769 research outputs found
CARMA interferometric observations of 2MASS J044427+2512: the first spatially resolved observations of thermal emission of a brown dwarf disk
We present CARMA 1.3 mm continuum data of the disk surrounding the young
brown dwarf 2MASS J044427+2512 in the Taurus molecular cloud. The high angular
resolution of the CARMA observations (0.16 arcsec) allows us to spatially
resolve for the first time the thermal emission from dust around a brown dwarf.
We analyze the interferometric visibilities and constrain the disk outer radius
adopting disk models with power-law radial profiles of the dust surface
density. In the case of a power-law index equal to or lower than 1, we obtain a
disk radius in the range of about 15 - 30 AU, while larger disks are inferred
for steeper radial profiles. By combining this information on the disk spatial
extent with the sub-mm spectral index of this source we find conclusive
evidence for mm-sized grains, or larger, in this brown dwarf disk. We discuss
the implications of our results on the models of dust evolution in
proto-planetary disks and brown dwarf formation.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Modeling Infection with Multi-agent Dynamics
Developing the ability to comprehensively study infections in small
populations enables us to improve epidemic models and better advise individuals
about potential risks to their health. We currently have a limited
understanding of how infections spread within a small population because it has
been difficult to closely track an infection within a complete community. The
paper presents data closely tracking the spread of an infection centered on a
student dormitory, collected by leveraging the residents' use of cellular
phones. The data are based on daily symptom surveys taken over a period of four
months and proximity tracking through cellular phones. We demonstrate that
using a Bayesian, discrete-time multi-agent model of infection to model
real-world symptom reports and proximity tracking records gives us important
insights about infec-tions in small populations
New constraints on dust grain size and distribution in CQ Tau
Grain growth in circumstellar disks is expected to be the first step towards
the formation of planetary systems. There is now evidence for grain growth in
several disks around young stars. Radially resolved images of grain growth in
circumstellar disks are believed to be a powerful tool to constrain the dust
evolution models and the initial stage for the formation of planets. In this
paper we attempt to provide these constraints for the disk surrounding the
young star CQ Tau. This system was already suggested from previous studies to
host a population of grains grown to large sizes. We present new high angular
resolution (0.3-0.9 arcsec) observations at wavelengths from 850um to 3.6cm
obtained at the SMA, IRAM-PdBI and NRAO-VLA interferometers. We perform a
combined analysis of the spectral energy distribution and of the
high-resolution images at different wavelengths using a model to describe the
dust thermal emission from the circumstellar disk. We include a prescription
for the gas emission from the inner regions of the system. We detect the
presence of evolved dust by constraining the disk averaged dust opacity
coefficient beta (computed between 1.3 and 7mm) to be 0.6+/-0.1. This confirms
the earlier suggestions that the disk contains dust grains grown to significant
sizes and puts this on firmer grounds by tightly constraining the gas
contamination to the observed fluxes at mm-cm wavelengths. We report some
evidence of radial variations in dust properties, but current resolution and
sensitivity are still too low for definitive results.Comment: 9 pages, A&A in pres
The effect of local optically thick regions in the long-wave emission of young circumstellar disks
Multi-wavelength observations of protoplanetary disks in the sub-millimeter
continuum have measured spectral indices values which are significantly lower
than what is found in the diffuse interstellar medium. Under the assumption
that mm-wave emission of disks is mostly optically thin, these data have been
generally interpreted as evidence for the presence of mm/cm-sized pebbles in
the disk outer regions. In this work we investigate the effect of possible
local optically thick regions on the mm-wave emission of protoplanetary disks
without mm/cm-sized grains. A significant local increase of the optical depth
in the disk can be caused by the concentration of solid particles, as predicted
to result from a variety of proposed physical mechanisms. We calculate the
filling factors and implied overdensities these optically thick regions would
need to significantly affect the millimeter fluxes of disks, and we discuss
their plausibility. We find that optically thick regions characterized by
relatively small filling factors can reproduce the mm-data of young disks
without requesting emission from mm/cm-sized pebbles. However, these optically
thick regions require dust overdensities much larger than what predicted by any
of the physical processes proposed in the literature to drive the concentration
of solids. We find that only for the most massive disks it is possible and
plausible to imagine that the presence of optically thick regions in the disk
is responsible for the low measured values of the mm spectral index. For the
majority of the disk population, optically thin emission from a population of
large mm-sized grains remains the most plausible explanation. The results of
this analysis further strengthen the scenario for which the measured low
spectral indices of protoplanetary disks at mm wavelengths are due to the
presence of large mm/cm-sized pebbles in the disk outer regions.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, A&A in pres
