927 research outputs found
Gas Kinematics and Excitation in the Filamentary IRDC G035.39-00.33
Some theories of dense molecular cloud formation involve dynamical
environments driven by converging atomic flows or collisions between
preexisting molecular clouds. The determination of the dynamics and physical
conditions of the gas in clouds at the early stages of their evolution is
essential to establish the dynamical imprints of such collisions, and to infer
the processes involved in their formation. We present multi-transition 13CO and
C18O maps toward the IRDC G035.39-00.33, believed to be at the earliest stages
of evolution. The 13CO and C18O gas is distributed in three filaments
(Filaments 1, 2 and 3), where the most massive cores are preferentially found
at the intersecting regions between them. The filaments have a similar
kinematic structure with smooth velocity gradients of ~0.4-0.8 km s-1 pc-1.
Several scenarios are proposed to explain these gradients, including cloud
rotation, gas accretion along the filaments, global gravitational collapse, and
unresolved sub-filament structures. These results are complemented by HCO+,
HNC, H13CO+ and HN13C single-pointing data to search for gas infall signatures.
The 13CO and C18O gas motions are supersonic across G035.39-00.33, with the
emission showing broader linewidths toward the edges of the IRDC. This could be
due to energy dissipation at the densest regions in the cloud. The average H2
densities are ~5000-7000 cm-3, with Filaments 2 and 3 being denser and more
massive than Filament 1. The C18O data unveils three regions with high CO
depletion factors (f_D~5-12), similar to those found in massive starless cores.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Economic and Population Base Study of the Lansing Tri-County Area - An Interindustry Relations Analysis
Meshfree finite differences for vector Poisson and pressure Poisson equations with electric boundary conditions
We demonstrate how meshfree finite difference methods can be applied to solve
vector Poisson problems with electric boundary conditions. In these, the
tangential velocity and the incompressibility of the vector field are
prescribed at the boundary. Even on irregular domains with only convex corners,
canonical nodal-based finite elements may converge to the wrong solution due to
a version of the Babuska paradox. In turn, straightforward meshfree finite
differences converge to the true solution, and even high-order accuracy can be
achieved in a simple fashion. The methodology is then extended to a specific
pressure Poisson equation reformulation of the Navier-Stokes equations that
possesses the same type of boundary conditions. The resulting numerical
approach is second order accurate and allows for a simple switching between an
explicit and implicit treatment of the viscosity terms.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure
The three-dimensional structure of Galactic molecular cloud complexes out to 2.5 kpc
Knowledge of the three-dimensional structure of Galactic molecular clouds is
important for understanding how clouds are affected by processes such as
turbulence and magnetic fields and how this structure effects star formation
within them. Great progress has been made in this field with the arrival of the
Gaia mission, which provides accurate distances to stars.
Combining these distances with extinctions inferred from optical-IR, we recover
the three-dimensional structure of 16 Galactic molecular cloud complexes at
pc resolution using our novel three-dimensional dust mapping algorithm
\texttt{Dustribution}. Using \texttt{astrodendro} we derive a catalogue of
physical parameters for each complex. We recover structures with aspect ratios
between 1 and 11, i.e.\ everything from near-spherical to very elongated
shapes. We find a large variation in cloud environments that is not apparent
when studying them in two-dimensions. For example, the nearby California and
Orion A clouds look similar on-sky, but we find California to be more
sheet-like, and massive, which could explain their different star-formation
rates. In Carina, our most distant complex, we observe evidence for dust
sputtering, which explains its measured low dust mass. By calculating the total
mass of these individual clouds, we demonstrate that it is necessary to define
cloud boundaries in three-dimensions in order to obtain an accurate mass;
simply integrating the extinction overestimates masses. We find that Larson's
relationship on mass vs radius holds true whether you assume a spherical shape
for the cloud or take their true extents.Comment: accepted for publication by MNRAS, 23 pages, 9 figures, 3 table
Deuterium Fractionation across the Infrared Dark Cloud G034.77-00.55 interacting with the Supernova Remnant W44
Supernova remnants (SNRs) may regulate star formation in galaxies. For
example, SNR-driven shocks may form new molecular gas or compress pre-existing
clouds and trigger the formation of new stars. To test this scenario, we
measure the deuteration of , , a well-studied tracer
of pre-stellar cores, across the Infrared Dark Cloud (IRDC) G034.77-00.55,
known to be experiencing a shock interaction with the SNR W44. We use
NH and ND J=1-0 single pointing observations obtained with the
30m antenna at the Instituto de Radioastronomia Millimetrica to infer
toward five positions across the cloud, namely a massive
core, different regions across the shock front, a dense clump and ambient gas.
