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A Guide to Comparisons of Star Formation Simulations with Observations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2011

Alyssa A. Goodman
Alyssa A. Goodman*
Affiliation:
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics60 Garden Street, MS 42 Cambridge, MA 02318, USA email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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We review an approach to observation-theory comparisons we call “Taste-Testing.” In this approach, synthetic observations are made of numerical simulations, and then both real and synthetic observations are “tasted” (compared) using a variety of statistical tests. We first lay out arguments for bringing theory to observational space rather than observations to theory space. Next, we explain that generating synthetic observations is only a step along the way to the quantitative, statistical, taste tests that offer the most insight. We offer a set of examples focused on polarimetry, scattering and emission by dust, and spectral-line mapping in star-forming regions. We conclude with a discussion of the connection between statistical tests used to date and the physics we seek to understand. In particular, we suggest that the “lognormal” nature of molecular clouds can be created by the interaction of many random processes, as can the lognormal nature of the IMF, so that the fact that both the “Clump Mass Function” (CMF) and IMF appear lognormal does not necessarily imply a direct relationship between them.

Keywords

star formationsimulationsstatistical comparisons
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 6 , Symposium S270: Computational Star Formation , May 2010 , pp. 511 - 519
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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