The birth of stars is one of the most important processes in the Universe. Stars provide most of the light and energy that drives the evolution of galaxies, and also manufacture and disperse the heavy chemical elements that make the formation of planets and living organisms possible. 

Stars from in clusters with hundreds to millions of members inside giant clouds composed mostly of molecular hydrogen. Shortly after star formation begins, feedback from the stars themselves - high-energy radiation, powerful stellar winds and supernova explosions - begins to influence the evolution of the clouds and their star clusters. Eventually, feedback is thought to destroy the clouds completely, leaving the new stellar clusters exposed, empty of gas, and visible from great distances.

Our group uses sophisticated computer simulations of these molecular clouds to try to understand this process. We are particularly interested in how feedback affects how quickly star formation proceeds, and eventually terminates it altogether, and in how the clouds and their star clusters would appear to a distant observer while this complex story is unfolding. 

To do so we have developed our own tools for the radiation transfer, using state-of-the-art algorithms that allow us to simulate these regions with exquisite detail. 

 

The formation of planets is a natural consequence of the star formation process. Stars form via the collapse of molecular clouds, which all have a certain amount of rotational energy. In order for angular momentum to be conserved the gravitational collapse of a cloud to form a star leads to the formation of a circumstellar disc. This disc, which is known as a protoplanetary disc, holds the reservoir of material from which planets form. Our group studies the formation of planets within these protoplanetary discs, with particular emphasis on the interaction between the evolution of the disc and the planet formation process itself.