68 research outputs found
Magnetocaloric properties of (RE)GaO (RE=Tb,Gd,Nd,Dy)
We report the characteristic magnetic properties of several members of the
rare earth garnet family, GdGaO (GGG), DyGaO
(DGG), TbGaO (TGG), and NdGaO (NGG), and compare
their relative potential utility for magnetocaloric cooling, including their
minimal adiabatic demagnetisation refrigeration (ADR) temperatures and relative
cooling parameters. A main objective of this work was to find potential
improvements over the magnetocaloric properties of GGG for use in low
temperature ADR cryostats. Using Tb and Dy in the RE-site offers
in principle higher saturation magnetisation and Nd gives a lower de
Gennes factor and therefore potentially low transition temperature. Our results
show that DyGaO yields an optimal relative cooling parameter
() at low applied fields and a low transition temperature, which would
allow for the design of more efficient ADR cryostats.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Physical Review Applie
ALMA detects a radial disk wind in DG Tauri
Astronomy and Astrophysics Letters, in press, 8 pagesAims. We aim to use the high spatial resolution of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to map the flow pattern of molecular gas near DG Tauri and its disk, a young stellar object driving a jet and a molecular outflow. Methods. We use observations from ALMA in the J = 2-1 transition of 12CO, 13CO, and C 18O to study the Keplerian disk of DG Tauri and outflows that may be related to the disk and the jet. Results. We find a new wind component flowing radially at a steep angle (≈ 25° from the vertical) above the disk with a velocity of ≈ 3.1 km s -1. It continues the trend of decreasing velocity for increasing distance from the jet axis ("onion-like velocity structure"). Conclusions. The new component is located close to the protostellar disk surface and may be related to photoevaporative winds.Peer reviewe
Surveying the Whirlpool at Arcseconds with NOEMA (SWAN)- I. Mapping the HCN and NH 3mm lines
We present the first results from "Surveying the Whirlpool at Arcseconds with
NOEMA" (SWAN), an IRAM Northern Extended Millimetre Array (NOEMA)+30m large
program that maps emission from several molecular lines at 90 and 110 GHz in
the iconic nearby grand-design spiral galaxy M~51 at cloud-scale resolution
(3\arcsec=125\,pc). As part of this work, we have obtained the first
sensitive cloud-scale map of NH(1-0) of the inner kpc of a normal star-forming galaxy, which we compare to HCN(1-0) and
CO(1-0) emission to test their ability in tracing dense, star-forming gas. The
average NH-to-HCN line ratio of our total FoV is , with
strong regional variations of a factor of throughout the disk,
including the south-western spiral arm and the center. The central kpc
exhibits elevated HCN emission compared to NH, probably caused by
AGN-driven excitation effects. We find that HCN and NH are strongly
super-linearily correlated in intensity (), with an
average scatter of dex over a span of dex in
intensity. When excluding the central region, the data is best described by a
power-law of exponent , indicating that there is more NH per unit
HCN in brighter regions. Our observations demonstrate that the HCN-to-CO line
ratio is a sensitive tracer of gas density in agreement with findings of recent
Galactic studies which utilize NH. The peculiar line ratios present
near the AGN and the scatter of the power-law fit in the disk suggest that in
addition to a first-order correlation with gas density, second-order physics
(such as optical depth, gas temperature) or chemistry (abundance variations)
are encoded in the NH/CO, HCN/CO and NH/HCN ratios.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 6 pages, 3 figures (+ Appendix 4
pages, 2 figures
Sub-kiloparsec empirical relations and excitation conditions of HCN and HCO+ J=3-2 in nearby star-forming galaxies
We present new HCN and HCO+ (J = 3–2) images of the nearby star-forming galaxies (SFGs) NGC 3351, NGC 3627, and NGC 4321. The observations, obtained with the Morita ALMA Compact Array, have a spatial resolution of ∼290–440 pc and resolve the inner Rgal ≲ 0.6–1 kpc of the targets, as well as the southern bar end of NGC 3627. We complement this data set with publicly available images of lower excitation lines of HCN, HCO+, and CO and analyse the behaviour of a representative set of line ratios: HCN(3–2)/HCN(1–0), HCN(3–2)/HCO+(3–2), HCN(1–0)/CO(2–1), and HCN(3–2)/CO(2–1). Most of these ratios peak at the galaxy centres and decrease outwards. We compare the HCN and HCO+ observations with a grid of one-phase, non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) radiative transfer models and find them compatible with models that predict subthermally excited and optically thick lines. We study the systematic variations of the line ratios across the targets as a function of the stellar surface density (Σstar), the intensity-weighted CO(2–1) (⟨ICO⟩), and the star formation rate surface density (ΣSFR). We find no apparent correlation with ΣSFR, but positive correlations with the other two parameters, which are stronger in the case of ⟨ICO⟩. The HCN/CO–⟨ICO⟩ relations show ≲0.3 dex galaxy-to-galaxy offsets, with HCN(3–2)/CO(2–1)–⟨ICO⟩ being ∼2 times steeper than HCN(1–0)/CO(2–1). In contrast, the HCN(3–2)/HCN(1–0)–⟨ICO⟩ relation exhibits a tighter alignment between galaxies. We conclude that the overall behaviour of the line ratios cannot be ascribed to variations in a single excitation parameter (e.g., density or temperature)
A constant NH(1-0)-to-HCN(1-0) ratio on kiloparsec scales
Nitrogen hydrides such as NH and NH are widely used by Galactic
observers to trace the cold dense regions of the interstellar medium. In
external galaxies, because of limited sensitivity, HCN has become the most
