5,121 research outputs found
Discovery of Water Vapor in the High-redshift Quasar APM 08279+5255 at z = 3.91
We report a detection of the excited 2_(20)-2_(11) rotational transition of para-H_2O in APM 08279+5255 using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer. At z = 3.91, this is the highest-redshift detection of interstellar water to date. From large velocity gradient modeling, we conclude that this transition is predominantly radiatively pumped and on its own does not provide a good estimate of the water abundance. However, additional water transitions are predicted to be detectable in this source, which would lead to an improved excitation model. We also present a sensitive upper limit for the hydrogen fluoride (HF) J = 1-0 absorption toward APM 08279+5255. While the face-on geometry of this source is not favorable for absorption studies, the lack of HF absorption is still puzzling and may be indicative of a lower fluorine abundance at z = 3.91 compared with the Galactic interstellar medium
Jets associated with Z^0 boson production in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC
The heavy ion program at the LHC will present unprecedented opportunities to
probe hot QCD matter, that is, the quark gluon plasma (QGP). Among these
exciting new probes are high energy partons associated with the production of a
Z^0 boson, or Z^0 tagged jets. Once produced, Z^0 bosons are essentially
unaffected by the strongly interacting medium produced in heavy-ion collisions,
and therefore provide a powerful signal of the initial partonic energy and
subsequent medium induced partonic energy loss. When compared with theory,
experimental measurements of Z^0 tagged jets will help quantify the jet
quenching properties of the QGP and discriminate between different partonic
energy loss formalisms. In what follows, I discuss the advantages of tagged
jets over leading particles, and present preliminary results of the production
and suppression of Z^0 tagged jets in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at LHC
energies using the Guylassy-Levai-Vitev (GLV) partonic energy loss formalism.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 2010 Winter Workshop on Nuclear
Dynamics, which was held in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, mon
Aggregation of chemotactic organisms in a differential flow
We study the effect of advection on the aggregation and pattern formation in
chemotactic systems described by Keller-Segel type models. The evolution of
small perturbations is studied analytically in the linear regime complemented
by numerical simulations. We show that a uniform differential flow can
significantly alter the spatial structure and dynamics of the chemotactic
system. The flow leads to the formation of anisotropic aggregates that move
following the direction of the flow, even when the chemotactic organisms are
not directly advected by the flow. Sufficiently strong advection can stop the
aggregation and coarsening process that is then restricted to the direction
perpendicular to the flow
ALMA data suggest the presence of a spiral structure in the inner wind of CW Leo
(abbreviated) We aim to study the inner wind of the well-known AGB star CW
Leo. Different diagnostics probing different geometrical scales have pointed
toward a non-homogeneous mass-loss process: dust clumps are observed at
milli-arcsec scale, a bipolar structure is seen at arcsecond-scale and
multi-concentric shells are detected beyond 1". We present the first ALMA Cycle
0 band 9 data around 650 GHz. The full-resolution data have a spatial
resolution of 0".42x0".24, allowing us to study the morpho-kinematical
structure within ~6". Results: We have detected 25 molecular lines. The
emission of all but one line is spatially resolved. The dust and molecular
lines are centered around the continuum peak position. The dust emission has an
asymmetric distribution with a central peak flux density of ~2 Jy. The
molecular emission lines trace different regions in the wind acceleration
region and suggest that the wind velocity increases rapidly from about 5 R*
almost reaching the terminal velocity at ~11 R*. The channel maps for the
brighter lines show a complex structure; specifically for the 13CO J=6-5 line
different arcs are detected within the first few arcseconds. The curved
structure present in the PV map of the 13CO J=6-5 line can be explained by a
spiral structure in the inner wind, probably induced by a binary companion.
From modeling the ALMA data, we deduce that the potential orbital axis for the
binary system lies at a position angle of ~10-20 deg to the North-East and that
the spiral structure is seen almost edge-on. We infer an orbital period of 55
yr and a binary separation of 25 au (or ~8.2 R*). We tentatively estimate that
the companion is an unevolved low-mass main-sequence star. The ALMA data hence
provide us for the first time with the crucial kinematical link between the
dust clumps seen at milli-arcsecond scale and the almost concentric arcs seen
at arcsecond scale.Comment: 22 pages, 18 Figures, Astronomy & Astrophysic
A Herschel/HIFI Legacy Survey of HF and H2O in the Galaxy: Probing Diffuse Molecular Cloud Chemistry
We combine Herschel observations of a total of 12 sources to construct the
most uniform survey of HF and H2O in our Galactic disk. Both molecules are
detected in absorption along all sight lines. The high spectral resolution of
the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) allows us to compare the
HF and H2O distributions in 47 diffuse cloud components sampling the disk. We
find that the HF and H2O velocity distributions follow each other almost
perfectly and establish that HF and H2O probe the same gas-phase volume. Our
observations corroborate theoretical predictions that HF is a sensitive tracer
of H2 in diffuse clouds, down to molecular fractions of only a few percent.
