<p> One of the most difficult and interesting aspects of the physics of collapse and outflow formation, as well as the evolution of the protostellar disk, is the role of hydromagnetic forces. However, magnetic fields are only coupled to the charged species present in poorly ionized molecular clouds. Ambipolar diffusion-the process by which magnetic fields "slip" in poorly ionized gas-strongly affects the initial cloud as well as the final observable structure through collisional heating. Also, as the gas becomes opaque to cosmic rays, the ionized structure of the accreting gas may become more complex, leading to a neutral 'dead zone' in a layered accretion disk (vital in determining planet masses in planet formation theories (Matsumura & Pudritz, 2005)). We omit possible effects of ionizing radiation in these early stages of formation. </p> <p> In this thesis, we perform fully 3D simulations (using the FLASH AMR code) and have implemented ambipolar diffusion in the MHD module of the code in addition to a broad treatment of cooling (Banerjee et al., 2006). This has allowed us to track the ionized gas and magnetic fields properly from the beginning of collapse down to the onset of outflows. We find that high accretion rates persist on the order 1 of 10-3 M0 yr-(where the core mass has reached about 0.1 M0 ) due to efficient extraction of angular momentum through magnetic processes. Magnetic braking is reduced by about 3/4 in the initial collapse relative to an ideal collapse of same initial conditions. This, with a reduction in magnetic pressure in the disk, leads to an increased rate of fragmentation. One of the major new results of this work is the discovery that outflows from disks still occur even in the presence of ambipolar diffusion. Surprisingly, they are initiated even earlier than outflows from idealized, completely ionized disks. They are generated by a magnetic tower mechanism at central densities of 1012 cm-3, as effective ram pressure on the wound up toroidal field is reduced, allowing it to push away from the disk earlier. </p> <p> We have also shown that the formation of a dead zone in these early stages is dependent on shielding of cosmic rays, in the absence of which a decoupled zone in the disk midplane forms. This region, where the accreting gas is effectively decoupled from the magnetic field, extends 10 AU in radius and (2-3) AU in height from the midplane. The global magnetic field threading such a complex accretion disk shows a dragged out structure, as coupled surface layers of the disk pull in the field. The disk is puffy due to drift heating and the initial stages of the outflow pushing out into the ambient medium. However, overall magnetic field build-up is still efficient, as values of the magnetic field in the disk are only reduced by half. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Ultracold neutral plasmas provide a platform for studying transport properties in an idealized environment. In this dissertation, transport properties in a Ca$^+$/Yb$^+$ dual species ultracold neutral plasma and a Ca$^+$ magnetized ultracold neutral plasma are studied. In dual species plasmas, we study ion-ion temperature relaxation. We compare measured relaxation rates with atomistic simulations and a range of popular theories. Our work validates the assumptions and capabilities of molecular dynamic simulations and invalidates theoretical models in this regime. This work illustrates an approach for precision determinations of detailed material properties in Coulomb mixtures across a wide range of conditions. We also study plasma expansion in single species plasma in the presence of a strong uniform magnetic field. We find that the asymptotic expansion velocity falls exponentially with magnetic field strength, which disagrees with a previously published ambipolar diffusion model. In the parallel direction, plasma expansion is driven by electron pressure. However, in the perpendicular direction, no plasma expansion is observed at large magnetic field strengths.

