Angular Momentum Transfer and Lack of Fragmentation in Self-Gravitating Accretion Flows

Understand

Rapid inflows associated with early galaxy formation lead to the accumulation of self-gravitating gas in the centers of proto-galaxies.

• Such gas accumulations are prone to non-axisymmetric instabilities, as in the well-known Maclaurin sequence of rotating ellipsoids, which are accompanied by a catastrophic loss of angular momentum (J).
• Self-gravitating gas is also intuitively associated with star formation.
• However, recent simulations of the infall process display highly turbulent continuous flows.