1,081 research outputs found
A New Contributor to Chemical Evolution in High-Redshift Galaxies
The recent discovery of a new population of stars exhibiting unusual
elemental abundance patterns characterized by enhanced Ti to Ga elements and
low alpha and n-capture elements suggests the contribution of a new class of
supernovae, probably a kind of Type Ia supernovae associated with close binary
evolution. The role of these supernovae in chemical evolution is negligible in
normal galaxies that undergo moderate star formation such as our own. Thus,
while the frequency of occurrence would be too low to detect in low-redshift
galaxies, it may represent a prominent population in high-redshift objects such
as early epoch massive elliptical galaxies and QSOs. The chemical contributor
of this proposed type of supernovae in combination with recognized supernovae
is shown to be compatible with the recent observational features in the distant
universe, successfully reproducing the Type II supernovae-like abundance
pattern with enhancement of Ga and Ge in the gas of newborn massive galaxies
and high iron abundances in QSOs even at redshifts of around 6.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, To appear in ApJ Letter
NLTE determination of the aluminium abundance in a homogeneous sample of extremely metal-poor stars
Aims: Aluminium is a key element to constrain the models of the chemical
enrichment and the yields of the first supernovae. But obtaining precise Al
abundances in extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars requires that the non-LTE
effects be carefully taken into account.
Methods: The NLTE profiles of the blue resonance aluminium lines have been
computed in a sample of 53 extremely metal-poor stars with a modified version
of the program MULTI applied to an atomic model of the Al atom with 78 levels
of Al I and 13 levels of Al II, and compared to the observations.
Results: With these new determinations, all the stars of the sample show a
ratio Al/Fe close to the solar value: [Al/Fe] =-0.06 +- 0.10 with a very small
scatter. These results are compared to the models of the chemical evolution of
the halo using different models of SN II and are compatible with recent
computations. The sodium-rich giants are not found to be also aluminium-rich
and thus, as expected, the convection in these giants only brings to the
surface the products of the Ne-Na cycle.Comment: To be published on A&
Dense, Fe-rich Ejecta in Supernova Remnants DEM L238 and DEM L249: A New Class of Type Ia Supernova?
We present observations of two LMC supernova remnants (SNRs), DEM L238 and
DEM L249, with the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray satellites. Bright central
emission, surrounded by a faint shell, is present in both remnants. The central
emission has an entirely thermal spectrum dominated by strong Fe L-shell lines,
with the deduced Fe abundance in excess of solar and not consistent with the
LMC abundance. This Fe overabundance leads to the conclusion that DEM L238 and
DEM L249 are remnants of thermonuclear (Type Ia) explosions. The shell emission
originates in gas swept up and heated by the blast wave. A standard Sedov
analysis implies about 50 solar masses in both swept-up shells, SNR ages
between 10,000 and 15,000 yr, low (< 0.05 cm^-3) preshock densities, and
subluminous explosions with energies of 3x10^50 ergs. The central Fe-rich
supernova ejecta are close to collisional ionization equilibrium. Their
presence is unexpected, because standard Type Ia SNR models predict faint
ejecta emission with short ionization ages. Both SNRs belong to a previously
unrecognized class of Type Ia SNRs characterized by bright interior emission.
