University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Department of Astronomy

Telemachos Ch. Mouschovias


Professor
Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley, 1975

tchm@astro.uiuc.edu

Our group is working on the formulation of a theory of star formation specifically accounting for the role of cosmic magnetic fields. On the one hand, magnetic fields allow gravitational contraction of clouds and star formation to take place by redistributing angular momentum (magnetic braking). On the other hand, they transform the would-be violent gravitational collapse of interstellar clouds to an almost quasistatic, but still rapid, contraction of their cores, via a well controlled redistribution of mass in the central flux tubes of clouds (ambipolar diffusion). Magnetic fields unavoidably introduce a natural length scale in cloud interiors and, typically, the mass inside this length scale is ~ 1 solar mass. Hence, magnetic fields may be crucial to the determination of the initial (stellar) mass function. We continuously develop new analytical and numerical techniques as needed in our studies. 

Selected Publications:
1.  "Hydromagnetic Waves and the Linewidth-Size Relation in Interstellar Molecular    
    Clouds" by T. Ch. Mouschovias and D. Psaltis  1995, ApJ Letters, 444, 105-108.

2.  "Role of Magnetic Fields in the Early Stages of Star Formation"  1995, in The
    Physics of the Interstellar Medium and Intergalactic Medium, eds. A. Ferrara,
    C. F. McKee, C. Heiles, and P. R. Shapiro (San Francisco: ASP), vol. 80, 184-217.
    
3.  "Magnetic Braking, Ambipolar Diffusion, and the Formation of Cloud Cores and
    Protostars: II. A Parameter Study" by S. Basu and T. Ch. Mouschovias  1995,
    ApJ, 452, 386-400.

4.  "Magnetic Braking, Ambipolar Diffusion, and the Formation of Cloud Cores
    and Protostars: III. Effect of the Initial Mass-to-Flux Ratio" by S. Basu
    and T. Ch. Mouschovias  1995, ApJ, 453, 271-283.
    
5.  "Ambipolar Diffusion, Interstellar Dust, and the Formation of Cloud Cores
    and Protostars: IV. Effect of Ultraviolet Ionization, and Magnetically
    Controlled Infall Rate" by G. E. Ciolek and T. Ch. Mouschovias  1995,
    ApJ, 454, 194-216.

6.  "The Parker Instability in the Interstellar Medium"  1996, in Solar and
    Astrophysical Magnetohydrodynamic Flows", ed. K. Tsinganos (Dordrecht:
    Kluwer), 447-478.

7.  "Multifluid Magnetohydrodynamics and Star Formation"  1996, in Solar and
    Astrophysical Magnetohydrodynamic Flows", ed. K. Tsinganos (Dordrecht:
    Kluwer), 479-512.

8.  "Role of Dust in Protostar Formation"  1996, in The Role of Dust in the
    Formation of Stars, ed. H. U. Kaufl (Berlin: Springer), 379-388.

9. "Evolution of the Parker Instability: MHD Flows, Shock Waves, and Other
    Consequences" by S. Basu, T. Ch. Mouschovias, and E. V. Paleologou  1996,
    Astrophys. Lett. Commun., 34, 333-338.

10. "Effect of Ambipolar Diffusion on Dust-to-Gas Ratio in Protostellar Cores"
    by G. E. Ciolek and T. Ch. Mouschovias  1996, ApJ, 468, 749-754.

11. "Dynamical Effects of the Parker Instability in the Interstellar Medium"
    by S. Basu, T. Ch. Mouschovias, and E. V. Paleologou  1997, ApJ Lett.,
    480, 55-58.

12. "Effects of Ambipolar Diffusion on Ion Abundances in Contracting Protostellar 
    Cores" by G. E. Ciolek and T. Ch. Mouschovias  1998, ApJ, 504, 280-289.

13. "Magnetic Fields and Star Formation: A Theory Reaching Adulthood" by T. Ch. 
    Mouschovias and G. E. Ciolek  1999, in The Origin of Stars and Planetary 
    Systems, eds. C. J. Lada and N. D. Kylafis (Dordrecht: Kluwer), pp.ø305-339.

14. "The Magnetic Decoupling Stage of Star Formation" by S. J. Desch and T. Ch. 
    Mouschovias  2001, ApJ, 550, 413-432.

15. "Star Formation Models with Magnetic Fields"  2001, in Magnetic Fields Across 
    the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, eds. G. Mathys, S. Solanki, and D. 
    Wickramasinghe (San Francisco: ASP), 248, 515-525.

16. "Multifluid Magnetohydrodynamic Shock Waves with Grain Dynamics II: Dust and 
    the Critical Speed of C Shocks" by G. E. Ciolek, W. G. Roberge, and T. Ch. 
    Mouschovias  2004, ApJ, 610, 781-800

17. "Ambipolar Diffusion Timescale, Star Formation Timescale, and the Ages of 
    Molecular Clouds: Is There a Discrepancy?" by K. Tassis and T. Ch. Mouschovias  
    2004, ApJ, 616, 283-287.

18. "Magnetically Controlled Spasmodic Accretion during Star Formation I: 
    Formulation of the Problem and Method of Solution" by K. Tassis and T. Ch. 
    Mouschovias  2005, ApJ, 618, 767-782.

19. "Magnetically-Controlled Spasmodic Accretion during Star Formation II: 
    Results" by K. Tassis and T. Ch. Mouschovias  2005, ApJ, 618, 783-794.

20. "Observational Constraints on the Ages of Molecular Clouds and the Star-
    Formation Timescale: Ambipolar-Diffusion-Controlled or Turbulence-Induced 
    Star Formation?" by T. Ch. Mouschovias, K. Tassis, and M. W. Kunz  2006, ApJ, 646,
    1043-1049.

21. "Protostar Formation in Magnetic Molecular Clouds Beyond Ion Detachment: 
    I. Formulation of the Problem and Method of Solution" by K. Tassis and T. Ch. 
    Mouschovias  2007, ApJ, 660, 370-387.

22. "Protostar Formation in Magnetic Molecular Clouds Beyond Ion Detachment: 
    II. Typical Axisymmetric Solution" by K. Tassis and T. Ch. Mouschovias  2007, 
    ApJ, 660, 388-401.

23. "Protostar Formation in Magnetic Molecular Clouds Beyond Ion Detachment: 
    III. A Parameter Study" by K. Tassis and T. Ch. Mouschovias  2007, ApJ, 660, 
    402-417.