Density distributions of outflow driven turbulence

Abstract

Protostellar jets and outflows are signatures of star formation and promising mechanisms for driving supersonic turbulence in molecular clouds. We quantify outflow-driven turbulence through three-dimensional numerical simulations using an isothermal version of the robust total variation diminishing code. We drive turbulence in real-space using a simplified spherical outflow model, analyse the data through density probability distribution functions (PDF), and investigate the Core Formation Rate per free-fall time (CFR_ff). The real-space turbulence driving method produces a negatively skewed density PDF possessing an enhanced tail on the low-density side. It deviates from the log-normal distributions typically obtained from Fourier-space turbulence driving at low densities, but can provide a good fit at high-densities, particularly in terms of mass weighted rather than volume weighted density PDF. Due to this fact, we suggest that the CFR_ff determined from a Fourier-driven turbulence model could be comparable to that of our particular real-space driving model, which has a ratio of solenoidal to compressional components from the resulting turbulence velocity fields of ~0.6.

5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in MNRASL

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• On the universality of supersonic turbulence
• Modeling jet and outflow feedback during star cluster formation
• The density structure and star formation rate of non-isothermal polytropic turbulence
• Supersonic turbulence in 3D isothermal flow collision
• A Census of Protostellar Outflows in Nearby Molecular Clouds
• Power spectra of outflow-driven turbulence