Denser than expected ejecta and/or a dense circumstellar medium around the
progenitors are required to explain the presence of Fe-rich ejecta in these
SNRs. Substantial amounts of circumstellar gas are more likely to be present in
explosions of more massive Type Ia progenitors. DEM L238, DEM L249, and similar
SNRs could be remnants of ``prompt'' Type Ia explosions with young (~100 Myr
old) progenitors.Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, ApJ, in pres
Lambda-Cold Dark Matter, Stellar Feedback, and the Galactic Halo Abundance Pattern
(Abridged) The hierarchical formation scenario for the stellar halo requires
the accretion and disruption of dwarf galaxies, yet low-metallicity halo stars
are enriched in alpha-elements compared to similar, low-metallicity stars in
dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies. We address this primary challenge for the
hierarchical formation scenario for the stellar halo by combining chemical
evolution modelling with cosmologically-motivated mass accretion histories for
the Milky Way dark halo and its satellites. We demonstrate that stellar halo
and dwarf galaxy abundance patterns can be explained naturally within the LCDM
framework. Our solution relies fundamentally on the LCDM model prediction that
the majority of the stars in the stellar halo were formed within a few
relatively massive, ~5 x 10^10 Msun, dwarf irregular (dIrr)-size dark matter
halos, which were accreted and destroyed ~10 Gyr in the past. These systems
necessarily have short-lived, rapid star formation histories, are enriched
primarily by Type II supernovae, and host stars with enhanced [a/Fe]
abundances. In contrast, dwarf spheroidal galaxies exist within low-mass dark
matter hosts of ~10^9 Msun, where supernovae winds are important in setting the
intermediate [a/Fe] ratios observed. Our model includes enrichment from Type Ia
and Type II supernovae as well as stellar winds, and includes a
physically-motivated supernovae feedback prescription calibrated to reproduce
the local dwarf galaxy stellar mass - metallicity relation. We use
representative examples of the type of dark matter halos we expect to host a
destroyed ``stellar halo progenitor'' dwarf, a surviving dIrr, and a surviving
dSph galaxy, and show that their derived abundance patterns, stellar masses,
and gas masses are consistent with those observed for each type of system.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, version accepted by Ap
Innovations in the Analysis of Chandra-ACIS Observations
As members of the instrument team for the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer
(ACIS) on NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and as Chandra General Observers, we
have developed a wide variety of data analysis methods that we believe are
useful to the Chandra community, and have constructed a significant body of
publicly-available software (the ACIS Extract package) addressing important
ACIS data and science analysis tasks. This paper seeks to describe these data
analysis methods for two purposes: to document the data analysis work performed
in our own science projects, and to help other ACIS observers judge whether
these methods may be useful in their own projects (regardless of what tools and
procedures they choose to implement those methods).
The ACIS data analysis recommendations we offer here address much of the
workflow in a typical ACIS project, including data preparation, point source
detection via both wavelet decomposition and image reconstruction, masking
point sources, identification of diffuse structures, event extraction for both
point and diffuse sources, merging extractions from multiple observations,
nonparametric broad-band photometry, analysis of low-count spectra, and
automation of these tasks. Many of the innovations presented here arise from
several, often interwoven, complications that are found in many Chandra
projects: large numbers of point sources (hundreds to several thousand), faint
point sources, misaligned multiple observations of an astronomical field, point
source crowding, and scientifically relevant diffuse emission.Comment: Accepted by the ApJ, 2010 Mar 10 (\#343576) 39 pages, 16 figure
Casorati Determinant Form of Dark Soliton Solutions of the Discrete Nonlinear Schr\"odinger Equation
It is shown that the -dark soliton solutions of the integrable discrete
nonlinear Schr\"odinger (IDNLS) equation are given in terms of the Casorati
determinant. The conditions for reduction, complex conjugacy and regularity for
the Casorati determinant solution are also given explicitly. The relationship
between the IDNLS and the relativistic Toda lattice is discussed.Comment: First version was uploaded in 23 Jun 2005. Published in Journal of
the Physical Society of Japan in May, 200
Molecular Hydrogen Emission from Protoplanetary Disks II. Effects of X-ray Irradiation and Dust Evolution
Detailed models for the density and temperature profiles of gas and dust in
protoplanetary disks are constructed by taking into account X-ray and
ultraviolet (UV) irradiation from a central T Tauri star, as well as dust size
growth and settling toward the disk midplane. The spatial and size
distributions of dust grains in the disks are numerically computed by solving
the coagulation equation for settling dust particles. The level populations and
line emission of molecular hydrogen are calculated using the derived physical
structure of the disks. X-ray irradiation is the dominant heating source of the
gas in the inner disk region and in the surface layer, while the far UV heating
dominates otherwise. If the central star has strong X-ray and weak UV
radiation, the H2 level populations are controlled by X-ray pumping, and the
X-ray induced transition lines could be observable. If the UV irradiation is
strong, the level populations are controlled by thermal collisions or UV
pumping, depending on the properties of the dust grains in the disks. As the
dust particles evolve in the disks, the gas temperature at the disk surface
drops because the grain photoelectric heating becomes less efficient, while the
UV radiation fields become stronger due to the decrease of grain opacity. This
