Axisymmetric gravitational collapse of an isothermal rotating interstellar gas cloud

Abstract

The gravitational collapse mechanism of a non-magnetized isothermal rotating interstellar gas cloud is discussed analytically. The study predicts the formation of final flattened disk-like configurations in the central region of the infalling uniform gas cloud. The existence of critical times indicates the possibility that, beyond these times, discrepancies can arise in the numerical calculations. It seems therefore very likely that the ring-like structures, as suggested by earlier numerical calculations of hydrodynamic models, would be caused by pressure effects which arise through the introduction of higher order terms in the linearized theory.