4,623 research outputs found
Young and intermediate-age massive star clusters
An overview of our current understanding of the formation and evolution of
star clusters is given, with main emphasis on high-mass clusters. Clusters form
deeply embedded within dense clouds of molecular gas. Left-over gas is cleared
within a few million years and, depending on the efficiency of star formation,
the clusters may disperse almost immediately or remain gravitationally bound.
Current evidence suggests that a few percent of star formation occurs in
clusters that remain bound, although it is not yet clear if this fraction is
truly universal. Internal two-body relaxation and external shocks will lead to
further, gradual dissolution on timescales of up to a few hundred million years
for low-mass open clusters in the Milky Way, while the most massive clusters (>
10^5 Msun) have lifetimes comparable to or exceeding the age of the Universe.
The low-mass end of the initial cluster mass function is well approximated by a
power-law distribution, dN/dM ~ M^{-2}, but there is mounting evidence that
quiescent spiral discs form relatively few clusters with masses M > 2 x 10^5
Msun. In starburst galaxies and old globular cluster systems, this limit
appears to be higher, at least several x 10^6 Msun. The difference is likely
related to the higher gas densities and pressures in starburst galaxies, which
allow denser, more massive giant molecular clouds to form. Low-mass clusters
may thus trace star formation quite universally, while the more long-lived,
massive clusters appear to form preferentially in the context of violent star
formation.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures. To appear as invited review article in a special
issue of the Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. A: Ch. 9 "Star clusters as tracers of
galactic star-formation histories" (ed. R. de Grijs). Fully peer reviewed.
PDFLaTeX, requires rspublic.cls style fil
Magnetic Reconnection with Radiative Cooling. I. Optically-Thin Regime
Magnetic reconnection, a fundamental plasma process associated with a rapid
dissipation of magnetic energy, is believed to power many disruptive phenomena
in laboratory plasma devices, the Earth magnetosphere, and the solar corona.
Traditional reconnection research, geared towards these rather tenuous
environments, has justifiably ignored the effects of radiation on the
reconnection process. However, in many reconnecting systems in high-energy
astrophysics (e.g., accretion-disk coronae, relativistic jets, magnetar flares)
and, potentially, in powerful laser plasma and z-pinch experiments, the energy
density is so high that radiation, in particular radiative cooling, may start
to play an important role. This observation motivates the development of a
theory of high-energy-density radiative magnetic reconnection. As a first step
towards this goal, we present in this paper a simple Sweet--Parker-like theory
of non-relativistic resistive-MHD reconnection with strong radiative cooling.
First, we show how, in the absence of a guide magnetic field, intense cooling
leads to a strong compression of the plasma in the reconnection layer,
resulting in a higher reconnection rate. The compression ratio and the layer
temperature are determined by the balance between ohmic heating and radiative
cooling. The lower temperature in the radiatively-cooled layer leads to a
higher Spitzer resistivity and hence to an extra enhancement of the
reconnection rate. We then apply our general theory to several specific
astrophysically important radiative processes (bremsstrahlung, cyclotron, and
inverse-Compton) in the optically thin regime, for both the zero- and
strong-guide-field cases. We derive specific expressions for key reconnection
parameters, including the reconnection rate. We also discuss the limitations
and conditions for applicability of our theory.Comment: 31 pages, 1 figur
Distance-redshift from an optical metric that includes absorption
We show that it is possible to equate the intensity reduction of a light wave
caused by weak absorption with a geometrical reduction in intensity caused by a
"transverse" conformal transformation of the spacetime metric in which the wave
travels. We are consequently able to modify Gordon's optical metric to account
for electromagnetic properties of ponderable material whose properties include
both refraction and absorption. Unlike refraction alone however, including
absorption requires a modification of the optical metric that depends on the
eikonal of the wave itself. We derive the distance-redshift relation from the
modified optical metric for Friedman-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker spacetimes
whose cosmic fluid has associated refraction and absorption coefficients. We
then fit the current supernovae data and provide an alternate explanation
(other than dark energy) of the apparent acceleration of the universe.Comment: 2 figure
Binaries and Globular Cluster Dynamics
We summarize the results of recent theoretical work on the dynamical
evolution of globular clusters containing primordial binaries. Even a very
small initial binary fraction (e.g., 10%) can play a key role in supporting a
cluster against gravothermal collapse for many relaxation times. Inelastic
encounters between binaries and single stars or other binaries provide a very
significant energy source for the cluster. These dynamical interactions also
lead to the production of large numbers of exotic systems such as ultracompact
X-ray binaries, recycled radio pulsars, double degenerate systems, and blue
stragglers. Our work is based on a new parallel supercomputer code implementing
Henon's Monte Carlo method for simulating the dynamical evolution of dense
stellar systems in the Fokker-Planck approximation. This new code allows us to
calculate very accurately the evolution of a cluster containing a realistic
number of stars (N ~ 10^5 - 10^6) in typically a few hours to a few days of
computing time. The discrete, star-by-star representation of the cluster in the
simulation makes it possible to treat naturally a number of important
processes, including single and binary star evolution, all dynamical
interactions of single stars and binaries, and tidal interactions with the
Galaxy.Comment: 15 pages, to appear in `The Influence of Binaries on Stellar
Population Studies', ed. D. Vanbeveren (Kluwer
