37,749 research outputs found
Star-forming accretion flows and the low luminosity nuclei of giant elliptical galaxies
The luminosities of the centers of nearby elliptical galaxies are very low
compared to models of thin disc accretion to their black holes at the Bondi
rate, typically a few hundredths to a few tenths of a solar mass per year. This
has motivated models of inefficiently-radiated accretion that invoke weak
electron-ion thermal coupling, and/or inhibited accretion rates due to
convection or outflows. Here we point out that even if such processes are
operating, a significant fraction of the accreting gas is prevented from
reaching the central black hole because it condenses into stars in a
gravitationally unstable disc. Star formation occurs inside the Bondi radius
(typically ~100pc in giant ellipticals), but still relatively far from the
black hole in terms of Schwarzschild radii. Star formation depletes and heats
the gas disc, eventually leading to a marginally stable, but much reduced,
accretion flow to the black hole. We predict the presence of cold (~100K),
dusty gas discs, containing clustered H-alpha emission and occasional type II
supernovae, both resulting from the presence of massive stars. Star formation
accounts for several features of the M87 system: a thin disc, traced by H-alpha
emission, is observed on scales of about 100pc, with features reminiscent of
spiral arms and dust lanes; the star formation rate inferred from the intensity
of H-alpha emission is consistent with the Bondi accretion rate of the system.
Star formation may therefore help suppress accretion onto the central engines
of massive ellipticals. We also discuss some implications for the fueling of
the Galactic center and quasars.Comment: 13 pages, accepted to MNRA
Recommended from our members
An agent-based DDM for high level architecture
The Data Distribution Management (DDM) service is one of the six services provided in the Runtime Infrastructure (RTI) of High Level Architecture (HLA). Its purpose is to perform data filtering and reduce irrelevant data communicated between federates. The two DDM schemes proposed for RTI, region based and grid based DDM, are oriented to send as little irrelevant data to subscribers as possible, but only manage to filter part of this information and some irrelevant data is still being communicated. Previously (G. Tan et al., 2000), we employed intelligent agents to perform data filtering in HLA, implemented an agent based DDM in RTI (ARTI) and compared it with the other two filtering mechanisms. The paper reports on additional experiments, results and analysis using two scenarios: the AWACS sensing aircraft simulation and the air traffic control simulation scenario. Experimental results show that compared with other mechanisms, the agent based approach communicates only relevant data and minimizes network communication, and is also comparable in terms of time efficiency. Some guidelines on when the agent based scheme can be used are also give
GMC Collisions as Triggers of Star Formation. V. Observational Signatures
We present calculations of molecular, atomic and ionic line emission from
simulations of giant molecular cloud (GMC) collisions. We post-process
snapshots of the magneto-hydrodynamical simulations presented in an earlier
paper in this series by Wu et al. (2017) of colliding and non-colliding GMCs.
Using photodissociation region (PDR) chemistry and radiative transfer we
calculate the level populations and emission properties of CO ,
[CI] at m, [CII] m and [OI]
transition at m. From integrated
intensity emission maps and position-velocity diagrams, we find that
fine-structure lines, particularly the [CII] m, can be used as a
diagnostic tracer for cloud-cloud collision activity. These results hold even
in more evolved systems in which the collision signature in molecular lines has
been diminished.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, comments
welcom
Tunneling spectroscopy studies of aluminum oxide tunnel barrier layers
We report scanning tunneling microscopy and ballistic electron emission
microscopy studies of the electronic states of the uncovered and
chemisorbed-oxygen covered surface of AlOx tunnel barrier layers. These states
change when chemisorbed oxygen ions are moved into the oxide by either flood
gun electron bombardment or by thermal annealing. The former, if sufficiently
energetic, results in locally well defined conduction band onsets at ~1 V,
while the latter results in a progressively higher local conduction band onset,
exceeding 2.3 V for 500 and 600 C thermal anneals
High magnetoresistance at room temperature in p-i-n graphene nanoribbons due to band-to-band tunneling effects
A large magnetoresistance effect is obtained at room-temperature by using
p-i-n armchair-graphene-nanoribbon (GNR) heterostructures. The key advantage is
the virtual elimination of thermal currents due to the presence of band gaps in
the contacts. The current at B=0T is greatly decreased while the current at
B>0T is relatively large due to the band-to-band tunneling effects, resulting
in a high magnetoresistance ratio, even at room-temperature. Moreover, we
explore the effects of edge-roughness, length, and width of GNR channels on
device performance. An increase in edge-roughness and channel length enhances
the magnetoresistance ratio while increased channel width can reduce the
operating bias.Comment: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.362445
On the age of the magnetically active WW Psa and TX Psa members of the beta Pictoris association
There are a variety of different techniques available to estimate the ages of
pre-main-sequence stars. Components of physical pairs, thanks to their strict
coevality and the mass difference, such as the binary system analysed in this
paper, are best suited to test the effectiveness of these different techniques.
