Planet formation models: the interplay with the planetesimal disc

According to the sequential accretion model, giant planet formation is based first on the formation of a solid core which, when massive enough, can gravitationally bind gas from the nebula to form the envelope. In order to trigger the accretion of gas, the core has to grow up to several Earth masses before the gas component of the protoplanetary disc dissipates. We compute the formation of planets, considering the oligarchic regime for the growth of the solid core. Embryos growing in the disc stir their neighbour planetesimals, exciting their relative velocities, which makes accretion more difficult. We compute the excitation state of planetesimals, as a result of stirring by forming planets, and gas-solid interactions. We find that the formation of giant planets is favoured by the accretion of small planetesimals, as their random velocities are more easily damped by the gas drag of the nebula. Moreover, the capture radius of a protoplanet with a (tiny) envelope is also larger for small planetesimals. However, planets migrate as a result of disc-planet angular momentum exchange, with important consequences for their survival: due to the slow growth of a protoplanet in the oligarchic regime, rapid inward type I migration has important implications on intermediate mass planets that have not started yet their runaway accretion phase of gas. Most of these planets are lost in the central star. Surviving planets have either masses below 10 ME or above several Jupiter masses. To form giant planets before the dissipation of the disc, small planetesimals (~ 0.1 km) have to be the major contributors of the solid accretion process. However, the combination of oligarchic growth and fast inward migration leads to the absence of intermediate mass planets. Other processes must therefore be at work in order to explain the population of extrasolar planets presently known.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Application of recent results on the orbital migration of low mass planets: convergence zones

Previous models of the combined growth and migration of protoplanets needed large ad hoc reduction factors for the type I migration rate as found in the isothermal approximation. In order to eliminate these factors, a simple semi-analytical model is presented that incorporates recent results on the migration of low mass planets in non-isothermal disks. It allows for outward migration. The model is used to conduct planetary populations synthesis calculations. Two points with zero torque are found in the disks. Planets migrate both in- and outward towards these convergence zones. They could be important for accelerating planetary growth by concentrating matter in one point. We also find that the updated type I migration models allow the formation of both close-in low mass planets, but also of giant planets at large semimajor axes. The problem of too rapid migration is significantly mitigated.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of the IAU Symposium 276, 2010: The Astrophysics of Planetary Systems: Formation, Structure, and Dynamical Evolution, ed. A. Sozzetti, M. G. Lattanzi, and A. P. Bos

A generalized bayesian inference method for constraining the interiors of super Earths and sub-Neptunes

We aim to present a generalized Bayesian inference method for constraining interiors of super Earths and sub-Neptunes. Our methodology succeeds in quantifying the degeneracy and correlation of structural parameters for high dimensional parameter spaces. Specifically, we identify what constraints can be placed on composition and thickness of core, mantle, ice, ocean, and atmospheric layers given observations of mass, radius, and bulk refractory abundance constraints (Fe, Mg, Si) from observations of the host star's photospheric composition. We employed a full probabilistic Bayesian inference analysis that formally accounts for observational and model uncertainties. Using a Markov chain Monte Carlo technique, we computed joint and marginal posterior probability distributions for all structural parameters of interest. We included state-of-the-art structural models based on self-consistent thermodynamics of core, mantle, high-pressure ice, and liquid water. Furthermore, we tested and compared two different atmospheric models that are tailored for modeling thick and thin atmospheres, respectively. First, we validate our method against Neptune. Second, we apply it to synthetic exoplanets of fixed mass and determine the effect on interior structure and composition when (1) radius, (2) atmospheric model, (3) data uncertainties, (4) semi-major axes, (5) atmospheric composition (i.e., a priori assumption of enriched envelopes versus pure H/He envelopes), and (6) prior distributions are varied. Our main conclusions are: [...]Comment: Astronomy & Astrophysics, 597, A37, 17 pages, 11 figure

Theory of phase-locking in generalized hybrid Josephson junction arrays

A recently proposed scheme for the analytical treatment of the dynamics of two-dimensional hybrid Josephson junction arrays is extended to a class of generalized hybrid arrays with ''horizontal'' shunts involving a capacitive as well as an inductive component. This class of arrays is of special interest, because the internal cell coupling has been shown numerically to favor in-phase synchronization for certain parameter values. As a result, we derive limits on the circuit design parameters for realizing this state. In addition, we obtain formulas for the flux-dependent frequency including flux-induced switching processes between the in-phase and anti-phase oscillation regime. The treatment covers unloaded arrays as well as arrays shunted via an external load.Comment: 24 pages, REVTeX, 5 Postscript figures, Subm. to Phys. Rev.

