Jena 2013 – scientific programme

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SYPA: Symposium Plasma-Astrophysik

SYPA 1: Plasma-Astrophysics

SYPA 1.2: Invited Talk

Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 17:00–17:30, HS 2

Self-regulated evolution of the multi-phase interstellar medium in galaxies — •Andreas Burkert — University Observatory Munich, Scheinerstr. 1, 81679 Munich, Germany

Interstellar space is filled with a dilute mixture of charged particles, atoms, molecules and dust grains, called the interstellar medium (ISM). The average particle density of the ISM is 1 cm-3. The ISM therefore represents a fascinating laboratory to study the physics of highly attenuated gases, chemical processes and atomic, molecular and solid state physics under extreme conditions and numerous other questions of natural sciences. The physics of the ISM plays a crucial role in many areas of astronomy. Galaxy formation and evolution, the formation of stars, cosmic nucleosynthesis, all these processes are intimately coupled to the physics of the ISM. However, despite its importance, its structure and evolution is still poorly understood. As summarized in this talk, the situation is however improving rapidly. New observations with powerful telescopes have revealed that the ISM is a turbulent, multiphase gas, filled with structures on all resolvable spatial scales. This has lead to a paradigm shift in our understanding of the ISM, where the old equilibrium model is being replaced by a highly dynamical picture of strongly coupled, interacting and turbulently mixed gas phases that are far from equilibrium and that are continuously stirred by energetic processes like supernova explosions, spiral density waves and/or galactic disk instabilities. Numerical simulations can now explore these processes in great details, providing the basis to develop a comprehensive, physical understanding of the multi-phase ISM.