Fragmentation of gas clouds

The fragmentation of an isothermal spherical cloud of 1 solar mass in response to a cos 2phi density perturbation is investigated analytically, applying the refined smooth-particle-hydrodynamics (SPH) method of Monaghan and Lattanzio (1984) in the numerical computations. The results are presented graphically and found to be in qualitative agreement (at a slightly increased density due to the higher resolution of the refined SPH method) with the SPH results of Gingold and Monaghan (1981), indicating quasi-equilibrium of the fragment outside the collapsing core and eventual coalescence. The claim of Boss and Bodenheimer (1979) and Bodenheimer and Boss (1981), that a binary would result from the rapid increase in maximum density, is not confirmed.