Title: The Schmidt Law Decoded and Explained

Abstract:
I will present a new and detailed explication of the physics and astrophysics underpinning the 
spatially-resolved Schmidt Law for star formation. Analyzing the data without spatial or global 
averaging reveals the true nature of the underlying, empirical correlation of star formation rate as 
a function of projected gas density. This immediately leads to rate-limiting timescales and star-
formation efficiencies that naturally form the physical basis of the time-honored version of the 
Schmidt Law first published 35 years ago by Sanduleak (1969, AJ, 74,47).