Collapse and fragmentation of molecular clouds under pressure

Abstract

Recent analytical and numerical models show that AGN outflows and jets create ISM pressure in the host galaxy that is several orders of magnitude larger than in quiescent systems. This pressure increase can confine and compress molecular gas, thus accelerating star formation. In this paper, we model the effects of increased ambient ISM pressure on spherically symmetric turbulent molecular clouds. We find that large external pressure confines the cloud and drives a shockwave into it, which, together with instabilities behind the shock front, significantly accelerates the fragmentation rate. The compressed clouds therefore convert a larger fraction of their mass into stars over the cloud lifetime, and produce clusters that are initially more compact. Neither cloud rotation nor shear against the ISM affect this result significantly, unless the shear velocity is higher than the sound speed in the confining ISM. We conclude that external pressure is an important element in the star formation process, provided that it dominates over the internal pressure of the cloud.