I The Role of magnetic field during the formation of small to medium scale stars

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the role of magnetic fields in the formation of small to medium-scale stars from nebulae. Participants emphasize that while gravity is the dominant force in star formation, magnetic fields may influence processes such as the clearing of proto-stellar nebulae and the formation of jets. There is a debate about whether magnetic fields play a significant role during the collapse of gas clouds or primarily affect the subsequent stages of star formation. Some theories suggest that magnetic fields are crucial for understanding the dynamics of Herbig Ae/Be stars and their interaction with protoplanetary disks. Overall, the complexity of magnetic field interactions in star formation remains an area of active research.
Harsha Avinash Tanti
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Hi, I would like to raise a question about Role of magnetic field while formation of small to medium scale stars emerging from nebula ?
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Harsha Avinash Tanti said:
Hi, I would like to raise a question about Role of magnetic field while formation of small to medium scale stars emerging from nebula ?
Welcome to the PF.

Can you post links to the reading you have been doing so far? Also, you have used the "A" prefix for this thread, which means you want to discuss it at a PhD level. Would you prefer that we change the prefix to "I" for a more undergraduate-level discussion, or do you still prefer "A"?

Thanks! :smile:
 
  • Like
Likes Harsha Avinash Tanti and davenn
Harsha Avinash Tanti said:
Hi, I would like to raise a question about Role of magnetic field while formation of small to medium scale stars emerging from nebula ?

berkeman said:
Can you post links to the reading you have been doing so far?

indeed

But as a starting point, I would consider that gravity is the overwhelmingly predominant force
 
  • Like
Likes russ_watters
Please clarify: Are you asking if magnetic fields influence the formation of medium- & low-mass stars? Or if the fields influence their emergence from the proto-stellar nebula (Herbig-Haro stage, for instance)?
 
JMz said:
Please clarify: Are you asking if magnetic fields influence the formation of medium- & low-mass stars? Or if the fields influence their emergence from the proto-stellar nebula (Herbig-Haro stage, for instance)?

I am intrigued that you clearly understood what I was talking about.:smile:

I am Concerned about the magnetic fields influence on the formation of medium and low mass star. And also searching is there any relation between fields influence on the star and there emergence from the nebula.
 
In most situations, magnetic fields "come along for the ride", especially during the collapse of a gas cloud into a proto-star. In particular, if the molecular cloud collapses to form any stars at all, then my understanding is that gravity is typically a much bigger effect than magnetic fields, except perhaps very locally. (E.g., the immediate vicinity of a pulsar would not be a likely place for a proto-star to form. However, the magnetic field isn't the only reason for that.)

I have seen hypotheses that magnetic fields are important for clearing the proto-stellar nebula (and shutting down planet formation), though I don't know the current state of research on that. There are multiple mechanisms to form jets near the proto-star, not only magnetic fields. However, the fields do seem to be important for HH objects, which are themselves a normal part of low-mass star formation: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbig–Haro_object.
 
  • Like
Likes Harsha Avinash Tanti
JMz said:
In most situations, magnetic fields "come along for the ride", especially during the collapse of a gas cloud into a proto-star. In particular, if the molecular cloud collapses to form any stars at all, then my understanding is that gravity is typically a much bigger effect than magnetic fields, except perhaps very locally. (E.g., the immediate vicinity of a pulsar would not be a likely place for a proto-star to form. However, the magnetic field isn't the only reason for that.)

I have seen hypotheses that magnetic fields are important for clearing the proto-stellar nebula (and shutting down planet formation), though I don't know the current state of research on that. There are multiple mechanisms to form jets near the proto-star, not only magnetic fields. However, the fields do seem to be important for HH objects, which are themselves a normal part of low-mass star formation: see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbig–Haro_object.
I see your hypotheses seems fair enough but I have another one as we have known the existence of magnetic properties of elements from last few decades, I think that its the electromagnetic forces that brings together few of the particle together in a nebula after which the gravitational contraction begins as gravity plays its role due to which the cluster of particle gets a spin as other particle hits it and joins it due to this constant bombardment heat is produced which some how creates a magnetic field and according to me the magnetic helps the form of star as this " It stops the charged particles (possibly electron clouds), due to which stable atoms gets attracted and the heat due to bombardment and rotation kicks off fusion".

My thought seems childish but its got its own merit as by my hypotheses one can explain the accumulated electron clouds near medium and low mass star.
 
