4,760 research outputs found
Colloidal templating at a cholesteric - oil interface: Assembly guided by an array of disclination lines
We simulate colloids (radius m) trapped at the interface between
a cholesteric liquid crystal and an immiscible oil, at which the helical order
(pitch p) in the bulk conflicts with the orientation induced at the interface,
stabilizing an ordered array of disclinations. For weak anchoring strength W of
the director field at the colloidal surface, this creates a template, favoring
particle positions eitheron top of or midway between defect lines, depending on
. For small , optical microscopy experiments confirm this
picture, but for larger no templating is seen. This may stem from the
emergence at moderate W of a rugged energy landscape associated with defect
reconnections.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
A New Look At Carbon Abundances In Planetary Nebulae. III. DDDM1, IC 3568, IC4593, NGC 6210, NGC 6720, NGC 6826, & NGC 7009
This paper is the third in a series reporting on a study of carbon abundances
in a carefully chosen sample of planetary nebulae representing a large range in
progenitor mass and metallicity. We make use of the IUE Final Archive database
containing consistently-reduced spectra to measure line strengths of C III]
1909 along with numerous other UV lines for the planetary nebulae DDDM1, IC
3568, IC 4593, NGC 6210, NGC 6720, NGC 6826, & NGC 7009. We combine the IUE
data with line strengths from optical spectra obtained specifically to match
the IUE slit positions as closely as possible, to determine values for the
abundance ratios He/H, O/H, C/O, N/O, and Ne/O. The ratio of C III] 1909/C II
4267 is found to be effective for merging UV and optical spectra when He II
1640/4686 is unavailable. Our abundance determination method includes a 5-level
program whose results are fine-tuned by corrections derived from detailed
photoionization models constrained by the same set of emission lines. All
objects appear to have subsolar levels of O/H, and all but one show N/O levels
above solar. In addition, the seven planetary nebulae span a broad range in C/O
values. We infer that many of our objects are matter bounded, and thus the
standard ionization correction factor for N/O may be inappropriate for these
PNe. Finally, we estimate C/O using both collisionally-excited and
recombination lines associated with C+2 and find the well established result
that abundances from recombination lines usually exceed those from
collisionally-excited lines by several times.Comment: 36 pages, 7 tables, 2 figures, latex. Tables and figures supplied as
two separate postscript files. Accepted for publication in Ap
C/C ratio in planetary nebulae from the IUE archives
We investigated the abundance ratio of C/C in planetary nebulae
by examining emission lines arising from \ion{C}{3} 2s2p ^3P_{2,1,0} \to 2s^2
^1S_0. Spectra were retrieved from the International Ultraviolet Explorer
archives, and multiple spectra of the same object were coadded to achieve
improved signal-to-noise. The C hyperfine structure line at 1909.6 \AA
was detected in NGC 2440. The C/C ratio was found to be
1.2. In all other objects, we provide an upper limit for the flux
of the 1910 \AA line. For 23 of these sources, a lower limit for the
C/C ratio was established. The impact on our current
understanding of stellar evolution is discussed.
The resulting high signal-to-noise \ion{C}{3} spectrum helps constrain the
atomic physics of the line formation process. Some objects have the measured
1907/1909 flux ratio outside the low-electron density theoretical limit for
C. A mixture of C with C helps to close the gap somewhat.
Nevertheless, some observed 1907/1909 flux ratios still appear too high to
conform to the presently predicted limits. It is shown that this limit, as well
as the 1910/1909 flux ratio, are predominantly influenced by using the standard
partitioning among the collision strengths for the multiplet --
according to the statistical weights. A detailed calculation for the fine
structure collision strengths between these individual levels would be
valuable.Comment: ApJ accepted: 19 pages, 3 Figures, 2 Table
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Fluorine in the Pahrump outcrop, Gale Crater: Implications for fluid circulation and alteration
Colloid-stabilized emulsions: behaviour as the interfacial tension is reduced
We present confocal microscopy studies of novel particle-stabilized
emulsions. The novelty arises because the immiscible fluids have an accessible
upper critical solution temperature. The emulsions have been created by
beginning with particles dispersed in the single-fluid phase. On cooling,
regions of the minority phase nucleate. While coarsening these nuclei become
coated with particles due to the associated reduction in interfacial energy.
