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AccessType

Open Access Dissertation

Document Type

dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Program

Astronomy

Year Degree Awarded

2019

Month Degree Awarded

September

First Advisor

Robert A. Gutermuth

Second Advisor

Grant Wilson

Third Advisor

Gopal Narayanan

Fourth Advisor

Guy Blaylock

Subject Categories

Physical Processes | Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy

Abstract

In this dissertation, I explore fragmentation physics in multiple scales in nearby molecular clouds and discuss some implications of fragmentation for cloud structure formation and star formation, primarily by analyzing multi-wavelength observations of dust emission. First, I tested the complete thermal and combined thermal and nonthermal support mechanisms that balance gravitational contraction at multiple scales in the Perseus molecular cloud. I found that the observed multiscale structures in Perseus are consistent with an inefficient thermal Jeans fragmentation, where the Jeans efficiency increases from the largest scale ($\gtrsim$10s of pc) to the smallest scale ($\sim$10s of AU). Next, I studied the effect of the formation of dense self-gravitating structures and star formation on the gas distribution in terms of its column density distribution function (N-PDF). I found that the evolutionary effect of clouds has corresponding changes on the N-PDF functional form, with a lognormal shape in diffuse regions that have negligible star formation, a lognormal and two power-laws in denser regions with moderate star formation, and a lognormal and one power-law in the densest regions with highly efficient clustered star formation. Finally, I explored the variations of star and gas surface densities in twelve molecular clouds using various techniques. I found that the stellar mass surface density of the recently formed stars varies as the square of the gas mass surface density in all twelve clouds. Also, I do not find any evidence of a column density threshold for efficient star formation.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/15130276

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