5,752 research outputs found
Star formation in early-type galaxies: the role of stellar winds and kinematics
Early-type galaxies (ETGs) host a hot ISM produced mainly by stellar winds,
and heated by Type Ia supernovae and the thermalization of stellar motions.
High resolution 2D hydrodynamical simulations showed that ordered rotation in
the stellar component results in the formation of a centrifugally supported
cold equatorial disc. In a recent numerical investigation we found that
subsequent generations of stars are formed in this cold disc; this process
consumes most of the cold gas, leaving at the present epoch cold masses
comparable to those observed. Most of the new stellar mass formed a few Gyrs
ago, and resides in a disc.Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure, to appear in proceedings of IAU Symposium 315,
"From Interstellar Clouds to Star-Forming Galaxies: Universal Processes?", P.
Jablonka, F. Van der Tak & P. Andre', ed
The Effect of the AGN Feedback on the Interstellar Medium of Early-Type Galaxies: 2D Hydrodynamical Simulations of the Low-Rotation Case
We present 2D hydrodynamical simulations for the evolution of early-type
galaxies containing central massive black holes (MBHs), starting at age 2 Gyr.
The code contains accurate and physically consistent radiative and mechanical
AGN wind feedback, with parsec-scale central resolution. Mass input comes from
stellar evolution; energy input includes Type Ia and II supernova and stellar
heating; star-formation is included. Realistic, axisymmetric dynamical models
for the galaxies are built solving the Jeans' equations. The lowest mass models
(Mstar = 8 10^{10}Msun) develop global outflows sustained by SNIa's heating,
ending with a significantly lower amount of hot gas and new stars. In more
massive models, nuclear outbursts last to the present epoch, with large and
frequent fluctuations in nuclear emission and from the gas (Lx). Each burst
last ~ 10^{7.5} yr, during which (for r < 2-3 kpc) cold, inflowing, and hot,
outflowing gas phases coexist. The Lx-T relation for the gas matches that of
local galaxies. AGN activity causes positive feedback for star formation.
Roughly half of the total mass loss is recycled into new stars (DeltaMstar),
just ~ 3% of it is accreted on the MBH, the remainder being ejected from the
galaxy. The ratio between the mass of gas expelled to that in to new stars, the
load factor, is ~0.6. Rounder galaxies shapes lead to larger final MBH masses,
DeltaMstar, and Lx. Almost all the time is spent at very low nuclear
luminosities, yet one quarter of the total energy is emitted at an Eddington
ratio > 0.1. The duty-cycle of AGN activity approximates 4% (Abridged).Comment: 26 pages, 15 figure, submitted to ApJ. Comments welcom
Non Markovian Quantum Repeated Interactions and Measurements
A non-Markovian model of quantum repeated interactions between a small
quantum system and an infinite chain of quantum systems is presented. By
adapting and applying usual pro jection operator techniques in this context,
discrete versions of the integro-differential and time-convolutioness Master
equations for the reduced system are derived. Next, an intuitive and rigorous
description of the indirect quantum measurement principle is developed and a
discrete non Markovian stochastic Master equation for the open system is
obtained. Finally, the question of unravelling in a particular model of
non-Markovian quantum interactions is discussed.Comment: 22 page
Properties of Very Luminous Galaxies
Recent analysis of the SSRS2 data based on cell-counts and two-point
correlation function has shown that very luminous galaxies are much more
strongly clustered than fainter galaxies. In fact, the amplitude of the
correlation function of very luminous galaxies () asymptotically
approaches that of clusters. In this paper we investigate the
properties of the most luminous galaxies, with blue absolute magnitude . We find that: 1) the population mix is comparable to that in other ranges
of absolute magnitudes; 2) only a small fraction are located in bona fide
clusters; 3) the bright galaxy-cluster cross-correlation function is
significantly higher on large scales than that measured for fainter galaxies;
4) the correlation length of galaxies brighter than \MB ,
expressed as a function of the mean interparticle distance, appears to follow
the universal dimensionless correlation function found for clusters and radio
galaxies; 5) a large fraction of the bright galaxies are in interacting pairs,
others show evidence for tidal distortions, while some appear to be surrounded
