Related papers: Star Formation at the Galactic Center
Cosmic rays (CRs) control the thermal, ionization and chemical state of the dense H_2 gas regions that otherwise remain shielded from far-UV and optical stellar radiation propagating through the dusty ISM of galaxies. It is in such…
Globular clusters display an anticorrelation between the fraction of the first generation of stars ($N({\rm G1})/N({\rm tot})$) and the slope of the present-day mass function of the clusters ($\alpha_{pd}$), which is particularly…
We study star cluster formation in a low-metallicity environment using three dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. Starting from a turbulent cloud core, we follow the formation and growth of protostellar systems with different metallicities…
Competitive accretion, a process to explain the origin of the IMF, occurs when stars in a common gravitational potential accrete from a distributed gaseous component. We show that concerns recently raised on the efficiency of competitive…
The cloud-scale density, velocity dispersion, and gravitational boundedness of the interstellar medium (ISM) vary within and among galaxies. In turbulent models, these properties play key roles in the ability of gas to form stars. New high…
We use a sample of the 13 most luminous WMAP Galactic free-free sources, responsible for 33% of the free- free emission of the Milky Way, to investigate star formation. The sample contains 40 star forming complexes; we combine this sample…
The first bound star-forming systems in the universe are predicted to form at redshifts of about 30 and to have masses of the order of 10^6 M_sun. Although their sizes and masses are similar to those of present star-forming regions, their…
Residual-gas expulsion after cluster formation has recently been shown to leave an imprint in the low-mass present-day stellar mass function (PDMF) which allowed the estimation of birth conditions of some Galactic globular clusters (GCs)…
The interplay between the ISM and the massive stars formed in clusters and, more generally, in recent events of star formation is reviewed via the global effects each has on the other. The pre-existing environment affects the properties of…
Analyses of strong gravitational lenses, galaxy-scale kinematics, and absorption line stellar population synthesis (SPS) have all concluded that the stellar initial mass function (IMF) varies within the massive early-type galaxy (ETG)…
We present a detailed parameter study of collapsing turbulent cloud cores, varying the initial density profile and the initial turbulent velocity field. We systematically investigate the influence of different initial conditions on the star…
The turnover in the stellar initial mass function (IMF) at low mass suggests the presence of two independent mass functions that combine in different ways above and below a characteristic mass given by the thermal Jeans mass in the cloud.…
We present a study of 107 galaxies, groups, and clusters spanning ~3 orders of magnitude in mass, ~5 orders of magnitude in central galaxy star formation rate (SFR), ~4 orders of magnitude in the classical cooling rate (dM/dt) of the…
We summarize recent observational and theoretical progress aimed at understanding the origin of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) with specific focus on galactic star-forming regions. We synthesize data from various efforts to…
We present observational evidence of the correlation between the high-mass slope of the stellar initial mass function (IMF) in young star clusters and their stellar surface density, $\sigma_{*}$. When the high-mass end of the IMF is…
Recent analytical and numerical models show that AGN outflows and jets create ISM pressure in the host galaxy that is several orders of magnitude larger than in quiescent systems. This pressure increase can confine and compress molecular…
Most structural and evolutionary properties of galaxies strongly rely on the stellar initial mass function (IMF), namely the distribution of the stellar mass formed in each episode of star formation. As the IMF shapes the stellar population…
Stars form by gravoturbulent fragmentation of interstellar gas clouds. The supersonic turbulence ubiquitously observed in Galactic molecular gas generates strong density fluctuations with gravity taking over in the densest and most massive…
Turbulence is thought to be a primary driving force behind the early stages of star formation. In this framework large, self gravitating, turbulent clouds fragment into smaller clouds which in turn fragment into even smaller ones. At the…
Star formation in the universe's largest galaxies---the ones at the centers of galaxy clusters---depends critically on the thermodynamic state of their hot gaseous atmospheres. Central galaxies with low-entropy, high-density atmospheres…