Abstract
Molecular processes play both active and passive/diagnostic rôles in the process of star formation. Various molecular behaviours can be identified in star-forming regions with the result that different molecular species can be used to constain different aspects of the infall process, such as the density structures, the kinematics and the evolutionary history of star-forming cores. The main limitations in the chemical analysis of infall sources arise from poorly constrained boundary conditions; in particular the chemical and physical initial conditions are usually very uncertain. The most promising application of astrochemical modelling is probably in the analysis of the infall dynamics through combined chemical/radiative transfer modelling of molecular emission line profiles.
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Rawlings, J. The Rôle Of Astrochemistry In Low Mass Star Formation. Astrophysics and Space Science 285, 777–789 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026133931846
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026133931846