We extend the coscaling formalism of Habegger & Heitsch implemented in Athena++ to magnetohydrodynamics. The formalism relies on flow symmetries in astrophysical problems involving expansion, contraction, and center-of-mass motion. The formalism is fully consistent with the upwind constrained transport method implemented in Athena++ and is accurate to second order in space. Applying our implementation to standard magnetohydrodynamic test cases leads to improved results and higher efficiency, compared to the fixed-grid solutions.

The interstellar medium contains filamentary structure over a wide range of scales. Understanding the role of this structure, both as a conduit of gas across the scales and a diagnostic tool of local physics, is a major focus of star formation studies. We review recent progress in studying filamentary structure in the ISM, interpreting its properties in terms of physical processes, and exploring formation and evolution scenarios. We include structures from galactic-scale filaments to tenth-of-a-parsec scale filaments, comprising both molecular and atomic structures, from both observational and theoretical perspectives. In addition to the literature overview, we assemble a large amount of catalogue data from different surveys and provide the most comprehensive census of filamentary structures to date. Our census consists of 22 803 filamentary structures, facilitating a holistic perspective and new insights. We use our census to conduct a meta-analysis, leading to a description of filament properties over four orders of magnitudes in length and eight in mass. Our analysis emphasises the hierarchical and dynamical nature of filamentary structures. Filaments do not live in isolation, nor they generally resemble static structures close to equilibrium. We propose that accretion during filament formation and evolution sets some of the key scaling properties of filaments. This highlights the role of accretion during filament formation and evolution and also in setting the initial conditions for star formation. Overall, the study of filamentary structures during the past decade has been observationally driven. While great progress has been made on measuring the basic properties of filaments, our understanding of their formation and evolution is clearly lacking. In this context, we identify a number of directions and questions we consider most pressing for the field.

ABSTRACT We revisit the reliability of metallicity estimates of high velocity clouds with the help of hydrodynamical simulations. We quantify the effect of accretion and viewing angle on metallicity estimates derived from absorption lines. Model parameters are chosen to provide strong lower limits on cloud contamination by ambient gas. Consistent with previous results, a cloud traveling through a stratified halo is contaminated by ambient material to the point that <10 per cent of its mass in neutral hydrogen consists of original cloud material. Contamination progresses nearly linearly with time, and it increases from head to tail. Therefore, metallicity estimates will depend on the evolutionary state of the cloud, and on position. While metallicities change with time by more than a factor of 10, well beyond observational uncertainties, most lines-of-sight range only within those uncertainties at any given time over all positions. Metallicity estimates vary with the cloud’s inclination angle within observational uncertainties. The cloud survives the infall through the halo because ambient gas continuously condenses and cools in the cloud’s wake and thus appears in the neutral phase. Therefore, the cloud observed at any fixed time is not a well-defined structure across time, since material gets constantly replaced. The thermal phases of the cloud are largely determined by the ambient pressure. Internal cloud dynamics evolve from drag gradients caused by shear instabilities, to complex patterns due to ram-pressure shielding, leading to a peloton effect, in which initially lagging gas can catch up to and even overtake the head of the cloud.

Context: Filamentary structures in nearby molecular clouds have been found to exhibit a characteristic width of 0.1 pc, as observed in dust emission. Understanding the origin of this universal width has become a topic of central importance in the study of molecular cloud structure and the early stages of star formation. Aims: We investigate how the recovered widths of filaments depend on the distance from the observer, by using previously published results from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey. Methods: We obtained updated estimates on the distances to nearby molecular clouds observed with Herschel by using recent results based on 3D dust extinction mapping and Gaia. We examined the widths of filaments from individual clouds separately, as opposed to treating them as a single population. We used these per-cloud filament widths to search for signs of variation amongst the clouds of the previously published study. Results: We find a significant dependence of the mean per-cloud filament width with distance. The distribution of mean filament widths for nearby clouds is incompatible with that of farther away clouds. The mean per-cloud widths scale with distance approximately as 4--5 times the beam size. We examine the effects of resolution by performing a convergence study of a filament profile in the Herschel image of the Taurus Molecular Cloud. We find that resolution can severely affect the shapes of radial profiles over the observed range of distances. Conclusions: We conclude that the data are inconsistent with 0.1 pc being the universal characteristic width of filaments.

ABSTRACT We present the results from an analysis of deep Herschel far-infrared (far-IR) observations of the edge-on disc galaxy NGC 3079. The point spread function-cleaned Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) images at 100 and 160 µm display a 25 × 25 kpc2 X-shape structure centred on the nucleus that is similar in extent and orientation to that seen in H α, X-rays, and the far-ultraviolet. One of the dusty filaments making up this structure is detected in the Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver 250 µm map out to ∼25 kpc from the nucleus. The match between the far-IR filaments and those detected at other wavelengths suggests that the dusty material has been lifted out of the disc by the same large-scale galactic wind that has produced the other structures in this object. A closer look at the central 10 × 10 kpc2 region provides additional support for this scenario. The dust temperatures traced by the 100–160 µm flux ratios in this region are enhanced within a biconical region centred on the active galactic nucleus, aligned along the minor axis of the galaxy, and coincident with the well-known double-lobed cm-wave radio structure and H α–X-ray nuclear superbubbles. PACS imaging spectroscopy of the inner 6 kpc region reveals broad [C ii] 158 µm emission line profiles and OH 79 µm absorption features along the minor axis of the galaxy with widths well in excess of those expected from beam smearing of the disc rotational motion. This provides compelling evidence that the cool material traced by the [C ii] and OH features directly interacts with the nuclear ionized and relativistic outflows traced by the H α, X-ray, and radio emission.

