Luminosity Profiles of Merger Remnants

Using published luminosity and molecular gas profiles of the late-stage mergers NGC 3921, NGC 7252 and Arp 220, we examine the expected luminosity profiles of the evolved merger remnants, especially in light of the massive CO complexes that are observed in their nuclei. For NGC 3921 and NGC 7252 we predict that the resulting luminosity profiles will be characterized by an r^{1/4} law. In view of previous optical work on these systems, it seems likely that they will evolve into normal ellipticals as regards their optical properties. Due to a much higher central molecular column density, Arp 220 might not evolve such a ``seamless'' light profile. We conclude that ultraluminous infrared mergers such as Arp 220 either evolve into ellipticals with anomalous luminosity profiles, or do not produce many low-mass stars out of their molecular gas complexes.Comment: Final refereed version. Note new title. 4 pages, 2 encapsulated color figures, uses emulateapj.sty. Accepted to ApJL. Also available at http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~jhibbard/Remnants/remnants.htm

Techniques for n-Particle Irreducible Effective Theories

In this paper we show that the skeleton diagrams in the m-Loop nPI effective action correspond to an infinite resummation of perturbative diagrams which is void of double counting at the m-Loop level. We also show that the variational equations of motion produced by the n-Loop nPI effective theory are equivalent to the Schwinger-Dyson equations, up to the order at which they are consistent with the underlying symmetries of the original theory. We use a diagrammatic technique to obtain the 5-Loop 5PI effective action for a scalar theory with cubic and quartic interactions, and verify that the result satisfies these two statements.Comment: 43 pages, 48 figures, add a paragraph in conclusions, Figs. 25,45,46 changed, typos corrected, final version to appear in PR

The Neutral Hydrogen Distribution in Merging Galaxies: Differences between Stellar and Gaseous Tidal Morphologies

We have mapped the neutral atomic gas (HI) in the three disk-disk merger systems NGC 520, Arp 220, and Arp 299. These systems differ from the majority of the mergers mapped in HI, in that their stellar and gaseous tidal features do not coincide. In particular, they exhibit large stellar tidal features with little if any accompanying neutral gas and large gas-rich tidal features with little if any accompanying starlight. On smaller scales, there are striking anti-correlations where the gaseous and stellar tidal features appear to cross. We explore several possible causes for these differences, including dust obscuration, ram pressure stripping, and ionization effects. No single explanation can account for all of the observed differences. The fact that each of these systems shows evidence for a starburst driven superwind expanding in the direction of the most striking anti-correlations leads us to suggest that the superwind is primarily responsible for the observed differences, either by sweeping the features clear of gas via ram pressure, or by excavating a clear sightline towards the starburst and allowing UV photons to ionize regions of the tails.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, uses emulateapj.sty. To appear in the March 2000 issue of AJ. Version with full resolution figures is available via http://www.cv.nrao.edu/~jhibbard/HIdisp/HIdisp.htm

Multiwavelength analysis of the young open cluster NGC 2362

We present a multiwavelength analysis of the young open cluster NGC 2362. UBVRcIc CCD photometric observations, together with available data in the Chandra data base, near infrared data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS), and recently published Halpha spectroscopy were used to get information about the evolutionary stage of the cluster and the main physical properties of its stellar content. Cluster membership is estimated for every individual star by means of ZAMS and isochrone fitting. The cluster is confirmed to host a richly populated pre-main sequence (PMS), and to contain a large amount of X-ray emitting stars, which reach from the PMS members of GK spectral type, up to the most luminous OB type main sequence (MS) members. The PMS cluster members show no significant age spread, and the comparison to both PMS and post-MS isochrones suggests a younger age for the more massive MS than for lower mass PMS members. The analysis allows to asses the validity of currently used pre-main sequence evolutionary models, and supports the suggestion of a well defined positive correlation of the X-ray emission from PMS stars with their bolometric luminosity. Clear differences are found on the other hand, between the X-ray activity properties of MS and PMS cluster members, both in the relation between X-ray luminosity and bolometric luminosity, and in spectral properties as well.Comment: 1 gzipped file: 1 tex file with 9 pages text. 5 ps files with figures. Submitted to Astrophysical Journa

Pre-main sequence stars in open clusters. I. The DAY-I catalogue

We present the project we are carrying out at present, the search for and characterisation of pre-main sequence (PMS) stars among the members of Galactic young clusters. The observations of 10 southern clusters, nine of them located in the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm of the Milky Way are presented. We aim at listing candidate PMS member stars in young clusters. The catalogued stars will serve as a basis for future spectroscopic studies of individual objects to determine the properties of stellar formation in the last phases before the main sequence stage. Properties such as the presence of residual envelopes or disks, age spread among PMS members, and the possible presence of several episodes of star formation in the clusters, are to be addressed. Multicolour photometry in the UBVRcIc system has been obtained for 10 southern young clusters in the fourth Galactic quadrant, located between Galactic longitudes l=238 and l=310. For six clusters in the sample, the observations presented here provide the first published study based on CCD photometry. A quantitative comparison is performed with post-MS isochrones, and PMS isochrones from three different evolutionary models are used in the photometric membership analysis for possible PMS stars. The observations produce photometric indices in the Johnson-Cousins photometric systems for a total of 26962 stars. Matching with the 2MASS data base provides astrometric calibration for all stars, and JHK 2MASS indices for 60 per cent of them. Post-MS cluster ages range from 4 to 60 Myr, whereas the photometric membership analysis assigns PMS membership to a total of 842 stars, covering an age range between 1 and 10 Myr. A catalogue, named DAY-I, with the information on the PMS candidate members has been ellaborated.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures. Accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics: 30.1.200

Physical parameters of pre-main sequence stars in open clusters

Our aims are twofold: To determine the physical parameters of PMS members in young open clusters (YOCs), and to check and compare the performances of different model isochrones. We compare UBVRI photometric observations of YOCs to theoretical isochrones in the photometric diagrams. The comparison simultaneously provides membership assignments for MS and PMS stars, and estimates for the masses, ages, and spatial distribution of the candidate members. The relations found between the different cluster parameters show that the procedure applied to assign cluster membership, and to measure physical parameters for the selected members, is well founded.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (17.5.2011