Speaker
Thomas Peters
(Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Zürich)
Description
H II regions are important signatures of star formation, play an important role in destroying the parental molecular clouds in which stars form, and, while still in the ultracompact phase, give insight into the process of high-mass star formation. I will present simulations that consistently follow the gravitational collapse of a massive molecular cloud, the subsequent build-up and fragmentation of the accretion disk surrounding the nascent massive star, and, for the first time, the interaction between its intense UV radiation field and the infalling material. I will show how these simulations help explain the origin of ultracompact H II region morphologies, their number statistics, their time variability, and the long-standing lifetime problem. Finally, I will present recent observational evidence that supports these simulations: the discovery of an ionization-driven molecular outflow in K3-50A, and the verification of statistical predictions for H II region variability in Sgr B2.
Author
Thomas Peters
(Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Zürich)