We present a coscaling-grid formalism and its implementation in the magnetohydrodynamics code Athena++. The formalism relies on flow symmetries in astrophysical problems involving expansion, contraction, and center-of-mass motion. The grid is evolved at the same time order as the fluid variables. The user specifies grid evolution laws, which can be independent of the fluid motion. Applying our implementation to standard hydrodynamic test cases leads to improved results and higher efficiency, compared to the fixed-grid solutions.

Building on our previous hydrodynamic study of the angular momenta of cloud cores formed during gravitational collapse of star-forming molecular gas in Kuznetsova et al., we now examine core properties assuming ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Using the same sink-patch implementation for the Athena MHD code, we characterize the statistical properties of cores, including the mass accretion rates, specific angular momenta, and alignments between the magnetic field and the spin axis of the core on the 0.1 pc scale. Our simulations, which reproduce the observed relation between magnetic field strength and gas density, show that magnetic fields can help collimate low-density flows and help seed the locations of filamentary structures. Consistent with our previous purely hydrodynamic simulations, stars (sinks) form within the heterogeneous environments of filaments, such that accretion onto cores is highly episodic leading to short-term variability but no long-term monotonic growth of the specific angular momenta. With statistical characterization of protostellar cores properties and behaviors, we aim to provide a starting point for building more realistic and self-consistent disk formation models, helping to address whether magnetic fields can prevent the development of (large) circumstellar disks in the ideal MHD limit.

We present the results of a suite of numerical simulations designed to explore the origin of the angular momenta of protostellar cores. Using the hydrodynamic grid code Athena with a sink implementation, we follow the formation of protostellar cores and protostars (sinks) from the subvirial collapse of molecular clouds on larger scales to investigate the range and relative distribution of core properties. We find that the core angular momenta are relatively unaffected by large-scale rotation of the parent cloud; instead, we infer that angular momenta are mainly imparted by torques between neighboring mass concentrations and exhibit a log-normal distribution. Our current simulation results are limited to size scales ∼0.05 pc (∼10 4 au), but serve as first steps toward the ultimate goal of providing initial conditions for higher-resolution studies of core collapse to form protoplanetary disks.

We explore numerically the effects of mass inflow on barred spiral galaxies in the context of high-velocity clouds accreting on to galactic discs. To assess whether such events are detectable, we quantify their effect on the disc's gas distribution by calculating the lopsidedness parameter A(1), and by deriving position-velocity plots of HI emission. The impact of an accretion event strongly depends on the parameters of the high-velocity cloud. For cloud mass >= 10(7) M-circle dot, infall can have a lasting impact on the gaseous disc, with A(1) greater than or similar to 0.05 for similar to 1.5 Gyr. We discuss the time-variability of the lopsidedness parameter and consequences for detecting gas infall. Accretion events will be marginally noticeable in position-velocity diagrams, again depending on cloud parameters. Our models provide a possible explanation for low-amplitude lopsidedness observed in galaxies without nearby companions.

Numerical models of gas inflow towards a supermassive black hole (SMBH) show that star formation may occur in such an environment through the growth of a gravitationally unstable gas disc. We consider the effect of nuclear activity on such a scenario. We present the first three-dimensional grid-based radiative hydrodynamic simulations of direct collisions between infalling gas streams and a 4 x 10(6) M-circle dot SMBH, using ray-tracing to incorporate radiation consistent with an active galactic nucleus (AGN). We assume inflow masses of approximate to 10(5) M-circle dot and explore radiation fields of 10 per cent and 100 per cent of the Eddington luminosity (L-edd). We follow our models to the point of central gas disc formation preceding star formation and use the Toomre Q parameter (Q(T)) to test for gravitational instability. We find that radiation pressure from UV photons inhibits inflow. Yet, for weak radiation fields, a central disc forms on time-scales similar to that of models without feedback. Average densities of >10(8) cm(-3) limit photoheating to the disc surface allowing for Q(T) approximate to 1. For strong radiation fields, the disc forms more gradually resulting in lower surface densities and larger Q(T) values. Mass accretion rates in our models are consistent with 1-60 per cent of the Eddington limit, thus we conclude that it is unlikely that radiative feedback from AGN activity would inhibit circumnuclear star formation arising from a massive inflow event.

