224 research outputs found
On non-singular renewal kernels with an application to a semigroup of transition kernels
AbstractWe study the non-singularity and limit properties of the renewal kernel R=∑K∗n associated with a positive convolution kernel K(x,dy×dt) defined on a general measurable space (E, E). The principal tool is the use of embedded renewal measures. As an application we consider continuous parameter semigroups (Rt(x,dy);t⩾0) of transition kernels on (E, E)
Water Striders (Heteroptera Gerridae) as bioindicators of heavy metal pollution
Heavy metal contents of water striders collected near a steel factory and from control sites were analyzed by AAS. The average concentrations µg/g of dry weight found near the factory vs. the control areas were: Al 76, 65; Fe 840, 330; Mn 49, 37; Zn 310, 280; Cu 44, 42; Cd 1.6, 6.5, respectively. In most cases Ni and Pb concentrations were below the determination limit in both sites. There were significant differences between sites in the concentrations of iron and cadmium. Fifth instar larvae had higher iron content than adults, but sexes did not differ in heavy metal content. There were also significant differences between different water strider species as accumulators of zinc, aluminium and cadmium. It is concluded that water striders seem suitable as bioindicators of heavy metals
Pathwise Accuracy and Ergodicity of Metropolized Integrators for SDEs
Metropolized integrators for ergodic stochastic differential equations (SDE)
are proposed which (i) are ergodic with respect to the (known) equilibrium
distribution of the SDE and (ii) approximate pathwise the solutions of the SDE
on finite time intervals. Both these properties are demonstrated in the paper
and precise strong error estimates are obtained. It is also shown that the
Metropolized integrator retains these properties even in situations where the
drift in the SDE is nonglobally Lipschitz, and vanilla explicit integrators for
SDEs typically become unstable and fail to be ergodic.Comment: 46 pages, 5 figure
Infrared spectroscopy of solid CO-CO2 mixtures and layers
The spectra of pure, mixed and layered CO and CO2 ices have been studied
systematically under laboratory conditions using infrared spectroscopy. This
work provides improved resolution spectra (0.5 cm-1) of the CO2 bending and
asymmetric stretching mode, as well as the CO stretching mode, extending the
existing Leiden database of laboratory spectra to match the spectral resolution
reached by modern telescopes and to support the interpretation of the most
recent data from Spitzer. It is shown that mixed and layered CO and CO2 ices
exhibit very different spectral characteristics, which depend critically on
thermal annealing and can be used to distinguish between mixed, layered and
thermally annealed CO-CO2 ices. CO only affects the CO2 bending mode spectra in
mixed ices below 50K under the current experimental conditions, where it
exhibits a single asymmetric band profile in intimate mixtures. In all other
ice morphologies the CO2 bending mode shows a double peaked profile, similar to
that observed for pure solid CO2. Conversely, CO2 induces a blue-shift in the
peak-position of the CO stretching vibration, to a maximum of 2142 cm-1 in
mixed ices, and 2140-2146 cm-1 in layered ices. As such, the CO2 bending mode
puts clear constraints on the ice morphology below 50K, whereas beyond this
temperature the CO2 stretching vibration can distinguish between initially
mixed and layered ices. This is illustrated for the low-mass YSO HH46, where
the laboratory spectra are used to analyse the observed CO and CO2 band
profiles and try to constrain the formation scenarios of CO2.Comment: Accepted in A&
Beyond the pseudo-time-dependent approach: chemical models of dense core precursors
Context: Chemical models of dense cloud cores often utilize the so-called
pseudo-time-dependent approximation, in which the physical conditions are held
fixed and uniform as the chemistry occurs. In this approximation, the initial
abundances chosen, which are totally atomic in nature except for molecular
hydrogen, are artificial. A more detailed approach to the chemistry of dense
cold cores should include the physical evolution during their early stages of
formation. Aims: Our major goal is to investigate the initial synthesis of
molecular ices and gas-phase molecules as cold molecular gas begins to form
behind a shock in the diffuse interstellar medium. The abundances calculated as
the conditions evolve can then be utilized as reasonable initial conditions for
a theory of the chemistry of dense cores. Methods: Hydrodynamic shock-wave
simulations of the early stages of cold core formation are used to determine
the time-dependent physical conditions for a gas-grain chemical network. We
follow the cold post-shock molecular evolution of ices and gas-phase molecules
for a range of visual extinction up to AV ~ 3, which increases with time. At
higher extinction, self-gravity becomes important. Results: As the newly
condensed gas enters its cool post-shock phase, a large amount of CO is
produced in the gas. As the CO forms, water ice is produced on grains, while
accretion of CO produces CO ice. The production of CO2 ice from CO occurs via
several surface mechanisms, while the production of CH4 ice is slowed by
gas-phase conversion of C into CO.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 2 table
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
Effects of CO2 on H2O band profiles and band strengths in mixed H2O:CO2 ices
H2O is the most abundant component of astrophysical ices. In most lines of
sight it is not possible to fit both the H2O 3 um stretching, the 6 um bending
and the 13 um libration band intensities with a single pure H2O spectrum.
