Mathematics – Probability
Scientific paper
Jul 1989
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989apj...342l..67e&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 342, July 15, 1989, p. L67-L70.
Mathematics
Probability
20
Gravitational Collapse, Interstellar Gas, Interstellar Magnetic Fields, Molecular Clouds, Coriolis Effect, Interstellar Matter, Perturbation Theory, Shock Waves, Star Formation
Scientific paper
A cloudy ISM in a galactic disk with rotation, shear, and an azimuthal magnetic field is found to be gravitationally unstable on all length scales down to the cloud-collision mean-free path. Most instabilities are not transient, but grow exponentially without limit. The magnetic field overcomes the Coriolis force, and the dissipation from cloud collisions effectively removes the pressure.The collapse occurs at about the conventional Jeans rate for masses between 1000 and 10 million solar masses. If the probability for collapse on a particular scale is proportional to the collapse rate on that scale, then an M exp -1.5 mass spectrum results. Gravitational instabilities should occur continuously in the ambient medium, and have an enhanced rate in spiral density-wave crests and swept-up shells. They readily account for the formation of most self-gravitating clouds in spiral galaxies and could be the single most important event that initiates star formation.
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