Measuring elemental abundance ratios in protoplanetary disks at millimeter wavelengths

During the million years of evolution, gas dust and ice in protoplanetary disks can be chemically reprocessed. There are evidences that the gas-phase carbon and oxygen abundances are sub-solar in disks belonging to nearby star forming regions. These findings have a major impact on the composition of the primary atmosphere of giant planets (but it may also be valid for super-Earths and sub-Neptunes) as they accrete their gaseous envelopes from the surrounding material in the disk. In this study, we performed a thermo-chemical modelling analysis with the aim at testing how reliable and robust are the estimates of elemental abundance ratios based on (sub-)millimeter observations of molecular lines. We created a grid of disk models for the following different elemental abundance ratios: C/O, N/O and S/O, and, we computed the line flux of a set of carbon-, nitrogen and sulphur-bearing species, namely CN, HCN, NO, C$_{2}$H, c--C$_{3}$H$_{2}$, H$_{2}$CO, HC$_{3}$N, CH$_{3}$CN, CS, SO, H$_{2}$S and H$_{2}$CS, that have been detected with present (sub-)millimeter facilities such as ALMA and NOEMA. We find that the line fluxes, once normalized to the flux of the $^{13}$CO $J=2-1$ line, are sensitive to the elemental abundance ratios. On the other hand, the stellar and disk physical parameters have only a minor effect of the line flux ratios. Our results demonstrate that a simultaneous analysis of multiple molecular transitions is a valid approach to constrain the elemental abundance ratio in protoplanetary disks.Comment: Accepted for publication to A&

Four quadrant 120 A, 10 V power converters for LHC

The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) particle accelerator makes extensive use of true bipolar power converters, with a high precision regulated output current requirement. A special design and topology is required to allow high performance within the converter operating area, including quadrant transition. This paper presents the ±120A ±10V power converter, well represented in the LHC power converters (300 units). The design is adapted for a wide range of magnet loads [from 10mH to 4 Henry] (time constant load [0.1s..1050s]) with stringent EMC requirements. A quick-connect system was applied to the converter modules allowing easy installation and maintenance operations. Discussion of 4 quadrant control and practical results are presented

HCOOCH3 as a probe of temperature and structure of Orion-KL

We studied the O-bearing molecule HCOOCH3 to characterize the physical conditions of the different molecular source components in Orion-KL. We identify 28 methyl formate emission peaks throughout the 50" field of observations. The two strongest peaks are in the Compact Ridge (MF1) and in the SouthWest of the Hot Core (MF2). Spectral confusion is still prevailing as half of the expected transitions are blended over the region. Assuming that the transitions are thermalized, we derive the temperature at the five main emission peaks. At the MF1 position we find a temperature of 80K in a 1.8"x0.8" beam size and 120K on a larger scale (3.6" x2.2"), suggesting an external source of heating, whereas the temperature is about 130K at the MF2 position on both scales. Transitions of HCOOCH3 in vt=1 are detected as well and the good agreement of the positions on the rotational diagrams between the vt=0 and the vt=1 transitions suggests a similar temperature. The velocity of the gas is between 7.5 and 8.0km/s depending on the positions and column density peaks vary from 1.6x10^16 to 1.6x10^17cm^-2. A second velocity component is observed around 9-10 km/s in a North-South structure stretching from the Compact Ridge up to the BN object; this component is warmer at the MF1 peak. The two other C2H4O2 isomers are not detected and the derived upper limit for the column density is <3x10^14cm^-2 for glycolaldehyde and <2x10^15cm^-2 for acetic acid. From the 223GHz continuum map, we identify several dust clumps with associated gas masses in the range 0.8 to 5.8Msun. Assuming that the HCOOCH3 is spatially distributed as the dust, we find relative abundances of HCOOCH3 in the range <0.1x10^-8 to 5.2x10^-8. We suggest a relation between the methyl formate distribution and shocks as traced by 2.12 mum H2 emission.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

Vacuum energy in the presence of a magnetic string with delta function profile

We present a calculation of the ground state energy of massive spinor fields and massive scalar fields in the background of an inhomogeneous magnetic string with potential given by a delta function. The zeta functional regularization is used and the lowest heat kernel coefficients are calculated. The rest of the analytical calculation adopts the Jost function formalism. In the numerical part of the work the renormalized vacuum energy as a function of the radius $R$ of the string is calculated and plotted for various values of the strength of the potential. The sign of the energy is found to change with the radius. For both scalar and spinor fields the renormalized energy shows no logarithmic behaviour in the limit $R\to 0$, as was expected from the vanishing of the heat kernel coefficient $A_2$, which is not zero for other types of profiles.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure

