Julian Pittard

The space between stars is filled with gas at a variety of pressures, velocities, densities and temperatures. There is a continual interplay between gas contracting to form new stars, and evolved stars returning material back to the interstellar medium via winds and explosions.

Many aspects of this loop are poorly understood. For instance, it is unclear whether massive stars lose most of their mass through quiescent winds or violent eruptions, yet the answer to this question has far-reaching consequences, ultimately with implications for galactic evolution.

The dynamics, evolution, and emission of many of the flows involved in the above interplay depend on the interaction of diffuse gas with denser clumps and filaments, and the acceleration of non-thermal particles. For accurate and realistic models, the multi-component nature of these flows must be considered.