Ambipolar Diffusion, Cloud Cores, and Star Formation: Two-dimensional, Cylindrically Symmetric Contraction. III. A Further Parameter Study and Magnetically Controlled Accretion Rate

1992 ◽  
Vol 390 ◽  
pp. 166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Telemachos Ch. Mouschovias ◽  
Scott A. Morton
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Accretion Rate ◽  
Ambipolar Diffusion ◽  
Parameter Study ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Cylindrically Symmetric ◽  
Cloud Cores

scholarly journals Magnetic Fields in Molecular Clouds—Observation and Interpretation

Galaxies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Hua-Bai Li
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Molecular Clouds ◽  
Zeeman Effect ◽  
Ambipolar Diffusion ◽  
Grain Alignment ◽  
The Past ◽  
Turbulence Velocity ◽  
Cloud Cores ◽  
Dust Grain

The Zeeman effect and dust grain alignment are two major methods for probing magnetic fields (B-fields) in molecular clouds, largely motivated by the study of star formation, as the B-field may regulate gravitational contraction and channel turbulence velocity. This review summarizes our observations of B-fields over the past decade, along with our interpretation. Galactic B-fields anchor molecular clouds down to cloud cores with scales around 0.1 pc and densities of 104–5 H2/cc. Within the cores, turbulence can be slightly super-Alfvénic, while the bulk volumes of parental clouds are sub-Alfvénic. The consequences of these largely ordered cloud B-fields on fragmentation and star formation are observed. The above paradigm is very different from the generally accepted theory during the first decade of the century, when cloud turbulence was assumed to be highly super-Alfvénic. Thus, turbulence anisotropy and turbulence-induced ambipolar diffusion are also revisited.

scholarly journals On the emergent system mass function: the contest between accretion and fragmentation

2020 ◽  
Vol 500 (2) ◽  
pp. 1697-1707
Author(s):  
Paul C Clark ◽  
Anthony P Whitworth
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Mass Distribution ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Accretion Rate ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
High Mass ◽  
New Model ◽  
System Formation ◽  
Low Mass

ABSTRACT We propose a new model for the evolution of a star cluster’s system mass function (SMF). The model involves both turbulent fragmentation and competitive accretion. Turbulent fragmentation creates low-mass seed proto-systems (i.e. single and multiple protostars). Some of these low-mass seed proto-systems then grow by competitive accretion to produce the high-mass power-law tail of the SMF. Turbulent fragmentation is relatively inefficient, in the sense that the creation of low-mass seed proto-systems only consumes a fraction, ${\sim }23{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ (at most ${\sim }50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$), of the mass available for star formation. The remaining mass is consumed by competitive accretion. Provided the accretion rate on to a proto-system is approximately proportional to its mass (dm/dt ∝ m), the SMF develops a power-law tail at high masses with the Salpeter slope (∼−2.3). If the rate of supply of mass accelerates, the rate of proto-system formation also accelerates, as appears to be observed in many clusters. However, even if the rate of supply of mass decreases, or ceases and then resumes, the SMF evolves homologously, retaining the same overall shape, and the high-mass power-law tail simply extends to ever higher masses until the supply of gas runs out completely. The Chabrier SMF can be reproduced very accurately if the seed proto-systems have an approximately lognormal mass distribution with median mass ${\sim } 0.11 \, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ and logarithmic standard deviation $\sigma _{\log _{10}({M/M}_\odot)}\sim 0.47$).

scholarly journals Phylogeny of the Milky Way’s inner disk and bulge populations: Implications for gas accretion, (the lack of) inside-out thick disk formation, and quenching

2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Misha Haywood ◽  
Paola Di Matteo ◽  
Matthew Lehnert ◽  
Owain Snaith ◽  
Francesca Fragkoudi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Accretion Rate ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Thin Disk ◽  
Thick Disk ◽  
Star Formation History ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Disk Formation ◽  
Gas Accretion

We show that the bulge and the disk of the Milky Way (MW) at R ≲ 7 kpc are well described by a unique chemical evolution and a two-phase star formation history (SFH). We argue that the populations within this inner disk, not the entire disk, are the same, and that the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR) of the bar plays a key role in explaining this uniformity. In our model of a two-phase SFH, the metallicity, [α/Fe] and [α/H] distributions, and age-metallicity relation are all compatible with the observations of both the inner disk and bulge. The dip at [Fe/H] ∼ 0 dex seen in the metallicity distributions of the bulge and inner disk reflects the quenching episode in the SFH of the inner MW at age ∼8 Gyr, and the common evolution of the bulge and inner disk stars. Our results for the inner region of the MW, R ≲ 7 kpc, are consistent with a rapid build-up of a large fraction of its total baryonic mass within a few billion years. We show that at z ≤ 1.5, when the MW was starting to quench, transitioning between the end of the α-enhanced thick disk formation to the start of the thin disk, and yet was still gas rich, the gas accretion rate could not have been significant. The [α/Fe] abundance ratio before and after this quenching phase would be different, which is not observed. The decrease in the accretion rate and gas fraction at z ≤ 2 was necessary to stabilize the disk allowing the transition from thick to thin disks, and for beginning the secular phase of the MW’s evolution. This possibly permitted a stellar bar to develop which we hypothesize is responsible for quenching the star formation. The present analysis suggests that MW history, and in particular at the transition from the thick to the thin disk – the epoch of the quenching – must have been driven by a decrease of the star formation efficiency. We argue that the decline in the intensity of gas accretion, the formation of the bar, and the quenching of the star formation rate (SFR) at the same epoch may be causally connected thus explaining their temporal coincidence. Assuming that about 20% of the gas reservoir in which metals are diluted is molecular, we show that our model is well positioned on the Schmidt-Kennicutt relation at all times.

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