Composite Polytrope Models of Molecular Clouds. I. Theory

Abstract

We construct spherical, hydrostatic models of dense molecular cores and Bok globules consisting of two distinct, spatially separate gas components: a central, isothermal region surrounded by a negative-index, polytropic envelope. The clouds are supported against their own self-gravity by a combination of thermal, mean magnetic, and turbulent wave pressure. The latter two are included by allowing for locally adiabatic, non-isentropic pressure components. Such models are meant to represent, in a schematic manner, the velocity and density structure of cores and globules, as inferred from molecular line and dust continuum observations. We show by explicit construction that it is possible to have dense cores comparable to the Jeans mass embedded in stable clouds of much larger mass. In a subsequent paper, we show that composite polytropes on the verge of gravitational instability can reproduce the observed velocity and density structure of cores and globules under a variety of physical conditions.