Gas phase processes affecting galactic evolution

Abstract

Gas processes affecting star formation are reviewed with an emphasis on gravitational and magnetic instabilities as a source of turbulence. Gravitational instabilities are pervasive in a multi-phase medium, even for sub-threshold column densities, suggesting that only an ISM with a pure-warm phase can stop star formation. The instabilities generate turbulence, and this turbulence influences the structure and timing of star formation through its effect on the gas distribution and density. The final trigger for star formation is usually direct compression by another star or cluster. The star formation rate is apparently independent of the detailed mechanisms for star formation, and determined primarily by the total mass of gas in a dense form. If the density distribution function is a log-normal, as suggested by turbulence simulations, then this dense gas mass can be calculated and the star formation rate determined from first principles. The results suggest that only 10-4 of the ISM mass actively participates in the star formation process and that this fraction does so because its density is larger than 105 cm-3, at which point several key processes affecting dynamical equilibrium begin to break down.