Related papers: Nature of supersonic turbulence and density distri…
(Abridged) The formation of molecular clouds (MCs) from the diffuse interstellar gas appears to be a necessary step for star formation, as young stars invariably occur within them. However, the mechanisms controlling the formation of MCs…
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…
It is shown that a number of key observations of the Galactic ISM can be understood, if it is treated as a highly compressible and turbulent medium energized predominantly by supernova explosions (and stellar winds). We have performed…
Magnetic fields are a dynamically important component of the turbulent interstellar medium (ISM) of star-forming galaxies. These magnetic fields are due to a dynamo action, which is a process of converting turbulent kinetic energy to…
Supernova (SN) blast waves inject energy and momentum into the interstellar medium (ISM), control its turbulent multiphase structure and the launching of galactic outflows. Accurate modelling of the blast wave evolution is therefore…
Polarized thermal emission from Galactic dust is the dominant foreground for CMB polarization measurements at high frequencies, with its statistical properties set by the interplay between turbulence and magnetic fields in the multiphase…
The probability distribution function (PDF) of the mass surface density of molecular clouds provides essential information about the structure of molecular cloud gas and condensed structures out of which stars may form. In general, the PDF…
We examine the relation between the density variance and the mean-square Mach number in supersonic, isothermal turbulence, assumed in several recent analytic models of the star formation process. From a series of calculations of supersonic,…
Kinetic energy stored in ISM bulk/turbulent motions is a crucial ingredient to properly describe most properties of observed galaxies. By using Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate how this energy is injected by supernovae and dissipated…
In order to understand the origin of observed molecular cloud properties, it is critical to understand how clouds interact with their environments during their formation, growth, and collapse. It has been suggested that accretion-driven…
It is widely accepted that supersonic, magnetised turbulence plays a fundamental role for star formation in molecular clouds. It produces the initial dense gas seeds out of which new stars can form. However, the exact relation between gas…
The observational record of turbulence within the molecular gas phase of the interstellar medium is summarized. We briefly review the analysis methods used to recover the velocity structure function from spectroscopic imaging and the…
Molecular clouds have broad linewidths suggesting turbulent supersonic motions in the clouds. These motions are usually invoked to explain why molecular clouds take much longer than a free-fall time to form stars. It has classically been…
Supersonic turbulence results in strong density fluctuations in the interstellar medium (ISM), which have a profound effect on the chemical structure. Particularly useful probes of the diffuse ISM are the ArH$^+$, OH$^+$, H$_2$O$^+$…
Turbulent fragmentation determines where and when protostellar cores form, and how they contract and grow in mass from the surrounding cloud material. Molecular cloud regions without turbulent driving sources, or where turbulence is driven…
Observations have suggested substantial departures from pressure equilibrium in the interstellar medium (ISM) in the plane of the Galaxy, even on scales under 50 pc. Nevertheless, multi-phase models of the ISM assume at least locally…
Stars form in supersonic turbulent molecular clouds that are self-gravitating. We present an analytic determination of the star formation rate (SFR) in a gravoturbulent medium based on the density probability distribution function of…
Context. It is almost banal to say that the interstellar medium (ISM) is structurally and thermodynamically complex. But the variety of the governing processes, including stellar feedback, renders the investigation challenging. High…
In this paper, the nonlinear evolution of a bistable interstellar medium is investigated using two-dimensional simulations with a realistic cooling rate, thermal conduction, and physical viscosity. The calculations are performed using…
Fractional Brownian motion (fBm) structures are used to investigate the dependency of column density variance ({\sigma}_{\ln N}^2) in the turbulent interstellar medium on the variance of three-dimensional density ({\sigma}_{\ln\rho}^2) and…