The scaling relations and star formation laws of ministarburst complexes

Abstract

The scaling relations and the star formation laws for molecular cloud complexes in the Milky Way is investigated. We compare their masses $M_{\mathrm{gas}}$, mass surface densities ${\Sigma }_{M_{\mathrm{gas}}}$, radii $R$, velocity dispersions $\sigma$, star formation rates $SFR$, and SFR densities ${\Sigma }_{\mathrm{SFR}}$ with those of structures ranging from cores, clumps, Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs), to Molecular Cloud Complexes (MCCs), and to Galaxies, spanning 8 orders of magnitudes in size and 13 orders of magnitudes in mass. MCC are mostly large ($R>50$ pc), massive ($\sim 10^6$\,\msun) gravitationally unbound cloud structures. This results in the following universal relations: $\sigma \sim R^{0.5}$, $M_{\mathrm{gas}}\sim R^2$, ${\Sigma }_{\mathrm{SFR}}\sim {\Sigma }_{M_{\mathrm{gas}}}^{1.5}$, $SFR\sim {M_{\mathrm{gas}}}^{0.9}$, and $SFR\sim {\sigma }^{2.7}$. Variations in the slopes and the coefficients of these relations are found at individual scales signifying different physics acting at different scales. Additionally, there are breaks at the MCC scale in the $\sigma -R$ relation and between the starburst and the normal star-forming objects in the $SFR-M_{\mathrm{gas}}$ and ${\Sigma }_{\mathrm{SFR}}$-${\Sigma }_{{\mathrm{M}}_{\mathrm{gas}}}$ relations. We propose to use the Schmidt-Kennicutt diagram to distinguish the starburst from the normal star-forming structures by applying a ${\Sigma }_{M_{\mathrm{gas}}}$ threshold of $\sim 100$\,\msun pc${}^{-2}$ and a ${\Sigma }_{\mathrm{SFR}}$ threshold of 1\,\msun yr${}^{-1}$ kpc${}^{-2}$. Mini-starburst complexes have enhanced ${\Sigma }_{\mathrm{SFR}}$ ($>$1\,\msun yr${}^{-1}$ kpc${}^{-2}$), probably caused by dynamic events such as radiation pressure, colliding flows, or spiral arm gravitational instability. Because of the dynamical evolution, gravitational boundedness does not play a significant role in characterizing the star formation activity of MCCs, especially the mini-starburst complexes.

arXiv commentsubmitted on May 02 2016, accepted to Astrophysical Journal on Oct 09, 2016, comments are welcome

References in corpus (94)

