Fabien Louvet — Physical processes behind the formation of high-mass stars and low-mass stars

Star formation is a key astrophysical process. At small scale, it governs the settling of planetary systems, and the complex chemistry allowing the emergence of life. At large scale, star formation controls the energy budget of galaxies. Our knowledge about star formation is both extensive and extremely coarse. In the one hand, we know well the different steps that lead from a molecular cloud to a single star, but in the other hand, the physical processes behind those steps are, at best, debated. Building on the empirical scenario I will review some key physical processes and show the differences/similarities between low mass, and high-mass star formation.