Angular momentum distribution during the collapse of primordial star-forming clouds

TL;DR

This study uses advanced simulations to analyze how angular momentum is distributed during the collapse of primordial star-forming clouds, revealing a consistent power-law profile independent of initial conditions.

Contribution

It demonstrates that primordial gas clouds develop a universal angular momentum distribution following a specific power-law, regardless of initial turbulence or rotation.

Findings

Angular momentum follows a power-law distribution during collapse.

The power-law is consistent across different initial conditions.

Specific angular momentum scales as M^{1.125}.

Abstract

It is generally believed that angular momentum is distributed during the gravitational collapse of the primordial star forming cloud. However, so far there has been little understanding of the exact details of the distribution. We use the modified version of the Gadget-2 code, a three-dimensional smoothed-particle hydrodynamics simulation, to follow the evolution of the collapsing gas in both idealized as well as more realistic minihalos. We find that, despite the lack of any initial turbulence and magnetic fields in the clouds the angular momentum profile follows the same characteristic power-law that has been reported in studies that employed fully self-consistent cosmological initial conditions. The fit of the power-law appears to be roughly constant regardless of the initial rotation of the cloud. We conclude that the specific angular momentum of the self-gravitating rotating gas in the primordial minihalos maintains a scaling relation with the gas mass as $L \propto M^{1.125}$. We also discuss the plausible mechanisms for the power-law distribution.