748 research outputs found
Ion structure in warm dense matter: benchmarking solutions of hypernetted-chain equations by first-principle simulations
We investigate the microscopic structure of strongly coupled ions in warm dense matter using ab initio simulations and hypernetted chain (HNC) equations. We demonstrate that an approximate treatment of quantum effects by weak pseudopotentials fails to describe the highly degenerate electrons in warm dense matter correctly. However, one-component HNC calculations for the ions agree well with first-principles simulations if a linearly screened Coulomb potential is used. These HNC results can be further improved by adding a short-range repulsion that accounts for bound electrons. Examples are given for recently studied light elements, lithium and beryllium, and for aluminum where the extra short-range repulsion is essential
Tree-based solvers for adaptive mesh refinement code FLASH -- III: a novel scheme for radiation pressure on dust and gas and radiative transfer from diffuse sources
Radiation is an important contributor to the energetics of the interstellar
medium, yet its transport is difficult to solve numerically. We present a novel
approach towards solving radiative transfer of diffuse sources via backwards
ray tracing. Here we focus on the radiative transfer of infrared radiation and
the radiation pressure on dust. The new module, \textsc{TreeRay/RadPressure},
is an extension to the novel radiative transfer method \textsc{TreeRay}
implemented in the grid-based MHD code {\sc Flash}. In
\textsc{TreeRay/RadPressure}, every cell and every star particle is a source of
infrared radiation. We also describe how gas, dust and radiation are coupled
via a chemical network. This allows us to compute the local dust temperature in
thermal equilibrium, leading to a significantly improvement over the classical
grey approximation. In several tests, we demonstrate that the scheme produces
the correct radiative intensities as well as the correct momentum input by
radiation pressure. Subsequently, we apply our new scheme to model massive star
formation from a collapsing, turbulent core of 150 . We trace
the effects of both, ionizing and infrared radiation on the dynamics of the
core. We find that the newborn massive star(s) prevent fragmentation in their
proximity through radiative heating. Over time, dust and radiation temperature
equalize, while the gas temperature can be either warmer due to shock heating
or colder due to insufficient dust-gas coupling. Compared to gravity, the
effects of radiation pressure become significant on the core scale only at an
evolved stage.Comment: 25 pages, 19 figures, submitted to MNRA
Structure of strongly coupled, multi-component plasmas
We investigate the short-range structure in strongly coupled fluidlike plasmas using the hypernetted chain approach generalized to multicomponent systems. Good agreement with numerical simulations validates this method for the parameters considered. We found a strong mutual impact on the spatial arrangement for systems with multiple ion species which is most clearly pronounced in the static structure factor. Quantum pseudopotentials were used to mimic diffraction and exchange effects in dense electron-ion systems. We demonstrate that the different kinds of pseudopotentials proposed lead to large differences in both the pair distributions and structure factors. Large discrepancies were also found in the predicted ion feature of the x-ray scattering signal, illustrating the need for comparison with full quantum calculations or experimental verification
The SILCC (SImulating the LifeCycle of molecular Clouds) project: I. Chemical evolution of the supernova-driven ISM
The SILCC project (SImulating the Life-Cycle of molecular Clouds) aims at a
more self-consistent understanding of the interstellar medium (ISM) on small
scales and its link to galaxy evolution. We simulate the evolution of the
multi-phase ISM in a 500 pc x 500 pc x 10 kpc region of a galactic disc, with a
gas surface density of .
The Flash 4.1 simulations include an external potential, self-gravity, magnetic
fields, heating and radiative cooling, time-dependent chemistry of H and CO
considering (self-) shielding, and supernova (SN) feedback. We explore SN
explosions at different (fixed) rates in high-density regions (peak), in random
locations (random), in a combination of both (mixed), or clustered in space and
time (clustered). Only random or clustered models with self-gravity (which
evolve similarly) are in agreement with observations. Molecular hydrogen forms
in dense filaments and clumps and contributes 20% - 40% to the total mass,
whereas most of the mass (55% - 75%) is in atomic hydrogen. The ionised gas
contributes <10%. For high SN rates (0.5 dex above Kennicutt-Schmidt) as well
as for peak and mixed driving the formation of H is strongly suppressed.
