Related papers: Star Formation in Turbulent Interstellar Gas
Star formation in magnetically subcritical clouds is investigated using a three-dimensional non-ideal magneto-hydrodynamics simulation. Since rapid cloud collapse is suppressed until the magnetic flux is sufficiently removed from the…
The Taurus molecular cloud complex is the paradigm for quiescent, low-density, isolated star formation. Yet the age distribution of its stellar population indicates that star formation is a rapid and dynamic process, inconsistent with the…
Stars form by the gravitational collapse of interstellar gas. The thermodynamic response of the gas can be characterized by an effective equation of state. It determines how gas heats up or cools as it gets compressed, and hence plays a key…
Context. Stellar feedback regulates star formation and shapes the interstellar medium, yet its role during the collapse of molecular clouds remains uncertain over a wide range of initial conditions. Aims. We explore how stellar winds and…
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…
Interstellar space is filled with a dilute mixture of charged particles, atoms, molecules and dust grains, called the interstellar medium (ISM). Understanding its physical properties and dynamical behavior is of pivotal importance to many…
The kinetic energy of supersonic turbulence within interstellar clouds is subject to cooling by dissipation in shocks and subsequent line radiation. The clouds are therefore susceptible to a condensation process controlled by the specific…
Several topics in the theory of magnetized turbulence are reviewed with application to star formation and the interstellar medium. The density, pressure, and temperature distribution in a turbulent interstellar medium is described in…
In the present-day universe, it appears that most, and perhaps all, massive stars are born in star clusters. It also appears that all star clusters contain stars drawn from an approximately universal initial mass function, so that almost…
The turbulent motion within molecular clouds is a key factor controlling star formation. Turbulence supports molecular cloud cores from evolving to gravitational collapse and hence sets a lower bound on the size of molecular cloud cores in…
The models of star formation function and of dissipation of turbulent energy of interstellar medium are proposed. In star formation model the feedback of supernovae is taken into account. It is shown that hierarchical scenario of galaxy…
We provide a brief overview of recent advances and outstanding issues in simulations of interstellar turbulence, including isothermal models for interior structure of molecular clouds and larger-scale multiphase models designed to simulate…
Stars do not generally form in isolation. Instead, they form in clusters, and in these clustered environments newborn stars can have profound effects on one another and on their parent gas clouds. Feedback from clustered stars is almost…
We use a suite of 3D simulations of star-forming molecular clouds, with and without stellar feedback, magnetic fields, and driven turbulence, to study the compression and expansion rates of the gas as functions of density. We show that,…
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…
Recent observations have revealed massive galactic molecular outflows that may have physical conditions (high gas densities) required to form stars. Indeed, several recent models predict that such massive galactic outflows may ignite star…
Studies of molecular clouds and young stars near the sun have provided invaluable insights into the process of star formation. Indeed, much of our physical understanding of this topic has been derived from such studies. Perhaps the two most…
Star formation proceeds via the collapse of a molecular cloud core over multiple dynamical timescales. Turbulence within cores results in a spatially non-uniform angular momentum of the cloud, causing a stochastic variation in orientation…
Star formation lies at the center of a web of processes that drive cosmic evolution: generation of radiant energy, synthesis of elements, formation of planets, and development of life. Decades of observations have yielded a variety of…
Similar to their low-mass counterparts, massive stars likely form via the collapse of pre-stellar molecular cores. Recent observations suggest that most massive cores are subvirial (i.e., not supported by turbulence) and therefore are…