Víctor M. Rivilla defendió en la Sala de Grados del Módulo 8 de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid su trabajo de tesis titulado "The role of low-mass star clusters in the formation of massive stars" dirigido por Jesús Martín-Pintado obteniendo la calificación de Sobresaliente "Cum Laude".
Despite the importance of massive stars as the main source of energy injection into the ISM of galaxies, their formation process is not clearly understood. To distinguish between the different theories it is crucial to establish how the parental cloud fragments by studying the distribution of low-mass stars in massive star cradles. The detection of this population is a challenge because it is highly embedded in the natal molecular material. Only deep IR, X-ray and radio/(sub)millimeter observations are able to penetrate into the massive star cradles and reveal the stellar population.
I have analyzed deep X-ray and IR archival surveys towards 3 nearby massive star forming regions (Orion, DR21 and Monoceros R2). I have studied the properties of the low-mass stellar population (e.g., spatial distribution, clustering, stellar densities, extinction distribution, evolutionary stages), and their feedback into the star-forming environment. In particular, I have evaluated how the outflow-driven turbulence in dense subclusters of low-mass stars can affect the formation of massive stars. I discuss my results in the context of the different massive star formation theories.
I will also present new Very Large Array (VLA) and Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations of Orion and Monoceros R2, respectively. The multi-epoch VLA continuum data has allowed to study the nature of the radiovariability of Orion young stars. The SMA observations have revealed bright continuum emission and molecular hot cores towards the more massive stars and 11 previously unknown CO molecular outflows from the embedded stellar cluster.
La respuesta a las cuestiones sobre la vida y su origen ha de venir del esfuerzo combinado de muchas disciplinas
La ciencia desarrollada en el CAB se canaliza a través de grupos de investigación interdepartamentales
La UCC del CAB busca hacer accesible el conocimiento científico al conjunto de los ciudadanos
