Globular Cluster Formation in the Virgo Cluster

Metal poor globular clusters (MPGCs) are a unique probe of the early universe, in particular the reionization era. Systems of globular clusters in galaxy clusters are particularly interesting as it is in the progenitors of galaxy clusters that the earliest reionizing sources first formed. Although the exact physical origin of globular clusters is still debated, it is generally admitted that globular clusters form in early, rare dark matter peaks (Moore et al. 2006; Boley et al. 2009). We provide a fully numerical analysis of the Virgo cluster globular cluster system by identifying the present day globular cluster system with exactly such early, rare dark matter peaks. A popular hypothesis is that that the observed truncation of blue metal poor globular cluster formation is due to reionization (Spitler et al. 2012; Boley et al. 2009; Brodie & Strader 2006); adopting this view, constraining the formation epoch of MPGCs provides a complementary constraint on the epoch of reionization. By analyzing both the line of sight velocity dispersion and the surface density distribution of the present day distribution we are able to constrain the redshift and mass of the dark matter peaks. We find and quantify a dependence on the chosen line of sight of these quantities, whose strength varies with redshift, and coupled with star formation efficiency arguments find a best fitting formation mass and redshift of $\simeq 5 \times 10^8 \rm{M}_\odot$ and $z\simeq 9$. We predict $\simeq 300$ intracluster MPGCs in the Virgo cluster. Our results confirm the techniques pioneered by Moore et al. (2006) when applied to the the Virgo cluster and extend and refine the analytic results of Spitler et al. (2012) numerically.Comment: 13 Pages, 13 Figures, submitted to MNRA

ISM properties in hydrodynamic galaxy simulations: Turbulence cascades, cloud formation, role of gravity and feedback

We study the properties of ISM substructure and turbulence in hydrodynamic (AMR) galaxy simulations with resolutions up to 0.8 pc and 5x10^3 Msun. We analyse the power spectrum of the density distribution, and various components of the velocity field. We show that the disk thickness is about the average Jeans scale length, and is mainly regulated by gravitational instabilities. From this scale of energy injection, a turbulence cascade towards small-scale is observed, with almost isotropic small-scale motions. On scales larger than the disk thickness, density waves are observed, but there is also a full range of substructures with chaotic and strongly non-isotropic gas velocity dispersions. The power spectrum of vorticity in an LMC-sized model suggests that an inverse cascade of turbulence might be present, although energy input over a wide range of scales in the coupled gaseous+stellar fluid could also explain this quasi-2D regime on scales larger than the disk scale height. Similar regimes of gas turbulence are also found in massive high-redshift disks with high gas fractions. Disk properties and ISM turbulence appear to be mainly regulated by gravitational processes, both on large scales and inside dense clouds. Star formation feedback is however essential to maintain the ISM in a steady state by balancing a systematic gas dissipation into dense and small clumps. Our galaxy simulations employ a thermal model based on a barotropic Equation of State (EoS) aimed at modelling the equilibrium of gas between various heating and cooling processes. Denser gas is typically colder in this approach, which is shown to correctly reproduce the density structures of a star-forming, turbulent, unstable and cloudy ISM down to scales of a few parsecs.Comment: MNRAS in pres

High-velocity hot CO emission close to Sgr A*: Herschel/HIFI submillimeter spectral survey toward Sgr A*

The properties of molecular gas, the fuel that forms stars, inside the cavity of the circumnuclear disk (CND) are not well constrained. We present results of a velocity-resolved submillimeter scan (~480 to 1250 GHz}) and [CII]158um line observations carried out with Herschel/HIFI toward Sgr A*; these results are complemented by a ~2'x2' CO (J=3-2) map taken with the IRAM 30 m telescope at ~7'' resolution. We report the presence of high positive-velocity emission (up to about +300 km/s) detected in the wings of CO J=5-4 to 10-9 lines. This wing component is also seen in H2O (1_{1,0}-1_{0,1}) a tracer of hot molecular gas; in [CII]158um, an unambiguous tracer of UV radiation; but not in [CI]492,806 GHz. This first measurement of the high-velocity CO rotational ladder toward Sgr A* adds more evidence that hot molecular gas exists inside the cavity of the CND, relatively close to the supermassive black hole (< 1 pc). Observed by ALMA, this velocity range appears as a collection of CO (J=3-2) cloudlets lying in a very harsh environment that is pervaded by intense UV radiation fields, shocks, and affected by strong gravitational shears. We constrain the physical conditions of the high positive-velocity CO gas component by comparing with non-LTE excitation and radiative transfer models. We infer T_k~400 K to 2000 K for n_H~(0.2-1.0)x10^5 cm^-3. These results point toward the important role of stellar UV radiation, but we show that radiative heating alone cannot explain the excitation of this ~10-60 M_Sun component of hot molecular gas inside the central cavity. Instead, strongly irradiated shocks are promising candidates.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letters ( this v2 includes corrections by language editor

