4,745 research outputs found
Detection of lithium in nearby young late-M dwarfs
Late M-type dwarfs in the solar neighborhood include a mixture of very
low-mass stars and brown dwarfs which is difficult to disentangle due to the
lack of constraints on their age such as trigonometric parallax, lithium
detection and space velocity.
We search for young brown dwarf candidates among a sample of 28 nearby late-M
dwarfs with spectral types between M5.0 and M9.0, and we also search for debris
disks around three of them.
Based on theoretical models, we used the color , the -band absolute
magnitude and the detection of the Li I 6708 doublet line as a strong
constraint to estimate masses and ages of our targets. For the search of debris
disks, we observed three targets at submillimeter wavelength of 850 m.
We report here the first clear detections of lithium absorption in four
targets and a marginal detection in one target. Our mass estimates indicate
that two of them are young brown dwarfs, two are young brown dwarf candidates
and one is a young very low-mass star. The closest young field brown dwarf in
our sample at only 15 pc is an excellent benchmark for further studying
physical properties of brown dwarfs in the range 100150 Myr. We did not
detect any debris disks around three late-M dwarfs, and we estimated upper
limits to the dust mass of debris disks around them.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysic
On the disappearance of a cold molecular torus around the low-luminosity active galactic nucleus of NGC 1097
We used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to map the
CO(3-2) and the underlying continuum emissions around the type 1 low-luminosity
active galactic nucleus (LLAGN; bolometric luminosity
erg~s) of NGC 1097 at pc resolution. These observations
revealed a detailed cold gas distribution within a pc of this LLAGN.
In contrast to the luminous Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068, where a pc cold
molecular torus was recently revealed, a distinctively dense and compact torus
is missing in our CO(3-2) integrated intensity map of NGC 1097. Based on the
CO(3-2) flux, the gas mass of the torus of NGC 1097 would be a factor of
less than that found for NGC 1068 by using the same CO-to-H
conversion factor, which implies less active nuclear star formation and/or
inflows in NGC 1097. Our dynamical modeling of the CO(3-2) velocity field
implies that the cold molecular gas is concentrated in a thin layer as compared
to the hot gas traced by the 2.12 m H emission in and around the
torus. Furthermore, we suggest that NGC 1097 hosts a geometrically thinner
torus than NGC 1068. Although the physical origin of the torus thickness
remains unclear, our observations support a theoretical prediction that
geometrically thick tori with high opacity will become deficient as AGNs evolve
from luminous Seyferts to LLAGNs.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ
Singular sources in the Demianski-Newman spacetimes
The analysis of singular regions in the NUT solutions carried out in the
recent paper (Manko and Ruiz, 2005 Class. Quantum Grav. 22, p.3555) is now
extended to the Demianski-Newman vacuum and electrovacuum spacetimes. We show
that the effect which produces the NUT parameter in a more general situation
remains essentially the same as in the purely NUT solutions: it introduces the
semi-infinite singularities of infinite angular momenta and positive or
negative masses depending on the interrelations between the parameters; the
presence of the electromagnetic field additionally endows the singularities
with electric and magnetic charges. The exact formulae describing the mass,
charges and angular momentum distributions in the Demianski-Newman solutions
are obtained and concise general expressions P_n=(m+i\nu)(ia)^n,
Q_n=(q+ib)(ia)^n for the entire set of the respective Beig-Simon multipole
moments are derived. These moments correspond to a unique choice of the
integration constant in the expression of the metric function \omega which is
different from the original choice made by Demianski and Newman.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures; submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit
Large scale grain mantle disruption in the Galactic Center
We present observations of C2H5OH toward molecular clouds in Sgr A, Sgr B2
and associated with thermal and non-thermal features in the Galactic center.
C2H5OH emission in Sgr A and Sgr B2 is widespread, but not uniform. C2H5OH
emission is much weaker or it is not detected in some molecular clouds in both
complexes, in particular those with radial velocities between 70 and 120 km/s.
While most of the clouds associated with the thermal features do not show
C2H5OH emission, that associated with the Non-Thermal Radio Arc shows emission.
The fractional abundance of C2H5OH in most of the clouds with radial velocities
between 0 and 70 km/s in Sgr A and Sgr B2 is relatively high, of few 1e-8. The
C2H5OH abundance decreases by more than one order of magnitude (aprox. 1e-9) in
the clouds associated with the thermal features. The large abundance of C2H5OH
in the gas-phase indicates that C2H5OH has formed in grains and released to
gas-phase by shocks in the last aprox. 1e5 years.Comment: In press in Astrophysical Journal Letters 7 pages, 1 table, 1 figur
Density Matrix and Renormalization for Classical Lattice Models
We review the variational principle in the density matrix renormalization
group (DMRG) method, which maximizes an approximate partition function within a
restricted degrees of freedom; at zero temperature, DMRG mini- mizes the ground
state energy. The variational principle is applied to two-dimensional (2D)
classical lattice models, where the density matrix is expressed as a product of
corner transfer matrices. (CTMs) DMRG related fields and future directions of
DMRG are briefly discussed.Comment: 21 pages, Latex, 14 figures in postscript files, Proc. of the 1996 El
Escorial Summer School on "Strongly Correlated Magnetic and Superconducting
Systems
Simultaneous Multi-Wavelength Observations of Magnetic Activity in Ultracool Dwarfs. II. Mixed Trends in VB10 and LSR1835+32 and the Possible Role of Rotation
[Abridged] As part of our on-going investigation of magnetic activity in
ultracool dwarfs we present simultaneous radio, X-ray, UV, and optical
observations of LSR1835+32 (M8.5), and simultaneous X-ray and UV observations
of VB10 (M8), both with a duration of about 9 hours. LSR1835+32 exhibits
persistent radio emission and H-alpha variability on timescales of ~0.5-2 hr.
