THE EFFECTS OF FLOW-INHOMOGENEITIES ON MOLECULAR CLOUD FORMATION: LOCAL VERSUS GLOBAL COLLAPSE

Observational evidence from local star-forming regions mandates that star formation occurs shortly after, or even during, molecular cloud formation. Models of molecular cloud formation in large-scale converging flows have identified the physical mechanisms driving the necessary rapid fragmentation. They also point to global gravitational collapse driving supersonic turbulence in molecular clouds. Previous cloud formation models have focused on turbulence generation, gravitational collapse, magnetic fields, and feedback. Here, we explore the effect of structure in the flow on the resulting clouds and the ensuing gravitational collapse. We compare two extreme cases, one with a collision between two smooth streams, and one with streams containing small clumps. We find that structured converging flows lead to a delay of local gravitational collapse ("core formation"). Hence, the cloud has more time to accumulate mass, eventually leading to a strong global collapse, and thus to a high core formation rate. Uniform converging flows fragment hydrodynamically early on, leading to the rapid onset of local gravitational collapse and an overall low core formation rate. This is also mirrored in the core mass distribution: the uniform initial conditions lead to more low-mass cores than the clumpy initial conditions. Kinetic (Ek) and gravitational energy (Eg) budgets suggest that collapse is only prevented for Ek Eg, which occurs for large scales in the smooth flow, and for small scales for the clumpy flow. Whenever Ek ≈ Eg, we observe gravitational collapse on those scales. Signatures of chemical abundance variations evolve differently for the gas phase and for the stellar population. For smooth flows, the forming cloud is well mixed, while its stellar population retains more information about the initial metallicities. For clumpy flows, the gas phase is less well mixed, while the stellar population has lost most of the information about its origin

Molecular cloud formation in high-shear, magnetized colliding flows

The colliding flows (CF) model is a well-supported mechanism for generating molecular clouds. However, to-date most CF simulations have focused on the formation of clouds in the normal-shock layer between head-on colliding flows. We performed simulations of magnetized colliding flows that instead meet at an oblique-shock layer. Oblique shocks generate shear in the post-shock environment, and this shear creates inhospitable environments for star formation. As the degree of shear increases (i.e. the obliquity of the shock increases), we find that it takes longer for sink particles to form, they form in lower numbers, and they tend to be less massive. With regard to magnetic fields, we find that even a weak field stalls gravitational collapse within forming clouds. Additionally, an initially oblique collision interface tends to reorient over time in the presence of a magnetic field, so that it becomes normal to the oncoming flows. This was demonstrated by our most oblique shock interface, which became fully normal by the end of the simulation