Coherent Cores Research Articles

On the evidence of helico-spiralling recirculation within coherent cores of eddies using Lagrangian approach

Oceanic eddies exhibit remarkable coherence and longevity compared to other transient features in the surrounding flow. They possess the ability to transport properties over extensive distances while maintaining their material identity intact. The Lagrangian Coherent Structure (LCS) framework has proven effective in capturing these coherent eddies, where they display a solid-body-like rotation. Although various LCS approaches have been employed to investigate different facets of coherent eddies, a comprehensive understanding of their three-dimensional structures and internal dynamics remains elusive. This study aims to advance our comprehension of coherent eddies’ structural characteristics and delve into the precise nature of their internal dynamics by utilizing the Lagrangian Averaged Vorticity Deviation approach. Two eddies, one cyclonic and the other anti-cyclonic, were chosen from a high-resolution simulation carried out in the Bay of Bengal using the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). The findings unveil that these eddies have three-dimensional coherent cores resembling gently tapered cones that are broader at the surface and gradually narrow towards the bottom. Intriguingly, the dynamically coherent core of these eddies exhibits simultaneous upwelling and downwelling while maintaining their volumes during advection due to persistent material coherence. The three-dimensional trajectories followed by the fluid parcels inside the coherent core are helical. Their two-dimensional horizontal projections show alternating spiral bands of upwelling and downwelling which are the manifestations of Vortex Rossby Waves. These observations lead to a conceptual framework of a three-dimensional helico-spiralling recirculation pattern within the coherent cores of eddies.

Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Volume Transport of Lagrangian Eddies in the Northwest Pacific

Mesoscale eddies play a crucial role in the transport of mass, heat, salt and nutrients, exerting significant influence on ocean circulation patterns, biogeochemical processes and the global climate system. Based on Lagrangian-Averaged Vorticity Deviation (LAVD) method, this study applies 27 years (1993–2019) of geostrophic current velocity data to detect Rotationally Coherent Lagrangian Vortices (RCLVs) in the Northwest Pacific (NWP; 10°N–30°N, 115°E–155°E), with the spatiotemporal characteristics of Eulerian Sea Surface Height Eddies (SSH eddies) and RCLVs being compared. A higher number of SSH eddies and RCLVs can be observed in spring and winter, and their inter-annual variations are similar. SSH eddies show higher generation number and larger radius in the Subtropical Countercurrent region, while RCLVs occur more favorably in the ocean basin. The propagation speed distributions of both eddy types are nearly identical and decrease with increasing latitude. Due to the material coherent transport maintained by RCLVs within a finite time interval, the coherent cores of RCLVs are considerably smaller in scale as compared to those of SSH eddies. The average zonal transports induced by SSH eddies and RCLVs are estimated to be −0.82 Sv and −0.51 Sv (1 Sv = 106 m3/s), respectively. For non-overlapping SSH eddies with RCLVs, approximately 80% of the water within the eddy leaks out during the eddy’s lifespan. In the case of overlapping SSH eddies, the ratio of coherent water inside the eddy decreases with increasing radius, and the leakage rate is around 58%. Finally, an examination of 36 shedding RCLVs events from the Kuroshio near the Luzon Strait, which induce an average zonal transport of −0.14 Sv, reveals that 54% of the water within the shedding RCLVs originates from the Kuroshio.

