9,706 research outputs found
A spectroscopic survey of Orion KL between 41.5 and 50 GHz
Orion KL is one of the most frequently observed sources in the Galaxy, and
the site where many molecular species have been discovered for the first time.
With the availability of powerful wideband backends, it is nowadays possible to
complete spectral surveys in the entire mm-range to obtain a spectroscopically
unbiased chemical picture of the region. In this paper we present a sensitive
spectral survey of Orion KL, made with one of the 34m antennas of the Madrid
Deep Space Communications Complex in Robledo de Chavela, Spain. The spectral
range surveyed is from 41.5 to 50 GHz, with a frequency spacing of 180 kHz
(equivalent to about 1.2 km/s, depending on the exact frequency). The rms
achieved ranges from 8 to 12 mK. The spectrum is dominated by the J=1-0 SiO
maser lines and by radio recombination lines (RRLs), which were detected up to
Delta_n=11. Above a 3-sigma level, we identified 66 RRLs and 161 molecular
lines corresponding to 39 isotopologues from 20 molecules; a total of 18 lines
remain unidentified, two of them above a 5-sigma level. Results of radiative
modelling of the detected molecular lines (excluding masers) are presented. At
this frequency range, this is the most sensitive survey and also the one with
the widest band. Although some complex molecules like CH_3CH_2CN and CH_2CHCN
arise from the hot core, most of the detected molecules originate from the low
temperature components in Orion KL.Comment: Accepted for Astronomy and Astrophysics. 29 pages, 5 tables, 6
figure
Chemical evolution in the environment of intermediate mass young stellar objects: NGC7129--FIRS2 and LkH234
We have carried out a molecular survey of the Class 0 IM protostar NGC 7129
-- FIRS 2 (hereafter FIRS 2) and the Herbig Be star LkH 234 with the
aim of studying the chemical evolution of the envelopes of intermediate-mass
(IM) young stellar objects (YSOs). Both objects have similar luminosities (~500
Lsun) and are located in the same molecular cloud which minimizes the chemical
differences due to different stellar masses or initial cloud conditions.
Moreover, since they are located at the same distance, we have the same spatial
resolution in both objects. A total of 17 molecular species (including rarer
isotopes) have been observed in both objects and the structure of their
envelopes and outflows is determined with unprecedent detail.
Our results show that the protostellar envelopes are dispersed and warmed up
during the evolution to become a pre-main sequence star. In fact, the envelope
mass decreases by a factor >5 from FIRS 2 to LkH234, while the kinetic
temperature increases from ~13K to 28K. On the other hand, there is no
molecular outflow associated with LkH234. The molecular outflow seems
to stop before the star becomes visible. These physical changes strongly affect
the chemistry of their envelopes.
Based on our results in FIRS2 and LkH 234, we propose some abundance
ratios that can be used as chemical clocks for the envelopes of IM YSOs. The
SiO/CS, CN/N2H+, HCN/N2H+, DCO+/HCO+ and D2CO/DCO+ ratios are good diagnostics
of the protostellar evolutionary stage.Comment: 24 pages, 17 figure
Observation of the Inverse Cotton-Mouton Effect
We report the observation of the Inverse Cotton-Mouton Effect (ICME) i.e. a
magnetization induced in a medium by non resonant linearly polarized light
propagating in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. We present a
detailed study of the ICME in a TGG crystal showing the dependence of the
measured effect on the light intensity, the optical polarization, and on the
external magnetic field. We derive a relation between the Cotton-Mouton and
Inverse Cotton-Mouton effects that is roughly in agreement with existing
experimental data. Our results open the way to applications of the ICME in
optical devices
Ammonia observations in the LBV nebula G79.29+0.46. Discovery of a cold ring and some warm spots
The surroundings of Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) stars are excellent
laboratories to study the effects of their high UV radiation, powerful winds,
and strong ejection events onto the surrounding gas and dust. The LBV
G79.29+0.46 powered two concentric infrared rings which may interact with the
infrared dark cloud (IRDC) G79.3+0.3. The Effelsberg 100m telescope was used to
observe the NH_3 (1,1), (2,2) emission surrounding G79.29+0.46 and the IRDC. In
addition, we observed particular positions in the (3,3) transition toward the
strongest region of the IRDC. We report here the first coherent shell-like
structure of dense NH_3 gas associated with an evolved massive star. The shell,
two or three orders of magnitude more tenuous than the IRDC, is well traced in
both ammonia lines, and surrounds the ionized nebula. The NH_3 emission in the
IRDC is characterized by a low and uniform rotational temperature (T_rot ~ 10
K) and moderately high opacities in the (1,1) line. The rest of the observed
field is spotted by warm or hot zones (T_rot > 30 K) and characterized by
optically thin emission of the (1,1) line. The NH_3 abundances are about
10^{-8} in the IRDC, and 10^{-10}-10^{-9} elsewhere. The warm temperatures and
low abundances of NH_3 in the shell suggest that the gas is being heated and
photo-dissociated by the intense UV field of the LBV star. An outstanding
region is found to the south-west (SW) of the LBV star within the IRDC. The
NH_3 (3,3) emission at the centre of the SW region reveals two velocity
components tracing gas at temperatures > 30K. The northern edge of the SW
region agrees with the border of the ring nebula and a region of continuum
enhancement; here, the opacity of the (1,1) line and the NH_3 abundance do not
decrease as expected in a typical clump of an isolated cold dark cloud. This
strongly suggests some kind of interaction between the ring nebula and the
IRDC.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, accepted by A&A. Note the change of title with
respect to previous versio
Inverse Cotton-Mouton effect of the Vacuum and of atomic systems
In this letter we calculate the Inverse Cotton-Mouton Effect (ICME) for the
vacuum following the predictions of Quantum ElectroDynamics. We compare the
value of this effect for the vacuum with the one expected for atomic systems.
