The cosmological lithium problem, i.e. the discrepancy between the lithium abundance predicted by the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and the one observed for the stars of the "Spite plateau", is one of the long standing problems of modern astrophysics. A possible astrophysical solution involves lithium burning due to protostellar mass accretion on Spite plateau stars. In present work, for the first time, we investigate with accurate evolutionary computations the impact of accretion on the lithium evolution in the metal-poor regime, that relevant for stars in the Spite plateau.
The cosmological lithium problem, that is, the discrepancy between the lithium abundance predicted by the Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the one observed for the stars of the 'Spite plateau', is one of the long standing problems of modern astrophysics. Recent hints for a possible solution involve lithium burning induced by protostellar mass accretion on Spite plateau stars. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of protostellar accretion on low metallicity low-mass stars with a focus on PMS lithium evolution. We computed the evolution from the protostar to the MS phase of accreting m…
Spherical hydrodynamic models with a polytropic equation of state (EoS) for forming protostars are revisited in order to investigate the so-called luminosity conundrum highlighted by observations. For a molecular cloud (MC) core with such an EoS with polytropic index $γ$ >1, the central mass accretion rate (MAR) decreases with increasing time as a protostar emerges, offering a sensible solution to this luminosity problem. As the MAR decreases, the protostellar luminosity also decreases, meaning that it is invalid to infer the star formation time from the currently observed luminosity using an …
We aim at studying the causal link between the knotty jet structure in CARMA 7, a young Class 0 protostar in the Serpens South cluster, and episodic accretion in young protostellar disks. We used numerical hydrodynamics simulations to derive the protostellar accretion history in gravitationally unstable disks around solar-mass protostars. We compared the time spacing between luminosity bursts Δτ_mod, caused by dense clumps spiralling on the protostar, with the differences of dynamical timescales between the knots Δτ_obs in CARMA 7. We found that the time spacing between the bursts have a bi-mo…
We present results of hydrodynamic simulations of massive star forming regions with and without protostellar jets. We show that jets change the normalization of the stellar mass accretion rate, but do not strongly affect the dynamics of star formation. In particular, $M_*(t) \propto f^2 (t-t_*)^2$ where $f = 1 - f_{\rm jet}$ is the fraction of mass accreted onto the protostar, $f_{\rm jet}$ is the fraction ejected by the jet, and $(t-t_*)^2$ is the time elapsed since the formation of the first star. The star formation efficiency is nonlinear in time. We find that jets have only a small effect …
Protostellar flares are rapid magnetic energy release events associated with formation of hot plasma in protostars. In the previous models of protostellar flares, the interaction between a protostellar magnetosphere with the surrounding disk plays crucial roles in building-up and releasing the magnetic energy. However, it remains unclear if protostars indeed have magnetospheres because vigorous disk accretion and strong disk magnetic fields in the protostellar phase may destroy the magnetosphere. Considering this possibility, we investigate the energy accumulation and release processes in the …
The evolution of protostellar outflows is investigated under different mass accretion rates in the range $\sim10^{-5}-10^{-2} {\rm M}_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ with three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations. A powerful outflow always appears in strongly magnetized clouds with $B_0 \gtrsim B_{\rm 0, cr}$ $=10^{-4} (M_{\rm cl}/100 {\rm M}_\odot){\rm G}$, where $M_{\rm cl}$ is the cloud mass. When a cloud has a weaker magnetic field, the outflow does not evolve promptly with a high mass accretion rate. In some cases with moderate magnetic fields $B_0$ slightly smaller than $B_{\rm 0,cr}$, the outf…
Using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulations, the driving of protostellar jets is investigated in different star-forming cores with the parameters of magnetic field strength and mass accretion rate. Powerful high-velocity jets appear in strongly magnetized clouds when the mass accretion rate onto the protostellar system is lower than $\dot{M} \lesssim 10^{-3}\,{\rm M}_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$. On the other hand, even at this mass accretion rate range, no jets appear for magnetic fields of prestellar clouds as weak as $μ_0 \gtrsim 5$--$10$, where $μ_0$ is the mass-to-flux ratio normalized b…
Building on our previous hydrodynamic study of the angular momenta of cloud cores formed during gravitational collapse of star-forming molecular gas in our previous work, we now examine core properties assuming ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). Using the same sink-patch implementation for the \emph{Athena} MHD code, we characterize the statistical properties of cores, including the mass accretion rates, specific angular momenta, and alignments between the magnetic field and the spin axis of the core on the $0.1 \ \mathrm{pc}$ scale. Our simulations, which reproduce the observed relation betwee…
