Law, CY, Tan, JC, Skalidis, R, Morgan, L, Xu, D, de Oliveira Alves, F, Barnes, AT, Butterfield, N, Caselli, P, Cosentino, G, Fontani, F, Henshaw, JD, Jimenez-Serra, I and Lim, W (2024) Polarized Light from Massive Protoclusters (POLIMAP). I. Dissecting the Role of Magnetic Fields in the Massive Infrared Dark Cloud G28.37+0.07. Astrophysical Journal, 967 (2). ISSN 0004-637X

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Abstract

Magnetic fields may play a crucial role in setting the initial conditions of massive star and star cluster formation. To investigate this, we report SOFIA-HAWC+ 214 μm observations of polarized thermal dust emission and high-resolution GBT-Argus C18O(1-0) observations toward the massive Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G28.37+0.07. Considering the local dispersion of B-field orientations, we produce a map of the B-field strength of the IRDC, which exhibits values between ∼0.03 and 1 mG based on a refined Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method proposed by Skalidis & Tassis. Comparing to a map of inferred density, the IRDC exhibits a B-n relation with a power-law index of 0.51 ± 0.02, which is consistent with a scenario of magnetically regulated anisotropic collapse. Consideration of the mass-to-flux ratio map indicates that magnetic fields are dynamically important in most regions of the IRDC. A virial analysis of a sample of massive, dense cores in the IRDC, including evaluation of magnetic and kinetic internal and surface terms, indicates consistency with virial equilibrium, sub-Alfvénic conditions, and a dominant role for B-fields in regulating collapse. A clear alignment of magnetic field morphology with the direction of the steepest column density gradient is also detected. However, there is no preferred orientation of protostellar outflow directions with the B-field. Overall, these results indicate that magnetic fields play a crucial role in regulating massive star and star cluster formation, and therefore they need to be accounted for in theoretical models of these processes.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; 0202 Atomic, Molecular, Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics; 0306 Physical Chemistry (incl. Structural); Astronomy & Astrophysics
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions:	Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher:	American Astronomical Society
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2024 11:54
Last Modified:	03 Oct 2024 12:00
DOI or ID number:	10.3847/1538-4357/ad39e0
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/24390

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