Fragmentation of Dense Rotation-Dominated Structures Fed by Collapsing Gravomagneto-Sheetlets and Origin of Misaligned 100 au-Scale Binaries and Multiple Systems

Abstract

The majority of stars are in binary/multiple systems. How such systems form in turbulent, magnetized cores of molecular clouds in the presence of non-ideal MHD effects remains relatively under-explored. Through ATHENA++-based non-ideal MHD AMR simulations with ambipolar diffusion, we show that the collapsing protostellar envelope is dominated by dense gravo-magneto-sheetlets, a turbulence-warped version of the classic pseudodisk produced by anisotropic magnetic resistance to the gravitational collapse, in agreement with previous simulations of turbulent, magnetized single-star formation. The sheetlets feed mass, magnetic fields, and angular momentum to a Dense ROtation-Dominated (DROD) structure, which fragments into binary/multiple systems. This DROD fragmentation scenario is a more dynamic variant of the traditional disk fragmentation scenario for binary/multiple formation, with dense spiral filaments created by inhomogeneous feeding from the highly structured larger-scale sheetlets rather than the need for angular momentum transport, which is dominated by magnetic braking. Provided that the local material is sufficiently demagnetized, with a plasma-$\beta$ of 10 or more, collisions between the dense spiraling filaments play a key role in facilitating gravitational collapse and stellar companion formation by pushing the local magnetic Toomre parameter $Q_{\mathrm{m}}$ below unity. This mechanism can naturally produce {\it in situ} misaligned systems on the 100-au scale, often detected with high-resolution Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observations. Our simulations also highlight the importance of non-ideal MHD effects, which affect whether fragmentation occurs and, if so, the masses and orbital parameters of the stellar companions formed.

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