A Toomre-like stability criterion for the clumpy and turbulent interstellar medium
Journal article, 2010

We explore the gravitational instability of clumpy and turbulent gas discs, taking into account the Larson-type scaling laws observed in giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and H I, as well as more general scaling relations. This degree of freedom is of special interest in view of the coming high-z interstellar medium surveys and is thus potentially important for understanding the dynamical effects of turbulence at all epochs of galaxy evolution. Our analysis shows that turbulence has a deep impact on the gravitational instability of the disc. It excites a rich variety of stability regimes, several of which have no classical counterpart. Among other diagnostics, we provide two useful tools for observers and simulators: (1) the stability map of turbulence, which illustrates our stability scenario and relates it to the phenomenology of interstellar turbulence: GMC/H I observations, simulations and models; (2) a Toomre-like stability criterion, Graphic, which applies to a large class of clumpy/turbulent discs. We make specific predictions about GMC and cold-H I turbulence and point out the implications of our analysis for high-z galaxy surveys.

Author

Alessandro Romeo

Chalmers, Department of Radio and Space Science, Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics

A. Burkert

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)

O. Agertz

University of Zürich

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

0035-8711 (ISSN) 1365-2966 (eISSN)

Vol. 407 2 1223-1230

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Roots

Basic sciences

DOI

10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16975.x

More information

Latest update

3/29/2018