Gravitational Waves Emitted by a Uniformly Accelerated Mass: The Role of Zero-Rindler-Energy Modes in the Classical and Quantum Descriptions

The observation of gravitational waves opens up a new window to probe the universe and the nature of the gravitational field itself. As a result, they serve as a new and promising tool to not only test our current theories but to study different models that go beyond our current understanding. In this paper, inspired by recent successes in scalar and Maxwell electrodynamics, we analyze the role played by the (quantum) Unruh effect on the production of both classical and quantum gravitational waves by a uniformly accelerated mass. In particular, we show the fundamental role played by zero-energy (Rindler) gravitons in building up the gravitational radiation, as measured by inertial observers, emitted by the body.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures. RevTeX 4.

Characterization of Demolished Concretes with Three Different Strengths for Recycling as Coarse Aggregate

This paper presents a physical characterization for the recycling into new concretes of three comminuted concretes: C16/20 (“ordinary concrete”), C50/60 (“high strength concrete”), and C70/85 (“very high strength concrete”). The top size of the crushed concretes was 19.1 mm and the size range was 4.75 to 19.1 mm. The characterization was carried out with coarse aggregate liberation, to be prepared and concentrated in a gravity concentration process. The density distribution of the coarse aggregate, cement paste, and sand was carried out in different size ranges (4.75/19.1 mm; 4.75/8.0 mm; 8.0/12.5 mm; and 12.5/19.1 mm) for the three concretes studied. The form factor of the samples, as well as the porosity determination of particles in different density ranges, are presented. The obtained results indicate that the coarse aggregate liberation was more intensive for the low resistance concrete (C16/20), but a reasonable coarse aggregate recovery is possible for all concretes

A chemical survey of exoplanets with ARIEL

Thousands of exoplanets have now been discovered with a huge range of masses, sizes and orbits: from rocky Earth-like planets to large gas giants grazing the surface of their host star. However, the essential nature of these exoplanets remains largely mysterious: there is no known, discernible pattern linking the presence, size, or orbital parameters of a planet to the nature of its parent star. We have little idea whether the chemistry of a planet is linked to its formation environment, or whether the type of host star drives the physics and chemistry of the planet’s birth, and evolution. ARIEL was conceived to observe a large number (~1000) of transiting planets for statistical understanding, including gas giants, Neptunes, super-Earths and Earth-size planets around a range of host star types using transit spectroscopy in the 1.25–7.8 μm spectral range and multiple narrow-band photometry in the optical. ARIEL will focus on warm and hot planets to take advantage of their well-mixed atmospheres which should show minimal condensation and sequestration of high-Z materials compared to their colder Solar System siblings. Said warm and hot atmospheres are expected to be more representative of the planetary bulk composition. Observations of these warm/hot exoplanets, and in particular of their elemental composition (especially C, O, N, S, Si), will allow the understanding of the early stages of planetary and atmospheric formation during the nebular phase and the following few million years. ARIEL will thus provide a representative picture of the chemical nature of the exoplanets and relate this directly to the type and chemical environment of the host star. ARIEL is designed as a dedicated survey mission for combined-light spectroscopy, capable of observing a large and well-defined planet sample within its 4-year mission lifetime. Transit, eclipse and phase-curve spectroscopy methods, whereby the signal from the star and planet are differentiated using knowledge of the planetary ephemerides, allow us to measure atmospheric signals from the planet at levels of 10–100 part per million (ppm) relative to the star and, given the bright nature of targets, also allows more sophisticated techniques, such as eclipse mapping, to give a deeper insight into the nature of the atmosphere. These types of observations require a stable payload and satellite platform with broad, instantaneous wavelength coverage to detect many molecular species, probe the thermal structure, identify clouds and monitor the stellar activity. The wavelength range proposed covers all the expected major atmospheric gases from e.g. H2O, CO2, CH4 NH3, HCN, H2S through to the more exotic metallic compounds, such as TiO, VO, and condensed species. Simulations of ARIEL performance in conducting exoplanet surveys have been performed – using conservative estimates of mission performance and a full model of all significant noise sources in the measurement – using a list of potential ARIEL targets that incorporates the latest available exoplanet statistics. The conclusion at the end of the Phase A study, is that ARIEL – in line with the stated mission objectives – will be able to observe about 1000 exoplanets depending on the details of the adopted survey strategy, thus confirming the feasibility of the main science objectives.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Bringing Stellar Evolution & Feedback Together: Summary of proposals from the Lorentz Center Workshop, 2022

Stars strongly impact their environment, and shape structures on all scales throughout the universe, in a process known as ``feedback''. Due to the complexity of both stellar evolution and the physics of larger astrophysical structures, there remain many unanswered questions about how feedback operates, and what we can learn about stars by studying their imprint on the wider universe. In this white paper, we summarize discussions from the Lorentz Center meeting `Bringing Stellar Evolution and Feedback Together' in April 2022, and identify key areas where further dialogue can bring about radical changes in how we view the relationship between stars and the universe they live in.Comment: Accepted to the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacifi

Brown dwarfs and very low mass stars in the Hyades cluster : a dynamically evolved mass function

