Initial Conditions for Star Formation: A Physical Description of the Filamentary ISM

Understand

The interstellar medium contains filamentary structure over a wide range of scales.

• Understanding the role of this structure, both as a conduit of gas across the scales and a diagnostic tool of local physics, is a major focus of star formation studies.
• We review recent progress in studying filamentary structure in the ISM, interpreting its properties in terms of physical processes, and exploring formation and evolution scenarios.
• We include structures from galactic-scale filaments to tenth-of-a-parsec scale filaments, comprising both molecular and atomic structures, from both observational and theoretical perspectives.