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A universal, turbulence-regulated, multi-freefall star formation law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2016

Christoph Federrath ,
Diane M. Salim  and
Lisa J. Kewley
Christoph Federrath
Affiliation:
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia email: [email protected]
Diane M. Salim
Affiliation:
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia email: [email protected]
Lisa J. Kewley
Affiliation:
Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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We develop a new star formation (SF) law based on the density PDF of turbulence and on the multi-freefall concept of gas collapse. We derive a relation where the star formation rate (SFR) correlates with the molecular gas mass per multi-freefall time, whereas previous models had used the average, single-freefall time. We define a new quantity called maximum (multi-freefall) gas consumption rate (MGCR) and show that the actual SFR is only about 0.4% of this maximum possible SFR, confirming the observed low efficiency of star formation.

Keywords

galaxies: high-redshiftgalaxies: ISMgalaxies: starburststars: formation
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 11 , General Assembly A29B: Astronomy in Focus , August 2015 , pp. 740
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2016 

References

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