3,089 research outputs found
Organic Molecules in the Galactic Center. Hot Core Chemistry without Hot Cores
We study the origin of large abundances of complex organic molecules in the
Galactic center (GC). We carried out a systematic study of the complex organic
molecules CH3OH, C2H5OH, (CH3)2O, HCOOCH3, HCOOH, CH3COOH, H2CO, and CS toward
40 GC molecular clouds. Using the LTE approximation, we derived the physical
properties of GC molecular clouds and the abundances of the complex
molecules.The CH3OH abundance between clouds varies by nearly two orders of
magnitude from 2.4x10^{-8} to 1.1x10^{-6}. The abundance of the other complex
organic molecules relative to that of CH3OH is basically independent of the
CH3OH abundance, with variations of only a factor 4-8. The abundances of
complex organic molecules in the GC are compared with those measured in hot
cores and hot corinos, in which these complex molecules are also abundant. We
find that both the abundance and the abundance ratios of the complex molecules
relative to CH3OH in hot cores are similar to those found in the GC clouds.
However, hot corinos show different abundance ratios than observed in hot cores
and in GC clouds. The rather constant abundance of all the complex molecules
relative to CH3OH suggests that all complex molecules are ejected from grain
mantles by shocks. Frequent (similar 10^{5}years) shocks with velocities >6km/s
are required to explain the high abundances in gas phase of complex organic
molecules in the GC molecular clouds. The rather uniform abundance ratios in
the GC clouds and in Galactic hot cores indicate a similar average composition
of grain mantles in both kinds of regions. The Sickle and the Thermal Radio
Arches, affected by UV radiation, show different relative abundances in the
complex organic molecules due to the differentially photodissociation of these
molecules.Comment: 18 pages, 10 Postscript figures, uses aa.cls, aa.bst, 10pt.rtx,
natbib.sty, revsymb.sty revtex4.cls, aps.rtx and aalongtabl.sty. Accepted in
A&A 2006. version 2. relocated figures and tables. Language editor
suggestions. added reference
Phase diagram of a polydisperse soft-spheres model for liquids and colloids
The phase diagram of soft spheres with size dispersion has been studied by
means of an optimized Monte Carlo algorithm which allows to equilibrate below
the kinetic glass transition for all sizes distribution. The system
ubiquitously undergoes a first order freezing transition. While for small size
dispersion the frozen phase has a crystalline structure, large density
inhomogeneities appear in the highly disperse systems. Studying the interplay
between the equilibrium phase diagram and the kinetic glass transition, we
argue that the experimentally found terminal polydispersity of colloids is a
purely kinetic phenomenon.Comment: Version to be published in Physical Review Letter
The central parsecs of M87: jet emission and an elusive accretion disc
We present the first simultaneous spectral energy distribution (SED) of M87
core at a scale of 0.4 arcsec () across the electromagnetic
spectrum. Two separate, quiescent, and active states are sampled that are
characterized by a similar featureless SED of power-law form, and that are thus
remarkably different from that of a canonical active galactic nuclei (AGN) or a
radiatively inefficient accretion source. We show that the emission from a jet
gives an excellent representation of the core of M87 core covering ten orders
of magnitude in frequency for both the active and the quiescent phases. The
inferred total jet power is, however, one to two orders of magnitude lower than
the jet mechanical power reported in the literature. The maximum luminosity of
a thin accretion disc allowed by the data yields an accretion rate of , assuming 10% efficiency. This power
suffices to explain M87 radiative luminosity at the jet-frame, it is however
two to three order of magnitude below that required to account for the jet's
kinetic power. The simplest explanation is variability, which requires the core
power of M87 to have been two to three orders of magnitude higher in the last
200 yr. Alternatively, an extra source of power may derive from black hole
spin. Based on the strict upper limit on the accretion rate, such spin power
extraction requires an efficiency an order of magnitude higher than predicted
from magnetohydrodynamic simulations, currently in the few hundred per cent
range.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Separation and fractionation of order and disorder in highly polydisperse systems
