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| EPoS Contribution |
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Cutting the Edge - on the Survival of Finite Filaments
Matthias Gritschneder LMU, Munich, DE | |
| Recent years have seen a shift in the paradigm of star formation. The focus of attention has been moved from molecular clouds as the site of star formation to the ubiquitously observed filaments. From a theoretical point of view, this is puzzling. While infinite, cylindrical structures are analytically well understood and potentially long lived, finite structures like the observed filaments should show collapse and fragmentation at their edges. This so-called edge effect is confirmed in simulations of finite cylinders. However, in large scale turbulent simulations, finite structures emerge and are stable, similar to the observations. We employ a number of large scale turbulent simulations to uncover the culprit negating the edge effect. We then use the new findings, to proceed to a more generalized description of the location of fragmentation. As a next step we try to predict the efficiency the fragmentation of the ubiquitous filaments into proto-stellar objects. | |
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| Caption: Density slice along a simulated filament. The densest core regions of the complex structures are not located at the edge. | |
| Collaborators: A. Burkert, LMU, DE S. Heigl, LMU, DE |
Key publication
Suggested Session: Filaments |