Related papers: Inadequate turbulent support in low-metallicity mo…
The characteristics of the stellar populations in the Galactic Bulge inform and constrain the Milky Way's formation and evolution. The metal-poor population is particularly important in light of cosmological simulations, which predict that…
In this review, I discuss some highlights of recent research on molecular gas in galaxies; large-scale CO maps of nearby galaxies are being made, which extend our knowledge on global properties, radial gradients, and spiral structure of the…
We have initiated the first CO interferometer survey of early-type spiral galaxies (S0-Sab). We observed five early-type spiral galaxies with HII nuclei (indicating circumnuclear starburst activities). These observations indicate gas masses…
Low-metallicity dwarf galaxies often show no or little CO emission, despite the intense star formation observed in local samples. Both simulations and resolved observations indicate that molecular gas in low-metallicity galaxies may reside…
We run numerical simulations of molecular clouds (MCs), adopting properties similar to those found in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way. For this, we employ the moving mesh code Arepo and perform simulations which account…
It is speculated that the high star-formation efficiency observed in spiral-arm molecular clouds is linked to the prevalence of compressive (curl-free) turbulent modes, while the shear-driven solenoidal (divergence-free) modes appear to be…
Observations of molecular clouds in metal-poor environments typically find that they have much higher star formation rates than one would expect based on their observed CO luminosities and the molecular gas masses that are inferred from…
Star formation in our Galaxy occurs in molecular clouds that are self-gravitating, highly turbulent, and magnetized. We study the conditions under which cloud cores inherit large-scale magnetic field morphologies and how the field is…
We summarize recent numerical results on the control of the star formation efficiency (SFE), addressing the effects of turbulence and the magnetic field strength. In closed-box numerical simulations, the effect of the turbulent Mach number…
A galaxy's mean metallicity is usually closely correlated with its luminosity and mass. Consequently the most metal-poor galaxies in the local universe are dwarf galaxies. Blue compact dwarfs and tidal dwarfs tend to deviate from the…
We propose that inward, subsonic flows arise from the local dissipation of turbulent motions in molecular clouds. Such "turbulent cooling flows" may account for recent observations of spatially extended inward motions towards dense cores.…
Rotation curves constrain a galaxy's underlying mass density profile, under the assumption that the observed rotation produces a centripetal force that exactly balances the inward force of gravity. However, most rotation curves are measured…
The circumgalactic medium (CGM) of nearby star-forming galaxies shows clear indications of OVI absorption accompanied by little to no detectable NV absorption. This unusual spectral signature, accompanied by highly non-uniform absorption…
The propagation of high-energy cosmic rays through giant molecular clouds constitutes a fundamental process in astronomy and astrophysics. The diffusion of cosmic-rays through these magnetically turbulent environments is often studied…
We numerically investigate the evolution of compact high-velocity clouds (CHVCs) passing through a hot, tenuous gas representing the highly-ionized circumgalactic medium (CGM) by applying the adaptive-mesh refinement code FLASH. The model…
We present a self-consistent hydrodynamical simulation of a Milky Way-like galaxy, at the resolution of 0.05 pc. The model includes star formation and a new implementation of stellar feedback through photo-ionization, radiative pressure and…
Whether or not molecular clouds and embedded cloud fragments are stable against collapse is of utmost importance for the study of the star formation process. Only "supercritical" cloud fragments are able to collapse and form stars. The…
The formation of stars is inextricably linked to the structure of their parental molecular clouds. Here we take a number of nearby giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and analyse their column density and mass distributions. This investigation is…
We generalize the classic Bonnor-Ebert stability analysis of pressure-truncated, self-gravitating gas spheres, to include clouds with arbitrary equations of state. A virial-theorem analysis is also used to incorporate mean magnetic fields…
Turbulent radiative mixing layers (TRMLs) play an important role in many astrophysical contexts where cool ($\lesssim 10^4$ K) clouds interact with hot flows (e.g., galactic winds, high velocity clouds, infalling satellites in halos and…