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On the virial theorem for turbulent molecular clouds
Abstract
An Eulerian, rather than Lagrangian, form of the virial theorem is derived for a turbulent, magnetized cloud embedded in a steady, turbulent, low-density intercloud medium. The role of turbulent pressure in cloud confinement is clarified, and it is shown that, in the absence of a magnetic field, a cloud can be at a somewhat lower pressure than the intercloud medium. Simple forms for the magnetic term in the virial equation are obtained. Radiation pressure is considered; its effects are relatively small under average conditions in the interstellar medium. Under typical conditions, external pressure and magnetic fields are shown to have a relatively small effect on virial estimates of the mass of self-gravitating clouds.
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Cited by
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Mac Low, M.-M., & Klessen, R. S. (2004) · Reviews of Modern Physics · doi:10.1103/revmodphys.76.125 · Cited by 1,761
Bias‐free Measurement of Giant Molecular Cloud Properties
Rosolowsky, E., & Leroy, A. (2006) · Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific · doi:10.1086/502982 · Cited by 334
Krumholz, M. R. (2014) · Physics Reports · doi:10.1016/j.physrep.2014.02.001 · Cited by 321
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Ryutov, D. D. (2007) · Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion · doi:10.1088/0741-3335/49/12b/s40 · Cited by 102
Metadata
- Authors
- McKee, C. F., & Zweibel, E. G.
- Venue
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Publisher
- American Astronomical Society
- Published
- 1992-11
- Volume
- 399
- Pages
- 551
- ISSN
- 0004-637X (ISSN-L)
- 1538-4357
- OpenAlex
- W1991741105
- Cited by
- 158
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 0.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: On the virial theorem for turbulent molecular clouds. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1086/171946
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- McKee, C. F., & Zweibel, E. G. (1992). On the virial theorem for turbulent molecular clouds. The Astrophysical Journal. https://doi.org/10.1086/171946
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