9,232 research outputs found
Gravitational scattering of stars and clusters and the heating of the Galactic disk
Could the velocity spread, increasing with time, in the Galactic disk be
explained as a result of gravitational interactions of stars with giant
molecular clouds (GMCs) and spiral arms? Do the old open clusters high above
the Galactic plane provide clues to this question? We explore the effects on
stellar orbits of scattering by inhomogeneities in the Galactic potential due
to GMCs, spiral arms and the Galactic bar, and whether high-altitude clusters
could have formed in orbits closer to the Galactic plane and later been
scattered.
Simulations of test-particle motions are performed in a realistic Galactic
potential. The effects of the internal structure of GMCs are explored. The
destruction of clusters in GMC collisions is treated in detail with N-body
simulations of the clusters.
The observed velocity dispersions of stars as a function of time are well
reproduced. The GMC structure is found to be significant, but adequate models
produce considerable scattering effects. The fraction of simulated massive old
open clusters, scattered into orbits with |z| > 400 pc, is typically 0:5%, in
agreement with the observed number of high-altitude clusters and consistent
with the present formation rate of massive open clusters.
The heating of the thin Galactic disk is well explained by gravitational
scattering by GMCs and spiral arms, if the local correlation between the GMC
mass and the corresponding voids in the gas is not very strong. Our results
suggest that the high-altitude metal-rich clusters were formed in orbits close
to the Galactic plane and later scattered to higher orbits. It is possible,
though not very probable, that the Sun formed in such a cluster before
scattering occurred.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figure
The Application of the Hermeneutic Process to Qualitative Safety Data: A Case Study using Data from the CIRAS project
This article describes the new qualitative methodology developed for use in CIRAS (Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System), the confidential database set up for the UK railways by the University of Strathclyde. CIRAS is a project in which qualitative safety data are disidentified and then stored and analysed in a central database. Due to the confidential nature of the data provided, conventional (positivist) methods of checking their accuracy are not applicable; therefore a new methodology was developed - the Applied Hermeneutic Methodology (AHM). Based on Paul Ricoeur's `hermeneutic arc', this methodology uses appropriate computer software to provide a method of analysis that can be shown to be reliable (in the sense that consensus in interpretations between different interpreters can be demonstrated). Moreover, given that the classifiers of the textual elements can be represented in numeric form, AHM crosses the `qualitative-quantitative divide'. It is suggested that this methodology is more rigorous and philosophically coherent than existing methodologies and that it has implications for all areas of the social sciences where qualitative texts are analysed
Information Processing Models: Benefits and Limitations
This paper looks at the three main information processing models from the point of view
of researchers in confidential human factors databases. It explores conceptual problems
with two of these information processing models, and goes on to explore possible
advantages of adopting a âconnectionistâ paradigm. Links between connectionism and
âsituated cognitionâ are demonstrated. Practical work carried out using a
connectionist/situated cognition model is described, and the way in which the
âsituatednessâ of discourse can influence the kind of data that can be collected is
discussed. Finally it is argued that more emphasis should be placed in ergonomics on
sociation, situatedness and embodiment, and that this might help to deal with problems
faced in creation and interrogating databases: especially as regards the creation of
coherent and reliable âcoding taxonomiesâ
The progenitors of calcium-rich transients are not formed in situ
We present deep VLT and HST observations of the nearest examples of
calcium-rich 'gap' transients -- rapidly evolving transient events, with a
luminosity intermediate between novae and supernovae. These sources are
frequently found at large galactocentric offsets, and their progenitors remain
mysterious. Our observations find no convincing underlying quiescent sources
coincident with the locations of these transients, allowing us to rule out a
number of potential progenitor systems. The presence of surviving massive-star
binary companions (or other cluster members) are ruled out, providing an
independent rejection of a massive star origin for these events. Dwarf
satellite galaxies are disfavoured unless one invokes as yet unknown conditions
that would be extremely favourable for their production in the lowest mass
systems. Our limits also probe the majority of the globular cluster luminosity
function, ruling out the presence of an underlying globular cluster population
at high significance, and thus the possibility that they are created via
dynamical interactions in dense globular cluster cores. Given the lack of
underlying systems, previous progenitor suggestions have difficulty reproducing
the remote locations of these transients, even when considering solely
halo-borne progenitors. Our preferred scenario is that calcium-rich transients
are high velocity, kicked systems, exploding at large distances from their
natal site. Coupled with a long-lived progenitor system post-kick, this
naturally explains the lack of association these transients have with their
host stellar light, and the extreme host-offsets exhibited. Neutron star --
white dwarf mergers may be a promising progenitor system in this scenario.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 11 pages, 9 figure
- âŠ