Abstract

Protostellar disks are expected to form early during the star formation process due to conservation of angular momentum throughout the collapse. Recent surveys by the Very Large Array (VLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have measured typical dust disk radii of ~30-45 AU around hundreds of Class 0/I/Flat Spectrum protostars. Theoretical challenges in understanding how protostellar disks can even form, however, result from observations that angular momentum cannot be perfectly conserved. Magnetic fields, which are typically observed to be dynamically significant in star-forming regions, can help transport angular momentum out of the disk and collapsing envelope, but may be too efficient in the limit of ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). In this limit, both theory and numerical simulations show that disk formation is strongly suppressed even under moderate magnetic field strengths. Molecular clouds are only partially ionized, however, and considering non-ideal MHD effects (Ohmic resistivity, ambipolar diffusion, and the Hall effect) may help resolve the magnetic braking catastrophe. In this talk, I will present the initial results from a suite of numerical calculations following the collapse of a turbulent, magnetized 50 solar-mass core down to the formation of stellar clusters and disks using the 3D radiation+gravity MHD code GIZMO, with additional modules for protostellar feedback developed within the STARFORGE numerical framework. These simulations aim to investigate the effects of including non-ideal MHD and realistic protostellar feedback on disk formation and evolution within the context of star cluster (rather than single-star) formation.