Collapse Of Cloud Research Articles

Impact of the cosmic background radiation on the initial mass function of metal-poor stars

ABSTRACT We study star cluster formation at low metallicities of Z/Z⊙ = 10−4–10−1 using three-dimensional hydrodynamics simulations. Particular emphasis is put on how the stellar mass distribution is affected by the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), which sets the temperature floor to the gas. Starting from the collapse of a turbulent cloud, we follow the formation of a protostellar system resolving ∼au scale. In relatively metal-enriched cases of Z/Z⊙ ≳ 10−2, where the mass function resembles the present-day one in the absence of CMB, high-temperature CMB suppresses cloud fragmentation and reduces the number of low-mass stars, making the mass function more top-heavy than in the cases without CMB heating at z ≳ 10. In lower-metallicity cases with Z/Z⊙ ≲ 10−3, where the gas temperature is higher than the CMB value due to inefficient cooling, the CMB has only a minor impact on the mass distribution, which is top-heavy, regardless of the redshift. In cases either with a low metallicity of Z/Z⊙ ≲ 10−2 or at a high redshift z ≳ 10, the mass spectrum consists of a low-mass Salpeter-like component, peaking at 0.1 M⊙, and a top-heavy component with 10–50 M⊙, with the fraction in the latter increasing with increasing redshift. In galaxies forming at z ≳ 10, the major targets of the future instruments including JWST, CMB heating makes the stellar mass function significantly top-heavy, enhancing the number of supernova explosions by a factor of 1.4 (2.8) at z = 10 (20, respectively) compared to the prediction by Chabrier initial mass function when Z/Z⊙ = 0.1.

Early planet formation in embedded protostellar disks

Recent surveys of young star formation regions have shown that the dust mass of the average class II object is not high enough to make up the cores of giant planets. Younger class O/I objects have enough dust in their embedded disk, which raises the question whether the first steps of planet formation occur in these younger systems. The first step is building the first planetesimals, which are generally thought to be the product of the streaming instability. Hence the question can be restated to read whether the physical conditions of embedded disks are conducive to the growth of the streaming instability. The streaming instability requires moderately coupled dust grains and a dust-to-gas mass ratio near unity. We model the collapse of a dusty proto-stellar cloud to show that if there is sufficient drift between the falling gas and dust, regions of the embedded disk can become sufficiently enhanced in dust to drive the streaming instability. We include four models to test a variety of collapse theories: three models with different dust grain sizes, and one model with a different initial cloud angular momentum. We find a sweet spot for planetesimal formation for grain sizes of a few 10s of micron because they fall sufficiently fast relative to the gas to build a high dust-to-gas ratio in the disk midplane, but their radial drift speeds are slow enough in the embedded disk to maintain the high dust-to-gas ratio. Unlike the gas, which is held in hydrostatic equilibrium for a time as a result of gas pressure, the dust can begin to collapse from all radii at a much earlier time. The dust mass flux in class O/I systems can thus be higher than the gas flux. This builds an embedded dusty disk with a global dust-to-gas mass ratio that exceeds the inter-stellar mass ratio by at least an order of magnitude. The streaming instability can produce at least between 7 and 35 M⊕ of planetesimals in the class O/I phase of our smooth embedded disks, depending on the size of the falling dust grains. This mass is sufficient to build the core of the first giant planet in the system, and could be further enhanced by dust traps and/or pebble growth. This first generation of planetesimals could represent the first step in planet formation. It occurs earlier in the lifetime of the young star than is traditionally thought.

Dust coagulation during the early stages of star formation: molecular cloud collapse and first hydrostatic core evolution

ABSTRACT Planet formation in protoplanetary discs requires dust grains to coagulate from the sub-micron sizes that are found in the interstellar medium into much larger objects. For the first time, we study the growth of dust grains during the earliest phases of star formation using three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. We begin with a typical interstellar dust grain size distribution and study dust growth during the collapse of a molecular cloud core and the evolution of the first hydrostatic core, prior to the formation of the stellar core. We examine how the dust size distribution evolves both spatially and temporarily. We find that the envelope maintains its initial population of small dust grains with little growth during these phases, except that in the inner few hundreds of au the smallest grains are depleted. However, once the first hydrostatic core forms rapid dust growth to sizes in excess of 100 μm occurs within the core (before stellar core formation). Progressively larger grains are produced at smaller distances from the centre of the core. In rapidly rotating molecular cloud cores, the ‘first hydrostatic core’ that forms is better described as a pre-stellar disc that may be gravitationally unstable. In such cases, grain growth is more rapid in the spiral density waves leading to the larger grains being preferentially found in the spiral waves even though there is no migration of grains relative to the gas. Thus, the grain size distribution can vary substantially in the first core/pre-stellar disc even at these very early times.

