The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is one of the fundamental pillars in studies of stellar populations. It is the mass distribution of stars at birth, and it is traditionally assumed to be universal, adopting generic functions constrained by resolved (i.e. nearby) stellar populations (e.g., Salpeter 1955; Kroupa 2001; Chabrier 2003). However, for the vast majority of cases, stars are not resolved in galaxies. Therefore, the interpretation of the photo-spectroscopic observables is complicated by the many degeneracies present between the properties of the unresolved stellar populations, including IMF, age distribution, and chemical composition. The overall good match of the photometric and spectroscopic observations of galaxies with population synthesis models, adopting standard IMF choices, made this issue a relatively unimportant one for a number of years. However, improved models and observations have opened the door to constraints on the IMF in unresolved stellar populations via gravity-sensitive spectral features. At present, there is significant evidence of a non-universal IMF in early-type galaxies (ETGs), with a trend towards a dwarf-enriched distribution in the most massive systems (see, e.g., van Dokkum & Conroy 2010; Ferreras et al. 2013; La Barbera et al. 2013). Dynamical and strong-lensing constraints of the stellar M/L in similar systems give similar results, with heavier M/L in the most massive ETGs (see, e.g., Cappellari et al. 2012; Posacki et al. 2015). Although the interpretation of the results is still open to discussion (e.g., Smith 2014; La Barbera 2015), one should consider the consequences of such a bottom-heavy IMF in massive galaxies.

The photometric data returned by WISE, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, can be used to search the sky for young stellar objects (YSOs) away from the molecular clouds studied in detail by Spitzer and Herschel. We present updated results for a 100 deg2 region centered on Canis Major, including a look at the clustering properties of YSOs in the region.

Recent UV absorption line studies suggest that a large fraction of missing baryons are in the warm ionized and neutral phases, with about half of Milky Way-mass galaxies containing absorption systems with HI column densities of 1018 cm−2 or greater. This HI gas, which would have been difficult to detect with previous instruments, could be a significant contributor to the missing baryons. The Green Bank Telescope (GBT) presents a unique opportunity to detect this emission. We present results from GBT 21 cm observations of a sample of ten nearby optically luminous spirals, which reveal extended HI gas in half of our sample. The column densities of this extended HI are typically ~ 1 × 1019 cm−2, as measured at distances of 100 kpc from the center of the galaxies.

Observed massive galaxies in the distant Universe form stars at much higher rates than today. High levels of star formation are sustained by a continuous supply of fresh gas and high molecular gas fractions. But after a peak around redshift z=2-3, the star formation rate decreases by an order of magnitude. Is this evolution mostly driven by the available cold gas reservoir, or are the star formation processes qualitatively different near the star formation peak? The Kennicutt-Schmidt relation enables to characterize the star formation efficiency at low and high redshift, but resolved measurements at the scale of the star-forming regions themselves are still challenging at high redshift. Molecular gas observations carried out at the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer within the PHIBSS program (Tacconi, Combes et al.) permit us to study the star formation efficiency at sub-galactic scales around z=1.2 and 1.5 for a limited sample of galaxies, and thus help characterize the star formation processes at this epoch. Our results lay in the continuation of the resolved low-redshift measurements, but further studies would be necessary to complement our sample and validate our conclusions.

We construct the radially-resolved semi-analytic models of galaxy formation based on the L-Galaxies model framework, which include both atomic and molecular gas phase in ISM. The models run on the halo outputs of ΛCDM cosmology N-body simulation. Our models can reproduce varies observations of HI gas in nearby galaxies, e.g. the HI mass function, the HI-to-star ratio vs stellar mass and stellar surface density, universal HI radial surface density profile in outer disks etc. We also give the physical origin of HI size-mass relation. Based on our model results for local dwarf galaxies, we show that the “missing satellite problem” also exists in the HI component, i.e., the models over-predict dwarf galaxies with low HI mass around the Milky Way. That is a shortcoming of current ΛCDM cosmology framework. Future survey for HI gas in local dwarf galaxies (e.g. MeerKAT, SKA & FAST) can help to verify the nature of dark matter (cold or warm).

