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Mass segregation is seen in many star clusters, but whether massive stars form in the center of a cluster or migrate there dynamically is still debated.N-body simulations show that early dynamical mass segregation is possible when sub-clusters merge to form a dense core with a small crossing time. However, the effect of gas dynamics on both the formation and dynamics of the stars could inhibit the formation of the dense core. We aim to study the dynamical mass segregation of star cluster models that include gas dynamics and selfconsistently form stars from the dense substructure in the gas. Our models use the TORCH framework, which is based on AMUSE and includes stellar and magnetized gas dynamics, as well as stellar evolution and feedback from radiation, stellar winds, and supernovae. Our models consist of three star clusters forming from initial turbulent spherical clouds of mass 10⁴, 10⁵, 10⁶M_⊙and radius 11.7 pc that have final stellar masses of 3.6 × 10³M_⊙, 6.5 × 10⁴M_⊙, and 8.9 × 10⁵M_⊙, respectively. There is no primordial mass segregation in the model by construction. All three clusters become dynamically mass segregated at early times via collapse confirming that this mechanism occurs within sub-clusters forming directly out of the dense substructure in the gas. The dynamics of the embedded gas and stellar feedback do not inhibit the collapse of the cluster. We find that each model cluster becomes mass segregated within 2 Myr of the onset of star formation, reaching the levels observed in young clusters in the Milky Way. However, we note that the exact values are highly time-variable during these early phases of evolution. Massive stars that segregate to the center during core collapse are likely to be dynamically ejected, a process that can decrease the overall level of mass segregation again. 

Abstract The Milky Way’s Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is the largest concentration of dense molecular gas in the Galaxy, the structure of which is shaped by the complex interplay between Galactic-scale dynamics and extreme physical conditions. Understanding the 3D geometry of this gas is crucial, as it determines the locations of star formation and subsequent feedback. We present a catalog of clouds in the CMZ using Herschel data. Using archival data from the APEX and MOPRA CMZ surveys, we measure averaged kinematic properties of the clouds at 1 and 3 mm. We use archival ATCA data of the H₂CO (1_1,0–1_1,1) 4.8 GHz line to search for absorption towards the clouds, and 4.85 GHz Green Bank Telescope (GBT)C-band data to measure the radio continuum emission. We measure the absorption against the continuum to provide new constraints for the line-of-sight positions of the clouds relative to the Galactic Center, and find a highly asymmetric distribution, with most clouds residing in front of the Galactic Center. The results are compared with different orbital models, and we introduce a revised toy model of a vertically oscillating closed elliptical orbit. We find that most models describe the position–position–velocity structure of the gas reasonably well, but find significant inconsistencies in all cases regarding the near versus far placement of individual clouds. Our results highlight that the CMZ is likely more complex than can be captured by these simple geometric models, along with the need for new data to provide further constraints on the true 3D structure of the CMZ. 

Abstract A comprehensive 3D model of the central 300 pc of the Milky Way, the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is of fundamental importance in understanding energy cycles in galactic nuclei, since the 3D structure influences the location and intensity of star formation, feedback, and black hole accretion. Current observational constraints are insufficient to distinguish between existing 3D models. Dust extinction is one diagnostic tool that can help determine the location of dark molecular clouds relative to the bright Galactic Center emission. By combining Herschel and Spitzer observations, we developed three new dust extinction techniques to estimate the likely near/far locations for each cloud in the CMZ. We compare our results to four geometric CMZ orbital models. Our extinction methods show good agreement with each other, and with results from spectral line absorption analysis from Walker et al. Our near/far results for CMZ clouds are inconsistent with a projected version of the Y. Sofue two-spiral-arms model, and show disagreement in position–velocity space with the S. Molinari et al. closed elliptical orbit. Our results are in reasonable agreement with the J. M. D. Kruijssen et al. open streams. We find that a simplified toy-model elliptical orbit that conserves angular momentum shows promising fits in both position–position and position–velocity space. We conclude that all current CMZ orbital models lack the complexity needed to describe the motion of gas in the CMZ, and further work is needed to construct a complex orbital model to accurately describe gas flows in the CMZ. 