common tracer of dense gas over large parts of galaxies. We provide the first
systematic measurements of NH(1-0) across different environments of an
external spiral galaxy, NGC6946. We find a strong correlation ()
between the HCN(1-0) and NH(1-0) intensities across the inner
of the galaxy, at kiloparsec scales. This correlation is
equally strong between the ratios NH(1-0)/CO(1-0) and HCN(1-0)/CO(1-0),
tracers of dense gas fractions (). We measure an average
intensity ratio of NH(1-0)/HCN(1-0) over our set of five
IRAM-30m pointings. These trends are further supported by existing measurements
for Galactic and extragalactic sources. This narrow distribution in the average
ratio suggests that the observed systematic trends found in kiloparsec-scale
extragalactic studies of and the efficiency of dense gas
(SFE) would not change if we employed NH(1-0) as a
more direct tracer of dense gas. At kiloparsec scales our results indicate that
the HCN(1-0) emission can be used to predict the expected NH(1-0) over
those regions. Our results suggest that, even if HCN(1-0) and NH(1-0)
trace different density regimes within molecular clouds, subcloud differences
average out at kiloparsec scales, yielding the two tracers proportional to each
other.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
The Physical Drivers and Observational Tracers of CO-to-H2 Conversion Factor Variations in Nearby Barred Galaxy Centers
The CO-to-H-2 conversion factor (alpha CO) is central to measuring the amount and properties of molecular gas. It is known to vary with environmental conditions, and previous studies have revealed lower alpha CO in the centers of some barred galaxies on kiloparsec scales. To unveil the physical drivers of such variations, we obtained Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array bands (3), (6), and (7) observations toward the inner similar to 2 kpc of NGC 3627 and NGC 4321 tracing (CO)-C-12, (CO)-C-13, and (CO)-O-18 lines on similar to 100 pc scales. Our multiline modeling and Bayesian likelihood analysis of these data sets reveal variations of molecular gas density, temperature, optical depth, and velocity dispersion, which are among the key drivers of aCO. The central 300 pc nuclei in both galaxies show strong enhancement of temperature Tk greater than or similar to 100 K and density n(H2) > 10(3) cm(-3). Assuming a CO-to-H-2 abundance of 3 x 10(-4), we derive 4-15 times lower alpha(CO) than the Galactic value across our maps, which agrees well with previous kiloparsec-scale measurements. Combining the results with our previous work on NGC 3351, we find a strong correlation of alpha(CO) with low-J (CO)-C-12 optical depths (tau(CO)), as well as an anticorrelation with Tk. The tCO correlation explains most of the aCO variation in the three galaxy centers, whereas changes in T-k influence alpha(CO) to second order. Overall, the observed line width and (CO)-C-12/(CO)-C-13 2-1 line ratio correlate with tCO variation in these centers, and thus they are useful observational indicators for alpha(CO) variation. We also test current simulation-based alpha(CO) prescriptions and find a systematic overprediction, which likely originates from the mismatch of gas conditions between our data and the simulations
Fuelling the nuclear ring of NGC 1097
Galactic bars can drive cold gas inflows towards the centres of galaxies. The
gas transport happens primarily through the so-called bar ``dust lanes'', which
connect the galactic disc at kpc scales to the nuclear rings at hundreds of pc
scales much like two gigantic galactic rivers. Once in the ring, the gas can
fuel star formation activity, galactic outflows, and central supermassive black
holes. Measuring the mass inflow rates is therefore important to understanding
the mass/energy budget and evolution of galactic nuclei. In this work, we use
CO datacubes from the PHANGS-ALMA survey and a simple geometrical method to
measure the bar-driven mass inflow rate onto the nuclear ring of the barred
galaxy NGC~1097. The method assumes that the gas velocity in the bar lanes is
parallel to the lanes in the frame co-rotating with the bar, and allows one to
derive the inflow rates from sufficiently sensitive and resolved
position-position-velocity diagrams if the bar pattern speed and galaxy
orientations are known. We find an inflow rate of averaged over a time span of 40 Myr, which varies by a
factor of a few over timescales of 10 Myr. Most of the inflow appears to
be consumed by star formation in the ring which is currently occurring at a
rate of -, suggesting that the
inflow is causally controlling the star formation rate in the ring as a
function of time.Comment: Accepted in MNRA
The Physical Drivers and Observational Tracers of CO-to-H2 Conversion Factor Variations in Nearby Barred Galaxy Centers
The CO-to-H conversion factor (\alpha_\rm{CO}) is central to measuring
the amount and properties of molecular gas. It is known to vary with
environmental conditions, and previous studies have revealed lower
\alpha_\rm{CO} in the centers of some barred galaxies on kpc scales. To
unveil the physical drivers of such variations, we obtained ALMA Band 3, 6, and
7 observations toward the inner 2 kpc of NGC 3627 and NGC 4321 tracing
CO, CO, and CO lines on 100 pc scales. Our multi-line
modeling and Bayesian likelihood analysis of these datasets reveal variations
of molecular gas density, temperature, optical depth, and velocity dispersion,
which are among the key drivers of \alpha_\rm{CO}. The central 300 pc nuclei
in both galaxies show strong enhancement of temperature T_\rm{k}>100 K and
density n_\rm{H_2}>10^3 cm. Assuming a CO-to-H abundance of
, we derive 4-15 times lower \alpha_\rm{CO} than the Galactic
value across our maps, which agrees well with previous kpc-scale measurements.
