Star Formation in the Trifid Nebula

We have obtained maps of the 1.25mm thermal dust emission and the molecular gas emission over a region of 20' by 10' arcmin around the Trifid Nebula (M20), with the IRAM 30m and the CSO telescopes as well as in the mid-infrared wavelength with ISO and SPITZER. Our survey is sensitive to features down to N(H2) \sim 10^{22} cm-2 in column density. The cloud material is distributed in fragmented dense gas filaments (n(H2) \sim 1000 cm-3) with sizes ranging from 1 to 10 pc. A massive filament, WF, with properties typical of Infra Red Dark Clouds, connects M20 to the W28 supernova remnant. These filaments pre-exist the formation of the Trifid and were originally self-gravitating. The fragments produced are very massive (100 Msun or more) and are the progenitors of the cometary globules observed at the border of the HII region. We could identify 33 cores, 16 of which are currently forming stars. They are usually gravitationally unbound and have low masses of a few Msun. The densest starless cores (several 10^5 cm-3) may be the site for the next generation of stars. The physical gas and dust properties of the cometary globules have been studied in detail and have been found very similar. They all are forming stars. Several intermediate-mass protostars have been detected in the cometary globules and in the deeply embedded cores. Evidence of clustering has been found in the shocked massive cores TC3-TC4-TC5. M20 is a good example of massive-star forming region in a turbulent, filamentary molecular cloud. Photoionization appears to play a minor role in the formation of the cores. The observed fragmentation is well explained by MHD-driven instabilities and is usually not related to M20. We propose that the nearby supernova remnant W28 could have triggered the formation of protostellar clusters in nearby dense cores of the Trifid.Comment: 16 pages, 24 figures, 5 Tables To appear in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Noise Correlations in Three-Terminal Diffusive Superconductor-Normal Metal-Superconductor Nanostructures

We present measurements of current noise and cross-correlations in three-terminal Superconductor-Normal metal-Superconductor (S-N-S) nanostructures that are potential solid-state entanglers thanks to Andreev reflections at the N-S interfaces. The noise correlation measurements spanned from the regime where electron-electron interactions are relevant to the regime of Incoherent Multiple Andreev Reflection (IMAR). In the latter regime, negative cross-correlations are observed in samples with closely-spaced junctions.Comment: Include Supplemental Materia

Mesoscopic transition in the shot noise of diffusive S/N/S junctions

We experimentally investigated the current noise in diffusive Superconductor/Normal metal/Superconductor junctions with lengths between the superconducting coherence length xi_Delta and the phase coherence length L_Phi of the normal metal (xi_Delta < L < L_Phi). We measured the shot noise over a large range of energy covering both the regimes of coherent and incoherent multiple Andreev reflections. The transition between these two regimes occurs at the Thouless energy where a pronounced minimum in the current noise density is observed. Above the Thouless energy, in the regime of incoherent multiple Andreev reflections, the noise is strongly enhanced compared to a normal junction and grows linearly with the bias voltage. Semi-classical theory describes the experimental results accurately, when taking into account the voltage dependence of the resistance which reflects the proximity effect. Below the Thouless energy, the shot noise diverges with decreasing voltage which may indicate the coherent transfer of multiple charges.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B, Rapid Communicatio

Molecular ions in the protostellar shock L1157-B1

We perform a complete census of molecular ions with an abundance larger than 1e-10 in the protostellar shock L1157-B1 by means of an unbiased high-sensitivity survey obtained with the IRAM-30m and Herschel/HIFI. By means of an LVG radiative transfer code the gas physical conditions and fractional abundances of molecular ions are derived. The latter are compared with estimates of steady-state abundances in the cloud and their evolution in the shock calculated with the chemical model Astrochem. We detect emission from HCO+, H13CO+, N2H+, HCS+, and, for the first time in a shock, from HOCO+, and SO+. The bulk of the emission peaks at blueshifted velocity, ~ 0.5-3 km/s with respect to systemic, has a width of ~ 4-8 km/s, and is associated with the outflow cavities (T_kin ~ 20-70 K, n(H2) ~ 1e5 cm-3). Observed HCO+ and N2H+ abundances are in agreement with steady-state abundances in the cloud and with their evolution in the compressed and heated gas in the shock for cosmic rays ionization rate Z = 3e-16 s-1. HOCO+, SO+, and HCS+ observed abundances, instead, are 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than predicted in the cloud; on the other hand they are strongly enhanced on timescales shorter than the shock age (~2000 years) if CO2, S or H2S, and OCS are sputtered off the dust grains in the shock. The performed analysis indicates that HCO+ and N2H+ are a fossil record of pre-shock gas in the outflow cavity, while HOCO+, SO+, and HCS+ are effective shock tracers and can be used to infer the amount of CO2 and sulphur-bearing species released from dust mantles in the shock. The observed HCS+ (and CS) abundance indicates that OCS should be one of the main sulphur carrier on grain mantles. However, the OCS abundance required to fit the observations is 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than observed. Further studies are required to fully understand the chemistry of sulphur-bearing species.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, accepted by A&

