{"title":"Six Decades of Spiral Density Wave Theory","authors":"F. Shu","doi":"10.1146/ANNUREV-ASTRO-081915-023426","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The theory of spiral density waves had its origin approximately six decades ago in an attempt to reconcile the winding dilemma of material spiral arms in flattened disk galaxies. We begin with the earliest calculations of linear and nonlinear spiral density waves in disk galaxies, in which the hypothesis of quasi-stationary spiral structure (QSSS) plays a central role. The earliest success was the prediction of the nonlinear compression of the interstellar medium and its embedded magnetic field; the earliest failure, seemingly, was not detecting color gradients associated with the migration of OB stars whose formation is triggered downstream from the spiral shock front. We give the reasons for this apparent failure with an update on the current status of the problem of OB star formation, including its relationship to the feathering substructure of galactic spiral arms. Infrared images can show two-armed, grand design spirals, even when the optical and UV images show flocculent structures. We suggest how t...","PeriodicalId":8138,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":26.3000,"publicationDate":"2016-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1146/ANNUREV-ASTRO-081915-023426","citationCount":"73","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics","FirstCategoryId":"101","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-ASTRO-081915-023426","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"物理与天体物理","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 73
Abstract
The theory of spiral density waves had its origin approximately six decades ago in an attempt to reconcile the winding dilemma of material spiral arms in flattened disk galaxies. We begin with the earliest calculations of linear and nonlinear spiral density waves in disk galaxies, in which the hypothesis of quasi-stationary spiral structure (QSSS) plays a central role. The earliest success was the prediction of the nonlinear compression of the interstellar medium and its embedded magnetic field; the earliest failure, seemingly, was not detecting color gradients associated with the migration of OB stars whose formation is triggered downstream from the spiral shock front. We give the reasons for this apparent failure with an update on the current status of the problem of OB star formation, including its relationship to the feathering substructure of galactic spiral arms. Infrared images can show two-armed, grand design spirals, even when the optical and UV images show flocculent structures. We suggest how t...
期刊介绍:
The Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics is covers significant developments in the field of astronomy and astrophysics including:The Sun,Solar system and extrasolar planets,Stars,Interstellar medium,Galaxy and galaxies,Active galactic nuclei,Cosmology,Instrumentation and techniques,
History of the development of new areas of research.