We conducted a search for brown dwarfs (BDs) and very low mass (VLM) stars in the 625 Myr-old Hyades cluster in order to derive the cluster's mass function across the stellar-substellar boundary. We performed a deep (I=23, z=22.5) photometric survey over 16 sq.deg. around the cluster center, followed up with K-band photometry to measure the proper motion of candidate members, and optical and near-IR spectroscopy of probable BD and VLM members. We report the discovery of the first 2 brown dwarfs in the Hyades cluster. The 2 objects have a spectral type early-T and their optical and near-IR photometry as well as their proper motion are consistent with them being cluster members. According to models, their mass is 50 Jupiter masses at an age of 625 Myr. We also report the discovery of 3 new very low mass stellar members of the cluster, and confirm the membership of 16 others. We combine these results with a list of previously known cluster members to build the present-day mass function (PDMF) of the Hyades cluster from 50 Jupiter masses to 3Mo. We find the Hyades PDMF to be strongly deficient in very low mass objects and brown dwarfs compared to the IMF of younger open clusters such as the Pleiades. We interpret this deficiency as the result of dynamical evolution over the past few 100 Myr, i.e., the preferential evaporation of low mass cluster members due to weak gravitational encounters. We thus estimate that the Hyades cluster currently hosts about 10-15 brown dwarfs, while its initial substellar population may have amounted up to 150-200 members.Comment: 16 page

Modeling disk fragmentation and multiplicity in massive star formation

We investigate the formation and early evolution and fragmentation of an accretion disk around a forming massive protostar. We use a grid-based self-gravity-radiation-hydrodynamics code including a sub-grid module for stellar and dust evolution. On purpose, we do not use sink particles to allow for all paths of fragment formation and destruction, but instead keeping the spatial grid resolution high enough to properly resolve the physical length scales of the problem. We use a 3D grid in spherical coordinates with a logarithmic scaling in the radial direction and cosine scaling in the polar direction. Because of that, roughly 25% of the total number of grid cells, corresponding to $\sim$ 26 million grid cells, are used to model the disk physics. They constitute the highest resolution simulations performed up to now on disk fragmentation around a forming massive star with the physics considered here. We study the convergence of our results by performing the same simulation for 5 different resolutions. We start from the collapse of a molecular cloud; a massive (proto)star is formed in its center, surrounded by a fragmenting Keplerian-like accretion disk with spiral arms. The fragments have masses of $\sim 1 M_\odot$, and their continuous interactions with the disk, spiral arms and other fragments results in eccentric orbits. Fragments form hydrostatic cores, surrounded by secondary disks with spiral arms that also produce new fragments. We identified several mechanisms of fragment formation, interaction and destruction. Central temperatures of the fragments can reach the hydrogen dissociation limit, form second Larson cores and evolve into companion stars. Based on this, we study the multiplicity predicted by the simulations and find $\sim 6$ companions at different distances from the primary: from possible spectroscopic multiples, to companions at distances between 1000 and 2000 au.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Retrieval of the water ice column and physical properties of water-ice clouds in the martian atmosphere using the OMEGA imaging spectrometer

International audienceUsing spectral images recorded by the OMEGA instrument on Mars Express (Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité), we are able to derive physical properties of aerosols in water-ice clouds on Mars for a distribution of pixels over an observed cloud formation. These properties, mean effective radius, reff, and optical depth (at 0.67 μm), τi, were used to estimate the water ice-column (WIC), and we found an empirical relationship between the WIC and an ice cloud index (ICI). The overall mean of retrieved reff is ∼2.2 μm, with a standard deviation of 0.8 μm, and cloud formations with reff between 4.4 and 5.4 μm are observed. The optical depth varies between 0.2 and 2.0. The OMEGA spectra are primarily sensitive to water ice mass due to absorption, and we find that the ICI, very easy to compute, is a good proxy for the mass of the water-ice column (WIC) along the optical line of sight. Our retrieval of physical properties is limited in time (to before 2010) by the exhaustion of coolant for one of the OMEGA channels, and in space (to equatorial observations between 140∘W and 90∘E) by the availability of surface albedo measurements. However, we used the ICI to compute WIC values for the entire OMEGA data set, which has near-global coverage for Mars years 26–32, and we present a climatology of the WIC derived from the OMEGA data, which features enhancements on the order of 1.2–1.6 pr. μm over the aphelion cloud belt, and 1.5–2.5 pr. μm over the polar hoods. The data set analyzed is for observations between 140°W and 90°E, and between 35∘S and 35∘N. No restriction is placed on season, but the majority of cloudy observations were during the aphelion period from Ls 35∘ to 135∘. This work was motivated by the ability of the OMEGA instrument to observe the distribution of water-ice cloud physical properties, and by the availability of new a priori data sets, especially multi-spectral, aerosol-free surface albedo retrieved from a subset of the OMEGA data featuring a cloud-free sky. The main limitations of the retrieval algorithm are linked to the uncertainties on surface albedo, the dust opacity, and the quantity of water-ice suspended in the atmosphere, which can lead to spectral fits with lower accuracy or unrealistic results. We present distributions of each retrieved parameter, goodness of fit, ICI, and cloud mass, and our investigation of relationships between each parameter. Our approach was to maximize the amount of data analyzed, apply stringent data quality cuts and take a statistical approach to interpretation

Hydroclimate variability in the Caribbean during North Atlantic Heinrich cooling events (H8 and H9)

Abstract We present a speleothem record from western Cuba, spanning the period 98.7–84.9 ka BP. Our record shows two distinctive periods of high δ18O corresponding to dry and/or cold periods during 85–87.6 and 90.2–93.1 ka BP, synchronous with Heinrich events 8 and 9 (H8 and H9). Hence, we provide the first proxy evidence of the local Caribbean climate response to H8 and H9. Interestingly, H8 is more pronounced compared to H9, which may be a local response to lower temperatures in the North Atlantic resulting in a weak AMOC and reduced deep water formation, therefore a stronger south shift of the ITCZ. Our data complement existing speleothem records from western Cuba which, collectively, provide a nearly continuous paleoclimate time-series spanning the last 100 ka BP, indicating a consistent response to millennial-scale events as dry and/or cooler conditions. The comparison with regional paleoclimate records reveals an anti-phased relationship with South America, caused by the southern movements of the ITCZ during millennial-scale events which lead to dry conditions in the Caribbean and a stronger South American Monsoon System