Abstract The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is the largest reservoir of dense molecular gas in the Galaxy and is heavily obscured in the optical and near-IR. We present an overview of the far-IR dust continuum, where the molecular clouds are revealed, provided by Herschel in the inner 40° (∣l∣ < 20°) of the Milky Way with a particular focus on the CMZ. We report a total dense gas (N(H₂) > 10²³cm⁻²) CMZ mass of $\sim 2_{-1}^{+2}\times 10^7$M_⊙and confirm that there is a highly asymmetric distribution of dense gas, with about 70%–75% at positive longitudes. We create and publicly release complete fore/background-subtracted column density and dust temperature maps in the inner 40° (∣l∣ < 20°) of the Galaxy. We find that the CMZ clearly stands out as a distinct structure, with an average mass per longitude that is at least 3× higher than the rest of the inner Galaxy contiguously from 1 $\stackrel{\text{°}}{.}$8 >ℓ> −1 $\stackrel{\text{°}}{.}$3. This CMZ extent is larger than previously assumed, but is consistent with constraints from velocity information. The inner Galaxy’s column density peaks towards the SgrB2 complex with a value of about 2 × 10²⁴cm⁻², and typical CMZ molecular clouds are aboutN(H₂) ∼ 10²³cm⁻². Typical CMZ dust temperatures range from ∼12–35 K with relatively little variation. We identify a ridge of warm dust in the inner CMZ that potentially traces the base of the northern Galactic outflow seen with MEERKAT. 

Abstract The Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) is the way station at the heart of our Milky Way Galaxy, connecting gas flowing in from Galactic scales with the central nucleus. Key open questions remain about its 3D structure, star formation properties, and role in regulating this gas inflow. In this work, we identify a hierarchy of discrete structures in the CMZ using column density maps from Paper I (C. Battersby et al.) We calculate the physical (N(H₂),T_dust, mass, radius) and kinematic (HNCO, HCN, and HC₃N moments) properties of each structure as well as their bolometric luminosities and star formation rates. We compare these properties with regions in the Milky Way disk and external galaxies. Despite the fact that the CMZ overall is well below the Gao-Solomon dense gas star formation relation (and in modest agreement with the Schmidt–Kennicutt relation), individual structures on the scale of molecular clouds generally follow these star formation relations and agree well with other Milky Way and extragalactic regions. We find that individual CMZ structures require a large external pressure (P_e/k_B> 10⁷⁻⁹K cm⁻³) to be considered bound; however, simple estimates suggest that most CMZ molecular-cloud-sized structures are consistent with being in pressure-bounded virial equilibrium. We perform power-law fits to the column density probability distribution functions of the inner 100 pc, SgrB2, and the outer 100 pc of the CMZ as well as several individual molecular cloud structures and find generally steeper power-law slopes (−9 <α< −2) compared with the literature (−6 <α< −1). 

Two main mechanisms have classically been proposed for the formation of runaway stars. In the binary supernova scenario (BSS), a massive star in a binary explodes as a supernova, ejecting its companion. In the dynamical ejection scenario, a star is ejected during a strong dynamical encounter between multiple stars. We propose a third mechanism for the formation of runaway stars: the subcluster ejection scenario (SCES), where a subset of stars from an infalling subcluster is ejected out of the cluster via a tidal interaction with the contracting gravitational potential of the assembling cluster. We demonstrate the SCES in a star-by-star simulation of the formation of a young massive cluster from a 10⁶M_⊙gas cloud using theTORCHframework. This star cluster forms hierarchically through a sequence of subcluster mergers determined by the initial turbulent, spherical conditions of the gas. We find that these mergers drive the formation of runaway stars in our model. Late-forming subclusters fall into the central potential, where they are tidally disrupted, forming tidal tails of runaway stars that are distributed highly anisotropically. Runaways formed in the same SCES have similar ages, velocities, and ejection directions. Surveying observations, we identify several SCES candidate groups with anisotropic ejection directions. The SCES is capable of producing runaway binaries: two wide dynamical binaries in infalling subclusters were tightened through ejection. This allows for another velocity kick via subsequent via a subsequent BSS ejection. An SCES-BSS ejection is a possible avenue for the creation of hypervelocity stars unbound to the Galaxy. The SCES occurs when subcluster formation is resolved. We expect nonspherical initial gas distributions to increase the number of calculated runaway stars, bringing it closer to observed values. The observation of groups of runaway stars formed via the SCES can thus reveal the assembly history of their natal clusters. 

