CAREER: Shining STARs Amidst the Turbulence

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。首席研究员（PI）巴特斯比和她的团队正在将大型观测数据集与自定义数值模拟进行比较，以研究银河系中心云中的分子气体和尘埃。该团队正在研究湍流，它可以压缩云碎片并引发引力坍缩，从而导致恒星和行星的形成。在更大的尺度上，湍流可以搅动云，减缓碎片化和引力坍缩的发生。为了加深我们对这一过程的理解，该团队将把他们的观测结果与定制的数值模拟进行比较，并确定湍流的物理特性，以及量化将形成恒星的云核数量。为了提高STEM中代表性不足群体的本科生的保留率，PI巴特斯比将领导康涅狄格大学科学，技术和天文学招聘（UConn-STARs）计划。学生将参加当地高中的专业发展活动和外展活动。PI巴特斯比和她的团队将在他们的数值模拟和来自阿塔卡马大型毫米/亚毫米阵列（阿尔马）的数据之间进行统计比较，以解开中央分子区（CMZ）湍流的物理起源，并测量其特性（马赫数、维里参数和螺线管分数）。他们还将比较CMZ（银河系内部500 pc）极端环境中的湍流与磁盘中更安静的部分。该团队将比较银河系这些不同部分的核心质量函数，恒星初始质量函数的前身，以进一步了解湍流如何调节星星的形成以及它如何随环境而变化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). Principal Investigator (PI) Battersby and her team are comparing large observational datasets with custom numerical simulations to study molecular gas and dust in clouds at the center of the Milky Way. The team are investigating turbulence, which can compress cloud fragments and seed the gravitational collapse that leads to the formation of stars and planets. On larger scales, turbulence can stir up the clouds and slow down the onset of fragmentation and gravitational collapse. To advance our understanding of this process the team will compare their observations to custom numerical simulations and determine the physical properties of turbulence as well as quantify the number of cloud cores that will form stars. To improve the retention of undergraduate students from under-represented groups in STEM, PI Battersby will lead the University of Connecticut Science, Technology, and Astronomy Recruits (UConn-STARs) program. The students will participate in professional development activities and outreach at local high schools. PI Battersby and her team will make statistical comparisons between their numerical simulations and data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) to disentangle the physical origin of Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) turbulence and measure its properties (the Mach number, virial parameter, and solenoidal fraction). They will also compare the turbulence in the extreme environment of the CMZ, the inner 500 pc of the Milky Way, to that in more quiescent parts of the disk. The team will compare the Core Mass Function, the precursor of the stellar initial mass function, in these different parts of the Galaxy to further our understanding of how turbulence regulates star formation and how it may vary with environment.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.