Giant molecular clouds (GMCs), out of which stars form, are complex, dynamic systems, which both influence and are shaped by the process of star formation. In this dissertation, I examine three different facets of the dynamical motions within GMCs. Collapse modes in different dimensional objects. Molecular clouds contain lower dimensional substructures, such as filaments and sheets. The collapse properties of finite filaments and sheets differ from those of spherical objects as well as infinite sheets and filaments. I examine the importance of local collapse modes of small central perturbations, relative to global collapse modes, in different dimensional objects to elucidate whether strong perturbations are required for molecular clouds to fragment to form stars. I also calculate the dependence of the global collapse timescale upon the aspect ratio of sheets and filaments. I find that lower dimensional objects are more readily fragmented, and that for a constant density, lower dimensional objects and clouds with larger aspect ratios collapse more slowly. An edge-driven collapse mode also exists in sheets and filaments and is most important in elongated filaments. The failure to consider the geometry of a gas cloud is shown to lead to an overestimation of the star formation rate by up to an order of magnitude. Molecular tracers of turbulent energy dissipation. Molecular clouds contain supersonic turbulence that simulations predict will decay rapidly via shocks. I use shock models to predict which species emit the majority of the turbulent energy dissipated in shocks and find that carbon monoxide, CO, is primarily responsible for radiating away this energy. By combining these shock models with estimates for the turbulent energy dissipation rate of molecular clouds, I predict the expected shock spectra of CO from molecular clouds. I compare the results of these shock models to predictions for the emission from the unshocked gas in GMCs and show that mid-to-high rotational transitions of CO (e.g., J = 8 to 7), should be dominated by shocked gas emission and should trace the turbulent energy being dissipated in molecular clouds. Orion-Eridanus superbubble. The nearby Orion star forming region has created a large bubble of hot plasma in the local interstellar medium referred to as the Orion-Eridanus superbubble. This bubble is unusual in that it is highly elongated, is believed to be oriented roughly parallel to the galactic plane, and contains bright filamentary features on the Eridanus side. I fit models for a wind driven bubble in an exponential atmosphere to the Orion-Eridanus superbubble and show that the elongation of the bubble cannot be explained by such a model in which the scale height of the galactic disk is the typical value of 150 pc. Either a much smaller scale height must be adopted or some additional physics must be added to the model. I also show that the Eridanus filaments cannot be equilibrium objects ionized by the Orion star forming region. / Graduate / 0606 / andyrpon@gmail.com

La dissipation d'énergie turbulente est un processus clef dans le milieu interstellaire (MIS) froid, non seulement pour comprendre les voies de formation des étoiles, mais aussi en tant que source d'énergie supra-thermique et donc capable d'ouvrir de nouveaux chemins chimiques pour expliquer les abondances d'espèces soumises à des barrières endoénergétiques, telles que $\mathrm{CH}^+$ et $\mathrm{SH}^+$ qui sont observées dans le MIS. Dans ce contexte, l'intermittence spatio-temporelle du taux de dissipation d'énergie joue un rôle crucial car elle conduit à une injection d'énergie supra-thermique qui peut localement être très intense par rapport au taux moyen. Les caractéristiques détaillées de la distribution spatiale et les propriétés géométriques des lieux de dissipation intense peut fournir des indications précieuses pour les modèles chimiques.Nous étudions ici ces structures à l'aide de simulations numériques directes, avec un soin sans précédent pour résoudre les processus dissipatifs numériquement. Le nombre de Mach dans le MIS diffus peut prendre des valeurs aussi bien grandes que petites et nous encadrons les effets de la compression entre deux catégories de turbulence en déclin. Dans le cas extrême incompressible, nous réalisons des simulations pseudo-spectrales de magnétohydrodynamique visqueuse et résistive, avec un éclairage particulier sur la diffusion ambipôlaire due à la vitesse relative qui existe entre les ions et les neutres. Du côté de la compressibilité extrême, nous considérons des simulations isothermes basées sur des schémas sur grille (type Godunov) qui incluent dissipation visqueuse et résistive: nous nous intéressons ici particulièrement à la dissipation numérique.Nos simulations incompressibles montrent que la diffusion ambipôlaire conduit le champ magnétique à petite échelle dans une configuration libre de force de Lorentz. En conséquence, l'échelle caractéristique du chauffage par friction ion-neutre se déplace à plus grande échelle, aux échelles inertielles de la turbulence, bien plus grandes que la taille estimée par le raisonnement dimensionnel classique. Les