Related papers: Cloud and Star Formation in Spiral Arms
We use simulations with realistic models for stellar feedback to study galaxy mergers. These high resolution (1 pc) simulations follow formation and destruction of individual GMCs and star clusters. The final starburst is dominated by in…
Turbulence is ubiquitous in the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Milky Way and other spiral galaxies. The energy source for this turbulence has been much debated with many possible origins proposed. The universality of turbulence, its…
Could the velocity spread, increasing with time, in the Galactic disk be explained as a result of gravitational interactions of stars with giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and spiral arms? Do the old open clusters high above the Galactic plane…
Stars form by gravoturbulent fragmentation of interstellar gas clouds. The supersonic turbulence ubiquitously observed in Galactic molecular gas generates strong density fluctuations with gravity taking over in the densest and most massive…
The Milky Way is a complex ecosystem, for which we can obtain detailed observations probing the physical mechanisms determining the interstellar medium. For a detailed comparison with observations, and to provide theories for missing…
We analyse extinction maps of nearby Giant Molecular Clouds to forge a link between driving processes of turbulence and modes of star formation. Our investigation focuses on cloud structure in the column density range above the self…
We study gravitational instability and consequent star formation in a wide range of isolated disk galaxies, using three-dimensional, smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations at resolution sufficient to fully resolve gravitational…
With the advent of modern observational efforts providing extensive giant molecular cloud catalogues, understanding the evolution of such clouds in a galactic context is of prime importance. While numerous previous numerical and theoretical…
How does turbulence contribute to the formation and structure of the dense interstellar medium (ISM)? Molecular clouds are dense, high-pressure objects. It is usually argued that gravitational confinement causes the high pressures, and that…
We present simulations of the formation and evolution of clusters in spiral arms. The simulations follow two different spiral arm regions, and the total gas mass is varied to produce a range of different mass clusters. We find that…
The organization of the interstellar medium in disk galaxies obeys the large scale dynamics set by kpc-size structures. Improving our knowledge of how the dense, molecular gas is distributed in a disk is an important step in our…
Although the basic physics of star formation is classical, numerical simulations have yielded essential insights into how stars form. They show that star formation is a highly nonuniform runaway process characterized by the emergence of…
The line of sight through the Galactic Plane between longitudes l = 37.83 degr and l = 42.50 degr allows for the separation of Galactic Ring Survey molecular clouds into those that fall within the spiral arms and those located in the…
Young massive clusters (YMCs) are recently formed astronomical objects with unusually high star formation rates. We propose the collision of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) as a likely formation mechanism of YMCs, consistent with the YMC…
In recent years there has been a growing interest in studying giant molecular filaments (GMFs), which are extremely elongated (> 100pc in length) giant molecular clouds (GMCs). They are often seen as inter-arm features in external spiral…
The physics of star formation and the deposition of mass, momentum, and energy into the interstellar medium by massive stars (`feedback') are the main uncertainties in modern cosmological simulations of galaxy formation and evolution. These…
We describe an overall picture of galactic-scale star formation. Recent high-resolution magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of two-fluid dynamics with cooling/heating and thermal conduction have shown that the formation of molecular clouds…
We present a self-consistent hydrodynamical simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy, at the resolution of 0.05 pc. The model includes star formation and a new implementation of stellar feedback through photo-ionization, radiative pressure and…
Multiple mechanisms are proposed for the formation of giant molecular clouds (GMCs), from gravitational free-fall caused by self-gravity to stellar feedback-driven gas compression. Both the galactic environment and galaxy conditions could…
Stellar feedback influences the star formation rate (SFR) and the interstellar medium of galaxies in ways that are difficult to quantify numerically, because feedback is an essential ingredient of realistic simulations. To overcome this, we…