576 research outputs found
Correlation of the Cd-to-Te ratio on CdTe surfaces with the surface structure
We report here that reconstruction on (100), (1lIlA, and (1l1lB CdTe surfaces is either C(2X2), (2X2), and (l X I) or (2X I), (l X I), and (l X I) when they are Cd or Te stabilized, respectively. There is a mixed region between Cd and Te stabilization in which the reflected high-energy electron-diffraction (RHEED) patterns contain characteristics of both Cd- and Te-stabilized surfaces. We have also found that the Cd-to-Te ratio of the x-ray photoelectron intensities of their 3d core levels is about 20% larger for a Cd-stabilized (1lIlA, (1lIlB, or (100) CdTe surface than for a Te-stabilized one. According to a simple model calculation, which was normalized by means of the photoelectron intensity ratio of a Cd-stabilized (lll)A and aTe-stabilized (1l1lB CdTe surface, the experimental data for CdTe surfaces can be explained by a linear dependence of the photoelectron-intensity ratio on the fraction of Cd in the uppermost monatomic layer. This surface composition can be correlated with the surface structure, i.e., the corresponding RHEED patterns. This correlation can in turn be employed to determine Te and Cd evaporation rates. The Te reevaporation rate is increasingly slower for the Te-stabilized (Ill) A, (l1l)B, and (100) surfaces, while the opposite is true for Cd from Cd-stabilized (Ill) A and (Ill)B surfaces. In addition, Te is much more easily evaporated from all the investigated surfaces than is Cd, if the substrate is kept at normal molecular-beam-epitaxy growth temperatures ranging from 2oo·C to 300 ·C
Interactions of a Light Hypersonic Jet with a Non-Uniform Interstellar Medium
We present three dimensional simulations of the interaction of a light
hypersonic jet with an inhomogeneous thermal and turbulently supported disk in
an elliptical galaxy. We model the jet as a light, supersonic non-relativistic
flow with parameters selected to be consistent with a relativistic jet with
kinetic power just above the FR1/FR2 break.
We identify four generic phases in the evolution of such a jet with the
inhomogeneous interstellar medium: 1) an initial ``flood and channel'' phase,
where progress is characterized by high pressure gas finding changing weak
points in the ISM, flowing through channels that form and re-form over time, 2)
a spherical, energy-driven bubble phase, were the bubble is larger than the
disk scale, but the jet remains fully disrupted close to the nucleus, 3) a
rapid, jet break--out phase the where jet breaks free of the last dense clouds,
becomes collimated and pierces the spherical bubble, and 4) a classical phase,
the jet propagates in a momentum-dominated fashion leading to the classical jet
+ cocoon + bow-shock structure.
Mass transport in the simulations is investigated, and we propose a model for
the morphology and component proper motions in the well-studied Compact
Symmetric Object 4C31.04.Comment: 66 pages, 22 figures, PDFLaTeX, aastex macros, graphicx and amssymb
packages, Accepted, to be published 2007 ApJ
Centaurus A: multiple outbursts or bursting bubble?
We present new radio observations of the brighter region of the northern lobe
(the Northern Middle Lobe, NML) of Centaurus A obtained at 20 cm with the
Australia Telescope Compact Array. The angular resolutions are ~50 and ~130
arcsec, therefore much higher than for the previously available radio images of
this region. The most interesting feature detected is a large-scale jet that
connects the inner radio lobe and the NML and that is imaged for the first
time. The NML itself appears as diffuse emission with a relatively bright ridge
on the eastern side. The radio morphology of Centaurus A and, in particular,
its NML could be the result of a precessing jet that has undergone a strong
interaction with the environment at least in the northern side. The very big
drop in intensity between the inner jet and the large-scale jet can be
explained with a sequence of bursts of activity at different epochs in the life
of the source. Alternatively (or additionally) a ``bursting bubble'' model is
proposed which could also explain the good collimation of the large-scale jet.
In this model, the plasma accumulated in the inner lobe would be able to
``burst'' out only through one nozzle that would be the region where the
large-scale jet forms. From the comparison between the radio emission and the
regions of ionized gas we find that the inner optical filament falls about 2
arcmin (~2 kpc) away from the large-scale radio jet. Thus, this filament does
not seem to have experienced a direct interaction with the radio plasma. The
outer filaments appear to be, in projection, closer to the radio emission,
arguing for a direct interaction with the radio jet. However, also in this case
a more complicated interaction than assumed so far has to be occuring.Comment: To appear in MNRAS; 11 pages, LateX, 7 figures. Fig 1 is available at
http://www.ira.bo.cnr.it/~rmorgant/Centaurus
PKS B1545-321: Bow shocks of a relativistic jet?
