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I will present a simple, analytic, quasi-equilibrium theory of star formation regulation by stellar feedback in galactic disks, and argue that this equilibrium explains the observed Kennicutt-Schmidt relation and thus the low efficiency of star formation inferred on galactic scales. I will then discuss conditions in which the quasisteady balance between star formation and stellar feedback is expected to break down. In these conditions, characterized by short local dynamical times and/or stochastic effects associated with a small number of bright star-forming regions, we expect bursty star formation-gas outflow cycles. I will argue that star formation should be bursty in several observationally and physically interesting environments, including galactic nuclei and highredshift galaxies, and discuss evidence from both observations and numerical simulations for this phenomenon. I will show that bursty star formation has a variety of important implications, including for the gustiness of galactic winds, the morphological evolution of star-forming galaxies from high redshift to the present day, and the growth of supermassive black holes.

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