Structure of Hot Molecular Cores

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

Dimethyl ether in its ground state, v=0, and lowest two torsionally excited states, v11=1 and v15=1, in the high-mass star-forming region G327.3-0.6

The goal of this paper is to determine the respective importance of solid state vs. gas phase reactions for the formation of dimethyl ether. This is done by a detailed analysis of the excitation properties of the ground state and the torsionally excited states, v11=1 and v15=1, toward the high-mass star-forming region G327.3-0.6. With the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment 12 m submillimeter telescope, we performed a spectral line survey. The observed spectrum is modeled assuming local thermal equilibrium. CH3OCH3 has been detected in the ground state, and in the torsionally excited states v11=1 and v15=1, for which lines have been detected here for the first time. The emission is modeled with an isothermal source structure as well as with a non-uniform spherical structure. For non-uniform source models one abundance jump for dimethyl ether is sufficient to fit the emission, but two components are needed for the isothermal models. This suggests that dimethyl ether is present in an extended region of the envelope and traces a non-uniform density and temperature structure. Both types of models furthermore suggest that most dimethyl ether is present in gas that is warmer than 100 K, but a smaller fraction of 5%-28% is present at temperatures between 70 and 100 K. The dimethyl ether present in this cooler gas is likely formed in the solid state, while gas phase formation probably is dominant above 100 K. Finally, the v11=1 and v15=1 torsionally excited states are easily excited under the density and temperature conditions in G327.3-0.6 and will thus very likely be detectable in other hot cores as well.Comment: 12 pages (excluding appendices), 8 figures, A&A in pres

Reversal of infall in SgrB2(M) revealed by Herschel/HIFI observations of HCN lines at THz frequencies

To investigate the accretion and feedback processes in massive star formation, we analyze the shapes of emission lines from hot molecular cores, whose asymmetries trace infall and expansion motions. The high-mass star forming region SgrB2(M) was observed with Herschel/HIFI (HEXOS key project) in various lines of HCN and its isotopologues, complemented by APEX data. The observations are compared to spherically symmetric, centrally heated models with density power-law gradient and different velocity fields (infall or infall+expansion), using the radiative transfer code RATRAN. The HCN line profiles are asymmetric, with the emission peak shifting from blue to red with increasing J and decreasing line opacity (HCN to H$^{13}$CN). This is most evident in the HCN 12--11 line at 1062 GHz. These line shapes are reproduced by a model whose velocity field changes from infall in the outer part to expansion in the inner part. The qualitative reproduction of the HCN lines suggests that infall dominates in the colder, outer regions, but expansion dominates in the warmer, inner regions. We are thus witnessing the onset of feedback in massive star formation, starting to reverse the infall and finally disrupting the whole molecular cloud. To obtain our result, the THz lines uniquely covered by HIFI were critically important.Comment: A&A, HIFI special issue, accepte