Investigation of hydrodynamic cavitation induced reactive oxygen species production in microchannels via chemiluminescent luminol oxidation reactions

Hydrodynamic cavitation was evaluated for its reactive oxygen species production in several convergent-divergent microchannel at the transition from micro to milli scale. Channel widths and heights were systematically varied to study the influence of geometrical parameters at the transitory scale. A photomultiplier tube was used for time-resolved photon detection and monitoring of the chemiluminescent luminol oxidation reactions, allowing for a contactless and in situ quantization of reactive oxygen species production in the channels. The radical production rates at various flow parameters were evaluated, showing an optimal yield per flow rate exists in the observed geometrical range. While cavitation cloud shedding was the prevailing regime in this type of channels, the photon arrival time analysis allowed for an investigation of the cavitation structure dynamics and their contribution to the chemical yield, revealing that radical production is not linked to the synchronous cavitation cloud collapse events. Instead, individual bubble collapses occurring throughout the cloud formation were recognized to be the source of the reactive oxygen species.

Modelling star cluster formation: Mergers

Abstract Star cluster formation in giant molecular clouds involves the local collapse of the cloud into small gas-rich subclusters, which can then subsequently collide and merge to build up the final star cluster(s). In this paper, we simulate collisions between these subclusters, using coupled smooth particle hydrodynamics for the gas and N-body dynamics for the stars. We are guided by previous radiation hydrodynamics simulations of molecular cloud collapse which provide the global properties of the colliding clusters, such as their stellar and gas masses, and their initial positions and velocities. The subclusters in the original simulation were treated as sink particles which immediately merged into a single entity after the collision. We show that the more detailed treatment provides a more complex picture. At collisional velocities above ≈ 10 km/s, the stellar components of the cluster do not form a monolithic cluster within 3 Myr, although the gas may do so. At lower velocities, the clusters do eventually merge but over timescales that may be longer than the time for a subsequent collision. The structure of the resultant cluster is not well-fit by any standard density distribution, and the clusters are not in equilibrium but continue to expand over our simulation time. We conclude that the simple sink particle treatment of subcluster mergers in large-scale giant molecular cloud simulations provides an upper limit on the final cluster properties.

The structure of near-wall re-entrant flow and its influence on cloud cavitation instability

The so-called ‘re-entrant jet’ is fundamental to periodic cloud shedding in partial cavitation. However, the exact physical mechanism governing this phenomenon remains ambiguous. The complicated topology of the re-entrant flow renders whole-field, detailed measurement of the re-entrant flow cumbersome. Hence, most studies in the past have derived a physical understanding of this phenomenon from qualitative analyses of the re-entrant jet. Thus, quantitative studies are scarce in the literature. In this work, we present a methodology to experimentally measure the re-entrant flow below the vapour cavity in an axisymmetric venturi. The axisymmetry of the flow geometry is exploited to image tracer particles in the near-wall re-entrant flow. The main objective of employing tomographic imaging and subsequent velocimetry is to resolve the thickness and the velocity of the re-entrant flow. Additionally, phase-averaging conditioned on cavity length sheds light on the temporal evolution of re-entrant flow in a shedding cycle. The measured re-entrant film is as thick as sim 1.2 mm for a maximum cavity length of sim 0.9 D_{t}, where D_{t} is the venturi throat diameter. However, the re-entrant film thickness at higher cavitation number is measured to be about 0.5 mm. Further, the re-entrant flow is seen to attain a maximum velocity up to half the throat velocity as the vapour cavity grows in time and the re-entrant flow thickens. We observe that a complex spatio-temporal evolution of re-entrant flow is involved in the cavity detachment and periodic cloud shedding. Finally, we apply the demonstrated methodology to study the evolution of the near-wall liquid flow, below the vapour cavity in different cavity shedding flow regimes. The role of two main mechanisms responsible for cloud shedding, i.e. (i) the adverse-pressure gradient driven re-entrant jet, and (ii) the bubbly shock wave emanating from the cloud collapse are quantitatively assessed. We observe that the thickness of the re-entrant liquid film with respect to the cavity thickness can influence the cavity shedding behaviour. Further, we show that both the mechanisms could be operating at a given flow condition, with one of them dominating to dictate the cloud shedding behaviour.Graphical abstract

