Related papers: The interstellar medium: from molecules to star fo…
Massive stars drive the evolution of the interstellar medium through their radiative and mechanical energy input. After their birth, they form bubbles of hot gas surrounded by a dense shell. Traditionally, the formation of bubbles is…
High star-formation rate and active galactic nucleus' emission can significantly transform the interstellar medium. In ultra-luminous infrared galaxies, in which the star-formation rate reaches thousands of solar masses per year, the gas…
ALMA is revolutionizing the way we study and understand the astrophysics of galaxies, both as a whole and individually. By exploiting its unique sensitivity and resolution to make spatially and spectrally resolved images of the gas and dust…
We numerically investigate dynamical and chemical properties of star clusters (open and globular clusters, and ``super star clusters'', SSC) formed in interacting/merging galaxies. The investigation is two-fold: (1) large-scale…
Carbon is an essential element for a habitable world. Inner (r < 3 au) disk planetary carbon compositions are strongly influenced by supply and survival of carbonaceous solids. Here we trace the journey of carbon from the interstellar…
Our current understanding of the physical processes of star formation is reviewed, with emphasis on processes occurring in molecular clouds like those observed nearby. The dense cores of these clouds are predicted to undergo gravitational…
Star-forming regions show a rich and varied chemistry, including the presence of complex organic molecules - both in the cold gas distributed on large scales, and in the hot regions close to young stars where protoplanetary disks arise.…
Submillimetre molecular lines (e.g., CO, HCN, SiO) provide a uniquely powerful view of the physical and chemical processes that govern star formation (SF) and galaxy evolution. Yet, our current picture of the molecular universe beyond the…
The structure and dynamics of the star-forming disk of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) have long confounded us. The SMC is widely used as a prototype for galactic physics at low metallicity, and yet we fundamentally lack an understanding…
Feedback to the interstellar medium (ISM) from ionising radiation, stellar winds and supernovae is central to regulating star formation in galaxies. Due to their low mass ($M_{*} < 10^{9}$\,M$_\odot$), dwarf galaxies are particularly…
Massive stars have a profound influence on the Universe, but their formation remains poorly understood. We review the current status of observational and theoretical research in this field, describing the various stages of an evolutionary…
We exploit long-baseline ALMA sub-mm observations of the lensed star-forming galaxy SDP 81 at z=3.042 to investigate the properties of inter-stellar medium on scales of 50-100pc. The kinematics of the CO gas within this system are well…
We present a multi-phase representation of the ISM in NB-TSPH simulations of galaxy formation and evolution with particular attention to the case of early-type galaxies. Cold gas clouds are described by the so-called sticky particles…
As a first step to a more complete understanding of the local physical processes which determine star formation rates (SFRs) in the interstellar medium (ISM), we have performed controlled numerical experiments consisting of hydrodynamical…
Magnetic fields permeate the entire Galaxy and are essential to, for example, the regulation of several stages of the star formation process and cosmic ray transportation. Unraveling its properties, such as intensity and topology, is an…
One of the key problems in star formation research is to determine the role of magnetic fields. Starting from the atomic inter-cloud medium (ICM) which has density nH ~ 1 per cubic cm, gas must accumulate from a volume several hundred pc…
Recent studies of the nearest star-forming clouds of the Galaxy at submillimeter wavelengths with the Herschel Space Observatory have provided us with unprecedented images of the initial conditions and early phases of the star formation…
Thanks to their proximity, local starbursts are perfectly suited for high-resolution and sensitivity multiwavelength observations aimed to test our ideas about star formation, evolution of massive stars, physics and chemical evolution of…
Interstellar dust is spread in galaxies over large scales, often far beyond the stellar disks. Several mechanisms can be responsible for carrying the dust both in the vertical and radial directions, producing in general different spatial…
The interstellar medium (ISM) is a turbulent, highly structured multi-phase medium. State-of-the-art cosmological simulations of the formation of galactic discs usually lack the resolution to accurately resolve those multi-phase structures.…