Impact of Protostellar Outflows on Turbulence and Star Formation Efficiency in Magnetized Dense Cores

The star-forming efficiency of dense gas is thought to be set within cores by outflow and radiative feedback. We use magnetohydrodynamic simulations to investigate the relation between protostellar outflow evolution, turbulence, and star formation efficiency. We model the collapse and evolution of isolated dense cores for greater than or similar to 0.5 Myr including the effects of turbulence, radiation transfer, and both radiation and outflow feedback from forming protostars. We show that outflows drive and maintain turbulence in the core environment even with strong initial fields. The star formation efficiency decreases with increasing field strength, and the final efficiencies are 15%-40%. The Stage 0 lifetime, during which the protostellar mass is lower than that of the dense envelope, increases proportionally with the initial magnetic field strength and ranges from similar to 0.1 to 0.4 Myr. The average accretion rate is well represented by a tapered turbulent core model, which is a function of the final protostellar mass and is independent of the magnetic field strength. By tagging material launched in the outflow, we demonstrate that the outflow entrains about three times the actual launched gas mass, a ratio that remains roughly constant in time regardless of the initial magnetic field strength. However, turbulent driving increases for stronger fields since momentum is more efficiently imparted to non-outflow material. The protostellar outflow momentum is highest during the first 0.1 Myr and declines thereafter by a factor of greater than or similar to 10 as the accretion rate diminishes.