Abstract
Giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and their stellar offspring are the building blocks of galaxies. The physical characteristics of GMCs and their evolution are tightly connected to galaxy evolution. The macroscopic properties of the interstellar medium propagate into the properties of GMCs condensing out of it, with correlations between e.g. the galactic and GMC scale gas pressures, surface densities and volume densities. That way, the galactic environment sets the initial conditions for star formation within GMCs. After the onset of massive star formation, stellar feedback from e.g. photoionisation, stellar winds, and supernovae eventually contributes to dispersing the parent cloud, depositing energy, momentum and metals into the surrounding medium, thereby changing the properties of galaxies. This cycling of matter between gas and stars, governed by star formation and feedback, is therefore a major driver of galaxy evolution. Much of the recent debate has focused on the durations of the various evolutionary phases that constitute this cycle in galaxies, and what these can teach us about the physical mechanisms driving the cycle. We review results from observational, theoretical, and numerical work to build a dynamical picture of the evolutionary lifecycle of GMC evolution, star formation, and feedback in galaxies.
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1 Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Heidelberg, Germany (GRID:grid.7700.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2190 4373)
2 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Méxíco, Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica, Morelia, Mexico (GRID:grid.9486.3) (ISNI:0000 0001 2159 0001)
3 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Mitaka, Japan (GRID:grid.458494.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2325 4255); The University of Tokyo, Department of Astronomy, Hongo, Japan (GRID:grid.26999.3d) (ISNI:0000 0001 2151 536X); The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Mitaka, Japan (GRID:grid.275033.0) (ISNI:0000 0004 1763 208X)
4 Universität Heidelberg, Zentrum für Astronomie, Institut für Theoretische Astrophysik, Heidelberg, Germany (GRID:grid.7700.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2190 4373)
5 Nagoya University, Department of Physics, Nagoya, Japan (GRID:grid.27476.30) (ISNI:0000 0001 0943 978X)
6 Stockholm University, Department of Astronomy, Oskar Klein Centre, Stockholm, Sweden (GRID:grid.10548.38) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9377)
7 AIM, CEA, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Gif-sur-Yvette, France (GRID:grid.457334.2)