Related papers: Radiation Pressure in Massive Star Formation
(Abriged) At present, there are two scenarios for the formation of massive stars: 1) The accretion scenario and 2) The coalescence scenario, which implies the merging of intermediate mass stars. We examine here some properties of the first…
Accretion disks around active galactic nuclei are potentially unstable to star formation at large radii. We note that when the compact objects formed from some of these stars spiral into the central supermassive black hole, there is no…
We show that the optically-thick dusty envelopes surrounding young high-mass stars are subject to the photon bubble instability. The infrared radiation passing through the envelope amplifies magnetosonic disturbances, with growth rates in…
Dusty disks around young stars are formed out of interstellar dust that consists of amorphous, submicrometre grains. Yet the grains found in comets and meteorites, and traced in the spectra of young stars, include large crystalline grains…
Supermassive stars (SMSs) forming via very rapid mass accretion (Mdot >~ 0.1 Msun/yr) could be precursors of supermassive black holes observed beyond redshift of about 6. Extending our previous work, we here study the evolution of…
Radiative transfer calculations of massive star formation are presented. These are based on the Turbulent Core Model of McKee & Tan and self-consistently included a hydrostatic core, an inside-out expansion wave, a zone of free-falling…
We investigate the upper stellar mass limit set by radiative feedback by the forming star with various accretion rates and metallicities. To this end, we numerically solve the structures of both a protostar and its surrounding accretion…
The collapse of baryons into extremely massive stars with masses exceeding 10^4 M_Sun in a small fraction of protogalaxies at z > 10 is a promising candidate for the origin of supermassive black holes, some of which grow to a billion solar…
Massive stars can form within or be captured by AGN disks, influencing both the thermal structure and metallicity of the disk environment. In a previous work, we investigated isotropic accretion onto massive stars from a gas-rich,…
I review some recent work on low-mass star formation, with an emphasis on theory, basic principles, and unresolved questions. Star formation is both a gravitational fragmentation problem as well as an accretion problem. Molecular cloud…
Accretion dynamics in the forming of young stars is still object of debate because of limitations in observations and modelling. Through scaled laboratory experiments of collimated plasma accretion onto a solid in the presence of a magnetic…
Supermassive black holes are not only common in the present-day galaxies, but billion solar masses black holes also powered $z\geq 6$ quasars. One efficient way to form such black holes is the collapse of a massive primordial gas cloud into…
It is often assumed that the strong gravitational field of a super-massive black hole disrupts an adjacent molecular cloud preventing classical star formation in the deep potential well of the black hole. Yet, young stars have been observed…
Gas disks of spiral galaxies can be described as clumpy accretion disks without a coupling of viscosity to the actual thermal state of the gas. The model description of a turbulent disk consisting of emerging and spreading clumps (Vollmer &…
I compare theoretical models of massive star formation with observations of the Orion Hot Core, which harbors one of the closest massive protostars. Although this region is complicated, many of its features (size, luminosity, accretion…
A classical paradox in high-mass star formation is that powerful radiation pressure can halt accretion, preventing further growth of a central star. Disk accretion has been proposed to solve this problem, but the disks and the accretion…
How massive were the first stars? This question is of fundamental importance for galaxy formation and cosmic reionization. Here we consider how protostellar feedback can limit the mass of a forming star. For this we must understand the rate…
We present coupled stellar evolution (SE) and 3D radiation-hydrodynamic (RHD) simulations of the evolution of primordial protostars, their immediate environment, and the dynamic accretion history under the influence of stellar ionizing and…
Direct collapse of supermassive stars (SMSs) is a possible pathway for generating supermassive black holes in the early universe. It is expected that an SMS could form via very rapid mass accretion with Mdot ~ 0.1 - 1 Msun/yr during the…
(Abridged) Context. Massive stars form in magnetized and turbulent environments, and are often located in stellar clusters. Their accretion mechanism, as well as the origin of their system's stellar multiplicity are poorly understood. Aims.…