Collaborative Research: Stars from Clouds - Turbulence, Magnetic Fields and Dynamics of Forming Star Clusters

合作研究：云中的恒星——湍流、磁场和形成星团的动力学

• 批准号: 2009679
• 负责人: Blakesley Burkhart
• 金额: $ 29.96万
• 依托单位: Rutgers University New Brunswick
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2009679&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Stars; Clouds; Turbulence

Stars are formed in molecular clouds of gas in galaxies. Astronomers seek to understand what causes a particular region of a molecular cloud to form a star. This seemingly simple question is at the heart of several basic research frontiers of modern astrophysics, including galaxy formation and the origin of stellar clusters. The investigators plan numerical simulations of magnetized molecular clouds that include important physical processes and a variety of initial conditions. The investigators will compare their models to radio wavelength observations of Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) from NSF’s Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). In their studies of the structure and kinematics of GMCs, they will focus on long, filamentary clouds that have been found in the Galactic plane. The investigators will test models of dynamics of young stellar systems using data from ongoing optical surveys of thousands of young stars. The investigators will train undergraduate and graduate students in advanced research methods, which will be of general benefit in their future careers in either science or industry. The investigators plan a new “Stars from the Clouds” presentation for public outreach programs.The team plans numerical simulations of the dynamics of magnetized molecular clouds, including clouds extracted from larger scale shearing galactic disk simulations, giant molecular cloud collisions and idealized periodic box turbulence. A focus of the simulations is inclusion of non-ideal magneto-hydrodynamic processes of ambipolar and reconnection diffusion in adaptive mesh refinement simulations, which also model astrochemistry and predict metrics to be compared to observations. For the stellar cores, the priority will be study of spatial distributions and populations of pre-stellar and proto-stellar cores.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

恒星在星系中气体的分子云中形成。天文学家试图了解导致分子云特定区域形成恒星的原因。这似乎是简单的问题，是现代天体物理学的几个基础研究前沿，包括银河系的形成和恒星簇的起源。研究人员计划对包括重要物理过程和各种初始条件的磁性分子云进行数值模拟。研究人员将将其模型与NSF的Atacama大毫米/亚毫米阵列（ALMA）的巨型分子云（GMC）的无线电波长观测值进行比较。在对GMC的结构和运动学的研究中，他们将集中在银河平面上发现的长丝状云层上。研究人员将使用正在进行的成千上万年轻恒星的光学调查数据测试年轻恒星系统动力学模型。调查人员将培训高级研究方法的本科生和研究生，这将在其科学或行业的未来职业中带来一般利益。研究人员为公共外展计划计划了一个新的“云中的星星”演示。该团队计划对磁化分子云动态的数值模拟，包括从较大规模的剪切银河磁盘模拟，巨型分子云碰撞和理想化的周期性盒湍流中提取的云。模拟的重点是包含了自适应网格细化模拟中双极磁磁动力学和重新连接扩散过程的非理想磁磁动力学过程，这些过程还模拟了星体化学并预测要比较观察结果的指标。对于恒星核心，将优先考虑遗前和原史核心的空间分布和种群。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的智力优点和更广泛影响的评估标准来评估值得支持的。

项目成果

The Effects of Magnetic Fields and Outflow Feedback on the Shape and Evolution of the Density Probability Distribution Function in Turbulent Star-forming Clouds

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/ac4be3
• 发表时间: 2021-09
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: S. Appel;B. Burkhart;V. Semenov;C. Federrath;A. Rosen

Molecular Gas and Star Formation in Nearby Starburst Galaxy Mergers

• DOI: 10.3847/1538-4357/acca76
• 发表时间: 2023-01
• 期刊: The Astrophysical Journal
• 作者: Hao He;C. Bottrell;Christine Wilson;J. Moreno;B. Burkhart;C. Hayward;L. Hernquist;Angela A. Twum