3,112 research outputs found
Grain Survival in Supernova Remnants and Herbig-Haro Objects
By using the flux ratio [FeII]8617/[OI]6300, we demonstrate that most of the
interstellar dust grains survive in shocks associated with supernova remnants
and Herbig-Haro objects. The [FeII]/[OI] flux ratio is sensitive to the
gas-phase Fe/O abundance ratio, but is insensitive to the ionization state,
temperature, and density of the gas. We calculate the [FeII]/[OI] flux ratio in
shocks, and compare the results with the observational data. When only 20% of
iron is in the gas phase, the models reproduce most successfully the
observations. This finding is in conflict with the current consensus that
shocks destroy almost all the grains and 100% of metals are in the gas phase.
We comment on previous works on grain destruction, and discuss why grains are
not destroyed in shocks.Comment: 8 pages (AASTex v5.0), 3 figures. To be published in ApJ Letters
(accepted 3/10/2000
Structures far below sub-Planck scale in quantum phase-space through superoscillations
This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Maxime Oliva and Ole Steuernagel, 'Structures far below the sub-Planck scale in quantum phase space through superoscillations', PHYSICAL REVIEW A 95, 052112 (2017), DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.95.052112, published 15 May 2017. ©2017 American Physical Society.In 2001, Zurek derived the generic minimum scale for the area of structures of Wigner's quantum phase distribution. Here we show by construction, using superoscillatory functions, that the Wigner distribution can locally show regular spotty structures on scales much below Zurek's scale . The price to pay for the presence of such structures is their exponential smallness. For the case we construct there is no increased interferometric sensitivity from the presence of patches with superoscillatory structure in phase-space.Peer reviewe
Limits to Sympathetic Evaporative Cooling of a Two-Component Fermi Gas
We find a limit cycle in a quasi-equilibrium model of evaporative cooling of
a two-component fermion gas. The existence of such a limit cycle represents an
obstruction to reaching the quantum ground state evaporatively. We show that
evaporatively the \beta\mu ~ 1. We speculate that one may be able to cool an
atomic fermi gas further by photoassociating dimers near the bottom of the
fermi sea.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev
Resolving the complex structure of the dust torus in the active nucleus of the Circinus galaxy
To test the dust torus model for active galactic nuclei directly, we study
the extent and morphology of the nuclear dust distribution in the Circinus
galaxy using high resolution interferometric observations in the mid-infrared
with the MIDI instrument at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer. We find
that the dust distribution in the nucleus of Circinus can be explained by two
components, a dense and warm disk-like component of 0.4 pc size and a slightly
cooler, geometrically thick torus component with a size of 2.0 pc. The disk
component is oriented perpendicular to the ionisation cone and outflow and
seems to show the silicate feature at 10 micron in emission. It coincides with
a nuclear maser disk in orientation and size. From the energy needed to heat
the dust, we infer a luminosity of the accretion disk corresponding to 20% of
the Eddington luminosity of the nuclear black hole. We find that the
interferometric data are inconsistent with a simple, smooth and axisymmetric
dust emission. The irregular behaviour of the visibilities and the shallow
decrease of the dust temperature with radius provide strong evidence for a
clumpy or filamentary dust structure. We see no evidence for dust reprocessing,
as the silicate absorption profile is consistent with that of standard galactic
dust. We argue that the collimation of the ionising radiation must originate in
the geometrically thick torus component. Our findings confirm the presence of a
geometrically thick, torus-like dust distribution in the nucleus of Circinus,
as required in unified schemes of Seyfert galaxies. Several aspects of our data
require that this torus is irregular, or "clumpy".Comment: 20 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication by A&
Infrared Spectroscopy of Molecular Supernova Remnants
We present Infrared Space Observatory spectroscopy of sites in the supernova
remnants W28, W44, and 3C391, where blast waves are impacting molecular clouds.
Atomic fine-structure lines were detected from C, N, O, Si, P, and Fe. The S(3)
and S(9) lines of H2 were detected for all three remnants. The observations
require both shocks into gas with moderate (~ 100 /cm3) and high (~10,000 /cm3)
pre-shock densities, with the moderate density shocks producing the ionic lines
and the high density shock producing the molecular lines. No single shock model
can account for all of the observed lines, even at the order of magnitude
level. We find that the principal coolants of radiative supernova shocks in
moderate-density gas are the far-infrared continuum from dust grains surviving
the shock, followed by collisionally-excited [O I] 63.2 and [Si II] 34.8 micron
lines. The principal coolant of the high-density shocks is
collisionally-excited H2 rotational and ro-vibrational line emission. We
systematically examine the ground-state fine structure of all cosmically
abundant elements, to explain the presence or lack of all atomic fine lines in
our spectra in terms of the atomic structure, interstellar abundances, and a
moderate-density, partially-ionized plasma. The [P II] line at 60.6 microns is
the first known astronomical detection. There is one bright unidentified line
in our spectra, at 74.26 microns. The presence of bright [Si II] and [Fe II]
lines requires partial destruction of the dust. The required gas-phase
abundance of Fe suggests 15-30% of the Fe-bearing grains were destroyed. The
infrared continuum brightness requires ~1 Msun of dust survives the shock,
suggesting about 1/3 of the dust mass was destroyed, in agreement with the
depletion estimate and with theoretical models for dust destruction.Comment: 40 pages; 10 figures; accepted by ApJ July 11, 200
Circumnuclear Gas in Seyfert 1 Galaxies: Morphology, Kinematics, and Direct Measurement of Black Hole Masses
(Abridged) The two-dimensional distribution and kinematics of the molecular,
ionized, and highly ionized gas in the nuclear regions of Seyfert 1 galaxies
have been measured using high spatial resolution (~0''.09) near-infrared
spectroscopy from NIRSPEC with adaptive optics on the Keck telescope. Molecular
hydrogen, H2, is detected in all nine Seyfert 1 galaxies and, in the majority
of galaxies, has a spatially resolved flux distribution. In contrast, the
narrow component of the BrG emission has a distribution consistent with that of
the K-band continuum. In general, the kinematics of H2 are consistent with thin
disk rotation, with a velocity gradient of over 100 km/s measured across the
central 0''.5 in three galaxies, and across the central 1''.5 in two galaxies.
