9,608 research outputs found
The effect of stellar feedback on the formation and evolution of gas and dust tori in AGN
Recently, the existence of geometrically thick dust structures in Active
Galactic Nuclei (AGN) has been directly proven with the help of mid-infrared
interferometry. The observations are consistent with a two-component model made
up of a geometrically thin and warm central disk, surrounded by a colder,
fluffy torus component. In an exploratory study, we investigate one possible
physical mechanism, which could produce such a structure, namely the effect of
stellar feedback from a young nuclear star cluster on the interstellar medium
in centres of AGN. The model is realised with the help of the hydrodynamics
code TRAMP. We follow the evolution of the interstellar medium by taking
discrete mass loss and energy ejection due to stellar processes, as well as
optically thin radiative cooling into account. In a post-processing step, we
calculate observable quantities (spectral energy distributions and images) with
the help of the radiative transfer code MC3D. The interplay between injection
of mass, supernova explosions and radiative cooling leads to a two-component
structure made up of a cold geometrically thin, but optically thick and very
turbulent disk residing in the vicinity of the angular momentum barrier,
surrounded by a filamentary structure. The latter consists of cold long radial
filaments flowing towards the disk and a hot tenuous medium in between, which
shows both inwards and outwards directed motions. This modelling is able to
reproduce the range of observed neutral hydrogen column densities of a sample
of Seyfert galaxies as well as the relation between them and the strength of
the silicate 10 micron spectral feature. Despite being quite crude, our mean
Seyfert galaxy model is even able to describe the SEDs of two intermediate type
Seyfert galaxies observed with the Spitzer Space Telescope.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted by MNRAS, high resolution version can
be downloaded from:
http://www.mpe.mpg.de/~mschartm/papers/schartmann_2008b.pd
Impacts of planet migration models on planetary populations. Effects of saturation, cooling and stellar irradiation
Context: Several recent studies have found that planet migration in adiabatic
discs differs significantly from migration in isothermal discs. Depending on
the thermodynamic conditions, i.e., the effectiveness of radiative cooling, and
the radial surface density profile, planets migrate inward or outward. Clearly,
this will influence the semimajor axis - mass distribution of planets as
predicted by population synthesis simulations. Aims: Our goal is to study the
global effects of radiative cooling, viscous torque desaturation and gap
opening as well as stellar irradiation on the tidal migration of a synthetic
planet population. Methods: We combine results from several analytical studies
and 3D hydrodynamic simulations in a new semi-analytical migration model for
the application in our planet population synthesis calculations. Results: We
find a good agreement of our model with torques obtained in a 3D radiative
hydrodynamic simulations. We find three convergence zones in a typical disc,
towards which planets migrate from the in- and outside, affecting strongly the
migration behavior of low-mass planets. Interestingly, this leads to slow type
II like migration behavior for low-mass planets captured in those zones even
without an ad hoc migration rate reduction factor or a yet to be defined
halting mechanism. This means that the new prescription of migration including
non-isothermal effects makes the preciously widely used artificial migration
rate reduction factor obsolete. Conclusions: Outward migration in parts of a
disc makes some planets survive long enough to become massive. The convergence
zones lead to a potentially observable accumulations of low-mass planets at
certain semimajor axes. Our results indicate that further studies of the mass
where the corotation torque saturates will be needed since its value has a
major impact on the properties of planet populations.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures. Accepted for A&
Efficiency of thermal relaxation by radiative processes in protoplanetary discs: constraints on hydrodynamic turbulence
Hydrodynamic, non-magnetic instabilities can provide turbulent stress in the
regions of protoplanetary discs, where the MRI can not develop. The induced
motions influence the grain growth, from which formation of planetesimals
begins. Thermal relaxation of the gas constrains origins of the identified
hydrodynamic sources of turbulence in discs.
We estimate the radiative relaxation timescale of temperature perturbations
and study the dependence of this timescale on the perturbation wavelength, the
location within the disc, the disc mass, and the dust-to-gas mass ratio. We
then apply thermal relaxation criteria to localise modes of the convective
overstability, the vertical shear instability, and the zombie vortex
instability.
Our calculations employed the latest tabulated dust and gas mean opacities
and we account for the collisional coupling to the emitting species.
