Related papers: Dark cloud cores and gravitational decoupling from…
We examine the conditions under which binary and multiple stars may form out of turbulent molecular cloud cores using high resolution 3-D, adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) hydrodynamics (Truelove et al., 1997, 1998; Klein, 1999). We argue…
The current generation of millimeter interferometers have revealed a population of compact (r <~ 0.1 pc), massive (M ~ 100 Msun) gas cores that are the likely progenitors of massive stars. I review models for the evolution of these objects…
The isothermal dynamical evolution of a clumpy and turbulent molecular cloud region and its fragmentation into a protostellar cluster is investigated numerically. The effect of different initial density and velocity distributions, generated…
Improving our understanding of the initial conditions and earliest stages of star formation is crucial to gain insight into the origin of stellar masses, multiple systems, and protoplanetary disks. We review the properties of low-mass dense…
We present SMA and CARMA continuum and spectral line observations of five dense cores located in the Perseus and Ophiuchus molecular clouds whose masses exceed their thermal Jeans masses. Three of these cores have previously been identified…
Dust grains in neutral gas behave as aerodynamic particles, so they can develop large density fluctuations independent of gas density fluctuations. Specifically, gas turbulence can drive order-of-magnitude 'resonant' fluctuations in the…
The `core-cusp' problem is considered a key challenge to the LCDM paradigm. Halos in dark matter only simulations exhibit `cuspy' profiles, where density continuously increases towards the centre. However, the dark matter profiles of many…
Dense gas in molecular clouds is an important signature of ongoing and future star formation. We identify and track dense cores in the STARFORGE simulations, following the core evolution from birth through dispersal by stellar feedback for…
If the split, asymmetric molecular spectral line profiles that are seen in many starless cores are interpreted as indicative of global collapse or expansion of the core then one possible implication is that most starless cores have short…
We present a solution for the observed core fragmentation of filaments in the Taurus L1517 dark cloud which previously could not be explained (Hacar et. al 2011). Core fragmentation is a vital step for the formation of stars. Observations…
(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…
Recently, a subset of starless cores whose thermal Jeans mass is apparently overwhelmed by the mass of the core has been identified, e.g., the core {\small L183}. In literature, massive cores such as this one are often referred to as…
We discuss the observations and theory of star cluster formation to argue that clusters form dynamically cool (subvirial) and with substructure. We then perform an ensemble of simulations of cool, clumpy (fractal) clusters and show that…
We discuss the lifetimes and evolution of clumps and cores formed as turbulent density fluctuations in nearly isothermal molecular clouds. In the non-magnetic case, clumps are unlikely to reach a hydrostatic state, and instead are expected…
We formulate the problem of the formation and collapse of nonaxisymmetric protostellar cores in weakly ionized, self-gravitating, magnetic molecular clouds. In our formulation, molecular clouds are approximated as isothermal, thin (but with…
It is now widely accepted that dense filaments of molecular gas are integral to the process of stellar birth. While numerical simulations have succeeded in reproducing filamentary structure in turbulent gas and analytic calculations have…
The most recent observational evidence seems to indicate that giant molecular clouds are predominantly gravitationally unbound objects. In this paper we show that this is a natural consequence of a scenario in which cloud-cloud collisions…
We present preliminary numerical evidence that the physical conditions in high-mass star forming regions can arise from global gravitational infall, with the velocity dispersions being caused primarily by infall motions rather than random…
Observed molecular clouds often appear to have very low star formation efficiencies and lifetimes an order of magnitude longer than their free-fall times. Their support is attributed to the random supersonic motions observed in them. We…
I describe the scenario of molecular cloud (MC) evolution that has emerged over the past decade or so. MCs can start out as cold atomic clouds formed by compressive motions in the warm neutral medium (WNM) of galaxies. Such motions can be…