Low-mass protostars may accrete most of their material through short-lived episodes of rapid disk accretion; yet until recently evolutionary tracks for these protostars assumed only constant or slowly-varying accretion. Important initial steps toward examining the potential effects of rapid accretion were recently made by Baraffe, Chabrier, & Gallardo, who showed that in the limit of low-temperature ("cold") accretion, protostars may have much smaller radii than found in previous treatments. Such small radii at the end of protostellar accretion would have the effect of making some young stars …
Context: Gas accretion flows transport material from the cloud core onto the protostar. In multiple protostellar systems, it is not clear if the delivery mechanism is preferential or evenly distributed among the components. Aims: Gas accretion flows within IRAS16293 is explored out to 6000 AU. Methods: ALMA Band 3 observations of low-$J$ transitions of HNC, cyanopolyynes (HC$_3$N, HC$_5$N), and N$_2$H$^+$ are used to probe the cloud core structure at ~100 AU resolution. Additional Band 3 archival data provide low-$J$ HCN and SiO lines. These data are compared with the corresponding higher-$J$ …
We present the latest development of the disk gravitational instability and fragmentation model, originally introduced by us to explain episodic accretion bursts in the early stages of star formation. Using our numerical hydrodynamics model with improved disk thermal balance and star-disk interaction, we computed the evolution of protostellar disks formed from the gravitational collapse of prestellar cores. In agreement with our previous studies, we find that cores of higher initial mass and angular momentum produce disks that are more favorable to gravitational instability and fragmentation, …
We analyse simulations of turbulent, magnetised molecular cloud cores focussing on the formation of Class 0 stage protostellar discs and the physical conditions in their surroundings. We show that for a wide range of initial conditions Keplerian discs are formed in the Class 0 stage already. In particular, we show that even subsonic turbulent motions reduce the magnetic braking efficiency sufficiently in order to allow rotationally supported discs to form. We therefore suggest that already during the Class 0 stage the fraction of Keplerian discs is significantly higher than 50%, consistent wit…
The early evolution of protostellar disks with metallicities in the $Z=1.0-0.01~Z_\odot$ range was studied with a particular emphasis on the strength of gravitational instability and the nature of protostellar accretion in low-metallicity systems. Numerical hydrodynamics simulations in the thin-disk limit were employed that feature separate gas and dust temperatures, and disk mass-loading from the infalling parental cloud cores. Models with cloud cores of similar initial mass and rotation pattern, but distinct metallicity were considered to distinguish the effect of metallicity from that of in…
The formation of SMSs is a potential pathway to seed SMBHs in the early universe. A critical issue for forming SMSs is stellar UV feedback, which may limit the stellar mass growth via accretion. In this paper we study the evolution of an accreting SMS and its UV emissivity under conditions of realistic variable accretion from a self-gravitating circumstellar disc. First we conduct a 2D hydrodynamical simulation to follow the long-term protostellar accretion until the stellar mass exceeds $10^4~M_\odot$. The disc fragments due to gravitational instability, creating a number of small clumps that…
We perform two-dimensional axially symmetric radiation-hydrodynamic simulations to assess the impact of outflows and radiative force feedback from massive protostars by varying when the protostellar outflow starts, the ratio of ejection to accretion rates, and the strength of the wide angle disk wind component. The star formation efficiency, i.e. the ratio of final stellar mass to initial core mass, is dominated by radiative forces and the ratio of outflow to accretion rates. Increasing this ratio has three effects: First, the protostar grows slower with a lower luminosity at any given time, l…
Protostars likely accrete material at a highly time variable rate, however, measurements of accretion variability from the youngest protostars are rare, as they are still deeply embedded within their envelopes. Sub-mm/mm observations can trace the thermal response of dust in the envelope to accretion luminosity changes, allowing variations in the accretion rate to be quantified. In this paper, we present contemporaneous sub-mm/mm light curves of variable protostars in Serpens Main, as observed by the ALMA ACA, SMA, and JCMT. The most recent outburst of EC 53 (V371 Ser), an $\sim 18$ month peri…
We study the synthesis of lithium isotopes in the hot tori formed around stellar mass black holes by accretion of the companion star. We find that sizable amounts of both stable isotopes 6Li and 7Li can be produced, the exact figures varying with the characteristics of the torus and reaching as much as 1e-2 Msun for each isotope. This mass output is enough to contaminate the entire Galaxy at a level comparable with the original, pre-galactic amount of lithium and to overcome other sources such as cosmic-ray spallation or stellar nucleosynthesis.
