Modification to the Jeans criterion by external tides: anisotropic fragmentation and formation of filaments

ABSTRACT The Jeans criterion sets the foundation of our understanding of gravitational collapse. Jog studied the fragmentation of gas under external tides and derived a dispersion relation $l^{\prime } = l_{\rm Jeans} \frac{1}{(1 + \lambda _0^{\prime } / 4 \pi G \rho _0)^{1/2}} \,\,.$ She further co...

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Published inMonthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 532; no. 1; pp. 1126 - 1128
Main Author Li, Guang-Xing
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Oxford University Press 01.07.2024
Subjects
Criteria
Filaments
Fragmentation
Gravitational collapse
Tides
methods: analytical
ISM: clouds
galaxies: star formation
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Summary:ABSTRACT The Jeans criterion sets the foundation of our understanding of gravitational collapse. Jog studied the fragmentation of gas under external tides and derived a dispersion relation $l^{\prime } = l_{\rm Jeans} \frac{1}{(1 + \lambda _0^{\prime } / 4 \pi G \rho _0)^{1/2}} \,\,.$ She further concludes that the Jeans mass is $m_{\rm incorrect}^{\prime }=m_{\rm Jeans} [1/(1 + \lambda _0^{\prime } / 4 \pi G \rho _0)^{3/2}]$. We clarify that due to the inhomogeneous nature of tides, this characteristic mass is incorrect. Under weak tides, the mass is $m \approx \rho \, l_1 l_2 l_3$, where the modifications to Jeans lengths along all three dimensions need to be considered; when the tide is strong enough, collapse can only occur once 1 or 2 dimensions. In the latter case, tides can stretch the gas, leading to the formation of filaments.
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content type line 14
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/stae900