A molecular line study towards massive extended green object clumps in the southern sky: chemical properties

We present a molecular line study towards 31 extended green object (EGO) clumps in the southern sky using data from MALT90 (Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team 90 GHz). According to previous multiwavelength observations, we divide our sample into two groups: massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) and HII regions. Our results seem to support that N2H+ and C2H emissions mainly come from the gas inside quiescent clumps. In addition, we also find that the [N2H+]/[H13CO+] and [C2H]/[H13CO+] relative abundance ratios decrease from MYSOs to HII regions. These results suggest depletion of N2H+ and C2H in the late stages of massive-star formation, probably caused by the formation of HII regions inside. N2H+ and C2H might be used as chemical clocks for massive-star formation by comparing with other molecules such as H13CO+ and HC3N

Molecular line study of massive star forming regions from the RMS survey

In this paper we selected a sample of massive star forming regions from the Red MSX Source (RMS) survey, to study star formation activities (mainly outflow and inflow signatures)

A multiwavelength study of the star forming H II region Sh2-82

Based on a multiwavelength study, the interstellar medium and young stellar objects (YSOs) around the HII region Sh2-82 have been analyzed. Two molecular clumps were found from the archival data of the Galactic Ring Survey, and using the Two Micron All-Sky Survey catalog, we found two corresponding young clusters embedded in the molecular clumps. The very good relations between CO emission, infrared shells and YSOs suggest that it is probably a triggered star formation region from the expansion of Sh2-82. We further used the data from the Galactic Legacy Infrared Mid-Plane Survey Extraordinaire from Spitzer to study the YSOs within the two clumps, confirming star formation in this region. By spectral energy distribution fits to each YSO candidate with infrared excess, we derived the slope of the initial mass function. Finally, comparing the HII region's dynamical age and the fragmentation time of the molecular shell, we discard the "collect and collapse" process as being the triggering mechanism for YSO formation. Sh2-82 can be a mixture of other processes such as radiative-driven implosion and/or collisions with pre-existing clumps.Comment: in raa, 2012, 12, 65

Neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts: propagation of cosmic rays in their host galaxies

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are proposed as candidate sources of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). We study the possibility that the PeV neutrinos recently observed by IceCube are produced by GRB cosmic rays interacting with the interstellar gas in the host galaxies. By studying the relation between the X-ray absorption column density N_H and the surface star-formation rate of GRB host galaxies, we find that N_H is a good indicator of the surface gas density of the host galaxies. Then we are able to calculate the neutrino production efficiency of CRs for GRBs with known N_H. We collect a sample of GRBs that have both measurements of N_H and accurate gamma-ray fluence, and attempt to calculate the accumulated neutrino flux based on the current knowledge about GRBs and their host galaxies. When the CR intensity produced by GRBs is normalized with the observed UHECR flux above $10^{19}{\rm eV}$, the accumulated neutrino flux at PeV energies is estimated to be about $(0.3\pm0.2)\times10^{-8} \rm{GeV\ cm^{-2}\ s^{-1}\ sr^{-1}}$ (per flavor) under the assumption that GRB energy production rate follows the cosmic star-formation rate and the favorable assumption about the CR diffusion coefficient. This flux is insufficient to account for the IceCube observations, but the estimate suffers from some assumptions in the calculation and thus we can not rule out this scenario at present.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, to appear in ApJ

A multi-transition molecular line study of infrared dark cloud G331.71+00.59

Using archive data from the Millimeter Astronomy Legacy Team Survey at 90 GHz (MALT90), carried out using the Mopra 22-m telescope, we made the first multi-transition molecular line study of infrared dark cloud (IRDC) MSXDC G331.71+00.59. Two molecular cores were found embedded in this IRDC. Each of these cores is associated with a known extended green object (EGO), indicating places of massive star formation. The HCO+ (1-0) and HNC (1-0) transitions show prominent blue or red asymmetric structures, suggesting outflow and inflow activities of young stellar objects (YSOs). Other detected molecular lines include H13CO+ (1-0), C2H (1-0), HC3N (10-9), HNCO(404-303) and SiO (2-1), which are typical of hot cores and outflows. We regard the two EGOs as evolving from the IRDC to hot cores. Using public GLIMPS data, we investigate the spectral energy distribution of EGO G331.71+0.60. Our results support this EGO being a massive YSO driving the outflow. G331.71+0.58 may be at an earlier evolutionary stage

