How stars form in the turbulent-multiphase interstellar medium?

by Dr. Shmuel Bialy

Cfa Harvard

at Astrophysics and Cosmology Seminar

Wed, 18 Nov 2020, 11:10
Sacta-Rashi Building for Physics (54), room 207

Abstract

I will start with a broad review of the field of star formation and galaxy evolution, and some pressing open questions.
I will then dive into the star-forming interstellar medium (ISM), asking the question, what regulates the star formation process on galactic scales?
I will discuss the multiphase structure of the ISM, heating-cooling processes, and turbulence, all of which may play an important role in regulating star formation.
I will focus on a particularly appealing theory in which far-UV radiation from massive stars introduces a natural self-regulation process for star-formation, and will present recent results (Bialy 2020) for the intimate link between star-formation rate and the far-UV radiation intensity in the ISM.
I will conclude by presenting promising future directions: charting new ways for constraining poorly known interstellar properties: turbulence, 3D ISM structure, the nature of low energy cosmic-rays, and an ongoing effort to construct an improved star-formation model for next-generation cosmological simulations (i.e., IllustrisTNG successors).

Created on 13-11-2020 by Zitrin, Adi (zitrin)
Updaded on 13-11-2020 by Zitrin, Adi (zitrin)