Magnetic Fields and Asymmetric Accretion in the Class 0 Protostellar System L1527 IRS
Seoul National University（首尔大学）；SNU Astronomy Research Center, Seoul National University（首尔大学天文研究中心）；Worcester State University（伍斯特州立大学）；University of Illinois（伊利诺伊大学）
We construct a model for cosmic ray acceleration from protostellar accretion shocks and calculate the resulting cosmic ray ionization rate within star-forming molecular clouds. We couple a protostar cluster model with an analytic accretion shock model to calculate the cosmic ray acceleration from protostellar surfaces. We present the cosmic ray flux spectrum from keV to GeV energies for a typical low-mass protostar. We find that at the shock surface the spectrum follows a power-law trend across 6 orders of magnitude in energy. After attenuation, the spectrum at high energies steepens, while at…
Context: Understanding how accretion proceeds is a key question of star formation, with important implications for both the physical and chemical evolution of young stellar objects. In particular, very little is known about the accretion variability in the earliest stages of star formation. Aims: To characterise protostellar accretion histories towards individual sources by utilising sublimation and freeze-out chemistry of CO. Methods: A sample of 24 embedded protostars are observed with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) in context of the large program "Mass Assembly of Stellar Systems and their E…
The protostellar mass function (PMF) is the Present-Day Mass Function of the protostars in a region of star formation. It is determined by the initial mass function weighted by the accretion time. The PMF thus depends on the accretion history of protostars and in principle provides a powerful tool for observationally distinguishing different protostellar accretion models. We consider three basic models here: the Isothermal Sphere model (Shu 1977), the Turbulent Core model (McKee & Tan 2003), and an approximate representation of the Competitive Accretion model (Bonnell et al. 1997, 2001a). We a…
Protostellar disks in their natural habitat -- the formation of protostars and their accretion disks in the turbulent and magnetized interstellar medium
Outbursts due to dramatic increases in the mass accretion rate are the most extreme type of variability in young stellar objects. We searched for outbursts among 319 protostars in the Orion molecular clouds by comparing 3.6, 4.5, and 24 micron photometry from the Spitzer Space Telescope to 3.4, 4.6, and 22 micron photometry from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) obtained ~ 6.5 yr apart. Sources that brightened by more than two standard deviations above the mean variability at all three wavelengths were marked as burst candidates, and they were inspected visually to check for false…
The protostellar luminosity function (PLF) is the present-day luminosity function of the protostars in a region of star formation. It is determined using the protostellar mass function (PMF) in combination with a stellar evolutionary model that provides the luminosity as a function of instantaneous and final stellar mass. As in McKee & Offner (2010), we consider three main accretion models: the Isothermal Sphere model, the Turbulent Core model, and an approximation of the Competitive Accretion model. We also consider the effect of an accretion rate that tapers off linearly in time and an accel…
We have used medium resolution spectra to search for evidence that proto-stellar objects accrete at high rates during their early 'assembly phase'. Models predict that depleted lithium and reduced luminosity in T-Tauri stars are key signatures of 'cold' high-rate accretion occurring early in a star's evolution. We found no evidence in 168 stars in NGC 2264 and the Orion Nebula Cluster for strong lithium depletion through analysis of veiling corrected 6708 angstrom lithium spectral line strengths. This suggests that 'cold' accretion at high rates (M_dot > 5 x 10-4 M_sol yr-1) occurs in the asse…
We investigate the role of mass infall in the formation and evolution of protostars. To avoid ad hoc initial and boundary conditions, we consider the infall resulting self-consistently from modeling the formation of stellar clusters in turbulent molecular clouds. We show that infall rates in turbulent clouds are comparable to accretion rates inferred from protostellar luminosities or measured in pre-main-sequence stars. They should not be neglected in modeling the luminosity of protostars and the evolution of disks, even after the embedded protostellar phase. We find large variations of infall…