Heavy water around the L1448-mm protostar

Context: L1448-mm is the prototype of a low-mass Class 0 protostar driving a high-velocity jet. Given its bright H2O spectra observed with ISO, L1448-mm is an ideal laboratory to observe heavy water (HDO) emission. Aims: Our aim is to image the HDO emission in the protostar surroundings, the possible occurrence of HDO emission also investigating off L1448-mm, towards the molecular outflow. Methods: We carried out observations of L1448-mm in the HDO(1_10-1_11) line at 80.6 GHz, an excellent tracer of HDO column density, with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. Results: We image for the first time HDO emission around L1448-mm. The HDO structure reveals a main clump at velocities close to the ambient one towards the the continuum peak that is caused by the dust heated by the protostar. In addition, the HDO map shows tentative weaker emission at about 2000 AU from the protostar towards the south, which is possibly associated with the walls of the outflow cavity opened by the protostellar wind. Conclusions: Using an LVG code, modelling the density and temperature profile of the hot-corino, and adopting a gas temperature of 100 K and a density of 1.5 10^8 cm^-3, we derive a beam diluted HDO column density of about 7 10^13 cm^-2, corresponding to a HDO abundance of about 4 10^-7. In addition, the present map supports the scenario where HDO can be efficiently produced in shocked regions and not uniquely in hot corinos heated by the newly born star.Comment: Accepted by A&A as Letter; 5 pages, 3 figure

The L1157-B1 astrochemical laboratory: testing the origin of DCN

L1157-B1 is the brightest shocked region of the large-scale molecular outflow, considered the prototype of chemically rich outflows, being the ideal laboratory to study how shocks affect the molecular gas. Several deuterated molecules have been previously detected with the IRAM 30m, most of them formed on grain mantles and then released into the gas phase due to the shock. We aim to observationally investigate the role of the different chemical processes at work that lead to formation the of DCN and test the predictions of the chemical models for its formation. We performed high-angular resolution observations with NOEMA of the DCN(2-1) and H13CN(2-1) lines to compute the deuterated fraction, Dfrac(HCN). We detected emission of DCN(2-1) and H13CN(2-1) arising from L1157-B1 shock. Dfrac(HCN) is ~4x10$^{-3}$ and given the uncertainties, we did not find significant variations across the bow-shock. Contrary to HDCO, whose emission delineates the region of impact between the jet and the ambient material, DCN is more widespread and not limited to the impact region. This is consistent with the idea that gas-phase chemistry is playing a major role in the deuteration of HCN in the head of the bow-shock, where HDCO is undetected as it is a product of grain-surface chemistry. The spectra of DCN and H13CN match the spectral signature of the outflow cavity walls, suggesting that their emission result from shocked gas. The analysis of the time dependent gas-grain chemical model UCL-CHEM coupled with a C-type shock model shows that the observed Dfrac(HCN) is reached during the post-shock phase, matching the dynamical timescale of the shock. Our results indicate that the presence of DCN in L1157-B1 is a combination of gas-phase chemistry that produces the widespread DCN emission, dominating in the head of the bow-shock, and sputtering from grain mantles toward the jet impact region.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 7 pages, 5 Figures, 1 Tabl

Gas phase formation of the prebiotic molecule formamide: insights from new quantum computations

New insights into the formation of interstellar formamide, a species of great relevance in prebiotic chemistry, are provided by electronic structure and kinetic calculations for the reaction NH2 + H2CO -> NH2CHO + H. Contrarily to what previously suggested, this reaction is essentially barrierless and can, therefore, occur under the low temperature conditions of interstellar objects thus providing a facile formation route of formamide. The rate coefficient parameters for the reaction channel leading to NH2CHO + H have been calculated to be A = 2.6x10^{-12} cm^3 s^{-1}, beta = -2.1 and gamma = 26.9 K in the range of temperatures 10-300 K. Including these new kinetic data in a refined astrochemical model, we show that the proposed mechanism can well reproduce the abundances of formamide observed in two very different interstellar objects: the cold envelope of the Sun-like protostar IRAS16293-2422 and the molecular shock L1157-B2. Therefore, the major conclusion of this Letter is that there is no need to invoke grain-surface chemistry to explain the presence of formamide provided that its precursors, NH2 and H2CO, are available in the gas-phase.Comment: MNRAS Letters, in pres