29,739 research outputs found
The quenching of star formation in accretion-driven clumpy turbulent tori of active galactic nuclei
Galactic gas-gas collisions involving a turbulent multiphase ISM share common
ISM properties: dense extraplanar gas visible in CO, large linewidths (>= 50
km/s), strong mid-infrared H_2 line emission, low star formation activity, and
strong radio continuum emission. Gas-gas collisions can occur in the form of
ICM ram pressure stripping, galaxy head-on collisions, compression of the
intragroup gas and/or galaxy ISM by an intruder galaxy which flies through the
galaxy group at a high velocity, or external gas accretion on an existing gas
torus in a galactic center. We suggest that the common theme of all these
gas-gas interactions is adiabatic compression of the ISM leading to an increase
of the turbulent velocity dispersion of the gas. The turbulent gas clouds are
then overpressured and star formation is quenched. Within this scenario we
developed a model for turbulent clumpy gas disks where the energy to drive
turbulence is supplied by external infall or the gain of potential energy by
radial gas accretion within the disk. The cloud size is determined by the size
of a C-type shock propagating in dense molecular clouds with a low ionization
fraction at a given velocity dispersion. We give expressions for the expected
volume and area filling factors, mass, density, column density, and velocity
dispersion of the clouds. The latter is based on scaling relations of
intermittent turbulence whose open parameters are estimated for the CND in the
Galactic Center. The properties of the model gas clouds and the external mass
accretion rate necessary for the quenching of the star formation rate due to
adiabatic compression are consistent with those derived from high-resolution
H_2 line observations. Based on these findings, a scenario for the evolution of
gas tori in galactic centers is proposed and the implications for star
formation in the Galactic Center are discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication by A&
Spectral Stability of the Neumann Laplacian
We prove the equivalence of Hardy- and Sobolev-type inequalities, certain
uniform bounds on the heat kernel and some spectral regularity properties of
the Neumann Laplacian associated with an arbitrary region of finite measure in
Euclidean space. We also prove that if one perturbs the boundary of the region
within a uniform H\"older category then the eigenvalues of the Neumann
Laplacian change by a small and explicitly estimated amount.
AMS subject classifications: 35P15, 35J25, 47A75, 47B25, 26D10, 46E35.
Keywords: Neumann Laplacian, Sobolev inequalities, Hardy inequalities,
spectral stability, H\"older continuity.Comment: 23 page
Dust Emissivity in the Far-Infrared
We have derived the dust emissivity in the Far-Infrared (FIR) using data
available in the literature. We use two wavelength dependences derived from
spectra of Galactic FIR emission (Reach et al. 1995). A value for the
emissivity, normalised to the extinction efficiency in the V band, has been
retrieved from maps of Galactic FIR emission, dust temperature and extinction
(Schlegel et al. 1998).
Our results are similar to other measurements in the Galaxy but only
marginally consistent with the widely quoted values of Hildebrand (1983)
derived on one reflection nebula. The discrepancy with measurements on other
reflection nebulae (Casey 1991) is higher and suggests a different grain
composition in these environments with respect to the diffuse interstellar
medium.
We measure dust masses for a sample of six spiral galaxies with FIR
observations and obtain gas-to-dust ratios close to the Galactic value.Comment: 5 pages, 1 ps file, A&A letter accepte
Monte Carlo Predictions of Far-Infrared Emission from Spiral Galaxies
We present simulations of Far Infrared (FIR) emission by dust in spiral
galaxies, based on the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code of Bianchi, Ferrara
& Giovanardi (1996). The radiative transfer is carried out at several
wavelength in the Ultraviolet, optical and Near Infrared, to cover the range of
the stellar Spectral Energy Distribution (SED). Together with the images of the
galactic model, a map of the energy absorbed by dust is produced. Using
Galactic dust properties, the spatial distribution of dust temperature is
derived under the assumption of thermal equilibrium. A correction is applied
for non-equilibrium emission in the Mid Infrared. Images of dust emission can
then be produced at any wavelength in the FIR.
