Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Shu-ichiro Inutsuka

Publications and source records attributed to Shu-ichiro Inutsuka.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

Two-Fluid MHD Simulations of Converging Hi Flows in the Interstellar Medium. II: Are Molecular Clouds Generated Directly from Warm Neutral Medium?

Formation of interstellar clouds as a consequence of thermal instability is studied using two-dimensional two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We consider the situation of converging, supersonic flows of warm neutral medium in the interstellar medium that generate a shocked slab of thermally unstable gas in which clouds form. We found, as speculated in paper I, that in the shocked slab magnetic pressure dominates thermal pressure and the thermal instability grows in the isochorically cooling, thermally unstable slab that leads formation of HI clouds whose number density is typically n < 100 cm^-3, even if the angle between magnetic field and converging flows is small. We also found that even if there is a large dispersion of magnetic field, evolution of the shocked slab is essentially determined by the angle between the mean magnetic field and converging flows. Thus, the direct formation of molecular clouds by piling up warm neutral medium does not seem a typical molecular cloud formation process, unless the direction of supersonic converging flows is biased to the orientation of mean magnetic field by some mechanism. However, when the angle is small, the HI shell generated as a result of converging flows is massive and possibly evolves into molecular clouds, provided gas in the massive HI shell is piled up again along the magnetic field line. We expect that another subsequent shock wave can pile up again the gas of the massive shell and produce a larger cloud. We thus emphasize the importance of multiple episodes of converging flows, as a typical formation process of molecular clouds.

astro-ph.GA↗

Protostellar Jet and Outflow in the Collapsing Cloud Core

We investigate the driving mechanism of outflows and jets in star formation process using resistive MHD nested grid simulations. We found two distinct flows in the collapsing cloud core: Low-velocity outflows (sim 5 km/s) with a wide opening angle, driven from the first adiabatic core, and high-velocity jets (sim 50 km/s) with good collimation, driven from the protostar. High-velocity jets are enclosed by low-velocity outflow. The difference in the degree of collimation between the two flows is caused by the strength of the magnetic field and configuration of the magnetic field lines. The magnetic field around an adiabatic core is strong and has an hourglass configuration. Therefore, the low-velocity outflow from the adiabatic core are driven mainly by the magnetocentrifugal mechanism and guided by the hourglass-like field lines. In contrast, the magnetic field around the protostar is weak and has a straight configuration owing to Ohmic dissipation in the high-density gas region. Therefore, high-velocity jet from the protostar are driven mainly by the magnetic pressure gradient force and guided by straight field lines. Differing depth of the gravitational potential between the adiabatic core and the protostar cause the difference of the flow speed. Low-velocity outflows correspond to the observed molecular outflows, while high-velocity jets correspond to the observed optical jets. We suggest that the protostellar outflow and the jet are driven by different cores (the first adiabatic core and protostar), rather than that the outflow being entrained by the jet.

astro-ph.SR↗

First Direct Simulation of Brown Dwarf Formation in a Compact Cloud Core

Brown dwarf formation and star formation efficiency are studied using a nested grid simulation that covers five orders of magnitude in spatial scale (10^4 - 0.1AU). Starting with a rotating magnetized compact cloud with a mass of 0.22 M_sun, we follow the cloud evolution until the end of main accretion phase. Outflow of about 5 km/s emerges about 100 yr before the protostar formation and does not disappear until the end of the calculation. The mass accretion rate declines from 10^-6 M_sun/yr to 10^-8 - 10^-12 M_sun/yr in a short time (about 10^4 yr) after the protostar formation. This is because (1) a large fraction of mass is ejected from the host cloud by the protostellar outflow and (2) the gas escapes from the host cloud by the thermal pressure. At the end of the calculation, 74% (167 M_Jup) of the total mass (225 M_Jup) is outflowing from the protostar, in which 34% (77 M_Jup) of the total mass is ejected by the protostellar outflow with supersonic velocity and 40% (90 M_Jup) escapes with subsonic velocity. On the other hand, 20% (45 M_Jup) is converted into the protostar and 6% (13 M_Jup) remains as the circumstellar disk. Thus, the star formation efficiency is epsilon = 0.2. The resultant protostellar mass is in the mass range of brown dwarfs. Our results indicate that brown dwarfs can be formed in compact cores in the same manner as hydrogen-burning stars, and the magnetic field and protostellar outflow are essential in determining the star formation efficiency and stellar mass.

