Simulation of Head-on Collisions Between Filamentary Molecular Clouds Threaded by a Lateral Magnetic Field and Subsequent Evolution

TL;DR

This study uses magnetohydrodynamical simulations to explore how head-on collisions between filamentary molecular clouds influence their evolution, revealing conditions for collapse or oscillation based on magnetic and mass parameters.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed simulation framework for filament collisions considering magnetic fields, identifying critical mass conditions for collapse versus oscillation, advancing understanding of star-forming regions.

Findings

Radial collapse occurs when total line mass exceeds the magnetically critical line mass.

Collapsed filaments follow a self-similar density distribution.

Collisions below the critical mass lead to stable oscillations.

Abstract

Filamentary molecular clouds are regarded as the place where newborn stars are formed. In particular, a hub region, a place where it appears as if several filaments are colliding, often indicates active star formation. To understand the star formation in filament structures, we investigate the collisions between two filaments using two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical simulations. As a model of filaments, we assume that the filaments are in magnetohydrostatic equilibrium under a global magnetic field perpendicular to the filament axis. We set two identical filaments with an infinite length and collided them with a zero-impact parameter (head-on). When the two filaments collide while sharing the same magnetic flux, we found two types of evolution after a merged filament is formed: runaway radial collapse and stable oscillation with a finite amplitude. The condition for the radial collapse is independent of the collision velocity and is given by the total line mass of the two filaments exceeding the magnetically critical line mass for which no magnetohydrostatic solution exists. The radial collapse proceeds in a self-similar manner, resulting in a unique distribution irrespective of the various initial line masses of the filament, as the collapse progresses. When the total line mass is less massive than the magnetically critical line mass, the merged filament oscillates, and the density distribution is well-fitted by a magnetohydrostatic equilibrium solution. The condition necessary for the radial collapse is also applicable to the collision whose direction is perpendicular to the global magnetic field.