Inviscid irrotational flow around a pair of coaxial disks is considered in the limit in which the distance 2h between the disks is small compared to their radius a. The disks have zero thickness and accelerate away from one another along their common axis. The added mass M of each accelerating disk is increased by the presence of the other disk. Analytic predictions are obtained when h/a ≪ 1, with M ~ πa/(8h)-ln(h/a)/2+0.77875+. . . The term O(a/h) can be obtained by means of an inviscid analysis of approximately unidirectional flow within the gap between the disks, but the correction terms have not been reported previously. The irrotational flow problem satisfies Neumann boundary conditions on the surface of the disks, but is otherwise analogous to the Dirichlet problem of the capacitance of a pair of charged disks, which has been the subject of much study and controversy.

The interaction between planetary formation and protostellar disks is among the most critical remaining pieces in the puzzle of solar system assembly. Leading theoretical models are constructed around two distinct scenarios: gravitational instabilities and core accretion. The physics of each applies to quite different epochs of formation, and exhibits complex dependencies on parameters like disk density and viscosity. Untangling the effects such processes have on the final planetary statistics necessitates direct observation of exoplanets in their primordial state, prior to orbital migration. Furthermore, detailed study of the environment, such as the way the planets shape the protostellar disk by driving accretion streams across disk gaps, will also constrain formation models. Aperture masking interferometry has demonstrated a unique ability to probe the gaps within stellar disks. It has twin advantages of a higher dynamic range at the diffraction limit (λ/D) than differential imaging, while at the same time giving very extensive UV coverage compared to long baseline interferometry.

I will first discuss abundance gradients in the Milky Way and nearby disk galaxies, then the problem of substructures in the Galactic Disk, and finally some new opportunities for investigating substructure in disks.

The near infrared (1–2μm) and the thermal infrared (3–25μm) trace many of the environments in which masers are thought to reside, including shocks, outflows, accretion disks, and the dense medium near protostars. After a number of recent surveys it has been found that there is a higher detection rate of mid-IR emission towards masers than cm radio continuum emission from UC HII regions, and that the mid-IR emission is actually more closely cospatial to the maser locations. A high percentage of water and methanol masers that are not coincident with the UC HII regions in massive star forming regions are likely to be tracing outflows and extremely young high mass stars before the onset of the UC HII region phase. After a decade of groundwork supporting the hypothesis that linearly distributed class II methanol masers may generally trace accretion disks around young massive stars, compelling evidence is mounting that these masers may generally be associated with outflows instead. Substantiation of this claim comes from recent outflow surveys and high angular resolution mid-IR imaging of the maser environments.