We present the results from an analysis of deep Herschel Space Observatory observations of six nearby dwarf galaxies known to host galactic-scale winds. The superior far-infrared sensitivity and angular resolution of Herschel have allowed detection of cold circumgalactic dust features beyond the stellar components of the host galaxies traced by Spitzer 4.5 $\mu$m images. Comparisons of these cold dust features with ancillary data reveal an imperfect spatial correlation with the ionized gas and warm dust wind components. We find that typically $\sim$10-20\% of the total dust mass in these galaxies resides outside of their stellar disks, but this fraction reaches $\sim$60\% in the case of NGC 1569. This galaxy also has the largest metallicity (O/H) deficit in our sample for its stellar mass. Overall, the small number of objects in our sample precludes drawing strong conclusions on the origin of the circumgalactic dust. We detect no statistically significant trends with star formation properties of the host galaxies, as might be expected if the dust were lifted above the disk by energy inputs from on-going star formation activity. Although a case for dust entrained in a galactic wind is seen in NGC 1569, in all cases, we cannot rule out the possibility that some of the circumgalactic dust might be associated instead with gas accreted or removed from the disk by recent galaxy interaction events, or that it is part of the outer gas-rich portion of the disk that lies below the sensitivity limit of the Spitzer 4.5 $\mu$m data.

Numerical simulations of star formation have found that a power-law mass function can develop at high masses. In a previous paper, we employed isothermal simulations that created large numbers of sinks over a large range in masses to show that the power-law exponent of the mass function, dN/d log M proportional to M-Gamma, asymptotically and accurately approaches Gamma = -1. Simple analytic models show that such a power law can develop if the mass accretion rate <(M) over dot> proportional to M-2, as in Bondi-Hoyle accretion; however, the sink mass accretion rates in the simulations show significant departures from this relation. In this paper, we show that the expected accretion rate dependence is more closely realized provided the gravitating mass is taken to be the sum of the sink mass and the mass in the near environment. This reconciles the observed mass functions with the accretion rate dependencies, and demonstrates that power-law upper mass functions are essentially the result of gravitational focusing, a mechanism present in, for example, the competitive accretion model.

Using synthetic absorption lines generated from 3D hydrodynamical simulations, we explore how the velocity of a starburst-driven galactic wind correlates with the star formation rate (SFR) and SFR density. We find strong correlations for neutral and low ionized gas, but no correlation for highly ionized gas. The correlations for neutral and low ionized gas only hold for SFRs below a critical limit set by the mass loading of the starburst, above which point the scaling relations flatten abruptly. Below this point the scaling relations depend on the temperature regime being probed by the absorption line, not on the mass loading. The exact scaling relation depends on whether the maximum or mean velocity of the absorption line is used. We find that the outflow velocity of neutral gas can be up to five times lower than the average velocity of ionized gas, with the velocity difference increasing for higher ionization states. Furthermore, the velocity difference depends on both the SFR and mass loading of the starburst. Thus, absorption lines of neutral or low ionized gas cannot easily be used as a proxy for the outflow velocity of the hot gas.

We present three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of the self-gravitating interstellarmedium (ISM) in a periodic (256 pc)(3) box with a mean number density of 0.5 cm(-3). At a fixed supernova rate we investigate the multi-phase ISM structure, H2 molecule formation and density-magnetic field scaling for varying initial magnetic field strengths (0, 6 x 10(-3), 0.3, 3 mu G). All magnetic runs saturate at mass-weighted field strengths of similar to 1-3 mu G but the ISM structure is notably different. With increasing initial field strengths (from 6 x 10(-3) to 3 mu G) the simulations develop an ISM with a more homogeneous density and temperature structure, with increasing mass (from 5 to 85 per cent) and volume filling fractions (VFFs; from 4 to 85 per cent) of warm (300 < T < 8000 K) gas, with decreasing VFFs from similar to 35 to similar to 12 per cent of hot gas (T > 10(5) K) and with a decreasing H2 mass fraction (from 70 to < 1 per cent). Meanwhile, the mass fraction of gas in which the magnetic pressure dominates over the thermal pressure increases by a factor of 10, from 0.07 for an initial field of 6 x 10(-3) mu G to 0.7 for a 3 mu G initial field. In all but the simulations with the highest initial field strength self-gravity promotes the formation of dense gas and H2, but does not change any other trends. We conclude that magnetic fields have a significant impact on the multi-phase, chemical and thermal structure of the ISM and discuss potential implications and limitations of the model.

We present numerical simulations of reorienting oblique shocks that form in the collision layer between magnetized colliding flows. Reorientation aligns post-shock filaments normal to the background magnetic field. We find that reorientation begins with pressure gradients between the collision region and the ambient medium. This drives a lateral expansion of post-shock gas, which reorients the growing filament from the outside-in (i.e. from the flow/ambient boundary, towards the colliding flows axis). The final structures of our simulations resemble polarization observations of filaments in Taurus and Serpens South, as well as the integral-shaped filament in Orion A. Given the ubiquity of colliding flows in the interstellar medium, shock reorientation may be relevant to the formation of filaments normal to magnetic fields.