“NOTE: Due to speaker preference, this talk will NOT be recorded.”

Speaker: Christoph Federrath (Australian National University)

Title: From Interstellar Turbulence to Star Formation

Abstract: The formation of stars is controlled by the interplay between gravity, interstellar turbulence, magnetic fields, and stellar feedback. In this talk, I will try to explain the link between these processes and how they shape the structure of molecular clouds, paving the way towards star formation. A lot of this is based on supercomputer simulations and theoretical models, however, the design of the simulations and theoretical models is ultimately guided by observational evidence.

Short Bio: Federrath's research focuses on understanding the formation of stars in the Universe. The formation of stars controls galaxy evolution and sets the initial conditions for planet formation. To advance our understanding of star formation, Federrath develops theoretical models and supercomputer simulations of molecular clouds, the birthplaces of stars. This involves the physics of turbulence, gravity, magnetic fields, radiation, stellar feedback and chemical evolution. An essential part of this work is to compare supercomputer simulations performed on thousands of computer cores to real observations in galactic clouds.
Christoph Federrath is Future Fellow of the Australian Research Council, Stromlo Fellow, and Faculty Member at the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the Australian National University. He previously held postdoctoral fellowships at the Monash Centre for Astrophysics in Melbourne, the Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, and the Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics in Heidelberg. He studied physics at the University of Wuerzburg from 2001 to 2007 and received a Ph.D. from the University of Heidelberg in 2010.