The Role of Stellar Feedback in the Dynamics of HII Regions
  Stellar feedback is often cited as the biggest uncertainty in galaxy
formation models today. This uncertainty stems from a dearth of observational
constraints as well as the great dynamic range between the small scales (<1 pc)
where the feedback occurs and the large scales of galaxies (>1 kpc) that are
shaped by this feedback. To bridge this divide, in this paper we aim to assess
observationally the role of stellar feedback at the intermediate scales of HII
regions. In particular, we employ multiwavelength data to examine several
stellar feedback mechanisms in a sample of 32 HII regions in the Large and
Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC, respectively). Using optical, infrared,
radio, and X-ray images, we measure the pressures exerted on the shells from
the direct stellar radiation, the dust-processed radiation, the warm ionized
gas, and the hot X-ray emitting gas. We find that the warm ionized gas
dominates over the other terms in all of the sources, although two have
comparable dust-processed radiation pressures to their warm gas pressures. The
hot gas pressures are comparatively weak, while the direct radiation pressures
are 1-2 orders of magnitude below the other terms. We discuss the implications
of these results, particularly highlighting evidence for hot gas leakage from
the HII shells and regarding the momentum deposition from the dust-processed
radiation to the warm gas. Furthermore, we emphasize that similar observational
work should be done on very young HII regions to test whether direct radiation
pressure and hot gas can drive the dynamics at early times.
