Related papers: The interstellar medium: from molecules to star fo…
We provide a brief overview of recent advances and outstanding issues in simulations of interstellar turbulence, including isothermal models for interior structure of molecular clouds and larger-scale multiphase models designed to simulate…
Magnetic fields are an important component of the interstellar medium (ISM) and exhibit strongly varying field strengths and a non-trivial correlation with the gas density. Its dynamical impact varies between individual regions of the ISM…
Observations of the interstellar medium are key to deciphering the physical processes regulating star formation in galaxies. However, observational uncertainties and detection limits can bias the interpretation unless carefully modeled.…
We review the different excitation processes in the interstellar medium
The chemical abundances in the atmosphere of a star provide unique information about the gas from which that star formed, and, modulo processes that are not important for the vast majority of stars, such as mass transfer in close binary…
MHD Turbulence is a critical component of the current paradigms of star formation, particle transport, magnetic reconnection and evolution of the ISM, to name just a few. Progress on this difficult subject is made via numerical simulations…
The enrichment of the intergalactic medium with heavy elements is a process that lies at the nexus of poorly-understood aspects of physical cosmology. We review current understanding of the processes that may remove metals from galaxies,…
We study the effects of time-dependent mass injection and heating on the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) in elliptical galaxies. As the large and luminous ellipticals have supermassive black holes at their cores, which were…
Dust offers a unique probe of the interstellar medium (ISM) across multiple size, density, and temperature scales. Dust is detected in outflows of evolved stars, star-forming molecular clouds, planet-forming disks, and even in galaxies at…
The interaction of the ISM with the evolution of PNe is studied for cases where there is a large relative velocity between ISM and central star, for example for high-proper motion PNe. In such cases the ISM wind already interacts strongly…
The interstellar medium contains filamentary structure over a wide range of scales. Understanding the role of this structure, both as a conduit of gas across the scales and a diagnostic tool of local physics, is a major focus of star…
While ALMA and JWST are revolutionizing our view of star and planet formation with their unprecedented sensitivity and resolution at submillimeter and near-IR wavelengths, many outstanding questions can only be answered with observations in…
This lecture reviews the fundamental physical processes involved in star formation in galaxy interactions and mergers. Interactions and mergers often drive intense starbursts, but the link between interstellar gas physics, large scale…
The far-IR range is a critical wavelength range to characterize the physical and chemical processes that transform the interstellar material into stars and planets. Objects in the earliest phases of stellar and planet evolution release most…
We present a three-year series of observations at 24 microns with the Spitzer Space Telescope of the interstellar material in a 200 x 200 arcmin square area centered on Cassiopeia A. Interstellar dust heated by the outward light pulse from…
Understanding the star formation process is central to much of modern astrophysics. For several decades it has been thought that stellar birth is primarily controlled by the interplay between gravity and magnetostatic support, modulated by…
(ABRIDGED) We use hydrodynamical simulations of disk galaxies to study relations between star formation and properties of the molecular interstellar medium (ISM). We implement a model for the ISM that includes low-temperature (T<10^4K)…
The details of the physical process through which high-mass stars form remains nearly as much of a mystery now as it was when the Parkes radio telescope commenced operation. The energy output from high-mass stars influence, or directly…
In the interstellar medium of the Milky Way, certain elements -- e.g., Mg, Si, Al, Ca, Ti, Fe -- reside predominantly in interstellar dust grains. These grains absorb, scatter, and emit electromagnetic radiation, heat the interstellar…
Most of the visible matter in the Universe is in a plasma state, or more specifically is composed of ionized or partially ionized gas permeated by magnetic fields. Thanks to recent advances on the theory and detection of cosmic magnetic…