We performed high resolution 3D hydrodynamical simulations of the barred galaxy M83 and investigated formation and evolution of the giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and star formation activity. We compared two simulations with and without stellar feedback. We found that the feedback disperses the cloud gas and causes clouds to inflow toward the galactic centre region due to hydrodynamical drag. The effect raises the star formation rate (SFR) and star formation efficiency (SFE) in the central bar region.

We derive the extinction toward SN 2014J, a Type Ia supernova in M82, as a function of wavelength from the far ultraviolet to the near infrared by modeling the observed color excesses in terms of a mixture of silicate and graphite. With Av ≈ 1.9 mag and RV ≈ 1.7-1.8, the derived extinction law differs substantially from those of the Galaxy and the Magellanic clouds.

We have modeled two mid-infrared imaging photometry data sets to determine the spatial distribution of physical conditions in the BN/KL infrared complex. We observed the BN/KL region using the 10-m Keck I telescope and the LWS in the direct imaging mode, over a 13” × 19” field (Figure 1, left). We also modeled images obtained with COMICS (Kataza et al. 2000) at the 8.2-m SUBARU telescope, over a total field of view is 31” × 41” (Figure 1, right), in a total of nine bands: 7.8, 8.8, 9.7, 10.5, 11.7, 12.4, 18.5, 20.8 and 24.8 μm with ~1 μm bandwidth interference filters.

We have mapped cold atomic gas in 21cm line H i self-absorption (HISA) at arcminute resolution over more than 90% of the Milky Way's disk. To probe the formation of H2 clouds, we have compared our HISA distribution with CO J = 1-0 line emission. Few HISA features in the outer Galaxy have CO at the same position and velocity, while most inner-Galaxy HISA has overlapping CO. But many apparent inner-Galaxy HISA-CO associations can be explained as chance superpositions, so most inner-Galaxy HISA may also be CO-free. Since standard equilibrium cloud models cannot explain the very cold H i in many HISA features without molecules being present, these clouds may instead have significant CO-dark H2.

How is gas converted into stars across cosmic time? Observations of star-forming galaxies at high redshift indicate that the conditions of the interstellar medium (ISM) were remarkably distinct from typical spirals in the local universe. Nevertheless, these observations are biased towards objects brighter than L*, due to the large luminosity distances involved. Here I present a survey targeting the molecular gas in galaxies at low redshift (z ~ 0.2) with ISM conditions remarkably similar to those observed at earlier epochs, including high star formation rates and lower metallicities. CO observations performed with CARMA indicate that these galaxies follow the same star-formation law as local spirals and other galaxies at the same redshift, albeit at much higher densities. We also present recent results from our ALMA program studying galaxies down to 12 + log(O/H) ~ 8, and discuss the implications of these data to our understanding of the molecular gas reservoir and the conversion factor between CO luminosity and gas mass in environments that are simultaneously low in metal content and extremely dense.

We present the first results from SWAN: “Survey of Water and Ammonia in Nearby galaxies”. Nearby galaxies are conveniently located to probe molecular gas properties on scales of 10 to 200 pc, which are appropriate for the study of Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs). The resolution of the Very Large Array in D and C configurations corresponds to a few 10s of parsecs in these galaxies. To advance studies of galaxy evolution it is paramount to understand how processes in the molecular Interstellar Medium(ISM) and star formation are linked on these scales. We have observed the metastable transitions of ammonia and the 22GHz water maser line in four nearby galaxies: NGC 253, IC 342, NGC 2146, and NGC 6946 using the VLA. These galaxies were chosen to span an order of magnitude in star formation rate, and a range of galactic ecosystems. We use the ammonia transitions to derive kinetic temperatures, which exposes the heating and cooling balance of the ISM. We then aim to relate these conditions to energetic feedback from star formation as indicated by water masers.

