Formation Of Young Massive Clusters Research Articles

The Impact of Stellar Radiative Feedback on Formation of Young Massive Clusters via Fast H i Gas Collisions

Young massive clusters (YMCs) are dense aggregates of young stars and are often speculated as potential precursors to globular clusters. However, the formation mechanism of massive and compact gas clumps that precede YMCs remains unknown. In this paper, we study the formation of such massive clumps via fast H i gas collisions (∼100 km s−1) as suggested by recent observations and their subsequent evolution into YMCs by using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations involving self-gravity and detailed thermal/chemical processes. In particular, the impact of ionization feedback from stellar radiation is included in an approximate fashion where the temperature within the H ii regions is elevated to 10,000 K, while supernova feedback is not included. We examine whether the resulting massive clumps can survive this ionization feedback and evolve into YMCs. Our simulations reveal the emergence of gas clumps that not only possess substantial mass (∼105 M ⊙) but also sufficient compactness (∼5 pc). Notably, these clumps exhibit significantly higher escape velocities compared to the sound speed of the H ii region, indicating effective gravitational retention of gas against feedback-induced evaporation. Consequently, these conditions foster efficient star formation within the massive gas clumps, ultimately leading to their evolution into YMCs. We also perform simulations involving lower-velocity gas collisions, approximately 15 km s−1, typical shock velocities induced by galactic superbubbles. In contrast to the high-velocity collisions, we find that molecular cloud formation does not occur in the case of 1 cm−3 gas collision, while YMC formation is observed in the presence of denser gas of 10 cm−3. However, the formation of YMCs requires compression periods exceeding 10 Myr in these cases, indicating a potential preference for gas collisions driven by intergalactic interactions rather than galactic superbubbles for YMC formation.

Merger rate density of stellar-mass binary black holes from young massive clusters, open clusters, and isolated binaries: Comparisons with LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA results

I investigate the roles of cluster dynamics and massive binary evolution in producing stellar-remnant binary black hole (BBH) mergers over the cosmic time. To that end, dynamical BBH mergers are obtained from long-term direct N-body evolutionary models of $\sim10^4M_\odot$, pc-scale young massive clusters (YMC) evolving into moderate-mass open clusters (OC). Fast evolutionary models of massive isolated binaries (IB) yield BBHs from binary evolution. Population synthesis in a Model Universe is then performed, taking into account observed cosmic star-formation and enrichment histories, to obtain BBH-merger yields from these two channels observable at the present day and over cosmic time. The merging BBH populations from the two channels are combined by applying a proof-of-concept Bayesian regression chain, taking into account observed differential intrinsic BBH merger rate densities from the second gravitational-wave transient catalogue (GWTC-2). The analysis estimates an OB-star binary fraction of $f_{\rm Obin}\gtrsim90$% and a YMC formation efficiency of $f_{\rm YMC}\sim10^{-2}$, being consistent with recent optical observations and large scale structure formation simulations. The corresponding combined Model Universe present-day, differential intrinsic BBH merger rate density and the cosmic evolution of BBH merger rate density both agree well with those from GWTC-2. The analysis also suggests that despite significant 'dynamical mixing' at low redshifts, BBH mergers at high redshifts ($z_{\rm event}\gtrsim1$) could still be predominantly determined by binary-evolution physics. Caveats in the present approach and future improvements are discussed.

The properties of clusters, and the orientation of magnetic fields relative to filaments, in magnetohydrodynamic simulations of colliding clouds

ABSTRACT We have performed Smoothed Particle Magneto-Hydrodynamics (SPMHD) calculations of colliding clouds to investigate the formation of massive stellar clusters, adopting a timestep criterion to prevent large divergence errors. We find that magnetic fields do not impede the formation of young massive clusters (YMCs), and the development of high star formation rates, although we do see a strong dependence of our results on the direction of the magnetic field. If the field is initially perpendicular to the collision, and sufficiently strong, we find that star formation is delayed, and the morphology of the resulting clusters is significantly altered. We relate this to the large amplification of the field with this initial orientation. We also see that filaments formed with this configuration are less dense. When the field is parallel to the collision, there is much less amplification of the field, dense filaments form, and the formation of clusters is similar to the purely hydrodynamical case. Our simulations reproduce the observed tendency for magnetic fields to be aligned perpendicularly to dense filaments, and parallel to low density filaments. Overall our results are in broad agreement with past work in this area using grid codes.

