{
  "abstract": "The interplay of magnetic fields, turbulence, and gravity governs the structural evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) and the initial conditions of star formation, yet observational gaps have long enforced a “broken power-law” description of the magnetic field–density relation. Here, we assemble a unified dataset spanning 10 orders of magnitude in density (10 ⁻²⁶ –10 ⁻¹⁶ g cm ⁻³ ) by combining pulsar and Zeeman observations. The unified data are consistent with a single, continuous magnetic-field evolution organised by the Alfvén Mach number M A = E K / E B . Within this interpretation, the low-density gas is magnetically dominated ( M A < 1 ), whereas the high-density gas becomes kinetically dominated ( M A > 1 ) as gravity increasingly contributes to the kinetic-energy budget, with magnetic tension continuing to influence the collapse geometry. Within the Gradual Transition interpretation, the empirical break density traces the vicinity of the trans-Alfvénic equipartition point, M A = 1 . This Gradual Transition model makes three predictions tested here. Its exponent and background field are fixed in advance by turbulent physics and recovered by the fits ( β ≈ 0.15–0.21 against a predicted 0.147; B c ≈ 2.0 μ G). A dense-gas fit, extrapolated blindly across four decades, passes through the diffuse pulsar data. And, under the adopted scale mappings, the implied magnetic-energy spectrum approaches a k −5/3 -like scaling on large scales and departs from this extrapolation on small scales, where gravitational compression amplifies the field. The broken power law can therefore be viewed as a piecewise approximation to the continuous magnetic equation of state, with its fitted transition density potentially retaining a physical connection to the onset of gravity-driven motions.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Nanjing University",
    "Yunnan University",
    "Key Laboratory of Modern Astronomy and Astrophysics (Nanjing University)"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Mengke Zhao",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-0596-6608"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Guang-Xing Li",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3144-1952"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Keping Qiu",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5093-5088"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0xyktm7t8n8dd.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3847/1538-4357/aea203",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "0xyktm7t8n8dd",
  "issns": [
    "0004-637X",
    "1538-4357"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea203",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7212030488",
  "pdf_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea203/pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-06",
  "publisher": "American Astronomical Society",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0xyktm7t8n8dd.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:11Z",
      "native_id": "10.3847/1538-4357/aea203",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aea203"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "openalex:3103|Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies",
      "subfield": "stellar"
    }
  ],
  "title": "A Unified Magnetohydrodynamic Scaling Relation for the Multiphase Interstellar Medium",
  "title_text": "A Unified Magnetohydrodynamic Scaling Relation for the Multiphase Interstellar Medium",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:11Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/0xyktm7t8n8dd",
  "venue": "The Astrophysical Journal",
  "versions": []
}