Related papers: Why most molecular clouds are gravitationally domi…
All molecular clouds are observed to be turbulent, but the origin, means of sustenance, and evolution of the turbulence remain debated. One possibility is that stellar feedback injects enough energy into the cloud to drive observed motions…
Satellite galaxies endure powerful environmental tidal forces that drive mass stripping of their outer regions. Consequently, satellites located in central regions of galaxy clusters or groups, where the tidal field is strongest, are…
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 is speculated that the high star-formation efficiency observed in spiral-arm molecular clouds is linked to the prevalence of compressive (curl-free) turbulent modes, while the shear-driven solenoidal (divergence-free) modes appear to be…
We simulate fragmentation and gravitational collapse of cold, magnetized molecular clouds. We explore the nonlinear development of an instability mediated by ambipolar diffusion, in which the collapse rate is intermediate to fast…
(Abridged) We present a series of decaying turbulence simulations that represent a cluster-forming clump within a molecular cloud, investigating the role of magnetic fields on the formation of potential star-forming cores. We present an…
The majority of stars are thought to form in clusters. Cluster formation in dense clumps of molecular clouds is strongly influenced, perhaps controlled, by supersonic turbulence. We have previously shown that the turbulence in regions of…
We present a rich, multiwavelength, multiscale database built around the PHANGS-ALMA CO$\,$(2-1) survey and ancillary data. We use this database to present the distributions of molecular cloud populations and sub-galactic environments in 80…
Using 3D hydrodynamic calculations we simulate formation of molecular clouds in the Galaxy. The simulations take into account molecular hydrogen chemical kinetics, cooling and heating processes. Comprehensive gravitational potential…
The nature of turbulence in molecular clouds is one of the key parameters that control star formation efficiency: compressive motions, as opposed to solenoidal motions, can trigger the collapse of cores, or mark the expansion of Hii…
The observed rapid onset of star formation in molecular clouds requires rapid formation of dense fragments which can collapse individually before being overtaken by global gravitationally-driven flows. Many previous investigations have…
The basic properties of the candidate binary cluster population in the Magellanic Clouds and Galaxy are similar. The fraction of candidate binary systems is $\sim$10% and the pair separation histogram exhibits a bimodal distribution…
Star formation is primarily controlled by the interplay between gravity, turbulence, and magnetic fields. However, the turbulence and magnetic fields in molecular clouds near the Galactic Center may differ substantially from spiral-arm…
We study numerically the formation of molecular clouds in large-scale colliding flows including self-gravity. The models emphasize the competition between the effects of gravity on global and local scales in an isolated cloud. Global…
Equation of motion and the vector of perturbing acceleration (force) for the galactic tide in a noninertial frame of reference is derived. The noninertial reference frame is rotating with a fixed angular velocity $\vec{\omega}$ $=$ $-$…
Motivated by the astrophysical problems of star formations from molecular clouds,we make the first step on the possible long time behaviors of certain irregularly-shaped molecular clouds. We emphasis the main difficulty of the blowups of…
The compressibility of molecular cloud (MC) turbulence plays a crucial role in star formation models, because it controls the amplitude and distribution of density fluctuations. The relation between the compressive ratio (the ratio of…
We investigated the formation of arc-like structures in the infalling envelope around protostars, motivated by the recent Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the high-density molecular cloud core,…
(abbreviated) We consider how tight binaries consisting of a super-massive black hole of mass $M=10^{3}-10^{4}M_{\odot}$ and a white dwarf can be formed in a globular cluster. We point out that a major fraction of white dwarfs tidally…
We develop a theory for filamentary molecular clouds including the effects of ordered magnetic fields, and external pressure. We first derive a form of the virial equation appropriate for filamentary clouds. By comparing with observational…