1,634 research outputs found
37 GHz methanol masers : Horsemen of the Apocalypse for the class II methanol maser phase?
We report the results of a search for class II methanol masers at 37.7, 38.3
and 38.5 GHz towards a sample of 70 high-mass star formation regions. We
primarily searched towards regions known to show emission either from the 107
GHz class II methanol maser transition, or from the 6.035 GHz excited OH
transition. We detected maser emission from 13 sources in the 37.7 GHz
transition, eight of these being new detections. We detected maser emission
from three sources in the 38 GHz transitions, one of which is a new detection.
We find that 37.7 GHz methanol masers are only associated with the most
luminous 6.7 and 12.2 GHz methanol maser sources, which in turn are
hypothesised to be the oldest class II methanol sources. We suggest that the
37.7 GHz methanol masers are associated with a brief evolutionary phase (of
1000-4000 years) prior to the cessation of class II methanol maser activity in
the associated high-mass star formation region.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Variability monitoring of the hydroxyl maser emission in G12.889+0.489
Through a series of observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array
we have monitored the variability of ground-state hydroxyl maser emission from
G12.889+0.489 in all four Stokes polarisation products. These observations were
motivated by the known periodicity in the associated 6.7-GHz methanol maser
emission. A total of 27 epochs of observations were made over 16 months. No
emission was seen from either the 1612 or 1720 MHz satellite line transitions
(to a typical five sigma upper limit of 0.2 Jy). The peak flux densities of the
1665 and 1667 MHz emission were observed to vary at a level of ~20% (with the
exception of one epoch which dropped by <40%). There was no distinct flaring
activity at any epoch, but there was a weak indication of periodic variability,
with a period and phase of minimum emission similar to that of methanol. There
is no significant variation in the polarised properties of the hydroxyl, with
Stokes Q and U flux densities varying in accord with the Stokes I intensity
(linear polarisation, P, varying by <20%) and the right and left circularly
polarised components varying by <33% at 1665-MHz and <38% at 1667-MHz. These
observations are the first monitoring observations of the hydroxyl maser
emission from G12.889+0.489.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
There are no abnormal solutions of the BetheSalpeter equation in the static model
The four-point Green's function of static QED, where a fermion and an
antifermion are located at fixed space positions, is calculated in covariant
gauges. The bound state spectrum does not display any abnormal state
corresponding to excitations of the relative time. The equation that was
established by Mugibayashi in this model and which has abnormal solutions does
not coincide with the BetheSalpeter equation. Gauge transformation from the
Coulomb gauge also confirms the absence of abnormal solutions in the
BetheSalpeter equation.Comment: 11 pages, late
MAGMO: Coherent magnetic fields in the star forming regions of the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm tangent
We present the pilot results of the `MAGMO' project, targeted observations of
ground-state hydroxyl masers towards sites of 6.7-GHz methanol maser emission
in the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm tangent, Galactic longitudes 280 degrees
to 295 degrees. The `MAGMO' project aims to determine if Galactic magnetic
fields can be traced with Zeeman splitting of masers associated with star
formation. Pilot observations of 23 sites of methanol maser emission were made,
with the detection of ground-state hydroxyl masers towards 11 of these and six
additional offset sites. Of these 17 sites, nine are new detections of sites of
1665-MHz maser emission, three of them accompanied by 1667-MHz emission. More
than 70% of the maser features have significant circular polarization, whilst
only ~10% have significant linear polarization (although some features with up
to 100% linear polarization are found). We find 11 Zeeman pairs across six
sites of high-mass star formation with implied magnetic field strengths between
-1.5 mG and +3.8 mG and a median field strength of +1.6 mG. Our measurements of
Zeeman splitting imply that a coherent field orientation is experienced by the
maser sites across a distance of 5.3+/-2.0 kpc within the Carina-Sagittarius
spiral arm tangent.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A quantum mechanical approach to establishing the magnetic field orientation from a maser Zeeman profile
