The interplay between IRDC Formation and the Birth of Massive Stars

• Applicant: Rowan Smith, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2011 to 2015
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 203200777

Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) are dense clouds of gas seen as absorption features against the Galactic plane. Due to their high densities, large masses and low temperatures, IRDCs are thought to be young molecular clouds which are just beginning to form stars. In this project we seek to study how effectively IRDCs are formed from gas that passes through the spiral shock of a galaxy, and the implications of this formation process upon the evolution and future star formation within the cloud. Many IRDCs appear to be forming massive stars, but it is unclear whether this is a ubiquitous outcome of IRDC formation. By performing numerical simulations of a range of IRDCs, we plan to address how common massive star formation is in these objects. In order to achieve these goals, we will use cutting edge numerical techniques to follow the entire early life cycle of the IRDCs, from formation out of the diffuse ISM, to the formation of the first massive protostars. By using a time dependent chemical network we will accurately capture the local thermodynamics, self-consistently follow the formation of the molecules within the dense gas, and derive abundance maps of the IRDCs. This will enable us to create publicly available, synthetic observations of our simulations which will be of considerable use when interpreting the results of current and future IRDC observations from facilities such as Herschel and ALMA.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• Subproject of: SPP 1573: Physics of the Interstellar Medium