Mid- and high-J CO observations towards UCHIIs

A study of 12 ultracompact HII regions was conducted to probe the physical conditions and kinematics in the inner envelopes of the molecular clumps harboring them. The APEX telescope was used to observe the sources in the CO (4-3) and 13CO (8-7) lines. Line intensities were modeled with the RATRAN radiative transfer code using power laws for the density and temperature to describe the physical structure of the clumps. All sources were detected in both lines. The optically thick CO (4-3) line shows predominantly blue skewed profiles reminiscent of infall. Line intensities can be reproduced well using the physical structure of the clumps taken from the literature. The optically thick line profiles show that CO is a sensitive tracer of ongoing infall in the outer envelopes of clumps harboring ultracompact HII regions and hot molecular cores.Comment: APEX A&A special issue, accepte

Growth Model of Au Films on Ru(001)

In an attempt to find generic features on the fractal growth of Au films deposited on Ru(001), a simple simulation model based on irreversible diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) is discussed. Highly irregular two-dimensional dentritic islands of Au particles that gradually grow on a larger host lattice of Ru particles and have fractal dimension d_{f}~ 1.70 each, are generated via a multiple had-hoc version of the DLA algorithm for single aggregates. Annealing effects on the islands morphology are reproduced assuming different sticking probabilities at nearest-neighbour lattice sites of Au films on Ru(001). Using simulation data, islands growth are described in analogy to diffusion-limited, precipitate growth with soft impingement of precipities. This leads to analyse thin film island growth kinetics in such fractal systems and to predict a main peak in scattering intensity patterns due to interisland interference. ---------------- Copies upon request to: [email protected]: CM-ICTP/92/12

Relativistic Energy Density Functional Description of Shape Transition in Superheavy Nuclei

Relativistic energy density functionals (REDF) provide a complete and accurate, global description of nuclear structure phenomena. A modern semi-empirical functional, adjusted to the nuclear matter equation of state and to empirical masses of deformed nuclei, is applied to studies of shapes of superheavy nuclei. The theoretical framework is tested in a comparison of calculated masses, quadrupole deformations, and potential energy barriers to available data on actinide isotopes. Self-consistent mean-field calculations predict a variety of spherical, axial and triaxial shapes of long-lived superheavy nuclei, and their alpha-decay energies and half-lives are compared to data. A microscopic, REDF-based, quadrupole collective Hamiltonian model is used to study the effect of explicit treatment of collective correlations in the calculation of Q{\alpha} values and half-lives.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure

A study of nozzle and ejector flow problems by the method of integral relations

The application of the method of integral relations to nozzle and ejector flow problems was examined. For nozzle flow problems, the general formulation is that the approaching flow may be rotational. Particular attention was given to the phenomenon of choking under nonuniform flow conditions. Numerical integration of the governing ordinary differential equations was also investigated. This scheme of analysis was also applied to study the interacting flow field within an ejector system

Mira science with interferometry: a review

Model-predicted and observed properties of the brightness distribution on M-type Mira disks are discussed. Fundamental issues of limb-darkening and diameter definition, of assigning observational data to diameter-type quantities and of interpreting such quantities in terms of model diameters are outlined. The influence of model properties upon interpretation of measured data is clarified. The dependence of the centre-to-limb variation (CLV) of intensity on wavelength, on stellar parameters and on variablity phase and cycle may be used for analyzing the geometrical and physical structure of the Mira atmosphere, for determining fundamental stellar parameters, and for investigating the quality of models. Desirable future observations include simultaneous observations in different spectral features at different phases and cycles, observation of the position of the shock front and observation of the time- and wavelength-dependence of deviations from spherical symmetry.Comment: 9 pages, no figure

Self-gravitating warped discs around supermassive black holes

We consider warped equilibrium configurations for stellar and gaseous disks in the Keplerian force-field of a supermassive black hole, assuming that the self-gravity of the disk provides the only acting torques. Modeling the disk as a collection of concentric circular rings, and computing the torques in the non-linear regime, we show that stable, strongly warped precessing equilibria are possible. These solutions exist for a wide range of disk-to-black hole mass ratios $M_d/M_{bh}$, can span large warp angles of up to $\pm\sim 120\deg$, have inner and outer boundaries, and extend over a radial range of a factor of typically two to four. These equilibrium configurations obey a scaling relation such that in good approximation \phidot/\Omega\propto M_d/M_{bh} where \phidot is the (retrograde) precession frequency and $\Omega$ is a characteristic orbital frequency in the disk. Stability was determined using linear perturbation theory and, in a few cases, confirmed by numerical integration of the equations of motion. Most of the precessing equilibria are found to be stable, but some are unstable. The main result of this study is that highly warped disks near black holes can persist for long times without any persistent forcing other than by their self-gravity. The possible relevance of this to galactic nuclei is briefly discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 21 figures, published in MNRA