Toward a chemical evolutionary sequence in high-mass star formation

Abstract

Understanding the chemical evolution of young (high-mass) star-forming regions is a central topic in star formation research. The chemistry plays two main roles here: to study the evolution from simple to complex molecules, and to investigate the underlying physical processes. With these aims in mind, we observed a diverse sample of 60 high-mass star-forming regions in different evolutionary stages. In the early phase, quiescent Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs), consisting of cold and dense gas and dust, and emitting mainly at (sub-)millimeter wavelength, are formed. In the next phase, the so called High Mass Protostellar Objects (HMPOs) form, which host a central, likely still accreting protostar and already show emission at mid-infrared wavelengths. In the Hot Molecular Core phase (HMC) the central source heats up the surrounding environment, evaporating molecular-rich ices, which gives rise to a rich chemistry leading to complex molecules such as long carbon chains. Finally the UV-radiation from the embedded protostars ionizes the gas around and forms an Ultra Compact HII (UCHII) region. In these objects many of the previously formed complex molecules are not longer detected as they got destroyed by the ionizing radiation. For our observations, we used the IRAM 30m telescope with the total bandpass of 16 GHz and good spectral resolution (~0:3=0:7 km/s at 1/3 mm). We derived their large-scale chemical abundances, assuming LTE and optically thin emission. To set these results into context, we model the chemical evolution in such environments with a state-of-the-art chemical model. This enables us to put constraints on the chemical evolution, the age and parameters such as the temperature and the density of the molecular clouds.