Recent studies of the nearest star-forming clouds of the Galaxy at submillimeter wavelengths
with the Herschel Space Observatory have provided us with unprecedented images of the …

We review current understanding of star formation, outlining an overall theoretical framework
and the observations that motivate it. A conception of star formation has emerged in which …

We present a unified description of the scenario of global hierarchical collapse (GHC). GHC
constitutes a flow regime of (non-homologous) collapses within collapses, in which all …

Magnetic reconnection, topological changes in magnetic fields, is a fundamental process in
magnetized plasmas. It is associated with energy release in regions of magnetic field …

Understanding the formation of stars in galaxies is central to much of modern astrophysics.
However, a quantitative prediction of the star formation rate and the initial distribution of …

Star clusters form in dense, hierarchically collapsing gas clouds. Bulk kinetic energy is
transformed to turbulence with stars forming from cores fed by filaments. In the most compact …

Within ten nearby (d< 450 pc) Gould belt molecular clouds we evaluate statistically the
relative orientation between the magnetic field projected on the plane of sky, inferred from …

Although fundamental for astrophysics, the processes that produce massive stars are not
well understood. Large distances, high extinction, and short timescales of critical …

▪ Abstract Turbulence affects the structure and motions of nearly all temperature and density
regimes in the interstellar gas. This two-part review summarizes the observations, theory …

Stars form within molecular clouds but our understanding of this fundamental process
remains hampered by the complexity of the physics that drives their evolution. We review our …