2,604 research outputs found
FUSE Observations of the Magellanic Bridge Gas toward Two Early-Type Stars: Molecules, Physical Conditions, and Relative Abundance
We discuss FUSE observations of two early-type stars, DI1388 and DGIK975, in
the low density and low metallicity gas of Magellanic Bridge (MB). Toward
DI1388, the FUSE observations show molecular hydrogen, O VI, and numerous other
atomic or ionic transitions in absorption, implying the presence of multiple
gas phases in a complex arrangement. The relative abundance pattern in the MB
is attributed to varying degrees of depletion onto dust similar to that of halo
clouds. The N/O ratio is near solar, much higher than N/O in damped Ly-alpha
systems, implying subsequent stellar processing to explain the origin of
nitrogen in the MB. The diffuse molecular cloud in this direction has a low
column density and low molecular fraction. H2 is observed in both the
Magellanic Stream and the MB, yet massive stars form only in the MB, implying
significantly different physical processes between them. In the MB some of the
H2 could have been pulled out from the SMC via tidal interaction, but some also
could have formed in situ in dense clouds where star formation might have taken
place. Toward DGIK975, the presence of neutral, weakly and highly ionized
species suggest that this sight line has also several complex gas phases. The
highly ionized species of O VI, C IV, and Si IV toward both stars have very
broad features, indicating that multiple components of hot gas at different
velocities are present. Several sources (a combination of turbulent mixing
layer, conductive heating, and cooling flows) may be contributing to the
production of the highly ionized gas in the MB. Finally, this study has
confirmed previous results that the high-velocity cloud HVC 291.5-41.2+80 is
mainly ionized composed of weakly and highly ions. The high ion ratios are
consistent with a radiatively cooling gas in a fountain flow model.Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJ (October 10, 2002). Added
reference (Gibson et al. 2000
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Holographic thermalization, quasinormal modes and superradiance in Kerr-AdS
Black holes in anti-de Sitter (AdS) backgrounds play a pivotal role in the
gauge/gravity duality where they determine, among other things, the approach to
equilibrium of the dual field theory. We undertake a detailed analysis of
perturbed Kerr-AdS black holes in four- and five-dimensional spacetimes,
including the computation of its quasinormal modes, hydrodynamic modes and
superradiantly unstable modes. Our results shed light on the possibility of new
black hole phases with a single Killing field, possible new holographic
phenomena and phases in the presence of a rotating chemical potential, and
close a crucial gap in our understanding of linearized perturbations of black
holes in anti-de Sitter scenarios
Metallicity and Physical Conditions in the Magellanic Bridge
We present a new analysis of the diffuse gas in the Magellanic Bridge (RA>3h)
based on HST/STIS E140M and FUSE spectra of 2 early-type stars lying within the
Bridge and a QSO behind it. We derive the column densities of HI (from
Ly\alpha), NI, OI, ArI, SiII, SII, and FeII of the gas in the Bridge. Using the
atomic species, we determine the first gas-phase metallicity of the Magellanic
Bridge, [Z/H]=-1.02+/-0.07 toward one sightline, and -1.7<[Z/H]<-0.9 toward the
other one, a factor 2 or more smaller than the present-day SMC metallicity.
Using the metallicity and N(HI), we show that the Bridge gas along our three
lines of sight is ~70-90% ionized, despite high HI columns, logN(HI)=19.6-20.1.
Possible sources for the ongoing ionization are certainly the hot stars within
the Bridge, hot gas (revealed by OVI absorption), and leaking photons from the
SMC and LMC. From the analysis of CII*, we deduce that the overall density of
the Bridge must be low (<0.03-0.1 cm^-3). We argue that our findings combined
with other recent observational results should motivate new models of the
evolution of the SMC-LMC-Galaxy system.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Ap
The k-th Smallest Dirac Operator Eigenvalue and the Pion Decay Constant
We derive an analytical expression for the distribution of the k-th smallest
Dirac eigenvalue in QCD with imaginary isospin chemical potential in the Dirac
operator. Because of its dependence on the pion decay constant F through the
chemical potential in the epsilon-regime of chiral perturbation theory this can
be used for lattice determinations of that low-energy constant. On the
technical side we use a chiral Random-Two Matrix Theory, where we express the
k-th eigenvalue distribution through the joint probability of the ordered k
smallest eigenvalues. The latter can be computed exactly for finite and
infinite N, for which we derive generalisations of Dyson's integration Theorem
and Sonine's identity.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures; v2: typos corrected, published versio
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