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arXiv · 1007.2950

On the Density Distribution in Star-forming Interstellar Clouds

Alexei G. Kritsuk·Michael L. Norman·Rick Wagner
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Abstract

We use deep adaptive mesh refinement simulations of isothermal self-gravitating supersonic turbulence to study the imprints of gravity on the mass density distribution in molecular clouds. The simulations show that the density distribution in self-gravitating clouds develops an extended power-law tail at high densities on top of the usual lognormal. We associate the origin of the tail with self-similar collapse solutions and predict the power index values in the range from -7/4 to -3/2 that agree with both simulations and observations of star-forming molecular clouds.

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Alexei G. Kritsuk, Michael L. Norman, Rick Wagner. 2011-01-03. On the Density Distribution in Star-forming Interstellar Clouds. https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205%2F727%2F1%2Fl20

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