Purpose of the workshop
The purpose of the meeting is to bring together experts in the fields of:
- the origin and evolution of dust in the Milky Way
- laboratory studies on dust and molecules
- PDR & XDR models
- Galactic and extragalactic regions of massive star formation
- buried active galactic nuclei
- local (ultra-)luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs)
- feedback processes between dust and molecules, star formation, and black hole accretion
- dust and gas in the Early Universe
to discuss the rich but puzzling harvest of Spitzer-IRS (U)LIRG spectra in the context of other (Galactic/laboratory) data present. An appetizer can be found here.
Questions to be addressed
- How does star formation proceed under the extreme physical conditions at the centers of ULIRGs? Is it really just like the center of a molecular cloud or star-forming disks?
- How important is feedback (supernovae, superwinds, central black hole) in regulating the star-formation?
- Is gravity really important down in that central 100pc, or is it all hydrodynamics, shocks, and other more complicated processes?
- What is the role of AGN activity in the evolution of a ULIRG? How does it affect the composition of dust surrounding it?
- What is the role of the dust, besides providing extinction? Do grains compete effectively for photons? Are they coolants by forming surfaces for the gas to bind? Do they rob the ISM of coolants? Basically, what is the interaction of the dust and gas in there, and how does this affect the evolution of the nuclei and the galaxies as a whole?
- What are the observational characteristics of the most deeply obscured galactic nuclei; how do they differ from those of other infrared galaxies; and what do they code for: star formation or AGN activity?
We propose the following sessions
- What are the characteristics of ULIRGs? What are the key processes? What are the roles of dust and molecules in this? What are the observational characteristics?
- The origin, evolution, and role of dust and (large) molecules in the Milky Way, including their observational characteristics
- Laboratory studies on dust and molecules under extreme conditions.
- Galactic and extragalactic regions of massive star formation.
- The physical conditions and central sources of the most obscured regions in (U)LIRGs. Discussion afterwards.
- Feedback processes between dust and molecules, star formation, and black hole accretion.
- Dust and gas in the Early Universe. This should review ULIRGs as analogs for the Early Universe. In addition, what do we know/expect about dust and molecules in the early universe?
Workshop atmosphere
In order to stimulate discussion and in-situ collaborations, we intend to keep the workshop schedule light and the number of participants limited.