Related papers: Cold Dark Clouds: The Initial Conditions for Star …
We simulate the formation of a metal-poor (10^-2 Zsun) stellar cluster in one of the first galaxies to form in the early Universe, specifically a high-redshift atomic cooling halo (z~14). This is the first calculation that resolves the…
(abridged) We use large cosmological simulations to study the origin of primordial star-forming clouds in a Lambda CDM universe, by following the formation of dark matter halos and the cooling of gas within them. To model the physics of…
The dense, cold gas of Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) is thought to be representative of the initial conditions of massive star and star cluster formation. We analyze 13CO(J=1-0) line emission data from the Galactic Ring Survey of Jackson et…
We show that large, high-redshift (z>10) galaxies with virial temperature in excess of 10^4K may be mostly comprised of cold atomic clouds which were formerly minihalos. These clouds move at a speed of 15-30km/s and collide with one another…
Initial conditions for star formation in clusters are estimated for protostars whose masses follow the initial mass function (IMF) from 0.05 to 10 solar masses. Star-forming infall is assumed equally likely to stop at any moment, due to gas…
The inner few hundred parsecs of the Milky Way harbours gas densities, pressures, velocity dispersions, an interstellar radiation field and a cosmic ray ionisation rate orders of magnitude higher than the disc; akin to the environment found…
During the last two decades, the focus of star formation research has shifted from understanding the collapse of a single dense core into a star to studying the formation hundreds to thousands of stars in molecular clouds. In this chapter,…
The centre of our Galaxy is one of the most studied and yet enigmatic places in the Universe. At a distance of about 8 kpc from our Sun, the Galactic centre (GC) is the ideal environment to study the extreme processes that take place in the…
Infrared Dark Clouds are ideal laboratories to study the initial processes of high-mass star and star cluster formation. We investigated star formation activity of an unexplored filamentary dark cloud (~5.7pc x 1.9pc), which itself is part…
Stars form in cold clouds of predominantly molecular (H2) gas. We are just beginning to understand how the formation, properties, and destruction of these clouds varies across the universe. In this chapter, we describe how the thermal line…
The study of the internal structure of star clusters provides important clues concerning their formation mechanism and dynamical evolution. There are both observational and numerical evidences indicating that open clusters evolve from an…
The origin and formation of globular clusters has remained a mystery. We present a formation scenario for ancient globular cluster-like objects that form in ultra-high resolution simulations (smallest cell size $<0.1\,\mathrm{pc}$, mass…
We investigate star formation at very early evolutionary phases in five massive clouds in the inner 500 pc of the Galaxy, the Central Molecular Zone. Using interferometer observations of H$_2$O masers and ultra-compact H II regions, we find…
We present a review of observational studies of high-mass star formation, based mainly on our own research. It includes surveys of high-mass star-forming regions in various molecular lines and in continuum, investigations of filamentary…
The transition between the nearly smooth initial state of the Universe and its clumpy state today occurred during the epoch when the first stars and low-luminosity quasars formed. For Cold Dark Matter cosmologies, the radiation produced by…
Recent optical observations have led to a significant progress in our understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. However, our view on the deep universe is currently limited to the starlight which directly escapes from high-redshift…
We investigate the possibility of very early formation of primordial star clusters from high-\sigma perturbations in cold dark matter dominated structure formation scenarios. For this we have developed a powerful 2-level hierarchical…
Present-day galaxy clusters are the largest virialized structures in the Universe, yet their early assembly remains poorly understood. At z$>$2, clusters in formation span tens of Mpc and host gas-rich, dust-obscured galaxies embedded in…
Cool luminous giants, in particular asymptotic giant branch stars, are among the most important sources of cosmic dust. Their extended dynamical atmospheres are places where grains form and initiate outflows driven by radiation pressure,…
I describe the scenario of molecular cloud (MC) evolution that has emerged over the past decade or so. MCs can start out as cold atomic clouds formed by compressive motions in the warm neutral medium (WNM) of galaxies. Such motions can be…