Harsha Avinash Tanti said:
I see your hypotheses seems fair enough but I have another one as we have known the existence of magnetic properties of elements from last few decades, I think that its the electromagnetic forces that brings together few of the particle together in a nebula after which the gravitational contraction begins as gravity plays its role due to which the cluster of particle gets a spin as other particle hits it and joins it due to this constant bombardment heat is produced which some how creates a magnetic field and according to me the magnetic helps the form of star as this " It stops the charged particles (possibly electron clouds), due to which stable atoms gets attracted and the heat due to bombardment and rotation kicks off fusion".
please provide links to reputable papers on this
personal theories are against PF rules
 
  • #10
  • #11
Harsha Avinash Tanti said:
I see your hypotheses seems fair enough but I have another one as we have known the existence of magnetic properties of elements from last few decades, I think that its the electromagnetic forces that brings together few of the particle together in a nebula after which the gravitational contraction begins as gravity plays its role due to which the cluster of particle gets a spin as other particle hits it and joins it due to this constant bombardment heat is produced which some how creates a magnetic field and according to me the magnetic helps the form of star as this " It stops the charged particles (possibly electron clouds), due to which stable atoms gets attracted and the heat due to bombardment and rotation kicks off fusion".

My thought seems childish but its got its own merit as by my hypotheses one can explain the accumulated electron clouds near medium and low mass star.
Two things to keep in mind: (1) For practical purposes, the nature of the atoms does not matter -- for instance, iron and hydrogen are about equally irrelevant: Both nuclei are much more massive than electrons (though iron may ionized more easily, producing free electrons). Magnetic fields in gases and plasmas are caused by macroscopic electrical currents, mostly free electrons.
(2) The collapse of a gas cloud is initially caused by (a) collision with another cloud or (b) cooling until its pressure is weaker than its gravity or (c) radiation pressure on one side, causing a build-up of density on the opposite side. Electromagnetic effects (except for the photons in (c)) have nothing to do with starting the collapse.
 
  • #12
Harsha Avinash Tanti said:
In terms of my last response, note that (a) this abstract deals with magnetic fields in proto-stars that have already formed, not fields in gas clouds, and (b) stars and proto-stars are plasmas.

It may help to realize that, if magnetic flux is conserved (i.e., the currents never meet and cancel with large release of heat), then a Sun-sized star's magnetic field will be >~ 10^15 times as large as in the cloud. (A molecular cloud may typically have ~ 1 solar mass per cubic light year, and 1 LY ~ 10^7 solar diameters.) Thus, the mere fact that the plasma collapsed from a light year to a solar diameter means than the field is compressed enormously. It does not necessarily mean that the field influenced the collapse significantly.

You may find the abstract here http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/318290 to be helpful.
 
  • #13
There's a problem in the theory of protostellar collapse, and that is that angular momentum precludes the collapse from proceeding. Efforts have been made to solve this problem by means of what's called "ambipolar diffusion" - the decoupling of molecular hydrogen from the plasma that it's collisionally coupled to - and a concept called "flux freezing" - where the magnetic field of the protostar is "frozen" in the surrounding disk. The orbital velocity of the disk being smaller than the rotational velocity of the protostar, the disk slows down the protostar by way of the frozen magnetic field, the disk gaining angular momentum as the star loses it.
 
  • Like
Likes JMz and Drakkith
  • #14
alantheastronomer said:
There's a problem in the theory of protostellar collapse, and that is that angular momentum precludes the collapse from proceeding. Efforts have been made to solve this problem by means of what's called "ambipolar diffusion" - the decoupling of molecular hydrogen from the plasma that it's collisionally coupled to - and a concept called "flux freezing" - where the magnetic field of the protostar is "frozen" in the surrounding disk. The orbital velocity of the disk being smaller than the rotational velocity of the protostar, the disk slows down the protostar by way of the frozen magnetic field, the disk gaining angular momentum as the star loses it.
Sir, Will you be able to refer me some articles regarding this.
 
  • #15
I don't have anything specific, but if you search "ambipolar diffusion" on "adsabs.harvard.edu" you may find what you're looking for - good luck!
 
  • #17
Also search "adsabs.harvard.edu" for "magnetic braking"!
 
  • #18
P.S. - Use the "beta" format
 

Similar threads

Replies
18
Views
2K
Replies
26
Views
5K
Replies
10
Views
2K
Replies
19
Views
4K
Replies
2
Views
2K
Replies
15
Views
2K
Back
Top