Related papers: Star Formation and Gas Dynamics in Galactic Disks:…
We extend existing semi-analytic models of galaxy formation to track atomic and molecular gas in disk galaxies. Simple recipes for processes such as cooling, star formation, supernova feedback, and chemical enrichment of the stars and gas…
We study the recent star formation histories of local galaxies by analyzing the scatter in their colours and spectral properties. We present evidence that the distribution of star formation histories changes qualitatively above a…
The star formation rate (SFR) in galactic disks depends on both the quantity of available interstellar medium (ISM) gas and its physical state. Conversely, the ISM's physical state depends on the SFR, because the "feedback" energy and…
The state of the hot gas in clusters of galaxies is investigated with a set of model clusters, created by assuming a polytropic equation of state (Gamma=1.2) and hydrostatic equilibrium inside gravitational potential wells drawn from a dark…
The star formation history of galaxies is a complex process usually considered to be stochastic in nature, for which we can only give average descriptions such as the color-density relation. In this work we follow star-forming gas particles…
Gas disks of spiral galaxies can be described as clumpy accretion disks without a coupling of viscosity to the actual thermal state of the gas. The model description of a turbulent disk consisting of emerging and spreading clumps (Vollmer &…
(abridged version) Identifying the processes that determine the initial mass function of stars (IMF) is a fundamental problem in star formation theory. One of the major uncertainties is the exact chemical state of the star forming gas and…
In this review I demonstrate that a realistic model for the formation of galaxy disks depends on a proper treatment of the gas in galaxies. Historically, cosmological simulations of disk galaxy formation have suffered from a lack of…
Understanding the processes occurring in the nuclear disk of our Galaxy is interesting in its own right, as part of the Milky Way Galaxy, but also because it is the closest galactic nucleus. It has been more than two decades since it was…
This chapter reviews the nature of turbulence in the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM) and its connections to the star formation (SF) process. The ISM is turbulent, magnetized, self-gravitating, and is subject to heating and cooling…
The network of interactions between hot gas, cool clouds, massive stars, and stellar remnants used in the chemodynamical modeling of the interstellar medium is investigated for the types of its solutions. In a physically consistent…
We present a model that explains why galaxies form stars on a time scale significantly longer than the time scales of processes governing the evolution of interstellar gas. We show that gas evolves from a non-star-forming to a star-forming…
We examine the importance of secular stellar mass loss for fueling ongoing star formation in disk galaxies during the late stages of their evolution. For a galaxy of a given stellar mass, we calculate the total mass loss rate of its entire…
We investigate how the dynamical state of molecular clouds relates to host galaxy environment, and how this impacts the star formation efficiency in the Milky Way and seven nearby galaxies. We compile measurements of molecular cloud and…
We study the dust content of galaxies from $z=0$ to $z=9$ in semi-analytic models of galaxy formation that include new recipes to track the production and destruction of dust. We include condensation of dust in stellar ejecta, the growth of…
We present an analytic formalism that describes the evolution of the stellar, gas, and metal content of galaxies. It is based on the idea, inspired by hydrodynamic simulations, that galaxies live in a slowly-evolving equilibrium between…
We examine the pressure of the star-forming interstellar medium (ISM) of Milky-Way sized disk galaxies using fully cosmological SPH+N-body, high resolution simulations. These simulations include explicit treatment of metal-line cooling in…
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…
A model is presented which calculates the gas temperature and chemistry in the surface layers of flaring circumstellar disks using a code developed for photon-dominated regions. Special attention is given to the influence of dust settling.…
We reexamine the systematic properties of local galaxy populations, using published surveys of star formation, structure, and gas content. After recalibrating star formation measures, we are able to reliably measure specific star formation…