Protostellar Jets Enclosed by Low-velocity Outflows

A protostellar jet and outflow are calculated for \sim 270 yr following the protostar formation using a three dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulation, in which both the protostar and its parent cloud are spatially resolved. A high-velocity (\sim100km/s) jet with good collimation is driven near the disk's inner edge, while a low-velocity (<10km/s) outflow with a wide opening angle appears in the outer-disk region. The high-velocity jet propagates into the low-velocity outflow, forming a nested velocity structure in which a narrow high-velocity flow is enclosed by a wide low-velocity flow. The low-velocity outflow is in a nearly steady state, while the high-velocity jet appears intermittently. The time-variability of the jet is related to the episodic accretion from the disk onto the protostar, which is caused by gravitational instability and magnetic effects such as magnetic braking and magnetorotational instability. Although the high-velocity jet has a large kinetic energy, the mass and momentum of the jet are much smaller than those of the low-velocity outflow. A large fraction of the infalling gas is ejected by the low-velocity outflow. Thus, the low-velocity outflow actually has a more significant effect than the high-velocity jet in the very early phase of the star formation.Comment: Published in ApJL. Animations can be found at https://jupiter.geo.kyushu-u.ac.jp/machida/arxiv/anim_jet

The Formation of Population III Stars in Gas Accretion Stage: Effects of Magnetic Fields

The formation of Population III stars is investigated using resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Starting from a magnetized primordial prestellar cloud, we calculate the cloud evolution several hundreds of years after first protostar formation, resolving the protostellar radius. When the natal minihalo field strength is weaker than B \lesssim 10^-13 (n/1 cm^-3)^-2/3 G (n is the hydrogen number density), magnetic effects can be ignored. In this case, fragmentation occurs frequently and a stellar cluster forms, in which stellar mergers and mass exchange between protostars contribute to the mass growth of these protostars. During the early gas accretion phase, the most massive protostar remains near the cloud centre, whereas some of the less massive protostars are ejected. The magnetic field significantly affects Population III star formation when B_amb \gtrsim 10^-12 (n/1 cm^-3)^-2/3 G. In this case, because the angular momentum around the protostar is effectively transferred by both magnetic braking and protostellar jets, the gas falls directly onto the protostar without forming a disk, and only a single massive star forms. In addition, a massive binary stellar system appears when B_amb \sim 10^-12 (n/1cm^-3)^-2/3 G. Therefore, the magnetic field determines the end result of the formation process (cluster, binary or single star) for Population III stars. Moreover, no persistent circumstellar disk appears around the protostar regardless of the magnetic field strength, which may influence the further evolution of Population III stars.Comment: 59 pages, 21 figures, Accepted for publication in MNRAS. For high resolution figures see http://jupiter.geo.kyushu-u.ac.jp/machida/arxiv/PopIII

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.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJL. For high resolution figures, see http://www2-tap.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~machidam/astro-ph/BD.pd

Accretion of Solid Materials onto Circumplanetary Disks from Protoplanetary Disks

We investigate accretion of solid materials onto circumplanetary disks from heliocentric orbits rotating in protoplanetary disks, which is a key process for the formation of regular satellite systems. In the late stage of gas-capturing phase of giant planet formation, the accreting gas from protoplanetary disks forms circumplanetary disks. Since the accretion flow toward the circumplanetary disks affects the particle motion through gas drag force, we use hydrodynamic simulation data for the gas drag term to calculate the motion of solid materials. We consider wide range of size for the solid particles ($10^{-2}$-$10^6$m), and find that the accretion efficiency of the solid particles peaks around 10m-sized particles because energy dissipation of drag with circum-planetary disk gas in this size regime is most effective. The efficiency for particles larger than 10m size becomes lower because gas drag becomes less effective. For particles smaller than 10m, the efficiency is lower because the particles are strongly coupled with the back-ground gas flow, which prevent particles from accretion. We also find that the distance from the planet where the particles are captured by the circumplanetary disks is in a narrow range and well described as a function of the particle size.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap