Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy
Observational Signatures From Self-Gravitating Protostellar Disks, Alexander L. Desouza
Observational Signatures From Self-Gravitating Protostellar Disks, Alexander L. Desouza
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Protostellar disks are the ubiquitous corollary outcome of the angular momentum conserving, gravitational collapse of molecular cloud cores into stars. Disks are an essential component of the star formation process, mediating the accretion of material onto the protostar, and for redistributing excess angular momentum during the collapse. We present a model to explain the observed correlation between mass accretion rates and stellar mass that has been inferred from observations of intermediate to upper mass T Tauri stars. We explain this correlation within the framework of gravitationally driven torques parameterized in terms of Toomre’s Q criterion. Our models reproduce both the …
Core Formation In Partially Ionized Magnetic Molecular Clouds, Nicole D. Bailey
Core Formation In Partially Ionized Magnetic Molecular Clouds, Nicole D. Bailey
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Linear analysis of the formation of protostellar cores in planar magnetic interstellar clouds shows that molecular clouds exhibit a preferred length scale for collapse that depends on the mass-to-flux ratio and neutral-ion collision time within the cloud. This linear analysis can be used to investigate the formation of star forming clusters and the distribution of mass within star forming regions. By combining the results of the linear analysis with a realistic ionization profile for the cloud, we find that a molecular cloud may evolve through two fragmentation events in the evolution toward the formation of stars. Our model suggests that …
Magnetic Diffusion In Star Formation: From Clouds To Cores To Stars To Disks, Wolfgang B. Dapp
Magnetic Diffusion In Star Formation: From Clouds To Cores To Stars To Disks, Wolfgang B. Dapp
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
We investigate magnetic diffusion on scales from molecular clouds over prestellar and
protostellar cores down to young stellar objects (YSOs) and their surrounding protoplanetary disk.
In Chapter 2, we present thin-sheet simulations that exhibit long-lived magnetic-tension-driven oscillations, founded in the interaction of the cloud's magnetic field with that anchored in an external medium. In contrast with "local" simulations in a periodic box, where turbulence decays away in approximately a sound crossing time, and needs to be continually replenished by driving, our simulation has "global" aspects, and retains some kinetic energy indefinitely. We provide an analytical explanation for these modes, that …