Dr. Di Li, JPL

"Survey of Dense Cores"

Abstract:
The last couple of years have seen a dramatic increase in the volume of
multiwavelength surveys of nearby star forming regions. The resolution and
comprehensiveness of these surveys have allowed some new, systematic
insights into the properties of dense molecular cores. I will introduce
our work in studying dense cores in massive star forming regions. We
identify samples of largely externally heated cores and find them to be in
a core mass function (CMF) significantly flatter than the stellar initial
mass function (IMF). This result suggests a time-evolving CMF.
Fragmentation should be important in forming the IMF. The immediate future
for systematic study of dense cores is bright, due to the expected arrival
of large submillimeter surveys from space telescopes, such as Herschel and
ground based instruments such as SCUBA2. I will introduce a new method to
combine multiwavelength data to derive structures of dust cores. Our
method will utilize the next generation of large surveys, especially
several Herschel Key programs to form a physical core model in details
never seen before.