Related papers: Efficiency of the dynamical mechanism
Selected results from recent studies of star formation in galaxies at different stages of interaction are reviewed. Recent results from the Spitzer Space Telescope are highlighted. Ideas on how large-scale driving of star formation in…
The correspondence between galaxy major mergers and starburst activity is well-established observationally and in simulations of low redshift galaxies. However, the evolution of the properties of interactions and of the galaxies involved…
Using cosmological hydrodynamical simulations, we investigate the effects of hierarchical aggregation on the triggering of star formation in galactic-like objects. We include a simple star formation model to transform the cold gas in dense…
Moderately luminous starbursts in the nearby universe often occur in disk galaxies that are at most subject to mild external perturbations. An investigation of this type of galaxy leads to a better understanding of starburst triggering…
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…
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,…
We use numerical simulation to investigate the triggering of starbursts in merging disk galaxies. The properties of the merger-driven starbursts are sensitive to the structure of the progenitor galaxies; specifically, to the amount of…
Young, massive star clusters are the most notable and significant end products of violent star-forming episodes triggered by galaxy collisions, mergers, and close encounters. Their contribution to the total luminosity induced by such…
We present the main features in the evolution of the gas pressure in star forming regions, from the formation of the parental cloud to the moment when the region is pressurized by interacting stellar winds. The main processes for cloud…
Star formation depends on the available gaseous "fuel" as well as galactic environment, with higher specific star formation rates where gas is predominantly molecular and where stellar (and dark matter) densities are higher. The partition…
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…
Major mergers and interactions between gas-rich galaxies with comparable masses are thought to be the main triggers of starburst. In this work, we study, for a large stellar mass range, the interaction rate of the starburst galaxies in the…
Mergers of massive gas-rich galaxies trigger violent starbursts that - over timescales of $> 100$ Myr and regions $> 10$ kpc - form massive and compact star clusters comparable in mass and radii to Galactic globular clusters. The star…
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…
Star formation triggering mechanisms are reviewed, including the direct compression of clouds and globules, the compression and collapse of molecular clouds at the edges of HII regions and supernovae, the expansion and collapse of giant…
Of the mechanisms proposed to bring gaseous fuel into the central starburst regions of a galaxy, non-axisymmetries in the gravitational potential set up by interactions or by bars are among the most promising. Nevertheless, direct…
Starbursts are extreme concentrations of star-forming activity with mass conversion surface densities reaching over 1000 times higher than normal for disk galaxies. They are responsible for a large fraction of all cosmic star formation.…
Dynamical interactions between colliding spiral galaxies strongly affect the state and distribution of their interstellar gas. Observations indicate that interactions funnel gas toward the nuclei, fueling bursts of star formation and…
One of the present concepts for the onset of massive star formation is the Kennicutt criterion. This relates the onset of massive star formation to a general gravitational instability of the gas disks of spiral galaxies. It is often…
The conditions that lead to self-regulated star formation, star bursts and the formation of massive stellar clusters are discussed. Massive stars have a strong impact on their environment, especially on the evolution of dwarf galaxies which…