astro-ph.SR↗

The Circumbinary Outflow: A Protostellar Outflow Driven by a Circumbinary Disk

The protostellar outflows have indispensable role in the formation of single stars, because they carry off the excess angular momentum from the centre of the shrinking gas cloud, and permits further collapse to form a star. On the other hand, a significant fraction of stars is supposed to be born as binaries with circumbinary disk that are frequently observed. Here, we investigate the evolution of a magnetized rotating cloud using three-dimensional resistive MHD nested-grid code, and show that the outflow is driven by the circumbinary disk and has an important role even in the binary formation. After the adiabatic core formation in the collapsing cloud core, the magnetic flux is significantly removed from the centre of the cloud by the Ohmic dissipation. Since this removal makes the magnetic braking ineffective, the adiabatic core continuously acquires the angular momentum to induce fragmentation and subsequent binary formation. The magnetic field accumulates in the circumbinary disk where the removal and accretion of magnetic field are balanced, and finally drives circumbinary outflow. This result explains the spectacular morphology of some specific young stellar objects such as L1551 IRS5. We can infer that most of the bipolar molecular outflows observed by low density tracers (i.e., CO) would correspond to circumbinary or circum-multiple outflows found in this report, since most of the young stellar objects are supposed to be binaries or multiples.

astro-ph.SR↗

Binary Formation with Different Metallicities: Dependence on Initial Conditions

The fragmentation process in collapsing clouds with various metallicities is studied using three-dimensional nested-grid hydrodynamics. Initial clouds are specified by three parameters: cloud metallicity, initial rotation energy and initial cloud shape. For different combinations of these parameters, we calculate 480 models in total and study cloud evolution, fragmentation conditions, orbital separation and binary frequency. For the cloud to fragment during collapse, the initial angular momentum must be higher than a threshold value, which decreases with decreasing metallicity. Although the exact fragmentation conditions depend also on the initial cloud shape, this dependence is only modest. Our results indicate a higher binary frequency in lower-metallicity gas. In particular, with the same median rotation parameter as in the solar neighbourhood, a majority of stars are born as members of binary/multiple systems for < 10^-4 Z_sun. With initial mass < 0.1 M_sun, if fragments are ejected in embryo from the host clouds by multi-body interaction, they evolve to substellar-mass objects. This provides a formation channel for low-mass stars in zero- or low-metallicity environments.

astro-ph.GA↗

Local Linear Analysis of Interaction between a Planet and Viscous Disk and an Implication on Type I Planetary Migration

We investigate the effects of viscosity on disk-planet interaction and discuss how type I migration of planets is modified. We have performed a linear calculation using shearing-sheet approximation and obtained the detailed, high resolution density structure around the planet embedded in a viscous disk with a wide range of viscous coefficients. We use a time-dependent formalism that is useful in investigating the effects of various physical processes on disk-planet interaction. We find that the density structure in the vicinity of the planet is modified and the main contribution to the torque comes from this region, in contrast to inviscid case. Although it is not possible to derive total torque acting on the planet within the shearing-sheet approximation, the one-sided torque can be very different from the inviscid case, depending on the Reynolds number. This effect has been neglected so far but our results indicate that the interaction between a viscous disk and a planet can be qualitatively different from an inviscid case and the details of the density structure in the vicinity of the planet is critically important.

astro-ph.EP↗

Two-fluid Instability of Dust and Gas in the Dust Layer of a Protoplanetary Disk

Instabilities of the dust layer in a protoplanetary disk are investigated. It is known that the streaming instability develops and dust density concentration occurs in a situation where the initial dust density is uniform. This work considers the effect of initial dust density gradient vertical to the midplane. Dust and gas are treated as different fluids. Pressure of dust fluid is assumed to be zero. The gas friction time is assumed to be constant. Axisymmetric two-dimensional numerical simulation was performed using the spectral method. We found that an instability develops with a growth rate on the order of the Keplerian angular velocity even if the gas friction time multiplied by the Keplerian angular velocity is as small as 0.001. This instability is powered by two sources: (1) the vertical shear of the azimuthal velocity, and (2) the relative motion of dust and gas coupled with the dust density fluctuation due to advection. This instability diffuses dust by turbulent advection and the maximum dust density decreases. This means that the dust concentration by the streaming instability which is seen in the case of a uniform initial dust density becomes ineffective as dust density gradient increases by the dust settling toward the midplane.

astro-ph.EP↗

Orbital Evolution of a Particle Interacting with a Single Planet in a Protoplanetary Disk

