Related papers: Global versus Nuclear Starbursts
Although the basic physics of star formation is classical, numerical simulations have yielded essential insights into how stars form. They show that star formation is a highly nonuniform runaway process characterized by the emergence of…
Star formation by gravitational instabilities, sequential triggering, and turbulence triggering are briefly reviewed in order to compare the various mechanisms that are observed in main galaxy disks with those in the inner kiloparsec…
Young galaxies are clumpy, gas-rich, and highly turbulent. Star formation appears to occur by gravitational instabilities in galactic disks. The high dispersion makes the clumps massive and the disks thick. The star formation rate should be…
We propose a simple analytic model to understand when star formation is time-steady versus bursty in galaxies. Recent models explain the observed Kennicutt-Schmidt relation between star formation rate and gas surface densities in galaxies…
Circumnuclear star forming regions, also called hotspots, are often found in the inner regions of some spiral galaxies where intense processes of star formation are taking place. In the UV, massive stars dominate the observed circumnuclear…
Galaxy mergers are believed to trigger strong starbursts. This is well assessed by observations in the local Universe. However the efficiency of this mechanism has poorly been tested so far for high redshift, actively star forming,…
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…
We use simulations with realistic models for stellar feedback to study galaxy mergers. These high resolution (1 pc) simulations follow formation and destruction of individual GMCs and star clusters. The final starburst is dominated by in…
We review current understanding of star formation, outlining an overall theoretical framework and the observations that motivate it. A conception of star formation has emerged in which turbulence plays a dual role, both creating…
I review the properties of starburst galaxies in the nearby and distant universe to decipher their evolution as a distinct extragalactic class. The physical processes and environments of massive star-formation appear to be similar out to z…
Optical and X-ray studies have established the prevalence of significant substructure in clusters of galaxies, indicating that clusters are young systems, and that recent major mergers have occurred in many clusters. Numerical simulations…
Recent literature suggests that there are two modes through which galaxies grow their stellar mass - a normal mode characterized by quasi-steady star formation, and a highly efficient starburst mode possibly triggered by stochastic events…
The optical/near-IR stellar continuum carries unique information about the stellar population in a galaxy, its mass function and star-formation history. Star-forming regions display rich emission-line spectra from which we can derive the…
Star clusters form in dense, hierarchically collapsing gas clouds. Bulk kinetic energy is transformed to turbulence with stars forming from cores fed by filaments. In the most compact regions, stellar feedback is least effective in removing…
In this contribution I summarize our current knowledge of the nature and significance of starburst-driven galactic superwinds. These flows are driven primarily by the kinetic energy supplied by supernovae. Superwinds are complex, multiphase…
There is a consensus in the literature that starburst galaxies are triggered by inter- action events. However, it remains an open question as to what extent both merging and non-merging interactions have in triggering starbursts? In this…
Star clusters are known to be formed in turbulent molecular clouds. How turbulence is driven in molecular clouds and what effect this has on star formation is still unclear. We compare a simulation setup with turbulent driving everywhere in…
Recent observations indicate that the progenitors of globular clusters (GCs) at high redshifts had high average stellar surface densities above $10^5\, \mathrm{M}_\odot\, \mathrm{pc}^{-2}$. The internal structure and kinematics of the…
Using numerical simulation, we study the development of gaseous inflows and triggering of starburst activity in mergers of comparable-mass disk galaxies. In all encounters studied, the galaxies experience strong gaseous inflows and moderate…
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.…