Related papers: How can star formation be sustained?
We study the evolution of Milky Way thick and thin discs in the light of the most recent observational data. In particular, we analyze abundance gradients of O, N, Fe and Mg along the thin disc as well as the [Mg/Fe] vs. [Fe/H] relations…
The spatial distribution and lifetime of molecular gas in the inner regions of young circumstellar disks are key to understanding the formation of planetary systems. Gas-rich disks are observed to disperse in the first ~10 Myr, and recent…
A classical paradox in high-mass star formation is that powerful radiation pressure can halt accretion, preventing further growth of a central star. Disk accretion has been proposed to solve this problem, but the disks and the accretion…
The prevailing model of galaxy formation proposes that galaxies like the Milky Way are built through a series of mergers with smaller galaxies over time. However, the exact details of the Milky Way's assembly history remain uncertain. In…
The chemical dichotomy in the [$\alpha$/Fe]-[Fe/H] plane is a consequence of the complex processes underlying the formation and evolution of disc galaxies such as observed in the stellar Milky Way disc. We determine what can drive an…
Galactic nuclei are unique laboratories for the study of processes connected with the accretion of gas onto supermassive black holes. At the same time, they represent challenging environments from the point of view of stellar dynamics due…
We analyse the stellar distributions on the [Fe/H]-[Mg/Fe] plane for 11 Milky Way-mass galaxies from the FIRE-2 cosmological baryonic zoom-in simulations. Alpha-element bimodality, in the form of two separate sequences on the [Fe/H]-[Mg/Fe]…
Great strides have been made in the last two decades in determining how galaxies evolve from their initial dark matter seeds to the complex structures we observe at z=0. The role of mergers has been documented through both observations and…
We investigate gas inflow and outflow histories in Milky Way-like disk galaxies, to get new insights into the baryonic processes in galaxy formation and evolution. For this purpose, we solve the equations for the evolutions of the surface…
Substantial numbers of morphologically regular early-type (elliptical and lenticular) galaxies contain molecular gas, and the quantities of gas are probably sufficient to explain recent estimates of the current level of star formation…
The Milky Way galaxy is surrounded by a circumgalactic medium (CGM) that may play a key role in galaxy evolution as the source of gas for star formation and a repository of metals and energy produced by star formation and nuclear activity.…
Despite the recent advancements in the field of galaxy formation and evolution, fully self-consistent simulations are still unable to make the detailed predictions necessary for the planned and ongoing large spectroscopic and photometry…
The chemical abundances in the atmosphere of a star provide unique information about the gas from which that star formed, and, modulo processes that are not important for the vast majority of stars, such as mass transfer in close binary…
Our current understanding of the physical processes of star formation is reviewed, with emphasis on processes occurring in molecular clouds like those observed nearby. The dense cores of these clouds are predicted to undergo gravitational…
Cosmological simulations predict that during the evolution of galaxies, the specific star formation rate continuously decreases. In a previous study we showed that generally this is not caused by the galaxies running out of cold gas but…
Cosmology requires at least half of the baryons in the Universe to be in the intergalactic medium, much of which is believed to form hot coronae around galaxies. Star-forming galaxies must be accreting from their coronae. HI observations of…
We use FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in hydrodynamic simulations to investigate the co-evolution between Milky Way-size galaxies and their host dark matter halos. We find that the formation of these galaxies follows a two-phase pattern, with an…
The Milky Way underwent its last significant merger ten billion years ago, when the Gaia-Enceladus-Sausage (GES) was accreted. Accreted GES stars and progenitor stars born prior to the merger make up the bulk of the inner halo. Even though…
We review the present knowledge of disk accretion in young low mass stars, and in particular, the mass accretion rate and its evolution with time. The methods used to obtain mass accretion rates from ultraviolet excesses and emission lines…
Disks of gas accreting onto supermassive black holes may host numerous stellar-mass objects, formed within the disk or captured from a nuclear star cluster. We present a simplified model of stellar evolution applicable to these dense…