• The Global Schmidt Law in Star Forming Galaxies
• The CO-to-H2 Conversion Factor
• The Milky Way in Molecular Clouds: A New Complete CO Survey
• The Star Formation Law in Nearby Galaxies on Sub-Kpc Scales
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of High Mass Star Forming Regions: the Structure and Kinematics of the Milky Way
• Young massive star clusters
• GOODS-Herschel: an infrared main sequence for star-forming galaxies
• A new calibration of stellar parameters of Galactic O stars
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of Massive Star Forming Regions: VI. Galactic Structure, Fundamental Parameters and Non-Circular Motions
• A Study of the Gas-Star Formation Relation over Cosmic Time
• PHIBSS: molecular gas content and scaling relations in z~1-3 normal star forming galaxies
• On the Star Formation Rates in Molecular Clouds
• Different star formation laws for disks versus starbursts at low and high redshifts
• Molecular Gas and Star Formation in Nearby Disk Galaxies
• Re-examining Larson's Scaling Relationships in Galactic Molecular Clouds
• The Boston University-Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory Galactic Ring Survey
• Structural Analysis of Molecular Clouds: Dendrograms
• A Universal, Local Star Formation Law in Galactic Clouds, Nearby Galaxies, High-Redshift Disks, and Starbursts
• The Resolved Properties of Extragalactic Giant Molecular Clouds
• HCN Survey of Normal Spiral, IR-luminous and Ultraluminous Galaxies
• The Star Formation Rate and Gas Surface Density Relation in the Milky Way: Implications for Extragalactic Studies
• The VLA Galactic Plane Survey
• Star Formation Efficiencies and Lifetimes of Giant Molecular Clouds in the Milky Way
• Physical Properties and Galactic Distribution of Molecular Clouds identified in the Galactic Ring Survey
• Connecting Dense Gas Tracers of Star Formation in our Galaxy to High-z Star Formation
• Parallaxes and proper motions of interstellar masers toward the Cygnus X star-forming complex. I. Membership of the Cygnus X region
• Star Formation Rates in Molecular Clouds and the Nature of the Extragalactic Scaling Relations
• The present-day star formation rate of the Milky-Way determined from Spitzer detected young stellar objects
• Molecular Cloud Formation in Shock-Compressed Layers
• Star Formation Relations in Nearby Molecular Clouds
• Formation of Massive Molecular Cloud Cores by Cloud-cloud Collision
• Molecular Cloud Formation Behind Shock Waves
• From Massive Protostars to a Giant HII Region: Submillimeter Imaging of the Galactic Mini-starburst W43
• A Comparative Study of Giant Molecular Clouds in M51, M33 and the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Resolution of the Distance Ambiguity for Galactic HII Regions
• Trigonometric Parallax of W51 Main/South
• Why are most molecular clouds not gravitationally bound?
• Is Turbulence in the Interstellar Medium Driven by Feedback or Gravity? An Observational Test
• Star Formation in Massive Clusters via the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and the Spitzer Glimpse Survey
• A Herschel [C II] Galactic plane survey II: CO-dark H2 in clouds
• Molecular Clouds Toward the Super Star Cluster NGC3603; Possible Evidence for a Cloud-Cloud Collision in Triggering the Cluster Formation
• Parallaxes for W49N and G048.60+0.02: Distant Star Forming Regions in the Perseus Spiral Arm
• Modeling CO Emission: II. The Physical Characteristics that Determine the X factor in Galactic Molecular Clouds
• The Mass-Size Relation from Clouds to Cores. II. Solar Neighborhood Clouds
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of Massive Star Forming Regions: VIII. G12.89+0.49, G15.03-0.68 (M17) and G27.36-0.16
• Astrometry of Galactic Star Forming Region Sharpless 269 with VERA : Parallax Measurements and Constraint on Outer Rotation Curve
• W43: the closest molecular complex of the Galactic Bar?
• SMA Imaging of CO(3-2) Line and 860 micron Continuum of Arp 220 : Tracing the Spatial Distribution of Luminosity
• The Southern Galactic Plane Survey: Polarized Radio Continuum Observations and Analysis
• The Parallax of W43: a Massive Star Forming Complex near the Galactic Bar
• The formation of molecular clouds in spiral galaxies
• Larson's third law and the universality of molecular cloud structure
• Influence of Cooling-Induced Compressibility on the Structure of Turbulent Flows and Gravitational Collapse
• Low-velocity shocks traced by extended SiO emission along the W43 ridges: witnessing the formation of young massive clusters
• The Herschel view of massive star formation in G035.39--00.33: Dense and cold filament of W48 undergoing a mini-starburst
• ALMA Imaging of HCN, CS and dust in Arp 220 and NGC 6240
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of Star Forming Regions in the Perseus Spiral Arm
• ALMA Observations of the Antennae Galaxies: I. A New Window on a Prototypical Merger
• Giant Molecular Clouds in M31: I - Molecular Cloud Properties
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of Massive Star Forming Regions: IV. G35.20-0.74 and G35.20-1.74
• The Three-mm Ultimate Mopra Milky Way Survey. I. Survey Overview, Initial Data Releases, and First Results
• Resolved Giant Molecular Clouds in Nearby Spiral Galaxies: Insights from the CANON CO (1-0) Survey
• Spiral shocks, triggering of star formation and the velocity dispersion in Giant Molecular Clouds
• Trigonometric parallaxes to star-forming regions within 4 kpc of the galactic center
• GMC Evolutions in the Nearby Spiral Galaxy M33
• Physical Conditions in Molecular Clouds in the Arm and Interarm Regions of M51
• Source-finding for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder
• Giant molecular clouds and massive star formation in the southern milky way
• Trigonometric Parallaxes of Massive Star Forming Regions: G012.88+0.48 and W33
• Giant Molecular Clouds in the Early-Type Galaxy NGC4526
• Two Populations of Molecular Clouds in the Antennae Galaxies
• MUSCLE W49 : A Multi-Scale Continuum and Line Exploration of the Most Luminous Star Formation Region in the Milky Way. I. Data and The Mass Structure of the Giant Molecular Cloud
• The W43-MM1 mini-starburst ridge, a test for star formation efficiency models
• The formation of the W43 complex: constraining its atomic-to-molecular transition and searching for colliding clouds
• An extremely young massive clump forming by gravitational collapse in a primordial galaxy
• Extreme dust disks in Arp 220 as revealed by ALMA
• Shocks, cooling and the origin of star formation rates in spiral galaxies
• Catalog of observed tangents to the spiral arms in the Milky Way galaxy
• Large scale IRAM 30m CO-observations in the giant molecular cloud complex W43
• A multi-wavelength view of the Galactic center dust ridge reveals little star formation
• Physical Properties of Dense Cores in the Rho Ophiuchi Main Cloud and A Significant Role of External Pressures in Clustered Star Formation
• The Dependence of Star Formation Efficiency on Gas Surface Density
• Simulating radiative feedback and star cluster formation in GMCs: I. Dependence on gravitational boundedness
• The dense gas mass fraction in the W51 cloud and its protoclusters
• Environmental dependence of star formation induced by cloud collisions in a barred galaxy
• High-resolution ALMA Observations of SDP.81. II. Molecular Clump Properties of a Lensed Submillimeter Galaxy at z=3.042
• Catalog of dense cores in the Orion A giant molecular cloud
• Clumpy and fractal shocks, and the generation of a velocity dispersion in molecular clouds
• Scaling relations of the properties for CO resolved structures in nearby spiral galaxies
• ALMA CO and VLT/SINFONI H2 observations of the Antennae overlap region: mass and energy dissipation
• The Three-mm Ultimate Mopra Milky Way Survey. II. Cloud and Star Formation Near the Filamentary Ministarburst RCW 106
• A Survey for Hydroxyl in the THOR Pilot Region around W43
• Enhancement of CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) Ratios and Star Formation Efficiencies in Supergiant HII Regions
• The Structure of NGC 1976 in the Radio Range

