Related papers: Molecular Shattering
Many questions in physical cosmology regarding the thermal history of the intergalactic medium, chemical enrichment, reionization, etc. are thought to be intimately related to the nature and evolution of pregalactic structure. In particular…
Stars in galaxies form in giant molecular clouds that coalesce when the atomic hydrogen is converted into molecules. There are currently two dominant models for what property of the galactic disk determines its molecular fraction: either…
We investigate cloud-cloud collisions, and GMC evolution, in hydrodynamic simulations of isolated galaxies. The simulations include heating and cooling of the ISM, self--gravity and stellar feedback. Over timescales $<5$ Myr most clouds…
Millimeter-sized, spherical silicate grains abundant in chondritic meteorites, which are called as chondrules, are considered to be a strong evidence of the melting event of the dust particles in the protoplanetary disk. One of the most…
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is poorly constrained at the sub-parsec scales relevant to turbulent energy dissipation and regulation of multi-phase structure. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are sensitive to small-scale plasma density…
Successful models of the low redshift circumgalactic medium (CGM) must account for (1) a large amount of gas, (2) relatively slow gas velocities, (3) a high degree of metal enrichment, (4) the similar absorption properties around both…
We explore the survival of a galaxy's circumgalactic medium (CGM) as it experiences ram pressure stripping (RPS) moving through the intracluster medium (ICM). For a satellite galaxy, the CGM is often assumed to be entirely…
Molecular gas disks are generally Toomre stable ($Q_T>$1) and yet clearly gravitationally unstable to structure formation as evidenced by the existence of molecular clouds and ongoing star formation. This paper adopts a 3D perspective to…
In dense molecular clouds collisions between dust grains alter the ISM-dust size distribution. We study this process by inserting the results from detailed numerical simulations of two colliding dust aggregates into a coagulation model that…
Different from Milky-Way-like galaxies, discs of gas-rich galaxies are clumpy. It is believed that the clumps form because of gravitational instability. However, a necessary condition for gravitational instability to develop is that the…
Much of what we know about molecular clouds, and by extension star formation, comes from molecular line observations. Interpreting these correctly requires knowledge of the underlying molecular abundances. Simulations of molecular clouds…
How does turbulence contribute to the formation and structure of the dense interstellar medium (ISM)? Molecular clouds are dense, high-pressure objects. It is usually argued that gravitational confinement causes the high pressures, and that…
We present numerical simulations of the passage of clumpy gas through a galactic spiral shock and the subsequent formation of giant molecular clouds (GMCs). The spiral shock forms dense clouds while dissipating kinetic energy, producing…
Cold clouds in hot media are quickly crushed, shredded, and then accelerated as a result of their interaction with the background gas. The persistence of cold clouds moving at substantial velocities in harsh environments is a common yet…
Cold gas clouds embedded in a hot, turbulent medium are expected to be short-lived due to disruptive hydrodynamic instabilities. However, radiative cooling might allow such clouds to survive and grow. We present 3D \texttt{Athena++}…
We investigate the formation of molecular clouds from atomic gas by using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations, including non-equilibrium chemical reactions and heating/cooling processes. We consider super-Alfv\'enic head-on…
Star formation takes place in filamentary molecular clouds which arise by physical processes that take place in the cold, neutral medium (CNM). We address the necessary conditions for this diffuse ($n \approx 30$ cm$^{-3}$), cold (T…
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) of nearby star-forming galaxies show clear indications of \ion{O}{6} absorption accompanied by little to no \ion{N}{5} absorption. This unusual spectral signature, accompanied by absorption from lower…
Molecular clouds are supported by thermal pressure, magnetic pressure, and turbulent pressure. Each of these can be modeled with a polytropic equation of state, so that overall the total pressure is the sum of the individual components. We…
Observed molecular clouds often appear to have very low star formation efficiencies and lifetimes an order of magnitude longer than their free-fall times. Their support is attributed to the random supersonic motions observed in them. We…