Related papers: Modeling High-Mass Star Formation and Ultracompact…
I review the arguments motivating models for massive star formation via stellar collisions. I then describe how the standard accretion scenario, involving the collapse of a quasi-hydrostatic gas core, can produce high-mass stars in the…
We examine the effects of ionization, radiation pressure and main sequence winds from massive stars on self-gravitating, clumpy molecular clouds, thereby modeling the formation and pre-supernova feedback of massive star clusters. We find…
Similar to their low-mass counterparts, massive stars likely form via the collapse of pre-stellar molecular cores. Recent observations suggest that most massive cores are subvirial (i.e., not supported by turbulence) and therefore are…
We present a model for the formation of massive ($M > 10 M_\odot$) stars through accretion-induced collisions in the cores of embedded dense stellar clusters. This model circumvents the problem of accreting onto a star whose luminosity is…
We analyze the dynamical expansion of the HII region, photodissociation region, and the swept-up shell, solving the UV- and FUV-radiative transfer, the thermal and chemical processes in the time-dependent hydrodynamics code. Following our…
(Abridged) We present the results of three-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics simulations of the formation and evolution of early HII/HeIII regions around the first stars. Cooling (by H2 and HD) and recollapse of the gas in the relic HII…
This chapter reviews progress in the field of massive star formation. It focuses on evidence for accretion and current models that invoke high accretion rates. In particular it is noted that high accretion rates will cause the massive young…
High-mass stars form in much richer environments than those associated with isolated low-mass stars, and once they reach a certain mass, produce ionised (HII) regions. The formation of these pockets of ionised gas are unique to the…
We use direct N-body simulations of gas embedded star clusters to study the importance of stellar collisions for the formation and mass accretion history of high-mass stars. Our clusters start in virial equilibrium as a mix of gas and…
Although fundamental for astrophysics, the processes that produce massive stars are not well understood. Large distances, high extinction, and short timescales of critical evolutionary phases make observations of these processes…
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…
Star formation is slow, in the sense that the gas consumption time is much longer than the dynamical time. It is also inefficient; essentially all star formation in local galaxies takes place in giant molecular clouds (GMCs), but the…
We propose that a significant fraction of the ultracompact HII regions found in massive star-forming clouds are the result of the interaction of the wind and ionizing radiation from a young massive star with the clumpy molecular cloud gas…
We present preliminary numerical evidence that the physical conditions in high-mass star forming regions can arise from global gravitational infall, with the velocity dispersions being caused primarily by infall motions rather than random…
Star formation is intimately linked to the dynamical evolution of molecular clouds. Turbulent fragmentation determines where and when protostellar cores form, and how they contract and grow in mass via accretion from the surrounding cloud…
We present an investigation of massive star formation that results from the gravitational collapse of massive, magnetized molecular cloud cores. We investigate this by means of highly resolved, numerical simulations of initial magnetized…
Recent observations and simulations have suggested that HII regions around massive stars may vary in their size and emitted flux on timescales short enough to be observed. This variability can have a number of causes, ranging from…
We study the formation of very metal-poor stars under protostellar radiative feedback effect. We use cosmological simulations to identify low-mass dark matter halos and star-forming gas clouds within them. We then follow protostar formation…
We study the evolution of gas in HII regions around the first stars after the death of the exciting stars. If the first star in a small halo dies without supernova (SN), subsequent star formation is possible in the same halo. We thus…
We consider the radiative feedback processes that operate during the formation of the first stars, including the photodissociation of H_2, Ly-alpha radiation pressure, formation and expansion of an HII region, and disk photoevaporation.…