A major fraction of star formation in the universe occurs in starbursts. These regions of particularly rapid star formation are often located towards the centers of host galaxies. Studies of this kind of star formation at high redshift have produced astonishing results over recent years that were only possible with the latest generation of large ground-based and space telescopes. The papers collected in this volume present these results in the context of the much firmer foundation of star formation in the local universe, and they emphasize all the important topics, from star formation in different environments to the cosmic star formation history.

This review of the most up-to-date observational and theoretical information concerning the chemical evolution of the Milky Way compares the abundances derived from field stars and clusters, giving information on the abundances and dynamics of gas.

A lucid, wide-ranging graduate textbook on the topical subject of galactic chemical evolution - by a pioneer of the field.

Starbursts are regions of unusually rapid star formation, often located in the central parts of galaxies. They differ from more normal regions of star formation in terms of the throughput of mass and the rapidity with which the gas is consumed. In the last twenty years, extensive observational data at most wavelengths have become available on starbursts, but many important issues remain to be addressed, observationally as well as theoretically. How are strong episodes of star formation triggered? What is the quantity of gas converted into stars during bursts? What is the initial mass function of stars in these events? How does the feedback from stars influence the interstellar medium and self-regulate star formation? What is the subsequent chemical and photometric evolution? How do starbursts rule the formation and evolution of galaxies? In recent years, many observational data at different wavelengths (optical, radio, infrared, X-ray) have become available. However, these observations are still fragmentary in the sense that different classes of objects have been observed in different ways, and the coverage is not consistently deep or complete. As a consequence, an overall observational picture of starburst galaxies is missing, and theoretical understanding and modelling have remained highly tentative. The purpose of the school Starbursts: Triggers, Nature, and Evolution was to gather theorists and observers with complementary approaches to the starburst phenomenon, in order to summarize the state-of-the-art of the observations and models, emphasizing the consistency of the various viewpoints.

The term “chemical evolution of galaxies” refers to the evolution of abundances of chemical species in galaxies, which is due to nuclear processes occurring in stars and to gas flows into and out of galaxies. This book deals with the chemical evolution of galaxies of all morphological types (ellipticals, spirals and irregulars) and stresses the importance of the star formation histories in determining the properties of stellar populations in different galaxies. The topic is approached in a didactical and logical manner via galaxy evolution models which are compared with observational results obtained in the last two decades: The reader is given an introduction to the concept of chemical abundances and learns about the main stellar populations in our Galaxy as well as about the classification of galaxy types and their main observables. In the core of the book, the construction and solution of chemical evolution models are discussed in detail, followed by descriptions and interpretations of observations of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way, spheroidal galaxies, irregular galaxies and of cosmic chemical evolution. The aim of this book is to provide an introduction to students as well as to amend our present ideas in research; the book also summarizes the efforts made by authors in the past several years in order to further future research in the field.