Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
1997-02-17
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
16 pages, aasms LaTeX, 7 figures. ApJ, accepted
Scientific paper
10.1086/304401
We present a study of the kinetic energy dissipation in interstellar cloud collisions. The main aim is to understand the dependence of the elasticity (defined as the ratio of the final to the initial kinetic energy of the clouds) on the velocity and mass ratio of the colliding clouds, magnetic field strength, and gas metallicity for head-on collisions. The problem has been studied both analytically and via numerical simulations. We have derived handy analytical relationships that well approximate the analogous numerical results. The main findings of this work are: (i) the kinetic energy dissipation in cloud collisions is minimum (i.e. the collision elasticity is maximum) for a cloud relative velocity $v_r \simeq 30 km s^{-1}$; (ii) the above minimum value is proportional $Z L_c^2$, where $Z$ is the metallicity and $L_c$ is the cloud size: the larger is $Z L_c^2$ the more dissipative (i.e. inelastic) the collision will be; (iii) in general, we find that the energy dissipation decreases when the magnetic field strength, and mass ratio of the clouds are increased and the metallicity is decreased, respectively. We briefly discuss the relevance of this study to the global structure of the interstellar medium and to galaxy formation and evolution.
Ferrara Andrea
Miniati Francesco
Ricotti Massimo
No associations
LandOfFree
Energy Dissipation in Interstellar Cloud Collisions does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Energy Dissipation in Interstellar Cloud Collisions, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Energy Dissipation in Interstellar Cloud Collisions will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-10603