《国家重点基础研究发展规划》项目:“21世纪天体物理重大问题:星系形成和演化”项目介绍

STATUS REPORT ON THE STATE KEY BASIC RESEARCH PROJECT“A KEY PROBLEM IN THE 21TH CENTURY ASTROPHYSICS:FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF GALAXIES”

20世纪人类在探索宇宙奥秘的道路上取得了辉煌的成就 .其主要标志是恒星的内部结构与演化理论和宇宙大爆炸标准模型的建立。这一理论框架为宇宙中一切物质 ,包括基本粒子 ,原子 ,分子 ,行星 ,恒星 ,生命的产生和发展提供统一的科学图象 ,受到越来越丰富的观测的支持。然而在大爆炸宇宙模型和恒星演化理论之间存在一个人们了解甚少的领域 :就是由大量恒星组成而又作为宇宙基本单元的星系是如何形成和演化的 ?回答这一重要问题无疑是对 2 1世纪天文学的重大挑战。世界发达国家正在投巨资建造新一代巨型天文设备 ,如各个波段的地面的和空间的望远镜 ,把人类探测能力延伸到宇宙演化的早期。中国也己确定星系形成与演化作为我国天文学科发展的国家目标之一 ,在国家重大科学工程中安排大天区面积多目标光纤光谱天文望远镜———LAMOST以增加我国在这一重大领域的竞争力。“星系形成和演化”项目的目标 ,就是要在LAMOST建成之前 ,充分利用国内中小设备和国外大型设备资料 ,开展大样本统计 ,数值模拟和理论研究 ,提高我国在这一领域的开拓创新的能力 ,形成在国际上有竞争力的队伍 ,在若干优选的课题方向上先期做出有高显示度的成果 ,以期在LAMOST建成之后 ,我国在宇宙大尺度结构 ,星系形成与演化方面跻身国际先?

There have been great achievements in the human exploration of the universe in the 20th century, as represented by the two major theoretical frameworks of Stellar Structure and Evolution and the Big-bang Cosmology. These theories provides a unified picture to the formation and evolution of the universe, from the fundamental particles, atoms, molecules to planets, stars, and life in the universe and such picture is supported by increasing observational evidence. Between the theories of big-bang cosmology and the theory of stellar structure and theory, there is a gap still rarely understood: how do the galaxies form? It is a great challenge in answering the question. Huge amount of budget to the new-generation instruments, both the ground-based and space facilities, have been arranged in the many developed countries, which will extend the detection range toward the significantly deeper and earlier universe. Chinese government selected the direction as one of the key efforts in astronomy: started the Large-Area Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) project to enhance the research capability in the area. The primary motivation of present project is, through the enhancement of scientific outputs of the existing small or medium-size telescopes, to stimulate the research activities in this field and to reinforce the competitive researches on several carefully selected topics such as sample studies, numerical simulations, and theoretical researches. This project will serve as a prelude for China to play an outstanding role in the research of formation and evolution of galaxies and the large-scale structure of the universe after the LAMOST is put into operation.