Magnetic braking, ambipolar diffusion, and the formation of cloud cores and protostars. 1: Axisymmetric solutions

1994 ◽  
Vol 432 ◽  
pp. 720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shantanu Basu ◽  
Telemachos Ch. Mouschovias
Keyword(s):  
Ambipolar Diffusion ◽  
Magnetic Braking ◽  
Axisymmetric Solutions ◽  
Cloud Cores

Kinematics of neutral and ionzied gas in the candidate protostar with efficient magnetic braking B335

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (A30) ◽  
pp. 120-120
Author(s):  
Hsi-Wei Yen ◽  
Bo Zhao ◽  
Patrick M. Koch
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Ambipolar Diffusion ◽  
Neutral Gas ◽  
Upper Limit ◽  
Hall Parameter ◽  
Neutral Material ◽  
Magnetic Braking ◽  
Velocity Drift ◽  
The Magnetic Field ◽  
Inner Envelope

AbstractAmbipolar diffusion can cause a velocity drift between ions and neutrals. This is one of the non-ideal MHD effects proposed to enable the formation of large Keplerian disks with sizes of tens of au (Zhao et al. 2018). To observationally study ambipolar diffusion in collapsing protostellar envelopes, we analyzed the ALMA H13CO+ (3–2) and C18O (2–1) data of the protostar B335, which is a candidate source with efficient magnetic braking (Yen et al. 2015). We constructed kinematical models to fit the velocity structures observed in H13CO+ and C18O. With our kinematical models, the infalling velocities in H13CO+ and C18O are both measured to be 0.85 ± 0.2 km s−1 at a radius of 100 au, suggesting that the velocity drift between the ionized and neutral gas is at most 0.3 km s−1 at a radius of 100 au in B335. The Hall parameter for H13CO+ is estimated to be ≫1 on a 100 au scale in B335, so that H13CO+ is expected to be attached to the magnetic field. Our non-detection or upper limit of the velocity drift between the ionized and neutral gas could suggest that the magnetic field remains rather well coupled to the bulk neutral material on a 100 au scale in B335, and that any significant field-matter decoupling, if present, likely occurs only on a smaller scale, leading to an accumulation of magnetic flux and thus efficient magnetic braking in the inner envelope in B335.

scholarly journals Molecular Cloud Cores and Protostars: Offsprings of Gravity and Cosmic Magnetism

1990 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 269-279
Author(s):  
Telemachos Ch. Mouschovias
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Theoretical Calculations ◽  
Mass Function ◽  
Ambipolar Diffusion ◽  
Gravity And Magnetic ◽  
Cloud Cores ◽  
The Magnetic Field

The formation of cloud cores (or fragments) and their evolution into protostars are the inevitable outcome of the struggle between gravity and magnetic fields, with ambipolar diffusion as the agent employed to weaken gravity's fierce opponent. The very specific and crucial role of magnetic fields in star formation deduced from detailed quantitative calculations is summarized. Criteria for collapse against magnetic and thermal-pressure forces are given. Magnetic braking time scales for both aligned and perpendicular rotators, and ambipolar diffusion time scales in both quasistatically and dynamically contracting cores are presented, and their implications are discussed. The possible role of magnetic fields in the determination of the initial (stellar) mass function (IMF) is beginning to emerge. New calculations on the axisymmetric collapse of clouds due to ambipolar diffusion reveal that the relation Bc ∞ ρc1/2 between the magnetic field strength and the gas density in typical cloud cores holds even in the presence of ambipolar diffusion up to densities ~ 109 cm−3. Small masses, high densities, and strong fields observed in H2O masers are consistent with theoretical calculations.

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