Large scale interstellar gasdynamics in disk galaxies

Abstract

The dynamical behavior of interstellar gas in spiral arm potentials and the nature of H I warps in disk galaxies is reviewed. Recent millimeter wave interferometry results of M 51, which are supportive in detail of a density wave structure for this galaxy are discussed. It is argued that spiral arms, when present, must be an important triggering mechanism for star formation, even though global star formation rates are insensitive to spiral structure. The effect of the unusual velocity shear fields near spiral arms on the development of small disturbances is discussed. The success of recent investigations treating H I warps as a discrete normal mode of a combined disk-halo system is highlighted. In this picture, the axes of the halo and the disk are misaligned, and warping modes correspond to what would be a zero frequency trivial tilt of the entire disk in the absence of a halo.