EPoS Contribution
EPoS Contribution
Turbulence

Edith Falgarone
ENS/OP, Paris, FR
Turbulence in galaxies stands at the crossroad of a wide variety of cosmic processes: star and planet formation, galactic dynamos, magnetic reconnexion, transport processes, to name a few. As such, it is key in the self-regulation of the cycle powered by the storage and release of gravitational energy in stars that keeps the interstellar medium (ISM) far out of thermodynamic equilibrium. The review will include basics on turbulence with recent theoretical and experimental advances in a fast moving field. Focus will then be given on interstellar (IS) turbulence prior to star formation, with a selection of observations that support or falsify theories of molecular cloud and star formation. Resilient questions regarding the nature, origins and lifetime of IS turbulence, its impact on star formation and the initial mass function will be addressed. The space-time intermittency of turbulence will also be discussed. Not only does it build up thin current sheets that are the possible sites of magnetic field reconnexion and cosmic ray acceleration, but it also drives, at the dissipation scales, a specific chemistry that, at least in the diffuse ISM, can be seen as the tracer of the energy sink of turbulent energy.
Suggested Session: Turbulence