Currently, our analysis is focused on NGC 253. NGC 253 is a barred spiral starburst galaxy with a nucleated star formation rate (SFR) of ≈ 3M⊙ per year. We use a distance of 3.9Mpc for analysis. We have observed ammonia transitions (1,1) to (5,5) and the 22GHz water maser line with a resolution of ≈63pc. We have identified nine regions across the nucleated starburst for study. The ammonia (3,3) line appears to be masing in the centermost 200pc. We have identified two regions of water maser emission. The first region is a minor axis extension, about the center of the galaxy, and is very close to the outflow. By means of these measurements, we gain an understanding of the molecular ISM associated with the nucleated starburst environment in NGC 253.

The intensity ratios of HCO+/HCN and HNC/HCN (1-0) reveal the relative influence of star formation and active galactic nuclei (AGN) or black holes on the circum-nuclear gas of a galaxy, allowing the identification of X-ray dominated regions (XDRs) and Photon-dominated regions (PDRs). It is not always clear in the literature how this intensity ratio calculation has been, or should be performed. This paper discusses ratio calculation methods for interferometric data.

We have constructed two types of analytical models for an isothermal filamentary cloud supported mainly by magnetic tension. The first one describes an isolated cloud while the second considers filamentary clouds spaced periodically. The filamentary clouds are assumed to be highly flattened in both the models. The former is proved to be the asymptotic limit of the latter in which each filamentary cloud is much thinner than the distance to the neighboring filaments. These models show that the mass to flux ratio is crucial for the magnetohydrodynamical equilibrium. The upper bound for the line density, i.e., the mass per unit length, is proportional to the magnetic flux. The mass to flux ratio is slightly larger than the critical value, ($2 \pi \sqrt{G}$)−1, in the first model and lower in the second model. The first model is unstable against fragmentation and the wavelength of the fastest growing mode is several times longer than the cloud diameter. The second model is likely to be unstable only when the mass to flux ratio is supercritical.

High-mass stars usually form in giant molecular clouds (GMCs) as part of a young stellar cluster, but some isolated O/B stars are observed. What are the initial conditions that lead to the formation of these objects? The aim of this study is to measure the distribution and basic physical properties of the neutral gas associated with isolated intermediate- and high-mass young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

As part of the SAGE Spitzer Legacy program for the LMC, we have identified and confirmed YSOs using Spitzer IRAC photometry and IRS spectroscopy. By examining the spatial coincidence between the YSOs and 12CO(1–0) emission detected by the NANTEN mapping survey, we identified more than one hundred intermediate/massive YSOs in the LMC that appear to be isolated, i.e. not associated with CO emission. Deeper follow-up CO observations by our team with the higher resolution by Mopra Telescope (beam=30”) detected CO emission at the YSO positions for ~80% of the isolated LMC YSOs. We obtained ALMA data of some of the targets during Cycle 2. We targeted a small but representative (in terms of their association with neutral gas tracers) sample of the isolated high-mass YSOs that we have been studying in the LMC. All of our 12 targets are separated by more than 200 pc from known CO clouds. Our analysis of the ALMA data shows that a compact molecular cloud whose mass is a few thousand solar masses or smaller is associated with most of the YSOs.

Characterization of how dense molecular cores evolve into stars has historically been made through observational changes in their 2 to 25 μm spectral energy distribution (SED) or bolometric temperature via the Class system. Linking these observational classes to a physical protostellar phase or Stages in a consistent manner remains challenging. In order to provide a uniform indicator of whether an observationally classified embedded protostar candidate is likely to be a physical phase Stage 0 or I protostar, we performed an HCO+(J=3-2) survey of Class 0+I and Flat SED young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Spitzer nearby (D < 500 pc) Gould Belt cloud surveys. We use criteria from van Kempen et al.(2009) to classify sources as Stage 0+I or bona fide protostars and find 84% of our HCO+ detected sources meet that criteria. We recommend 0.54 Myr as an evolutionary timescale for these embedded protostars. We discuss trends in our sample with spatial distribution, molecular cloud extinction, spectral index, and bolometric temperature and luminosity.

