Related papers: Eventful Evolution of Giant Molecular Clouds in Dy…
Studies of GMC evolution in galactic disks were limited to local, predominantly atom-rich small galaxies in the past, but have now been expanded to typical spiral galaxies with a rich molecular content. The evolution appears quite different…
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…
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…
We report the highest-fidelity observations of the spiral galaxy M51 in CO emission, revealing the evolution of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) vis-a-vis the large-scale galactic structure and dynamics. The most massive GMCs (so-called GMAs)…
In this work, we trace the complete life cycle of individual GMCs in high-resolution Milky Way-mass galaxy simulations to determine how different stellar feedback mechanisms and galactic-scale processes govern cloud lifetimes, mass…
We investigate the formation and evolution of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in a Milky-Way-like disk galaxy with a flat rotation curve. We perform a series of 3D adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) numerical simulations that follow both the…
Giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and their stellar offspring are the building blocks of galaxies. The physical characteristics of GMCs and their evolution are tightly connected to galaxy evolution. The macroscopic properties of the…
Giant molecular clouds (GMCs) are the sites of star formation and stellar feedback in galaxies. Their properties set the initial conditions for star formation and their lifecycles determine how feedback regulates galaxy evolution. In recent…
It remains a major challenge to derive a theory of cloud-scale ($\lesssim100$ pc) star formation and feedback, describing how galaxies convert gas into stars as a function of the galactic environment. Progress has been hampered by a lack of…
Studying star formation in spiral arms tells us not only about the evolution of star formation, and molecular clouds, but can also tell us about the nature of spiral structure in galaxies. I will address both these topics using the results…
We present the results from simulations of GMC formation in spiral galaxies. First we discuss cloud formation by cloud-cloud collisions, and gravitational instabilities, arguing that the former is prevalent at lower galactic surface…
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…
Contemporary galactic star formation occurs predominantly within gravitationally unstable, cold, dense molecular gas within supersonic, turbulent, magnetized giant molecular clouds (GMCs). Significantly, because the chemical evolution…
Recent radio observations show that the giant molecular cloud (GMC) mass functions noticeably vary across galactic disks. High-resolution magnetohydrodynamics simulations show that multiple episodes of compression are required for creating…
The processes of star formation and feedback, regulating the cycle of matter between gas and stars on the scales of giant molecular clouds (GMCs; $\sim$100pc), play a major role in governing galaxy evolution. Measuring the time-scales of…
We present sensitive and high angular resolution CO(1-0) data obtained by the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) observations toward the nearby grand-design spiral galaxy M 51. The angular resolution of 0.7"…
In this Letter, we analyse the distributions of stellar ages in Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) in spiral arms, inter-arm spurs, and at large galactic radii, where the spiral arms are relatively weak. We use the results of numerical…
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…
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…
Using hydrodynamical simulations of entire galactic discs similar to the Milky Way, reaching 4.6pc resolution, we study the origins of observed physical properties of giant molecular clouds (GMCs). We find that efficient stellar feedback is…