Spectroscopy of gas-phase molecules in protoplanetary disks around low-mass stars

In this talk, I'll discuss how molecular spectroscopy is used to study the formation of planets around low-mass stars. The planet formation environment has a range of densities, temperatures and radiation fields, and the process is stochastic, making chemical predictions difficult via modeling alone. Observations are therefore crucial for determining the chemical environment in which planets form. ALMA is studying outer disk chemistry, but dynamic range and resolution limitations prevent it from effectively probing the chemistry of the inner, terrestrial-planet forming regions, of disks. I'll discuss how IR spectroscopy from both space- and ground-based facilities, has been used to detect gas-phase molecules in disks, and describe what these observations have allowed us to learn about planet formation. In addition, I'll highlight some of the advantages provided by ground-based observations — namely, their ability to kinematically locate molecules, and to study their motions.