Also without self-gravity the H fraction is significantly lower (
5%). Most of the volume is filled with hot gas (90% within 2 kpc).
Only for random or clustered driving, a vertically expanding warm component of
atomic hydrogen indicates a fountain flow. Magnetic fields have little impact
on the final disc structure. However, they affect dense gas () and delay H formation. We highlight that individual chemical
species, in particular atomic hydrogen, populate different ISM phases and
cannot be accurately accounted for by simple temperature-/density-based phase
cut-offs.Comment: 30 pages, 23 figures, submitted to MNRAS. Comments welcome! For
movies of the simulations and download of selected Flash data see the SILCC
website: http://www.astro.uni-koeln.de/silc
The SILCC project: III. Regulation of star formation and outflows by stellar winds and supernovae
We study the impact of stellar winds and supernovae on the multi-phase
interstellar medium using three-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations carried
out with FLASH. The selected galactic disc region has a size of (500 pc) x
5 kpc and a gas surface density of 10 M/pc. The simulations
include an external stellar potential and gas self-gravity, radiative cooling
and diffuse heating, sink particles representing star clusters, stellar winds
from these clusters which combine the winds from indi- vidual massive stars by
following their evolution tracks, and subsequent supernova explosions. Dust and
gas (self-)shielding is followed to compute the chemical state of the gas with
a chemical network. We find that stellar winds can regulate star (cluster)
formation. Since the winds suppress the accretion of fresh gas soon after the
cluster has formed, they lead to clusters which have lower average masses
(10 - 10 M) and form on shorter timescales (10 -
10 Myr). In particular we find an anti-correlation of cluster mass and
accretion time scale. Without winds the star clusters easily grow to larger
masses for ~5 Myr until the first supernova explodes. Overall the most massive
stars provide the most wind energy input, while objects beginning their
evolution as B-type stars contribute most of the supernova energy input. A
significant outflow from the disk (mass loading 1 at 1 kpc) can be
launched by thermal gas pressure if more than 50% of the volume near the disc
mid-plane can be heated to T > 3x10 K. Stellar winds alone cannot create a
hot volume-filling phase. The models which are in best agreement with observed
star formation rates drive either no outflows or weak outflows.Comment: 23 pages; submitted to MNRA
THz-range free-electron laser ESR spectroscopy: techniques and applications in high magnetic fields
The successful use of picosecond-pulse free-electron-laser (FEL) radiation
for the continuous-wave THz-range electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy
has been demonstrated. The combination of two linac-based FELs (covering the
wavelength range of 4 - 250 m) with pulsed magnetic fields up to 70 T
allows for multi-frequency ESR spectroscopy in a frequency range of 1.2 - 75
THz with a spectral resolution better than 1%. The performance of the
spectrometer is illustrated with ESR spectra obtained in the
2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and the low-dimensional organic material
(CHN)CuCl.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. Rev. Sci. Instrum., accepte
Weak continuous monitoring of a flux qubit using coplanar waveguide resonator
We study a flux qubit in a coplanar waveguide resonator by measuring
transmission through the system. In our system with the flux qubit decoupled
galvanically from the resonator, the intermediate coupling regime is achieved.
In this regime dispersive readout is possible with weak backaction on the
qubit. The detailed theoretical analysis and simulations give a good agreement
with the experimental data and allow to make the qubit characterization.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
X-ray scattering from warm dense iron
We have carried out X-ray scattering experiments on iron foil samples that have been compressed and heated using laser-driven shocks created with the VULCAN laser system at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory. This is the highest Z element studied in such experiments so far and the first time scattering from warm dense iron has been reported. Because of the importance of iron in telluric planets, the work is relevant to studies of warm dense matter in planetary interiors. We report scattering results as well as shock breakout results that, in conjunction with hydrodynamic simulations, suggest the target has been compressed to a molten state at several 100 GPa pressure. Initial comparison with modelling suggests more work is needed to understand the structure factor of warm dense iron
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