Explosion-triggered star formation in the central region of the Galaxy

The role of shock waves generated by explosions in the nucleus of a galaxy and propagating through the surrounding gas, on the efficiency of star formation in this region, is investigated. It is found that if the gas in the shock-compressed layer follows polytropic changes in the density and temperature, a very wide range of masses of the fragments can be formed. Calculation shows that under suitable physical conditions a burst of star formation is actually realized.