Star Formation

by Mark R Krumholz

Overview

'Krumholz has a strong writing style, didactic to be sure, but also fairly conversational within the limits of the material. While hardly casual reading, this text would be a good resource for a stellar astrophysicist, or any individual seeking to become one.'
CHOICEThis book provides a modern introduction to the study of star formation, at a level suitable for graduate students or advanced undergraduates in astrophysics. The first third of the book provides a review of the observational phenomenology and then the basic physical processes that are important for star formation. The remainder then discusses the major observational results and theoretical models for star formation on scales from galactic down to planetary. The book includes recommendations for complementary reading from the research literature, as well as five problem sets with solutions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789813142022
Publisher:	World Scientific Publishing Company, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/11/2017
Series:	World Scientific Series In Astrophysics
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

List of Figures xiii

Preface xix

I Introduction and Phenomenology 1

1 Observing the Cold Interstellar Medium 3

1.1 Observing Techniques 3

1.2 Observational Phenomenology 18

2 Observing Young Stars 23

2.1 Individual Stars 23

2.2 Statistics of Resolved Stellar Populations 30

2.3 Unresolved Stellar Populations and Extragalactic Star Formation 33

II Physical Processes 43

3 Chemistry and Thermodynamics 45

3.1 Chemical Processes in the Cold ISM 45

3.2 Thermodynamics of Molecular Gas 54

4 Gas Flows and Turbulence 63

4.1 Characteristic Numbers for Fluid Flow 63

4.2 Modeling Turbulence 67

4.3 Supersonic Turbulence 72

Problem Set 1 79

5 Magnetic Fields and Magnetized Turbulence 83

5.1 Observing Magnetic Fields 83

5.2 Equations and Characteristic Numbers for Magnetized Turbulence 87

5.3 Non-Ideal Magnetohydrodynamics 91

6 Gravitational Instability and Collapse 99

6.1 The Virial Theorem 99

6.2 Stability Conditions 104

6.3 Pressureless Collapse 115

7 Stellar Feedback 121

7.1 General Formalism 121

7.2 Momentum-Driven Feedback Mechanisms 126

7.3 (Partly) Energy-Driven Feedback Mechanisms 130

III Star Formation Processes and Problems 141

8 Giant Molecular Clouds 143

8.1 Molecular Cloud Masses 144

8.2 Scaling Relations 153

8.3 Molecular Cloud Timescales 157

Problem Set 2 157

9 The Star Formation Rate at Galactic Scales: Observations 171

9.1 The Star Formation Rate Integrated Over Whole Galaxies 172

9.2 The Spatially-Resolved Star Formation Rate 178

9.3 Star Formation in Dense Gas 187

10 The Star Formation Rate at Galactic Scales: Theory 193

10.1 The Top-Down Approach 194

10.2 The Bottom-Up Approach 203

11 Stellar Clustering 215

11.1 Observations of Clustering 215

11.2 Theory of Stellar Clustering 223

12 The Initial Mass Function: Observations 233

12.1 Resolved Stellar Populations 234

12.2 Unresolved Stellar Populations 245

12.3 Binaries 249

Problem Set 3 253

13 The Initial Mass Function: Theory 257

13.1 The Power Law Tail 257

13.2 The Peak of the IMF 263

14 Protostellar Disks and Outflows: Observations 275

14.1 Observing Disks 276

14.2 Observations of Outflows 285

15 Protostellar Disks and Outflows: Theory 289

15.1 Disk Formation 289

15.2 Disk Evolution 296

15.3 Outflow Launching 310

16 Protostar Formation 317

16.1 Thermodynamics of a Collapsing Core 317

16.2 The Protostellar Envelope 325

17 Protostellar Evolution 333

17.1 Fundamental Theory 333

17.2 Evolutionary Phases for Protestars 342

17.3 Observable Evolution of Protostars 349

Problem Set 4 357

18 Massive Star Formation 361

18.1 Observational Phenomenology 362

18.2 Fragmentation 367

18.3 Barriers to Accretion 372

19 The First Stars 381

19.1 Cosmological Context 382

19.2 Chemistry and Thermodynamics of Primordial Gas 383

19.3 The IMF of the First Stars 388

19.4 The Transition to Modern Star Formation 391

20 Late-Stage Stars and Disks 399

20.1 Stars Near the End of Star Formation 399

20.2 Disk Dispersal: Observation 405

20.3 Disk Dispersal: Theory 409

21 The Transition to Planet Formation 419

21.1 Dynamics of Solid Particles in a Disk 419

21.2 From Pebbles to Planetesimals 425

Problem Set 5 435

A Statistical Mechanics of Multi-Level Atoms and Molecules 439

A.1 Matter-Radiation Interaction 439

A.2 Statistical Equilibrium for Multi-Level Systems 442

A.3 Critical Densities for Multi-Level Systems 444

B Solutions to Problem Sets 447

Solutions to Problem Set 1 449

Solutions to Problem Set 2 452

Solutions to Problem Set 3 463

Solutions to Problem Set 4 472

Solutions to Problem Set 5 485

Bibliography 495

Index 503