Related papers: Small-Scale Mixing of the Elements
We perform high resolution simulations of forming star clusters as they merge inside giant molecular clouds (GMCs) using hydrodynamics coupled to N-body dynamics to simultaneously model both the gas and stars. We zoom in to previously run…
We present a full hydrodynamical investigation of a system of self-contained, interacting gas `cloudlets'. Calculations are performed using SPH, and cloudlets are allowed to collide, dissipate kinetic energy, merge and undergo local…
We explore the gravitational influence of pressure supported stellar systems on the internal density distribution of a gaseous environment. We conclude that compact massive star clusters with masses >= 10^6 M_sun act as cloud condensation…
Until recently, simulations that modeled entire galaxies were restricted to an isothermal or fixed 2- or 3-phase interstellar medium (ISM). This obscured the full role of the ISM in shaping the observed galactic-scale star formation…
By means of analytical calculations, we explore the self-enrichment scenario for Globular Cluster formation. According to this scenario, an initial burst of star formation occurs inside the core radius of the initial gaseous distribution.…
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…
Using parsec-resolution simulations of a typical galaxy merger, we study the triggering of starbursts by connecting the (inter-)galactic dynamics to the structure of the interstellar medium. The gravitational encounter between two galaxies…
We present the first results of a detailed modeling of chemical and photometric evolution of galaxies including the effects of a dusty interstellar medium. A chemical evolution code follows the SF rate, the gas fraction and the metallicity,…
Measurements by dust detectors on interplanetary spacecraft appear to indicate a substantial flux of interstellar particles with masses exceeding 10^{-12}gram. The reported abundance of these massive grains cannot be typical of interstellar…
Galaxies must form and evolve via the acquisition of gas from the intergalactic environment, however the way this gas accretion takes place is still poorly understood. Star-forming galaxies are surrounded by multiphase halos that appear to…
The formation and evolution of galactic disks are complex phenomena, where gas and star dynamics are coupled through star formation and the related feedback. The physical processes are so numerous and intricate that numerical models focus,…
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…
Several structures have been discovered embedded in regions of recent or ongoing star formation, which point to the importance of the interaction between fast moving wind-blowing stars and their environment. Using hydrodynamic simulations,…
Recent observational studies of intermediate- and high-mass star-forming regions at submillimeter and infrared wavelengths are reviewed, and chemical diagnostics of the different physical components associated with young stellar objects are…
Because of their low gravitational energies dwarf galaxies are greatly exposed to energetical influences by the interstellar medium, like e.g.\ stellar radiation, winds or explosions, or by their environment. While the metallicity depletion…
High-angular resolution observations at sub-millimeter/millimeter wavelengths of disks surrounding young stars have shown that their morphology is made of azimuthally-symmetric or point-symmetric substructures, in some cases with spiral…
We present a model for the formation of massive ($M > 10 M_\odot$) stars through accretion-induced collisions in the cores of embedded dense stellar clusters. This model circumvents the problem of accreting onto a star whose luminosity is…
The empirical laws of star formation suggest that galactic-scale gravity is involved, but they do not identify the actual triggering mechanisms for clusters in the final stages. Many other triggering processes satisfy the empirical laws…
It has been proposed that mergers induce starbursts and lead to important morphological changes in galaxies. Most studies so far have focused on large galaxies, but dwarfs might also experience such events, since the halo mass function is…
Stellar chemical element ratios have well-defined systematic trends as a function of abundance, with an excellent correlation of these trends with stellar populations defined kinematically. This is remarkable, and has significant…