Is Betelgeuse the Outcome of a Past Merger?

We explore the possibility that the star alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse) is the outcome of a merger that occurred in a low mass ratio (q = M2/M1 = 0.07 - 0.25) binary system some time in the past hundreds of thousands of years. To that goal, we present a simple analytical model to approximate the perturbed internal structure of a post-merger object following the coalescence of a secondary in the mass range 1-4 Msun into the envelope of a 15-17 Msun primary. We then compute the long-term evolution of post-merger objects for a grid of initial conditions and make predictions about their surface properties for evolutionary stages that are consistent with the observed location of Betelgeuse in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We find that if a merger occurred after the end of the primary's main-sequence phase, while it was expanding toward becoming a red supergiant star and typically with radius ~200 - 300 Rsun, then it's envelope is spun-up to values which remain in a range consistent with the Betelgeuse observations for thousands of years of evolution. We argue that the best scenario that can explain both the fast rotation of Betelgeuse and its observed large space velocity is one where a binary was dynamically ejected by its parent cluster a few million years ago and then subsequently merged. An alternative scenario in which the progenitor of Betelgeuse was spun up by accretion in a binary and released by the supernova explosion of the companion requires a finely tuned set of conditions but cannot be ruled out.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

An analysis of the shapes of interstellar extinction curves. VII Milky Way spectrophotometric optical-through-ultraviolet extinction and its R-dependence

We produce a set of 72 NIR-through-UV extinction curves by combining new Hubble Space Telescope/STIS optical spectrophotometry with existing International Ultraviolet Explorer spectrophotometry (yielding gapless coverage from 1150 to 10000 ?) and NIR photometry. These curves are used to determine a new, internally consistent NIR-through-UV Milky Way mean curve and to characterize how the shapes of the extinction curves depend on R(V). We emphasize that while this dependence captures much of the curve variability, considerable variation remains that is independent of R(V). We use the optical spectrophotometry to verify the presence of structure at intermediate wavelength scales in the curves. The fact that the optical-through-UV portions of the curves are sampled at relatively high resolution makes them very useful for determining how extinction affects different broadband systems, and we provide several examples. Finally, we compare our results to previous investigations

Government Policy in Support of Domestic Agriculture: Costs and Benefits, The United States

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Single-electron manipulation to and from a SiO2 surface by electrostatic force microscopy

Journal ArticleOccupation of individual electron states near the surface of a SiO2 film is controlled by reversible single-electron tunneling to or from a metallic electrostatic force microscope probe. By switching the polarity of an applied dc bias between the probe and the sample to adjust the Fermi energy of the probe with respect to states near the dielectric surface, individual electrons are repeatably manipulated in and out of the sample. The single-electron charging and discharging is detected by frequency detection electrostatic force microscopy

Sub-10 nm lateral spatial resolution in scanning capacitance microscopy achieved with solid platinum probes

Journal ArticleSub-10 nm resolution can be obtained in scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) if the probe tip is approximately of the same size. Such resolution is observed, although infrequently, with present commercially available probes. To acquire routine sub-10 nm resolution, a solid Pt metal probe has been developed with a sub-10 nm tip radius. The probe is demonstrated by SCM imaging on a cross-sectioned 70 nm gatelength field-effect transistor (FET), a shallow implant (n+/p, 24 nm junction depth), and an epitaxial staircase (p, ;75 nm steps)

Single electron tunneling force spectroscopy of an individual electronic state in a non-conducting surface

Journal ArticleA tunneling spectroscopy technique to measure the energy level of an electronic state in a completely nonconducting surface is demonstrated. Spectroscopy is performed by electrostatic force detection of single-electron tunneling between a scanning probe and the state as a function of an applied voltage. An electronic state near the surface of a SiO2 film is found 5.5±0.2 eV below the conduction band edge. A random telegraph signal, caused by sporadic back-and-forth single-electron tunneling, is observed as the probe Fermi level passes through the state energy

Single electron tunneling to insulator surfaces measured by frequency detection electrostatic force microscopy

Journal ArticleSingle-electron tunneling events between a metal probe and an insulator surface are measured by frequency detection electrostatic force microscopy. Single-electron tunneling events typically cause 1-10 Hz shifts in the 300 kHz resonance frequency of the oscillating force probe. The frequency shifts appear only within a sub-2 nm tip-sample gap and their magnitude is roughly uniform under fixed experimental conditions. An electrostatic model of the probe-sample system yields results consistent with the measurements