Continuum Models for Gas in Disturbed Galaxies. III. Bifurcations and Chaos in a Deterministic Model for Bursts of Star Formation
Abstract
A study of the nonlinear behavior of model equations describing the Oort model for interstellar cloud evolution and star formation is presented. One-zone cloud fluid equations for the Oort model are given, and it is shown how, as the time-delay parameter T(d) is increased, the system bifurcates to limit-cycle behavior accompanied by star formation bursts and, with further increase in T(d), suffers further bifurcations leading to chaotic behavior. A linear stability analysis, including time delay, is used to demonstrate that the behavior of the Oort model does not depend sensitively on the other parameters involved. It is also shown that the onset of bifurcation to a limit cycle can be predicted analytically. The major predictions of the calculations are compared with available relevant observations of star formation activity in galaxies, especially tidally interacting galaxies.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
- Pub Date:
- May 1987
- DOI:
- 10.1086/191191
- Bibcode:
- 1987ApJS...64...39S
- Keywords:
-
- Astronomical Models;
- Continuum Modeling;
- Galactic Evolution;
- Galactic Structure;
- Interstellar Gas;
- Star Formation;
- Branching (Mathematics);
- Chaos;
- Computational Astrophysics;
- Interacting Galaxies;
- Molecular Clouds;
- Oort Cloud;
- Stellar Activity;
- Astrophysics;
- GALAXIES: EVOLUTION;
- INTERSTELLAR: MATTER;
- STARS: FORMATION