Research

The process of star and star cluster formation occupies a critical position in astrophysics, because understanding of it is required for progress to be made on other fundamental problems, including stellar evolution, galactic evolution, and the formation of planetary systems. However, in contrast to the theory of stellar evolution, the theory of star formation is still not well understood, owing partly to the complexity of the physical processes involved due to turbulence, gravity, rotation, and magnetic field during initial phases of molecular cloud collapse and partly to the fact that star formation happens in the dusty regions of the Galaxy where they are highly obscured in the optical domain of the electromagnetic spectrum.

In recent years, however, observational progress has been rapid as a result of the opening up of substantial high-resolution capabilities in the infrared and millimeter wavelengths, where the obscuration is much reduced. At the same time, many large-scale Galactic surveys are providing or have provided wealth wide-field data and images to look at the evolution of molecular clouds from larger-scale to the smaller-scale, making it feasible to interconnect various components of interstellar medium and star forming environment. All these advances allowing us to make a deep sense of how and where stars form in the molecular cloud and how they affect their surrounding interstellar medium through their stellar feedback.

Broadly, my research focuses on the formation and early evolution of stars and star clusters of our Milky Way Galaxy, and how they eventually disperse into the Galactic field from their birthplace.