Dissipative Structures in Supersonic Turbulence

We show that density-weighted moments of the dissipation rate, $\epsilon_l$, averaged over a scale $l$, in supersonic turbulence can be successfully explained by the She and L\'ev\^eque model [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 72}, 336 (1994)]. A general method is developed to measure the two parameters of the model, $\gamma$ and $d$, based directly on their physical interpretations as the scaling exponent of the dissipation rate in the most intermittent structures ($\gamma$) and the dimension of the structures ($d$). We find that the best-fit parameters ($\gamma=0.71$ and $d=1.90$) derived from the $\epsilon_l$ scalings in a simulation of supersonic turbulence at Mach 6 agree with their direct measurements, confirming the validity of the model in supersonic turbulence.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. Let

Application of large area SiPMs for the readout of a plastic scintillator based timing detector

In this study an array of eight 6 mm x 6 mm area SiPMs was coupled to the end of a long plastic scintillator counter which was exposed to a 2.5 GeV/c muon beam at the CERN PS. Timing characteristics of bars with dimensions 150 cm x 6 cm x 1 cm and 120 cm x 11 cm x 2.5 cm have been studied. An 8-channel SiPM anode readout ASIC (MUSIC R1) based on a novel low input impedance current conveyor has been used to read out and amplify SiPMs independently and sum the signals at the end. Prospects for applications in large-scale particle physics detectors with timing resolution below 100 ps are provided in light of the results

Application of large area SiPMs for the readout of a plastic scintillator based timing detector

In this study an array of eight 6 mm x 6 mm area SiPMs was coupled to the end of a long plastic scintillator counter which was exposed to a 2.5 GeV/c muon beam at the CERN PS. Timing characteristics of bars with dimensions 150 cm x 6 cm x 1 cm and 120 cm x 11 cm x 2.5 cm have been studied. An 8-channel SiPM anode readout ASIC (MUSIC R1) based on a novel low input impedance current conveyor has been used to read out and amplify SiPMs independently and sum the signals at the end. Prospects for applications in large-scale particle physics detectors with timing resolution below 100 ps are provided in light of the results

Organic molecules in the protoplanetary disk of DG Tau revealed by ALMA

Planets form in protoplanetary disks and inherit their chemical compositions. It is thus crucial to map the distribution and investigate the formation of simple organics, such as formaldehyde and methanol, in protoplanetary disks. We analyze ALMA observations of the nearby disk-jet system around the T Tauri star DG Tau in the o-H$_2$CO $3_{1,2}-2_{1,1}$ and CH$_3$OH $3_{-2,2}-4_{-1,4}$ E, $5_{0,5}-4_{0,4}$ A transitions at an unprecedented resolution of $\sim0.15"$, i.e., $\sim18$ au at a distance of 121 pc. The H$_2$CO emission originates from a rotating ring extending from $\sim40$ au with a peak at $\sim62$ au, i.e., at the edge of the 1.3mm dust continuum. CH$_3$OH emission is not detected down to an r.m.s. of 3 mJy/beam in the 0.162 km/s channel. Assuming an ortho-to-para ratio of 1.8-2.8 the ring- and disk-height-averaged H$_2$CO column density is $\sim0.3-4\times10^{14}$ cm$^{-2}$, while that of CH$_3$OH is $<0.04-0.7\times10^{14}$ cm$^{-2}$. In the inner $40$ au no o-H$_2$CO emission is detected with an upper limit on its beam-averaged column density of $\sim0.5-6\times10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$. The H$_2$CO ring in the disk of DG Tau is located beyond the CO iceline (R$_{\rm CO}\sim30$ au). This suggests that the H$_2$CO abundance is enhanced in the outer disk due to formation on grain surfaces by the hydrogenation of CO ice. The emission peak at the edge of the mm dust continuum may be due to enhanced desorption of H$_2$CO in the gas phase caused by increased UV penetration and/or temperature inversion. The CH$_3$OH/H$_2$CO abundance ratio is $<1$, in agreement with disk chemistry models. The inner edge of the H$_2$CO ring coincides with the radius where the polarization of the dust continuum changes orientation, hinting at a tight link between the H$_2$CO chemistry and the dust properties in the outer disk and at the possible presence of substructures in the dust distribution.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication on A&A Letter