Hydromagnetic Waves in Weakly Ionised Media. I. Basic Theory, and Application to Interstellar Molecular Clouds

TL;DR

This paper provides a detailed theoretical analysis of magnetohydrodynamic waves and instabilities in weakly ionised interstellar molecular clouds, highlighting critical wavelengths and their implications for cloud structure and star formation.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive linear theory of MHD waves in multifluid media, identifying critical wavelengths and elucidating their role in cloud fragmentation and star formation.

Findings

Critical wavelengths determine wave sustainability and decay.

Ambipolar diffusion influences cloud support and fragmentation.

Excellent agreement with nonlinear simulations validates the linear approach.

Abstract

We present a comprehensive study of MHD waves and instabilities in a weakly ionised system, e.g., an interstellar molecular cloud. We determine all the critical wavelengths of perturbations across which the sustainable wave modes can change radically (and so can their decay rates), and various instabilities are present or absent. These critical wavelengths are essential for understanding the effects of MHD waves (or turbulence) on the structure and evolution of molecular clouds. Depending on the angle of propagation relative to the magnetic field and the physical parameters of a cloud, there are wavelength ranges in which no wave can be sustained as such. Yet, for other directions of propagation or different properties of a model cloud, there may exist some wave mode(s) at all wavelengths. For a typical cloud, magnetically-driven ambipolar diffusion leads to removal of any support against gravity that most short-wavelength waves (or turbulence) may have had, and gravitationally-driven ambipolar diffusion sets in and leads to cloud fragmentation into stellar-size masses, as first suggested by Mouschovias three decades ago -- a single-stage fragmentation theory of star formation, distinct from the hierarchical fragmentation picture. Phase velocities, decay times, and eigenvectors (the densities and velocities of neutral particles and the plasma, and components of the magnetic field) are determined as functions of the wavelength of the disturbances and are explained physically. Comparison of the results with nonlinear analytical or numerical calculations is also presented, excellent agreement is found, and confidence in the analytical, linear approach is gained to explore phenomena difficult to study through numerical simulations. Mode splitting and mode merging, which are impossible in single-fluid systems for linear perturbations, occur naturally in multifluid systems.