Combining the results with our previous work on NGC 3351, we find a strong
correlation of \alpha_\rm{CO} with low-J CO optical depths
(\tau_\rm{CO}), as well as an anti-correlation with T_\rm{k}. The
\tau_\rm{CO} correlation explains most of the \alpha_\rm{CO} variation in
the three galaxy centers, whereas changes in T_\rm{k} influence
\alpha_\rm{CO} to second order. Overall, the observed line width and
CO/CO 2-1 line ratio correlate with \tau_\rm{CO} variation in
these centers, and thus they are useful observational indicators for
\alpha_\rm{CO} variation. We also test current simulation-based
\alpha_\rm{CO} prescriptions and find a systematic overprediction, which
likely originates from the mismatch of gas conditions between our data and the
simulations.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ; 30 pages of main text + 3 appendice
Calibrating mid-infrared emission as a tracer of obscured star formation on HII-region scales in the era of JWST
Measurements of the star formation activity on cloud scales are fundamental
to uncovering the physics of the molecular cloud, star formation, and stellar
feedback cycle in galaxies. Infrared (IR) emission from small dust grains and
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widely used to trace the obscured
component of star formation. However, the relation between these emission
features and dust attenuation is complicated by the combined effects of dust
heating from old stellar populations and an uncertain dust geometry with
respect to heating sources. We use images obtained with NIRCam and MIRI as part
of the PHANGS--JWST survey to calibrate dust emission at 21, and the
emission in the PAH-tracing bands at 3.3, 7.7, 10, and 11.3 as
tracers of obscured star formation. We analyse 20000 optically selected
HII regions across 19 nearby star-forming galaxies, and benchmark their IR
emission against dust attenuation measured from the Balmer decrement. We model
the extinction-corrected H flux as the sum of the observed H
emission and a term proportional to the IR emission, with as the
proportionality coefficient. A constant leads to extinction-corrected
H estimates which agree with those obtained with the Balmer decrement
with a scatter of 0.1 dex for all bands considered. Among these bands,
21 emission is demonstrated to be the best tracer of dust
attenuation. The PAH-tracing bands underestimate the correction for bright HII
regions, since in these environments the ratio of PAH-tracing bands to 21 decreases, signalling destruction of the PAH molecules. For fainter HII
regions all bands suffer from an increasing contamination from the diffuse
infrared background.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
The ALMOND Survey: Molecular cloud properties and gas density tracers across 25 nearby spiral galaxies with ALMA
We use new HCN(1-0) data from the ALMOND (ACA Large-sample Mapping Of Nearby
galaxies in Dense gas) survey to trace the kpc-scale molecular gas density
structure and CO(2-1) data from PHANGS-ALMA to trace the bulk molecular gas
across 25 nearby, star-forming galaxies. At 2.1 kpc scale, we measure the
density-sensitive HCN/CO line ratio and the SFR/HCN ratio to trace the star
formation efficiency in the denser molecular medium. At 150 pc scale, we
measure structural and dynamical properties of the molecular gas via CO(2-1)
line emission, which is linked to the lower resolution data using an
intensity-weighted averaging method. We find positive correlations (negative)
of HCN/CO (SFR/HCN) with the surface density, the velocity dispersion and the
internal turbulent pressure of the molecular gas. These observed correlations
agree with expected trends from turbulent models of star formation, which
consider a single free-fall time gravitational collapse. Our results show that
the kpc-scale HCN/CO line ratio is a powerful tool to trace the 150 pc scale
average density distribution of the molecular clouds. Lastly, we find
systematic variations of the SFR/HCN ratio with cloud-scale molecular gas
properties, which are incompatible with a universal star formation efficiency.
Overall, these findings show that mean molecular gas density, molecular cloud
properties and star formation are closely linked in a coherent way, and
observations of density-sensitive molecular gas tracers are a useful tool to
analyse these variations, linking molecular gas physics to stellar output
across galaxy discs.Comment: 48 pages, 40 figure
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