Related papers: H2 Formation in Low Metallicity Galaxies
The specific star-formation rate of star-forming `main sequence' galaxies significantly decreased since z~1.5, due to the decreasing molecular gas fraction and star formation efficiency. However, the radio-infrared (IR) correlation has not…
This paper presents an analysis of the concentration of the hydrogen molecule inside the ionized region of planetary nebulae. The equations corresponding to the ionization and chemical equilibria of H, H+, H-, H2, H2+, and H3+ are coupled…
Glycoaldehyde, ethylene glycol, and methyl formate are complex organic molecules that have been observed in dark molecular clouds. Because there is no efficient gas-phase route to produce these species, it is expected that a low-temperature…
Comparison of the ISM properties of a wide range of metal-poor galaxies with normal metal-rich galaxies reveals striking differences. We find that the combination of the low dust abundance and the active star formation results in a very…
We study the physical properties of a homogeneous sample of 157 optically-thick absorption line systems at redshifts ~1.8-4.4, selected from a high-dispersion spectroscopic survey of Lyman limit systems (LLSs). By means of multiple…
Aims. Interstellar dust grains, because of their catalytic properties, are crucial to the formation of H2, the most abundant molecule in the Universe. The formation of molecular hydrogen strongly depends on the ability of H atoms to stick…
We exploit the unprecedented depth of integral field data from the KMOS Ultra-deep Rotational Velocity Survey (KURVS) to analyse the strong (H$\alpha$) and forbidden ([NII], [SII]) emission line ratios in 22 main-sequence galaxies at…
An overview is given of the chemical processes that occur in primordial systems under the influence of radiation, metal abundances and dust surface reactions. It is found that radiative feedback effects differ for UV and X-ray photons at…
Many theoretical and laboratory studies predict H2 to be formed in highly excited ro-vibrational states. The consequent relaxation of excited levels via a cascade of infrared transitions might be observable in emission from suitable…
The collapse of dense cores with different metallicities is studied by hydrodynamical calculations coupled with detailed chemical and radiative processes. For this purpose, we construct a simple chemical network with non-equilibrium…
Theoretical studies and current observations of the high-redshift intergalactic medium (IGM) indicate that at least two cosmic transitions occur by the time the universe reaches gas metallicities of about $10^{-3}$ of solar values. These…
Here I describe recent studies of objects with molecular hydrogen emission that is strong relative to other spectral lines. Large telescopes and fast spectrometers have made the 2 {\mu}m window accessible even for relatively faint objects.…
The isomerism of molecules in the interstellar medium and the mechanisms behind it are essential questions in the chemistry of organic molecules in space. In particular, for the simple formic and thioformic acids, the low temperatures found…
Without a source of new gas, our Galaxy would exhaust its supply of gas through the formation of stars. Ionized gas clouds observed at high velocity may be a reservoir of such gas, but their distances are key for placing them in the…
We report new observations of the fundamental $J=1-0$ transition of HCl (at 625.918GHz) toward a sample of 25 galactic star-forming regions, molecular clouds, and evolved stars, carried out using the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory.…
The nature of the sources powering nebular HeII emission in star-forming galaxies remains debated, and various types of objects have been considered, including Wolf-Rayet stars, X-ray binaries, and Population III stars. Modern X-ray…
We use deep spectroscopy from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide-Field-Camera 3 (WFC3) IR grisms combined with broad-band photometry to study the stellar populations, gas ionization and chemical abundances in star-forming galaxies at…
Mid-infrared molecular hydrogen (H$_2$) emission is a powerful cooling agent in galaxy mergers and in radio galaxies; it is a potential key tracer of gas evolution and energy dissipation associated with mergers, star formation, and…
The formation of the first stars out of metal-free gas appears to result in stars at least an order of magnitude more massive than in the present-day case. We here consider what controls the transition from a primordial to a modern initial…
How do stars manage to form within low-density, HI-dominated gas? Such environments provide a laboratory for studying star formation with physical conditions distinct from starbursts and the metal-rich disks of spiral galaxies where most…