GMC Collisions as Triggers of Star Formation. II. 3D Turbulent, Magnetized Simulations

TL;DR

This study uses 3D MHD simulations to explore how giant molecular cloud collisions can trigger star formation by inducing dense structures, magnetic field reconfigurations, and observable signatures, providing insights into galactic star formation processes.

Contribution

It introduces detailed 3D MHD simulations with realistic heating, cooling, and turbulence to analyze GMC collisions and their role in star formation, including observational diagnostics.

Findings

Cloud collisions produce dense filaments and clumps.

Magnetic field orientations correlate with filament structures.

Simulated observational signatures match some Galactic cloud observations.

Abstract

We investigate giant molecular cloud (GMCs) collisions and their ability to induce gravitational instability and thus star formation. This mechanism may be a major driver of star formation activity in galactic disks. We carry out a series of three dimensional, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) simulations to study how cloud collisions trigger formation of dense filaments and clumps. Heating and cooling functions are implemented based on photo-dissociation region (PDR) models that span the atomic to molecular transition and can return detailed diagnostic information. The clouds are initialized with supersonic turbulence and a range of magnetic field strengths and orientations. Collisions at various velocities and impact parameters are investigated. Comparing and contrasting colliding and non-colliding cases, we characterize morphologies of dense gas, magnetic field structure, cloud kinematic signatures, and cloud dynamics. We present key observational diagnostics of cloud collisions, especially: relative orientations between magnetic fields and density structures, like filaments; $^{13}$CO($J$=2-1), $^{13}$CO($J$=3-2), and $^{12}$CO($J$=8-7) integrated intensity maps and spectra; and cloud virial parameters. We compare these results to observed Galactic clouds.