Spectral variability of classical T Tauri stars accreting in an unstable regime

Classical T Tauri stars (CTTSs) are variable in different time-scales. One type of variability is possibly connected with the accretion of matter through the Rayleigh-Taylor instability that occurs at the interface between an accretion disc and a stellar magnetosphere. In this regime, matter accretes in several temporarily formed accretion streams or `tongues' which appear in random locations, and produce stochastic photometric and line variability. We use the results of global three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of matter flows in both stable and unstable accretion regimes to calculate time-dependent hydrogen line profiles and study their variability behaviours. In the stable regime, some hydrogen lines (e.g. H-beta, H-gamma, H-delta, Pa-beta and Br-gamma) show a redshifted absorption component only during a fraction of a stellar rotation period, and its occurrence is periodic. However, in the unstable regime, the redshifted absorption component is present rather persistently during a whole stellar rotation cycle, and its strength varies non-periodically. In the stable regime, an ordered accretion funnel stream passes across the line of sight to an observer only once per stellar rotation period while in the unstable regime, several accreting streams/tongues, which are formed randomly, pass across the line of sight to an observer. The latter results in the quasi-stationarity appearance of the redshifted absorption despite the strongly unstable nature of the accretion. In the unstable regime, multiple hot spots form on the surface of the star, producing the stochastic light curve with several peaks per rotation period. This study suggests a CTTS that exhibits a stochastic light curve and a stochastic line variability, with a rather persistent redshifted absorption component, may be accreting in the unstable accretion regime.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in MNRA

Three-dimensional simulations of rotationally-induced line variability from a Classical T Tauri star with a misaligned magnetic dipole

We present three-dimensional (3-D) simulations of rotationally induced line variability arising from complex circumstellar environment of classical T Tauri stars (CTTS) using the results of the 3-D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of Romanova et al., who considered accretion onto a CTTS with a misaligned dipole magnetic axis with respect to the rotational axis. The density, velocity and temperature structures of the MHD simulations are mapped on to the radiative transfer grid, and corresponding line source function and the observed profiles of neutral hydrogen lines (H-beta, Pa-beta and Br-gamma) are computed using the Sobolev escape probability method. We study the dependency of line variability on inclination angles (i) and magnetic axis misalignment angles (Theta). By comparing our models with the Pa-beta profiles of 42 CTTS observed by Folha & Emerson, we find that models with a smaller misaligngment angle (Theta<~15 deg.) are more consistent with the observations which show that majority of Pa-beta are rather symmetric around the line centre. For a high inclination system with a small dipole misalignment angle (Theta ~ 15 deg.), only one accretion funnel (on the upper hemisphere) is visible to an observer at any given rotational phase. This can cause an anti-correlation of the line equivalent width in the blue wing (v0) over a half of a rotational period, and a positive correlation over other half. We find a good overall agreement of the line variability behaviour predicted by our model and those from observations. (Abridged)Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. A version with full resolution figures can be downloaded from http://www.physics.unlv.edu/~rk/preprint/inclined_dipole.pd

Testing the Disk-Locking Paradigm: An Association Between U-V Excess and Rotation in NGC 2264

We present some results from a UVI photometric study of a field in the young open cluster NGC 2264 aimed, in part, at testing whether accretion in pre-main sequence stars is linked to rotation. We confirm that U-V excess is well correlated with H-alpha equivalent width for the stars in our sample. We show that for the more massive stars in the cluster sample (roughly 0.4-1.2 M_sun) there is also a significant association between U-V excess and rotation, in the sense that slow rotators are more likely to show excess U-band emission and variability. This constitutes significant new evidence in support of the disk-locking paradigm.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letter

Radiation-Driven Outflows in Active Galactic Nuclei

We review the results from multi-dimensional, time-dependent simulations of gas dynamics in AGN. We will focus on two types of outflows powered by radiation emitted from the AGN central engine: (i) outflows driven from the innermost part of an accretion disk and (2) outflows driven from a large-scale inflow that is likely the main supplier of material to the central engine. We discuss the relevance of both types of outflows to the so-called AGN feedback problem. However, the AGN feedback should not be considered separately from the AGN physics. Therefore, we also discuss the issue whether the properties of the same outflows are consistent with the gas properties in broad- and narrow-line regions.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, in Recent Directions In Astrophysical Quantitative Spectroscopy And Radiation Hydrodynamics: Proceedings of the International Conference in Honor of Dimitri Mihalas for His Lifetime Scientific Contributions on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday (AIP Conference Proceedings 1171

Ni-impurity effects on the superconducting gap of La2−x_{2-x}Srx_{x}CuO4_4 studied from the magnetic field and temperature dependence of the electronic specific heat

