Star Formation in Galaxies

Tohline将利用一台超级计算机和计算得到的气体云的广泛成像，研究气体云坍缩形成恒星的过程。他将从一系列新发现的旋转云的数学解或从一组大质量吸积盘的解开始计算坍缩。他将追踪不稳定性的发展，特别是那些导致裂变成小块的不稳定性。众所周知，恒星是由小而密集的星际云坍缩而形成的。众所周知，星云的旋转很重要，部分原因是大多数恒星都是双星对。但是旋转云的实际坍缩还没有被追踪到。云会裂成碎片吗？产生的恒星旋转的速度有多快？Tohline将使用一台超级计算机来调查这些问题，并将使用计算云的图像来确定哪种解决方案与自然界中最相似。

Tohline will investigate the collapse of gas clouds to form stars, using a supercomputer and extensive imaging of the computed gas clouds. He will start the computed collapse either from a series of newly discovered mathematical solutions for rotating clouds or from a set of solutions for massive accretion disks. He will trace the development of instabilities, especially those that cause fission into smaller pieces. Stars are known to form by the collapse of small, dense interstellar clouds. Rotation of the clouds is known to be important, in part because most stars occur in binary pairs. But the actual collapse of rotating clouds has not been traced. Will the cloud split into pieces? How fast will the resulting stars rotate? Tohline will use a supercomputer to investigate these questions and will use images of the computed clouds to determine which solutions most resemble those in nature.