Brown dwarf disks with ALMA
We present ALMA continuum and spectral line data at 0.89 mm and 3.2 mm for
three disks surrounding young brown dwarfs and very low mass stars in the
Taurus star forming region. Dust thermal emission is detected and spatially
resolved for all the three disks, while CO(J=3-2) emission is seen in two
disks. We analyze the continuum visibilities and constrain the disks physical
structure in dust. The results of our analysis show that the disks are
relatively large, the smallest one with an outer radius of about 70 AU. The
inferred disk radii, radial profiles of the dust surface density and disk to
central object mass ratios lie within the ranges found for disks around more
massive young stars. We derive from our observations the wavelength dependence
of the millimeter dust opacity. In all the three disks data are consistent with
the presence of grains with at least millimeter sizes, as also found for disks
around young stars, and confirm that the early stages of the solid growth
toward planetesimals occur also around very low mass objects. We discuss the
implications of our findings on models of solids evolution in protoplanetary
disks, on the main mechanisms proposed for the formation of brown dwarfs and
very low mass stars, as well as on the potential of finding rocky and giant
planets around very low mass objects.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Spin and energy relaxation in germanium studied by spin-polarized direct-gap photoluminescence
Spin orientation of photoexcited carriers and their energy relaxation is
investigated in bulk Ge by studying spin-polarized recombination across the
direct band gap. The control over parameters such as doping and lattice
temperature is shown to yield high polarization degree, namely larger than 40%,
as well as a fine-tuning of the angular momentum of the emitted light with a
complete reversal between right- and left-handed circular polarization. By
combining the measurement of the optical polarization state of band-edge
luminescence and Monte Carlo simulations of carrier dynamics, we show that
these very rich and complex phenomena are the result of the electron
thermalization and cooling in the multi-valley conduction band of Ge. The
circular polarization of the direct-gap radiative recombination is indeed
affected by energy relaxation of hot electrons via the X valleys and the
Coulomb interaction with extrinsic carriers. Finally, thermal activation of
unpolarized L valley electrons accounts for the luminescence depolarization in
the high temperature regime
ALMA observations of the debris disk around the young Solar Analog HD 107146
We present ALMA continuum observations at a wavelength of 1.25 mm of the
debris disk surrounding the 100 Myr old solar analog HD 107146. The
continuum emission extends from about 30 to 150 AU from the central star with a
decrease in the surface brightness at intermediate radii. We analyze the ALMA
interferometric visibilities using debris disk models with radial profiles for
the dust surface density parametrized as i) a single power-law, ii) a single
power-law with a gap, and iii) a double power-law. We find that models with a
gap of radial width AU at a distance of AU from the central
star, as well as double power-law models with a dip in the dust surface density
at AU provide significantly better fits to the ALMA data than single
power-law models. We discuss possible scenarios for the origin of the HD 107146
debris disk using models of planetesimal belts in which the formation of
Pluto-sized objects trigger disruptive collisions of large bodies, as well as
models which consider the interaction of a planetary system with a planetesimal
belt and spatial variation of the dust opacity across the disk. If future
observations with higher angular resolution and sensitivity confirm the
fully-depleted gap structure discussed here, a planet with a mass of
approximately a few Earth masses in a nearly circular orbit at AU
from the central star would be a possible explanation for the presence of the
gap.Comment: (38 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ
The complex morphology of the young disk MWC 758: Spirals and dust clumps around a large cavity
We present Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) observations at an angular
resolution of 0.1-0.2" of the disk surrounding the young Herbig Ae star MWC
758. The data consist of images of the dust continuum emission recorded at 0.88
millimeter, as well as images of the 13CO and C18O J = 3-2 emission lines. The
dust continuum emission is characterized by a large cavity of roughly 40 au in
radius which might contain a mildly inner warped disk. The outer disk features
two bright emission clumps at radii of about 47 and 82 au that present
azimuthal extensions and form a double-ring structure. The comparison with
radiative transfer models indicates that these two maxima of emission
correspond to local increases in the dust surface density of about a factor 2.5
and 6.5 for the south and north clumps, respectively. The optically thick 13CO
peak emission, which traces the temperature, and the dust continuum emission,
which probes the disk midplane, additionally reveal two spirals previously
detected in near-IR at the disk surface. The spirals seen in the dust continuum
emission present, however, a slight shift of a few au towards larger radii and
one of the spirals crosses the south dust clump. Finally, we present different
scenarios in order to explain the complex structure of the disk.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. The paper has been published in ApJ. References
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