1,019 research outputs found
Constraints on the disk geometry of the T Tauri star AA Tau from linear polarimetry
We have simultaneously monitored the photometric and polarimetric variations
of the Classical T Tauri star AA Tau during the fall of 2002. We combine these
data with previously published polarimetric data covering two earlier epochs.
The phase coverage is complete, although not contiguous. AA Tau clearly shows
cyclic variations coupled with the rotation of the system. The star-disk system
produces a repeatable polarisation curve where the polarisation increases with
decreasing brightness. The data fit well with the model put forward by Bouvier
et al. (1999) where AA Tau is viewed almost edge-on and its disk is actively
dumping material onto the central star via magnetospheric accretion. The inner
edge of the disk is deformed by its interaction with the tilted magnetosphere,
producing eclipses as it rotates and occults the photosphere periodically. From
the shape of the polarisation curve in the QU-Plane we confirm that the
accretion disk is seen at a large inclination, almost edge-on, and predict that
its position angle is PA~90 deg., i.e., that the disk's major axis is oriented
in the East-West direction.Comment: Astron. Astrophys., in pres
Disc orientations in pre-main-sequence multiple systems. A study in southern star formation regions
Classical T Tauri stars are encircled by accretion discs most of the time
unresolved by conventional imaging observation. However, numerical simulations
show that unresolved aperture linear polarimetry can be used to extract
information about the geometry of the immediate circumstellar medium that
scatter the starlight. Monin, Menard & Duchene (1998) previously suggested that
polarimetry can be used to trace the relative orientation of discs in young
binary systems in order to shed light on the stellar and planet formation
process. In this paper, we report on new VLT/FORS1 optical linear polarisation
measurements of 23 southern binaries spanning a range of separation from 0.8''
to 10''. In each field, the polarisation of the central binary is extracted, as
well as the polarisation of nearby stars in order to estimate the local
interstellar polarisation. We find that, in general, the linear polarisation
vectors of individual components in binary systems tend to be parallel to each
other. The amplitude of their polarisations are also correlated. These findings
are in agreement with our previous work and extend the trend to smaller
separations. They are also similar to other studies, e.g., Donar et al. 1999;
Jensen et al. 2000, 2004; Wolf et al. 2001. However, we also find a few systems
showing large differences in polarisation level, possibly indicating different
inclinations to the line-of-sight for their discs.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics.
accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics (A&A
Measuring Omega_0 with higher-order Quasar-Galaxy Correlations induced by Weak Lensing
Via the magnification bias, gravitational lensing by large-scale structures
causes angular cross-correlations between distant quasars and foreground
galaxies on angular scales of arc minutes and above. We investigate the
three-point cross-correlation between quasars and galaxy pairs measurable via
the second moment of the galaxy counts around quasars and show that it reaches
the level of a few per cent on angular scales near one arc minute. Combining
two- and three-point correlations, a skewness parameter can be defined which is
shown to be virtually independent on the shape and normalisation of the
dark-matter power spectrum. If the galaxy bias is linear and deterministic, the
skewness depends on the cosmic matter density parameter Omega_0 only;
otherwise, it can be used to probe the linearity and stochasticity of the bias.
We finally estimate the signal-to-noise ratio of a skewness determination and
find that around twenty thousand distant quasars e.g. from the Sloan Digital
Sky Survey should suffice for a direct measurement of Omega_0.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Astronomy and Astrophysic
Combination of carbon nanotubes and two-photon absorbers for broadband optical limiting
New systems are required for optical limiting against broadband laser pulses.
We demonstrate that the association of non-linear scattering from single-wall
carbon nanotubes (SWNT) and multiphoton absorption (MPA) from organic
chromophores is a promising approach to extend performances of optical limiters
over broad spectral and temporal ranges. Such composites display high linear
transmission and good neutral colorimetry and are particularly efficient in the
nanosecond regime due to cumulative effects.Comment: 5 avril 200
Prognosis based on primary breast carcinoma instead of pathological nodal status.
