Invited Presentation

Magnetic fields and massive star formation

Author(s): Qizhou Zhang (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

Presenter: Qizhou Zhang (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics)

Massive stars (M > 8Msun) often form in parsec-scale molecular clumps that collapse and fragment, leading to the birth of a cluster of stellar objects. The role of magnetic fields during the formation of massive dense cores is still not clear. The steady improvement in sensitivity of (sub)millimeter interferometers over the past decade enabled observations of dust polarization of large samples of massive star formation regions. In this talk, I will present a legacy survey carried out with the Submillimeter Array of massive star forming clumps in polarized continuum emission at a wavelength of 0.89mm. This unprecedentedly large sample of massive star forming regions observed by a submm interferometer before the ALMA era revealed compelling evidence of strong magnetic influence on the gas dynamics from 1pc to 0.1pc scales. I will present the results from the SMA legacy survey as well as our followup studies of this sample at higher angular resolutions with ALMA that probe the role of magnetic fields at scales < 0.01pc.