New theory points to ‘zombie vortices’ as key step in star formation

Artist concept of a brown dwarf, spotted by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, surrounded by a spinning protoplanetary disk. UC Berkeley researchers have developed a model that shows how vortices help destabilize the disk so that gas can spiral inward toward a forming star. (Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech)

A new theory by fluid dynamics experts at the University of California, Berkeley, shows how “zombie vortices” help lead to the birth of a new star. 

Reporting today (Tuesday, Aug. 20) in the journal Physical Review Letters, a team led by computational physicist Philip Marcus shows how variations in gas density lead to instability, which then generates the whirlpool-like vortices needed for stars to form.

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