We investigate the motion of a particle around a low mass planet embedded in a non-turbulent gaseous disk. We take into account the effect of the gas structure that is modified by the gravitational interaction between the planet. We derive an analytic formula that describes the change of the semi-major axis of the particle due to the encounter with the planet using local approximation in distant encounter regime. Our final formula includes the effects of steady, axisymmetric radial gas flow, the global gas pressure gradient in the disk, planet gravity, and the structure of the gas flow modified by the planet's gravity. We compare the analytic results with numerical calculations, and indicate that our formula well describes the secular evolution of the dust particles' semi-major axes well, especially for small particles with large drag coefficient. We discuss the conditions for dust gap opening around a low mass planet and radial distribution of dust particles. Our formula may provide a useful tool for calculating radial distribution of particles in a disk around the planet.

astro-ph↗

Turbulence and Magnetic Field Amplification in Supernova Remnants: Interactions Between A Strong Shock Wave and Multi-Phase Interstellar Medium

We examine MHD simulations of the propagation of a strong shock wave through the interstellar two-phase medium composed of small-scale cloudlets and diffuse warm neutral medium in two-dimensional geometry. The pre-shock two-phase medium is provided as a natural consequence of the thermal instability that is expected to be ubiquitous in the interstellar medium. We show that the shock-compressed shell becomes turbulent owing to the preshock density inhomogeneity and magnetic field amplification takes place in the shell. The maximum field strength is determined by the condition that plasma beta ~ 1, which gives the field strength on the order of 1 mG in the case of shock velocity ~ 1,000 km/s. The strongly magnetized region shows filamentary and knot-like structures in two-dimensional simulations. The spatial scale of the regions with magnetic field of 1 mG in our simulation is roughly 0.05 pc which is comparable to the spatial scale of the X-ray hot spots recently discovered in supernova remnants where the magnetic field strength is indicated to be amplified up to the order of 1 mG. This result may also suggest that the turbulent region with locally strong magnetic field is expected to be spread out in the region with frequent supernova explosions, such as in the Galactic center and starburst galaxies.

astro-ph.SR↗

Direct Simulations of Particle Acceleration in Fluctuating Electromagnetic Field across a Shock

We simulate the acceleration processes of collisionless particles in a shock structure with magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) fluctuations. The electromagnetic field is represented as a sum of MHD shock solution ($\Mag_0, \Ele_0$) and torsional Alfven modes spectra ($δ\Mag, δ\Ele $). We represent fluctuation modes in logarithmic wavenumber space. Since the electromagnetic fields are represented analytically, our simulations can easily cover as large as eight orders of magnitude in resonant frequency, and do not suffer from spatial limitations of box size or grid spacing. We deterministically calculate the particle trajectories under the Lorenz force for time interval of up to ten years, with a time step of $\sim 0.5 \sec$. This is sufficient to resolve Larmor frequencies without a stochastic treatment. Simulations show that the efficiency of the first order Fermi acceleration can be parametrized by the fluctuation amplitude $η\equiv < δB^2 > ^{\frac 1 2} {B_0}^{-1}$ . Convergence of the numerical results is shown by increasing the number of wave modes in Fourier space while fixing $η$. Efficiency of the first order Fermi acceleration has a maximum at $ η\simeq 10^1$. The acceleration rate depends on the angle between the shock normal and $\Mag_0$, and is highest when the angle is zero. Our method will provide a convenient tool for comparing collisionless turbulence theories with, for example, observations of bipolar structure of super nova remnants (SNRs) and shell-like synchrotron-radiating structure.

astro-ph↗

Two-Fluid MHD Simulations of Converging HI Flows in the Interstellar Medium. I: Methodology and Basic Results

We develop an unconditionally stable numerical method for solving the coupling between two fluids (frictional forces/heatings, ionization, and recombination), and investigate the dynamical condensation process of thermally unstable gas that is provided by the shock waves in a weakly ionized and magnetized interstellar medium by using two-dimensional two-fluid magnetohydrodynamical simulations. If we neglect the effect of magnetic field, it is known that condensation driven by thermal instability can generate high density clouds whose physical condition corresponds to molecular clouds (precursor of molecular clouds). In this paper, we study the effect of magnetic field on the evolution of supersonic converging HI flows and focus on the case in which the orientation of magnetic field to converging flows is orthogonal. We show that the magnetic pressure gradient parallel to the flows prevents the formation of high density and high column density clouds, but instead generates fragmented, filamentary HI clouds. With this restricted geometry, magnetic field drastically diminishes the opportunity of fast molecular cloud formation directly from the warm neutral medium, in contrast to the case without magnetic field.

