Related papers: Accretion discs, low-mass protostars and planets: …

Magnetic fields are known to reside in many astrophysical objects and are now believed to be crucially important for the creation of phenomena on a wide variety of scales. However, the role of the magnetic field in the bodies that we…

We investigate the effects of magnetic fields and radiative protostellar feedback on the star formation process using self-gravitating radiation magnetohydrodynamical calculations. We present results from a series of calculations of the…

I discuss the role that disc fragmentation plays in the formation of gas giant and terrestrial planets, and how this relates to the formation of brown dwarfs and low-mass stars, and ultimately to the process of star formation. Protostellar…

Young low-mass stars are characterized by ejection of collimated outflows and by circumstellar disks which they interact with through accretion of mass. The accretion builds up the star to its final mass and is also believed to power the…

Research performed in the 1950s and 1960s by Leon Mestel on the roles of magnetic fields in star formation established the framework within which he and other key figures have conducted subsequent investigations on the subject. This short…

Massive stars have a profound influence on the Universe, but their formation remains poorly understood. We review the current status of observational and theoretical research in this field, describing the various stages of an evolutionary…

Disk accretion onto magnetic stars occurs in a variety of systems, including accreting neutron stars (with both high and low magnetic fields), white dwarfs, and protostars. We review some of the key physical processes in magnetosphere-disk…

The formation of stars is a key process in astrophysics. Detailed knowledge of the physical mechanisms that govern stellar birth is a prerequisite for understanding the formation and evolution of our galactic home, the Milky Way. A theory…

Strong, kilo-Gauss, magnetic fields are required to explain a range of observational properties in young, accreting pre-main sequence (PMS) systems. We review the techniques used to detect magnetic fields in PMS stars. Key results from a…

Magnetic fields are usually considered dynamically important in star formation when the dimensionless mass-to-flux ratio is close to, or less than, unity (lambda<~1). We show that, in disk formation, the requirement is far less stringent.…

Magnetic fields play an important role in star formation by regulating the removal of angular momentum from collapsing molecular cloud cores. Hall diffusion is known to be important to the magnetic field behaviour at many of the…

Studying the physical processes occurring in the region just above the magnetic poles of strongly magnetized, accreting binary neutron stars is essential to our understanding of stellar and binary system evolution. Perhaps more importantly,…

We present a theoretical model for primordial star formation. First we describe the structure of the initial gas cores as virialized, quasi-hydrostatic objects in accord with recent high resolution numerical studies. The accretion rate can…

Modern astronomy has finally been able to observe protoplanetary disks in reasonable resolution and detail, unveiling the processes happening during planet formation. These observed processes are understood under the framework of…

There are at present more then 30 theories about the origin of cosmic magnetic fields at galactic and intergalactic scales. Most of them rely on concepts of elementary particle physics, like phase transitions in the early Universe, string…

The many peculiarities of Ap stars (not only chemical ones, but also magnetic field and slow rotation) may vary during the main-sequence evolution of these stars. We review here briefly the evidences found in the last thirty years for such…

A question central to understanding the origin of our solar system is: how do planets form in circumstellar disks around young stars? Because of the complex nature of the physical processes involved, multi-wavelength observations of large…

This paper reviews the dynamics of the growth of solid particles from micron-sized dust grains to planets in protostellar accretion disks. The formation and orbital evolution of giant protoplanets is also discussed.

Most analytic work to date on protostellar disks has focused on those in isolation from their environments. However, observations are now beginning to probe the earliest, most embedded phases of star formation, during which disks are…

Circumstellar disks are the sites of planet formation, and the very high incidence of extrasolar planets implies that most of them actually form planetary systems. Studying the structure and evolution of protoplanetary disks can thus place…