344 research outputs found
Theory of protostellar accretion disks
I will present an overview of the current paradigm for the theory of gaseous accretion disks around young stars. Protostellar disks form from the collapse of rotating molecular cloud cores. The disks evolve via outward angular momentum transport provided by several mechanisms: gravitational instabilities, thermal convective turbulence, and magnetic stresses. I will review the conditions under which these mechanisms are efficient and consistent with the observed disk evolutionary timescales of several million years. Time permitting, I will discuss outbursts in protostellar disks (FU Orionis variables), the effect of planet formation on disk structure, and the dispersal of remnant gas
Collective Modes in a Symmetry-Broken Phase: Antiferromagnetically Correlated Quantum Wells
We investigate the intersubband spin-density-excitation spectrum of a double
quantum well in a low-density symmetry-broken phase with interwell
antiferromagnetic correlations. This spectrum is related to the intensity
measured in depolarized inelastic light scattering (ILS) experiments and
therefore provides a means of empirically identifying the antiferromagnetic
phase. Our computations reveal the existence of two collective modes, a damped
Nambu-Goldstone (NG) mode arising from the broken spin symmetry and an undamped
optical mode. Since the NG mode contains most of the spectral weight, ILS
experiments will need to examine the low-frequency response for signatures of
the antiferromagnetic phase.Comment: 4 pages, REVTEX with psfig macro, 4 figure
Reduction of leukocyte microvascular adherence and preservation of blood-brain barrier function by superoxide-lowering therapies in a piglet model of neonatal asphyxia
Background: Asphyxia is the most common cause of brain damage in newborns. Substantial evidence indicates that leukocyte recruitment in the cerebral vasculature during asphyxia contributes to this damage. We tested the hypothesis that superoxide radical (O2⋅_) promotes an acute post-asphyxial inflammatory response and blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown. We investigated the effects of removing O2⋅_ by superoxide dismutase (SOD) or C3, the cell-permeable SOD mimetic, in protecting against asphyxia-related leukocyte recruitment. We also tested the hypothesis that xanthine oxidase activity is one source of this radical.Methods: Anesthetized piglets were tracheostomized, ventilated, and equipped with closed cranial windows for the assessment of post-asphyxial rhodamine 6G-labeled leukocyte-endothelial adherence and microvascular permeability to sodium fluorescein in cortical venules. Asphyxia was induced by discontinuing ventilation. SOD and C3 were administered by cortical superfusion. The xanthine oxidase inhibitor oxypurinol was administered intravenously.Results: Leukocyte-venular adherence significantly increased during the initial 2 h of post-asphyxial reperfusion. BBB permeability was also elevated relative to non-asphyxial controls. Inhibition of O2⋅_ production by oxypurinol, or elimination of O2⋅_ by SOD or C3, significantly reduced rhodamine 6G-labeled leukocyte-endothelial adherence and improved BBB integrity, as measured by sodium fluorescein leak from cerebral microvessels.Conclusion: Using three different strategies to either prevent formation or enhance elimination of O2⋅_ during the post-asphyxial period, we saw both reduced leukocyte adherence and preserved BBB function with treatment. These findings suggest that agents which lower O2⋅_ in brain may be attractive new therapeutic interventions for the protection of the neonatal brain following asphyxia
Synergy as a strategy to kill multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa with common antibiotics
Effects of hydrostatic and uniaxial stress on the Schottky barrier heights of Ga-polarity and N-polarity n-GaN
We report measurements of the Schottky barrier heights of Ni/Au contacts on Ga-polarity and N-polarity n-GaN under hydrostatic pressure and applied in-plane uniaxial stress. Under hydrostatic pressure the two different polarities of GaN yield significantly different rates of Schottky barrier height increase with increasing pressure. Uniaxial stress parallel to the surface affects the Schottky barrier height only minimally. The observed changes in barrier height under stress are attributed to a combination of band structure and piezoelectric effects
Formation of giant planets around stars with various masses
We examine the predictions of the core accretion - gas capture model
concerning the efficiency of planet formation around stars with various masses.
