Statistics – Computation
Scientific paper
Mar 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008sptz.prop50137k&link_type=abstract
Spitzer Proposal ID #50137
Statistics
Computation
Scientific paper
Spitzer observations of nearby galaxies have produced considerable insight into the question of where and when star formation occurs. By combining Spitzer maps of galactic disks, which probe embedded regions of star formation at high spatial resolution, with large-scale surveys of atomic and molecular gas, we have for the first time been able to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of star formation and its relation to the distributions of gas and old stars. To date, no comprehensive theoretical model has been capable of reproducing these observations in detail. Simulations indicate that large-scale gravitational instability plays a key role in determining where atomic gas condenses to form giant molecular clouds (GMCs), but they are limited by their inability to resolve the internal dynamics of these objects. Because the conversion of GMC gas into stars is an extremely inefficient and comparatively slow process, most likely as a result of stellar feedback, it is not possible to reproduce the overall rate of star formation and its spread in space and time without understanding GMCs' internal behavior. We propose to remove this limitation by combining large-scale numerical simulations of galactic disks with detailed, physically well-motivated models for the behavior of GMCs on scales too small and involving physics too computationally complex to be included in galactic-scale simulations. We will extend and develop semi-analytic GMC evolution models including stellar feedback that are suitable for implementation as subgrid physics within galactic-scale simulations. Using simulations based on these models, we will predict observables such as the locations and ages of newly-formed star clusters and the distribution of 24 micron emission behind spiral arms. Comparing these predictions with data will provide a new means of testing theories of star formation, and will yield new insight into the physical mechanisms behind the complex patterns that Spitzer has revealed.
Krumholz Mark
Mac Low Mordecai-Mark
Matzner Christopher
McKee Christopher
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