The role of collision speed, cloud density, and turbulence in the formation of young massive clusters via cloud–cloud collisions

ABSTRACT Young massive clusters (YMCs) are recently formed astronomical objects with unusually high star formation rates. We propose the collision of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) as a likely formation mechanism of YMCs, consistent with the YMC conveyor-belt formation mode concluded by other authors. We conducted smoothed particle hydrodynamical simulations of cloud–cloud collisions and explored the effect of the clouds’ collision speed, initial cloud density, and the level of cloud turbulence on the global star formation rate and the properties of the clusters formed from the collision. We show that greater collision speed, greater initial cloud density and lower turbulence increase the overall star formation rate and produce clusters with greater cluster mass. In general, collisions with relative velocity ≳ 25 km s−1, initial cloud density ≳ 250 cm−3, and turbulence of ≈2.5 km s−1 can produce massive clusters with properties resembling the observed Milky Way YMCs.

The formation of young massive clusters triggered by cloud–cloud collisions in the Antennae galaxies NGC 4038/NGC 4039

Abstract The formation mechanism of super star clusters (SSCs), present-day analogs of the ancient globulars, still remains elusive. The major merger that is the Antennae galaxies is forming SSCs and is one of the primary targets to test the cluster formation mechanism. We reanalyzed the archival ALMA CO data of the Antennae and found three typical observational signatures of a cloud–cloud collision toward SSC B1 and other SSCs in the overlap region: (i) two velocity components with ∼100 km s−1 velocity separation, (ii) bridge features connecting the two components, and (iii) a complementary spatial distribution between them, lending support to collisions of the two components as a cluster formation mechanism. We present a scenario that two clouds with 100 km s−1 velocity separation collided, and SSCs having ∼106–107 M⊙ were formed rapidly during that time scale. We compared the present results with the recent studies of star-forming regions in the Milky Way and the Large Magellanic Cloud, where the SSCs having ∼104–105 M⊙ are located. As a result, we found that there is a positive correlation between the compressed gas pressure generated by collisions and the total stellar mass of an SSC, suggesting that the pressure may be a key parameter in SSC formation.

The formation of young massive clusters by colliding flows

ABSTRACT Young massive clusters (YMCs) are the most intense regions of star formation in galaxies. Formulating a model for YMC formation while at the same time meeting the constraints from observations is, however, highly challenging. We show that forming YMCs requires clouds with densities ≳ 100 cm−3 to collide with high velocities (≳ 20 km s−1). We present the first simulations which, starting from moderate cloud densities of ∼100 cm−3, are able to convert a large amount of mass into stars over a time period of around 1 Myr, to produce dense massive clusters similar to those observed. Such conditions are commonplace in more extreme environments, where YMCs are common, but atypical for our Galaxy, where YMCs are rare.

On the origin of multiple populations during massive star cluster formation

We investigate the possibility that multiple populations in globular clusters arise as a natural by-product of massive star-cluster formation. We use 3D radiative hydrodynamics simulations for the formation of young massive clusters to track their chemical self-enrichment during their first 5 Myr. These clusters form embedded within filamentary Giant Molecular Clouds by a combination of gas accretion and rapid merging of protoclusters. Chemical enrichment is a dynamic process happening as the young cluster assembles, so that the original (1P) and enriched (2P) subpopulations of stars form almost simultaneously. Here we test two simple and opposite extremes for the injection of enriched material into the intracluster gas: we assume either continuous injection in a way that tracks the star formation rate; or sudden injection by a single instantaneous event. Using helium abundance as a proxy for the enrichment, we find that realistic multiple population features can be reproduced by injecting a total helium mass amounting to a few percent of the cluster's total mass. The differences in individual growth histories can lead to widely differing 1P/2P outcomes. These models suggest that dual or multiple populations can emerge rapidly in massive star clusters undergoing the typical mode of star cluster formation.

