Interstellar flow and star formation /

---

"Version: 20250901"--Title page verso.Includes bibliographical references.The drunkard and the policeman -- part I. Theoretical background. 1. The ISM and star formation -- 1.1. The ISM as a Flowing continuum -- 1.2. the components of the ISM2. The hydrodynamic equations -- 2.1. The fluid approach -- 2.2. The conservation equations -- 2.3. Constitutive relations -- 2.4. The fluid equations from Boltzmann's equation -- 2.5. The gas dynamics equations3. Turbulence -- 3.1. What is turbulence? The Reynolds number -- 3.2. The incompressible momentum equation in Fourier space -- 3.3. Energy conservation and dissipation -- 3.4. The energy spectrum -- 3.5. Kolmogorov-Obukhov theory for the energy spectrum and the turbulent energy cascade -- 3.6. The range of excited scales -- 3.7. Moments of the velocity and correlation function -- 3.8. Structure functions -- 3.9. The compressible case -- 3.10. Supersonic turbulent fragmentation : the probability density function (PDF) of the density fluctuations -- 3.11. Turbulence amplification during gravitational contraction and the thermodynamic behavior of turbulence -- 3.12. How turbulent pressure differs from thermal pressure4. Ism thermodynamics and compressibility -- 4.1. The heating and cooling functions in the ism -- 4.2. Fast net cooling and barotropic flow -- 4.3. Thermal instability and the condensation mode -- 4.4. Linear instability analysis -- 4.5. Nonlinear triggering of the instability and cloud formation5. The scalar virial theorem -- 5.1. Derivation -- 5.2. Applications in ideal cases -- 5.3. (Somewhat) more realistic configurations -- 5.4. Accretion : clouds with time-variable mass6. Self-gravity I : equilibrium and stability -- 6.1. Jeans analysis : the jeans length and mass -- 6.2. Hydrostatic equilibrium of isothermal self-gravitating spheres : Bonnor-Ebert spheres and the singular isothermal sphere -- 6.3. Hydrostatic equilibrium of infinite isothermal cylinders -- 6.4. Fragmentation, growth rates, and geometry -- 6.5. Conclusions7. Self-gravity II : Gravitationally driven collapse flow and gravitational fragmentation -- 7.1. What we mean by "collapse" -- 7.2. Pressureless gravitational collapse and collapse timescales -- 7.3. Non-homologous, pressurized collapse of isothermal spheres : similarity treatment -- 7.4. Collapse flow : the growth of clouds and cores -- 7.5. Jeans mass reduction during collapse : Hoyle's gravitational fragmentation -- 7.6. Highlights and insightpart II. Cloud evolution and star formation. 8. Molecular clouds and their star-forming Properties -- 8.1. Introduction -- 8.2. What and where they are -- 8.3. Physical parameters -- 8.4. Scalings among variables -- 8.5. Molecular cloud star formation activity9. Historical perspective of molecular cloud and star formation models -- 9.1. The discovery of molecular clouds and their supersonic internal motions -- 9.2. Cloud-support models -- 9.3. Global hierarchical collapse model10. Molecular cloud formation and growth -- 10.1. Clouds as dynamic density fluctuations : the physics of compressions -- 10.2. The formation and early evolution of molecular clouds : the converging-flow model11. Onset of gravitational collapse, fragmentation and filamentation -- 11.1. Onset of self-gravitational instability and collapse flow -- 11.2. The turbulent support and global hierarchical collapse scenarios -- 11.3. The transition from the cold atomic to the molecular regime -- 11.4. Fragmentation, filament formation, and "conveyor belt" flow -- 11.5. Sequential collapse of subsequently smaller scales under GHC12. Star-forming regions and the star formation rate -- 12.1. Low-mass and high-mass star-forming regions -- 12.2. The star formation rate and its efficiency -- 12.3. Theoretical descriptions of the SFR -- 12.4. The Nearly stationary gravity-driven gas flow from low- to high-density regions and the intermittent nature of star formation -- 12.5. The delayed formation of massive stars and the stellar IMF -- 12.6. Highlights13. Evolution of the energy balance and scaling relations in molecular clouds -- 13.1. Interpretation of the scaling relations14. Formation of stellar clusters and associations, and cloud dispersal -- 14.1. Introduction : the relationship between the evolution of a cloud and of its stellar products -- 14.2. Definitions and terminology -- 14.3. Imprint of the parent cloud's structure on the nascent cluster -- 14.4. Triggered versus primordial peripheral star formation15. Conclusions : the galactic flow -- 15.1. A change in perspective -- 15.2. Useful analogies -- 15.3. The galactic mass cascade -- 15.4. The road ahead -- Appendix A. Tensor notation.Full-text restricted to subscribers or individual document purchasers.The first part of this book reviews the basic theoretical knowledge necessary to understand the flow of interstellar gas that leads to the formation of stars, including ample discussion of the physical implications, the limitations of standard assumptions, and the necessary extensions for more realistic descriptions. The second part presents a self-consistent view of the process of cloud formation and evolution that leads to the formation of stars, starting from the mechanisms responsible for the formation of clouds in the diffuse interstellar medium, passing through their growth, the onset of gravitational contraction, the onset of star formation, and culminating on the dispersal of the star-forming regions and the properties of the star clusters formed by this process. Throughout the book, special emphasis is made on the fluid nature of the interstellar medium.Researchers and graduate students in the field of star formation.Also available in print.Mode of access: World Wide Web.System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB reader, or Kindle reader.Enrique V?azquez-Semadeni earned his BSc in Physics from UNAM and his PhD in Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a Professor and former Director of the Institute for Radioastronomy and Astrophysics at UNAM's Morelia Campus. He has served on UNAM's Computing Advisory Council and Supercomputing Committee, and received the Mexican Physical Society Research Award in 2019, and the National University Award in Exact Sciences in 2021.Title from PDF title page (viewed on October 1, 2025).

---

Availability

No copy data

Detail Information

Series Title

-

Call Number

-

Publisher

: .,

Collation

1 online resource (various pagings) :illustrations (some color).

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9780750312905

Classification

523.1125

Content Type

-

Media Type

-

Carrier Type

-

Edition

-

Subject(s)

Stars
Galaxies & stars.
Interstellar matter.
SCIENCE / Space Science / Astronomy.

Specific Detail Info

-

Statement of Responsibility

Enrique V?azquez-Semadeni.

Other version/related

File Attachment

Comments

---

You must be logged in to post a comment