ALMA and VLA Observations: Evidence for Ongoing Low-mass Star Formation
  near Sgr A*
  Using the VLA, we recently detected a large number of protoplanetary disk
(proplyd) candidates lying within a couple of light years of the massive black
hole Sgr A*. The bow-shock appearance of proplyd candidates point toward the
young massive stars located near Sgr A*. Similar to Orion proplyds, the strong
UV radiation from the cluster of massive stars at the Galactic center is
expected to photoevaporate and photoionize the circumstellar disks around
young, low mass stars, thus allowing detection of the ionized outflows from the
photoionized layer surrounding cool and dense gaseous disks. To confirm this
picture, ALMA observations detect millimeter emission at 226 GHz from five
proplyd candidates that had been detected at 44 and 34 GHz with the VLA. We
present the derived disk masses for four sources as a function of the assumed
dust temperature. The mass of protoplanetary disks from cool dust emission
ranges between 0.03 -- 0.05 solar mass. These estimates are consistent with the
disk masses found in star forming sites in the Galaxy. These measurements show
the presence of on-going star formation with the implication that gas clouds
can survive near Sgr A* and the relative importance of high vs low-mass star
formation in the strong tidal and radiation fields of the Galactic center.
