Astrophysical and Astrochemical Tests of Massive Star Formation Theories

质量比太阳大得多的恒星是推动银河系演化的引擎；将星际气体和尘埃与它们的风、辐射混合在一起，最终在超新星爆炸中剧烈死亡。这个项目将提高我们对这些质量最大的恒星形成方式的理解。该项目将开发新的理论和计算模型，以模拟这些大质量恒星的形成，从它们开始作为星际氢气的凝聚核心，到它们作为我们银河系中最大的恒星诞生。这些新的模拟将包括更真实的物理模型，包括原恒星核心的演化，周围旋转的流入物质区域，以及新形成恒星的流出风。该项目将通过最先进的毫米、亚毫米和中红外波长设备进行新的观测，测试和验证这些大质量恒星形成模型。该项目将使用现有的蒙特卡罗辐射传输代码来描述湍流吸积核心，PI对其进行了修改，以包括尘埃和气体的不透明性。这些模型将用于扩展大质量恒星的标准演化序列，以系统地覆盖更大的初始核心质量、核心旋转和环境因素的参数空间。提议者还将纳入新的模型粉尘颗粒对准和双星伴星的影响，以当前的辐射传输计算。辐射传输计算的输出将包括可与阿塔卡马大型毫米/亚毫米阵列（ALMA）等设施的观测结果进行比较的可观测数据。该项目将以PI以前培训新一代科学家的努力为基础，重点关注来自代表性不足群体的学生。该项目将通过一份题为？巨人的诞生？宇宙中质量最大的恒星？将在当地学校和佛罗里达自然历史博物馆组织的活动中展出。

Stars with masses much greater than that of our Sun are the engines that drive the evolution of our galaxy; mixing the interstellar gas and dust with their winds, radiation, and eventually their violent deaths in supernova explosions. This project will improve our understanding of the way in which the most massive of these stars are formed. The project will develop new theoretical and computational models that simulate the formation of these massive stars from their beginnings as condensing core of interstellar hydrogen gas to their birth as the largest stars in our galaxy. These new simulations will include more physically realistic models of the evolution of the proto-stellar core, the surrounding region of rotating infalling matter, and the outflowing winds from the newly forming star. The project will test and verify these models of massive star formation with new observations with state-of-the-art facilities performed at millimeter, sub-millimeter, and mid-infrared wavelengths. The project will use existing Monte Carlo radiative transfer code for turbulent accreting cores, which the PI has modified to include both dust and gas opacities. These models will be used to extend the canonical evolutionary sequence for massive stars to systematically cover a much larger parameter space of initial core mass, core rotation, and environmental factors. The proposers will also incorporate new models for dust grain alignment and the effects of a binary companion to the current radiative transfer computations. The output of the radiative transfer calculations will consist of observables that can be compared with observations by facilities such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Array (ALMA).This project will build upon previous efforts by the PI to train of a new generation of scientists, with a strong emphasis on students from underrepresented groups. The project will communicate its results to the public through the development of a presentation entitled ?Birth of the Giants ? the Most Massive Stars in the Universe? to be shown at local schools and at events organized through the Florida Museum of Natural History.