The Role of Magnetic fields in the formation of Massive stars

磁场在星际介质中无处不在，但它们在恒星形成中的具体作用尚不清楚。在致密的星星形成区域的分子云中，磁场可以通过观测与磁场对齐的尘埃颗粒发出的极化连续辐射来追踪。然而，为了了解磁场如何影响气体的演化，对磁场的观测必须与对该地区冷分子气体的观测相结合。这个项目将研究磁场的影响，因为气体从秒差距尺度的团块流向单个星星，形成核心和原恒星。它将涉及观测尘埃和分子线的偏振发射，以研究星星形成区域中覆盖各种尺寸尺度的磁场和分子气体。该项目的一部分将是开发新的方法，将极化和线观测结果与最先进的磁流体动力学模拟结果进行比较。

Magnetic fields are ubiquitous in the interstellar medium but their detailed role in the formation of stars is as yet unclear. In the dense star forming regions of molecular clouds the magnetic field can be traced through observations of the polarized continuum emission from dust grains which align with the magnetic field. However, to understand how magnetic fields affect the evolution of the gas, observations of the magnetic field must be combined with observations of the cold, molecular gas in the regions. This project will study the impact of the magnetic fields as gas flows from parcsec-scale clumps down to individual star forming cores and protostars. It will involve observations of polarization emission from dust and molecular lines to study the magnetic field and molecular gas covering a wide range of size scales in star forming regions. Part of the project will be developing new methods to compare the polarization and line observations with the results of state-of-the-art magneto-hydrodynamics simulations.