Structure of Hot Molecular Cores
2011
High-mass stars form deeply embedded in dense molecular gas, which they heat up and ionize due to their high
energy output. During an early phase, the ionization is confined to small regions, and the stellar radiation is
absorbed by dust. The high temperatures lead to the evaporation of ice mantles around dust grains, and many
highly excited and complex molecules can be observed in these Hot Molecular Cores. At later stages, the whole
molecular cloud is ionized and disrupted, and a star cluster becomes visible.
This PhD thesis aims at constraining the distribution of density, temperature, molecular abundances, and ve-
locity field in Hot Molecular Cores. This key information for high-mass star formation and for astrochemistry is
obtained by sophisticated radiative transfer modeling of both single-dish and interferometric observations.
With the APEX telescope, 12 sources were observed in submillimeter lines of the HCN, HCO+, and CO
molecules, covering a wide range of excitations and optical depths. This was extended with the Herschel space
telescope, which observed HCN lines in SgrB2-M up to high (THz) frequencies and excitations. The line shapes
and intensities were modeled with the spherical radiative transfer code RATRAN, assuming a radial power-law
density distribution and central heating.
With the VLA radio interferometer, vibrationally excited HCN and ionized gas was mapped at a high resolution
of 0.1" (1000 AU) in G10.47+0.03, SgrB2-M and -N. The SMA interferometer was used to observe hundreds of molecular lines and dust emission in G10.47+0.03, reaching a frequency of 690 GHz and a best resolution of 0.3".
The data were modeled with the three-dimensional radiative transfer code RADMC-3D, which computes the dust
temperature from stellar heating.
Modeling using a power-law density structure reproduces most single-dish lines, but the high-resolution data
show a central flattening and a rapid radial decrease of the density, resembling a Plummer profile. Modeling of
the line shapes indicates small-scale clumpiness. Internal heating by high-mass stars is consistent with the data
and traced by vibrationally excited HCN around small regions of ionized gas. Diffusion of radiation due to the
high column densities lead to hundreds of solar masses of hot (>300 K) gas. The HCN abundance increases with
temperature, reaching high values on the order of 10^−5 relative to H2 in the hot gas. Large-scale infall is traced by asymmetric line shapes and is slower than free-fall, while at the same time central expansion motions are detected by blue-shifted absorption and a change of the asymmetry with higher excitation.
I conclude that Hot Molecular Cores are characterized by the beginning feedback from high-mass stars, while
gravitational infall is ongoing. The increased thermal, radiative, turbulent, and wind-driven pressure in the central region leads to expansion motions and to a central flattening of the density. High temperatures are reached through diffusion of radiation by dust.
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