Stability of molecular clouds in partially ionized self-gravitating space plasmas

We investigate the gravitational stability of partially ionized astrophysical plasmas, embedded in a large-scale magnetic field. The collisions between the charged particles and neutrals are incorporated into our model, and we study the influence of the ion neutral collisions on the gravitational stability of a large space plasma, e.g. a large molecular cloud, and on the relevant growth/damping rates. The effects of the ion neutral friction on the growth rate of a gravitationally unstable space plasma are presented for a range of possible wavenumbers.