Related papers: Gas expulsion in highly substructured embedded sta…
In the earliest phases of their evolution, stars gain mass through the acquisition of matter from their birth clouds. The widely accepted classical concept of early stellar evolution neglects the details of this accretion phase and assumes…
We perform a series of direct $N$-body calculations to investigate the effect of residual gas expulsion from the gas-embedded progenitors of present-day globular clusters (GCs) on the stellar mass function (MF). Our models start either…
Initial conditions for star formation in clusters are estimated for protostars whose masses follow the initial mass function (IMF) from 0.05 to 10 solar masses. Star-forming infall is assumed equally likely to stop at any moment, due to gas…
This chapter reviews the dynamical processes in young stellar clusters. The accretion of gas by individual stars affects the dynamics of the cluster, and the masses of the stars. Dynamical mass segregation cannot explain the degree of mass…
We use direct N-body simulations of gas embedded star clusters to study the importance of stellar collisions for the formation and mass accretion history of high-mass stars. Our clusters start in virial equilibrium as a mix of gas and…
This paper discusses how cosmic gas accretion controls star formation, and summarizes the physical properties expected for the cosmic gas accreted by galaxies. The paper also collects observational evidence for gas accretion sustaining star…
The star formation efficiency (SFE) of a star cluster is thought to be the critical factor in determining if the cluster can survive for a significant (>50 Myr) time. There is an often quoted critical SFE of ~30 per cent for a cluster to…
The empirical laws of star formation suggest that galactic-scale gravity is involved, but they do not identify the actual triggering mechanisms for clusters in the final stages. Many other triggering processes satisfy the empirical laws…
We review progress in numerical simulations of star cluster formation. These simulations involve the bottom-up assembly of clusters through hierarchical mergers, which produces a fractal stellar distribution at young (~0.5 Myr) ages. The…
We present a model for the formation of massive ($M > 10 M_\odot$) stars through accretion-induced collisions in the cores of embedded dense stellar clusters. This model circumvents the problem of accreting onto a star whose luminosity is…
We have studied the long-term evolution of star clusters of the solar neighborhood, starting from their birth in gaseous clumps until their complete dissolution in the Galactic tidal field. We have combined the "local-density-driven cluster…
Star clusters that form in nuclear rings appear to be at slightly larger radii than the gas. We argue that the star clusters move out from the gas in which they are formed because of satellite-disk tidal interactions. In calculating the…
Massive star clusters are often used as tracers of galaxy formation and assembly. In order to do so, we must understand their properties at formation, and how those properties change with time, galactic environment, and galaxy assembly…
We examine the combined effects of winds and photoionizing radiation from O--type stars on embedded stellar clusters formed in model turbulent molecular clouds covering a range of masses and radii. We find that feedback is able to increase…
Stars are often observed to form in clusters. It is therefore important to understand how such a region of concentrated mass is assembled out of the diffuse medium and its properties eventually prescribe the important physical mechanisms…
Recent observations have revealed a variety of young star clusters, including embedded systems, young massive clusters, and associations. We study the formation and dynamical evolution of these clusters using a combination of simulations…
While most debris disks consist of dust with little or no gas, a fraction has significant amounts of gas detected via emission lines of CO, ionized carbon, and/or atomic oxygen. Almost all such gaseous debris disks known are around A-type…
Recent numerical simulations have suggested the probability of a fraction of the primordial stars being ejected from the cluster of their origin. We explore the possibility that some of these can remain on the main sequence until the…
Some globular clusters are observed to host a population of second generation (SG) stars which show chemical anomalies and must have formed from gas containing matter processed in the envelopes of first generation (FG) cluster stars. We…
We have performed a high mass and force resolution simulation of an idealized galaxy forming from dissipational collapse of gas embedded in a spherical dark matter halo. The simulation includes star formation and effects of stellar…