The radioactive decay of aluminum-26 ($^{26}$Al) is an important heating source in early planet formation. Since its discovery, there have been several mechanisms proposed to introduce $^{26}$Al into protoplanetary disks, primarily through contamination by external sources. We propose a local mechanism to enrich protostellar disks with $^{26}$Al through irradiation of the protostellar disk surface by cosmic rays accelerated in the protostellar accretion shock. We calculate the $^{26}$Al enrichment, [$^{26}$Al/$^{27}$Al], at the surface of the protostellar disk in the inner AU throughout the ev…
The formation and evolution of a circumstellar disk in magnetized cloud cores is investigated from prestellar core stage until sim 10^4 yr after protostar formation. In the circumstellar disk, fragmentation first occurs due to gravitational instability in a magnetically inactive region, and substellar-mass objects appear. The substellar-mass objects lose their orbital angular momenta by gravitational interaction with the massive circumstellar disk and finally fall onto the protostar. After this fall, the circumstellar disk increases its mass by mass accretion and again induces fragmentation. T…
We extend the one-dimensional, two-zone models of long-term protostellar disk evolution with infall of Zhu et al. to consider the potential effects of a finite viscosity in regions where the ionization is too low for the magnetorotational instability (MRI) to operate (the "dead zone"). We find that the presence of a small but finite dead zone viscosity, as suggested by simulations of stratified disks with MRI-active outer layers, can trigger inside-out bursts of accretion, starting at or near the inner edge of the disk, instead of the previously-found outside-in bursts with zero dead zone visc…
We use one-dimensional two-zone time-dependent accretion disk models to study the long-term evolution of protostellar disks subject to mass addition from the collapse of a rotating cloud core. Our model consists of a constant surface density magnetically coupled active layer, with transport and dissipation in inactive regions only via gravitational instability. We start our simulations after a central protostar has formed, containing ~ 10% of the mass of the protostellar cloud. Subsequent evolution depends on the angular momentum of the accreting envelope. We find that disk accretion matches t…
We investigated the possibility of producing helium enhanced stars in globular clusters by accreting polluted matter during the pre-main sequence phase. We followed the evolution of two different classes of pre-main sequence accreting models, one which neglects and the other that takes into account the protostellar evolution. We analysed the dependence of the final central helium abundance, of the tracks position in the HR diagram and of the surface lithium abundance evolution on the age at which the accretion of polluted material begins and on the main physical parameters that govern the prot…
Magnetic flux redistribution lies at the heart of the problem of star formation in dense cores of molecular clouds that are magnetized to a realistic level. If all of the magnetic flux of a typical core were to be dragged into the central star, the stellar field strength would be orders of magnitude higher than the observed values. This well-known "magnetic flux problem" can in principle be resolved through non-ideal MHD effects. Two dimensional (axisymmetric) calculations have shown that ambipolar diffusion, in particular, can transport magnetic flux outward relative to matter, allowing mater…
The accretion history of protostars remains widely mysterious even though it represents one of the best ways to understand the protostellar collapse that leads to the formation of stars. Molecular outflows are here used to characterize the protostellar accretion phase in W43-MM1. The W43-MM1 protocluster host a sufficient number of protostars to statistically investigate molecular outflows in a single, homogeneous region. We used the CO(2-1) and SiO(5-4) line datacubes, taken as part of an ALMA mosaic with a 2000 AU resolution, to search for protostellar outflows, evaluate the influence that t…
