| aikawa at astron.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp | |
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Research Field
Theoretical Astrophysics
Research Subject
Star formation, Protoplanetary disks, Astrochemistry
Current Research
We investigate formation processes of stars and planetary systems. Stars are formed by a gravitational collapse of molecular cloud cores. As the cores have angular momentum, a new-born star is surrounded by a circumstellar disk. The disks are birth sites of planetary systems, and thus are called "protoplanetary disks". Molecular clouds and protoplanetary disks consist of molecular gas and small dust grains. Chemical composition of these gas and dust, i.e. raw material of planetary systems, is important for planetary system formation. Astronomers observe radiation from gas and molecules to study how the stars and planetary systems are formed. The choice of molecular lines is important, since the molecular abundances vary with time and physical conditions. In planetary sciences, chemical composition of primordial matter, such as comets and meteorites are intensively observed and analyzed to investigate the origin of our solar system. Theoretical modeling and observation of disk chemistry will link these information of the solar system to more general astronomical phenomena. My group members work on both theoretical modeling and observations; models of cores and disks and their molecular evolution are compared with observations.