2007/06/22 by E. Merlin, Emiliano Merlin, C. Chiosi +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena #Scientific Research and Discoveries #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20077465
17 pages, 17 figures
arxiv created 2007/06/22 · openalex publication_date 2007/07/30 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Context.Modelling the gaseous component of the interstellar medium (ISM) by Smoothed Particles Hydrodynamics in N-Body simulations (NB-TSPH) is still very crude when compared to the complex real situation. In the real ISM, many different and almost physically decoupled components (phases) coexist for long periods of time, and since they spread over wide ranges of density and temperature, they cannot be correctly represented by a unique continuous fluid. This would influence star formation which is thought to take place in clumps of cold, dense, molecular clouds, embedded in a warmer, neutral medium, that are almost freely moving throughout the tenuous hot ISM. Therefore, assuming that star formation is simply related to the gas content without specifying the component in which this is both observed and expected to occur may not be physically sound.