Triggering star formation: Experimental compression of a foam ball induced by Taylor–Sedov blast waves

The interaction between a molecular cloud and an external agent (e.g., a supernova remnant, plasma jet, radiation, or another cloud) is a common phenomenon throughout the Universe and can significantly change the star formation rate within a galaxy. This process leads to fragmentation of the cloud and to its subsequent compression and can, eventually, initiate the gravitational collapse of a stable molecular cloud. It is, however, difficult to study such systems in detail using conventional techniques (numerical simulations and astronomical observations), since complex interactions of flows occur. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the compression of a foam ball by Taylor–Sedov blast waves, as an analog of supernova remnants interacting with a molecular cloud. The formation of a compression wave is observed in the foam ball, indicating the importance of such experiments for understanding how star formation is triggered by external agents.

Experiment and numerical simulation investigation on cavitation evolution and damage in the throttling section of pressure reducing valve

AbstractFor the phenomenon of widespread and serious cavitation damage in the throttling section of pressure reducing valve under high temperature and high pressure in the chemical technology process of petroleum and coal, according to actual coordination structure widely applied between the valve core and valve seat, the cavitation throttling section with symmetrical contraction and expansion was made, and the visualized cavitation water tunnel experimental apparatus was designed and constructed. The cavitation evolution process with time under different cavitation numbers σ was recorded by the high‐speed photography, the variation law of cavitation damage length and area with time was investigated by using aluminum film as cavitation damage carrier. Based on the experimental cavitation characteristic length L*, the evaporation coefficient Fv, and condensation coefficient Fc in the Zwart–Gerber–Belamri cavitation numerical model were modified, and the cavitation damage region was predicted by the gas phase condensation rate of numerical simulation. The results show that with the decrease of cavitation number, the characteristic length of cavitation strip increases; the cavitation characteristic length fluctuates greatly at σ = 1.22, and there are cavitation cloud periodic formation, shedding, collapse, and disappearance at the tail of the cavitation strip on the upper valve seat; the cavitation damage length of the upper and lower valve seat remains unchanged with time, and the cavitation damage area increases approximately linearly with time; the initial position and length of cavitation damage predicted by the gas phase condensation rate are basically consistent with the experimental results, which verifies the accuracy of the modified numerical simulation.

Shear-free gravitational collapse of dust cloud and dark energy

The present paper deals with the gravitational collapse of shear-free inhomogeneous spherical star consisting of dust fluid ([Formula: see text]) in the background of dark energy components ([Formula: see text]) with equation of state [Formula: see text] ([Formula: see text] being a nonzero constant parameter describing dark energy component). We discussed the development of apparent horizon to investigate the black hole formation in gravitational collapsing process. The collapsing process is examined first separately for dust cloud and dark energy and then under the combined effect of dust interacting with dark energy. It is obtained that when only dust cloud or dark energy is present the collapse leads to the formation of black hole under certain conditions. When both of them are present, the collapsing star does not form black hole. However, when dark energy is considered as cosmological constant [Formula: see text], the collapse leads to black hole formation.

A sharp-interface model for grid-resolved cavitating flows

A sharp-interface model for cavitating flows is presented in this work. The proposed model can deal with the dynamic evolution of cavitation, and considers both phase change and pre-existing gas expansion mechanisms. The interfaces between the liquid and gas phases are fully sharp, the effects of compressibility (in both phases) and surface tension are considered, and the liquid may withstand certain amounts of tension before breaking down. The formulation is in principle independent of grid discretization. The method is simple to implement, and avoids raising the computational cost as it does not require the solution of additional transport equations. The behaviour of the proposed model is thoroughly assessed through a series of numerical tests. Finally, the developed method is used to predict the nucleation and collapse of a three-dimensional cavitation bubble cloud.