We study the formation of very metal-poor stars under protostellar radiative feedback effect. We use cosmological simulations to identify low-mass dark matter halos and star-forming gas clouds within them. We then follow protostar formation and the subsequent long-term mass accretion phase of over one million years using two-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamics simulations. We show that the critical physical process that sets the final mass is formation and expansion of a bipolar HII region. The process is similar to the formation of massive primordial stars, but radiation pressure exerted on d…
We model the mass accretion rate $\dot{M}$ to stellar mass $M_*$ correlation that has been inferred from observations of intermediate to upper mass T Tauri stars---that is $\dot{M} \propto M_*^{1.3 \pm 0.3}$. We explain this correlation within the framework of quiescent disk evolution, in which accretion is driven largely by gravitational torques acting in the bulk of the mass and volume of the disk. Stresses within the disk arise from the action of gravitationally driven torques parameterized in our 1D model in terms of Toomre's $Q$ criterion. We do not model the hot inner sub-AU scale region…
Periodic 6.7 GHz $\mathrm{CH_3OH}$ maser emission in G353.273+0.641: First candidate for a pulsating high-mass protostar
Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University（山口大学理工学创新研究科）；The Research Institute for Time Studies, Yamaguchi University（山口大学时间学研究研究所）；Center for Astronomy, Ibaraki University（茨城大学天文学中心）
Context: Understanding how protostars accrete their mass is a central question of star formation. One aspect of this is trying to understand whether the time evolution of accretion rates in deeply embedded objects is best characterised by a smooth decline from early to late stages or by intermittent bursts of high accretion. Aims: We create synthetic observations of deeply embedded protostars in a large numerical simulation of a molecular cloud, which are compared directly to real observations. The goal is to compare episodic accretion events in the simulation to observations and to test the m…
The star-forming efficiency of dense gas is thought to be set within cores by outflow and radiative feedback. We use magneto-hydrodynamic simulations to investigate the relation between protostellar outflow evolution, turbulence and star formation efficiency. We model the collapse and evolution of isolated dense cores for $\gtrsim$ 0.5 Myr including the effects of turbulence, radiation transfer, and both radiation and outflow feedback from forming protostars. We show that outflows drive and maintain turbulence in the core environment even with strong initial fields. The star-formation efficien…
(Abridged) The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the physical and chemical structure of Class I low-mass protostellar sources on protoplanetary disc scales. We present a study of the dust and gas emission towards a representative sample of 12 Class I protostars from the Ophiuchus molecular cloud with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The continuum at 0.87 mm and molecular transitions from C17O, C34S, H13CO+, CH3OH, SO2 , and C2H were observed at high angular resolution (0.4", ~60 au diameter) towards each source. Disc and stellar masses are estimated from t…
The collapse of dense cores with different metallicities is studied by hydrodynamical calculations coupled with detailed chemical and radiative processes. For this purpose, we construct a simple chemical network with non-equilibrium reactions among 15 chemical species, which reproduces the abundance of important molecular coolants by more detailed network very well. The evolution is followed until the formation of a hydrostatic protostar at the center. In a lower-metallicity gas cloud, the temperature during the collapse remains high owing to less efficient cooling. Using the temperature evolu…
The role of accretion disks in the formation of low-mass stars has been well assessed by means of high angular resolution observations at various wavelengths. These findings confirm the prediction that conservation of angular momentum during the collapse leading to the formation of a star is bound to produce flattening and rotation of the collapsing core. What about high-mass stars? At present, several authors have reported on detections of disks around high-mass YSOs. Notwithstanding these important results, the presence of disks rotating about high-mass stars is not sufficient by itself to p…
