Modification to the Jeans criterion by external tides: Anisotropic fragmentation and formation of filaments

The Jeans criterion sets the foundation of our understanding of gravitational collapse. Jog studied the fragmentation of gas under external tides and derived a dispersion relation l' = l_ Jeans1/(1 + λ_0' / 4 π G ρ_0)^1/2 . She further concludes that the Jeans mass is m_ incorrect'=m_ Jeans ( 1/(1 + λ_0' / 4 π G ρ_0)^3/2). We clarify that due to the inhomogeneous nature of tides, this characteristic mass is incorrect. Under weak tides, the mass is m ≈ρ l_1 l_2 l_3, where the modifications to Jeans lengths along all three dimensions need to be considered; when the tide is strong enough, collapse can only occur once 1 or 2 dimensions. In the latter case, tides can stretch the gas, leading to the formation of filaments.