报告题目：Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities in the Study of “Molecular Factories” in Space

报 告 人：Dr. Xiaohu Li（李小虎）

摘  要：Understanding the origin and evolution of circumstellar and interstellar molecules is key to understanding the molecular universe and has become a fundamental goal of modern astrophysics. To date, at least 50% of the interstellar species (in total around 200) were detected in the circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars, which are true “molecular factories” in space and thus attracting great interests from both astronomers and chemists. Thanks to the progress from high-quality observations from both space and ground (e.g., Herschel, ALMA, etc.), and the improvement in the accurate reaction rates of the most abundant molecules, as well as the development of the new astrochemical models, much of successes have been made in the understanding of the compositions and chemistries of these  “molecular factories”. In this talk, I will briefly introduce our accomplishments during the investigation of the compositions and chemistry of the CSEs of all types of AGB stars. In particular, I will introduce our latest discoveries in the studying of the least-known S-type AGB star, based on our several recent successful observations via the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, the ALMA Prototype 12-meter Telescope and the 10-meter Submillimeter Telescope in Arizona Radio Observatory, and the Submillimeter Array in Hawaii. Last but not the least, I will comment on the major challenges and opportunities in this field in the next few years.

报告人简介：Dr. Xiaohu Li received his PH.D. degree on Astrochemistry in the year of 2015 from Leiden University (the Netherlands) under the supervising of Prof. Ewine van Dishoeck and Dr. Alan Heays, followed by a short-term postdoc position at the same group in Leiden Observatory. From the June of 2015, Dr. Li started to conduct independent research as an East Asian Core Observatories Association (EACOA) Fellow, working with Prof. Gang Zhao at National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) and Prof. Ciska Kemper at Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA). Dr. Li’s research focuses on modeling and observations of molecules in the circumstellar envelopes (CSEs) of the evolved stars.

报告时间：2018年1月9日（周二）下午17:00

报告地点：台本部南楼210会议室