From molecular clouds to cores: unveiling the early stages of high-mass star formation with ALMA

High-mass star formation, a key process governing the energy budget of galaxies, remains one of the outstanding problems in astrophysics due to observational challenges arising from its short evolutionary timescales and the large distances at which it forms compared to low-mass stars. My research addresses these challenges by utilizing the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to probe the earliest stages of star formation, with a focus on infrared dark clouds (IRDCs), ideal laboratories for investigating the initial conditions of high-mass star formation. By constructing and analyzing the largest homogeneous sample of cores embedded in IRDCs, I have obtained insights into the mechanisms that drive high-mass star formation. These findings provide strong support for the clump-fed scenario, suggesting that high-mass stars form through external gas accretion onto initially low- to intermediate-mass cores, in contrast to the traditional monolithic collapse model. In this talk, I will present results from my project on the earliest stages of high-mass star formation and also review recent large ALMA programs exploring high-mass star-forming regions.