arXivDaily arXiv每日学术速递 周一至周五更新
arXiv 1402.0867astro-ph.GA
收藏

恒星形成中的大问题:恒星形成率,恒星聚集和初始质量函数

The Big Problems in Star Formation: the Star Formation Rate, Stellar Clustering, and the Initial Mass Function

Mark R. Krumholz

摘要:

恒星的形成是驱动宇宙演化的一系列过程的中心:辐射能的产生,元素的合成,行星的形成和生命的发展。几十年的观察已经产生了关于它如何运作的各种经验规则,但目前我们还没有全面的定量理论。在这篇评论中,我讨论了恒星形成领域的现状,重点是三个核心问题:是什么控制着星系中气体转化为恒星的速率?是什么决定了这些恒星是如何聚集在一起的,以及有多少恒星星族最终形成了引力束缚结构?是什么决定了恒星的初始质量函数,它是否随恒星形成环境而变化?我用这三个问题作为一个镜头来介绍恒星形成的基础知识,首先回顾观测现象学和基本的物理过程。然后,我回顾了试图解决这三个问题的当前理论的现状,指出它们之间的联系,以及跨越它们之间规模的理论和数值工作的机会。最后,我对未来几年理论发展的前景进行了讨论。

英文摘要:

Star formation lies at the center of a web of processes that drive cosmic evolution: generation of radiant energy, synthesis of elements, formation of planets, and development of life. Decades of observations have yielded a variety of empirical rules about how it operates, but at present we have no comprehensive, quantitative theory. In this review I discuss the current state of the field of star formation, focusing on three central questions: what controls the rate at which gas in a galaxy converts to stars? What determines how those stars are clustered, and what fraction of the stellar population ends up in gravitationally-bound structures? What determines the stellar initial mass function, and does it vary with star-forming environment? I use these three question as a lens to introduce the basics of star formation, beginning with a review of the observational phenomenology and the basic physical processes. I then review the status of current theories that attempt to solve each of the three problems, pointing out links between them and opportunities for theoretical and numerical work that crosses the scale between them. I conclude with a discussion of prospects for theoretical progress in the coming years.

机构、总结、中文摘要均由AI分析而来,可能存在错误,请以论文正文为准。

↑