Related papers: Unbound Star-forming Molecular Clouds
We investigate giant molecular cloud (GMCs) collisions and their ability to induce gravitational instability and thus star formation. This mechanism may be a major driver of star formation activity in galactic disks. We carry out a series…
How molecular clouds fragment and create the dense structures which go on to form stars is an open question. We investigate the relative importance of different energy terms (kinetic, thermal, magnetic, and gravity - both self-gravity and…
The angular momentum of a molecular cloud core plays a key role in star formation, since it is directly related to the outflow and the jet emanating from the new-born star and it eventually results in the formation of the protoplanetary…
Understanding the physical properties of star-forming cores as mass reservoirs for protostars, and the impact of turbulence, is crucial in star formation studies. We implemented passive tracer particles in clump-scale numerical simulations…
We describe a numerical implementation of star formation in disk galaxies, in which the conversion of cooling gas to stars in the multiphase interstellar medium is governed by the rate at which molecular clouds are formed and destroyed. In…
The physical conditions in molecular clouds control the nature and rate of star formation, with consequences for planet formation and galaxy evolution. The focus of this review is on the conditions that characterize regions of star…
Tropical convective clouds evolve over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, and this makes them difficult to simulate numerically. Here, we propose that their statistical properties can be derived within a simplified…
A physical model and two-dimensional numerical method for computing the evolution and spectra of protostellar clouds are described. The physical model is based on a system of magneto-gasdynamical equations, including ohmic and ambipolar…
Star formation is inefficient. Recent advances in numerical simulations and theoretical models of molecular clouds show that the combined effects of interstellar turbulence, magnetic fields and stellar feedback can explain the low…
Molecular clouds (MC) are the densest and coldest component of the interstellar gas, and the sites of star formation. They are also turbulent and fractal and their masses and sizes span several orders of magnitude. It is also generally…
We study numerically the formation of molecular clouds in large-scale colliding flows including self-gravity. The models emphasize the competition between the effects of gravity on global and local scales in an isolated cloud. Global…
In order to investigate the origin of the interstellar turbulence, detailed observations in the CO J=1--0 and 3--2 lines have been carried out in an interacting region of a molecular cloud with an HII region. As a result, several 1,000 to…
Recently reported variations in the typical physical properties of Galactic and extra-Galactic molecular clouds (MCs), and in their ability to form stars have been attributed to local variations in the magnitude of interstellar pressure.…
We construct spherical, hydrostatic models of dense molecular cores and Bok globules consisting of two distinct, spatially separate gas components: a central, isothermal region surrounded by a negative-index, polytropic envelope. The clouds…
We model gravitational collapse leading to star formation in a wide range of isolated disk galaxies using a three-dimensional, smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. The model galaxies include a dark matter halo and a disk of stars and…
The data from the Nobeyama Radio Observatory 45 m telescope Galactic Center CO survey have been analyzed to generate a compilation of molecular clouds with intense CO emission in this region. Clouds are identified in an automated manner…
We study the properties of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) from a smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulation of a portion of a spiral galaxy, modelled at high resolution, with robust representations of the physics of the interstellar medium.…
Understanding how stars form, evolve and impact molecular clouds is key to understanding why star formation is such an inefficient process globally. In this paper, we use the infrared bright fraction, $f_\text{IRB}$ (the fraction of a given…
A theory of clustering of inertial particles advected by a turbulent velocity field caused by an instability of their spatial distribution is suggested. The reason for the clustering instability is a combined effect of the particles inertia…
Stars form in cold clouds of predominantly molecular (H2) gas. We are just beginning to understand how the formation, properties, and destruction of these clouds varies across the universe. In this chapter, we describe how the thermal line…