Kinematics and Structure of Star-forming Regions: Insights from Cold Collapse Models

TL;DR

This paper investigates the structure and motion of star-forming regions using cold collapse models, revealing how gravitational dynamics shape observed substructures and kinematics in young stellar environments.

Contribution

It introduces a new analysis linking cold collapse simulations with observational data, highlighting the role of global gravity in forming substructures.

Findings

Hub-filament morphology naturally emerges during gravitational collapse.

Dynamically-distinct kinematic substructure of stars is explained by the model.

Global gravitational potential influences cluster and filament dynamics.

Abstract

The origin of the observed morphological and kinematic substructure of young star forming regions is a matter of debate. We offer a new analysis of data from simulations of globally gravitationally collapsing clouds of progenitor gas to answer questions about sub-structured star formation in the context of cold collapse. As a specific example, we compare our models to recent radial velocity survey data from the IN-SYNC survey of Orion and new observations of dense gas kinematics, and offer possible interpretations of kinematic and morphological signatures in the region. In the context of our model, we find the frequently-observed hub-filament morphology of the gas naturally arises during gravitational evolution, as well as the dynamically-distinct kinematic substructure of stars. We emphasize that the global and not just the local gravitational potential plays an important role in determining the dynamics of both clusters and filaments.