Oral Presentation
The effect of magnetic fields on the column density probability distribution function in molecular clouds
Presenter: Sayantan Auddy (ASIAA)
The role of magnetic fields in regulating star formation is a matter of long-standing debate. In this talk, I present evidence that suggests that strong magnetic fields characterize the structure of molecular clouds, which are the centers for star formation. Our three-dimensional turbulent non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations (with ambipolar diffusion) shows the effect of magnetic fields on the evolution of the column density probability distribution function (PDF). Our results indicate a systematic dependence of the column density PDF of molecular clouds on magnetic field strength and turbulence, with observationally distinguishable outcomes between supercritical (gravity dominated) and subcritical (magnetic field dominated) initial conditions. We find that most cases develop a direct power-law PDF, and only the subcritical clouds with turbulence are able to maintain a lognormal body of the PDF but with a power-law tail at high values.
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