The relaxation criterion defines the bulk of a typical T Tauri disc as
unstable to the development of linear hydrodynamic instabilities. The midplane
is unstable to the convective overstability from at most 2\mbox{ au} and up
to 40\mbox{ au}, as well as beyond 140\mbox{ au}. The vertical shear
instability can develop between 15\mbox{ au} and 180\mbox{ au}. The
successive generation of (zombie) vortices from a seeded noise can work within
the inner 0{.}8\mbox{ au}.
Dynamic disc modelling with the evolution of dust and gas opacities is
required to clearly localise the hydrodynamic turbulence, and especially its
non-linear phase.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure
The search for planetary mass companions to field brown dwarfs with HST/NICMOS
We present the results of a high-resolution spectral differential imaging
survey of 12 nearby, relatively young field L dwarfs (<1 Gyr) carried out with
HST/NICMOS to search for planetary mass companions at small physical
separations from their host. The survey resolved two brown dwarf binaries: the
L dwarf system Kelu-1AB and the newly discovered L/T transition system 2MASS
J031059+164815AB. For both systems common proper motion has already been
confirmed in follow-up observations which have been published elsewhere. The
derived separations of the binaries are smaller than 6 AU and consistent with
previous brown dwarf binary statistics. Their mass ratios of q > 0.8 confirm
the preference for equal mass systems similar to a large number of other
surveys. Furthermore, we found tentative evidence for a companion to the L4
dwarf 2MASS W033703-175807, straddling the brown dwarf/planetary mass boundary
and revealing an uncommonly low mass ratio system (q ~ 0.2) compared to the
vast majority of previously found brown dwarf binaries. With a derived minimum
mass of 10 - 15 Mjup, a planetary nature of the secondary cannot be ruled out
yet. However, it seems more likely to be a very low mass brown dwarf secondary
at the border of the spectral T/Y transition regime, primarily due to its
similarities to recently found very cool T dwarfs. This would make it one of
the closest resolved brown dwarf binaries (0.087" 0.015", corresponding
to 2.52 0.44 AU at a distance of 29 pc) with the coolest (Teff ~ 600-630
K) and least massive companion to any L or T dwarf.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication by Ap
Gaps, Rings, and Non-Axisymmetric Structures in Protoplanetary Disks - From Simulations to ALMA Observations
Recent observations by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
(ALMA) of disks around young stars revealed distinct asymmetries in the dust
continuum emission. In this work we want to study axisymmetric and
non-axisymmetric structures, evocated by the magneto-rotational instability in
the outer regions of protoplanetary disks. We combine the results of
state-of-the-art numerical simulations with post-processing radiative transfer
(RT) to generate synthetic maps and predictions for ALMA. We performed
non-ideal global 3D MHD stratified simulations of the dead-zone outer edge
using the FARGO MHD code PLUTO. The stellar and disk parameters are taken from
a parameterized disk model applied for fitting high-angular resolution
multi-wavelength observations of circumstellar disks. The 2D temperature and
density profiles are calculated consistently from a given surface density
profile and Monte-Carlo radiative transfer. The 2D Ohmic resistivity profile is
calculated using a dust chemistry model. The magnetic field is a vertical net
flux field. The resulting dust reemission provides the basis for the simulation
of observations with ALMA. The fiducial model develops a large gap followed by
a jump in surface density located at the dead-zone outer edge. The jump in
density and pressure is strong enough to stop the radial drift of particles. In
addition, we observe the generation of vortices by the Rossby wave instability
(RWI) at the jumps location close to 60 AU. The vortices are steadily generated
and destroyed at a cycle of 40 local orbits. The RT results and simulated ALMA
observations predict the feasibility to observe such large scale structures
appearing in magnetized disks without having a planet.Comment: Language update, added comments, added citations, in press. (A&A
Detecting Extrasolar Planets with Integral Field Spectroscopy
Observations of extrasolar planets using Integral Field Spectroscopy (IFS),
if coupled with an extreme Adaptive Optics system and analyzed with a
Simultaneous Differential Imaging technique (SDI), are a powerful tool to
detect and characterize extrasolar planets directly; they enhance the signal of
the planet and, at the same time, reduces the impact of stellar light and
consequently important noise sources like speckles. In order to verify the
