Extraction of Physical Properties of Interstellar Medium from the Observed Line Profiles

TL;DR

This paper discusses methods to extract physical properties of the interstellar medium from molecular line profiles using radiative transfer modeling, aiding the understanding of star formation and chemical evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive approach combining radiative transfer calculations with molecular observations to determine physical conditions in star-forming regions.

Findings

Physical properties of star-forming regions can be inferred from molecular line profiles.

Radiative transfer modeling helps interpret observations from various telescopes.

Comparative molecular abundance studies reveal chemical evolution stages.

Abstract

Since molecules are ubiquitous in space, the study of the 'Molecular Universe' could unfold the mystery of the existing Interstellar medium. Star formation is linked to the chemical evolution processes. Thus, an analysis of the formation of stars coupled with the chemical evolution would give a clear insight into the entire process. For example, various evolutionary stages of star formation could be probed by observing various molecules. Chemical diagnostics of these regions could be used to extract the physical properties (e.g., density, temperature, ionization degree, etc.) of these regions. Radiative transfer calculations are worthwhile in estimating physical parameters of the region where molecules are detected. However, the radiative transfer calculations are limited due to insufficient molecular data, such as spectroscopic information or collisional excitation probabilities of many interstellar species. Complex organic molecules are detected in various environments ranging from the cold gas in prestellar cores to the warm gas on solar system scales close to individual protostars. A comparative study of the relative abundances of molecules could provide insights into the beginning of chemical complexity and the link to our solar system. In my thesis, I would mainly investigate the physical properties and kinematics of different star-forming regions using radiative transfer modeling. The observed spatial differentiation between various key molecules is used to explain their physical structure or evolution and various microphysical effects. In addition, some key molecules are used to study the various evolutionary phases. This simulated data is useful for interpreting the observed data of different telescopes like IRAM 30m, GBT, ALMA, Herschel, SOFIA, etc.