Temporal Correlation of Hard X-rays and Meter/Decimeter Radio Structures in Solar Flares

We investigate the relative timing between hard X-ray (HXR) peaks and structures in metric and decimetric radio emissions of solar flares using data from the RHESSI and Phoenix-2 instruments. The radio events under consideration are predominantly classified as type III bursts, decimetric pulsations and patches. The RHESSI data are demodulated using special techniques appropriate for a Phoenix-2 temporal resolution of 0.1s. The absolute timing accuracy of the two instruments is found to be about 170 ms, and much better on the average. It is found that type III radio groups often coincide with enhanced HXR emission, but only a relatively small fraction ($\sim$ 20%) of the groups show close correlation on time scales $<$ 1s. If structures correlate, the HXRs precede the type III emissions in a majority of cases, and by 0.69$\pm$0.19 s on the average. Reversed drift type III bursts are also delayed, but high-frequency and harmonic emission is retarded less. The decimetric pulsations and patches (DCIM) have a larger scatter of delays, but do not have a statistically significant sign or an average different from zero. The time delay does not show a center-to-limb variation excluding simple propagation effects. The delay by scattering near the source region is suggested to be the most efficient process on the average for delaying type III radio emission

Targeting the Ets Binding Site of the HER2/neu Promoter with Pyrrole-Imidazole Polyamides

Three DNA binding polyamides (1-3) were synthesized that bind with high affinity (Ka = 8.7·10^9 M^-1 to 1.4·10^10 M^-1) to two 7-base pair sequences overlapping the Ets DNA binding site (EBS; GAGGAA) within the regulatory region of the HER2/neu proximal promoter. As measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay, polyamides binding to flanking elements upstream (1) or downstream (2 and 3) of the EBS were one to two orders of magnitude more effective than the natural product distamycin at inhibiting formation of complexes between the purified EBS protein, epithelial restricted with serine box (ESX), and the HER2/neu promoter probe. One polyamide, 2, completely blocked Ets-DNA complex formation at 10 nM ligand concentration, whereas formation of activator protein-2-DNA complexes was unaffected at the activator protein-2 binding site immediately upstream of the HER2/neu EBS, even at 100 nM ligand concentration. At equilibrium, polyamide 1 was equally effective at inhibiting Ets/DNA binding when added before or after in vitro formation of protein-promoter complexes, demonstrating its utility to disrupt endogenous Ets-mediated HER2/neu preinitiation complexes. Polyamide 2, the most potent inhibitor of Ets-DNA complex formation by electrophoretic mobility shift assay, was also the most effective inhibitor of HER2/neu promoter-driven transcription measured in a cell-free system using nuclear extract from an ESX- and HER2/neu-overexpressing human breast cancer cell line, SKBR-3

THEORY OF PHASE-LOCKING IN SMALL JOSEPHSON JUNCTION CELLS

Within the RSJ model, we performed a theoretical analysis of phase-locking in elementary strongly coupled Josephson junction cells. For this purpose, we developed a systematic method allowing the investigation of phase-locking in cells with small but non-vanishing loop inductance.The voltages across the junctions are found to be locked with very small phase difference for almost all values of external flux. However, the general behavior of phase-locking is found to be just contrary to that according to weak coupling. In case of strong coupling there is nearly no influence of external magnetic flux on the phases, but the locking-frequency becomes flux-dependent. The influence of parameter splitting is considered as well as the effect of small capacitive shunting of the junctions. Strongly coupled cells show synchronization even for large parameter splitting. Finally, a study of the behavior under external microwave radiation shows that the frequency locking-range becomes strongly flux-dependent, whereas the locking frequency itself turns out to be flux-independent.Comment: 26 pages, REVTEX, 9 PS figures appended in uuencoded form at the end, submitted to Phys. Rev. B

Endohelminths of a Snake Mackerel, Gempylus serpens (Trichiuroidea: Gempylidae), from the Gulf of Mexico

Endohelminths are reported from a female snake mackerel, Gempylus serpens (Trichiuroidea: Gempylidae), captured from a depth of 61 m in the Gulf of Mexico 140 km south of the mouth of Mobile Bay, AL, in August 1998. A diverse endohelminth parasite fauna was found: 29 plerocercoid type I tetraphyllideans from the lower intestine; 4 didymozoid metacercariae allocated to the collective group Monilicaecum and one didymozoid metacercaria of the collective group Torticaecum from the pyloric cecum; one juvenile Gonocerca phycidis from the stomach; and 5 larvae (L3 stage) comprising 3 species of Anisakis from the pyloric cecum. These nematodes were identified as species of Anisakis due to the presence of an oblong ventriculus lacking an appendix, no intestinal cecum or interlabia, 3 lips with dentigerous ridges, and an excretory pore located between the lateroventral lips. Differences in overall size and in the lengths of the ventriculus and esophagus in relation to total body length were used to distinguish the 3 species of Anisakis collected. Seven specimens of a possibly unnamed species of parasitic copepod representing Bomolochus infected the gill chamber. Stomach contents included 6 early-juvenile flatfish (Pleuronectiformes). All of the helminths are measured and illustrated, and for some of the parasites recovered, we are unaware of any reports from this host species