An Observational Method to Measure the Relative Fractions of Solenoidal and Compressible Modes in Interstellar Clouds

We introduce a new method for observationally estimating the fraction of momentum density ($ρ{\mathbf{v}}$) power contained in solenoidal modes (for which $\nabla \cdot ρ{\mathbf{v}} = 0$) in molecular clouds. The method is successfully tested with numerical simulations of supersonic turbulence that produce the full range of possible solenoidal/compressible fractions. At present the method assumes statistical isotropy, and does not account for anisotropies caused by (e.g.) magnetic fields. We also introduce a framework for statistically describing density--velocity correlations in turbulent clouds.

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