by faint satellite galaxies. We conclude that very luminous optical galaxies
differ from the normal population of galaxies both in the clustering and other
respects. We speculate that this population is highly biased tracers of mass,
being associated to dark halos with masses more comparable to clusters than
typical loose groups.Comment: 29 pages (6 figures) + 2 tables; paper with all figures and images
available at http://boas5.bo.astro.it/~cappi/papers.html; The Astronomical
Journal, in pres
Effects of tidal interactions on the gas flows of elliptical galaxies
During a Hubble time, cluster galaxies may undergo several mutual encounters
close enough to gravitationally perturb their hot, X-ray emitting gas flows. We
ran several 2D, time dependent hydrodynamical models to investigate the effects
of such perturbations on the gas flow inside elliptical galaxies. In
particular, we studied in detail the modifications occurring in the scenario
proposed by D'Ercole et al. (1989), in which the galactic interstellar medium
produced by the aging galactic stellar population, is heated by SNIa at a
decreasing rate. We find that, although the tidal interaction in our models
lasts less than 1 Gyr, its effect extends over several Gyrs. The tidally
induced turbulent flows create dense filaments which cool quickly and accrete
onto the galactic center, producing large spikes in the global Lx. Once this
mechanism starts, it is fed by gravity and amplified by SNIa. In cooling flow
models without supernovae the amplitude of the Lx fluctuations due to the tidal
interaction is substantially reduced. We conclude that, if SNIa significantly
contribute to the energetics of the gas flows in ellipticals, then the observed
spread in the Lx-Lb diagram may be caused, at least in part, by this mechanism.
On the contrary, tidal interactions cannot be responsible for the observed
spread if the pure cooling flow scenario applies (abridged).Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, to be published in ApJ (main journal
Electrostatic tailoring of magnetic interference in quantum point contact ballistic Josephson junctions
The magneto-electrostatic tailoring of the supercurrent in quantum point
contact ballistic Josephson junctions is demonstrated. An etched InAs-based
heterostructure is laterally contacted to superconducting niobium leads and the
existence of two etched side gates permits, in combination with the application
of a perpendicular magnetic field, to modify continuously the magnetic
interference pattern by depleting the weak link. For wider junctions the
supercurrent presents a Fraunhofer-like interference pattern with periodicity
h/2e whereas by shrinking electrostatically the weak link, the periodicity
evolves continuously to a monotonic decay. These devices represent novel
tunable structures that might lead to the study of the elusive Majorana
fermions.Comment: 4.5 pages, 4 color figure
On the polytropic Bondi accretion in two-component galaxy models with a central massive BH
In many investigations involving accretion on a central point mass, ranging from observational studies to cosmological
simulations, including semi-analytical modelling, the classical Bondi accretion theory is the standard tool widely adopted.
Previous works generalized the theory to include the effects of the gravitational field of the galaxy hosting a central black hole
and of electron scattering in the optically thin limit. Here, we apply this extended Bondi problem, in the general polytropic case,
to a class of new two-component galaxy models recently presented. In these models, a Jaffe stellar density profile is embedded in
a dark matter halo such that the total density distribution follows a râ3 profile at large radii; the stellar dynamical quantities can
be expressed in a fully analytical way. The hydrodynamical properties of the flow are set by imposing that the gas temperature at
infinity is proportional to the virial temperature of the stellar component. The isothermal and adiabatic (monoatomic) cases can be
solved analytically; in the other cases, we explore the accretion solution numerically. As non-adiabatic accretion inevitably leads
to an exchange of heat with the ambient, we also discuss some important thermodynamical properties of the polytropic Bondi
accretion and provide the expressions needed to compute the amount of heat exchanged with the environment as a function of
radius. The results can be useful for the subgrid treatment of accretion in numerical simulations, as well as for the interpretation
of observational dat
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