Comparing young massive clusters and their progenitor clouds in the Milky Way

Young massive clusters (YMCs) have central stellar mass surface densities exceeding $10^{4} M_{\odot} pc^{-2}$. It is currently unknown whether the stars formed at such high (proto)stellar densities. We compile a sample of gas clouds in the Galaxy which have sufficient gas mass within a radius of a few parsecs to form a YMC, and compare their radial gas mass distributions to the stellar mass distribution of Galactic YMCs. We find that the gas in the progenitor clouds is distributed differently than the stars in YMCs. The mass surface density profiles of the gas clouds are generally shallower than the stellar mass surface density profiles of the YMCs, which are characterised by prominent dense core regions with radii ~ 0.1 pc, followed by a power-law tail. On the scale of YMC core radii, we find that there are no known clouds with significantly more mass in their central regions when compared to Galactic YMCs. Additionally, we find that models in which stars form from very dense initial conditions require surface densities that are generally higher than those seen in the known candidate YMC progenitor clouds. Our results show that the quiescent, less evolved clouds contain less mass in their central regions than in the highly star-forming clouds. This suggests an evolutionary trend in which clouds continue to accumulate mass towards their centres after the onset of star formation. We conclude that a conveyor-belt scenario for YMC formation is consistent with the current sample of Galactic YMCs and their progenitor clouds.

Young Massive Clusters: Their Population Properties, Formation and Evolution, and Their Relation to the Ancient Globular Clusters

This review summarises the main properties of Young Massive Clusters (YMCs), including their population properties, particularly focusing on extragalactic cluster samples. We discuss potential biases and caveats that can affect the construction of cluster samples and how incompleteness effects can result in erroneous conclusions regarding the long term survival of clusters. In addition to the luminosity, mass and age distributions of the clusters, we discuss the size distribution and profile evolution of the clusters. We also briefly discuss the stellar populations within YMCs. The final part of the review focusses on the connections between YMCs and the ancient globular clusters, whether or not they are related objects and how we can use what we know about YMC formation and evolution to understand how GCs formed in the early universe and how they relate to galaxy formation/evolution.

Formation of young massive clusters from turbulent molecular clouds

AbstractWe simulate the formation and evolution of young star clusters from turbulent molecular clouds using smoothed-particle hydrodynamics and direct N-body methods. We find that the shape of the cluster mass function that originates from an individual molecular cloud is consistent with a Schechter function with power-law slopes of β = −1.73. The superposition of mass functions turn out to have a power-law slope of < −2. The mass of the most massive cluster formed from a single molecular cloud with mass Mg scales with 6.1 M0.51g. The molecular clouds that tend to form massive clusters are much denser than those typical found in the Milky Way. The velocity dispersion of such molecular clouds reaches 20km s−1 and it is consistent with the relative velocity of the molecular clouds observed near NGC 3603 and Westerlund 2, for which a triggered star formation by cloud-cloud collisions is suggested.

Mid-infrared [NeII] Imaging of Young Massive Star Clusters Near Galactic Nuclei

AbstractWe investigate the formation of young massive clusters near the nuclei in NGC 6946, IC 342, Maffei II, and NGC 7714, using ground-based mid-infrared [NeII] imaging. We derive the cluster formation efficiency and cluster mass function, and the results suggest that environmental effects on YMC formation may not be significant.

