Shock-Wave Heating Model for Chondrule Formation: Prevention of Isotopic Fractionation

Chondrules are considered to have much information on dust particles and processes in the solar nebula. It is naturally expected that protoplanetary disks observed in present star forming regions have similar dust particles and processes, so study of chondrule formation may provide us great information on the formation of the planetary systems. Evaporation during chondrule melting may have resulted in depletion of volatile elements in chondrules. However, no evidence for a large degree of heavy-isotope enrichment has been reported in chondrules. In order to meet this observed constraint, the rapid heating rate at temperatures below the silicate solidus is required to suppress the isotopic fractionation. We have developed a new shock-wave heating model taking into account the radiative transfer of the dust thermal continuum emission and the line emission of gas molecules and calculated the thermal history of chondrules. We have found that optically-thin shock waves for the thermal continuum emission from dust particles can meet the rapid heating constraint, because the dust thermal emission does not keep the dust particles high temperature for a long time in the pre-shock region and dust particles are abruptly heated by the gas drag heating in the post-shock region. We have also derived the upper limit of optical depth of the pre-shock region using the radiative diffusion approximation, above which the rapid heating constraint is not satisfied. It is about 1 - 10.Comment: 58 pages, including 5 tables and 15 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Tests of star formation metrics in the low metallicity galaxy NGC 5253 using ALMA observations of H30α\alpha line emission

We use Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of H30$\alpha$ (231.90 GHz) emission from the low metallicity dwarf galaxy NGC 5253 to measure the star formation rate (SFR) within the galaxy and to test the reliability of SFRs derived from other commonly-used metrics. The H30$\alpha$ emission, which originates mainly from the central starburst, yields a photoionizing photon production rate of (1.9$\pm$0.3)$\times$10$^{52}$ s$^{-1}$ and an SFR of 0.087$\pm$0.013 M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ based on conversions that account for the low metallicity of the galaxy and for stellar rotation. Among the other star formation metrics we examined, the SFR calculated from the total infrared flux was statistically equivalent to the values from the H30$\alpha$ data. The SFR based on previously-published versions of the H$\alpha$ flux that were extinction corrected using Pa$\alpha$ and Pa$\beta$ lines were lower than but also statistically similar to the H30$\alpha$ value. The mid-infrared (22 $\mu$m) flux density and the composite star formation tracer based on H$\alpha$ and mid-infrared emission give SFRs that were significantly higher because the dust emission appears unusually hot compared to typical spiral galaxies. Conversely, the 70 and 160 $\mu$m flux densities yielded SFR lower than the H30$\alpha$ value, although the SFRs from the 70 $\mu$m and H30$\alpha$ data were within 1-2$\sigma$ of each other. While further analysis on a broader range of galaxies are needed, these results are instructive of the best and worst methods to use when measuring SFR in low metallicity dwarf galaxies like NGC 5253.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

A note on the alpha-quantile option

In this communication, we discuss some properties of a class of path dependent options based on the α-quantiles of Brownian motion. In particular we show that such options are well behaved in relation to standard options and comparatively cheaper than an equivalent class of lookback options

Measurement of Resonant Frequency and Quality Factor of Microwave Resonators: Comparison of Methods

Precise microwave measurements of sample conductivity, dielectric, and magnetic properties are routinely performed with cavity perturbation measurements. These methods require the accurate determination of quality factor and resonant frequency of microwave resonators. Seven different methods to determine the resonant frequency and quality factor from complex transmission coefficient data are discussed and compared to find which is most accurate and precise when tested using identical data. We find that the nonlinear least-squares fit to the phase vs. frequency is the most accurate and precise when the signal-to-noise ratio is greater than 65. For noisier data, the nonlinear least squares fit to a Lorentzian curve is more accurate and precise. The results are general and can be applied to the analysis of many kinds of resonant phenomena.Comment: 29 pages, 11 figure

The comfortable roller coaster -- on the shape of tracks with constant normal force

A particle that moves along a smooth track in a vertical plane is influenced by two forces: gravity and normal force. The force experienced by roller coaster riders is the normal force, so a natural question to ask is: what shape of the track gives a normal force of constant magnitude? Here we solve this problem. It turns out that the solution is related to the Kepler problem; the trajectories in velocity space are conic sections.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Arc-like distribution of high CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) ratio gas surrounding the central star cluster of the supergiant HII region NGC 604

