2,079 research outputs found
The thermodynamics of collapsing molecular cloud cores using smoothed particle hydrodynamics with radiative transfer
We present the results of a series of calculations studying the collapse of
molecular cloud cores performed using a three-dimensional smoothed particle
hydr odynamics code with radiative transfer in the flux-limited diffusion
approximation. The opacities and specific heat capacities are identical for
each calculation. However, we find that the temperature evolution during the
simulations varies significantly when starting from different initial
conditions. Even spherically-symmetric clouds with different initial densities
show markedly different development. We conclude that simple barotropic
equations of state like those used in some previous calculations provide at
best a crude approximation to the thermal behaviour of the gas. Radiative
transfer is necessary to obtain accurate temperatures.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
The effect of magnetic fields on star cluster formation
We examine the effect of magnetic fields on star cluster formation by
performing simulations following the self-gravitating collapse of a turbulent
molecular cloud to form stars in ideal MHD. The collapse of the cloud is
computed for global mass-to-flux ratios of infinity, 20, 10, 5 and 3, that is
using both weak and strong magnetic fields. Whilst even at very low strengths
the magnetic field is able to significantly influence the star formation
process, for magnetic fields with plasma beta < 1 the results are substantially
different to the hydrodynamic case. In these cases we find large-scale
magnetically-supported voids imprinted in the cloud structure; anisotropic
turbulent motions and column density structure aligned with the magnetic field
lines, both of which have recently been observed in the Taurus molecular cloud.
We also find strongly suppressed accretion in the magnetised runs, leading to
up to a 75% reduction in the amount of mass converted into stars over the
course of the calculations and a more quiescent mode of star formation. There
is also some indication that the relative formation efficiency of brown dwarfs
is lower in the strongly magnetised runs due to the reduction in the importance
of protostellar ejections.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, 8 very pretty movies, MNRAS, accepted. Version
with high-res figures + movies available from
http://www.astro.ex.ac.uk/people/dprice/pubs/mcluster/index.htm
Competitive accretion in embedded stellar cluster
We investigate the physics of gas accretion in young stellar clusters.
Accretion in clusters is a dynamic phenomenon as both the stars and the gas
respond to the same gravitational potential. Accretion rates are highly
non-uniform with stars nearer the centre of the cluster, where gas densities
are higher, accreting more than others. This competitive accretion naturally
results in both initial mass segregation and a spectrum of stellar masses.
Accretion in gas-dominated clusters is well modelled using a tidal-lobe radius
instead of the commonly used Bondi-Hoyle accretion radius. This works as both
the stellar and gas velocities are under the influence of the same
gravitational potential and are thus comparable. The low relative velocity that
results means that the tidal radius is smaller than the Bondi-Hoyle radius in
these systems. In contrast, when the stars dominate the potential and are
virialised, the Bondi-Hoyle radius is smaller than the tidal radius and thus
Bondi-Hoyle accretion is a better fit to the accretion rates.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, MNRAS in pres
Stellar Encounters with Massive Star-Disk Systems
The dense, clustered environment in which massive stars form can lead to
interactions with neighboring stars. It has been hypothesized that collisions
and mergers may contribute to the growth of the most massive stars. In this
paper we extend the study of star-disk interactions to explore encounters
between a massive protostar and a less massive cluster sibling using the
publicly available SPH code GADGET-2. Collisions do not occur in the parameter
space studied, but the end state of many encounters is an eccentric binary with
a semi-major axis ~ 100 AU. Disk material is sometimes captured by the
impactor. Most encounters result in disruption and destruction of the initial
disk, and periodic torquing of the remnant disk. We consider the effect of the
changing orientation of the disk on an accretion driven jet, and the evolution
of the systems in the presence of on-going accretion from the parent core.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted to Ap
Are there brown dwarfs in globular clusters?