makes the H2 level populations change from local thermodynamic equilibrium
(LTE) to non-LTE distributions, which results in changes to the line ratios of
H2 emission. Our results suggest that dust evolution in protoplanetary disks
could be observable through the H2 line ratios. The emission lines are strong
from disks irradiated by strong UV and X-rays and possessing small dust grains;
such disks will be good targets in which to observe H2 emission.Comment: 33 pages, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Where Are the Baryons? III: Non-Equilibrium Effects and Observables
Numerical simulations of the intergalactic medium have shown that at the
present epoch a significant fraction (40-50%) of the baryonic component should
be found in the (T~10^6K) Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) - with several
recent observational lines of evidence indicating the validity of the
prediction. We here recompute the evolution of the WHIM with the following
major improvements: (1) galactic superwind feedback processes from galaxy/star
formation are explicitly included; (2) major metal species (O V to O IX) are
computed explicitly in a non-equilibrium way; (3) mass and spatial dynamic
ranges are larger by a factor of 8 and 2, respectively, than in our previous
simulations. We find: (1) non-equilibrium calculations produce significantly
different results from ionization equilibrium calculations. (2) The abundance
of O VI absorption lines based on non-equilibrium simulations with galactic
superwinds is in remarkably good agreement with latest observations, implying
the validity of our model, while the predicted abundances for O VII and O VIII
absorption lines appear to be lower than observed but the observational
errorbars are currently very large. The expected abundances for O VI (as well
as Lyman alpha), O VII and O VIII absorption systems are in the range 50-100
per unit redshift at EW=1km/s decreasing to 10-20 per unit redshift at
EW=10km/s. The number of O VI absorption lines with EW>100km/s is very small,
while there are about 1-3 lines per unit redshift for O VII and O VIII
absorption lines at EW=100km/s. (3) Emission lines, primarily O VI and \lya in
the UV and O VII and O VIII in the soft X-rays are potentially observable by
future missions. The number of emission lines per unit redshift that may be
detectable by planned UV and soft X-ray missions are in the order of 0.1-1.Comment: submitted to ApJ, 52 pages, 27 figures, high res version at
http://www.astro.princeton.edu/~cen/baryonIII.ps.g
Chandra Study of the Cepheus B Star Forming Region: Stellar Populations and the Initial Mass Function
Cepheus B (Cep B) molecular cloud and a portion of the nearby Cep OB3b OB
association, one of the most active regions of star formation within 1 kpc, has
been observed with the ACIS detector on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We
detect 431 X-ray sources, of which 89% are confidently identified as clustered
pre-main sequence stars. Two main results are obtained. First, we provide the
best census to date for the stellar population of the region. We identify many
members of two rich stellar clusters: the lightly obscured Cep OB3b
association, and the deeply embedded cluster in Cep B whose existence was
previously traced only by a handful of radio sources and T Tauri stars. Second,
we find a discrepancy between the X-ray Luminosity Functions of the Cep OB3b
and the Orion Nebula Cluster. This may be due to different Initial Mass
Functions of two regions (excess of ~0.3 solar mass stars), or different age
distributions. Several other results are obtained. A diffuse X-ray component
seen in the field is attributed to the integrated emission of unresolved low
mass PMS stars. The X-ray emission from HD 217086 (O7n), the principle ionizing
source of the region, follows the standard model involving many small shocks in
an unmagnetized radiatively accelerated wind. The X-ray source #294 joins a
number of similar superflare PMS stars where long magnetic structures may
connect the protoplanetary disk to the stellar surface.Comment: 72 pages, 31 figures, 8 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap
Thermal and Non-thermal X-Rays from the LMC Super Bubble 30 Dor C
We report on the discovery of thermal and non-thermal X-rays from the shells
of the super bubble (SB) 30 Dor C in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The
X-ray morphology is a nearly circular shell with a radius of about 40 pc, which
is bright on the northern and western sides. The spectra of the shells are
different from region to region. The southern shell shows clear emission lines,
and is well fitted with a model of a thin-thermal plasma (kT = 0.21keV) in
non-equilibrium ionization (NEI) plus a power-law component. This thermal
plasma is located inside of the H alpha emission, which is the outer edge of
the shell of the SB. The northern and western sides of the SB are dim in H
alpha emission, but are bright in non-thermal (power-law) X-rays with a photon
index of 2.1-2.9. The non-thermal X-ray shell traces the outer boundary of the
radio shell. These features of thin-thermal and non-thermal X-rays are similar
to those of SN 1006, a prototype of synchrotron X-ray shell, but the
non-thermal component of 30 Dor C is about ten-times brighter than that of SN
1006. 30 Dor C is the first candidate of an extragalactic SB, in which
energetic electrons are accelerating in the shell. The age is much older than
that of SN 1006, and hence the particle acceleration time in this SB may be
longer than those in normal shell-like SNRs. We found point-like sources
associated with some of tight star clusters. The X-ray luminosity and spectrum
are consistent with those of young clusters of massive stars. Point-like
sources with non-thermal spectra are also found in the SB. These may be
background objects (AGNs) or stellar remnants (neutron stars or black holes).Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in ApJ, the paper with
full resolution images in
http://www-cr.scphys.kyoto-u.ac.jp/member/bamba/Paper/30DorC.pd
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