Thermal Instability in Turbulent Multiphase Media

This project examines how and where thermal instability develops within turbulent flows in the ISM, CGM, and ICM by identifying the conditions under which compressed regions cool and condense. Using turbulent-box simulations that track the evolution of individual gas parcels, it aims to map out the pathways through which turbulence drives multiphase structure.

Thermal instability plays a key role in shaping the multiphase structure of the ISM, CGM, and ICM, yet its onset within turbulent environments remains poorly understood. In supersonic and subsonic turbulence, compressed regions can cool rapidly and condense, but the precise conditions for when and where this occurs are not well established.
In this project, you will perform turbulent-box simulations and follow the thermodynamic trajectories of gas parcels to determine how turbulence seeds and amplifies thermal instability. The goal is to build a predictive framework connecting local dynamical conditions—compression, cooling times, and turbulent driving—to the formation of cold gas in astrophysical environments.