We show the application of the model to the spiral galaxy NGC 6946. The
observed stellar SED is used as input and models are produced for different
star-dust geometries. It is found that only optically thick dust disks can
reproduce the observed amount of FIR radiation. However, it is not possible to
reproduce the large FIR scalelength suggested by recent observation of spirals
at 200 um, even when the scalelength of the dust disk is larger than that for
stars. Optically thin models have ratios of optical/FIR scalelengths closer to
the 200um observations, but with smaller absolute scalelengths than optically
thick cases. The modelled temperature distributions are compatible with
observations of the Galaxy and other spirals. We finally discuss the
approximations of the model and the impact of a clumpy stellar and dust
structure on the FIR simulations.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures, accepted by A&
ISO observations of spirals: modelling the FIR emission
ISO observations at 200 micron have modified our view of the dust component
in spiral galaxies. For a sample of seven resolved spirals we have retrieved a
mean temperature of 20K, about 10K lower than previous estimates based on IRAS
data at shorter wavelengths. Because of the steep dependence of far-infrared
emission on the dust temperature, the dust masses inferred from ISO fluxes are
a factor of 10 higher than those derived from IRAS data only, leading to
gas-to-dust ratios close to the value observed in the Galaxy. The scale-length
of the 200 micron emission is larger than for the IRAS 100 micron emission,
with colder dust at larger distances from the galactic centre, as expected if
the interstellar radiation field is the main source of dust heating. The 200
micron scale-length is also larger than the optical, for all the galaxies in
the sample. This suggests that the dust distribution is more extended than that
of the stars.A model of the dust heating is needed to derive the parameters of
the dust distribution from the FIR emission. Therefore, we have adapted an
existing radiative transfer code to deal with dust emission. Simulated maps of
the temperature distribution within the dust disk and of the dust emission at
any wavelength can be produced. The stellar spectral energy distribution is
derived from observations in the ultraviolet, optical and near infrared. The
parameters of the dust distribution (scale-lengths and optical depth) are
chosen to reproduce the observed characteristics of the FIR emission, i.e. the
shape of the spectrum, the flux and the spatial distribution. We describe the
application of the model to one of the galaxies in the sample, NGC 6946.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of the workshop
"ISO Beyond Point Sources" held at VILSPA 14-17 September 199
SCUBA imaging of NGC 7331 dust ring
We present observations of the spiral galaxy NGC 7331 using the
Sub-millimetre Common User Bolometer Array (SCUBA) on the James Clark Maxwell
Telescope. We have detected a dust ring of 45 arcsec radius (3.3 kpc) at
wavelengths of 450 and 850-micron. The dust ring is in good correspondence with
other observations of the ring in the mid-infrared (MIR), CO and
radio-continuum, suggesting that the observed dust is associated with the
molecular gas and star formation. A B-K colour map shows an analogous ring
structure with an asymmetry about the major axis, consistent with the
extinction being produced by a dust ring. The derived temperature of the dust
lies between 16 and 31 K and the gas-to-dust ratio between 150 and 570,
depending on the assumed dust emission efficiency index (beta=1.5 or 2.).Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, to be published in MNRA
Assessing Proof Reading Comprehension Using Summaries
In this paper, we explore the role of mathematical proof summaries as a tool for capturing students’ reading comprehension of a given proof. We present an interview study based on mathematicians’ pairwise evaluations of student-produced summaries of a proof demonstrating the uncountability of the open unit interval. We present a thematic analysis, exploring features of mathematicians’ pairwise decision-making and their priorities in evaluating summaries. We argue that the students’ proof summaries shared several properties with traditional modes of proof-writing and were frequently evaluated against similar conventions. We consider the consequences for research and practice with proof comprehension and conclude that proof summaries have the potential to form the basis of a new approach to assessment in this area
The effect of stellar-mass black holes on the structural evolution of massive star clusters
We present the results of realistic N-body modelling of massive star clusters
in the Magellanic Clouds, aimed at investigating a dynamical origin for the
radius-age trend observed in these systems. We find that stellar-mass black
holes, formed in the supernova explosions of the most massive cluster stars,
can constitute a dynamically important population. If a significant number of
black holes are retained (here we assume complete retention), these objects
rapidly form a dense core where interactions are common, resulting in the
scattering of black holes into the cluster halo, and the ejection of black
holes from the cluster. These two processes heat the stellar component,
resulting in prolonged core expansion of a magnitude matching the observations.
Significant core evolution is also observed in Magellanic Cloud clusters at
early times. We find that this does not result from the action of black holes,
but can be reproduced by the effects of mass-loss due to rapid stellar
evolution in a primordially mass segregated cluster.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters; 2 figures, 1 tabl
Early-type Galaxies in the Cluster Abell 2390 at z=0.23
To examine the evolution of the early-type galaxy population in the rich
cluster Abell 2390 at z=0.23 we have gained spectroscopic data of 51 elliptical
and lenticular galaxies with MOSCA at the 3.5 m telescope on Calar Alto
Observatory. This investigation spans both a broad range in luminosity
(-19.3>M_B>-22.3) and uses a wide field of view of 10'x10', therefore the
environmental dependence of different formation scenarios can be analysed in
detail as a function of radius from the cluster centre. Here we present results
on the surface brightness modelling of galaxies where morphological and
structural information is available in the F814W filter aboard the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) and investigate for this subsample the evolution of the
Fundamental Plane.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "Carnegie Observatories Astrophysics
Series, Vol. 3: Clusters of Galaxies: Probes of Cosmological Structure and
Galaxy Evolution", ed. J. S. Mulchaey, A. Dressler, and A. Oemler (Pasadena:
Carnegie Observatories,
http://www.ociw.edu/ociw/symposia/series/symposium3/proceedings.html
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