Details on the event

01/09/2018

Astrophysics Talk

Disruption of giant molecular clouds by stellar feedback

Hui Li (MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research)

Tuesday 04/06/2019 @ 14:00, Sala IV piano Battiferro

Star formation is inefficient on galactic scales. However, on scales of individual star-forming regions, the efficiency varies dramatically. To study how giant molecular clouds (GMCs) are disrupted, I performed a suite of high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations of individual GMCs with self-consistent star formation and momentum feedback. I find that the integrated star formation efficiency of the clouds depends strongly on their surface density, which can be explained by the force balancing between gravity and momentum feedback. We also find that the dynamical response of the central star clusters to gas expulsion leads to the dissolution of the clusters. The final boundness of the star clusters is a continuous function of the star formation efficiency.