Using HF to trace H2 in our sample, we find that the N(H2O)-to-N(HF) ratio
shows a narrow distribution with a median value of 1.51. Our results further
suggest that H2O might be used as a tracer of H2 -within a factor 2.5- in the
diffuse interstellar medium. We show that the measured factor of ~2.5 variation
around the median is driven by true local variations in the H2O abundance
relative to H2 throughout the disk. The latter variability allows us to test
our theoretical understanding of the chemistry of oxygen-bearing molecules in
the diffuse gas. We show that both gas-phase and grain-surface chemistry are
required to reproduce our H2O observations. This survey thus confirms that
grain surface reactions can play a significant role in the chemistry occurring
in the diffuse interstellar medium n_H < 1000 cm^-3.Comment: 53 pages; 12 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ main journa
Fundamental Vibrational Transitions of HCl Detected in CRL 2136
We would like to understand the chemistry of dense clouds and their hot cores
more quantitatively by obtaining more complete knowledge of the chemical
species present in them. We have obtained high-resolution infrared absorption
spectroscopy at 3-4 um toward the bright infrared source CRL 2136. The
fundamental vibration-rotation band of HCl has been detected within a dense
cloud for the first time. The HCl is probably located in the warm compact
circumstellar envelope or disk of CRL 2136. The fractional abundance of HCl is
(4.9-8.7)e-8, indicating that approximately 20 % of the elemental chlorine is
in gaseous HCl. The kinetic temperature of the absorbing gas is 250 K, half the
value determined from infrared spectroscopy of 13CO and water. The percentage
of chlorine in HCl is approximately that expected for gas at this temperature.
The reason for the difference in temperatures between the various molecular
species is unknown.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, A&A in pres
The Ratio of Ortho- to Para-H2 in Photodissociation Regions
We discuss the ratio of ortho- to para-H2 in photodissociation regions
(PDRs). We draw attention to an apparent confusion in the literature between
the ortho-to-para ratio of molecules in FUV-pumped vibrationally excited
states, and the H2 ortho-to-para abundance ratio. These ratios are not the same
because the process of FUV-pumping of fluorescent H2 emission in PDRs occurs
via optically thick absorption lines. Thus, gas with an equilibrium ratio of
ortho- to para-H2 equal to 3 will yield FUV-pumped vibrationally excited
ortho-to-para ratios smaller than 3, because the ortho-H2 pumping rates are
preferentially reduced by optical depth effects. Indeed, if the ortho and para
pumping lines are on the ``square root'' part of the curve-of-growth, then the
expected ratio of ortho and para vibrational line strengths is the square root
of 3, ~ 1.7, close to the typically observed value. Thus, contrary to what has
sometimes been stated in the literature, most previous measurements of the
ratio of ortho- to para-H2 in vibrationally excited states are entirely
consistent with a total ortho-to-para ratio of 3, the equilibrium value for
temperatures greater than 200 K. We present an analysis and several detailed
models which illustrate the relationship between the total ratios of ortho- to
para-H2 and the vibrationally excited ortho-to-para ratios in PDRs. Recent
Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) measurements of pure rotational and
vibrational H2 emissions from the PDR in the star-forming region S140 provide
strong observational support for our conclusions.Comment: 23 pages (including 5 figures), LaTeX, uses aaspp4.sty, accepted for
publication in Ap
The IRAM-30m line survey of the Horsehead PDR: I. CF+ as a tracer of C+ and a measure of the Fluorine abundance
C+ is a key species in the interstellar medium but its 158 {\mu}m fine
structure line cannot be observed from ground-based telescopes. Current models
of fluorine chemistry predict that CF+ is the second most important fluorine
reservoir, in regions where C+ is abundant. We detected the J = 1-0 and J = 2-1
rotational lines of CF+ with high signal-to-noise ratio towards the PDR and
dense core positions in the Horsehead. Using a rotational diagram analysis, we
derive a column density of N(CF+) = (1.5 - 2.0) \times 10^12 cm^-2. Because of
the simple fluorine chemistry, the CF+ column density is proportional to the
fluorine abundance. We thus infer the fluorine gas-phase abundance to be F/H =
(0.6 - 1.5) \times 10^-8. Photochemical models indicate that CF+ is found in
the layers where C+ is abundant. The emission arises in the UV illuminated skin
of the nebula, tracing the outermost cloud layers. Indeed, CF+ and C+ are the
only species observed to date in the Horsehead with a double peaked line
profile caused by kinematics. We therefore propose that CF+, which is
detectable from the ground, can be used as a proxy of the C+ layers.Comment: Accepted to A&A, 4 pages, 4 figures, 2 table
The physics of -tagged jets at the LHC
Electroweak bosons produced in conjunction with jets in high-energy collider
experiments is one of the principle final-state channels that can be used to
test the accuracy of perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics calculations and to
assess the potential to uncover new physics through comparison between data and
theory. In this paper we present results for the +jet production
cross sections at the LHC at leading and next-to-leading orders. In
proton-proton reactions we elucidate up to the
constraints that jet tagging via the decay dileptons provides on
the momentum distribution of jets. In nucleus-nucleus reactions we demonstrate
that tagged jets can probe important aspects of the dynamics of quark and gluon
propagation in hot and dense nuclear matter and characterize the properties of
the medium-induced parton showers in ways not possible with more inclusive
measurements. Finally, we present specific predictions for the anticipated
suppression of the +jet production cross section in the
quark-gluon plasma that is expected to be created in central lead-lead
collisions at the LHC relative to the naive superposition of independent
nucleon-nucleon scatterings.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, As published in Physical Review, minor tipos
fixed, a couple of references adde
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