Cited by in corpus (34)

• High-Mass Star and Massive Cluster Formation in the Milky Way
• Does the magnetic field suppress fragmentation in massive dense cores?
• On the Appearance of Thresholds in the Dynamical Model of Star Formation
• The MALATANG Survey: the L_gas-L_IR correlation on sub-kiloparsec scale in six nearby star-forming galaxies as traced by HCN J=4-3 and HCO^+ J=4-3
• Testing Star Formation Laws in a Starburst Galaxy At Redshift 3 Resolved with ALMA
• ALMA-IMF VI -- Investigating the origin of stellar masses: Core mass function evolution in the W43-MM2&MM3 mini-starburst
• Star Formation Occurs in Dense Gas, but What Does "Dense" Mean?
• Star-forming Clumps in Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies
• From giant clumps to clouds -- III. The connection between star formation and turbulence in the ISM
• Young Stellar Objects in the Massive Star-Forming Regions W51 and W43
• Ionized carbon as a tracer of the assembly of interstellar clouds
• The diffuse gamma-ray emission toward the Galactic mini starburst W43
• An environmental analysis of the fast transient AT2018cow and implications for its progenitor and late-time brightness
• The Nuclear Region of NGC1365: Star Formation, Negative Feedback, and Outflow Structure
• An ALMA study of the massive molecular clump N159W-North in the Large Magellanic Cloud: A possible gas flow penetrating one of the most massive protocluster systems in the Local Group
• Near-Infrared Imaging Polarimetry toward M17 SWex
• Large-scale Map of Millimeter-wavelength Hydrogen Radio Recombination Lines around a Young Massive Star Cluster
• Large-scale magnetic field in the Monoceros OB-1 East molecular cloud
• The correlation between WISE 12 $\mu$m emission and molecular gas tracers on sub-kpc scales in nearby star-forming galaxies
• Large-scale molecular gas distribution in the M17 cloud complex: dense gas conditions of massive star formation?
• Size-Luminosity Scaling Relations of Local and Distant Star Forming Regions
• Extreme star formation in the Milky Way: Luminosity distributions of young stellar objects in W49A and W51
• NH${}_3$ Observations of the S235 Star Forming Region: Dense Gas in Inter-core Bridges
• Multiwavelength study of the G345.5+1.5 region
• Magnetic stability of massive star forming clumps in RCW 106
• Molecular Cloud Matching in CO and Dust in M33 I. High-Resolution Hydrogen Column Density Maps from Herschel
• Unveiling the gravitationally unstable disc of a massive star-forming galaxy using NOEMA and MUSE
• The Hierarchical Dynamical State of Molecular Gas from 3 to 300 pc in NGC 253
• The Drag Instability in a 1D Isothermal C-Shock
• Molecular cloud matching in CO and dust in M33 II. Physical properties of giant molecular clouds
• Which Molecular Cloud Structures Are Bound?
• Supernovae and photoionizing feedback in spiral arm molecular clouds
• The dense galactic environments of the Milky Way
• The MALATANG survey: star formation, dense gas, and AGN feedback in NGC 1068