The kinematics of BrG are in agreement with the H2 rotation, except in all four
cases the central 0''.5 is either blue- or redshifted by more than 75 km/s. The
highly ionized gas, measured with the [Ca VIII] and [Si VII] coronal lines, is
spatially and kinematically consistent with BrG in the central 0''.5. Dynamical
models have been fitted to the two-dimensional H2 kinematics, taking into
account the stellar mass distribution, the emission line flux distribution, and
the point spread function. For NGC 3227 the modeling indicates a black hole
mass of Mbh = 2.0{+1.0/-0.4} x 10^7 Msun, and for NGC 4151 Mbh =
3.0{+0.75/-2.2} x 10^7 Msun. In NGC 7469 the best fit model gives Mbh < 5.0 x
10^7 Msun. In all three galaxies, modeling suggests a near face-on disk
inclination angle, which is consistent with the unification theory of active
galaxies. The direct black hole mass estimates verify that masses determined
from the technique of reverberation mapping are accurate to within a factor of
three with no additional systematic errors.Comment: 43 pages, including 47 figures; Accepted for publication in ApJ. All
2-D maps (in high resolution) are available at
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~ehicks . Minor changes to the text and updated
reverberation mapped black hole mass estimates; the conclusions are unchange
A symplectic realization of the Volterra lattice
We examine the multiple Hamiltonian structure and construct a symplectic
realization of the Volterra model. We rediscover the hierarchy of invariants,
Poisson brackets and master symmetries via the use of a recursion operator. The
rational Volterra bracket is obtained using a negative recursion operator.Comment: 8 page
A Compendium of Far-Infrared Line and Continuum Emission for 227 Galaxies Observed by the Infrared Space Observatory
Far-infrared line and continuum fluxes are presented for a sample of 227
galaxies observed with the Long Wavelength Spectrometer on the Infrared Space
Observatory. The galaxy sample includes normal star-forming systems,
starbursts, and active galactic nuclei covering a wide range of colors and
morphologies. The dataset spans some 1300 line fluxes, 600 line upper limits,
and 800 continuum fluxes. Several fine structure emission lines are detected
that arise in either photodissociation or HII regions: [OIII]52um, [NIII]57um,
[OI]63um, [OIII]88um, [NII]122um, [OI]145um, and [CII]158um. Molecular lines
such as OH at 53um, 79um, 84um, 119um, and 163um, and H2O at 58um, 66um, 75um,
101um, and 108um are also detected in some galaxies. In addition to those lines
emitted by the target galaxies, serendipitous detections of Milky Way
[CII]158um and an unidentified line near 74um in NGC1068 are also reported.
Finally, continuum fluxes at 52um, 57um, 63um, 88um, 122um, 145um, 158um, and
170um are derived for a subset of galaxies in which the far-infrared emission
is contained within the ~75" ISO LWS beam. The statistics of this large
database of continuum and line fluxes, including trends in line ratios with the
far-infrared color and infrared-to-optical ratio, are explored.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement
Serie
Dynamical properties of Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies. II. Traces of dynamical evolution and end products of local ultraluminous mergers
We present results from our Very Large Telescope large program to study the
dynamical evolution of local Ultraluminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs) and QSOs.
This paper is the second in a series presenting the stellar kinematics of 54
ULIRGs, derived from high resolution, long-slit H- and K-band spectroscopy. The
data presented here, including observations of 17 new targets, are mainly
focused on sources that have coalesced into a single nucleus. The stellar
kinematics, extracted from the CO ro-vibrational bandheads in our spectra,
indicate that ULIRG remnants are dynamically heated systems with a mean
dispersion of 161 km/s. The combination of kinematic, structural, and
photometric properties of the remnants indicate that they mostly originate from
major mergers and that they result in the formation of systems supported by
random motions, therefore, elliptical galaxies. The peak of the velocity
dispersion distribution and the locus of ULIRGs on the fundamental plane of
early-type galaxies indicate that the end products of ultraluminous mergers are
typically moderate-mass ellipticals (of stellar mass ~10^10 - 10^11 M_sun).
Converting the host dispersion into black hole mass with the aid of the
M_BH-sigma relation yields black hole mass estimates of the order 10^7 - 10^8
M_sun and high accretion rates with Eddington efficiencies often >0.5.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
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