207 research outputs found
Gravitational Collapse and Fragmentation in Molecular Clouds with Adaptive Mesh Refinement
We describe a powerful methodology for numerical solution of 3-D
self-gravitational hydrodynamics problems with extremely high resolution. Our
method utilizes the technique of local adaptive mesh refinement (AMR),
employing multiple grids at multiple levels of resolution. These grids are
automatically and dynamically added and removed as necessary to maintain
adequate resolution. This technology allows for the solution of problems in a
manner that is both more efficient and more versatile than other fixed and
variable resolution methods. The application of AMR to simulate the collapse
and fragmentation of a molecular cloud, a key step in star formation, is
discussed. Such simulations involve many orders of magnitude of variation in
length scale as fragments form. In this paper we briefly describe the
methodology and present an illustrative application for nonisothermal cloud
collapse. We describe the numerical Jeans condition, a criterion for stability
of self-gravitational hydrodynamics problems. We show the first well-resolved
nonisothermal evolutionary sequence beginning with a perturbed dense molecular
cloud core that leads to the formation of a binary system consisting of
protostellar cores surrounded by distinct protostellar disks. The scale of the
disks, of order 100 AU, is consistent with observations of gaseous disks
surrounding single T-Tauri stars and debris disks surrounding systems such as
Pictoris.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures (color postscript). To appear in the proceedings
of Numerical Astrophysics 1998, Tokyo, March 10-13, 199
Structure formation in the presence of relativistic heat conduction: corrections to the Jeans wave number with a stable first order in the gradients formalism
The problem of structure formation in relativistic dissipative fluids was
analyzed in a previous work within Eckart's framework, in which the heat flux
is coupled to the hydrodynamic acceleration, additional to the usual
temperature gradient term. It was shown that in such case, the pathological
behavior of fluctuations leads to the disapperance of the gravitational
instability responsible for structure formation. In the present work the
problem is revisited now using a constitutive equation derived from
relativistic kinetic theory. The new relation, in which the heat flux is not
coupled to the hydrodynamic acceleration, leads to a consistent first order in
the gradients formalism. In this case the gravitational instability remains,
and only relativistic corrections to the Jeans wave number are obtained. In the
calculation here shown the non-relativistc limit is recovered, opposite to what
happens in Eckart's case.Comment: 10 pages, no figure
Limit on Continuous Neutrino Emission from Neutron Stars
The timing data of the binary pulsar PSR1913+16, are used to establish an
upper limit on the rate of continuous neutrino emission from neutron stars.
Neutrino emission from each of the neutron stars of the binary system,
increases the star binding energy and thus translates to a decrease in their
masses. This in turn implies an increase with time of the binary period. Using
the pulsar data we obtain an upper limit on the allowed rate of mass reduction
: , where is the total mass of
the binary. This constrains exotic nuclear equations of state that predict
continuous neutrino emissions. The limit applies also to other channels of
energy loss, e.g. axion emission. Continued timing measurements of additional
binary pulsars, should yield a stronger limit in the future.Comment: 5 pages, Added a section on energy transport in the neutron star,
JHEP publishe
Surface currents in operational oceanography: Key applications, mechanisms, and methods
This paper reviews physical mechanisms, observation techniques and modelling approaches
dealing with surface currents on short time scales (hours to days) relevant for operational
oceanography. Key motivations for this article include fundamental difficulties in reliable
measurements and the persistent lack of a widely held consensus on the definition of surface
currents. These problems are augmented by the fact that various methods to observe and
model ocean currents yield very different representations of a surface current. We distinguish
between four applicable definitions for surface currents; (i) the interfacial surface current, (ii) the
direct wind-driven surface current, (iii) the surface boundary layer current, and (iv) an effective
drift current. Finally, we discuss challenges in synthesising various data sources of surface
currents - i.e. observational and modelling – and take a view on the predictability of surface
currents concluding with arguments that parts of the surface circulation exhibit predictability
useful in an operational context
The Reionization of the Universe by the First Stars and Quasars
The first light from stars and quasars ended the ``dark ages'' of the
universe and led to the reionization of hydrogen by redshift 7. Current
observations are at the threshold of probing this epoch. The study of
high-redshift sources is likely to attract major attention in observational and
theoretical cosmology over the next decade.Comment: 60 pages, including 21 figures; to be published in the 2001 Volume of
Annual Reviews of Astronomy and Astrophysics; A more extensive review, for
Physics Reports, is also available, with a different astro-ph number, or at
http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~barkana/review.htm
International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force recommendations for systematic sampling and processing of brains from epileptic dogs and cats
Traditionally, histological investigations of the epileptic brain are required to identify epileptogenic brain lesions, to evaluate the impact of seizure activity, to search for mechanisms of drug-resistance and to look for comorbidities. For many instances, however, neuropathological studies fail to add substantial data on patients with complete clinical work-up. This may be due to sparse training in epilepsy pathology and or due to lack of neuropathological guidelines for companion animals.
