Galaxies 09: Assembly, Gas Content and Star Formation History of Galaxies
Todd Thompson
The Ohio State University
Maximal Starbursts: Theory & Reality
Radiation pressure from the absorption and scattering
of starlight by dust grains may be the dominant feedback
mechanism in starburst galaxies. I describe the conditions
for which star formation in galaxies is effectively
Eddington-limited and self-regulated. In this picture,
starbursts may be thought of in analogy with individual
radiation pressure supported massive stars. I present
evidence for this picture on the galaxy scale, on the
scale of individual star clusters, and on parsec scales
around active galactic nuclei, by comparing directly with
observations of extreme star-forming environments at low
and high redshift.
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