paper

Dynamical Expansion of Ionization and Dissociation Front around a Massive Star. I. A Mode of Triggered Star Formation

arXiv:astro-ph/0411080 · doi:10.1086/428648

Abstract

We analyze the dynamical expansion of the HII region and outer photodissociation region (PDR) around a massive star by solving the UV and FUV radiation transfer and the thermal and chemical processes in a time-dependent hydrodynamics code. We focus on the physical structure of the shell swept up by the shock front (SF) preceding the ionization front (IF). After the IF reaches the initial Stromgren radius, the SF emerges in front of the IF and the geometrically thin shell bounded with the IF and the SF is formed. The gas density inside the shell is about 10-100 times as high as the ambient gas density. Initially the dissociation fronts expands faster than IF and the PDR is formed outside the HII region. Thereafter the IF and SF gradually overtakes the proceeding dissociation fronts (DFs), and eventually DFs are taken in the shell. The chemical composition within the shell is initially atomic, but hydrogen and carbon monoxide molecules are gradually formed. This is partly because the IF and SF overtake DFs and SF enters the molecular region, and partly because the reformation timescales of the molecules become shorter than the dynamical timescale. The gas shell becomes dominated by the molecular gas by the time of gravitational fragmentation, which agrees with some recent observations. A simple estimation of star formation rate in the shell can provide a significant star formation rate in our galaxy.

arXiv comment5 pages, 3 figures ; Accepted for publication in ApJ, scheduled for the April 2005, v623 2 issue

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