782 research outputs found
Obscuring and feeding supermassive black holes with evolving nuclear star clusters
Recently, high resolution observations with the help of the near-infrared
adaptive optics integral field spectrograph SINFONI at the VLT proved the
existence of massive and young nuclear star clusters in the centres of a sample
of Seyfert galaxies. With the help of high resolution hydrodynamical
simulations with the PLUTO-code, we follow the evolution of such clusters,
especially focusing on mass and energy feedback from young stars. This leads to
a filamentary inflow of gas on large scales (tens of parsec), whereas a
turbulent and very dense disc builds up on the parsec scale. Here, we
concentrate on the long-term evolution of the nuclear disc in NGC 1068 with the
help of an effective viscous disc model, using the mass input from the large
scale simulations and accounting for star formation in the disc. This two-stage
modelling enables us to connect the tens of parsec scale region (observable
with SINFONI) with the parsec scale environment (MIDI observations). At the
current age of the nuclear star cluster, our simulations predict disc sizes of
the order of 0.8 to 0.9 pc, gas masses of 1.0e6 Msun and mass transfer rates
through the inner boundary of 0.025 Msun/yr in good agreement with values
derived from observations.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the IAU General
Assembly 2009, Rio de Janeiro, S267 Co-evolution of Central Black Holes and
Galaxie
Strongly Non-Equilibrium Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Trapped Gas
We present a qualitative (and quantitative, at the level of estimates)
analysis of the ordering kinetics in a strongly non-equilibrium state of a
weakly interacting Bose gas, trapped with an external potential. At certain
conditions, the ordering process is predicted to be even more rich than in the
homogeneous case. Like in the homogeneous case, the most characteristic feature
of the full-scale non-equilibrium process is the formation of superfluid
turbulence.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, no figures. Submitted to PR
Comparing placentas from normal and abnormal pregnancies
This report describes work carried out at a Mathematics-in-Medicine Study Group. It is believed that placenta shape villous network characteristics are strongly linked to the placenta’s efficiency, and hence to pregnancy outcome. We were asked to consider mathematical ways to describe the shape and other characteristics of a placenta, as well as forming mathematical models for placenta development. In this report we propose a number of possible measure of placental shape, form, and efficiency, which can be computed from images already obtained. We also consider various models for the early development of placentas and the growth of the villous tree
Resonant electron transmission through a finite quantum spin chain
Electron transport in a finite one dimensional quantum spin chain (with
ferromagnetic exchange) is studied within an exchange Hamiltonian. Spin
transfer coefficients strongly depend on the sign of the exchange
constant. For a ferromagnetic coupling, they exhibit a novel resonant pattern,
reflecting the salient features of the combined electron-spin system. Spin-flip
processes are inelastic and feasible at finite voltage or at finite
temperature.Comment: 4 pages including 4 .eps figure
Gas Dynamics in the Luminous Merger NGC 6240
We report 0.5"x0.9" resolution, interferometric observations of the 1.3 mm CO
J=2-1 line in the infrared luminous galactic merger NGC 6240. About half of the
CO flux is concentrated in a rotating but highly turbulent, thick disk
structure centered between the two radio and near-infrared nuclei. A number of
gas features connect this ~500 pc diameter central disk to larger scales.
Throughout this region the molecular gas has local velocity widths which exceed
300 km/s FWHM and even reach FWZP line widths of 1000 km/s in a number of
directions. The mass of the central gas concentration constitutes a significant
fraction of the dynamical mass, M_gas(R<470 pc) ~ 2-4x10^9 M_o ~ 0.3-0.7 M_dyn.
