EPoS Contribution
EPoS Contribution
Low-mass cores: achievements and challenges

Mario Tafalla
Observatorio Astronomico Nacional, Madrid, Spain
Low mass cores are the simplest sites where solar-type stars are born, and their study offers the best opportunity to determine observationally the initial conditions of star formation. Thanks to an intense effort in observations and modeling during the past several years, a number of issues on the physical and chemical structure of cores have been clarified, and a reasonable consensus view on some of the internal properties of cores has emerged. Cores are now understood to have flattened, quasi Bonnor-Ebert density profiles, centrally depressed temperature gradients, subsonic internal motions, and chemical inhomogeneities resulting from the depletion of most molecular species, in particular CO, at the high densities typical of their interior. Despite this significant progress, a number of important questions on core physics remain open, in particular concerning the formation mechanism, equilibrium state, and eventual collapse to form stars. In this talk, I will review some of our current understanding of core properties and I will discuss new observations and studies aimed to clarify the questions that remain unanswered.