Related papers: Turbulence and galactic structure
We present the results of a numerical simulation in which star formation proceeds from an initially unbound molecular cloud core. The turbulent motions, which dominate the dynamics, dissipate in shocks leaving a quiescent region which…
The density structure of the interstellar medium (ISM) determines where stars form and release energy, momentum, and heavy elements, driving galaxy evolution. Density variations are seeded and amplified by gas motion, but the exact nature…
The star formation rate in galaxies should be related to the fraction of gas that can attain densities large enough for gravitational collapse. In galaxies with a turbulent interstellar medium, this fraction is controlled by the effective…
Star formation in galaxies is triggered by a combination of processes, including gravitational instabilities, spiral wave shocks, stellar compression, and turbulence compression. Some of these persist in the far outer regions where the…
The radial profiles of gas, stars, and far ultraviolet radiation in 20 dwarf Irregular galaxies are converted to stability parameters and scale heights for a test of the importance of two-dimensional (2D) instabilities in promoting star…
We examine the physical parameters that affect the accumulation of gas in molecular clouds to high column densities where the formation of stars takes place. In particular, we analyze the dense gas mass fraction (DGMF) in a set of…
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…
Galactic spiral shocks are dominant morphological features and believed to be responsible for substructure formation within spiral arms in disk galaxies. They can also contribute a substantial amount of kinetic energy to the interstellar…
Spiral patterns are important agents of galaxy evolution. In this review, I describe how the redistribution of angular momentum by recurrent transient spiral patterns causes the random speeds of stars to rise over time, metallicity…
Major progress has been made over the last few years in understanding hydrodynamical processes on cosmological scales, in particular how galaxies get their baryons. There is increasing recognition that a large part of the baryons accrete…
Protostellar outflows crisscross the regions of star cluster formation, stirring turbulence and altering the evolution of the forming cluster. We model the stirring of turbulent motions by protostellar outflows, building on an observation…
The equilibrium state of a turbulent clumpy gas disk is analytically investigated. The disk consists of distinct self-gravitating clouds. Gravitational cloud-cloud interactions transfer energy over spatial scales and produce a viscosity,…
This is the third of a series of papers presenting the first attempt to analyze the growth of the bar instability in a consistent cosmological scenario. In the previous two articles we explored the role of the cosmology on stellar disks,…
The strongest starbursts are observed towards galaxy nuclei, or circumnuclear regions. However in interacting galaxies, star formation is also triggered in overlap regions far from nuclei, in spiral arms and sometimes in tidal tails. What…
The formation of astrophysical structures, such as stars, compact objects but also galaxies, entail an,enhancement of densities by many orders of magnitude which occurs through gravitational collapse. The role played by turbulence during…
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…
(Abridged) The building blocks of galaxies are star clusters. These form with low-star formation efficiencies and, consequently, loose a large part of their stars that expand outwards once the residual gas is expelled by the action of the…
The process of star formation in interstellar molecular clouds is believed to be controlled by driven supersonic magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. We suggest that in the inertial range such turbulence obeys the Kolmogorov law, while in the…
Stars form predominantly in clusters inside dense clumps of turbulent, magnetized molecular clouds. The typical size and mass of the cluster-forming clumps are \sim 1 pc and \sim 10^2 - 10^3 M_\odot, respectively. Here, we discuss some…
In a new simple model I reconcile two contradictory views on the factors that determine the rate at which molecular clouds form stars -- internal structure vs. external, environmental influences -- providing a unified picture for the…