Related papers: What Phase of the Interstellar Medium Correlates w…
We study the connection of star formation to atomic (HI) and molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) in isolated, low metallicity dwarf galaxies with high-resolution ($m_{\rm gas}$ = 4 M$_\odot$, $N_{\rm ngb}$ = 100) SPH simulations. The model includes…
Molecular hydrogen (H2) is the primary component of the reservoirs of cold, dense gas that fuel star formation in our galaxy. While the H2 abundance is ultimately regulated by physical processes operating on small scales in the interstellar…
The majority of hydrogen in the interstellar medium (ISM) is in atomic form. The transition from atoms to molecules and, in particular, the formation of the H$_2$ molecule, is a key step in cosmic structure formation en route to stars.…
Observations of nearby galaxies have firmly established, over a broad range of galactic environments and metallicities, that star formation occurs exclusively in the molecular phase of the interstellar medium (ISM). Theoretical models show…
Carbon monoxide (CO) is the primary tracer for interstellar clouds where stars form, yet CO has never been detected in galaxies with an Oxygen abundance relative to Hydrogen less than 20% of solar, even though such low metallicity galaxies…
The cold interstellar medium (ISM) as the raw material for star formation is critical to understanding galaxy evolution. It is generally understood that galaxies stop making stars when, in one way or another, they run out of gas. However,…
We investigate the relationship between HI, H_2, and the star formation rate (SFR) using azimuthally averaged data for seven CO-bright spiral galaxies. Contrary to some earlier studies based on global fluxes, we find that the SFR surface…
Observations of molecular clouds in metal-poor environments typically find that they have much higher star formation rates than one would expect based on their observed CO luminosities and the molecular gas masses that are inferred from…
The most usual tracer of molecular gas is line emission from CO. However, the reliability of that tracer has long been questioned in environments different from the Milky Way. We study the relationship between H2 and CO abundances using a…
We use a suite of hydrodynamics simulations of the interstellar medium (ISM) within a galactic disk, which include radiative transfer, a non-equilibrium model of molecular hydrogen, and a realistic model for star formation and feedback, to…
The central regions of many interacting and early-type spiral galaxies are actively forming stars. This process affects the physical and chemical properties of the local interstellar medium as well as the evolution of the galaxies. We…
We present results from high-resolution three-dimensional simulations of turbulent interstellar gas that self-consistently follow its coupled thermal, chemical and dynamical evolution, with a particular focus on the formation and…
Observations show that star formation in galaxies is closely correlated with the abundance of molecular hydrogen. Modeling this empirical relation from first principles proves challenging, however, and many questions regarding its…
Knowledge of the molecular component of the ISM is fundamental to understand star formation. The H2 component appears to dominate the gas mass in the inner parts of galaxies, while the HI component dominates in the outer parts. Observation…
Observations of spiral galaxies show a strong linear correlation between the ratio of molecular to atomic hydrogen surface density R_mol and midplane pressure. To explain this, we simulate three-dimensional, magnetized turbulence, including…
We present numerical computations and analytic scaling relations for interstellar ion-molecule gas phase chemistry down to very low metallicities ($ 10^{-3} \times$ solar), and/or up to high driving ionization rates. Relevant environments…
We investigate the physical properties of molecular hydrogen (H2) in isolated and interacting disk galaxies with different masses and Hubble types by using chemodynamical simulations with H2 formation on dust grains and dust growth and…
Molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) plays a critical role in astrophysical processes from galaxy evolution to the formation of planets. While the dominant formation channel in the interstellar medium is considered as dust-catalyzed H$_2$ formation,…
We investigate the chemical evolution of a forming molecular cloud behind an interstellar shock wave. We conduct three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the converging flow of atomic gas, including a simple chemical network…
We use the IRAM HERACLES survey to study CO emission from 33 nearby spiral galaxies down to very low intensities. Using atomic hydrogen (HI) data, mostly from THINGS, we predict the local mean CO velocity from the mean HI velocity. By…