astro-ph↗

Magneto-Hydrodynamics of Population III Star Formation

Jet driving and fragmentation process in collapsing primordial cloud are studied using three-dimensional MHD nested grid simulations. Starting from a rotating magnetized spherical cloud with the number density of n=10^3 cm^-3, we follow the evolution of the cloud up to the stellar density n=10^22 cm^-3. We calculate 36 models parameterizing the initial magnetic and rotational energies (γ_0, β_0). In the collapsing primordial clouds, the cloud evolutions are characterized by the ratio of the initial rotational to magnetic energy, γ_0/β_0. The Lorentz force significantly affects the cloud evolution when γ_0 > β_0, while the centrifugal force is more dominant than the Lorentz force when β_0 > γ_0. When the cloud rotates rapidly with angular velocity of Ω_0 > 10^-17 (n/10^3 cm^-3)^2/3 s^-1 and β_0 > γ_0, fragmentation occurs before the protostar is formed, but no jet appears after the protostar formation. On the other hand, a strong jet appears after the protostar formation without fragmentation when the initial cloud has the magnetic field of B_0 > 10^-9 (n/10^3 cm^-3)^2/3 G and γ_0 > β_0. Our results indicate that proto-Population III stars frequently show fragmentation and protostellar jet. Population III stars are therefore born as binary or multiple stellar systems, and they can drive strong jets, which disturb the interstellar medium significantly, as well as in the present-day star formation, and thus they may induce the formation of next generation stars.

astro-ph↗

The Effect of Poloidal Magnetic Field on Type I Planetary Migration: Significance of Magnetic Resonance

We study the effect of poloidal magnetic field on type I planetary migration by linear perturbation analysis in the shearing-sheet approximation and the analytic results are compared with numerical calculations. In contrast to the unmagnetized case, the basic equations that describe the wake due to the planet in the disk allow magnetic resonances at which density perturbation diverges. In order to simplify the problem, we consider the case without magneto-rotational instability. We perform two sets of analyses: two-dimensional and three-dimensional. In two-dimensional analysis, we find the generalization of the torque formula previously known in unmagnetized case. In three-dimensional calculations, we focus on the disk with very strong magnetic field and derive a new analytic formula for the torque exerted on the planet. We find that when Alfven velocity is much larger than sound speed, two-dimensional torque is suppressed and three-dimensional modes dominate, in contrast to the unmagnetized case.

astro-ph↗

The Formation and Evolution of Prestellar Cores

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 cores as derived from recent millimeter/submillimeter observations of nearby molecular clouds and discuss them in the context of various contemporary scenarios for cloud core formation and evolution. None of the extreme scenarios can explain all observations. Pure laminar ambipolar diffusion has relatively long growth times for typical ionization levels and has difficulty satisfying core lifetime constraints. Purely hydrodynamic pictures have trouble accounting for the inefficiency of core formation and the detailed velocity structure of individual cores. A possible favorable scenario is a mixed model involving gravitational fragmentation of turbulent molecular clouds close to magnetic criticality. The evolution of the magnetic field and angular momentum in individual cloud cores after the onset of gravitational collapse is also discussed. In particular, we stress the importance of radiation-magnetohydrodynamical processes and resistive MHD effects during the protostellar phase. We also emphasize the role of the formation of the short-lived first (protostellar) core in providing a chance for sub-fragmentation into binary systems and triggering MHD outflows. Future submillimeter facilities such as Herschel and ALMA will soon provide major new observational constraints in this field. On the theoretical side, an important challenge for the future will be to link the formation of molecular clouds and prestellar cores in a coherent picture.

astro-ph↗

Angular Momentum Accretion onto a Gas Giant Planet

We investigate the accretion of angular momentum onto a protoplanet system using three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. We consider a local region around a protoplanet in a protoplanetary disk with sufficient spatial resolution. We describe the structure of the gas flow onto and around the protoplanet in detail. We find that the gas flows onto the protoplanet system in the vertical direction crossing the shock front near the Hill radius of the protoplanet, which is qualitatively different from the picture established by two-dimensional simulations. The specific angular momentum of the gas accreted by the protoplanet system increases with the protoplanet mass. At Jovian orbit, when the protoplanet mass M_p is M_p < 1 M_J, where M_J is Jovian mass, the specific angular momentum increases as j \propto M_p. On the other hand, it increases as j \propto M_p^2/3 when the protoplanet mass is M_p > 1 M_J. The stronger dependence of the specific angular momentum on the protoplanet mass for M_p < 1 M_J is due to thermal pressure of the gas. The estimated total angular momentum of a system of a gas giant planet and a circumplanetary disk is two-orders of magnitude larger than those of the present gas giant planets in the solar system. A large fraction of the total angular momentum contributes to the formation of the circumplanetary disk. We also discuss the satellite formation from the circumplanetary disk.