First, we follow the evolution of gas and solids from the moment when all
solids are in the form of small grains to the stage when most of them are in
the form of planetesimals. We show that the surface density of the planetesimal
swarm tends to be higher around less massive stars. Then, we derive the minimum
surface density of the planetesimal swarm required for the formation of a giant
planet both in a numerical and in an approximate analytical approach. We
combine these results by calculating a set of representative disk models
characterized by different masses, sizes, and metallicities, and by estimating
their capability of forming giant planets. Our results show that the set of
protoplanetary disks capable of giant planet formation is larger for less
massive stars. Provided that the distribution of initial disk parameters does
not depend too strongly on the mass of the central star, we predict that the
percentage of stars with giant planets should increase with decreasing stellar
mass. Furthermore, we identify the radial redistribution of solids during the
formation of planetesimal swarms as the key element in explaining these
effects.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 9 pages, 9 figure
Spontaneous Interlayer Charge Transfer near the Magnetic Quantum Limit
Experiments reveal that a confined electron system with two equally-populated
layers at zero magnetic field can spontaneously break this symmetry through an
interlayer charge transfer near the magnetic quantum limit. New fractional
quantum Hall states at unusual total filling factors such as \nu = 11/15 (= 1/3
+ 2/5) stabilize as signatures that the system deforms itself, at substantial
electrostatic energy cost, in order to gain crucial correlation energy by
"locking in" separate incompressible liquid phases at unequal fillings in the
two layers (e.g., layered 1/3 and 2/5 states in the case of \nu = 11/15).Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures (1 color) included in text. Related papers at
http://www.ee.princeton.edu/~hari/papers.htm
Spitzer spectral line mapping of the HH211 outflow
Aims: We employ archival Spitzer slit-scan observations of the HH211 outflow
in order to investigate its warm gas content, assess the jet mass flux in the
form of H2 and probe for the existence of an embedded atomic jet. Methods:
Detected molecular and atomic lines are interpreted by means of emission line
diagnostics and an existing grid of molecular shock models. The physical
properties of the warm gas are compared against other molecular jet tracers and
to the results of a similar study towards the L1448-C outflow. Results: We have
detected and mapped the v=0-0 S(0) - S(7) H2 lines and fine-structure lines of
S, Fe+, and Si+. H2 is detected down to 5" from the source and is characterized
by a "cool" T~300K and a "warm" T~1000 K component, with an extinction Av ~ 8
mag. The amount of cool H2 towards the jet agrees with that estimated from CO
assuming fully molecular gas. The warm component is well fitted by C-type
shocks with a low beam filling factor ~ 0.01-0.04 and a mass-flux similar to
the cool H2. The fine-structure line emission arises from dense gas with
ionization fraction ~0.5 - 5 x 10e-3, suggestive of dissociative shocks. Line
ratios to sulfur indicate that iron and silicon are depleted compared to solar
abundances by a factor ~10-50. Conclusions: Spitzer spectral mapping
observations reveal for the first time a cool H component towards the CO
jet of HH211 consistent with the CO material being fully molecular and warm at
~ 300 K. The maps also reveal for the first time the existence of an embedded
atomic jet in the HH211 outflow that can be traced down to the central source
position. Its significant iron and silicon depletion excludes an origin from
within the dust sublimation zone around the protostar. The momentum-flux seems
insufficient to entrain the CO jet, although current uncertainties on jet speed
and shock conditions are too large for a definite conclusion.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Exchange Instabilities in Semiconductor Double Quantum Well Systems
We consider various exchange-driven electronic instabilities in semiconductor
double-layer systems in the absence of any external magnetic field. We
establish that there is no exchange-driven bilayer to monolayer charge transfer
instability in the double-layer systems. We show that, within the unrestricted
Hartree-Fock approximation, the low density stable phase (even in the absence
of any interlayer tunneling) is a quantum ``pseudospin rotated'' spontaneous
interlayer phase coherent spin-polarized symmetric state rather than the
classical Ising-like charge-transfer phase. The U(1) symmetry of the double
quantum well system is broken spontaneously at this low density quantum phase
transition, and the layer density develops quantum fluctuations even in the
absence of any interlayer tunneling. The phase diagram for the double quantum
well system is calculated in the carrier density--layer separation space, and
the possibility of experimentally observing various quantum phases is
discussed. The situation in the presence of an external electric field is
investigated in some detail using the
spin-polarized-local-density-approximation-based self-consistent technique and
good agreement with existing experimental results is obtained.Comment: 24 pages, figures included. Also available at
http://www-cmg.physics.umd.edu/~lzheng/preprint/ct.uu/ . Revised final
version to appear in PR
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