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A Toomre-like stability criterion for the clumpy and turbulent interstellar medium

Romeo, Alessandro B. ; Burkert, Andreas ; Agertz, Oscar

In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2010, vol. 407, no. 2, p. 1223-1230

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    Titre
    • A Toomre-like stability criterion for the clumpy and turbulent interstellar medium
    Auteur
    • Romeo, Alessandro B.. Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-43992 Onsala, Sweden
    • Burkert, Andreas. University Observatory, University of Munich, Scheinerstr. 1, D-81679 Munich, Germany
    • Agertz, Oscar. Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Zürich, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland
    Type de document
    • Postprint
    Langue
    • Anglais
    Publié dans
    • Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2010, vol. 407, no. 2, p. 1223-1230. Blackwell Publishing Ltd
    Autre version électronique
    Identifiant OAI-PMH
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:301799
    Summary
    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, , 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