Collapse and fragmentation of molecular clouds under pressure
  Recent analytical and numerical models show that AGN outflows and jets create
ISM pressure in the host galaxy that is several orders of magnitude larger than
in quiescent systems. This pressure increase can confine and compress molecular
gas, thus accelerating star formation. In this paper, we model the effects of
increased ambient ISM pressure on spherically symmetric turbulent molecular
clouds. We find that large external pressure confines the cloud and drives a
shockwave into it, which, together with instabilities behind the shock front,
significantly accelerates the fragmentation rate. The compressed clouds
therefore convert a larger fraction of their mass into stars over the cloud
lifetime, and produce clusters that are initially more compact. Neither cloud
rotation nor shear against the ISM affect this result significantly, unless the
shear velocity is higher than the sound speed in the confining ISM. We conclude
that external pressure is an important element in the star formation process,
provided that it dominates over the internal pressure of the cloud.
