969 research outputs found
Isolating signatures of major cloud-cloud collisions - II. The lifetimes of broad bridge features
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.We investigate the longevity of broad bridge features in positionâvelocity diagrams that appear as a result of cloudâcloud collisions. Broad bridges will have a finite lifetime due to the action of feedback, conversion of gas into stars and the time-scale of the collision. We make a series of analytic arguments with which to estimate these lifetimes. Our simple analytic arguments suggest that for collisions between clouds larger than R ⌠10 pc the lifetime of the broad bridge is more likely to be determined by the lifetime of the collision rather than the radiative or wind feedback disruption time-scale. However, for smaller clouds feedback becomes much more effective. This is because the radiative feedback time-scale scales with the ionizing flux Nly as R7/4Nâ1/4ly R7/4Nlyâ1/4 so a reduction in cloud size requires a relatively large decrease in ionizing photons to maintain a given time-scale. We find that our analytic arguments are consistent with new synthetic observations of numerical simulations of cloudâcloud collisions (including star formation and radiative feedback). We also argue that if the number of observable broad bridges remains ⌠constant, then the disruption time-scale must be roughly equivalent to the collision rate. If this is the case, our analytic arguments also provide collision rate estimates, which we find are readily consistent with previous theoretical models at the scales they consider (clouds larger than about 10 pc) but are much higher for smaller clouds.Peer reviewe
Contrast Mechanisms for the Detection of Ferroelectric Domains with Scanning Force Microscopy
We present a full analysis of the contrast mechanisms for the detection of
ferroelectric domains on all faces of bulk single crystals using scanning force
microscopy exemplified on hexagonally poled lithium niobate. The domain
contrast can be attributed to three different mechanisms: i) the thickness
change of the sample due to an out-of-plane piezoelectric response (standard
piezoresponse force microscopy), ii) the lateral displacement of the sample
surface due to an in-plane piezoresponse, and iii) the electrostatic tip-sample
interaction at the domain boundaries caused by surface charges on the
crystallographic y- and z-faces. A careful analysis of the movement of the
cantilever with respect to its orientation relative to the crystallographic
axes of the sample allows a clear attribution of the observed domain contrast
to the driving forces respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
'Surely the most natural scenario in the worldâ: Representations of âFamilyâ in BBC Pre-school Television
Historically, the majority of work on British childrenâs television has adopted either an institutional or an audience focus, with the texts themselves often overlooked. This neglect has meant that questions of representation in British childrenâs television â including issues such as family, gender, class or ethnicity - have been infrequently analysed in the UK context. In this article, we adopt a primarily qualitative methodology and analyse the various textual manifestations of âfamilyâ, group, or community as represented in a selected number of BBC pre-school programmes. In doing so, we question the (limited amount of) international work that has examined representations of the family in childrenâs television, and argue that nuclear family structures do not predominate in this sphere
Isolating signatures of major cloud-cloud collisions using position-velocity diagrams
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. © 2015 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.Collisions between giant molecular clouds are a potential mechanism for triggering the formation of massive stars, or even super star clusters. The trouble is identifying this process observationally and distinguishing it from other mechanisms. We produce synthetic positionâvelocity diagrams from models of cloudâcloud collisions, non-interacting clouds along the line of sight, clouds with internal radiative feedback and a more complex cloud evolving in a galactic disc, to try and identify unique signatures of collision. We find that a broad bridge feature connecting two intensity peaks, spatially correlated but separated in velocity, is a signature of a high-velocity cloudâcloud collision. We show that the broad bridge feature is resilient to the effects of radiative feedback, at least to around 2.5 Myr after the formation of the first massive (ionizing) star. However for a head-on 10âkmâsâ1 collision, we find that this will only be observable from 20 to 30âperâcent of viewing angles. Such broadâbridge features have been identified towards M20, a very young region of massive star formation that was concluded to be a site of cloudâcloud collision by Torii et al., and also towards star formation in the outer Milky Way by Izumi et al.Peer reviewe
