Numerical modeling of star formation and stellar feedback in giant molecular clouds
* Abstract
Galaxy evolution crucially depends on how gas is converted into stars in giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and on how ensuing stellar feedback from young massive stars (in the form of UV radiation, stellar winds, and supernovae) interacts with the surrounding interstellar medium. Observations indicate that GMCs in normal disk galaxies turn only a small fraction of gas mass into stars per free-fall time and over their lifetime. While feedback is believed to play an important role in regulating the efficiency of star formation and cloud lifecycle, details remain elusive. In this talk, I will present results from radiation (M)HD simulations of star-forming GMCs with stellar feedback. I will show how the star formation efficiency and GMC lifetime depend on various integrated cloud properties such as column density, turbulence level, and magnetization. I will also discuss the relative importance of different feedback mechanisms. Our finding that star formation efficiency decreases with the virial parameter of a molecular cloud can be used to explain the observed star formation rate of the Milky Way.