efficiency of such a technique, we developed a simulation code able to test the
capabilities of this IFS-SDI technique for different kinds of planets and
telescopes, modelling the atmospheric and instrumental noise sources. The first
results obtained by the simulations show that many significant extrasolar
planet detections are indeed possible using the present 8m-class telescopes
within a few hours of exposure time. The procedure adopted to simulate IFS
observations is presented here in detail, explaining in particular how we
obtain estimates of the speckle noise, Adaptive Optics corrections, specific
instrumental features, and how we test the efficiency of the SDI technique to
increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the planet detection. The most important
results achieved by simulations of various objects, from 1 M_J to brown dwarfs
of 30 M_J, for observations with an 8 meter telescope, are then presented and
discussed.Comment: 60 pages, 37 figures, accepted in PASP, 4 Tables adde
Application of recent results on the orbital migration of low mass planets: convergence zones
Previous models of the combined growth and migration of protoplanets needed
large ad hoc reduction factors for the type I migration rate as found in the
isothermal approximation. In order to eliminate these factors, a simple
semi-analytical model is presented that incorporates recent results on the
migration of low mass planets in non-isothermal disks. It allows for outward
migration. The model is used to conduct planetary populations synthesis
calculations. Two points with zero torque are found in the disks. Planets
migrate both in- and outward towards these convergence zones. They could be
important for accelerating planetary growth by concentrating matter in one
point. We also find that the updated type I migration models allow the
formation of both close-in low mass planets, but also of giant planets at large
semimajor axes. The problem of too rapid migration is significantly mitigated.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of the IAU Symposium 276, 2010: The
Astrophysics of Planetary Systems: Formation, Structure, and Dynamical
Evolution, ed. A. Sozzetti, M. G. Lattanzi, and A. P. Bos
The planet search programme at the ESO CES and HARPS. IV. The search for Jupiter analogues around solar-like stars
In 1992 we began a precision radial velocity (RV) survey for planets around
solar-like stars with the Coude Echelle Spectrograph and the Long Camera (CES
LC) at the 1.4 m telescope in La Silla (Chile). We have continued the survey
with the upgraded CES Very Long Camera (VLC) and HARPS, both at the 3.6 m
telescope, until 2007. The observations for 31 stars cover a time span of up to
15 years and the RV precision permit a search for Jupiter analogues. We perform
a joint analysis for variability, trends, periodicities, and Keplerian orbits
and compute detection limits. Moreover, the HARPS RVs are analysed for
correlations with activity indicators (CaII H&K and CCF shape). We achieve a
long-term RV precision of 15 m/s (CES+LC, 1992-1998), 9 m/s (CES+VLC,
1999-2006), and 2.8 m/s (HARPS, 2003-2009, including archive data), resp. This
enables us to confirm the known planets around Iota Hor, HR 506, and HR 3259. A
steady RV trend for Eps Ind A can be explained by a planetary companion. On the
other hand, we find previously reported trends to be smaller for Beta Hyi and
not present for Alp Men. The candidate planet Eps Eri b was not detected
despite our better precision. Also the planet announced for HR 4523 cannot be
confirmed. Long-term trends in several of our stars are compatible with known
stellar companions. We provide a spectroscopic orbital solution for the binary
HR 2400 and refined solutions for the planets around HR 506 and Iota Hor. For
some other stars the variations could be attributed to stellar activity. The
occurrence of two Jupiter-mass planets in our sample is in line with the
estimate of 10% for the frequency of giant planets with periods smaller than 10
yr around solar-like stars. We have not detected a Jupiter analogue, while the
detections limits for circular orbits indicate at 5 AU a sensitivity for
minimum mass of at least 1 M_Jup (2 M_Jup) for 13% (61%) of the stars.Comment: 63 pages, 24 figures (+33 online figures), 13 Tables, accepted for
publication in A&A (2012-11-13
Ground state of a confined Yukawa plasma
The ground state of an externally confined one-component Yukawa plasma is
derived analytically. In particular, the radial density profile is computed.
The results agree very well with computer simulations on three-dimensional
spherical Coulomb crystals. We conclude in presenting an exact equation for the
density distribution for a confinement potential of arbitrary geometry.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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