Invited Presentation

The Magnetic Field in Star Formation from Large to Small Scales: How Important Is It?

Author(s): Patrick Koch (ASIAA)

Presenter: Patrick Koch (ASIAA)

We present dust polarization observations from large filamentary infrared
dark clouds down to high-mass star-forming cores. Starting from single-dish
observations the magnetic field structures are resolved with increasingly
higher resolutions down to individual cores. ALMA observations in
Band 6 with a resolution of 0.25” reveal a wealth of substructures with satellite
cores, locally pinched magnetic field morphologies in individual cores and a
field morphology in between cores that indicates a global drag towards the
overall center of mass. Besides textbook cases, we further present statistical
results from a 50-source sample that reveals generic magnetic field features
and a systematically locally varying importance of the magnetic field versus
gravity. On smaller scales in protostellar sources we present indirect evidence
of the presence of the magnetic field via detailed measurements of the specific
angular momentum profile.