Recent Spitzer observations have revealed CO2 ice in high abundances and it has
been suggested that CO2 mixed into H2O ice can affect relative strengths of the
3 um and 6 um bands. We used laboratory infrared transmission spectroscopy of
H2O:CO2 ice mixtures to investigate the effects of CO2 on H2O ice spectral
features at 15-135 K. We find that the H2O peak profiles and band strengths are
significantly different in H2O:CO2 ice mixtures compared to pure H2O ice. In
all H2O:CO2 mixtures, a strong free-OH stretching band appears around 2.73 um,
which can be used to put an upper limit on the CO2 concentration in the H2O
ice. The H2O bending mode profile also changes drastically with CO2
concentration; the broad pure H2O band gives way to two narrow bands as the CO2
concentration is increased. This makes it crucial to constrain the environment
of H2O ice to enable correct assignments of other species contributing to the
interstellar 6 um absorption band. The amount of CO2 present in the H2O ice of
B5:IRS1 is estimated by simultaneously comparing the H2O stretching and bending
regions and the CO2 bending mode to laboratory spectra of H2O, CO2, H2O:CO2 and
HCOOH.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, accepted by A&
Quantification of segregation dynamics in ice mixtures
(Abridged) The observed presence of pure CO2 ice in protostellar envelopes is
attributed to thermally induced ice segregation, but a lack of quantitative
experimental data has prevented its use as a temperature probe. Quantitative
segregation studies are also needed to characterize diffusion in ices, which
underpins all ice dynamics and ice chemistry. This study aims to quantify the
segregation mechanism and barriers in different H2O:CO2 and H2O:CO ice mixtures
covering a range of astrophysically relevant ice thicknesses and mixture
ratios. The ices are deposited at 16-50 K under (ultra-)high vacuum conditions.
Segregation is then monitored at 23-70 K as a function of time, through
infrared spectroscopy. Thin (8-37 ML) H2O:CO2/CO ice mixtures segregate
sequentially through surface processes, followed by an order of magnitude
slower bulk diffusion. Thicker ices (>100 ML) segregate through a fast bulk
process. The thick ices must therefore be either more porous or segregate
through a different mechanism, e.g. a phase transition. The segregation
dynamics of thin ices are reproduced qualitatively in Monte Carlo simulations
of surface hopping and pair swapping. The experimentally determined
surface-segregation rates for all mixture ratios follow the Ahrrenius law with
a barrier of 1080[190] K for H2O:CO2 and 300[100] K for H2O:CO mixtures. During
low-mass star formation H2O:CO2 segregation will be important already at 30[5]
K. Both surface and bulk segregation is proposed to be a general feature of ice
mixtures when the average bond strengths of the mixture constituents in pure
ice exceeds the average bond strength in the ice mixture.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 25 pages, including 13 figure
A Brownian particle in a microscopic periodic potential
We study a model for a massive test particle in a microscopic periodic
potential and interacting with a reservoir of light particles. In the regime
considered, the fluctuations in the test particle's momentum resulting from
collisions typically outweigh the shifts in momentum generated by the periodic
force, and so the force is effectively a perturbative contribution. The
mathematical starting point is an idealized reduced dynamics for the test
particle given by a linear Boltzmann equation. In the limit that the mass ratio
of a single reservoir particle to the test particle tends to zero, we show that
there is convergence to the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process under the standard
normalizations for the test particle variables. Our analysis is primarily
directed towards bounding the perturbative effect of the periodic potential on
the particle's momentum.Comment: 60 pages. We reorganized the article and made a few simplifications
of the conten
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