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Abstract We present a new suite of numerical simulations of the star-forming interstellar medium (ISM) in galactic disks using the TIGRESS-NCR framework. Distinctive aspects of our simulation suite are (1) sophisticated and comprehensive numerical treatments of essential physical processes including magnetohydrodynamics, self-gravity, and galactic differential rotation, as well as photochemistry, cooling, and heating coupled with direct ray-tracing UV radiation transfer and resolved supernova feedback and (2) wide parameter coverage including the variation in metallicity over $Z\prime \equiv Z/Z_{\odot }\sim 0.1-3$, gas surface density Σ_gas∼ 5–150M_⊙pc⁻², and stellar surface density Σ_star∼ 1–50M_⊙pc⁻². The range of emergent star formation rate surface density is Σ_SFR∼ 10⁻⁴–0.5M_⊙kpc⁻²yr⁻¹, and ISM total midplane pressure isP_tot/k_B= 10³–10⁶cm⁻³K, withP_totequal to the ISM weight $\mathcal{W}$. For given Σ_gasand Σ_star, we find ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_{\mathrm{SFR}}\propto Z{\prime }^{0.3}$. We provide an interpretation based on the pressure-regulated feedback-modulated (PRFM) star formation theory. The total midplane pressure consists of thermal, turbulent, and magnetic stresses. We characterize feedback modulation in terms of the yield ϒ, defined as the ratio of each stress to Σ_SFR. The thermal feedback yield varies sensitively with both weight and metallicity as ${\mathrm{\Upsilon }}_{\mathrm{th}}\propto {\mathcal{W}}^{-0.46}Z{\prime }^{-0.53}$, while the combined turbulent and magnetic feedback yield shows weaker dependence ${\mathrm{\Upsilon }}_{\mathrm{turb}+\mathrm{mag}}\propto {\mathcal{W}}^{-0.22}Z{\prime }^{-0.18}$. The reduction in Σ_SFRat low metallicity is due mainly to enhanced thermal feedback yield, resulting from reduced attenuation of UV radiation. With the metallicity-dependent calibrations we provide, PRFM theory can be used for a new subgrid star formation prescription in cosmological simulations where the ISM is unresolved. 

Abstract Characterizing the physical conditions at disk scales in class 0 sources is crucial for constraining the protostellar accretion process and the initial conditions for planet formation. We use ALMA 1.3 and 3 mm observations to investigate the physical conditions of the dust around the class 0 binary IRAS 16293–2422 A down to ∼10 au scales. The circumbinary material’s spectral index,α, has a median of 3.1 and a dispersion of ∼0.2, providing no firm evidence of millimeter-sized grains therein. Continuum substructures with brightness temperature peaks ofT_b∼ 60–80 K at 1.3 mm are observed near the disks at both wavelengths. These peaks do not overlap with strong variations ofα, indicating that they trace high-temperature spots instead of regions with significant optical depth variations. The lower limits to the inferred dust temperature in the hot spots are 122, 87, and 49 K. Depending on the assumed dust opacity index, these values can be several times higher. They overlap with high gas temperatures and enhanced complex organic molecular emission. This newly resolved dust temperature distribution is in better agreement with the expectations from mechanical instead of the most commonly assumed radiative heating. In particular, we find that the temperatures agree with shock heating predictions. This evidence and recent studies highlighting accretion heating in class 0 disks suggest that mechanical heating (shocks, dissipation powered by accretion, etc.) is important during the early stages and should be considered when modeling and measuring properties of deeply embedded protostars and disks. 

Abstract The CO-to-H 2 conversion factor ( α CO ) is central to measuring the amount and properties of molecular gas. It is known to vary with environmental conditions, and previous studies have revealed lower α CO in the centers of some barred galaxies on kiloparsec scales. To unveil the physical drivers of such variations, we obtained Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array bands (3), (6), and (7) observations toward the inner ∼2 kpc of NGC 3627 and NGC 4321 tracing 12 CO, 13 CO, and C 18 O lines on ∼100 pc scales. Our multiline modeling and Bayesian likelihood analysis of these data sets reveal variations of molecular gas density, temperature, optical depth, and velocity dispersion, which are among the key drivers of α CO . The central 300 pc nuclei in both galaxies show strong enhancement of temperature T k ≳ 100 K and density n H 2 > 10 3 cm −3 . Assuming a CO-to-H 2 abundance of 3 × 10 −4 , we derive 4–15 times lower α CO than the Galactic value across our maps, which agrees well with previous kiloparsec-scale measurements. Combining the results with our previous work on NGC 3351, we find a strong correlation of α CO with low- J 12 CO optical depths ( τ CO ), as well as an anticorrelation with T k . The τ CO correlation explains most of the α CO variation in the three galaxy centers, whereas changes in T k influence α CO to second order. Overall, the observed line width and 12 CO/ 13 CO 2–1 line ratio correlate with τ CO variation in these centers, and thus they are useful observational indicators for α CO variation. We also test current simulation-based α CO prescriptions and find a systematic overprediction, which likely originates from the mismatch of gas conditions between our data and the simulations.