Related papers: Clumpy Structures within the Turbulent Primordial …
Turbulence is a critical ingredient for star formation, yet its role for the initial mass function (IMF) is not fully understood. Here we perform magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of star cluster formation including gravity,…
We present numerical simulations to describe the evolution of pre-Galactic clouds in a model which is motivated by cold dark matter simulations of hierarchical galaxy formation. We adopt a SN-induced star-formation mechanism within a model…
We present a new analysis of the minimum mass for star formation, based on opacity-limited fragmentation. Our analysis differs from the standard one, which considers hierarchical fragmentation of a 3-D medium, and yields $M_{_{\rm MIN}}…
Radiation feedback from stellar clusters is expected to play a key role in setting the rate and efficiency of star formation in giant molecular clouds (GMCs). To investigate how radiation forces influence realistic turbulent systems, we…
A fraction of the dense cores within a turbulent molecular cloud will eventually collapse to form stars. Identifying the physical criteria for instability and analyzing critical core properties is therefore necessary to star formation…
Supersonic turbulence plays a dual role in molecular clouds: On one hand, it contributes to the global support of the clouds, while on the other it promotes the formation of small-scale density fluctuations, identifiable with clumps and…
Protostellar outflows crisscross the regions of star cluster formation, stirring turbulence and altering the evolution of the forming cluster. We model the stirring of turbulent motions by protostellar outflows, building on an observation…
Recent numerical simulations have shown that the unstable disk within the central regime of the primordial gas cloud fragments to form multiple protostars on several scales. Their evolution depends on the mass accretion phenomenon,…
Most stars form in binaries and the evolution of their discs remains poorly understood. To shed light on this subject, we carry out 3D ideal MHD simulations with the AMR code FLASH of binary star formation for separations of…
We investigate the physical properties of dense cores formed in turbulent, magnetized, parsec-scale clumps of molecular clouds, using three-dimensional numerical simulations that include protostellar outflow feedback. The dense cores are…
We investigate the dependence of stellar properties on the initial mean density of the molecular cloud in which stellar clusters form using radiation hydrodynamical simulations that resolve the opacity limit for fragmentation. We have…
The efficiency of star formation, defined as the ratio of the stellar to total (gas and stellar) mass, is observed to vary from a few percent in regions of dispersed star formation to about a third in cluster-forming cores. This difference…
Stars form in clusters from the gravitational collapse of giant molecular clouds, which is opposed by a variety of physical processes, including stellar feedback. The interplay between these processes determines the star formation rate of…
We investigate the properties of highly compressible turbulence, the compressibility arising from a small effective polytropic exponent $\gamma_e$ due to cooling. In the limit of small $\gamma_e$, the density jump at shocks is shown to be…
The standard model of gravitational structure formation is based on the Jeans 1902 acoustic theory, neglecting nonlinear instabilities controlled by viscosity, turbulence and diffusion. Because the Jeans scale L_J for the hot primordial…
Star formation is inefficient. Recent advances in numerical simulations and theoretical models of molecular clouds show that the combined effects of interstellar turbulence, magnetic fields and stellar feedback can explain the low…
Supersonic turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) is closely linked to the formation of stars, and hence many theories connect the stellar initial mass function (IMF) with the turbulent properties of molecular clouds. Here we test…
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…
The formation of the first stars in the high-redshift Universe is a sensitive probe of the small-scale, particle physics nature of dark matter (DM). We carry out cosmological simulations of primordial star formation in ultra-light,…
The role of turbulent fragmentation in regulating the efficiency of star formation in interstellar clouds is examined from new wide field imaging of 12CO and 13CO J=1-0 emission from the Rosette and G216-2.5 molecular clouds. The Rosette…