2,050 research outputs found
Evaluating the impact of binary parameter uncertainty on stellar population properties
Binary stars have been shown to have a substantial impact on the integrated light of stellar populations, particularly at low metallicity and early ages - conditions prevalent in the distant Universe. But the fraction of stars in stellar multiples as a function of mass, their likely initial periods and distribution of mass ratios are all known empirically from observations only in the local Universe. Each has associated uncertainties. We explore the impact of these uncertainties in binary parameters on the properties of integrated stellar populations, considering which properties and timescales are most susceptible to uncertainty introduced by binary fractions and whether observations of the integrated light might be sufficient to determine binary parameters. We conclude that the effects of uncertainty in the empirical binary parameter distributions are likely smaller than those introduced by metallicity and stellar population age uncertainties for observational data. We identify emission in the He II 1640Ã… emission line and continuum colour in the ultraviolet-optical as potential indicators of a high mass binary presence, although poorly constrained metallicity, dust extinction and degeneracies in plausible star formation history are likely to swamp any measurable signal
Stratospheric measurement requirements and satellite-borne remote sensing capabilities
The capabilities of specific NASA remote sensing systems to provide appropriate measurements of stratospheric parameters for potential user needs were assessed. This was used to evaluate the capabilities of the remote sensing systems to perform global monitoring of the stratosphere. The following conclusions were reached: (1) The performance of current remote stratospheric sensors, in some cases, compares quite well with identified measurement requirements. Their ability to measure other species has not been demonstrated. (2) None of the current, in-situ methods have the capability to satisfy the requirements for global monitoring and the temporal constraints derived from the users needs portion of the study. (3) Existing, non-remote techniques will continue to play an important role in stratospheric investigations for both corroboration of remotely collected data and in the evolutionary development of future remote sensors
Thermophysical and chemical characterization of charring ablative materials Final report
Thermophysical and chemical properties of charring ablative material
Understanding the high-mass binary black hole population from stable mass transfer and super-Eddington accretion in BPASS
With the remarkable success of the LVK consortium in detecting binary black
hole mergers, it has become possible to use the population properties to
constrain our understanding of the progenitor stars' evolution. The most
striking features of the observed primary black hole mass distributions are the
extended tail up to 100M and an excess of masses at 35M.
Currently, isolated binary population synthesis have difficulty explaining
these features. Using the well-tested BPASS detailed stellar binary evolution
models to determine mass transfer stability, accretion rates, and remnant
masses, we postulate that stable mass transfer with super-Eddington accretion
is responsible for the extended tail. Furthermore, that the excess is not due
to pulsation-pair instability, as previously thought, but due to stable mass
transfer. These systems are able to merge within the Hubble time due to more
stable mass transfer with extreme mass ratios that allows the orbits to shrink
sufficiently to allow for a merger. These finding are at odds with those from
other population synthesis codes but in agreement with other recent studies
using detailed binary evolution models.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, comments welcome. 22 pages, 18 figures, 9 pages
supplementary materia
Phonon anomalies due to strong electronic correlations in layered organic metals
We show how the coupling between the phonons and electrons in a strongly
correlated metal can result in phonon frequencies which have a non-monotonic
temperature dependence. Dynamical mean-field theory is used to study the
Hubbard-Holstein model that describes the \kappa-(BEDT-TTF)_2 X family of
superconducting molecular crystals. The crossover with increasing temperature
from a Fermi liquid to a bad metal produces phonon anomalies that are
consistent with recent Raman scattering and acoustic experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 3 eps figure
Accessory cells in Murine Peyer’s patch: I. Identification and enrichment of a functional dendritic cell
[No abstract available
Observational properties of massive black hole binary progenitors
The first directly detected gravitational waves (GW 150914) were emitted by
two coalescing black holes (BHs) with masses of ~36Msun and ~29Msun. Several
scenarios have been proposed to put this detection into an astrophysical
context. The evolution of an isolated massive binary system is among commonly
considered models. Various groups have performed detailed binary-evolution
calculations that lead to BH merger events. However, the question remains open
as to whether binary systems with the predicted properties really exist. The
aim of this paper is to help observers to close this gap by providing spectral
characteristics of massive binary BH progenitors during a phase where at least
one of the companions is still non-degenerate. Stellar evolution models predict
fundamental stellar parameters. Using these as input for our stellar atmosphere
code (PoWR), we compute a set of models for selected evolutionary stages of
massive merging BH progenitors at different metallicities. The synthetic
spectra obtained from our atmosphere calculations reveal that progenitors of
massive BH merger events start their lives as O2-3V stars that evolve to
early-type blue supergiants before they undergo core-collapse during the
Wolf-Rayet phase. When the primary has collapsed, the remaining system will
appear as a wind-fed high-mass X-ray binary. We provide feedback parameters,
broad band magnitudes, and spectral templates that should help to identify such
binaries in the future. Comparisons of empirically determined mass-loss rates
with those assumed by evolution calculations reveal significant differences.
The consideration of the empirical mass-loss rates in evolution calculations
will possibly entail a shift of the maximum in the predicted binary-BH merger
rate to higher metallicities, that is, more candidates should be expected in
our cosmic neighborhood than previously assumed.Comment: 64 pages, 30 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics, v2: typos correcte
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