We present an analytical method for constraining the substellar initial mass
function in globular clusters, based on the observed frequency of transit
events. Globular clusters typically have very high stellar densities where
close encounters are relatively common, and thus tidal capture can occur to
form close binary systems. Encounters between main sequence stars and
lower-mass objects can result in tidal capture if the mass ratio is > 0.01. If
brown dwarfs exist in significant numbers, they too will be found in close
binaries, and some fraction of their number should be revealed as they transit
their stellar companions. We calculate the rate of tidal capture of brown
dwarfs in both segregated and unsegregated clusters, and find that the tidal
capture is more likely to occur over an initial relaxation time before
equipartition occurs. The lack of any such transits in recent HST monitoring of
47 Tuc implies an upper limit on the frequency of brown dwarfs (< 15 % relative
to stars) which is significantly below that measured in the galactic field and
young clusters.Comment: MNRAS in pres
Twins Among the Low Mass Spectroscopic Binaries
We report an analysis of twins of spectral types F or later in the 9th
Catalog of Spectroscopic Binaries (SB9). Twins, the components of binaries with
mass ratio within 2% of 1.0, are found among the binaries with primaries of F
and G spectral type. They are most prominent among the binaries with periods
less than 43 days, a cutoff first identified by Lucy. Within the subsample of
binaries with P<43 days, the twins do not differ from the other binaries in
their distributions of periods (median P~7d), masses, or orbital
eccentricities. Combining the mass ratio distribution in the SB9 in the mass
range 0.6 to 0.85 Msun with that measured by Mazeh et al. for binaries in the
Carney-Latham high proper motion survey, we estimate that the frequency of
twins in a large sample of spectroscopic binaries is about 3%. Current
theoretical understanding indicates that accretion of high specific angular
momentum material by a protobinary tends to equalize its masses. We speculate
that the excess of twins is produced in those star forming regions where the
accretion processes were able to proceed to completion for a minority of
protobinaries. This predicts that the components of a young twin may appear to
differ in age and that, in a sample of spectroscopic binaries in a star
formation region, the twins are, on average, older than the binaries with mass
ratios much smaller than 1.Comment: Accepted by the Astronomical Journa
Embryogenesis of an insect nervous system. I. A map of the thoracic and abdominal neuroblasts in Locusta migratoria
SUMMARY Maps of the thoracic and abdominal neuroblasts have been prepared by reconstruction from serial sections of timed Locusta migratoria embryos. The maps are bilaterally symmetrical, periodic and consistent for embryos of the same age, with a fundamental arrangement of 7 rows of 4-10 cells plus 1 median neuroblast per segment. A map of 60+1 cells is repeated in each of the three thoracic segments, with an additional median cell developing late at the anterior end of the prothorax. The arrangement in the abdomen is similar, with 56+ 1 cells per segment. Neuroblasts differentiate and subsequently degenerate in an anteroposterior sequence, but construction of the thoracic ganglia involves a delayed degeneration of part of the original set in these segments. The maps show that the neuroblasts are as reliable in their number and arrangement as the adult cells they produce. The number of neuroblasts used in constructing the relatively complex thoracic ganglia is similar to that which produces the simpler abdominal ganglia. Some motorneurons have the same parent neuroblast. The maps are intended as a first step in an analysis of the relation between the progeny of different neuroblasts and the family of neurons which each neuroblast produces
A supermassive binary black hole with triple disks
Hierarchical structure formation inevitably leads to the formation of
supermassive binary black holes (BBHs) with a sub-parsec separation in galactic
nuclei. However, to date there has been no unambiguous detection of such
systems. In an effort to search for potential observational signatures of
supermassive BBHs, we performed high-resolution smoothed particle hydrodynamics
(SPH) simulations of two black holes in a binary of moderate eccentricity
surrounded by a circumbinary disk. Building on our previous work, which has
shown that gas can periodically transfer from the circumbinary disk to the
black holes when the binary is on an eccentric orbit, the current set of
simulations focuses on the formation of the individual accretion disks, their
evolution and mutual interaction, and the predicted radiative signature. The
variation in mass transfer with orbital phase from the circumbinary disk
induces periodic variations in the light curve of the two accretion disks at
ultraviolet wavelengths, but not in the optical or near-infrared. Searches for
this signal offer a promising method to detect supermassive BBHs.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, 16 pages, 11
figures. High Resolution Version is Available at
http://www2.yukawa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~kimitake/bbhs.htm
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