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SFB 1601:  Habitats of massive stars across cosmic time

Subject Area Physics
Term since 2023
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 500700252
 
Massive stars, due to their short lifetime and high energy output, drive and control the evolution of galaxies across cosmic time. The proposed, new Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) will unravel the “habitats of massive stars across cosmic time”. Habitats are the gaseous environments within which massive stars are born and which they interact with via their feedback. Over its 12-year anticipated lifetime, we aim to connect the physical processes governing the habitats of massive stars from sub-parsec to mega-parsec scales across the full range of environments hosting massive stars, from the Milky Way to the high-redshift Universe, where they leave a cosmological fingerprint by reionisation. We formulate this goal by identifying two major gaps in our current understanding, which this CRC will close: the “spatial scale gap”, which provides the missing link between the small (sub-parsec) scale studies and galactic scale studies of high-mass star habitats; and the “environment gap”, extrapolating the physics of star formation, which can be examined in detail in the well-studied star formation sites in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds to the extreme environments prevailing at high redshift. These gaps are naturally connected as the most extreme environments are rare and distant and hence, suffer from coarse resolution when observed from Earth. Both gaps are treacherous and difficult to overcome due to the interconnectedness of the physical processes acting on all scales. This calls for a large-scale collaborative effort. In the proposed CRC, a select team of experts will join forces to closely collaborate on the study of (i) high-mass star formation at high resolution, (ii) the star formation rate and signatures of high-mass star feedback on galactic scales, and (iii) the imprints of high-mass star formation on high-redshift galaxies and cosmic reionisation. We choose a unique and holistic approach, interweaving four pillars of expertise: laboratory astrophysics, instrumentation development, observations, and theoretical modelling & simulations. While each of these disciplines stands out in its own right, it is their combination that makes the CRC unique and sets the stage for breakthrough discoveries. The CRC partners have developed a strong profile as leaders in large international observing programs and have ample experience with building, running and maintaining their own telescopes and cutting-edge instrumentation at infrared to submillimeter and radio wavelengths. The opportunity to launch a new CRC in 2023 is uniquely timely because of a number of new and upcoming developments, in particular the start of the novel FYST/CCAT-prime telescope in 2024, in which the universities of Cologne and Bonn are 25% partners. This topical CRC will offer an inspiring research environment to the next generation of students.
DFG Programme Collaborative Research Centres

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Applicant Institution Universität zu Köln
 
 

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