Richard B. Larson

Professor, Astronomy

Current Courses Taught

Astronomy 310: Galactic and Extragalactic Astronomy
Astronomy 360/560: Interstellar Matter and Star Formation
Astronomy 710: Professional Seminar

Research Interests

I have been interested in many aspects of star formation theory and phenomenology, as well as in galaxy formation and the evolution of galaxies. Some of my recent interests have included the formation of the first stars in the universe, the origin of the stellar mass spectrum and the typical stellar mass, and the growth of black holes in galactic nuclei. More information about my research interests and publications can be found on my web page.

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Recent Publications

"The Role of Column Density in the Formation of Stars and Black Holes", R. B. Larson, 2009, to be published in Nature Physics (astro-ph/0909.3110) (PDF) 

"Angular Momentum and the Formation of Stars and Black Holes", R. B. Larson, 2009, to be published in Reports on Progress in Physics (astro-ph/0901.4325) (PDF)  

"Stability of Galactic Gas Disks and the Formation of Massive Clusters", A. Escala and R. B. Larson, 2008, Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 685, p. L31 (PDF)

"Insights from Simulations of Star Formation", R. B. Larson, 2007, Reports on Progress in Physics, Vol. 70, p. 337 (PDF)

"The Origin of the Initial Mass Function", I. A. Bonnell, R. B. Larson, and H. Zinnecker, 2007, in Protostars and Planets V, eds. B. Reipurth, D. Jewitt, and K. Keil (University of Arizona Press, Tucson), p. 149 (PDF)

"The Role of Gas in the Merging of Massive Black Holes in Galactic Nuclei. II. Black Hole Merging in a Nuclear Gas Disk", A. Escala, R. B. Larson, P. S. Coppi, and D. Mardones, 2005, Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 630, p. 152 (PDF)

"The stellar mass spectrum from non-isothermal gravoturbulent fragmentation", A. K. Jappsen, R. S. Klessen, R. B. Larson, Y. Li, and M.-M. Mac Low, 2005, Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 435, p. 611 (PDF)

"Thermal physics, cloud geometry, and the stellar initial mass function", R. B. Larson, 2005, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 359, p. 211 (PDF) 

"The First Stars", V. Bromm and R. B. Larson, 2004, Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 42, p. 79 (PDF)

"The Physics of Star Formation", R. B. Larson, 2003, Reports on Progress in Physics, Vol. 66, p. 1651 (PDF)

List of Publications

Electronic versions of papers since 1992