Related papers: Molecular Cloud Formation Behind Shock Waves
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…
Cold atomic and molecular gas are commonly observed in the winds of both external galaxies and the Milky Way, yet the survival and origin of these cool phases within hot galactic winds is poorly understood. To help gain insight into these…
We model the temperature and chemical structure of molecular clouds as a function of depth into the cloud, assuming a cloud of constant density n illuminated by an external FUV (6 eV < E < 13.6 eV) flux G_0 (scaling factor in multiples of…
In this paper we investigate the level of star formation activity within nearby molecular clouds. We employ a uniform set of infrared extinction maps to provide accurate assessments of cloud mass and structure and compare these with…
We are just starting to understand the physical processes driving the dramatic change in cosmic star-formation rate between $z\sim 2$ and the present day. A quantity directly linked to star formation is the molecular gas density, which…
[Abridged] Do some environments favor efficient conversion of molecular gas into stars? To answer this, we need to be able to estimate the H2 mass. Traditionally, this is done using CO and a few assumptions but the Herschel observations in…
Molecular hydrogen (H2) is the primary component of the reservoirs of cold, dense gas that fuel star formation in our galaxy. While the H2 abundance is ultimately regulated by physical processes operating on small scales in the interstellar…
Accumulating observational evidence for a number of radio galaxies suggests an association between their jets and regions of active star formation. The standard picture is that shocks generated by the jet propagate through an inhomogeneous…
We investigate the process of galaxy formation as can be observed in the only currently forming galaxies -- the so-called Tidal Dwarf Galaxies, hereafter TDGs -- through observations of the molecular gas detected via its CO (Carbon…
Using the adaptive mesh refinement code MG, we perform 3D hydrodynamic simulations of a supernova-cloud interaction in the "large cloud regime". The cloud is initially atomic and evolving due to the thermal instability (TI) and gravity. We…
Using 3D hydrodynamic calculations we simulate formation of molecular clouds in the Galaxy. The simulations take into account molecular hydrogen chemical kinetics, cooling and heating processes. Comprehensive gravitational potential…
We review recent results from numerical simulations and related models of MHD turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) and in molecular clouds. We discuss the implications of turbulence for the processes of cloud formation and evolution,…
Does star formation proceed in the same way in large spirals such as the Milky Way and in smaller chemically younger galaxies? Earlier work suggests a more rapid transformation of H$_2$ into stars in these objects but (1) a doubt remains…
Molecular hydrogen has an important role in the early stages of star formation as well as in the production of many other molecules that have been detected in the interstellar medium. In this review we show that it is now possible to study…
We estimate a characteristic timescale for star formation in the spiral arms of disk galaxies, going from atomic hydrogen (HI) to dust-enshrouded massive stars. Drawing on high-resolution HI data from The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey and…
The observed rapid onset of star formation in molecular clouds requires rapid formation of dense fragments which can collapse individually before being overtaken by global gravitationally-driven flows. Many previous investigations have…
We analyse the CO-dark molecular gas content of simulated molecular clouds from the SILCC-Zoom project. The simulations reach a resolution of 0.1 pc and include H$_2$ and CO formation, radiative stellar feedback and magnetic fields. CO-dark…
We present Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations of molecular cloud formation in spiral galaxies. These simulations model the response of a non-self-gravitating gaseous disk to a galactic potential. The spiral shock induces high…
We propose a simple theoretical model for star formation in which the local star formation rate in a galaxy is determined by three factors. First, the interplay between the interstellar radiation field and molecular self-shielding…
We review the properties of turbulent molecular clouds (MCs), focusing on the physical processes that influence star formation (SF). MC formation appears to occur during large-scale compression of the diffuse ISM driven by supernovae,…