Binaries in star clusters and the origin of the field stellar population

Many, possibly most, stars form in binary and higher-order multiple systems. Therefore, the properties and frequency of binary systems provide strong clues to the star-formation process, and constraints on star-formation models. However, the majority of stars also form in star clusters in which the birth binary properties and frequency can be altered rapidly by dynamical processing. Thus, we almost never see the birth population, which makes it very difficult to know if star formation (as traced by binaries, at least) is universal, or if it depends on environment. In addition, the field population consists of a mixture of systems from different clusters which have all been processed in different ways.Comment: 16 pages, no figures. To appear as invited review article in a special issue of the Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. A: Ch. 8 "Star clusters as tracers of galactic star-formation histories" (ed. R. de Grijs). Fully peer reviewed. LaTeX, requires rspublic.cls style fil

Multiple protostellar systems. II. A high resolution near-infrared imaging survey in nearby star-forming regions

(abridged) Our project endeavors to obtain a robust view of multiplicity among embedded Class I and Flat Spectrum protostars in a wide array of nearby molecular clouds to disentangle ``universal'' from cloud-dependent processes. We have used near-infrared adaptive optics observations at the VLT through the H, Ks and L' filters to search for tight companions to 45 Class I and Flat Spectrum protostars located in 4 different molecular clouds (Taurus-Auriga, Ophiuchus, Serpens and L1641 in Orion). We complemented these observations with published high-resolution surveys of 13 additional objects in Taurus and Ophiuchus. We found multiplicity rates of 32+/-6% and 47+/-8% over the 45-1400 AU and 14-1400 AU separation ranges, respectively. These rates are in excellent agreement with those previously found among T Tauri stars in Taurus and Ophiuchus, and represent an excess of a factor ~1.7 over the multiplicity rate of solar-type field stars. We found no non-hierarchical triple systems, nor any quadruple or higher-order systems. No significant cloud-to-cloud difference has been found, except for the fact that all companions to low-mass Orion protostars are found within 100 AU of their primaries whereas companions found in other clouds span the whole range probed here. Based on this survey, we conclude that core fragmentation always yields a high initial multiplicity rate, even in giant molecular clouds such as the Orion cloud or in clustered stellar populations as in Serpens, in contrast with predictions of numerical simulations. The lower multiplicity rate observed in clustered Class II and Class III populations can be accounted for by a universal set of properties for young systems and subsequent ejections through close encounters with unrelated cluster members.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Resolving The Moth at Millimeter Wavelengths

HD 61005, also known as "The Moth," is one of only a handful of debris disks that exhibit swept-back "wings" thought to be caused by interaction with the ambient interstellar medium (ISM). We present 1.3 mm Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations of the debris disk around HD 61005 at a spatial resolution of 1.9 arcsec that resolve the emission from large grains for the first time. The disk exhibits a double-peaked morphology at millimeter wavelengths, consistent with an optically thin ring viewed close to edge-on. To investigate the disk structure and the properties of the dust grains we simultaneously model the spatially resolved 1.3 mm visibilities and the unresolved spectral energy distribution. The temperatures indicated by the SED are consistent with expected temperatures for grains close to the blowout size located at radii commensurate with the millimeter and scattered light data. We also perform a visibility-domain analysis of the spatial distribution of millimeter-wavelength flux, incorporating constraints on the disk geometry from scattered light imaging, and find suggestive evidence of wavelength-dependent structure. The millimeter-wavelength emission apparently originates predominantly from the thin ring component rather than tracing the "wings" observed in scattered light. The implied segregation of large dust grains in the ring is consistent with an ISM-driven origin for the scattered light wings.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Binary Stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster

We report on a high-spatial-resolution survey for binary stars in the periphery of the Orion Nebula Cluster, at 5 - 15 arcmin (0.65 - 2 pc) from the cluster center. We observed 228 stars with adaptive optics systems, in order to find companions at separations of 0.13" - 1.12" (60 - 500 AU), and detected 13 new binaries. Combined with the results of Petr (1998), we have a sample of 275 objects, about half of which have masses from the literature and high probabilities to be cluster members. We used an improved method to derive the completeness limits of the observations, which takes into account the elongated point spread function of stars at relatively large distances from the adaptive optics guide star. The multiplicity of stars with masses >2 M_sun is found to be significantly larger than that of low-mass stars. The companion star frequency of low-mass stars is comparable to that of main-sequence M-dwarfs, less than half that of solar-type main-sequence stars, and 3.5 to 5 times lower than in the Taurus-Auriga and Scorpius-Centaurus star-forming regions. We find the binary frequency of low-mass stars in the periphery of the cluster to be the same or only slightly higher than for stars in the cluster core (<3 arcmin from theta1C Ori). This is in contrast to the prediction of the theory that the low binary frequency in the cluster is caused by the disruption of binaries due to dynamical interactions. There are two ways out of this dilemma: Either the initial binary frequency in the Orion Nebula Cluster was lower than in Taurus-Auriga, or the Orion Nebula Cluster was originally much denser and dynamically more active.Comment: 20 page

Measuring the Mass of a Pre-Main Sequence Binary Star Through the Orbit of TWA 5A