In breast cancer patients, prognostic information required to plan post-surgical therapy is obtained mainly through axillary dissection. This study was designed to establish a new prognostic score based solely on parameters of the primary tumour as an alternative to axillary surgery in assessing prognosis. Eight different prognostic factors, including menopausal status, tumour size, grading, lymphatic invasion, desmoplasia, necrosis, c-erbB-2 and laminin receptor expression, were evaluated retrospectively on a large series of primary breast carcinoma patients. From multivariate analysis, four independent parameters were selected and examined, alone and in combination, for their prognostic potential. These parameters were used to generate a prognostic score that was analysed retrospectively in 467 N0-N1a patients to determine its predictive value for survival. The score, which includes variables such as tumour size, grading, laminin receptor and c-erbB-2 overexpression, was established based on the number of negative prognostic factors: score 1 refers to cases in which all four parameters reflect a good prognosis, scores 2 and 3 refer to tumours in which, respectively, one or two of the four parameters reflect a poor prognosis, whereas score 4 refers to tumours with three or four poor prognosis factors. Analysis of the overall survival of the four score groups shows that patients with score 1 tumours (22% of the total) had the best prognosis with a 15 year survival of 82%, patients with score 2 and 3 had an intermediate prognosis, whereas score 4 patients had the poorest prognosis with a 15 year survival of only 38%. Moreover, survival in the N+ score 1 cases was found to be longer than that in the total N- patients. Our data suggest that the primary tumour score provides more reliable prognostic information than pathological nodal status, and that axillary dissection can be avoided in a large number of patients
A search for pre- and proto-brown dwarfs in the dark cloud Barnard 30 with ALMA
In this work we present ALMA continuum observations at 880 m of 30
sub-mm cores previously identified with APEX/LABOCA at 870m in the Barnard
30 cloud. The main goal is to characterize the youngest and lowest mass
population in the cloud. As a result, we report the detection of five (out of
30) spatially unresolved sources with ALMA, with estimated masses between 0.9
and 67 M. From these five sources, only two show gas emission. The
analysis of multi-wavelength photometry from these two objects, namely B30-LB14
and B30-LB19, is consistent with one Class II- and one Class I low-mass stellar
object, respectively. The gas emission is consistent with a rotating disk in
the case of B30-LB14, and with an oblate rotating envelope with infall
signatures in the case of LB19. The remaining three ALMA detections do not have
infrared counterparts and can be classified as either deeply embedded objects
or as starless cores if B30 members. In the former case, two of them (LB08 and
LB31) show internal luminosity upper limits consistent with Very Low Luminosity
objects, while we do not have enough information for LB10. In the starless core
scenario, and taking into account the estimated masses from ALMA and the
APEX/LABOCA cores, we estimate final masses for the central objects in the
substellar domain, so they could be classified as pre-BD core candidates.Comment: Published in A&
The Taurus Boundary of Stellar/Substellar (TBOSS) Survey II. Disk Masses from ALMA Continuum Observations
We report 885m ALMA continuum flux densities for 24 Taurus members
spanning the stellar/substellar boundary, with spectral types from M4 to M7.75.
Of the 24 systems, 22 are detected at levels ranging from 1.0-55.6 mJy. The two
non-detections are transition disks, though other transition disks in the
sample are detected. Converting ALMA continuum measurements to masses using
standard scaling laws and radiative transfer modeling yields dust mass
estimates ranging from 0.3-20M. The dust mass shows a
declining trend with central object mass when combined with results from
submillimeter surveys of more massive Taurus members. The substellar disks
appear as part of a continuous sequence and not a distinct population. Compared
to older Upper Sco members with similar masses across the substellar limit, the
Taurus disks are brighter and more massive. Both Taurus and Upper Sco
populations are consistent with an approximately linear relationship in
to , although derived power-law slopes depend strongly
upon choices of stellar evolutionary model and dust temperature relation. The
median disk around early M-stars in Taurus contains a comparable amount of mass
in small solids as the average amount of heavy elements in Kepler planetary
systems on short-period orbits around M-dwarf stars, with an order of magnitude
spread in disk dust mass about the median value. Assuming a gas:dust ratio of
100:1, only a small number of low-mass stars and brown dwarfs have a total disk
mass amenable to giant planet formation, consistent with the low frequency of
giant planets orbiting M-dwarfs.Comment: 41 pages and 32 figures, with all tables and appendices presented
here in their entirety. Accepted for publication in AJ (November 26, 2017
Noninvasive population genetics: a review of sample source, diet, fragment length and microsatellite motif effects on amplification success and genotyping error rates
International audienceNoninvasive population genetics has found many applications in ecology and conservation biology. However, the technical difficulties inherent to the analysis of low quantities of DNA generally tend to limit the efficiency of this approach. The nature of samples and loci used in noninvasive population genetics are important factors that may help increasing the potential success of case studies. Here we reviewed the effects of the source of DNA (hair vs. faeces), the diet of focal species, the length of mitochondrial DNA fragments, and the length and repeat motif of nuclear microsatellite loci on genotyping success (amplification success and rate of allelic dropout). Locus-specific effects appeared to have the greatest impact, amplification success decreasing with both mitochondrial and microsatellite fragments' length, while error rates increase with amplicons' length. Dinucleotides showed best amplification success and lower error rates compared to longer repeat units. Genotyping success did not differ between hair- versus faeces-extracted DNA, and success in faeces-based analyses was not consistently influenced by the diet of focal species. While the great remaining variability among studies implies that other unidentified parameters are acting, results show that the careful choice of genetic markers may allow optimizing the success of noninvasive approaches
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