Molecular observations of disks with the Submillimeter Array

Charlie Qi

Protoplanetary disks link protostars and (extra-)solar planetary
systems physically and chemically. Understanding the chemical
composition and evolution of disks thus provides constraints on
the nature of molecules incorporated into planetesimals and planets.
The disk chemical evolution is predicted to depend on radiation
fields, temperature and density structures. Molecular emission
can be used to investigate how the disk physics drives the disk
chemistry, and how the disk chemistry traces the disk physics.
I will summarize our observational understanding of the chemistry
in disks from observations made with the Submillimeter
Array (SMA) and describe our empirical model approach to interpret the
spatially resolved molecular emissions by constraining the radial and
vertical distribution of molecular abundances.
Such analysis provides the essential framework for characterizing the
disk chemical processes, which aids in understanding the physical and
chemical evolution during planet formation.