The magnetic field and temperature dependence of the electronic specific heat $C_{\rm el}$ have been systematically investigated in $\rm La_{2-{\it x}}Sr_{\it x}Cu_{1-{\it y}}Ni_{\it y}O_4$ (LSCNO) in order to study Ni-impurity effects on the superconducting (SC) gap. In LSCNO with $x$=0.15 and $y$=0.015, the value of $\gamma$ ($\equiv C_{\rm el}/T$) at $T$=0 K, $\gamma_0$, is enhanced under the magnetic field $H$ applied along the $\bm c$-axis. The increment of $\gamma_0$, $\Delta \gamma_0$, follows the Volovik relation $\Delta \gamma_0$=$A\sqrt{H}$, characteristic of the SC gap with line nodes, with prefactor $A$ similar to that of a pure sample. The $C_{\rm el}/T$ vs. $T$ curve under $H$=0 shows a d-wave-like SC anomaly with an abrupt increase at $T_{\rm c}$ and $T$-linear dependence at $T$$\ll$$T_{\rm c}$, although the $\gamma_0$-value in the $C_{\rm el}/T$ vs. $T$ curve increases with increasing Ni concentrations. Interestingly, as the SC part of $C_{\rm el}/T$, $C_{\rm el}/T$$-$$\gamma_0$$\equiv$$\gamma_{\rm s}$, decreases in LSCNO, $T_{\rm c}$ is reduced in proportion to the decrease of $\gamma_{\rm s}$. These findings can be explained phenomenologically by a simple model in which Ni impurities bring about strong pair breaking at the edges of the coherent nodal part of the Fermi surface but in the vicinity of the nodes of the SC gap. The reduction of the SC condensation energy $U_0$ in LSCNO, evaluated from $C_{\rm el}$ at $T$ {0.3em}\raisebox{0.4ex}{$<$} {-0.75em}\raisebox{-.7ex}{$\sim$} {0.3em}$T_{\rm c}$, is also understood by the same model.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Accretion dynamics in the classical T Tauri star V2129 Oph

We analyze the photometric and spectroscopic variability of the classical T Tauri star V2129 Oph over several rotational cycles to test the dynamical predictions of magnetospheric accretion models. The photometric variability and the radial velocity variations in the photospheric lines can be explained by rotational modulation due to cold spots, while the radial velocity variations of the He I (5876 \AA) line and the veiling variability are due to hot spot rotational modulation. The hot and cold spots are located at high latitudes and about the same phase, but the hot spot is expected to sit at the chromospheric level, while the cold spot is at the photospheric level. Using the dipole+octupole magnetic-field configuration previously proposed in the literature for the system, we compute 3D MHD magnetospheric simulations of the star-disk system. We use the simulation's density, velocity and scaled temperature structures as input to a radiative transfer code, from which we calculate theoretical line profiles at all rotational phases. The theoretical profiles tend to be narrower than the observed ones, but the qualitative behavior and the observed rotational modulation of the H\alpha and H\beta emission lines are well reproduced by the theoretical profiles. The spectroscopic and photometric variability observed in V2129 Oph support the general predictions of complex magnetospheric accretion models with non-axisymmetric, multipolar fields.Comment: Accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysic

Facing the wind of the pre-FUor V1331 Cyg

The mass outflows in T Tauri stars (TTS) are thought to be an effective mechanism to remove angular momentum during the pre-main-sequence contraction of a low-mass star. The most powerful winds are observed at the FUor stage of stellar evolution. V1331 Cyg has been considered as a TTS at the pre-FUor stage. We analyse high-resolution spectra of V1331 Cyg collected in 1998-2007 and 20-d series of spectra taken in 2012. For the first time the photospheric spectrum of the star is detected and stellar parameters are derived: spectral type G7-K0 IV, mass 2.8 Msun, radius 5 Rsun, vsini < 6 km/s. The photospheric spectrum is highly veiled, but the amount of veiling is not the same in different spectral lines, being lower in weak transitions and much higher in strong transitions. The Fe II 5018, Mg I 5183, K I 7699 and some other lines of metals are accompanied by a `shell' absorption at radial velocity of about -240 km/s. We show that these absorptions form in the post-shock gas in the jet, i.e. the star is seen though its jet. The P Cyg profiles of H-alpha and H-beta indicate the terminal wind velocity of about 500 km/s, which vary on time-scales from several days to years. A model of the stellar wind is developed to interpret the observations. The model is based on calculation of hydrogen spectral lines using the radiative transfer code TORUS. The observed H-alpha and H-beta line profiles and their variability can be well reproduced with a stellar wind model, where the mass-loss rate and collimation (opening angle) of the wind are variable. The changes of the opening angle may be induced by small variability in magetization of the inner disc wind. The mass-loss rate is found to vary within (6-11)x10^{-8} Msun/yr, with the accretion rate of 2.0x10^{-6} Msun/yr.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS. Typographical errors have been corrected after the proof stag