Microcanonical Monte Carlo simulations of a polydisperse soft-spheres model
for liquids and colloids have been performed for very large polydispersity, in
the region where a phase-separation is known to occur when the system (or part
of it) solidifies. By studying samples of different sizes, from N=256 to N=864,
we focus on the nature of the two distinct coexisting phases. Measurements of
crystalline order in particles of different size reveal that the solid phase
segregates between a crystalline solid with cubic symmetry and a disordered
phase. This phenomenon is termed fractionation.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Interference and non-Franck-Condon effects in ionization of H2 molecules by photon impact
We analyze theoretically interference effects in the spectra of electrons emitted in the H2 photoionization by high energy linearly polarized photons. Molecular bound and continuum states are accurately described by means of B-spline basis allowing the inclusion of the nuclear degrees of freedom. One interesting feature is observed: the usual Franck-Condon behavior is not followed when the H2 internuclear axis is parallel to the polarization direction. Moreover, this is related to the fact that for this molecular orientation and under certain conditions, the electron cannot be emitted in the direction of the radiation field. On the contrary, for H 2 molecules perpendicular to the polarization direction, the angular distribution of electrons is analogous to the one observed in the two slits Young's experimentWork partially supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (contract FIS2007-60064), the European Science Foundation (COST action CM0702), and the Spanish Subdirección General de Cooperación Internacional. OAF acknowledges the kind hospitality in the group of ’Computations in Atomic and Molecular Physics of Unbound Systems’ of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), as well as financial support from the SecretarÃa de Estado de Educación y Universidades (Spain) through a grant for foreign researchers. Calculations were performed at the Barcelona Supercomputer Center Mare Nostrum and the Centro de Computación CientÃfica UAM (Spain). OAF acknowledges partial financial support from CONICET (PIP 1026) and ANPCyT (PICT 1912
ISO observations of the Galactic center Interstellar Medium: neutral gas and dust
The 500 central pc of the Galaxy (hereafter GC) exhibit a widespread gas
component with a kinetic temperature of 100-200 K. The bulk of this gas is not
associated to the well-known thermal radio continuum or far infrared sources
like Sgr A or Sgr B. How this gas is heated has been a longstanding problem.
With the aim of studying the thermal balance of the neutral gas and dust in the
GC, we have observed 18 molecular clouds located at projected distances far
from thermal continuum sources with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). In
this paper we present observations of several fine structure lines and the full
continuum spectra of the dust between 40 and 190 microns. A warm dust component
with a temperature between 27 and 42 K is needed to fit the spectra. We have
compared the gas and the dust emission with the predictions from J-type and
C-type shocks and photodissociation region (PDRs) models. We conclude that the
dust and the fine structure lines observations are best explained by a PDR with
a density of 10 cm^-3 and an incident far-ultraviolet field 10 times
higher than the local interstellar radiation field. PDRs can naturally explain
the discrepancy between the gas and the dust temperatures. However, these PDRs
can only account for 10-30% of the total H2 column density with a temperature
of ~ 150 K. We discuss other possible heating mechanisms (short version).Comment: Accepted for publication by A&
Insights into the room temperature magnetism of ZnO/Co3O4 mixtures
The origin of room temperature (RT) ferromagneticlike behavior in ZnO-based
diluted magnetic semiconductors is still an unclear topic. The present work
concentrates on the appearance of RT magnetic moments in just mixed ZnO/Co3O4
mixtures without thermal treatment. In this study, it is shown that the
magnetism seems to be related to surface reduction of the Co3O4 nanoparticles,
in which, an antiferromagnetic Co3O4 nanoparticle (core) is surrounded by a
CoO-like shell. This singular superficial magnetism has also been found in
other mixtures with semiconductors such as TiO2 and insulators such as Al2O3
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