Coloquio IRyA 2020.08.20 - Alessandro Romeo
Channel: Coloquio IRyA
Date: 2020-09-14

Title: State-of-the-art diagnostics for detecting gravitational instabilities in galaxy discs
Abstract:
Gravitational instabilities play a primary role in shaping the structure and powering the star formation activity of disc galaxies. We review the effort made by theorists to provide the astronomical community with reliable disc stability diagnostics. The most well-known diagnostic is Toomre's Q parameter, but there are newer and more powerful tools for detecting gravitational instabilities in galaxy discs. And a few of them are almost as easy to use as Toomre's Q. In this talk, you will learn how to use such diagnostics in a variety of applications, including ISM turbulence at low and high redshift.