The resulting emulsion is arrested, and the particle-coated interfaces have
intriguing properties. Having made use of the binary-fluid phase diagram to
create the emulsion we then make use of it to study the properties of the
interfaces. As the emulsion is re-heated toward the single-fluid phase the
interfacial tension falls and the volume of the dispersed phase drops.
Crumpling, fracture or coalescence can follow. The results show that the
elasticity of the interfaces has a controlling influence over the emulsion
behaviour.Comment: Submitted for the proceedings of the 6th Liquid Matter Conference,
held in Utrecht (NL) in July 200
Observations of rotationally resolved C3 in translucent sight lines
The rotationally resolved spectrum of the A ^1Pi_u <- X ^1Sigma^+_g 000-000
transition of C3, centered at 4051.6A, has been observed along 10 translucent
lines of sight. To interpret these spectra, a new method for the determination
of column densities and analysis of excitation profiles involving the
simulation and fitting of observed spectra has been developed. The populations
of lower rotational levels (J<14) in C3 are best fit by thermal distributions
that are consistent with the kinetic temperatures determined from the
excitation profile of C2. Just as in the case of C2, higher rotational levels
(J>14) of C3 show increased nonthermal population distributions in clouds which
have been determined to have total gas densities below ~500 cm-3.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Global Governance Behind Closed Doors : The IMF Boardroom, the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility, and the Intersection of Material Power and Norm Change in Global Politics
Up on the 12th floor of its 19th Street Headquarters, the IMF Board sits in active session for an average of 7 hours per week. Although key matters of policy are decided on in the venue, the rules governing Boardroom interactions remain opaque, resting on an uneasy combination of consensual decision-making and weighted voting. Through a detailed analysis of IMF Board discussions surrounding the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF), this article sheds light on the mechanics of power in this often overlooked venue of global economic governance. By exploring the key issues of default liability and loan conditionality, I demonstrate that whilst the Boardroom is a more active site of contestation than has hitherto been recognized, material power is a prime determinant of both Executive Directorsâ preferences and outcomes reached from discussions. And as the decisions reached form the backbone of the âinstruction sheetâ used by Fund staff to guide their everyday operational decisions, these outcomesâand the processes through which they were reachedâwere factors of primary importance in stabilizing the operational norms at the heart of a controversial phase in the contemporary history of IMF concessional lending
Hubble Space Telescope Survey of Interstellar ^12CO/^13CO in the Solar Neighborhood
We examine 20 diffuse and translucent Galactic sight lines and extract the
column densities of the ^12CO and ^13CO isotopologues from their ultraviolet
A--X absorption bands detected in archival Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph
data with lambda/Deltalambda geq 46,000. Five more targets with Goddard
High-Resolution Spectrograph data are added to the sample that more than
doubles the number of sight lines with published Hubble Space Telescope
observations of ^13CO. Most sight lines have 12-to-13 isotopic ratios that are
not significantly different from the local value of 70 for ^12C/^13C, which is
based on mm-wave observations of rotational lines in emission from CO and H_2CO
inside dense molecular clouds, as well as on results from optical measurements
of CH^+. Five of the 25 sight lines are found to be fractionated toward lower
12-to-13 values, while three sight lines in the sample are fractionated toward
higher ratios, signaling the predominance of either isotopic charge exchange or
selective photodissociation, respectively. There are no obvious trends of the
^12CO-to-^13CO ratio with physical conditions such as gas temperature or
density, yet ^12CO/^13CO does vary in a complicated manner with the column
density of either CO isotopologue, owing to varying levels of competition
between isotopic charge exchange and selective photodissociation in the
fractionation of CO. Finally, rotational temperatures of H_2 show that all
sight lines with detected amounts of ^13CO pass through gas that is on average
colder by 20 K than the gas without ^13CO. This colder gas is also sampled by
CN and C_2 molecules, the latter indicating gas kinetic temperatures of only 28
K, enough to facilitate an efficient charge exchange reaction that lowers the
value of ^12CO/^13CO.Comment: 1-column emulateapj, 23 pages, 9 figure
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