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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Observations of molecular clouds show evidence of rotation and of fragmentation of subregions of the clouds into multiple stellar or protostellar systems. This review concentrates on the effects that rotation and pressure gradients have in a self-gravitating cloud to cause it to undergo the crucial process of fragmentation. Recent two-dimensional and three-dimensional numerical hydrodynamic calculations have made progress in determining these effects. In most cases the calculations are performed with modest spatial resolution and are limited to isothermal clouds with neglect of viscous and magnetic effects. The combined results of several calculations strongly suggest that rotating clouds that are unstable to collapse are also unstable to fragmentation.