Physics & Astronomy A. Meredith Hughes - Wesleyan University

"Planet Formation through Radio Eyes."

The disks of gas and dust around young stars provide the raw material and initial conditions for planet formation. Millimeter-wavelength interferometry is a powerful tool for studying gas and dust in planet-forming regions, and it has recently undergone an immense leap in sophistication with the advent of the ALMA interferometer. I will discuss some ways in which millimeter-wavelength interferometry is being used to study the process of planet formation in circumstellar disks, with particular emphasis on the degree to which debris disk structure reflects the dynamics of embedded planetary systems.