On the Density Distribution in Star-forming Interstellar Clouds

TL;DR

This paper uses advanced simulations to analyze how gravity influences the density distribution in star-forming clouds, revealing a power-law tail at high densities that aligns with observations.

Contribution

It demonstrates that gravity induces a power-law tail in the density distribution of molecular clouds, supported by simulations and theoretical collapse models.

Findings

Density distribution develops a power-law tail at high densities

Power index values range from -7/4 to -3/2

Results agree with observational data of star-forming clouds

Abstract

We use deep adaptive mesh refinement simulations of isothermal self-gravitating supersonic turbulence to study the imprints of gravity on the mass density distribution in molecular clouds. The simulations show that the density distribution in self-gravitating clouds develops an extended power-law tail at high densities on top of the usual lognormal. We associate the origin of the tail with self-similar collapse solutions and predict the power index values in the range from -7/4 to -3/2 that agree with both simulations and observations of star-forming molecular clouds.