Thermodynamics of protostellar discs

Young stars are attended by protostellar discs in which eventually planetary systems may form. The physical processes in protostellar discs are not well understood. It is thought that if such discs are massive enough and cool fast enough they can fragment to form either giant planets or more massive objects (brown dwarfs and low-mass stars). Many young stars are in close binaries in which the disc surrounds both stars. The aim of this project is to develop new techniques to model the radiative transfer in protostelar discs so that the dynamical processes that lead to disc fragmentation are described accurately. These methods will then be used to study the evolution and fragmentation of circumbinary discs.