Testing Molecular-Cloud Fragmentation Theories: Self-Consistent Analysis of OH Zeeman Observations

TL;DR

This paper reevaluates observational tests distinguishing star formation theories by analyzing magnetic field data in molecular clouds, emphasizing the importance of data quality and geometric effects in interpreting fragmentation models.

Contribution

It introduces a self-consistent analysis that considers magnetic field nonuniformity and geometrical effects, challenging previous conclusions about star formation theories.

Findings

Current data quality is insufficient for definitive conclusions.

Magnetic field nonuniformity significantly affects observational tests.

Better data are needed to discriminate between fragmentation theories.

Abstract

The ambipolar-diffusion theory of star formation predicts the formation of fragments in molecular clouds with mass-to-flux ratios greater than that of the parent-cloud envelope. By contrast, scenarios of turbulence-induced fragmentation do not yield such a robust prediction. Based on this property, Crutcher et al. (2009) proposed an observational test that could potentially discriminate between fragmentation theories. However, the analysis applied to the data severely restricts the discriminative power of the test: the authors conclude that they can only constrain what they refer to as the "idealized" ambipolar-diffusion theory that assumes initially straight-parallel magnetic field lines in the parent cloud. We present an original, self-consistent analysis of the same data taking into account the nonuniformity of the magnetic field in the cloud envelopes, which is suggested by the data themselves, and we discuss important geometrical effects that must be accounted for in using this test. We show quantitatively that the quality of current data does not allow for a strong conclusion about any fragmentation theory. Given the discriminative potential of the test, we urge for more and better-quality data.