Star
formation is one of the most
exciting fields in astrophysics, especially the formation of high-mass
stars, which remains a puzzling subject. It is still not understood
whether the most massive stars form via similar disk-accretion
processes like their low-mass counterparts, or whether different
physical processes like competitive accretion or the coalescence of protostars come into play. Our work is dedicated to the
investigation of the earliest stages of massive star formation with
special application to the studies of potential massive disks, the
initial fragmentation processes of high-mass star-forming regions, core
chemistry, magnetic field properties and outflow/infall studies. High-mass star formation
proceeds in a clustered mode at typically large distances, and thus
high angular resolution is essential to spatially resolve the regions.
Furthermore, young massive star-forming regions are strong line and
continuum emitters at (sub)mm wavelengths. Therefore, we focus on
interferometric studies at (sub)mm wavelengths. This observational
approach is accompanied by theoretical modeling of massive disks
and their associated cores. Moreover, the far-infrared satellite
Herschel launched in 2009, and the Atacama Large Millimeter
Array
(ALMA)
is
expected to be in early science operation in 2011. We are and will be at
the forefront in using these exciting next-generation instruments.