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| EPoS Contribution |
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Signatures of Support and Collapse in Pre-Stellar Cores
Konstantinos Tassis Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA | |
| We present a comprehensive study of observational signatures of a variety of prestellar molecular cloud core models, aimed at probing the initial conditions of star formation and the origin of protostars. We follow the dynamical evolution of prestellar molecular cloud cores using different dynamical models (such as pure hydrodynamical collapse; magnetically modulated collapse; collapse with and without the effect of rotation; and even supported oscillating cores) and a variety of initial conditions. All dynamical models are coupled to a network of chemical reactions tracking the evolving abundances for ~100 molecular species, by solving the non-equilibrium chemical reactions simultaneously with the dynamical equations. In the magnetized cases, the ionization state of the gas in turn determines the degree of coupling to the magnetic field. The results of these simulations are processed with both continuum and line radiative transfer codes, which enable us to produce both maps and spectra of core models. The convolution of our results with the instrumental capabilities of different observatories can produce sets of mock observations, which enable us to: (a) assess the potential of observations with different instruments to differentiate between models for the dynamics of prestellar cores; (b) propose specific observations with maximal scientific return in the discrimination between dynamical models; and (c) for existing observations, offer interpretation in terms of their consistency with each dynamical model examined. | |
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| Caption: Upper panels: nonmagnetic hydrodynamic collapse calculation; lower panels: nonmagnetic hydrodynamic oscillating core (stable, non-collapsing) calculation. Left column: time evolution of central density; right column: time evolution of relative abundances of selected molecules. Dotted lines: species on grains; solid lines: species in gas phase. | |
| Collaborators: K. Willacy, JPL, USA N. Turner, JPL, USA H. Yorke, JPL, USA |
Suggested Session:
Chemistry, Cores and Collapse, Herschel, Magnetic Fields |