Star formation - Phase transition, not Jeans instability

Abstract

view Abstract Citations (24) References (18) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS Star formation - Phase transition, not Jeans instability Tohline, J. E. Abstract The use of second-order tensor virial equations to obtain analytical descriptions of rotating isothermal equilibrium sequences is reviewed, and their significance when dynamical instabilities are taken into account is considered. It is shown that along every rotating, isothermal, equilibrium sequence that permits a Jeans-type instability, a nondynamical phase transition to the higher-density, disk-like equilibrium sequence is also available. The transition changes a diffuse gas cloud into a compact structure closer to the stellar state, and occurs at masses smaller than the Jeans mass. The ratio of the phase transition mass to the Jeans mass is very sensitive to the specific angular momentum contained in a diffuse cloud. The existence of such an allowed phase transition in diffuse gas clouds opens up the possibility that star formation may not always proceed by a dynamical transition. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: May 1985 DOI: 10.1086/163144 Bibcode: 1985ApJ...292..181T Keywords: Computational Astrophysics; Interstellar Gas; Jeans Theory; Molecular Clouds; Phase Transformations; Star Formation; Angular Velocity; Gibbs Free Energy; Magnetohydrodynamics; Milky Way Galaxy; Rotating Environments; Astrophysics full text sources ADS |