Evolution of the ISM of Starburst galaxies: the SN heating efficiency

The interstellar medium heated by SN explosions may acquire an expansion velocity larger than the escape velocity and leave the galaxy through a supersonic wind. SN ejecta are transported out of the galaxies by such winds which thus affect the chemical evolution of the galaxies. The effectiveness of the processes mentioned above depends on the heating efficiency (HE) of the SNe, that is a matter of debate. We have constructed a simple semi-analytic model, considering the essential ingredients of a SB environment which is able to qualitatively trace the thermalisation history of the ISM in a SB region and determine the HE evolution. We find that, as long as the mass-loss rate of the clouds remains larger than the rate at which the SNRs interact one with each other, the SN heating efficiency remains very small, as radiative cooling of the gas dominates. We conclude that the HE value has a time-dependent trend that is sensitive to the initial conditions of the system.Comment: 17 pages, 18 figures, A&A accepte

Multidimensional Hydrodynamical Simulations of radiative cooling SNRs-clouds interactions: an application to Starburst Environments

In this work we are interested to study the by-products of SNR-clouds in a starburst (SB) system. These interactions can have an important role in the recycling of matter from the clouds to the ISM and vice-versa. In the present work, we have focused our attention on the global effects of the interactions between clouds and SN shock waves in the ISM of SB environments, and performed 3-D radiative cooling hydrodynamical simulations with the adaptive YGUAZU grid code. We have also considered the effects of the photo-evaporation due to the presence of a high number of UV photons from hot stars and supernovae (SNe). The results have shown that, in the presence of radiative cooling, instead of an efficient gas mixing with the diffuse ISM, the interactions cause the fragmentation of the clouds into smaller ones. The results have also revealed that the SNR-clouds interactions are less efficient at producing substantial mass loss from the clouds to the diffuse ISM than mechanisms such as the photo-evaporation caused by the UV flux from the hot stars.Comment: 15 pages, 25 figures. Figures with higher resolution at the page: http://www.astro.iag.usp.br/~dalpino/ Astronomy & Astrophysics accepte

On the Influence of Magnetic Fields on the Structure of Protostellar Jets

We here present the first results of fully three-dimensional (3-D) MHD simulations of radiative cooling pulsed (time-variable) jets for a set of parameters which are suitable for protostellar outflows. Considering different initial magnetic field topologies in approximate $equipartition$ with the thermal gas, i.e., (i) a longitudinal, and (ii) a helical field, both of which permeating the jet and the ambient medium; and (iii) a purely toroidal field permeating only the jet, we find that the overall morphology of the pulsed jet is not very much affected by the presence of the different magnetic field geometries in comparison to a nonmagnetic calculation. Instead, the magnetic fields tend to affect essentially the detailed structure and emission properties behind the shocks at the head and at the pulse-induced internal knots, particularly for the helical and toroidal geometries. In these cases, we find, for example, that the $H_\alpha$ emissivity behind the internal knots can be about three to four times larger than that of the purely hydrodynamical jet. We also find that some features, like the nose cones that often develop at the jet head in 2-D calculations involving toroidal magnetic fields, are smoothed out or absent in the 3-D calculations.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Accepted by ApJ Letters after minor corrections (for high resolution figures, see http://www.iagusp.usp.br/~adriano/h.tar

The precession of the giant HH34 outflow: a possible jet deceleration mechanism

The giant jets represent a fundamental trace of the historical evolution of the outflow activity over timescales which are comparable to the accretion time of the outflow sources in their main protostellar phase. The study of such huge jets provides the possibility of retrieving important elements related to the life of the outflow sources. In this paper, we study the role of precession (combined with jet velocity-variability and the resulting enhanced interaction with the surrounding environment) as a deceleration mechanism for giant jets using a numerical approach. We obtain predictions of H alpha intensity maps and position-velocity diagrams from 3D simulations of the giant HH 34 jet (including an appropriate ejection velocity time-variability and a precession of the outflow axis), and we compare them with previously published observations of this object. Our simulations represent a step forward from previous numerical studies of HH objects, in that the use of a 7-level, binary adaptive grid has allowed us to compute models which appropiately cover all relevant scales of a giant jet, from the ~ 100 AU jet radius close to the source to the ~ 1 pc length of the outflow. A good qualitative and quantitative agreement is found between the model predictions and the observations. Moreover, we show that a critical parameter for obtaining a better or worse agreement with the observations is the ratio rho_j/rho_a between the jet and the environmental densities. The implications of this result in the context of the current star formation models are discussed (ABRIDGED).Comment: 19 pages, 8 eps figs.,uses aaspp4; accepted by the Ap

Star formation triggered by SN explosions: an application to the stellar association of β\beta Pictoris

In the present study, considering the physical conditions that are relevant in interactions between supernova remnants (SNRs) and dense molecular clouds for triggering star formation we have built a diagram of SNR radius versus cloud density in which the constraints above delineate a shaded zone where star formation is allowed. We have also performed fully 3-D radiatively cooling numerical simulations of the impact between SNRs and clouds under different initial conditions in order to follow the initial steps of these interactions. We determine the conditions that may lead either to cloud collapse and star formation or to complete cloud destruction and find that the numerical results are consistent with those of the SNR-cloud density diagram. Finally, we have applied the results above to the $\beta-$Pictoris stellar association which is composed of low mass Post-T Tauri stars with an age of 11 Myr. It has been recently suggested that its formation could have been triggered by the shock wave produced by a SN explosion localized at a distance of about 62 pc that may have occurred either in the Lower Centaurus Crux (LCC) or in the Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) which are both nearby older subgroups of that association (Ortega and co-workers). Using the results of the analysis above we have shown that the suggested origin for the young association at the proposed distance is plausible only for a very restricted range of initial conditions for the parent molecular cloud, i.e., a cloud with a radius of the order of 10 pc and density of the order of 20 cm$^{-3}$ and a temperature of the order of 50$-$100 K.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, to appear in MNRA

Modeling the spectrum of gravitational waves in the primordial Universe

Recent observations from type Ia Supernovae and from cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies have revealed that most of the matter of the Universe interacts in a repulsive manner, composing the so-called dark energy constituent of the Universe. The analysis of cosmic gravitational waves (GW) represents, besides the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies, an additional approach in the determination of parameters that may constrain the dark energy models and their consistence. In recent work, a generalized Chaplygin gas model was considered in a flat universe and the corresponding spectrum of gravitational waves was obtained. The present work adds a massless gas component to that model and the new spectrum is compared to the previous one. The Chaplygin gas is also used to simulate a $\Lambda$-CDM model by means of a particular combination of parameters so that the Chaplygin gas and the $\Lambda$-CDM models can be easily distinguished in the theoretical scenarios here established. The lack of direct observational data is partialy solved when the signature of the GW on the CMB spectra is determined.Comment: Proc. of the Conference on Magnetic Fields in the Universe: from laboratories and stars to primordial structures, AIP(NY), eds. E. M. de Gouveia Dal Pino, G. Lugones & A. Lazarian (2005), in press. (8 pages, 11 figures

Super-efficiency and stability intervals in additive DEA

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication in Journal of the Operational Research Society. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. The final version will be available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/jors.2012.1