Related papers: Dynamical triggering of starbursts
The evolution of galaxies results from a combination of internal and external processes. The star formation is an internal process transforming cold and dense cores of molecular clouds to stars. It may be triggered internally by expanding…
Massive stars blow powerful winds and eventually explode as supernovae. By doing so, they inject energy and momentum in the circumstellar medium, which is pushed away from the star and piles up to form a dense and expanding shell of gas.…
We investigate the intensity enhancement and the duration of starburst episodes, triggered by major galaxy interactions and mergers. To this aim, we analyze two large statistical datasets of numerical simulations. These have been obtained…
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…
How starburst clusters form out of molecular clouds is still an open question. In this article, I highlight some of the key constraints in this regard, that one can get from the dynamical evolutionary properties of dense stellar systems. I…
Asymmetries in galactic potentials, either self-induced, or caused by a passing companion, play an important role in global gas dynamics in galaxies. In particular, they are able to trigger gas inflow, which in turn feeds nuclear activity.…
We demonstrate that the high pressure of the hot intracluster medium (ICM) can trigger the collapse of molecular clouds in a spiral galaxy, leading to a burst of star formation in the clouds. Our hydrodynamical simulations show that the…
A simple model of gas accretion in young galaxy disks suggests that fast turbulent motions can be driven by accretion energy for a time t_acc~2(epsilon^{0.5} GM^2/xi V^3)^{0.5} where epsilon is the fraction of the accretion energy going…
Triggered star formation in bright rims and shells is reviewed. Shells are commonly observed in the Milky Way and other galaxies, but most diffuse shells seen in HI or the infrared do not have obvious triggered star formation. Dense…
Star formation is a fundamental process for galactic evolution. One issue over the last several decades has been determining whether star formation is induced by external triggers or is self-regulated in a closed system. The role of an…
We propose that star formation is delayed relative to the inflow rate in rapidly-accreting galaxies at very high redshift (z > 2) because of the energy conveyed by the accreting gas. Accreting gas streams provide fuel for star formation,…
Galaxies are thought to be fed by the continuous accretion of intergalactic gas, but direct observational evidence has been elusive. The accreted gas is expected to orbit about the galaxy's halo, delivering not just fuel for star-formation…
Gas infall and accretion play a fundamental role in galaxy formation, and several processes of accretion are reviewed. In particular the cold accretion may solve to some extent the angular momentum problem in disk formation, while it is…
The strong time-dependence of the dynamics of galactic bars yields a complex and rapidly evolving distribution of dense gas and star forming regions. Although bars mainly host regions void of any star formation activity, their extremities…
We study the large-scale triggering of star formation in galaxies. We find that the largest mass-scale not stabilized by rotation, a well defined quantity in a rotating system and with clear dynamical meaning, strongly correlates with the…
We present a method of determining the likely triggering mechanisms for luminous, nearby starbursts based on their optical asymmetry and (B-V) color -- what we term as indices of `physical morphology.' By comparing the starbursts' locations…
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…
Starbursts and substantial variations in the star formation histories are a common phenomenon in galaxies. We study the stability properties of isolated star-forming dwarf galaxies with the aim of identifying starburst modes. The impact of…
We use cosmological SPH simulations to study the effects of mergers in the star formation history of galactic objects in hierarchical clustering scenarios. We find that during some merger events, gaseous discs can experience two starbursts:…
Theory predicts that cosmological gas accretion plays a fundamental role fuelling star formation in galaxies. However, a detailed description of the accretion process to be used when interpreting observations is still lacking. Using the…