Topology of molecular clouds in the PHANGS-JWST catalogue in relation to the physical characteristics of their galaxies

Abstract

Molecular clouds are affected by dynamical processes such as cloud merging and stellar feedback that alter their topology. For this reason, the molecular clouds in the PHANGS-JWST catalogue are studied under the light of topological data analysis. This study shows correlations between physical characteristics of galaxies and topological summaries of molecular clouds.