Turbulence, coherence, and collapse: Three phases for core evolution

ABSTRACT We study the formation, evolution, and collapse of dense cores by tracking structures in a magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a star-forming cloud. We identify cores using the dendrogram algorithm and utilize machine learning techniques, including Neural Gas prototype learning and Fuzzy c-means clustering to analyse the density and velocity dispersion profiles of cores together with six bulk properties. We produce a 2-d visualization using a Uniform Manifold Approximation and Projection (UMAP), which facilitates the connection between physical properties and three partially-overlapping phases: i) unbound turbulent structures (Phase I), ii) coherent cores that have low turbulence (Phase II), and iii) bound cores, many of which become protostellar (Phase III). Within Phase II, we identify a population of long-lived coherent cores that reach a quasi-equilibrium state. Most prestellar cores form in Phase II and become protostellar after evolving into Phase III. Due to the turbulent cloud environment, the initial core properties do not uniquely predict the eventual evolution, i.e. core evolution is stochastic, and cores follow no one evolutionary path. The phase lifetimes are 1.0 ± 0.1 × 105 yr, 1.3 ± 0.2 × 105 yr, and 1.8 ± 0.3 × 105 yr for Phase I, II, and III, respectively. We compare our results to NH3 observations of dense cores. Known coherent cores predominantly map into Phase II, while most turbulent pressure-confined cores map to Phase I or III. We predict that a significant fraction of observed starless cores have unresolved coherent regions and that ≳20 per cent of observed starless cores will not form stars. Measurements of core radial profiles in addition to the usual bulk properties will enable more accurate predictions of core evolution.

Synchronization scenarios in three-layer networks with a hub.

We study various relay synchronization scenarios in a three-layer network, where the middle (relay) layer is a single node, i.e., a hub. The two remote layers consist of non-locally coupled rings of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators modeling neuronal dynamics. All nodes of the remote layers are connected to the hub. The role of the hub and its importance for the existence of chimera states are investigated in dependence on the inter-layer coupling strength and inter-layer time delay. Tongue-like regions in the parameter plane exhibiting double chimeras, i.e., chimera states in the remote layers whose coherent cores are synchronized with each other, and salt-and-pepper states are found. At very low intra-layer coupling strength, when chimera states do not exist in single layers, these may be induced by the hub. Also, the influence of the dilution of links between the remote layers and the hub upon the dynamics is investigated. The greatest effect of dilution is observed when links to the coherent domain of the chimeras are removed.

Transition from coherent cores to surrounding cloud in L1688

Context. Stars form in cold dense cores showing subsonic velocity dispersions. The parental molecular clouds display higher temperatures and supersonic velocity dispersions. The transition from core to cloud has been observed in velocity dispersion, but temperature and abundance variations are unknown. Aims. We aim to measure the temperature and velocity dispersion across cores and ambient cloud in a single tracer to study the transition between the two regions. Methods. We use NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) maps in L1688 from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey, smoothed to 1′, and determine the physical properties by fitting the spectra. We identify the coherent cores and study the changes in temperature and velocity dispersion from the cores to the surrounding cloud. Results. We obtain a kinetic temperature map extending beyond dense cores and tracing the cloud, improving from previous maps tracing mostly the cores. The cloud is 4–6 K warmer than the cores, and shows a larger velocity dispersion (Δσv = 0.15–0.25 km s−1). Comparing to Herschel-based dust temperatures, we find that cores show kinetic temperatures that are ≈1.8 K lower than the dust temperature, while the gas temperature is higher than the dust temperature in the cloud. We find an average p-NH3 fractional abundance (with respect to H2) of (4.2 ± 0.2) × 10−9 towards the coherent cores, and (1.4 ± 0.1) × 10−9 outside the core boundaries. Using stacked spectra, we detect two components, one narrow and one broad, towards cores and their neighbourhoods. We find the turbulence in the narrow component to be correlated with the size of the structure (Pearson-r = 0.54). With these unresolved regional measurements, we obtain a turbulence–size relation of σv,NT ∝ r0.5, which is similar to previous findings using multiple tracers. Conclusions. We discover that the subsonic component extends up to 0.15 pc beyond the typical coherent boundaries, unveiling larger extents of the coherent cores and showing gradual transition to coherence over ~0.2 pc.

