How External Medium outside Prestellar Cores Affects Protostellar Growth: Variations in Accretion Rate and Evolution of Disks and Outflows

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Main Authors: Nozaki, Shingo, Machida, Masahiro N.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Nozaki, Shingo
Machida, Masahiro N.
author_facet Nozaki, Shingo
Machida, Masahiro N.
contents We investigate how the external medium surrounding prestellar cores affects the star formation process by conducting three-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations. The initial cores follow critical Bonnor-Ebert profiles and are embedded in environments with different ambient densities. The simulations follow the evolution at least until the envelope mass within a radius equal to twice the critical Bonnor-Ebert radius drops to 35% of the initial cloud mass. We reveal that in environments with higher external density, enhanced mass inflow from the envelope leads to Bondi-like accretion as the protostellar mass increases. The continued inflow substantially increases the final stellar mass, resulting in star formation efficiencies that appear to exceed unity in dense environments. The external medium also influences the evolution of circumstellar disks and protostellar outflows: with the high-density external medium, disks grow rapidly but their mass becomes smaller relative to the protostellar mass, and the outflow is sustained over a long duration. However, the ratio of angular momentum removed by outflows and magnetic braking to that introduced by inflowing gas decreases with increasing external density. These results suggest that the density of the external medium regulates not only protostellar mass growth but also the inflow-outflow balance and angular momentum transport in magnetized, rotating star-forming cores.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_24065
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle How External Medium outside Prestellar Cores Affects Protostellar Growth: Variations in Accretion Rate and Evolution of Disks and Outflows
Nozaki, Shingo
Machida, Masahiro N.
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
We investigate how the external medium surrounding prestellar cores affects the star formation process by conducting three-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations. The initial cores follow critical Bonnor-Ebert profiles and are embedded in environments with different ambient densities. The simulations follow the evolution at least until the envelope mass within a radius equal to twice the critical Bonnor-Ebert radius drops to 35% of the initial cloud mass. We reveal that in environments with higher external density, enhanced mass inflow from the envelope leads to Bondi-like accretion as the protostellar mass increases. The continued inflow substantially increases the final stellar mass, resulting in star formation efficiencies that appear to exceed unity in dense environments. The external medium also influences the evolution of circumstellar disks and protostellar outflows: with the high-density external medium, disks grow rapidly but their mass becomes smaller relative to the protostellar mass, and the outflow is sustained over a long duration. However, the ratio of angular momentum removed by outflows and magnetic braking to that introduced by inflowing gas decreases with increasing external density. These results suggest that the density of the external medium regulates not only protostellar mass growth but also the inflow-outflow balance and angular momentum transport in magnetized, rotating star-forming cores.
title How External Medium outside Prestellar Cores Affects Protostellar Growth: Variations in Accretion Rate and Evolution of Disks and Outflows
topic Astrophysics of Galaxies
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.24065