Numerical study on stress in a solid wall caused by the collapse of a cavitation bubble cloud in hydraulic fluid

The stress in a solid due to the collapse of a bubble cloud in hydraulic fluid is investigated by the numerical simulation, which considers the fluid-structure coupling and employs the bubbly flow model with Euler-Lagrange method. The dynamics of the bubble at the subgrid scale is described by the Keller-Miksis equation. Heat transfer at the bubble interface is considered to reproduce thermal damping effect. As the result of the fluid-structure coupling simulation, the high von Mises stress region is observed in the solid due to the collapse of the bubble cloud attached on the solid surface, and the propagation of longitudinal and transverse waves in the solid is reproduced. As the standoff distance YC from the solid surface to the center of the bubble cloud decreases, the peak von Mises stress in the solid increases, taking a maximum at YC=0.4RC, and then decreases. Thus, the peak von Mises stress is highest under the condition that the bottom quarter of the bubble cloud is on the wall. Due to the increase of the initial void fraction and the decrease of the initial bubble radius in the bubble cloud, the collapse pressure of the bubble cloud increases. Under certain conditions, the peak von Mises stress can be higher than the 0.2% yield stress value of 250MPa for a cast iron. This is expected to induce cavitation erosion of the solid surface.

The Role of Terahertz and Far-IR Spectroscopy in Understanding the Formation and Evolution of Interstellar Prebiotic Molecules

Stellar systems are often formed through the collapse of dense molecular clouds which, in turn, return copious amounts of atomic and molecular material to the interstellar medium. An in-depth understanding of chemical evolution during this cyclic interaction between the stars and the interstellar medium is at the heart of astrochemistry. Systematic chemical composition changes as interstellar clouds evolve from the diffuse stage to dense, quiescent molecular clouds to star-forming regions and proto-planetary disks further enrich the molecular diversity leading to the evolution of ever more complex molecules. In particular, the icy mantles formed on interstellar dust grains and their irradiation are thought to be the origin of many of the observed molecules, including those that are deemed to be “prebiotic”; that is those molecules necessary for the origin of life. This review will discuss both observational (e.g., ALMA, SOFIA, Herschel) and laboratory investigations using terahertz and far-IR (THz/F-IR) spectroscopy, as well as centimeter and millimeter spectroscopies, and the role that they play in contributing to our understanding of the formation of prebiotic molecules. Mid-IR spectroscopy has typically been the primary tool used in laboratory studies, particularly those concerned with interstellar ice analogues. However, THz/F-IR spectroscopy offers an additional and complementary approach in that it provides the ability to investigate intermolecular interactions compared to the intramolecular modes available in the mid-IR. THz/F-IR spectroscopy is still somewhat under-utilized, but with the additional capability it brings, its popularity is likely to significantly increase in the near future. This review will discuss the strengths and limitations of such methods, and will also provide some suggestions on future research areas that should be pursued in the coming decade exploiting both space-borne and laboratory facilities.

Interstellar Objects Follow the Collapse of Molecular Clouds

AbstractInterstellar objects (ISOs), the parent population of 1i/‘Oumuamua and 2i/Borisov, are abundant in the interstellar medium of the Milky Way. This means that the interstellar medium, including molecular-cloud regions, has three components: gas, dust, and ISOs. From observational constraints of the field density of ISOs drifting in the solar neighborhood, we infer that a typical molecular cloud of 10 pc diameter contains some 1018ISOs. At typical sizes ranging from hundreds of meters to tens of kilometers, ISOs are entirely decoupled from the gas dynamics in these molecular clouds. Here we address the question of whether ISOs can follow the collapse of molecular clouds. We perform low-resolution simulations of the collapse of molecular clouds containing initially static ISO populations toward the point where stars form. In this proof-of-principle study, we find that the interstellar objects definitely follow the collapse of the gas—and many become bound to the new-forming numerical approximations to future stars (sinks). At minimum, 40% of all sinks have one or more ISO test particles gravitationally bound to them for the initial ISO distributions tested here. This value corresponds to at least 1010actual ISOs being bound after three initial freefall times. Thus, ISOs are a relevant component of star formation. We find that more massive sinks bind disproportionately large fractions of the initial ISO population, implying competitive capture of ISOs. Sinks can also be solitary, as their ISOs can become unbound again—particularly if sinks are ejected from the system. Emerging planetary systems will thus develop in remarkably varied environments, ranging from solitary to richly populated with bound ISOs.

The dust-to-gas ratio in the gravitational collapse of filamentary clouds

The dust-to-gas ratio in the gravitational collapse of filamentary clouds

Does the Loop Quantum μo Scheme Permit Black Hole Formation?