We report the discovery of a high CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) ratio gas with an arc-like distribution (``high-ratio gas arc'') surrounding the central star cluster of the supergiant HII region NGC 604 in the nearby spiral galaxy M 33, based on multi-J CO observations of a 5' $\times$ 5' region of NGC 604 conducted using the ASTE 10-m and NRO 45-m telescopes. The discovered ``high-ratio gas arc'' extends to the south-east to north-west direction with a size of $\sim$ 200 pc. The western part of the high-ratio gas arc closely coincides well with the shells of the HII regions traced by H$\alpha$ and radio continuum peaks. The CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) ratio, R_{3-2/1-0}, ranges between 0.3 and 1.2 in the observed region, and the R_{3-2/1-0} values of the high-ratio gas arc are around or higher than unity, indicating very warm (T_kin > 60 K) and dense (n(H_2) > 10^{3-4} cm^{-3}) conditions of the high-ratio gas arc. We suggest that the dense gas formation and second-generation star formation occur in the surrounding gas compressed by the stellar wind and/or supernova of the first-generation stars of NGC 604, i.e., the central star cluster of NGC 604.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, in pres

Precise Particle Tracking Against a Complicated Background: Polynomial Fitting with Gaussian Weight

We present a new particle tracking software algorithm designed to accurately track the motion of low-contrast particles against a background with large variations in light levels. The method is based on a polynomial fit of the intensity around each feature point, weighted by a Gaussian function of the distance from the centre, and is especially suitable for tracking endogeneous particles in the cell, imaged with bright field, phase contrast or fluorescence optical microscopy. Furthermore, the method can simultaneously track particles of all different sizes, and allows significant freedom in their shape. The algorithm is evaluated using the quantitative measures of accuracy and precision of previous authors, using simulated images at variable signal-to-noise ratios. To these we add a new test of the error due to a non-uniform background. Finally the tracking of particles in real cell images is demonstrated. The method is made freely available for non-commencial use as a software package with a graphical user-inferface, which can be run within the Matlab programming environment

Discrimination And Biophysical Characterization Of Brazilian Cerrado Physiognomies With Eo-1 Hyperspectral Hyperion

The savanna, typically found in the sub-tropics and seasonal tropics, are the dominant vegetation biome type in the southern hemisphere, covering approximately 45% of the South America. In Brazil, the savanna, locally known as "cerrado," is the most intensely stressed biome with both natural environmental pressures (e.g., the strong seasonality in weather, extreme soil nutrient impoverishment, and widespread fire occurrences) and rapid/aggressive land conversions (Skole et al., 1994; Ratter et al., 1997). Better characterization and discrimination of cerrado physiognomies are needed in order to improve understanding of cerrado dynamics and its impact on carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, and the prospect for sustainable land use in the Brazilian cerrado biome. Satellite remote sensing have been known to be a useful tool for land cover and land use mapping (Rougharden et al., 1991; Hansen et al., 2000). However, attempts to discriminate and classify Brazilian cerrado using multi-spectral sensors (e.g., Landsat TM) and/or moderate resolution sensors (e.g., NOAA AVHRR NDVI) have often resulted in a limited success due partly to small contrasts depicted in their multiband, spectral reflectance or vegetation index values among cerrado classes (Seyler et al., 2002; Fran a and Setzer, 1998). In this study, we aimed to improve discrimination as well as biophysical characterization of the Brazilian cerrado physiognomies with hyperspectral remote sensing. We used Hyperion, the first satellite-based hyperspectral imager, onboard the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) platform

The Coupled Modified Korteweg-de Vries Equations

Generalization of the modified KdV equation to a multi-component system, that is expressed by $(\partial u_i)/(\partial t) + 6 (\sum_{j,k=0}^{M-1} C_{jk} u_j u_k) (\partial u_i)/(\partial x) + (\partial^3 u_{i})/(\partial x^3) = 0, i=0, 1, ..., M-1$, is studied. We apply a new extended version of the inverse scattering method to this system. It is shown that this system has an infinite number of conservation laws and multi-soliton solutions. Further, the initial value problem of the model is solved.Comment: 26 pages, LaTex209 file, uses jpsj.st

Rhodium(II)-catalyzed stereocontrolled synthesis of dihydrofuran-3-imines from 1-Tosyl-1,2,3-triazoles

Rhodium(II) acetate catalyzes the denitrogenative transformation of 5-substituted and 4,5-disubstituted 1-sulfonyl-1,2,3-triazoles with pendent allyl and propargyl ether motifs to oxonium ylides that undergo [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement to give substituted dihydrofuran-3-imines in high yield and diastereoselectivity