We consider the system WW Psa + TX Psa whose membership of the 25-Myr beta
Pictoris association has been well established by earlier works. We investigate
which age dating technique provides the best agreement between the age of the
system and that of the association. We have photometrically monitored WW Psa
and TX Psa and measured their rotation periods as P = 2.37d and P = 1.086d,
respectively. We have retrieved from the literature their Li equivalent widths
and measured their effective temperatures and luminosities. We investigate
whether the ages of these stars derived using three independent techniques are
consistent with the age of the beta Pictoris association. We find that the
rotation periods and the Li contents of both stars are consistent with the
distribution of other bona fide members of the cluster. On the contrary, the
isochronal fitting provides similar ages for both stars, but a factor of about
four younger than the quoted age of the association, or about 30% younger when
the effects of magnetic fields are included. We explore the origin of the
discrepant age inferred from isochronal fitting, including the possibilities
that either the two components may be unresolved binaries or that the basic
stellar parameters of both components are altered by enhanced magnetic
activity. The latter is found to be the more reasonable cause, suggesting that
age estimates based on the Li content is more reliable than isochronal fitting
for pre-main-sequence stars with pronounced magnetic activity.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics on December 13, 2016. 13 pages
and 11 figure
Diversity, Distribution and Biological Activity of Soft Corals (Octocorallia, Alcyonacea) in Singapore
The Southern Islands of Singapore are known to contain coral reefs which are high in biodiversity. However, the diversity of soft corals had received little attention to date. This study was conducted to determine the soft coral diversity in Singapore reefs as well as to conduct preliminary bioactivity tests on the organic extracts from these soft corals. A 100-meter line transect was used to survey soft corals at a 3m depth at ten different sample sites. Sclerites from samples were used to identify the soft corals to the generic level. This study uncovered the following genera of soft corals: Carijoa spp., Cladiella spp., Sinularia spp., Lobophytum spp., Sarcophyton spp., Stereonephthya spp., and Nephthea spp. In addition, an unidentified genus of soft coral was observed at Kusu Island. Cladiella spp. yielded the highest number of colonies, and Sarcophyton spp. had the highest coverage in terms of total colony diameter. The brine shrimp (Artemia salina) toxicity assay was carried out to screen for toxicity of the soft coral extracts at concentrations of 10, 100, and 1000 ppm. Results showed high levels of toxicity in extracts of Sarcophyton spp. and Cladiella spp., indicating that these soft corals are potentially good sources of bioactive compounds for drug discovery
Efficient and realistic device modeling from atomic detail to the nanoscale
As semiconductor devices scale to new dimensions, the materials and designs
become more dependent on atomic details. NEMO5 is a nanoelectronics modeling
package designed for comprehending the critical multi-scale, multi-physics
phenomena through efficient computational approaches and quantitatively
modeling new generations of nanoelectronic devices as well as predicting novel
device architectures and phenomena. This article seeks to provide updates on
the current status of the tool and new functionality, including advances in
quantum transport simulations and with materials such as metals, topological
insulators, and piezoelectrics.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figure
Electron doping evolution of the magnetic excitations in NaFeCoAs
We use time-of-flight (ToF) inelastic neutron scattering (INS) spectroscopy
to investigate the doping dependence of magnetic excitations across the phase
diagram of NaFeCoAs with and .
The effect of electron-doping by partially substituting Fe by Co is to form
resonances that couple with superconductivity, broaden and suppress low energy
( meV) spin excitations compared with spin waves in undoped NaFeAs.
However, high energy ( meV) spin excitations are weakly Co-doping
dependent. Integration of the local spin dynamic susceptibility
of NaFeCoAs reveals a total
fluctuating moment of 3.6 /Fe and a small but systematic reduction
with electron doping. The presence of a large spin gap in the Co-overdoped
nonsuperconducting NaFeCoAs suggests that Fermi surface
nesting is responsible for low-energy spin excitations. These results parallel
Ni-doping evolution of spin excitations in BaFeNiAs, confirming
the notion that low-energy spin excitations coupling with itinerant electrons
are important for superconductivity, while weakly doping dependent high-energy
spin excitations result from localized moments.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figure
- …