During the early phases of low-mass star formation, episodic accretion causes the ejection of high-velocity outflow bullets, which carry a fossil record of the driving protostar's accretion history. We present 44 SPH simulations of $1\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ cores, covering a wide range of initial conditions, and follow the cores for five free-fall times. Individual protostars are represented by sink particles, and the sink particles launch episodic outflows using a subgrid model. The Optics algorithm is used to identify individual episodic bullets within the outflows. The parameters of the overa…
We present the first simulations of the formation and feedback of massive stars which account for radiation forces as well as photoionization feedback (along with protostellar outflows). In two different accretion scenarios modeled, we determine the relative strength of these feedback components and derive the size of the reservoir from which the forming stars gained their masses. We find that protostellar outflows alone limit the stellar mass growth only in an accretion scenario with a finite mass reservoir; when including accretion and ram pressure from large scales (> 0.1 pc), protostellar …
We present radiation hydrodynamic simulations of collapsing protostellar cores with initial masses of 30, 100, and 200 M$_{\odot}$. We follow their gravitational collapse and the formation of a massive protostar and protostellar accretion disk. We employ a new hybrid radiative feedback method blending raytracing techniques with flux-limited diffusion for a more accurate treatment of the temperature and radiative force. In each case, the disk that forms becomes Toomre-unstable and develops spiral arms. This occurs between 0.35 and 0.55 freefall times and is accompanied by an increase in the acc…
We investigate the impact of different initial conditions for the initial density profile and the initial turbulence on the formation process of protostellar clusters. We study the collapse of dense molecula r cloud cores with three-dimensional adaptive mesh refinement simulations. We focus our discussion on the distribution of the gas among the protostellar objects in the turbulent dynamical cores. Despite the large variations in the initial configurations and the resulting gas and cluster morphology we find that all stellar clusters follow a very similar gas accretion behaviour. Once seconda…
We carry out radiation hydrodynamical simulations of the formation of massive stars in the super-Eddington regime including both their radiative feedback and protostellar outflows. The calculations start from a prestellar core of dusty gas and continue until the star stops growing. The accretion ends when the remnants of the core are ejected, mostly by the force of the direct stellar radiation in the polar direction and elsewhere by the reradiated thermal infrared radiation. How long the accretion persists depends on whether the protostellar outflows are present. We set the mass outflow rate t…
Turbulent motion driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) is believed to provide an anomalous viscosity strong enough to account for observed accretion rates in protostellar accretion disks. In the first of two papers, we perform large-scale, three fluid simulations of a weakly ionised accretion disk and examine the linear and non-linear development of the MRI in the net-flux and zero net-flux cases. This numerical study is carried out using the multifluid MHD code HYDRA. We examine the role of non-ideal effects, including ambipolar diffusion, the Hall effect, and parallel resistivity…
Protostellar feedback, both radiation and bipolar outflows, dramatically affects the fragmentation and mass accretion from star-forming cores. We use ORION, an adaptive mesh refinement gravito-radiation-hydrodynamics code, to simulate the formation of a cluster of low-mass stars, including both radiative transfer and protostellar outflows. We ran four simulations to isolate the individual effects of radiation feedback and outflow feedback as well as the combination of the two. Outflows reduce protostellar masses and accretion rates each by a factor of three and therefore reduce protostellar lu…
Accretion disks are an essential component in the paradigm of the formation of low-mass stars. Recent observations further identify disks surrounding low-mass pre-main-sequence stars perturbed by flybys. Whether disks around more massive stars evolve in a similar manner becomes an urgent question. We report the discovery of a Keplerian disk of a few solar masses surrounding a 32 solar-mass protostar in the Sagittarius C cloud around the Galactic Center. The disk is gravitationally stable with two embedded spirals. A combined analysis of analytical solutions and numerical simulations demonstrat…
