Related papers: The Interstellar Medium White Paper
The stellar initial mass function (sIMF) describes the distribution of stellar masses formed in a single star formation event in a molecular cloud clump. It is fundamental to astrophysics and cosmology, shaping our understanding of…
The Milky Way (MW) is our unique laboratory to test star formation theories at the level of individual stars, serving as the Rosetta Stone to interpret extragalactic observations. The proposed White Paper focuses on the following key…
Dust grains are an important component of the interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies. We present the first direct measurement of the residence times of interstellar dust in the different ISM phases, and of the transition rates between these…
The radiative and mechanical interaction of stars with their environment drives the evolution of the ISM and of galaxies as a whole. The far-IR emission (lambda ~30 to 350 microns) from atoms and molecules dominates the cooling of the warm…
The abundances of gas and dust (solids and complex molecules) in the interstellar medium (ISM) as well as their composition and structures impact practically all of astrophysics. Fundamental processes from star formation to stellar winds to…
In this series of lectures I discuss the basic principles and the modelling of the chemical evolution of galaxies. In particular, I present models for the chemical evolution of the Milky Way galaxy and compare them with the available…
This review covers four current questions in the behavior of the atomic and molecular interstellar medium. These include whether the atomic gas originates primarily in cold streams or hot flows onto galaxies; what the filling factor of cold…
Massive stars are the engines of the Cosmos, shaping their environments and driving galaxy evolution across cosmic time. Yet, this general textbook picture faces many challenges when trying to turn abstract insights into quantitative…
Detailed models of galactic disk formation and evolution require knowledge about the initial conditions under which disk galaxies form, the boundary conditions that affect their secular evolution and the micro-physical processes that drive…
The Cosmic Dark Ages mark a pivotal era of the universe's evolution, transitioning from a neutral, opaque medium to the emergence of the first stars and galaxies that initiated cosmic reionization. This study examines the thermodynamics of…
The enrichment of the intergalactic medium with heavy elements is a process that lies at the nexus of poorly-understood aspects of physical cosmology. We review current understanding of the processes that may remove metals from galaxies,…
An overview is presented of the main properties of the interstellar medium. Evidence is summarized that the interstellar medium is highly turbulent, driven on different length scales by various energetic processes. Large-scale turbulence…
Shocks are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium of galaxies, where they contribute to the energetic balance and to the cycle of matter, and where they are thought to be the primary sites for cosmic rays acceleration. Most of the time: in…
Astrochemistry is a discipline that studies physico-chemical processes in astrophysical environments. Such environments are characterized by conditions that are substantially different from those existing in usual chemical laboratories.…
The evolution of galactic disks from their early stages is dominated by gasdynamical effects such as gas infall, galactic fountains, and galactic outflows, and further more. The influence of these processes is only understandable in the…
Numerical models of the dynamical interstellar medium show that interactions between structures such as supernova remnants and superbubbles are more important than the structures themselves in determining the behavior of the ISM. I review…
A key ingredient in the evolution of galaxies is the star formation cycle. Recent progress in the study of magnetic fields is revealing the close connection between star formation and its effect on the small-scale structure in the…
The wavelength dependences of interstellar extinction and polarization, supplemented by observed elemental abundances and the spectrum of infrared emission from dust heated by starlight, strongly constrain dust models. One dust model that…
After recombination the cosmic gas was left in a cold and neutral state. However, as the first stars and black holes formed within early galactic systems, their UV and X-ray radiation induced a gradual phase transition of the intergalactic…
The post-main sequence evolution of stars of intermediate or large masses is notoriously complex. In the recent past, a number of workshops and meetings have focused on either the Asymptotic Giant Branch of intermediate mass stars, or the…