astro-ph↗

Conditions for the Formation of First-Star Binaries

The fragmentation process of primordial-gas cores during prestellar collapse is studied using three-dimensional nested-grid hydrodynamics. Starting from the initial central number density of n \sim10^3 cm^-3, we follow the evolution of rotating spherical cores up to the stellar density n \simeq 10^{22} cm^-3. An initial condition of the cores is specified by three parameters: the ratios of the rotation and thermal energies to the gravitational energy (β_0, and α_0, respectively), and the amplitude of the bar-mode density perturbation (A_ϕ). Cores with rotation β_0 > 10^{-6} are found to fragment during the collapse. The fragmentation condition hardly depends on either the initial thermal energy α_0 or amplitude of bar-mode perturbation A_ϕ. Since the critical rotation parameter for fragmentation is lower than that expected in the first star formation, binaries or multiples are also common for the first stars.

astro-ph↗

Formation Scenario for Wide and Close Binary Systems

Fragmentation and binary formation processes are studied using three-dimensional resistive MHD nested grid simulations. Starting with a Bonnor-Ebert isothermal cloud rotating in a uniform magnetic field, we calculate the cloud evolution from the molecular cloud core (n=10^4 cm^-3) to the stellar core (n \simeq 10^22 cm^-3). We calculated 147 models with different initial magnetic, rotational, and thermal energies, and the amplitudes of the non-axisymmetric perturbation. In a collapsing cloud, fragmentation is mainly controlled by the initial ratio of the rotational to the magnetic energy, regardless of the initial thermal energy and amplitude of the non-axisymmetric perturbation. When the clouds have large rotational energies in relation to magnetic energies, fragmentation occurs in the low-density evolution phase (10^12 cm^-3 < n < 10^15 cm^-3) with separations of 3-300 AU. Fragments that appeared in this phase are expected to evolve into wide binary systems. On the other hand, fragmentation does not occur in the low-density evolution phase, when initial clouds have large magnetic energies in relation to the rotational energies. In these clouds, fragmentation only occurs in the high-density evolution phase (n > 10^17 cm^-3) after the clouds experience significant reduction of the magnetic field owing to Ohmic dissipation in the period of 10^12 cm^-3 < n < 10^15 cm^-3. Fragments appearing in this phase have separations of < 0.3 AU, and are expected to evolve into close binary systems. As a result, we found two typical fragmentation epochs, which cause different stellar separations. Although these typical separations are disturbed in the subsequent gas accretion phase, we might be able to observe two peaks of binary separations in extremely young stellar groups.

astro-ph↗

Magnetic Fields and Rotations of Protostars

The evolution of the magnetic field and angular momentum in the collapsing cloud core is studied using three-dimensional resistive MHD nested grid simulations. Starting with a Bonnor-Ebert isothermal cloud rotating in a uniform magnetic field, we calculate the cloud evolution from the molecular cloud core (n=10^4 cm^-3) to the stellar core (n \simeq 10^22 cm^-3). The magnetic field strengths at the center of the clouds converge to a certain value as the clouds collapse, when the clouds have the same angular momenta but different strengths of the magnetic fields at the initial state. For 10^12 cm^-3 < n < 10^16 cm^-3, Ohmic dissipation considerably removes the magnetic field from the collapsing cloud core, and the magnetic field lines, which are strongly twisted for n <10^12 cm^-3, is de-collimated. The magnetic field lines are twisted and amplified again for nc > 10^16 cm^-3, because the magnetic field is recoupled with the warm gas. Finally, protostars at their formation epoch have 0.1-1kG of the magnetic fields, which are comparable to observations. The magnetic field strength of protostar slightly depends on the angular momentum of the host cloud. The protostar formed from the slowly rotating cloud core has a stronger magnetic field. The evolution of the angular momentum is closely related to the evolution of the magnetic field. The angular momentum in the collapsing cloud is removed by the magnetic effect. The formed protostars have 0.1-2 days of the rotation period at their formation epoch, which are slightly shorter than the observation. This indicates that the further removal mechanism of the angular momentum such as interaction between the protostar and disk, wind gas or jet is important in further evolution of the protostar.

astro-ph↗