Sensitive, high resolution images of the double-double radio galaxy PKS
B1545-321 reveal detailed structure, which we interpret in the light of
previous work on the interaction of restarted jets with pre-existing relict
cocoons. We have also examined the spectral and polarization properties of the
source, the color distribution in the optical host and the environment of this
galaxy in order to understand its physical evolution. We propose that the
restarted jets generate narrow bow shocks and that the inner lobes are a
mixture of cocoon plasma reaccelerated at the bow shock and new jet material
reaccelerated at the termination shock. The dynamics of the restarted jets
implies that their hot spots advance at mildly relativistic speeds with
external Mach numbers of at least 5. The existence of supersonic hot spot Mach
numbers and bright inner lobes is the result of entrainment causing a reduction
in the sound speed of the pre-existing cocoon. The interruption to jet activity
in PKS B1545-321 has been brief - lasting less than a few percent of the
lifetime of the giant radio source. The host
galaxy is located at the boundary of a large scale filamentary structure, and
shows blue patches in color distribution indicative of a recent merger, which
may have triggered the Mpc-scale radio galaxy.Comment: 26 pages including 1 table and 16 figures. To appear in MNRA
Equation of state and transport processes in self--similar spheres
We study the effect of transport processes (diffusion and free--streaming) on
a collapsing spherically symmetric distribution of matter in a self--similar
space--time. A very simple solution shows interesting features when it is
matched with the Vaidya exterior solution. In the mixed case (diffusion and
free--streaming), we find a barotropic equation of state in the stationary
regime. In the diffusion approximation the gravitational potential at the
surface is always constant; if we perturb the stationary state, the system is
very stable, recovering the barotropic equation of state as time progresses. In
the free--streaming case the self--similar evolution is stationary but with a
non--barotropic equation of state.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Heating of gas inside radio sources to mildly relativistic temperatures via induced Compton scattering
Measured values of the brightness temperature of low-frequency synchrotron
radiation emitted by powerful extragalactic sources reach 10^11--10^12 K. If
some amount of nonrelativistic ionized gas is present within such sources, it
should be heated as a result of induced Compton scattering of the radiation. If
this heating is counteracted by cooling due to inverse Compton scattering of
the same radio radiation, then the plasma can be heated up to mildly
relativistic temperatures kT~10--100 keV. The stationary electron velocity
distribution can be either relativistic Maxwellian or quasi-Maxwellian (with
the high-velocity tail suppressed), depending on the efficiency of Coulomb
collisions and other relaxation processes. We derive several easy-to-use
approximate expressions for the induced Compton heating rate of mildly
relativistic electrons in an isotropic radiation field, as well as for the
stationary distribution function and temperature of electrons. We also give
analytic expressions for the kernel of the integral kinetic equation (one as a
function of the scattering angle and another for the case of an isotropic
radiation field), which describes the redistribution of photons in frequency
caused by induced Compton scattering in thermal plasma. These expressions can
be used in the parameter range hnu<< kT<~ 0.1mc^2 (the formulae earlier
published in Sazonov, Sunyaev, 2000 are less accurate).Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Astronomy Letter
Dynamics and Excitation of Radio Galaxy Emission-Line Regions - I. PKS 2356-61
Results are presented from a programme of detailed longslit spectroscopic
observations of the extended emission-line region (EELR) associated with the
powerful radio galaxy PKS 2356-61. The observations have been used to construct
spectroscopic datacubes, which yield detailed information on the spatial
variations of emission-line ratios across the EELR, together with its kinematic
structure. We present an extensive comparison between the data and results
obtained from the MAPPINGS II shock ionization code, and show that the physical
properties of the line-emitting gas, including its ionization, excitation,
dynamics and overall energy budget, are entirely consistent with a scenario
involving auto-ionizing shocks as the dominant ionization mechanism. This has
the advantage of accounting for the observed EELR properties by means of a
single physical process, thereby requiring less free parameters than the
alternative scheme involving photoionization by radiation from the active
nucleus. Finally, possible mechanisms of shock formation are considered in the
context of the dynamics and origin of the gas, specifically scenarios involving
infall or accretion of gas during an interaction between the host radio galaxy
and a companion galaxy.Comment: 35 pages, LaTeX, uses aas2pp4.sty file, includes 9 PostScript
figures. Two additional colour plates are available from the authors upon
request. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
A complete classification of spherically symmetric perfect fluid similarity solutions
We classify all spherically symmetric perfect fluid solutions of Einstein's
equations with equation of state p/mu=a which are self-similar in the sense
that all dimensionless variables depend only upon z=r/t. For a given value of
a, such solutions are described by two parameters and they can be classified in
terms of their behaviour at large and small distances from the origin; this
usually corresponds to large and small values of z but (due to a coordinate
anomaly) it may also correspond to finite z. We base our analysis on the
demonstration that all similarity solutions must be asymptotic to solutions
which depend on either powers of z or powers of lnz. We show that there are
only three similarity solutions which have an exact power-law dependence on z:
the flat Friedmann solution, a static solution and a Kantowski-Sachs solution
(although the latter is probably only physical for a1/5, there are
also two families of solutions which are asymptotically (but not exactly)
Minkowski: the first is asymptotically Minkowski as z tends to infinity and is
described by one parameter; the second is asymptotically Minkowski at a finite
value of z and is described by two parameters. A complete analysis of the dust
solutions is given, since these can be written down explicitly and elucidate
the link between the z>0 and z<0 solutions. Solutions with pressure are then
discussed in detail; these share many of the characteristics of the dust
solutions but they also exhibit new features.Comment: 63 pages. To appear in Physical Review
Metric gravity theories and cosmology:II. Stability of a ground state in f(R) theories
A fundamental criterion of viability of any gravity theory is existence of a
stable ground-state solution being either Minkowski, dS or AdS space. Stability
of the ground state is independent of which frame is physical. In general, a
given theory has multiple ground states and splits into independent physical
sectors. All metric gravity theories with the Lagrangian being a function of
Ricci tensor are dynamically equivalent to Einstein gravity with a source and
this allows us to study the stability problem using methods developed in GR. We
apply these methods to f(R) theories. As is shown in 13 cases of Lagrangians
the stability criterion works simply and effectively whenever the curvature of
the ground state is determined. An infinite number of gravity theories have a
stable ground state and further viability criteria are necessary.Comment: A modified and expanded version of a second part of the paper which
previously appeared as gr-qc/0702097v1. The first, modified part is now
published as gr-qc/0702097v2 and as a separate paper in Class. Qu. Grav. The
present paper matches the published versio
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