BiTeCl and BiTeBr: a comparative high-pressure optical study

We here report a detailed high-pressure infrared transmission study of BiTeCl and BiTeBr. We follow the evolution of two band transitions: the optical excitation $\beta$ between two Rashba-split conduction bands, and the absorption $\gamma$ across the band gap. In the low pressure range, $p< 4$~GPa, for both compounds $\beta$ is approximately constant with pressure and $\gamma$ decreases, in agreement with band structure calculations. In BiTeCl, a clear pressure-induced phase transition at 6~GPa leads to a different ground state. For BiTeBr, the pressure evolution is more subtle, and we discuss the possibility of closing and reopening of the band gap. Our data is consistent with a Weyl phase in BiTeBr at 5$-$6~GPa, followed by the onset of a structural phase transition at 7~GPa.Comment: are welcom

3D simulations of supernova remnants evolution including non-linear particle acceleration

If a sizeable fraction of the energy of supernova remnant shocks is channeled into energetic particles (commonly identified with Galactic cosmic rays), then the morphological evolution of the remnants must be distinctly modified. Evidence of such modifications has been recently obtained with the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray satellites. To investigate these effects, we coupled a semi-analytical kinetic model of shock acceleration with a 3D hydrodynamic code (by means of an effective adiabatic index). This enables us to study the time-dependent compression of the region between the forward and reverse shocks due to the back reaction of accelerated particles, concomitantly with the development of the Rayleigh-Taylor hydrodynamic instability at the contact discontinuity. Density profiles depend critically on the injection level η of particles: for η ≲ 10-4 modifications are weak and progressive, for η ˜ 10-3 modifications are strong and immediate. Nevertheless, the extension of the Rayleigh-Taylor unstable region does not depend on the injection rate. A first comparison of our simulations with observations of Tycho's remnant strengthens the case for efficient acceleration of protons at the forward shock

Optical evidence for heavy charge carriers in FeGe

The optical spectrum of the cubic helimagnetic metal FeGe has been investigated in the frequency range from 0.01 - 3.1 eV for different temperatures from 30 K to 296 K. The optical conductivity shows the evolution of a low energy (0.22 eV) interband transition and the development of a narrow free carrier response with a strong energy and temperature dependence. The frequency dependent effective mass and scattering rate derived from the optical data indicate the formation of dressed quasi-particles with a mass renormalization factor of 12. Similar to FeSi the spectral weight in FeGe is not recovered over a broad frequency range, an effect usually attributed to the influence of the on-site Coulomb interaction.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Incorporating Ambipolar and Ohmic Diffusion in the AMR MHD code RAMSES

We have implemented non-ideal Magneto-Hydrodynamics (MHD) effects in the Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) code RAMSES, namely ambipolar diffusion and Ohmic dissipation, as additional source terms in the ideal MHD equations. We describe in details how we have discretized these terms using the adaptive Cartesian mesh, and how the time step is diminished with respect to the ideal case, in order to perform a stable time integration. We have performed a large suite of test runs, featuring the Barenblatt diffusion test, the Ohmic diffusion test, the C-shock test and the Alfven wave test. For the latter, we have performed a careful truncation error analysis to estimate the magnitude of the numerical diffusion induced by our Godunov scheme, allowing us to estimate the spatial resolution that is required to address non-ideal MHD effects reliably. We show that our scheme is second-order accurate, and is therefore ideally suited to study non-ideal MHD effects in the context of star formation and molecular cloud dynamics