We explore the way different loop quantization prescriptions affect the formation of trapped surfaces in the gravitational collapse of a homogeneous dust cloud, with particular emphasis on the so-called μo scheme in which loop quantum cosmology was initially formulated. Its undesirable features in cosmological models led to the so-called improved dynamics or the μ¯ scheme. While the jury is still out on the right scheme for black hole spacetimes, we show that as far as black hole formation is concerned, the μo scheme has another, so far unknown, serious problem. We found that in the μo scheme, no trapped surfaces would form for a nonsingular collapse of a homogeneous dust cloud in the marginally bound case unless the minimum nonzero area of the loops over which holonomies are computed or the Barbero–Immirzi parameter decreases almost four times from its standard value. It turns out that the trapped surfaces in the μo scheme for the marginally bound case are also forbidden for an arbitrary matter content as long as the collapsing interior is isometric to a spatially flat Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) spacetime. We found that in contrast to the situation in the μo scheme, black holes can form in the μ¯ scheme, as well as other lattice refinements with a mass gap determined by quantum geometry.

On black hole formation in higher dimensions

The two main processes of black hole formation are collapse of a matter cloud under its own gravity and accretion of matter onto an already existing gravitating centre. The necessary condition for both the processes to operate is that overall force on collapsing fluid element or on test accreting particles is attractive. It turns out that this is not the case in general in higher dimensions greater than the usual four for collapsing or accreting matter having nonzero angular momentum. Thus, both these processes cannot operate in higher dimensions to form a rotating black hole. The only theory in which this is not the case in higher dimensions is the pure Lovelock gravity, where both these processes could in principle work for formation of black holes.

The effect of dust charge-gradient and dust polarization forces on the Jeans instability in a collisional magnetized dusty plasma

A theoretical investigation of Jeans instability has been done incorporating dust charge gradient and dust polarization forces in a collisional magnetized dusty plasma. The dispersion relation is derived using three fluid theory by employing Boltzmann distribution of ions and electrons and retaining the complete dynamics of positively charged dust. To signify the effects of each parameter on Jeans instability the obtained general dispersion relation is further deduced considering parallel and perpendicular modes of propagation. It has been analyzed analytically as well as numerically that the growth rate of gravitational instability decreases with simultaneous presence of charge gradient force, collision frequency, thermal velocity and external magnetic field, but increases with the dust polarization force. The existence of dust charge gradient force and dust polarization force (along with external magnetic field) have been found to improve the criterion for Jeans instability. The relevance of the work to the collapse of dusty clouds has been discussed.

Empirical formulae to describe some physical properties of small groups of protogalaxies with multiplicity

By means of identical cubic elements, we generate a partition of a volume in which a particle-based cosmological simulation is carried out. In each cubic element, we determine the gas particles with a normalized density greater than an arbitrarily chosen density threshold. By using a proximity parameter, we calculate the neighboring cubic elements and generate a list of neighbors. By imposing dynamic conditions on the gas particles, we identify gas clumps and their neighbors, so that we calculate and fit some properties of the groups so identified, including the mass, size and velocity dispersion, in terms of their multiplicity (here defined simply as the number of member galaxies). Finally, we report the value of the ratio of kinetic energy to gravitational energy of such dense gas clumps, which will be useful as initial conditions in simulations of gravitational collapse of gas clouds and clusters of gas clouds.

Molecular cloud collapse to stellar densities: models on moving geodesic vs. unstructured tetrahedron vs. nested meshes

The results of a study of a collapsing cold molecular cloud with three computational models based on different mesh methods are presented. Collapse of a gas with a molecular cloud core density (≈ 10–18 g cm–3) to stellar densities (≈ 10–2 g cm–3) is considered. To simulate the collapse, the equation of state for an ideal gas and three mesh computational models are used. These are: a model based on multilevel nested meshes, a model based on moving geodesic meshes, and a model based on nonuniform tetrahedral meshes. The restrictions on the resolution in solving the Poisson equation and on the reproduction of the gravitational potential gradient on geodesic and tetrahedral meshes do not allow reproducing well the onset of collapse (in the case of moving geodesic meshes) or the maximum density (in the case of tetrahedral meshes). The results of computational experiments show that the process of collapse is reproduced well on multilevel nested meshes with sufficient spatial resolution.

Turning on the lights: how long did it take for the Sun to form?

We have long known the Solar System formed from the collapse of a large cloud of stellar gas and dust. Here, we studied the earliest solids that resulted from this event and found that not only was the cloud made of diverse materials, but it collapsed to form the Sun in just a blink of an eye at the geological timescale. - submission by Gregory A. Brennecka