= Heating and cooling balance in the interstellar medium
{title2=$\mathcal C=n^2\Lambda(T)-n\Gamma$}
A useful optically thin model subtracts volumetric heating from <radiative cooling>. At equilibrium its net cooling vanishes. Pressure-confined <temperature> perturbations are governed by the <derivative> of net cooling per unit <mass> at fixed <pressure>, so a negative <derivative> is unstable. The heating law, species abundances and radiation field must be specified before predicting an equilibrium curve. <thermal conduction> and finite sound-crossing times limit the isobaric approximation.
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