Arcs, Cavities, and Outflows: The Dynamic Drama of Star FormationConfirmed

by Shantanu Basu (Western University)

Tuesday Apr 15, 2025, 11:00 a.m. → 12:30 p.m. America/Toronto

PI/4-405 - Bob Room (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)

We are now firmly within the ALMA-inspired era of star formation studies. We have abundant high sensitivity and resolution observations of star-disk-outflow systems as well as the ability to perform complex high-resolution plasma astrophysics simulations of their formation. I review recent three-dimensional nonideal MHD simulations that reveal surprising new insights into the role of magnetic fields and magnetic field dissipation in creating outflows, arcs, and cavities on scales of hundreds to thousands of au. Magnetic fields are responsible for a complex inflow-outflow structure around a protostar. I end the talk with results that may answer the longstanding big question in star formation studies: what stops the mass infall on to a protostar?