Formation of Young Star Clusters.pdf

a r X i v : a s t r o - p h / 0 4 0 5 5 7 9 v 1 2 8 M a y 2 0 0 4 IAU XXV JD11: Dynamics and Evolution of Dense Stellar Systems ASP Conference Series, Vol. XXX, 2004 XXX Formation of Young Star Clusters Bruce Elmegreen IBM Research Division, T.J. Watson Research Center, PO Box 218, Yorktown Hts., NY, 10598, USA, bge@ Abstract. Turbulence, self-gravity, and cooling convert most of the in- terstellar medium into cloudy structures that form stars. Turbulence compresses the gas into clouds directly and it moves pre-existing clouds around passively when there are multiple phases of temperature. Self- gravity also partitions the gas into clouds, forming giant regular com- plexes in spiral arms and in resonance rings and contributing to the scale-free motions generated by turbulence. Dense clusters form in the most strongly self-gravitating cores of these clouds, often triggered by compression from local stars. Pre-star formation processes inside clusters are not well observed, but the high formation rates and high densities of pre-stellar objects, and their power law mass functions suggest that turbulence, self-gravity, and energy dissipation are involved there too. In Dynamics and Evolution of Dense Stellar Systems, IAU Joint Discussion 11, Sydney Australia, July 18, 2004. 1. Many Scales of Star Formation Star formation has many scales. Giant star complexes extend for ～ 500 pc along spiral arms and disperse in the interarm regions. The clouds that form them are usually visible in galactic-scale HI surveys, and their cores are visible in CO surveys (Grabelsky et al. 1987). Many of these clouds are mildly self-bound by gravity (Elmegreen Elmegreen 1987; Rand 1993), so they are like any other star-forming clouds: virialized, supersonically turbulent, and capable of produc- ing stars in perhaps several generations with an overall efficiency of ～ 10%. The star formation process itself is confined to the densest cores of these clouds, where gravity is strong and thermal