A Search for Kinematic Inflow Signatures in Simulated Molecular Clouds

Abstract

The relatively poor understanding of the very beginnings of star formation is extremely detrimental to our understanding of the Universe we inhabit. In this study, we present preliminary results from a kinematical analysis of simulated molecular gas clouds as a method of unraveling the secrets behind the birth of stars. Using TIGRESS 3-dimensional simulations of solar neighborhood-type regions of the interstellar medium, we focus on a close investigation of the kinematic structure and evolution of molecular clouds and their surrounding neutral halos. We will expand upon our established methodology of 3-dimensional molecular cloud isolation and kinematic analysis via moment one calculation and subsequent statistical methods to a larger sample of gas clouds. Through tracking these clouds across millions of years of evolution we will identify important kinematic signatures that can be searched for in observational data. We will also apply our analysis to understand molecular clouds in as many different interstellar environments, from areas with extensive high-density interacting structures to isolated molecular clouds that may only interact with their neutral hydrogen halos.We find that the velocity offset between the cold neutral medium and the molecular gas is centered very closely to zero across the entire process of star formation. These had a much smaller range than the observational data but confirm that the CNM follows the molecular gas very closely and are kinematically associated with each other.