Connecting clustered star formation with the origin of life.

将星团形成与生命起源联系起来。

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-05986
• 负责人: Pudritz, Ralph
• 金额: $ 4.44万
• 依托单位: McMaster University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=763070
• 关键词: Connecting; clustered; star; formation; origin

How do stars and their planetary systems form? How did life originate on Earth, and are we alone? These questions are deeply linked.  The arc that connects them begins with the fact that most stars form as members of clusters containing dozens to millions of stars.  Clusters arise in clumps of up to a few light years across within large (300 lyrs)  filamentary, magnetized giant molecular clouds (GMCs).   Over-dense regions in clumps collapse to produce stars within protostellar gas/dust disks, which can now be imaged at submillimeter wavelengths by the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA).  The properties and chemical composition of these evolving disks in turn determine the kinds of planets and atmospheres that form -  connecting planet formation with the observed chemical and dynamical properties of exoplanetary populations.   The  origin of life on rocky worlds requires not just water, but a source of biomolecular building blocs in environments in which genetic polymers can form.  These building blocks can be delivered by meteorites or made by exotic chemistry in certain kinds of planetary atmospheres. The long-term objective of my research program is to link the origin of genetic polymers on newly formed habitable planets to the origin of the chemical, physical and dynamical properties of the planetary systems of their host stars in forming star clusters.   We will perform global simulations of magnetized galaxies using state of the art radiative magnetohydrodynamic (RMHD) codes to study how GMCs and their massive star clusters are built.  By using zoom in techniques, our  RMHD simulations will, for the first time, explore the properties of cluster formation in magnetized GMCs down to protoplanetary disk scales.  We will determine the upper mass limit of their stars as well as  the distributions of physical properties of their magnetized disks  A combination of novel astrochemistry and N-body dynamics methods will be used to compute the gravitational interactions between planets and the disks, and track their chemical properties as they accrete material from their disks.    Planets also migrate by exchanging angular momentum with gaseous disks.  New advances emphasize that magnetized disk winds - not disk turbulence - provide these torques.  I will develop a novel theory of planetary migration based on this concept.   With the composition of planets and atmospheres in hand, we will then compute the chemical conditions under which the building blocks of RNA molecules can form in planetary atmospheres.  This provides input for our experiments on how the first genetic polymers (RNA) formed in prebiotic planetary conditions  (warm little ponds) - to be carried out in our newly completed, CFI funded, Origins of Life Laboratory (OoL). This unique world  facility features a planetary simulator that creates a wide range of planetary environments in which we can study the rate at which polymerization and resulting molecular evolution can occur.

恒星及其行星系统是如何形成的？地球上的生命是如何起源的？这些问题是紧密相连的，因为大多数恒星都是由数十到数百万颗恒星组成的星团。星团以长达数光年的团块形式出现在大型（300 里尔）丝状磁化巨分子云 (GMC) 中，团块中的过密区域会塌陷而产生。原恒星气体/尘埃盘中的恒星，现在可以通过阿塔卡马大型毫米波阵列（ALMA）以亚毫米波长进行成像，这些不断演化的盘的特性和化学成分反过来决定了形成的行星和大气层的类型 - 连接。行星的形成以及所观察到的系外行星种群的化学和动力学特性​岩石世界上的生命起源不仅需要水，还需要环境中生物分子构建块的来源。这些构建块可以通过陨石提供，也可以通过某些行星大气中的奇异化学物质制成。我的研究计划的长期目标是将新形成的宜居行星遗传学上的遗传聚合物的起源联系起来。其宿主恒星的行星系统在形成星团时的化学、物理和动力学特性的起源我们将使用最先进的辐射磁流体动力学（RMHD）代码对磁化星系进行全局模拟，以研究如何形成。通过使用放大技术，我们的 RMHD 模拟将首次探索原行星盘尺度的磁化 GMC 中的星团形成特性，并确定其恒星的质量上限。以及其磁化盘的物理特性的分布 新的天体化学和 N 体动力学方法的结合将用于计算行星和行星之间的引力相互作用行星也通过与气态盘交换角动量来迁移，并跟踪它们的化学性质，新进展强调磁化盘风（而不是盘湍流）提供了这些扭矩。基于这个概念的行星迁移理论。​有了行星和大气的组成，我们将计算在行星大气中形成RNA分子的化学条件。我们的实验将在 CFI 资助的新建成的生命起源实验室 (OoL) 中进行，研究第一个基因聚合物 (RNA) 在生命起源之前的行星条件（温暖的小池塘）中如何形成。行星模拟器可以创建各种行星环境，在其中我们可以研究聚合和由此产生的分子进化发生的速率。