Formation of young massive clusters from turbulent molecular clouds

Abstract Young massive clusters are as young as open clusters but more massive and compact compared with typical open clusters. The formation process of young massive clusters is still unclear, and it is an open question whether the formation process is the same for typical open clusters or not. We perform a series of N-body simulations starting from initial conditions constructed from the results of hydrodynamical simulations of turbulent molecular clouds. In our simulations, both open clusters and young massive clusters form when we assume a density-dependent star-formation efficiency. We find that a local star-formation efficiency higher than 50% is necessary for the formation of young massive clusters, but open clusters form from less dense regions with a local star formation efficiency of < 50%. We confirm that the young massive clusters formed in our simulations have mass, size, and density profile similar to those of observed young massive clusters such as NGC 3603 and Trumpler 14. We also find that these simulated clusters evolve via hierarchical mergers of sub-clusters within a few mega years, as is suggested by recent simulations and observations. Although we do not assume initial mass segregation, we observe that the simulated massive clusters show a shallower slope of the mass function (Γ ∼ −1) in the cluster center compared to that of the entire cluster (Γ ∼ −1.3). These values are consistent with those of some young massive clusters in the Milky Way such as Westerlund 1 and Arches.

Globular cluster formation in the context of galaxy formation and evolution

The formation of globular clusters (GCs) remains one of the main unsolved problems in star and galaxy formation. The past decades have seen important progress in constraining the physics of GC formation from a variety of directions. In this article, we discuss the latest constraints obtained from studies of present-day GC populations, the formation of young massive clusters (YMCs) in the local Universe, and the observed, large-scale conditions for star and cluster formation in high-redshift galaxies. The main conclusion is that the formation of massive, GC progenitor clusters is restricted to high-pressure environments similar to those observed at high redshift and at the sites of YMC formation in the local Universe. However, the correspondingly high gas densities also lead to efficient cluster disruption by impulsive tidal shocks, which limits the survival of GCs progenitor clusters. As a result, the long-term survival of GC progenitor clusters requires them to migrate into the host galaxy halo on a short time-scale. It is proposed that the necessary cluster migration is facilitated by the frequent galaxy mergers occurring at high redshift. We use the available observational and theoretical constraints to condense the current state of the field into a coherent picture of GC formation, in which regular star and cluster formation in high-redshift galaxies naturally leads to the GC populations observed today.

LOW-VELOCITY SHOCKS TRACED BY EXTENDED SiO EMISSION ALONG THE W43 RIDGES: WITNESSING THE FORMATION OF YOUNG MASSIVE CLUSTERS

The formation of high-mass stars is tightly linked to that of their parental clouds. We here focus on the high-density parts of W43, a molecular cloud undergoing an efficient event of formation. The cloud structure is studied with a column density image derived from Herschel continuum maps obtained at 70, 160, 250, 350, and 500 micron. We identify two high-column density filamentary clouds, quoted as the W43-MM1 and W43-MM2 ridges, which both account for 1.5x10^4 Msun gas mass above 10^23 cm-2 and within areas of 5 and 14pc^2, respectively. We used the N_2H^+ 1--0 line to confirm that the W43-MM1 and W43-MM2 ridges are structures coherent in velocity and gravitationally bound, despite their large velocity dispersion and ~5 kms line widths. The most intriguing result of the W43 large program is the bright wide-spread SiO 2--1 emission: 1--11 K kms$ stretching an area of ~28 pc^2. Concentrated toward the W43-MM1 and W43-MM2 ridges and their immediate surroundings, it leads to a total luminosity of L_SiO 2-1 ~4 10^4 K kms kpc^2pc^2. We measured a steep relation between the luminosity and velocity extent of the SiO~2--1 lines and propose to use it to distinguish the low-velocity shocks observed here from the more classical high-velocity ones associated with outflows of high-mass young stellar objects. We used state-of-the-art shock models to demonstrate that low-velocity (<10 kms^-1) shocks with a small amount (10%) of Si atoms initially in gas phase or in grain mantles can explain the observed SiO column density in W43. The spatial and velocity overlaps between the ridges high-density gas (n_H2>10^4-10^5 cm^-3) and the shocked SiO gas suggests that ridges could be forming via colliding flows driven by gravity and accompanied by low-velocity shocks. This mechanism may be the initial conditions for the formation of young massive clusters in these ridges.