Aims
How the Solar System - and in general, Sun-like stars and their planetary systems - formed is one of the key questions of 21st century astronomy. Solving this problem requires detailed knowledge on the physics and evolution of circumstellar disks. The aim of the research group is to understand the internal dynamics of disks, and the physics of the inward/outward transport processes. The project seeks answer to the following questions: Is episodic accretion sufficient to explain the formation of Sun-like stars? How does the large- and small-scale disk dynamics influence planet formation? How long can gas and dust survive during disk evolution enabling the formation of gas giant planets? Observations are planned with ALMA, an instrument that will bring about a revolution in astronomy similar to what the Hubble Space Telescope did about a quarter century ago. Observations will be combined with the latest hydrodynamic and radiative transfer simulations, in collaboration with the Computational Astrophysics Group, opening the way to focus on dynamical processes, the new frontier in disk physics.