Chemtrip (ERC project, grant agreement 949278)
The emergence of Life relied on the presence of key molecules like water and prebiotic molecules. The primitive objects of our Solar System (comets, asteroids), which formed in the disk of dust and gas surrounding the young Sun, are thought to have delivered them to Earth during heavy bombardments. Observations show that the deeply embedded Class 0 protostars also harbour a very rich chemistry in their inner regions. What occurs to the chemical composition between this early stage of the star formation process and the formation of planets, comets, and asteroids is unknown. Do the molecules detected in these young protostars survive or are they destroyed and reformed at a later stage before being incorporated into planets, comets, and asteroids? This ERC project aims to reconstruct the physico-chemical evolution from the deeply embedded protostellar stage to the planet forming disk stage, through multi-source analyses of high angular resolution observations combined with chemical modeling studies. The evolution of complex organic chemistry and isotopic fractionation during the star formation process will be investigated using interferometric observations (ALMA, NOEMA) of solar-type protostars. In addition, numerical simulations with a state-of-the-art gas-grain chemistry code will be carried out in order to interpret the observations as well as to characterize the impact of the physical conditions and their evolution on the chemistry. This ERC project will lead to a new understanding of the evolution of the chemical composition from the earliest protostellar stage to the formation of the disk that will give birth to the planets, comets, and asteroids, while identifying the processes affecting the final composition of the disk. The observational work requires the development of innovative tools of interest for the astrochemical community that will be released publicly.