Dr. Christopher McKee and Dr. Richard Klein, at the University of California, Berkeley, will study a wide range of fundamental issues relating to the star formation process. Among the projects they will undertake will be modeling of the neutral and molecular components of the interstellar medium in the Milky Way and in M31, with a comparison of the model predictions to observations. Additionally they will work toward development of a model that predicts star formation rates and molecular fractions of galaxies for use in cosmological simulations. Dr. McKee and Dr. Klein will also work toward simulating the evolution of giant molecular clouds and the generation of turbulence, modeling the formation of massive clusters, adding ambipolar diffusion to simulations of the collapse of magnetized cores, and modeling the evolution of HII regions.
Dr. McKee and Dr. Klein will also train graduate students, with a goal of adding to the diversity of the scientific work force.
