THE COLUMN DENSITY VARIANCE-M{sub s} RELATIONSHIP
- Astronomy Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 475 N. Charter St., WI 53706 (United States)
Although there is a wealth of column density tracers for both the molecular and diffuse interstellar medium, there are few observational studies investigating the relationship between the density variance ({sigma}{sup 2}) and the sonic Mach number (M{sub s}). This is in part due to the fact that the {sigma}{sup 2}-M{sub s} relationship is derived, via MHD simulations, for the three-dimensional (3D) density variance only, which is not a direct observable. We investigate the utility of a 2D column density {sigma}{sub {Sigma}/{Sigma}0}{sup 2}-M{sub s} relationship using solenoidally driven isothermal MHD simulations and find that the best fit follows closely the form of the 3D density {sigma}{sub {rho}/{rho}0}{sup 2}-M{sub s} trend but includes a scaling parameter A such that {sigma}{sub ln({Sigma}/{Sigma}o)} = A x ln(1+b{sup 2} M{sub s}{sup 2}), where A = 0.11 and b = 1/3. This relation is consistent with the observational data reported for the Taurus and IC 5146 molecular clouds with b = 0.5 and A = 0.16, and b = 0.5 and A = 0.12, respectively. These results open up the possibility of using the 2D column density values of {sigma}{sup 2} for investigations of the relation between the sonic Mach number and the probability distribution function (PDF) variance in addition to existing PDF sonic Mach number relations.
- OSTI ID:
- 22047604
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 755, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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