The mode of star formation that results in the formation of globular clusters and young massive clusters is difficult to constrain through observations. We present models of massive star cluster formation using the TORCHframework, which uses the Astrophysical MUltipurpose Software Environment (AMUSE) to couple distinct multi-physics codes that handle star formation, stellar evolution and dynamics, radiative transfer, and magnetohydrodynamics. We upgraded TORCHby implementing the N-body code PETAR, thereby enabling TORCHto handle massive clusters forming from 10⁶M_⊙clouds with ≥10⁵individual stars. We present results from TORCHsimulations of star clusters forming from 10⁴,  10⁵, and 10⁶M_⊙turbulent spherical gas clouds (named M4, M5, M6) of radiusR= 11.7 pc. We find that star formation is highly efficient and becomes more so at a higher cloud mass and surface density. For M4, M5, and M6 with initial surface densities 2.325 × 10^1,2,3M_⊙pc⁻², after a free-fall time oft_ff= 6.7,2.1,0.67 Myr, we find that ∼30%, 40%, and 60% of the cloud mass has formed into stars, respectively. The end of simulation-integrated star formation efficiencies for M4, M5, and M6 areϵ_⋆ = M_⋆/M_cloud = 36%, 65%, and 85%. Observations of nearby clusters similar in mass and size to M4 have instantaneous star formation efficiencies ofϵ_inst ≤ 30%, which is slightly lower than the integrated star formation efficiency of M4. The M5 and M6 models represent a different regime of cluster formation that is more appropriate for the conditions in starburst galaxies and gas-rich galaxies at high redshift, and that leads to a significantly higher efficiency of star formation. We argue that young massive clusters build up through short efficient bursts of star formation in regions that are sufficiently dense (Σ ≥ 10²M_⊙pc⁻²) and massive (M_cloud≥ 10⁵M_⊙). In such environments, stellar feedback from winds and radiation is not strong enough to counteract the gravity from gas and stars until a majority of the gas has formed into stars. 

Abstract In this paper, we carry out a pilot parameter exploration for the collision-induced magnetic reconnection (CMR) mechanism that forms filamentary molecular clouds. Following Kong et al., we utilize Athena++ to model CMR in the context of resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), considering the effect from seven physical conditions, including the ohmic resistivity ( η ), the magnetic field ( B ), the cloud density ( ρ ), the cloud radius R , the isothermal temperature T , the collision velocity v x , and the shear velocity v z . Compared to their fiducial model, we consider a higher and a lower value for each one of the seven parameters. We quantify the exploration results with five metrics, including the density probability distribution function ( ρ -PDF), the filament morphology (250 μ m dust emission), the B – ρ relation, the dominant fiber width, and the ringiness that describes the significance of the ringlike substructures. The exploration forms straight and curved CMR filaments with rich substructures that are highly variable in space and time. The variation translates to fluctuation in all five metrics, reflecting the chaotic nature of magnetic reconnection in CMR. A temporary B ∝ ρ relation is noticeable during the first 0.6 Myr. Overall, the exploration provides useful initial insights into the CMR mechanism. 

Abstract We present the largest catalog to date of star clusters and compact associations in nearby galaxies. We have performed aV-band-selected census of clusters across the 38 spiral galaxies of the PHANGS–Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Treasury Survey, and measured integrated, aperture-corrected near-ultraviolet-U-B-V-Iphotometry. This work has resulted in uniform catalogs that contain ∼20,000 clusters and compact associations, which have passed human inspection and morphological classification, and a larger sample of ∼100,000 classified by neural network models. Here, we report on the observed properties of these samples, and demonstrate that tremendous insight can be gained from just the observed properties of clusters, even in the absence of their transformation into physical quantities. In particular, we show the utility of the UBVI color–color diagram, and the three principal features revealed by the PHANGS-HST cluster sample: the young cluster locus, the middle-age plume, and the old globular cluster clump. We present an atlas of maps of the 2D spatial distribution of clusters and compact associations in the context of the molecular clouds from PHANGS–Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. We explore new ways of understanding this large data set in a multiscale context by bringing together once-separate techniques for the characterization of clusters (color–color diagrams and spatial distributions) and their parent galaxies (galaxy morphology and location relative to the galaxy main sequence). A companion paper presents the physical properties: ages, masses, and dust reddenings derived using improved spectral energy distribution fitting techniques.