Ubiquitous NH3 supersonic component in L1688 coherent cores

Context. Star formation takes place in cold dense cores in molecular clouds. Earlier observations have found that dense cores exhibit subsonic non-thermal velocity dispersions. In contrast, CO observations show that the ambient large-scale cloud is warmer and has supersonic velocity dispersions. Aims. We aim to study the ammonia (NH3) molecular line profiles with exquisite sensitivity towards the coherent cores in L1688 in order to study their kinematical properties in unprecedented detail. Methods. We used NH3 (1,1) and (2,2) data from the first data release (DR1) in the Green Bank Ammonia Survey (GAS). We first smoothed the data to a larger beam of 1′ to obtain substantially more extended maps of velocity dispersion and kinetic temperature, compared to the DR1 maps. We then identified the coherent cores in the cloud and analysed the averaged line profiles towards the cores. Results. For the first time, we detected a faint (mean NH3(1,1) peak brightness < 0.25 K in TMB), supersonic component towards all the coherent cores in L1688. We fitted two components, one broad and one narrow, and derived the kinetic temperature and velocity dispersion of each component. The broad components towards all cores have supersonic linewidths (ℳS ≥ 1). This component biases the estimate of the narrow dense core component’s velocity dispersion by ≈28% and the kinetic temperature by ≈10%, on average, as compared to the results from single-component fits. Conclusions. Neglecting this ubiquitous presence of a broad component towards all coherent cores causes the typical single-component fit to overestimate the temperature and velocity dispersion. This affects the derived detailed physical structure and stability of the cores estimated from NH3 observations.

Role of Surface-Layer Coherent Eddies in Potential Vorticity Transport in Quasigeostrophic Turbulence Driven by Eastward Shear

The transport by materially coherent surface-layer eddies was studied in a two-layer quasigeostrophic model driven by eastward mean shear. The coherent eddies were identified by closed contours of the Lagrangian-averaged vorticity deviation obtained from Lagrangian particles advected by the flow. Attention was restricted to eastward mean flows, but a wide range of flow regimes with different bottom friction strengths, layer thickness ratios, and background potential vorticity (PV) gradients were otherwise considered. It was found that coherent eddies become more prevalent and longer-lasting as the strength of bottom drag increases and the stratification becomes more surface-intensified. The number of coherent eddies is minimal when the shear-induced PV gradient is 10–20 times the planetary PV gradient and increases for both larger and smaller values of the planetary PV gradient. These coherent eddies, with an average core radius close to the deformation radius, propagate meridionally with a preference for cyclones to propagate poleward and anticyclones to propagate equatorward. The meridional propagation preference of the coherent eddies gives rise to a systematic upgradient PV transport, which is in the opposite direction as the background PV transport and not captured by standard Lagrangian diffusivity estimates. The upgradient PV transport by coherent eddy cores is less than 15% of the total PV transport, but the PV transport by the periphery flow induced by the PV inside coherent eddies is significant and downgradient. These results clarify the distinct roles of the trapping and stirring effect of coherent eddies in PV transport in geophysical turbulence.

The deforestation of Easter Island.

Easter Island deforestation has traditionally been viewed as an abrupt island-wide event caused by the prehistoric Rapanui civilization, which precipitated its own cultural collapse. This view emerges from early palaeoecological analyses of lake sediments, which showed a sudden and total replacement of palm pollen by grass pollen shortly after Polynesian settlement (800-1200CE). However, further palaeoecological research has challenged this view, showing that the apparent abruptness and island-wide synchronicity of forest removal was an artefact due to the occurrence of a sedimentary gap of several millennia that prevented a detailed record of the replacement of palm-dominated forests by grass meadows. During the last decade, several continuous (gap-free) and chronologically coherent sediment cores encompassing the last millennia have been retrieved and analysed, providing a new picture of forest removal on Easter Island. According to these analyses, deforestation was not abrupt but gradual and occurred at different times and rates, depending on the site. Regarding the causes, humans were not the only factors responsible for forest clearing, as climatic droughts as well as climate-human-landscape feedbacks and synergies also played a role. In summary, the deforestation of Easter Island was a complex process that was spatially and temporally heterogeneous and took place under the actions and interactions of both natural and anthropogenic drivers. In addition, archaeological evidence shows that the Rapanui civilization was resilient to deforestation and remained healthy until European contact, which contradicts the occurrence of a cultural collapse. Further research should aim to obtain new continuous cores and make use of recently developed biomarker analyses to advance towards a holistic view of the patterns, causes and consequences of Easter Island deforestation.