HNCO: A Molecule Traces Low-velocity Shock

Using data from MALT90 (Millimetre Astronomy Legacy Team Survey at 90 GHz), we present molecular line study of a sample of ATLASGAL (APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy) clumps. Twelve emission lines have been detected in all. We found that in most sources, emissions of HC$_3$N, HN$^{13}$C, CH$_3$CN, HNCO and SiO show more compact distributions than those of HCO$^+$, HNC, HCN and N$_2$H$^+$. By comparing with other molecular lines, we found that the abundance of HNCO ($\chi$(HNCO)) correlates well with other species such as HC3N, HNC, C2H, H13CO+ and N2H+. Previous studies indicate the HNCO abundance could be enhanced by shocks. However, in this study, we found the abundance of HNCO does not correlate well with that of SiO, which is also a good tracer of shocks. We suggest this may be because HNCO and SiO trace different parts of shocks. Our analysis indicates that the velocity of shock traced by HNCO tends to be lower than that traced by SiO. In the low-velocity shocks traced by HNCO, the HNCO abundance increases faster than that of SiO. While in the relatively high-velocity shocks traced by SiO, the SiO abundance increases faster than that of HNCO. We suggest that in the infrared dark cloud (IRDC) of MSXDC G331.71+00.59, high-velocity shocks are destroying the molecule of HNCO

Jiamusi Pulsar Observations: I. Abnormal emission events of PSR B0919+06

PSR B0919+06 generally radiates radio pulses in a normal phase range. It has been known for its occasional perplexing abnormal emission events wherein individual pulses come to an earlier phase range for a few tens of periods and then returns to its usual phase. Heretofore, only a few such events have been available for study. We observed PSR B0919+06 for about 30 hours using the Jiamusi 66-m telescope at Jiamusi Deep Space Station at S-band, and detected 92 abnormal emission events. We identify four types of events based on the abrupted or gradual phase-shifting of individual pulses. The abnormal emission events are seen to occur randomly some every 1000 to 3000 periods, and they affect the leading edge of the mean profile by up to 2\% in amplitude. The abnormal emission events are probably related to gradual changes of emission processing in the pulsar magnetosphere.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figures. MNRAS Publishe

Primordial gravastar from inflation

The dS bubbles can nucleate spontaneously during inflation, and will be stretched by the cosmological expansion to astrophysical scale. We report on a novel phenomenon that such a bubble might develop into a gravastar (an ultra-compact object with a dS core) after inflation, which witnessed the occurrence of inflation and would survive till today. It is pointed out that if a primordial gravastar was involved in one of the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave (GW) events, the post-merger object could be a gravastar that will eventually collapse into a black hole. As a result, the late-time GW ringdown waveform will exhibit a series of "echoes" with intervals increasing with time.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

On-chip Rotated Polarization Directional Coupler Fabricated by Femtosecond Laser Direct Writing

We present a rotated polarization directional coupler (RPDC) on a photonic chip. We demonstrate a double-track approach to modify the distribution of refractive index between adjacent tracks and form a single waveguide with arbitrary birefringent optical axis. We construct a RPDC with the two axis-rotated waveguides coupled in a strong regime. The obtained extinction ratios on average are about 16dB and 20dB for the corresponding orthogonal polarizations. We perform the reconstruction of Stokes vector to test the projection performance of our RPDC, and observe the average fidelities up to 98.1% and 96.0% for the perfectly initialized states in 0$^\circ$ and 45$^\circ$ RPDCs respectively.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Optimal Subsampling Algorithms for Big Data Regressions

To fast approximate maximum likelihood estimators with massive data, this paper studies the Optimal Subsampling Method under the A-optimality Criterion (OSMAC) for generalized linear models. The consistency and asymptotic normality of the estimator from a general subsampling algorithm are established, and optimal subsampling probabilities under the A- and L-optimality criteria are derived. Furthermore, using Frobenius norm matrix concentration inequalities, finite sample properties of the subsample estimator based on optimal subsampling probabilities are also derived. Since the optimal subsampling probabilities depend on the full data estimate, an adaptive two-step algorithm is developed. Asymptotic normality and optimality of the estimator from this adaptive algorithm are established. The proposed methods are illustrated and evaluated through numerical experiments on simulated and real datasets