We finally show that ICME could be measured for the first time for noble gases
using state-of-the-art laser systems and for the quantum vacuum with
near-future laser facilities like ELI and HiPER, providing in particular a test
of the nonlinear behaviour of quantum vacuum at intensities below the Schwinger
limit of 4.5x10^33 W/m^2.Comment: Submitted to EP
Low Scale Non-universal, Non-anomalous U(1)'_F in a Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model
We propose a non-universal U(1)'_F symmetry combined with the Minimal
Supersymmetric Standard Model. All anomaly cancellation conditions are
satisfied without exotic fields other than three right-handed neutrinos.
Because our model allows all three generations of chiral superfields to have
different U(1)'_F charges, upon the breaking of the U(1)'_F symmetry at a low
scale, realistic masses and mixing angles in both the quark and lepton sectors
are obtained. In our model, neutrinos are predicted to be Dirac fermions and
their mass ordering is of the inverted hierarchy type. The U(1)'_F charges of
the chiral super-fields also naturally suppress the mu term and automatically
forbid baryon number and lepton number violating operators. While all
flavor-changing neutral current constraints in the down quark and charged
lepton sectors can be satisfied, we find that constraint from D0-D0bar turns
out to be much more stringent than the constraints from the precision
electroweak data.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures; v2: discussion on sparticle mass spectrum
included, 27 pages, 2 figure
High contrast Mach-Zehnder lithium atom interferometer in the Bragg regime
We have constructed an atom interferometer of the Mach-Zehnder type,
operating with a supersonic beam of lithium. Atom diffraction uses Bragg
diffraction on laser standing waves. With first order diffraction, our
apparatus has given a large signal and a very good fringe contrast (74%), which
we believe to be the highest ever observed with atom interferometers. This
apparatus will be applied to high sensitivity measurementsComment: 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Appl. Phys.
On the history of the interplay between HD 56925 and NGC 2359
NGC 2359 is an optical nebula excited by the powerful wind and the radiation of the Wolf-Rayet star HD 56925. We have investigated the interaction between this massive star and the surrounding neutral gas by analyzing the large-scale 21cm-HI emission and by mapping the nebula in the J = 1-0 and the J = 2-1 lines of CO. We found a conspicuous (70 x 37 pc) HI shell, expanding at 12 km/s, likely produced during the main-sequence phase of the star. The molecular gas towards NGC 2359 shows three velocity components. Two of these components, A1 and A2, have narrow linewidths (1-2 km/s) and radial velocities of 35-38 and 64-68 km/s, respectively. The third component is detected at radial velocities between 50 and 58 km/s and has a broader profile (up to 5.5 km/s). Furthermore, this component is morphologicaly related with the nebula and has a velocity gradient of a few km/s. We have also estimated the physical parameters of the molecular gas by means of a LVG modelling of the CO emission. The gas projected onto the southern HII region of the nebula has low CO column density and is rather hot, probably up to 80 K. Several profiles of the 13CO J = 1-0 line near the peak of the emission, together with a weak emission bridge between the broad and one of the narrow components (component A2), suggest the presence of a shock front acting in the southern part of the nebula. This shock was likely produced in a previous RSG/LBV phase of HD 56925
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