Rhea-RT: Dynamical impact of Central Molecular Zone conditions on the properties of the interstellar medium and stellar feedback coupling
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2026
The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is an extreme star formation environment, characterized by higher density, higher turbulence, stronger orbital shear, and stronger magnetic field strength than the solar neighborhood. It is still debated whether classical theories of star formation hold within this extreme environment. In order to assess the impact of these different conditions on the interstellar medium (ISM) and on star formation, we present radiation magnetohydrodynamic AREPO simulations of a Milky Way-type galaxy. We set up a high-resolution (M cell = 20 M⊙) region in a ring around the solar radius and in the barred region of the Galaxy to have a coherent comparison between the CMZ and the solar neighborhood. Although the high densities and strong levels of turbulence affect star formation and feedback, a key difference in the regulation of star formation between the two environments comes from the short orbital times and the strong shear in the CMZ. In particular, we highlight the role of the quick dynamical decoupling of stars and gas, which leads to periodic re-embedding events in the early lifetimes of radiating O stars. Young stellar associations are efficiently sheared apart, such that the ISM is deprived of the compounding effect of radiation and supernovae in disrupting molecular clouds. This dramatically changes the evolution of giant molecular clouds and how feedback can regulate star formation in the CMZ. Stellar feedback is no longer directly coupled to the molecular cloud from which they formed, and no strong and disruptive superbubbles can develop. The feedback instead rather acts as a background source of turbulence.
ISM: kinematics and dynamics
stars: formation
galaxy: center
galaxies: ISM
Författare
Robin G. Tress
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
N. Brucy
Universität Heidelberg
École Normale Supérieure de Lyon
P. Girichidis
Universität Heidelberg
S. C.O. Glover
Universität Heidelberg
J. Göller
Universität Heidelberg
Michaela Hirschmann
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
R. S. Klessen
Universität Heidelberg
T. Peter
Universität Heidelberg
J. Petersson
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Mattia C. Sormani
Universita degli Studi dell'Insubria
Lucia Armillotta
Universita degli Studi di Firenze
C. Battersby
University of Connecticut
M. Donati
Universita degli Studi dell'Insubria
Z. X. Feng
Universita degli Studi dell'Insubria
Jonathan D. Henshaw
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
D. Lipman
University of Connecticut
S. Longmore
Liverpool John Moores University
Francisco Nogueras-Lara
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
V. M. Pelkonen
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
N. Peschken
Universita degli Studi di Firenze
Maya Petkova
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik
Adèle Plat
Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)
S. Reissl
Universität Heidelberg
R. Smith
University of St Andrews
J. D. Soler
Universität Wien
Astronomy and Astrophysics
0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)
Vol. 711 A103Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2025)
Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi
DOI
10.1051/0004-6361/202558503
Relaterade dataset
Movies of the simulation [dataset]
DOI: 10.7910/DVN/ULCTSZ