structures dissipatives dans nos simulations sont des feuilles cohérentes spatiallement, chacune portant une nature dissipative bien distincte (visqueuse, ohmique ou bien ambipôlaire). Nous révélons les lois statistiques qui gouvernent leurs caractéristiques et nous calculons les exposants des fonctions de structure qui quantifient l'intermittence.Nous montrons que les simulations compressibles sont sujettes à une forte dissipation numérique: dans nos expériences, à peu près la moitié de la dissipation totale est attribuée aux termes de dissipation physique, le reste est produit par le schéma numérique. Nous avons mis au point une méthode pour estimer localement l'énergie perdue dans le schéma et nous l'utilisons pour examiner la structure en feuilles du champ de dissipation comme dans les simulations incompressibles. Par exemple, bien que nous confirmons que la dissipation physique visqueuse est dominée par les feuilles de cisaillement plutôt que par les chocs, nous ne pouvons exclure que la dissipation numérique ne renverse cet équilibre si celle-ci était dominée par les chocs.Pour finir, nous examinons l'efficacité de diagnostiques observationnels variés pour tracer les structures de forte dissipation. En particulier, nous trouvons que les incréments de centroïdes de vitesse ou des paramètres de Stokes corrèle très bien sur le plan du ciel avec certaines structures de forte dissipation. Nous calculons aussi les exposants de l'intermittence mesurés pour ces mêmes traceurs et nous trouvons qu'ils s'étendent sur une large plage de valeurs. Enfin, nous mélangeons les phases dans l'espace de Fourier associé à la boîte de simulation périodique, et nous démontrons le rôle crucial de la cohérence de phase pour produire la structure filamentaire observée dans les cartes d'incréments commecelles obtenues récemment par la collaboration Planck / Turbulent energy dissipation is a key process in the cold interstellar medium (ISM), not only on the road to star formation but also as a source of suprathermal energy able to open new chemical routes, otherwise inactive at the low gas temperature. Such routes are required, though, to explain the high abundance of species such as $\mathrm{CH}^+$ and $\mathrm{SH}^+$ observed in the ISM. In this context, the space-time intermittency of energy dissipation is particularly relevant because it drives injection of suprathermal energy in the ISM locally far above the average level. The detailed characteristics of the spatial distribution and the geometrical properties of the energy dissipation rate can provide valuable inputs to chemical models. We study them here with the aid of direct numerical simulations with unprecedented dedication to resolve the dissipation processes numerically. As the sonic Mach number in the diffuse interstellar medium can take values in a wide range, we bracket the possible physics by considering two categories of decaying turbulence models. On the incompressible extreme, we perform pseudo-spectral simulations of viscous and resistive magnetohydrodynamics, with a particular emphasis on ambipolar diffusion due the ion-neutral drift. On the compressible extreme we consider grid-based (Godunov) simulations of isothermal resisitive and viscous magnetohydrodynamics where our focus is on numerical dissipation. Our incompressible simulations show that ambipolar diffusion leads to force-free magnetic fields at small scales. As a result, the typical scale of ion-neutral friction heating is displaced to large scales in the inertial range, much greater than dimensional analysis would predict. The structures of high dissipation are spatially coherent sheets, each with a single nature of dissipation (viscous, ohmic or ambipolar). We reveal their statistical scaling laws and compute their intermittency exponents. We show that compressible simulations are subject to a lot of numerical dissipation: in our set up, less than half of the total dissipation is accounted for by the physical terms, the rest is produced by the numerical scheme. We design a method to recover locally the energy lost in the scheme and we use it to examine the sheet-like structure of the dissipation field as in our incompressible simulations. We show that numerical dissipation prevents us to assess the nature of dissipative structures. For instance, although we confirm previous results that physical dissipation in shearing sheets rapidly dominates over shocks, the balance could be reversed if numerical dissipation were shock dominated. Finally, we examine the efficiency of various observational tracers to characterize the structures of high dissipation. In particular, we find that increments of molecular line centroid velocity or of polarization Stokes parameters correlate very well on the plane of the sky with specific structures of high dissipation. We also compute the intermittency exponents measured for these tracers and find they span a broad range of possible values. At last, we mix the Fourier phases to demonstrate the crucial role of coherence in producing the filamentary structure of observable maps of increments such as recently produced by the Planck collaboration.