The detected UV flux is consistent with photospheric emission, and no X-ray
emission is detected to a deep limit of L_X/L_bol<10^-5.7. The H-alpha and
radio emission are temporally uncorrelated, and the ratio of radio to X-ray
luminosity exceeds the correlation seen in F-M6 stars by >2x10^4. Similarly,
L_Halpha/L_X>10 is at least 30 times larger than in early M dwarfs, and
eliminates coronal emission as the source of chromospheric heating. The lack of
radio variability during four rotations of LSR1835+32 requires a uniform
stellar-scale field of ~10 G, and indicates that the H-alpha variability is
dominated by much smaller scales, <10% of the chromospheric volume. VB10, on
the other hand, shows correlated flaring and quiescent X-ray and UV emission,
similar to the behavior of early M dwarfs. Delayed and densely-sampled optical
spectra exhibit a similar range of variability amplitudes and timescales to
those seen in the X-rays and UV, with L_Halpha/L_X~1. Along with our previous
observations of the M8.5 dwarf TVLM513-46546 we conclude that late M dwarfs
exhibit a mix of activity patterns, which points to a transition in the
structure and heating of the outer atmosphere by large-scale magnetic fields.
We find that rotation may play a role in generating the fields as evidenced by
a tentative correlation between radio activity and rotation velocity. The X-ray
emission, however, shows evidence for super-saturation at vsini>25 km/s.Comment: Submitted to Ap
Simultaneous Multi-Wavelength Observations of Magnetic Activity in Ultracool Dwarfs. III. X-ray, Radio, and H-alpha Activity Trends in M and L Dwarfs
[Abridged] As part of our on-going investigation into the magnetic field
properties of ultracool dwarfs, we present simultaneous radio, X-ray, and
H-alpha observations of three M9.5-L2.5 dwarfs (BRI0021-0214,
LSR060230.4+391059, and 2MASSJ052338.2-140302). We do not detect X-ray or radio
emission from any of the three sources, despite previous detections of radio
emission from BRI0021 and 2M0523-14. Steady and variable H-alpha emission are
detected from 2M0523-14 and BRI0021, respectively, while no H-alpha emission is
detected from LSR0602+39. Overall, our survey of nine M8-L5 dwarfs doubles the
number of ultracool dwarfs observed in X-rays, and triples the number of L
dwarfs, providing in addition the deepest limits to date, log(L_X/L_bol)<-5.
With this larger sample we find the first clear evidence for a substantial
reduction in X-ray activity, by about two orders of magnitude, from mid-M to
mid-L dwarfs. We find that the decline in both X-rays and H-alpha roughly
follows L_{X,Halpha}/L_bol ~ 10^[-0.4x(SP-M6)] for SP>M6. In the radio band,
however, the luminosity remains relatively unchanged from M0 to L4, leading to
a substantial increase in L_rad/L_bol. Our survey also provides the first
comprehensive set of simultaneous radio/X-ray/H-alpha observations of ultracool
dwarfs, and reveals a clear breakdown of the radio/X-ray correlation beyond
spectral type M7, evolving smoothly from L_{\nu,rad}/L_X ~ 10^-15.5 to
~10^-11.5 Hz^-1 over the narrow spectral type range M7-M9. This breakdown
reflects the substantial reduction in X-ray activity beyond M7, but its
physical origin remains unclear since, as evidenced by the uniform radio
emission, there is no drop in the field dissipation and particle acceleration
efficiency.Comment: Submitted to ApJ; 19 pages, 10 figures, 5 table
A New Pleiades Member at the Lithium Substellar Boundary
We present the discovery of an object in the Pleiades open cluster, named
Teide 2, with optical and infrared photometry which place it on the cluster
sequence slightly below the expected substellar mass limit. We have obtained
low- and high-resolution spectra that allow us to determine its spectral type
(M6), radial velocity and rotational broadening; and to detect H in
emission and Li I 670.8 nm in absorption. All the observed properties strongly
support the membership of Teide 2 into the Pleiades. This object has an
important role in defining the reappearance of lithium below the substellar
limit in the Pleiades. The age of the Pleiades very low-mass members based on
their luminosities and absence or presence of lithium is constrained to be in
the range 100--120 Myr.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figure
Phase-Locking of Vortex Lattices Interacting with Periodic Pinning
We examine Shapiro steps for vortex lattices interacting with periodic
pinning arrays driven by AC and DC currents. The vortex flow occurs by the
motion of the interstitial vortices through the periodic potential generated by
the vortices that remain pinned at the pinning sites. Shapiro steps are
observed for fields B_{\phi} < B < 2.25B_{\phi} with the most pronouced steps
occuring for fields where the interstitial vortex lattice has a high degree of
symmetry. The widths of the phase-locked current steps as a function of the
magnitude of the AC driving are found to follow a Bessel function in agreement
with theory.Comment: 5 pages 5 postscript figure
Universal features of electron-phonon interactions in atomic wires
The effect of electron-phonon interactions in the conductance through
metallic atomic wires is theoretically analyzed. The proposed model allows to
consider an atomic size region electrically and mechanically coupled to bulk
electrodes. We show that under rather general conditions the features due to
electron-phonon coupling are described by universal functions of the system
transmission coefficients. It is predicted that the reduction of the
conductance due to electron-phonon coupling which is observed close to perfect
transmission should evolve into an enhancement at low transmission. This
crossover can be understood in a transparent way as arising from the
competition between elastic and inelastic processes.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
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