Descripción del proyecto
Estudio de las fases tempranas de los discos protoplanetarios
Una instrumentación revolucionaria como la del Telescopio Muy Grande (VLT, siglas en inglés de Very Large Telescope) y el Gran Conjunto Milimétrico/submilimétrico de Atacama (ALMA, por sus siglas inglés) han permitido que los investigadores obtengan el primer gran censo de poblaciones de discos protoplanetarios. Los datos sugieren que la formación de planetas no es solo ubicua en el Universo, sino que también tiene lugar en una fase relativamente temprana tras la formación de la propia estrella. El objetivo del proyecto EPOCH-OF-TAURUS, financiado con fondos europeos, es producir las simulaciones informáticas más realistas posible de la concentración y la evolución temprana de los discos de acreción protoplanetarios gaseosos. La meta es comprender qué rasgos de los discos se heredan del entorno interestelar o se ven afectados por este.
Objetivo
The aim of this ambitious research project is to produce the most realistic computer simulations of the assembly of gaseous protoplanetary accretion discs, and to understand which of their traits are inherited from and/or affected by their direct interstellar context. Owing to ground-breaking instruments such as VLT/Sphere or the ALMA telescope array, we now have a first extensive census of disk populations. Moving beyond the core characterisation of relatively isolated disks in the calm Class II stage, the time has come to shift the focus towards the wider context of these systems, that is, the actively star-forming stellar associations, such as the archetypal Taurus, Orion or Lupus regions. Stellar ages of disks with substructure of (likely) planetary origin point to the fact that planet formation is not merely an ubiquitous process, but figuratively speaking happens within the blink of an eye. This mandates to abandon the assumption of the disk as a quiescent entity detached from its surroundings, and instead place it in the context of a collapsing cloud core. Key aspects here are i) the external UV radiation field that can drive powerful photochemical reactions on the surface, ii) perturbations from stellar flybys, iii) gas self-gravity, and iv) magnetic field lines that are self-consistently anchored in the local interstellar medium (ISM); the latter aspect requiring adaptive-mesh technology, provided by the NIRVANA III code, co-developed by the applicant. At the same time, the early appearance of planets poses questions about the solid constituents potentially being inherited from the ISM and “primed” during the protostellar precursor phase. Finally, with the pivotal exchange of angular momentum during the collapse regulated by non-ideal MHD effects, the evolution of microphysical coefficients (i.e. through an ionisation chemistry with recombination on small grains) needs to be followed through the collapse phase, accounting for dust growth by coagulation.
Ámbito científico
- natural scienceschemical sciencesphysical chemistryphotochemistry
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanets
- social sciencessociologydemographycensus
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencescelestial mechanics
- natural sciencesmathematicsapplied mathematicsmathematical model
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-BasedInstitución de acogida
14482 Potsdam
Alemania