Relaxation dynamics in a Fe7 nanomagnet
We investigate the phonon-induced relaxation dynamics in the Fe
7
magnetic molecule, which is made of
two Fe
3
+
triangles bridged together by a central Fe
3
+
ion. The competition between different antiferromagnetic
exchange interactions leads to a low-spin ground state multiplet with a complex pattern of low-lying excited
levels. We theoretically investigate the decay of the time correlation function of molecular observables, such as the
cluster magnetization, due to the spin-phonon interaction. We find that more than one time contributes to the decay
of the molecular magnetization. The relaxation dynamics is probed by measurements of the nuclear spin-lattice
relaxation rate 1
/T
1
. The interpretation of these measurements allows the determination of the magnetoelastic
coupling strength and to set the scale factor of the relaxation dynamics time scales. In our theoretical interpretation
of 1
/T
1
data we also take into account the wipeout effect at low temperature
Seabird Bycatch in Pelagic Longline Fisheries Is Grossly Underestimated when Using Only Haul Data
Hundreds of thousands of seabirds are killed each year as bycatch in longline fisheries. Seabirds are predominantly caught during line setting but bycatch is generally recorded during line hauling, many hours after birds are caught. Bird loss during this interval may lead to inaccurate bycatch information. In this 15 year study, seabird bycatch was recorded during both line setting and line hauling from four fishing regions: Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, Coral Sea and central Pacific Ocean. Over 43,000 albatrosses, petrels and skuas representing over 25 species were counted during line setting of which almost 6,000 seabirds attempted to take the bait. Bait-taking interactions were placed into one of four categories. (i) The majority (57%) of bait-taking attempts were âunsuccessfulâ involving seabirds that did not take the bait nor get caught or hooked. (ii) One-third of attempts were âsuccessfulâ with seabirds removing the bait while not getting caught. (iii) One-hundred and seventy-six seabirds (3% of attempts) were observed being âcaughtâ during line setting, with three albatross species â Laysan (Phoebastria immutabilis), black-footed (P. nigripes) and black-browed (Thalassarche melanophrys)â dominating this category. However, of these, only 85 (48%) seabird carcasses were retrieved during line hauling. Most caught seabirds were hooked through the bill. (iv) The remainder of seabird-bait interactions (7%) was not clearly observed, but likely involved more âcaughtâ seabirds. Bait taking attempts and percentage outcome (e.g. successful, caught) varied between seabird species and was not always related to species abundance around fishing vessels. Using only haul data to calculate seabird bycatch grossly underestimates actual bycatch levels, with the level of seabird bycatch from pelagic longline fishing possibly double what was previously thought
Giant Molecular clouds: what are they made from, and how do they get there?
We analyse the results of four simulations of isolated galaxies: two with a
rigid spiral potential of fixed pattern speed, but with different degrees of
star-formation induced feedback, one with an axisymmetric galactic potential
and one with a `live' self-gravitating stellar component. Since we use a
Lagrangian method we are able to select gas that lies within giant molecular
clouds (GMCs) at a particular timeframe, and to then study the properties of
this gas at earlier and later times. We find that gas which forms GMCs is not
typical of the interstellar medium at least 50 Myr before the clouds form and
reaches mean densities within an order of magnitude of mean cloud densities by
around 10 Myr before. The gas in GMCs takes at least 50 Myr to return to
typical ISM gas after dispersal by stellar feedback, and in some cases the gas
is never fully recycled. We also present a study of the two-dimensional,
vertically-averaged velocity fields within the ISM. We show that the velocity
fields corresponding to the shortest timescales (that is, those timescales
closest to the immediate formation and dissipation of the clouds) can be
readily understood in terms of the various cloud formation and dissipation
mechanisms. Properties of the flow patterns can be used to distinguish the
processes which drive converging flows (e.g.\ spiral shocks, supernovae) and
thus molecular cloud formation, and we note that such properties may be
detectable with future observations of nearby galaxies.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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