Recent comparisons of magnetic field directions derived from maser Zeeman
splitting with those derived from continuum source rotation measures have
prompted new analysis of the propagation of the Zeeman split components, and
the inferred field orientation. In order to do this, we first review differing
electric field polarization conventions used in past studies. With these
clearly and consistently defined, we then show that for a given Zeeman
splitting spectrum, the magnetic field direction is fully determined and
predictable on theoretical grounds: when a magnetic field is oriented away from
the observer, the left-hand circular polarization is observed at higher
frequency and the right-hand polarization at lower frequency. This is
consistent with classical Lorentzian derivations. The consequent interpretation
of recent measurements then raises the possibility of a reversal between the
large-scale field (traced by rotation measures) and the small-scale field
(traced by maser Zeeman splitting).Comment: 10 pages, 5 Figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
A Pilot Survey for the HO Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS)
We describe observations with the Mopra radiotelescope designed to assess the
feasibility of the HO maser southern Galactic plane survey (HOPS). We
mapped two one-square-degree regions along the Galactic plane using the new 12
mm receiver and the UNSW Mopra spectrometer (MOPS). We covered the entire
spectrum between 19.5 and 27.5 GHz using this setup with the main aims of
finding out which spectral lines can be detected with a quick mapping survey.
We report on detected emission from HO masers, NH inversion transitions
(1,1), (2,2) and (3,3), HCN (3-2), as well as several radio recombination
lines.Comment: accepted by PAS
Does Pulsar B1757--24 Have a Fallback Disk?
Radio pulsars are thought to spin-down primarily due to torque from magnetic
dipole radiation (MDR) emitted by the time-varying stellar magnetic field as
the star rotates. This assumption yields a `characteristic age' for a pulsar
which has generally been assumed to be comparable to the actual age. Recent
observational limits on the proper motion of pulsar B1757-24, however, revealed
that the actual age (>39 kyr) of this pulsar is much greater than its MDR
characteristic age (16 kyr) - calling into question the assumption of pure MDR
spin-down for this and other pulsars. To explore the possible cause of this
discrepancy, we consider a scenario in which the pulsar acquired an accretion
disk from supernova ejecta, and the subsequent spin-down occurred under the
combined action of MDR and accretion torques. A simplified model of the
accretion torque involving a constant mass inflow rate at the pulsar
magnetosphere can explain the age and period derivative of the pulsar for
reasonable values of the pulsar magnetic field and inflow rate. We discuss
testable predictions of this model.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letters. 15 pages with 1 figur
HI Emission and Absorption in the Southern Galactic Plane Survey
We present preliminary results from the Southern Galactic Plane Survey (SGPS)
Test Region and Parkes data. As part of the pilot project for the Southern
Galactic Plane Survey, observations of a Test Region (325.5 deg < l < 333.5
deg; -0.5 deg < b < 3.5 deg) were completed in December 1998. Single dish
observations of the full survey region (253 deg < l < 358 deg; |b| <1 deg) with
the Parkes Radio Telescope were completed in March 2000. We present a sample of
SGPS HI data with particular attention to the smallest and largest scale
structures seen in absorption and emission, respectively. On the large scale,
we detect many prominent HI shells. On the small scale, we note extremely
compact, cold clouds seen in HI self-absorption. We explore how these two
classes of objects probe opposite ends of the HI spatial power spectrum.Comment: 9 pages, 3 embedded postscript & 4 jpeg figures. Presented at the
Astronomical Society of Australia, Hobart, Tasmania, July 4-7 2000. To appear
in PASA Vol. 18(1
Towards pair production near threshold with unstable particle effective theory
We illustrate the use of effective theory techniques to describe processes
involving unstable particles close to resonance. First, we present the main
ideas in the context of a scalar resonance in an Abelian gauge-Yukawa model. We
then outline the necessary modifications to describe W-pair production close to
threshold in electron-positron collisions.Comment: Invited talk given at the 11th International Conference on QCD,
Montpellier, France (5--10th July 2004
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