Investigating the structure and fragmentation of a highly filamentary IRDC

Abstract

We present 3.7 arcsec (~0.05 pc) resolution 3.2 mm dust continuum observations from the IRAM PdBI, with the aim of studying the structure and fragmentation of the filamentary Infrared Dark Cloud G035.39-00.33. The continuum emission is segmented into a series of 13 quasi-regularly spaced (~0.18pc) cores, following the major axis of the IRDC. We compare the spatial distribution of the cores with that predicted by theoretical work describing the fragmentation of hydrodynamic fluid cylinders, finding a significant (a factor of ~8) discrepancy between the two. Our observations are consistent with the picture emerging from kinematic studies of molecular clouds suggesting that the cores are harboured within a complex network of independent sub-filaments. This result emphasizes the importance of considering the underlying physical structure, and potentially, dynamically important magnetic fields, in any fragmentation analysis. The identified cores exhibit a range in (peak) beam-averaged column density ($3.6\mathrm{x}10^{23}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}<N_{H,c}<8.0\mathrm{x}10^{23}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$), mass ($8.1M_{\odot }<M_c<26.1M_{\odot }$), and number density ($6.1\mathrm{x}10^5{\mathrm{cm}}^{-3}<n_{H,c,eq}<14.7\mathrm{x}10^5{\mathrm{cm}}^{-3}$). Two of these cores, dark in the mid-infrared, centrally-concentrated, monolithic (with no traceable substructure at our PdBI resolution), and with estimated masses of the order ~20-25$M_{\odot }$, are good candidates for the progenitors of intermediate-to-high-mass stars. Virial parameters span a range $0.2<{\alpha }_{\mathrm{vir}}<1.3$. Without additional support, possibly from dynamically important magnetic fields with strengths of the order 230$\mu$G<B<670$\mu$G, the cores are susceptible to gravitational collapse. These results may imply a multilayered fragmentation process, which incorporates the formation of sub-filaments, embedded cores, and the possibility of further fragmentation.

arXiv comment14 pages (plus 10 page appendix), 6 figures (plus 11 in appendix), 3 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. Abstract modified due to character limit. This updated version includes minor corrections (including typos and updated references)

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