Hourglass Magnetic Field of a Protostellar System

An hourglass-shaped magnetic field pattern arises naturally from the gravitational collapse of a star-forming gas cloud. Most studies have focused on the prestellar collapse phase, when the structure has a smooth and monotonic radial profile. However, most observations target dense clouds that alrea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Basu, Shantanu, Li, Xiyuan, Bino, Gianfranco
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 06.06.2024
Subjects
Accretion disks
Field strength
Gravitational collapse
Magnetic fields
Physics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
Physics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Protostars
Star formation
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Summary:An hourglass-shaped magnetic field pattern arises naturally from the gravitational collapse of a star-forming gas cloud. Most studies have focused on the prestellar collapse phase, when the structure has a smooth and monotonic radial profile. However, most observations target dense clouds that already contain a central protostar, and possibly a circumstellar disk. We utilize an analytic treatment of the magnetic field along with insights gained from simulations to develop a more realistic magnetic field model for the protostellar phase. Key elements of the model are a strong radial magnetic field in the region of rapid collapse, an off-center peak in the magnetic field strength (a consequence of magnetic field dissipation in the circumstellar disk), and a strong toroidal field that is generated in the region of rapid collapse and outflow generation. A model with a highly pinched and twisted magnetic field pattern in the inner collapse zone facilitates the interpretation of magnetic field patterns observed in protostellar clouds.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.2405.11069