We find in the range 0.03-0.1, several orders of magnitude
larger than the cosmic D/H ratio (10). Across the shock front,
is enhanced by more than a factor of 2
(0.05-0.07) with respect to the ambient gas (0.03)
and similar to that measured generally in pre-stellar cores. Indeed, in the
massive core and dense clump regions of this IRDC we measure
}0.1. We find enhanced deuteration of across
the region of the shock, at a level that is enhanced with respect to regions of
unperturbed gas. It is possible that this has been induced by shock
compression, which would then be indirect evidence that the shock is triggering
conditions for future star formation. However, since unperturbed dense regions
also show elevated levels of deuteration, further, higher-resolution studies
are needed to better understand the structure and kinematics of the deuterated
material in the shock region, e.g., if it still in relatively diffuse form or
already organised in a population of low-mass pre-stellar cores.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&A; 8 pages, 5 figure
13C dynamic nuclear polarization in diamond via a microwave-free 'integrated' cross effect
Color-center-hosting semiconductors are emerging as promising source
materials for low-field dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) at or near room
temperature, but hyperfine broadening, susceptibility to magnetic field
heterogeneity, and nuclear spin relaxation induced by other paramagnetic
defects set practical constraints difficult to circumvent. Here, we explore an
alternate route to color-center-assisted DNP using nitrogen-vacancy (NV)
centers in diamond coupled to substitutional nitrogen impurities, the so-called
P1 centers. Working near the level anti-crossing condition - where the P1
Zeeman splitting matches one of the NV spin transitions - we demonstrate
efficient microwave-free 13C DNP through the use of consecutive magnetic field
sweeps and continuous optical excitation. The amplitude and sign of the
polarization can be controlled by adjusting the low-to-high and high-to-low
magnetic field sweep rates in each cycle so that one is much faster than the
other. By comparing the 13C DNP response for different crystal orientations, we
show that the process is robust to magnetic field/NV misalignment, a feature
that makes the present technique suitable to diamond powders and settings where
the field is heterogeneous. Applications to shallow NVs could capitalize on the
greater physical proximity between surface paramagnetic defects and outer
nuclei to efficiently polarize target samples in contact with the diamond
crystal
ALMA uncovers highly filamentary structure towards the Sgr E region
We report on the discovery of linear filaments observed in CO(1-0) emission
for a field of view toward the Sgr E star forming region centered at
(l,b)=(358.720, 0.011). The Sgr E region is thought to be at
the turbulent intersection of the ''far dust lane'' associated with the
Galactic bar and the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). This region is subject to
strong accelerations which are generally thought to inhibit star formation, yet
Sgr E contains a large number of HII regions. We present CO(1-0),
CO(1-0), and CO(1-0) spectral line observations from ALMA and
provide measurements of the physical and kinematic properties for two of the
brightest filaments. These filaments have widths (FWHM) of pc and are
oriented nearly parallel to the Galactic plane, with angles from the Galactic
plane of . The filaments are elongated, with lower limit aspect
ratios of 5:1. For both filaments we detect two distinct velocity
components that are separated by about 15 km s. In the CO
spectral line data with 0.09 pc spatial resolution, we find that these
velocity components have relatively narrow (1-2 km s) FWHM
linewidths when compared to other sources towards the Galactic center. The
properties of these filaments suggest that the gas in the Sgr E complex is
being ''stretched'' as it is rapidly accelerated by the gravitational field of
the Galactic bar while falling towards the CMZ, a result that could provide
insight into the extreme environment surrounding this region and the
large-scale processes which fuel this environment.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
An Optical Readout TPC (O-TPC) for Studies in Nuclear Astrophysics With Gamma-Ray Beams at HIgS
We report on the construction, tests, calibrations and commissioning of an
Optical Readout Time Projection Chamber (O-TPC) detector operating with a
CO2(80%) + N2(20%) gas mixture at 100 and 150 Torr. It was designed to measure
the cross sections of several key nuclear reactions involved in stellar
evolution. In particular, a study of the rate of formation of oxygen and carbon
during the process of helium burning will be performed by exposing the chamber
gas to intense nearly mono-energetic gamma-ray beams at the High Intensity
Gamma Source (HIgS) facility. The O-TPC has a sensitive target-drift volume of
30x30x21 cm^3. Ionization electrons drift towards a double parallel grid
avalanche multiplier, yielding charge multiplication and light emission.
Avalanche induced photons from N2 emission are collected, intensified and
recorded with a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) camera, providing two-dimensional
track images. The event's time projection (third coordinate) and the deposited
energy are recorded by photomultipliers and by the TPC charge-signal,
respectively. A dedicated VME-based data acquisition system and associated data
analysis tools were developed to record and analyze these data. The O-TPC has
been tested and calibrated with 3.183 MeV alpha-particles emitted by a 148Gd
source placed within its volume with a measured energy resolution of 3.0%.
Tracks of alpha and 12C particles from the dissociation of 16O and of three
alpha-particles from the dissociation of 12C have been measured during initial
in-beam test experiments performed at the HIgS facility at Duke University. The
full detection system and its performance are described and the results of the
preliminary in-beam test experiments are reported.Comment: Supported by the Richard F. Goodman Yale-Weizmann Exchange Program,
ACWIS, NY, and USDOE grant Numbers: DE-FG02-94ER40870 and DE-FG02-97ER4103
Widespread deuteration across the IRDC G035.39-00.33
© 2016 The Authors. Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) are cold, dense regions that are usually found within Giant Molecular Clouds. Ongoing star formation within IRDCs is typically still deeply embedded within the surrounding molecular gas. Characterizing the properties of relatively quiescent IRDCs may therefore help us to understand the earliest phases of the star formation process. Studies of local molecular clouds have revealed that deuterated species are enhanced in the earliest phases of star formation. In this paper, we test this towards IRDC G035.39-00.33. We present an 80 arcsec by 140 arcsec map of the J = 2 → 1 transition of N2D+, obtained with the Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique 30 m telescope telescope. We find that N2D+ is widespread throughout G035.39-00.33. Complementary observations of N2H+ (1 - 0) are used to estimate the deuterium fraction, DN2H+ frac ≡ N(N2D+)/N(N2H+). We report a mean DN2H+ frac = 0.04 ± 0.01, with a maximum of DN2H+ frac = 0.09 ± 0.02. The mean deuterium fraction is ~3 orders of magnitude greater than the interstellar [D]/[H] ratio. High angular resolution observations are required to exclude beam dilution effects of compact deuterated cores. Using chemical modelling, we find that the average observed values of DN2H+ frac are in agreement with an equilibrium deuterium fraction, given the general properties of the cloud. This implies that the IRDC is at least ~3 Myr old, which is ~8 times longer than the mean free-fall time of the observed deuterated region
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