Chemical and Dynamical Properties of Prestellar Cores
Rationale of the conference
Prestellar cores are at the verge of gravitational collapse and star formation. As such, they provide the initial conditions of star formation linking the physical and chemical properties of the parent filaments to those of the young protostars and disks. Despite decades of research, the complex physical and chemical processes leading to the formation of prestellar cores and the onset of their collapse remain to be constrained.
To make significant progress in describing the early stages of star formation, we propose to gather expert theorists and observers in the field, to identify and clarify the important open questions and discuss strategies to solve them.
Format & Style
- Discussion dominated with ~50% talks + ~50% discussion time.
- Focused on presentations sharing fascinating/puzzling but not understood results, which will trigger discussions leading to suggestions to solve the puzzles and make progress.
Topics
- Physics (B-field, turbulence, inflow/outflow, ionization) and chemistry of prestellar core formation (filament/cloud fragmentation) and evolution (growth, onset of collapse, fragmentation)
- Streamers (formation, evolution) / origin of matter reservoir of cores / accretion processes and timescales
- Protoplanetary disks
- Dust and gas evolution: dust size distribution, dust properties, COMs, inheritance
- Observations, MHD(numerical) simulations, models: Where are we and what are the next steps to address the open questions about the early stages of star formation?
- Future projects: Telescopes/instruments (AtLAST, ngVLA, SKA, PRIMA, ALMA upgrade) and novel observational and analysis methods
Organizers
- Doris Arzoumanian (Kyushu University, chair)
- Paola Caselli (MPE)
- Silvia Spezzano (MPE)
- Jaime E. Pineda (MPE)