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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 May 2016
CO observations indicate that molecular clouds have a complex multiphase structure, and this is compared with the multiphase structure of the diffuse interstellar medium. The trace ionization within the molecular gas is governed primarily by UV photoionization. Magnetic fields contribute a significantly larger fraction of the pressure in molecular clouds than in the diffuse interstellar medium. Observations suggest that the total Alfvén Mach number, mA tot, of the turbulence in the diffuse ISM exceeds unity; Zeeman observations are consistent with mA tot ≲ 1 in molecular clouds, but more data are needed to verify this. Most molecular clouds are self-gravitating, and they can be modeled as multi-pressure polytropes with thermal, magnetic, and wave pressure. The pressure and density within self-gravitating clouds is regulated by the pressure in the surrounding diffuse ISM.