New Insights into Gravitational Collapse of Gas Clouds

Recent research has introduced an analytic model that describes the gravitational collapse of gas clouds influenced by radiative cooling. The paper, titled "An Analytic Model of Gravitational Collapse Induced by Radiative Cooling: Instability Scale, Infall Velocity, and Accretion Rate," presents a comprehensive framework for understanding how cooling gas can lead to gravitational instability.

The authors, James Gurian and colleagues, developed a model that builds on the existing "one-zone" density-temperature relationship of gas. This model transforms that relationship into a barotropic equation of state, which is then utilized to derive the density and velocity profiles of the gas. A significant outcome of this work is the calculation of the time-dependent mass accretion rate onto the center of the gas cloud.

One of the key findings is the distinction between the rapid contraction of a cooling gas core and the resulting instability that this contraction creates in the surrounding envelope. The research refines the criteria for the mass scale of this instability, focusing on the chemical-thermal evolution within the core of the gas cloud.

The model is particularly relevant in the context of primordial mini-halos cooled by molecular hydrogen, as well as other scenarios involving delayed collapse with hydrogen deuteride cooling and atomic cooling halos. The results from this analytic model align closely with full hydrodynamical treatments, enhancing our understanding of the processes involved in gravitational collapse.

This research could have implications for astrophysics, particularly in the study of galaxy formation and the behavior of gas clouds in various cosmic environments. The findings may help refine existing models of star formation and the dynamics of early universe structures.

For further details, the paper can be accessed at arXiv:2408.12940.