstellar medium. Evidence is summarized that the interstellar medium is highly turbulent, driven on different length scales by various energetic processes. Large-scale turbulence…
We present ongoing hydrodynamic and MHD simulations of molecular cloud formation in spiral galaxies. The hydrodynamic results show the formation of molecular gas clouds where spiral shocks compress atomic gas to high densities. The spiral…
Observations of magnetic field strengths imply that molecular cloud fragments are individually close to being in a magnetically critical state, even though both magnetic field and column density measurements range over two orders of…
The magnetohydrodynamic evolution of a dense spherical cloud as it interacts with a strong planar shock is studied, as a model for shock interactions with density inhomogeneities in the interstellar medium. The cloud is assumed to be small…
Recent numerical simulations of the interstellar medium driven by energy input from supernovae and stellar winds indicate that HI clouds can be formed by compression in shock waves and colliding turbulent streams without any help from…
Magnetic fields are ubiquitously observed in the interstellar medium (ISM) of present-day star-forming galaxies with dynamically relevant energy densities. Using three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the supernova (SN)…
Complex turbulent motions of magnetized gas are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium. The source of this turbulence, however, is still poorly understood. Previous work suggests that compression caused by supernova shockwaves, gravity, or…
It has long been suggested that shocks might play an important role in altering the form of the interstellar medium (ISM). Shocks enhance gas density and sufficiently dense regions may become self gravitating. Potential star forming clouds…
We discuss constraints on the rates of stirring and dissipation of MHD turbulence in molecular clouds. Recent MHD simulations suggest that turbulence in clouds decays rapidly, thus providing a significant source of energy input,…
The propagation of a shock wave into an interstellar medium is investigated by two-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic calculation with cooling, heating and thermal conduction. We present results of the high-resolution two-dimensional…