Clustering of Primordial Black Holes. II. Evolution of Bound Systems
Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) that form from the collapse of density
perturbations are more clustered than the underlying density field. In a
previous paper, we showed the constraints that this has on the prospects of PBH
dark matter. In this paper we examine another consequence of this clustering:
the formation of bound systems of PBHs in the early universe. These would
hypothetically be the earliest gravitationally collapsed structures, forming
when the universe is still radiation dominated. Depending upon the size and
occupation of the clusters, PBH merging occurs before they would have otherwise
evaporated due to Hawking evaporation.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure. Submitted to PR
Thermal instability of an expanding dusty plasma with equilibrium cooling
We present an analysis of radiation induced instabilities in an expanding
plasma with considerable presence of dust particles and equilibrium cooling. We
have shown that the equilibrium expansion and cooling destabilize the radiation
condensation modes and the presence of dust particles enhances this effect. We
have examined our results in the context of ionized, dusty-plasma environments
such as those found in planetary nebulae (PNe). We show that due to the
non-static equilibrium and finite equilibrium cooling, small-scale localized
structures formed out of thermal instability, become transient, which agrees
with the observational results. The dust-charge fluctuation is found to heavily
suppress these instabilities, though in view of non-availability of convincing
experimental data, a definitive conclusion could not be made.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figure
Tailored versus generic knowledge brokering to integrate mood management into smoking cessation interventions in primary care settings : Protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial
Background: Both tobacco smoking and depression are major public health problems associated with high morbidity and mortality. In addition, individuals with depression are almost twice as likely to smoke and less likely to achieve smoking cessation. In the Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients program, an established smoking cessation program in Ontario, Canada, 38% of smokers in primary care settings have current or past depression with 6-month quit rates that are significantly lower than those without depression (33% versus 40%, P<.001). Integrating self-help mood management (eg, relaxation exercises and mood monitoring) with smoking cessation treatment increases long-term quit rates by 12%-20%. However, integration in real-world settings has not been reported. It is unclear which knowledge translation strategy would be more effective for motivating clinicians to provide resources on mood management to eligible patients. Objective: The objectives of this study are to investigate the following comparisons among depressed smokers enrolled in a smoking cessation program: 1) the effectiveness of generalized, exclusively email-based prompts versus a personalized knowledge broker in implementing mood management interventions; 2) the effectiveness of the two knowledge translation strategies on smoking quit rates; and 3) the incremental costs of the two knowledge translation strategies on the implementation of mood management interventions. Methods: The study design is a cluster randomized controlled trial of Family Health Teams participating in the Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients program. Family Health Teams will be randomly allocated 1:1 to receive either generalized messages (related to depression and smoking) exclusively via email (group A) or be assigned a knowledge broker who provides personalized support through phone- and email-based check-ins (group B). The primary outcome, measured at the site level, is the proportion of eligible baseline visits that result in the provision of the mood management intervention to eligible patients. Results: Recruitment for the primary outcome of this study will be completed in 2018/2019. Results will be reported in 2019/2020. Conclusions: This study will address the knowledge gap in the implementation strategies (ie, email-based prompts versus a knowledge broker) of mood management interventions for smokers with depression in primary care settings. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03130998; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03130998 (Archived on WebCite at www.webcitation.org/6ylyS6RTe)
Dynamics of Relativistic Flows
Dynamics of relativistic outflows along the rotation axis of a Kerr black
hole is investigated using a simple model that takes into account the
relativistic tidal force of the central source as well as the Lorentz force due
to the large-scale electromagnetic field which is assumed to be present in the
ambient medium. The evolution of the speed of the flow relative to the ambient
medium is studied. In the force-free case, the resulting equation of motion
predicts rapid deceleration of the initial flow and an asymptotic relative
speed with a Lorentz factor of 2^1/2. In the presence of the Lorentz force, the
long-term relative speed of the clump tends to the ambient electrical drift
speed.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, expanded version to appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.
Exclusion process for particles of arbitrary extension: Hydrodynamic limit and algebraic properties
The behaviour of extended particles with exclusion interaction on a
one-dimensional lattice is investigated. The basic model is called -ASEP
as a generalization of the asymmetric exclusion process (ASEP) to particles of
arbitrary length . Stationary and dynamical properties of the -ASEP
with periodic boundary conditions are derived in the hydrodynamic limit from
microscopic properties of the underlying stochastic many-body system. In
particular, the hydrodynamic equation for the local density evolution and the
time-dependent diffusion constant of a tracer particle are calculated. As a
fundamental algebraic property of the symmetric exclusion process (SEP) the
SU(2)-symmetry is generalized to the case of extended particles
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