Related papers: Can molecular clouds live long?
Feedback from massive stars plays a key role in molecular cloud evolution. After the onset of star formation, the young stellar population is exposed by photoionization, winds, supernovae, and radiation pressure from massive stars. Recent…
The cold molecular gas in contemporary galaxies is structured in discrete cloud complexes. These giant molecular clouds (GMCs), with $10^4$-$10^7$ solar masses and radii of 5-100 parsecs, are the seeds of star formation. Highlighting the…
We present semi-analytic dynamical models for giant molecular clouds evolving under the influence of HII regions launched by newborn star clusters. In contrast to previous work, we neither assume that clouds are in virial or energetic…
We present a detailed study of the evolution of GMCs in a galactic disc simulation. We follow individual GMCs (defined in our simulations by a total column density criterion), including their level of star formation, from their formation to…
We apply an analytic theory for environmentally-dependent molecular cloud lifetimes to the Central Molecular Zone of the Milky Way. Within this theory, the cloud lifetime in the Galactic centre is obtained by combining the time-scales for…
We present the first numerical simulations that self-consistently follow the formation of dense molecular clouds in colliding flows. Our calculations include a time-dependent model for the H2 and CO chemistry that runs alongside a detailed…
We discuss the lifetimes and evolution of clumps and cores formed as turbulent density fluctuations in nearly isothermal molecular clouds. In the non-magnetic case, clumps are unlikely to reach a hydrostatic state, and instead are expected…
We present an analysis of Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) within hydrodynamic simulations of isolated, low-mass (M* ~ 10^9 M_sol) disc galaxies. We study the evolution of molecular abundances and the implications for CO emission and the X_CO…
Some astrobiological models suggest that molecular clouds may serve as habitats for extraterrestrial life. This study reviews recent theoretical work addressing the physical and biochemical prerequisites for life in such environments, with…
Most of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in M 33 are connected with spiral-like gaseous arms (filaments) with the exception of the inner 2 kpc region where the link between the arms and GMCs disappears (see Tosaki et al. 2011). We check…
The "tuning-fork" (TF) analysis of CO and Halpha emission has been used to estimate the lifetimes of molecular clouds in nearby galaxies. With simple model calculations, we show that this analysis does not necessarily estimate cloud…
Star clusters are often used as tracers of major star formation events in external galaxies as they can be studied up to much larger distances than individual stars. It is vital to understand their evolution if they are used to derive, for…
Dense gas in molecular clouds is an important signature of ongoing and future star formation. We identify and track dense cores in the STARFORGE simulations, following the core evolution from birth through dispersal by stellar feedback for…
We present a theoretical model for the experimentally found but counter-intuitive exceptionally long lifetime of surface nanobubbles. We can explain why, under normal experimental conditions, surface nanobubbles are stable for many hours or…
A population of molecular clouds with a significantly greater scale height than that of Giant Molecular Clouds has been identified by examining maps of the latitude distribution of the $^{12}CO(1-0)$ emission in the first quadrant of the…
We introduce a model for the large-scale, global 3D structure of molecular clouds. Motivated by the morphological appearance of clouds in surface density maps, we model clouds as cylinders, with the aim of backing out information about the…
The most recent observational evidence seems to indicate that giant molecular clouds are predominantly gravitationally unbound objects. In this paper we show that this is a natural consequence of a scenario in which cloud-cloud collisions…
We study the time evolution of molecular clouds across three Milky Way-like isolated disc galaxy simulations at a temporal resolution of 1 Myr, and at a range of spatial resolutions spanning two orders of magnitude in spatial scale from ~10…
How stellar clusters disrupt, and over what timescales, is intimately linked with how they form. Here, we review the theory and observations of cluster disruption, both the suggested initial rapid dissolution phase (infant mortality) and…
Current laboratory bounds imply that protons are extremely long-lived. However, this conclusion may not hold for all time and in all of space. We find that the proton lifetime can be $\sim 15$ orders of magnitude shorter in the relatively…