Related papers: Two-component gravitational instability in spiral …
Observations of disk galaxies at z~2 have demonstrated that turbulence driven by gravitational instability can dominate the energetics of the disk. We present a 1D simulation code, which we have made publicly available, that economically…
Gas disks of spiral galaxies can be described as clumpy accretion disks without a coupling of viscosity to the actual thermal state of the gas. The model description of a turbulent disk consisting of emerging and spreading clumps (Vollmer &…
In this review, I discuss just three aspects of the stability and evolution of galactic discs. (1) I first review our understanding of the bar instability and how it can be controlled. Disc galaxies in which the orbital speed does not…
We present a study of the vertical structure of the gaseous and stellar disks in a sample of edge-on galaxies (NGC 4157, 4565, and 5907) using BIMA/CARMA 12CO (J = 1 --> 0), VLA H I, and Spitzer 3.6 micron data. In order to take into…
We present a general star formation law where star formation rate depends upon efficiency $\alpha$, timescale $\tau$ of star formation, gas component $\sigma_{g}$ of surface mass density and a real exponent $n$. A given exponent $n$…
Large-scale star formation in disk galaxies is hypothesized to be driven by global gravitational instability. The observed gas surface density is commonly used to compute the strength of gravitational instability, but according to this…
The majority of disk galaxies manifest spirals and/or bars that are believed to result from dynamical instabilities. However, some galaxies have featureless disks, which are therefore inferred to be dynamically stable. Yet despite many…
Using hydrodynamic approach, it is shown that the properties of a marginally stable collisionless stellar disc resemble those of a thermodynamic system undergoing a gas--liquid phase transition. The maximum in Toomre's stability diagram,…
We use the marginal stability condition for galactic disks and the stellar velocity dispersion data published by different authors to place upper limits on the disk local surface density at two radial scalelengths $R=2h$. Extrapolating…
We investigate the structure of galaxies formed in a suite of high-resolution cosmological simulations. Consistent with observations of high-redshift galaxies, our simulated galaxies show irregular, prolate shapes, which are dominated by…
We carry out global three-dimensional radiation hydrodynamical simulations of self-gravitating accretion discs to determine if, and under what conditions, a disc may fragment to form giant planets. We explore the parameter space (in terms…
In the disk-mediated accretion scenario for the formation of the most massive stars, gravitational instabilities in the disk can force it to fragment. We investigate the effects of inclination and spatial resolution on observable kinematics…
We have studied the properties of giant star forming clumps in five z~2 star-forming disks with deep SINFONI AO spectroscopy at the ESO VLT. The clumps reside in disk regions where the Toomre Q-parameter is below unity, consistent with…
I describe how the dynamics of galactic disks can be inferred by imaging and spectroscopy. Next I demonstrate that the decomposition of the rotation curves of spiral galaxies into the contributions by the various components of the galaxies…
We present a numerical model for the evolution of a protostellar disc that has formed self-consistently from the collapse of a molecular cloud core. The global evolution of the disc is followed for several million years after its formation.…
The stability of a rotating fluid disk to the formation of spiral arms is studied in the tightwinding approximation in the linear regime. The dispersion relation for spirals that was derived by Bertin et al. is shown to contain a new,…
Recent high-resolution simulations demonstrate that disks around primordial protostars easily fragment in the accretion phase before the protostars accrete less than a solar mass. To understand why the gravitational instability generally…
We have examined star formation in two very luminous (M_V=-22 to -23) Sc-type spiral galaxies, NGC 801 and UGC 2885, using ultra-deep Halpha images. We combine these with UBV and 2MASS JHK images and HI maps to explore the star formation…
Self-gravitating protostellar discs are unstable to fragmentation if the gas can cool on a time scale that is short compared to the orbital period. We use a combination of hydrodynamic simulations and N-body orbit integrations to study the…
In a composite system of gravitationally coupled stellar and gaseous discs, we perform linear stability analysis for axisymmetric coplanar perturbations using the two-fluid formalism. The background stellar and gaseous discs are taken to be…