Winds and radiation in unison: a new semi-analytic feedback model for cloud dissolution

Abstract Star clusters interact with the interstellar medium (ISM) in various ways, most importantly in the destruction of molecular star-forming clouds, resulting in inefficient star formation on galactic scales. On cloud scales, ionizing radiation creates H ii regions, while stellar winds and supernovae (SNe) drive the ISM into thin shells. These shells are accelerated by the combined effect of winds, radiation pressure, and SN explosions, and slowed down by gravity. Since radiative and mechanical feedback is highly interconnected, they must be taken into account in a self-consistent and combined manner, including the coupling of radiation and matter. We present a new semi-analytic 1D feedback model for isolated massive clouds (≥105 M⊙) to calculate shell dynamics and shell structure simultaneously. It allows us to scan a large range of physical parameters (gas density, star formation efficiency, and metallicity) and to estimate escape fractions of ionizing radiation f esc, i, the minimum star formation efficiency εmin required to drive an outflow, and recollapse time-scales for clouds that are not destroyed by feedback. Our results show that there is no simple answer to the question of what dominates cloud dynamics, and that each feedback process significantly influences the efficiency of the others. We find that variations in natal cloud density can very easily explain differences between dense-bound and diffuse-open star clusters. We also predict, as a consequence of feedback, a 4–6 Myr age difference for massive clusters with multiple generations.