We present the results of a five year monitoring campaign of the close binary TWA 5Aab in the TW Hydrae association, using speckle and adaptive optics on the W.M. Keck 10 m telescopes. These measurements were taken as part of our ongoing monitoring of pre-main sequence (PMS) binaries in an effort to increase the number of dynamically determined PMS masses and thereby calibrate the theoretical PMS evolutionary tracks. Our observations have allowed us to obtain the first determination of this system's astrometric orbit. We find an orbital period of 5.94 +- 0.09 years and a semi-major axis of 0.066" +- 0.005". Combining these results with a kinematic distance, we calculate a total mass of 0.71 +- 0.14 M_sun (D/44 pc)^3. for this system. This mass measurement, as well as the estimated age of this system, are consistent to within 2$\sigma$ of all theoretical models considered. In this analysis, we properly account for correlated uncertainties, and show that while these correlations are generally ignored, they increase the formal uncertainties by up to a factor of five and therefore are important to incorporate. With only a few more years of observation, this type of measurement will allow the theoretical models to be distinguished

Variable accretion as a mechanism for brightness variations in T Tau S

(Note: this is a shortened version of the original A&A-style structured abstract). The physical nature of the strong photometric variability of T Tau Sa, the more massive member of the Southern "infrared companion" to T Tau, has long been debated. Intrinsic luminosity variations due to variable accretion were originally proposed but later challenged in favor of apparent fluctuations due to time-variable foreground extinction. In this paper we use the timescale of the variability as a diagnostic for the underlying physical mechanism. Because the IR emission emerging from Sa is dominantly thermal emission from circumstellar dust at <=1500K, we can derive a minimum size of the region responsible for the time-variable emission. In the context of the variable foreground extinction scenario, this region must be (un-) covered within the variability timescale, which implies a minimum velocity for the obscuring foreground material. If this velocity supercedes the local Kepler velocity we can reject foreground extinction as a valid variability mechanism. The variable accretion scenario allows for shorter variability timescales since the variations in luminosity occur on much smaller scales, essentially at the surface of the star, and the disk surface can react almost instantly on the changing irradiation with a higher or lower dust temperature and according brightness. We have detected substantial variations at long wavelengths in T Tau S: +26% within four days at 12.8 micron. We show that this short-term variability cannot be due to variable extinction and instead must be due to variable accretion. Using a radiative transfer model of the Sa disk we show that variable accretion can in principle also account for the much larger (several magnitude) variations observed on timescales of several years. For the long-term variability, however, also variable foreground extinction is a viable mechanism.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Linear polarization sensitivity of SeGA detectors

Parity is a key observable in nuclear spectroscopy. Linear polarization measurements of $\gamma$-rays are a probe to access the parities of energy levels. Utilizing the segmentation of detectors in the Segmented Germanium Array (SeGA) at the NSCL and analyzing the positions of interaction therein allows the detectors to be used as Compton polarimeters. Unlike other segmented detectors, SeGA detectors are irradiated from the side to utilize the transversal segmentation for better Doppler corrections. Sensitivity in such an orientation has previously been untested. A linear polarization sensitivity $Q \approx 0.14$ has been measured in the 350-keV energy range for SeGA detectors using $\alpha$-$\gamma$ correlations from a \nuc{249}{Cf} source.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure

Spatially resolved mid-infrared observations of the triple system T Tauri

To enhance our knowledge of the characteristics and distribution of the circumstellar dust associated with the individual components of the young hierarchical triple system T Tau, observations in the N-band with MIDI at the VLTI were performed. Our study is based on both the interferometric and the spectrophotometric measurements and is supplemented by new visual and infrared photometry. Also, the phases were investigated to determine the dominating mid-infrared source in the close southern binary. The data were fit with the help of a sophisticated physical disc model. This model utilises the radiative transfer code MC3D that is based on the Monte-Carlo method. Extended mid-infrared emission is found around all three components of the system. Simultaneous fits to the photometric and interferometric data confirm the picture of an almost face-on circumstellar disc around T Tau N. Towards this star, the silicate band is seen in emission. This emission feature is used to model the dust content of the circumstellar disc. Clear signs of dust processing are found. Towards T Tau S, the silicate band is seen in absorption. This absorption is strongly pronounced towards the infrared companion T Tau Sa as can be seen from the first individual N-band spectra for the two southern components. Our fits support the previous suggestion that an almost edge-on disc is present around T Tau Sa. This disc is thus misaligned with respect to the circumstellar disc around T Tau N. The interferometric data indicate that the disc around T Tau Sa is oriented in the north-south direction, which favours this source as launching site for the east-western jet. We further determine from the interferometric data the relative positions of the components of the southern binary.Comment: 24 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Leaping through tree space: continuous phylogenetic inference for rooted and unrooted trees

Phylogenetics is now fundamental in life sciences, providing insights into the earliest branches of life and the origins and spread of epidemics. However, finding suitable phylogenies from the vast space of possible trees remains challenging. To address this problem, for the first time, we perform both tree exploration and inference in a continuous space where the computation of gradients is possible. This continuous relaxation allows for major leaps across tree space in both rooted and unrooted trees, and is less susceptible to convergence to local minima. Our approach outperforms the current best methods for inference on unrooted trees and, in simulation, accurately infers the tree and root in ultrametric cases. The approach is effective in cases of empirical data with negligible amounts of data, which we demonstrate on the phylogeny of jawed vertebrates. Indeed, only a few genes with an ultrametric signal were generally sufficient for resolving the major lineages of vertebrate. With cubic-time complexity and efficient optimisation via automatic differentiation, our method presents an effective way forwards for exploring the most difficult, data-deficient phylogenetic questions.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 14 supplementary pages, 2 supplementary figure