Impact of Tangled Magnetic Fields on Star Formation

We investigate the impact of tangled magnetic fields on the collapse of dense molecular cloud cores, the resulting morphology of the cloud, and the formation of protostars using three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. The initial density profile as well as the structure and strength of the magnetic field are varied, and supersonic turbulent motions are applied. The simulations show that the structure of the magnetic field leads to significantly larger differences in the cloud morphology and the number of stars than the magnetic field strength. Clouds with an initially tangled magnetic field form of the order of twice as many protostars as clouds with a homogeneous magnetic field of the same strength. Variations in the strength of the magnetic field only show a relatively weak impact on the overall evolution of the cloud.