We conclude that NGC 6240 is in an earlier merging stage than the prototypical
ultraluminous galaxy, Arp 220. The interstellar gas in NGC 6240 is in the
process of settling between the two progenitor stellar nuclei, is dissipating
rapidly and will likely form a central thin disk. In the next merger stage, NGC
6240 may well experience a major starburst like that observed in Arp 220.Comment: To be published in Ap.J.; 7 figure
Herschel-PACS Observations of Far-IR CO Line Emission in NGC 1068: Highly Excited Molecular Gas in the Circumnuclear Disk
We report the detection of far-IR CO rotational emission from the
prototypical Seyfert 2 galaxy NGC 1068. Using Herschel-PACS, we have detected
11 transitions in the J_upper=14-30 (E_upper/k_B = 580-2565 K) range, all of
which are consistent with arising from within the central 10" (700 pc). The
detected transitions are modeled as arising from 2 different components: a
moderate excitation (ME) component close to the galaxy systemic velocity, and a
high excitation (HE) component that is blueshifted by ~80 km s^{-1}. We employ
a large velocity gradient (LVG) model and derive n_H2~10^{5.6} cm^{-3},
T_kin~170 K, and M_H2~10^{6.7} M_sun for the ME component, and n_H2~10^{6.4}
cm^{-3}, T_kin~570 K, and M_H2~10^{5.6} M_sun for the HE component, although
for both components the uncertainties in the density and mass are plus/minus
(0.6-0.9) dex. We compare the CO line profiles with those of other molecular
tracers observed at higher spatial and spectral resolution, and find that the
ME transitions are consistent with these lines arising in the ~200 pc diameter
ring of material traced by H_2 1-0 S(1) observations. The blueshift of the HE
lines may also be consistent with the bluest regions of this H_2 ring, but a
better kinematic match is found with a clump of infalling gas ~40 pc north of
the AGN. We discuss the prospects of placing the HE component near the AGN, and
conclude that while the moderate thermal pressure precludes an association with
the ~1 pc radius H_2O maser disk, the HE component could potentially be located
only a few parsecs more distant from the AGN, and might then provide the
N_H~10^{25} cm^{-2} column obscuring the nuclear hard X-rays. Finally, we also
report sensitive upper limits extending up to J_upper=50, which place
constraints on a previous model prediction for the CO emission from the X-ray
obscuring torus. [Abridged]Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
SMA/PdBI multiple line observations of the nearby Seyfert2 galaxy NGC 1068: Shock related gas kinematics and heating in the central 100pc?
We present high angular resolution (0.5-2.0") observations of the mm
continuum and the 12CO(J=3-2), 13CO(J=3-2), 13CO(J=2-1), C18O(J=2-1),
HCN(J=3-2), HCO+(J=4-3) and HCO+(J=3-2) line emission in the circumnuclear disk
(r=100pc) of the proto-typical Seyfert type-2 galaxy NGC1068, carried out with
the Submillimeter Array. We further include in our analysis new 13CO(J=1-0) and
improved 12CO(J=2-1) observations of NGC1068 at high angular resolution
(1.0-2.0") and sensitivity, conducted with the IRAM Plateau de Bure
Interferometer. Based on the complex dynamics of the molecular gas emission
indicating non-circular motions in the central ~100pc, we propose a scenario in
which part of the molecular gas in the circumnuclear disk of NGC1068 is
radially blown outwards as a result of shocks. This shock scenario is further
supported by quite warm (Tkin>=200K) and dense (nH2=10^4cm^-3) gas constrained
from the observed molecular line ratios. The HCN abundance in the circumnuclear
disk is found to be [HCN]/[12CO]=10^-3.5. This is slightly higher than the
abundances derived for galactic and extragalactic starforming/starbursting
regions. This results lends further support to X-ray enhanced HCN formation in
the circumnuclear disk of NGC1068, as suggested by earlier studies. The HCO+
abundance ([HCO+]/[12CO]=10^-5) appears to be somewhat lower than that of
galactic and extragalactic starforming/starbursting regions. When trying to fit
the cm to mm continuum emission by different thermal and non-thermal processes,
it appears that electron-scattered synchrotron emission yields the best results
while thermal free-free emission seems to over-predict the mm continuum
emission.Comment: accepted for publication by ApJ; 35pages, 22 figures and 6 tables (at
the end of the file); 3 figures have been decreased in quality to match size
limi
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