All available databases of molecular and gas-dust clouds in the Galaxy and other galaxies including their main properties such as position, angular and linear dimensions, distances, radial velocities, atomic and molecular hydrogen mass and column densities, temperatures, masses and others available are briefly described in the paper. An initial list of about 10 000 entries was condensed into a cross-identified all-sky catalogue containing molecular and gas-dust clouds. Some relationships were studied between main physical features of clouds. Finally, we prepared the complex observing program and address prospective work for gaining the gaps.

A gas-grain time dependent chemical code, UCL_CHEM, has been used to investigate the possibility of using chemical tracers to differentiate between the possible formation mechanisms of brown dwarfs. We model the formation of a pre-brown dwarf core through turbulent fragmentation by following the depth-dependent chemistry in a molecular cloud through the step change in density associated with an isothermal shock and the subsequent freefall collapse once a bound core is produced. Trends in the fractional abundance of molecules commonly observed in star forming cores are then explored to find a diagnostic for identifying brown dwarf mass cores formed through turbulence. We find that the cores produced by our models would be bright in CO and NH3 but not in HCO+. This differentiates them from models using purely freefall collapse as such models produce cores that would have detectable transitions from all three molecules.

The formation mechanism of brown dwarfs (BDs) is one of the long-standing problems in star formation because the typical Jeans mass in molecular clouds is too large to form these substellar objects. To answer this question, it is crucial to study a BD at the embedded phase (proto-brown dwarf). IRAS16253 is classified as a Very Low Luminosity Object (VeLLO, Lint < 0.1L⊙), which is considered as a proto-brown dwarf candidate. We use the IRAM 30m, APEX telescopes and the SMA to probe the molecular jet/outflow driven by IRAS 16253 in CO (2–1), (6–5), and (7–6) and study its dynamical features and physical properties. We detect a wiggling pattern in the position-velocity diagrams of the jets. Assuming that this pattern is due to the orbital motion of a binary system, we obtain the current mass of the binary is ~0.026 M⊙. Together with the low parent core mass, IRAS16253 will likely form one or two proto-BD in the future. This is the first time that the current mass of a proto-BD binary system is identified through the dynamics of the jets. Since IRAS16253 is located in an isolated environment, we suggest that BDs can form through fragmentation and collapse like low mass stars.

Atomic hydrogen traces the raw material from which molecular clouds and stars form. With 565 galaxies from the ALFALFA Hα survey, a statistically complete subset of the ALFALFA survey, we examine the processes that affect galaxies' abilities to access and consume their Hi gas. On galaxy-wide scales, Hi gas fractions correlate only weakly with instantaneous specific star formation rates (sSFRs) but tightly with galaxy color. We show that a connection between dust and Hi content, arising from the fundamental mass-metallicity-Hi relation, leads to this tight color correlation. We find that disk galaxies follow a relation between stellar surface density and Hi depletion time, consistent with a scenario in which higher mid-plane pressure leads to more efficient molecular cloud formation from Hi. In contrast, spheroids show no such trend. Starbursts, identified by Hα equivalent width, do not show enhanced Hi gas fractions relative to similar mass non-starburst galaxies. The starbursts' shorter Hi depletion times indicate more efficient consumption of Hi, and galaxy interactions drive this enhanced star formation efficiency in several starbursts. Interestingly, the most disturbed starbursts show greater enhancements in Hi gas fraction, which may indicate an excess of Hi at early merger stages. At low galaxy stellar masses, the triggering mechanism for starbursts is less clear; the high scatter in efficiency and sSFR among low-mass galaxies may result from periodic bursts. We find no evidence for depleted Hi reservoirs in starbursts, which suggests that galaxies may maintain sufficient Hi to fuel multiple starburst episodes.

In order to better understand the chemical conditions and evolutionary properties of massive star-forming regions, and to explore the physical and chemical behavior of simple hydrocarbon molecules, we have used telescopes such as CSO, JCMT, CARMA and SMA, to map the multi-transitions of C2H and HC3N. The column densities and abundances are compared with chemical models to gain some diagnostic of the environment of the regions.