The protocols introduced herein shall facilitate systematic sampling and processing of epileptic brains and therefore increase the efficacy, reliability and reproducibility of morphological studies in animals suffering from seizures.
Brain dissection protocols of two neuropathological centres with research focus in epilepsy have been optimised with regards to their diagnostic yield and accuracy, their practicability and their feasibility concerning clinical research requirements.
The recommended guidelines allow for easy, standardised and ubiquitous collection of brain regions, relevant for seizure generation. Tissues harvested the prescribed way will increase the diagnostic efficacy and provide reliable material for scientific investigations
A review of elliptical and disc galaxy structure, and modern scaling laws
A century ago, in 1911 and 1913, Plummer and then Reynolds introduced their
models to describe the radial distribution of stars in `nebulae'. This article
reviews the progress since then, providing both an historical perspective and a
contemporary review of the stellar structure of bulges, discs and elliptical
galaxies. The quantification of galaxy nuclei, such as central mass deficits
and excess nuclear light, plus the structure of dark matter halos and cD galaxy
envelopes, are discussed. Issues pertaining to spiral galaxies including dust,
bulge-to-disc ratios, bulgeless galaxies, bars and the identification of
pseudobulges are also reviewed. An array of modern scaling relations involving
sizes, luminosities, surface brightnesses and stellar concentrations are
presented, many of which are shown to be curved. These 'redshift zero'
relations not only quantify the behavior and nature of galaxies in the Universe
today, but are the modern benchmark for evolutionary studies of galaxies,
whether based on observations, N-body-simulations or semi-analytical modelling.
For example, it is shown that some of the recently discovered compact
elliptical galaxies at 1.5 < z < 2.5 may be the bulges of modern disc galaxies.Comment: Condensed version (due to Contract) of an invited review article to
appear in "Planets, Stars and Stellar
Systems"(www.springer.com/astronomy/book/978-90-481-8818-5). 500+ references
incl. many somewhat forgotten, pioneer papers. Original submission to
Springer: 07-June-201
Measurement and Interpretation of Fermion-Pair Production at LEP energies above the Z Resonance
This paper presents DELPHI measurements and interpretations of
cross-sections, forward-backward asymmetries, and angular distributions, for
the e+e- -> ffbar process for centre-of-mass energies above the Z resonance,
from sqrt(s) ~ 130 - 207 GeV at the LEP collider. The measurements are
consistent with the predictions of the Standard Model and are used to study a
variety of models including the S-Matrix ansatz for e+e- -> ffbar scattering
and several models which include physics beyond the Standard Model: the
exchange of Z' bosons, contact interactions between fermions, the exchange of
gravitons in large extra dimensions and the exchange of sneutrino in R-parity
violating supersymmetry.Comment: 79 pages, 16 figures, Accepted by Eur. Phys. J.
The stellar and sub-stellar IMF of simple and composite populations
The current knowledge on the stellar IMF is documented. It appears to become
top-heavy when the star-formation rate density surpasses about 0.1Msun/(yr
pc^3) on a pc scale and it may become increasingly bottom-heavy with increasing
metallicity and in increasingly massive early-type galaxies. It declines quite
steeply below about 0.07Msun with brown dwarfs (BDs) and very low mass stars
having their own IMF. The most massive star of mass mmax formed in an embedded
cluster with stellar mass Mecl correlates strongly with Mecl being a result of
gravitation-driven but resource-limited growth and fragmentation induced
starvation. There is no convincing evidence whatsoever that massive stars do
form in isolation. Various methods of discretising a stellar population are
introduced: optimal sampling leads to a mass distribution that perfectly
represents the exact form of the desired IMF and the mmax-to-Mecl relation,
while random sampling results in statistical variations of the shape of the
IMF. The observed mmax-to-Mecl correlation and the small spread of IMF
power-law indices together suggest that optimally sampling the IMF may be the
more realistic description of star formation than random sampling from a
universal IMF with a constant upper mass limit. Composite populations on galaxy
scales, which are formed from many pc scale star formation events, need to be
described by the integrated galactic IMF. This IGIMF varies systematically from
top-light to top-heavy in dependence of galaxy type and star formation rate,
with dramatic implications for theories of galaxy formation and evolution.Comment: 167 pages, 37 figures, 3 tables, published in Stellar Systems and
Galactic Structure, Vol.5, Springer. This revised version is consistent with
the published version and includes additional references and minor additions
to the text as well as a recomputed Table 1. ISBN 978-90-481-8817-
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