Determine the dependence of star formation efficiency on gas surface density

Determine the exact shape and normalization of the relationship between star formation efficiency and gas surface density in environments that form young massive star clusters.

Background

Both observations and numerical simulations suggest that star formation efficiency increases with environmental extremity and gas surface density, particularly in YMC-forming regions. However, current extragalactic measurements are affected by incomplete detection of deeply embedded clusters and often measure only an instantaneous stellar-to-gas mass ratio rather than the integrated efficiency over the full evolutionary sequence.

The paper identifies larger, more complete samples of embedded and exposed YMCs across a range of galactic environments as necessary for testing competing model predictions and determining the functional form and normalization of this relationship.