Droplets. I. Pressure-dominated Coherent Structures in L1688 and B18

Abstract We present the observation and analysis of newly discovered coherent structures in the L1688 region of Ophiuchus and the B18 region of Taurus. Using data from the Green Bank Ammonia Survey, we identify regions of high density and near-constant, almost-thermal velocity dispersion. We reveal 18 coherent structures are revealed, 12 in L1688 and 6 in B18, each of which shows a sharp “transition to coherence” in velocity dispersion around its periphery. The identification of these structures provides a chance to statistically study the coherent structures in molecular clouds. The identified coherent structures have a typical radius of 0.04 pc and a typical mass of 0.4 M ☉, generally smaller than previously known coherent cores identified by Goodman et al., Caselli et al., and Pineda et al. We call these structures “droplets.” We find that, unlike previously known coherent cores, these structures are not virially bound by self-gravity and are instead predominantly confined by ambient pressure. The droplets have density profiles shallower than a critical Bonnor–Ebert sphere, and they have a velocity (V LSR) distribution consistent with the dense gas motions traced by NH3 emission. These results point to a potential formation mechanism through pressure compression and turbulent processes in the dense gas. We present a comparison with a magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a star-forming region, and we speculate on the relationship of droplets with larger, gravitationally bound coherent cores, as well as on the role that droplets and other coherent structures play in the star formation process.

Cascade leading to the emergence of small structures in vortex ring collisions

When vortex rings collide head-on at high enough Reynolds numbers, they ultimately annihilate through a violent interaction which breaks down their cores into a turbulent cloud. We experimentally show that this very strong interaction, which leads to the production of fluid motion at very fine scales, uncovers direct evidence of a novel iterative cascade of instabilities in a bulk fluid. When the coherent vortex cores approach each other, they deform into tent-like structures, and the mutual strain causes them to locally flatten into extremely thin vortex sheets. These sheets then break down into smaller secondary vortex filaments, which themselves rapidly flatten and break down into even smaller tertiary filaments. By performing numerical simulations of the full Navier-Stokes equations, we also resolve one iteration of this instability and highlight the subtle role that viscosity must play in the rupturing of a vortex sheet. The concurrence of this observed iterative cascade of instabilities over various scales with those of recent theoretical predictions could provide a new mechanistic framework in which the evolution of turbulent flows can be examined in real-time as a series of discrete dynamic instabilities.

ChemInform Abstract: Mapping of Activity‐Specific Fragment Pathways Isolated from Random Fragment Populations Reveals the Formation of Coherent Molecular Cores.

AbstractChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 200 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.

Mapping of Activity-Specific Fragment Pathways Isolated from Random Fragment Populations Reveals the Formation of Coherent Molecular Cores

Randomly generated molecular fragment populations are investigated as a source for compound-class-dependent chemical information. The analysis of conditional probabilities of fragment co-occurrence in random fragment populations reveals that different classes of active compounds produce series of fragments whose presence depends on each other. Such relationships constitute a fragment hierarchy that becomes a signature of a compound class. We find that such sets of fragments isolated from random populations are typically found to form coherent molecular cores in active compounds. Thus, class-specific random fragment hierarchies encode meaningful structural information. Characteristic core regions already formed by small numbers of substructures remain stable when more fragments are added. These findings provide a structural rationale for the signature character of activity-specific fragment pathways. Thus, randomly generated fragment populations can be mined for combinations of substructures that characterize activity classes. It follows that compound-class-directed structural descriptors can be isolated from random fragment populations that do not depend on the application of predefined fragmentation or design schemes.

Nature and origin of cone-forming volcanic breccias in the Te Herenga Formation, Ruapehu, New Zealand

Volcanic breccias form large parts of composite volcanoes and are commonly viewed as containing pyroclastic fragments emplaced by pyroclastic processes or redistributed as laharic deposits. Field study of cone-forming breccias of the andesitic middle Pleistocene Te Herenga Formation on Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand, was complemented by paleomagnetic laboratory investigation permitting estimation of emplacement temperatures of constituent breccia clasts. The observations and data collected suggest that most breccias are autoclastic deposits. Five breccia types and subordinate, coherent lava-flow cores constitute nine, unconformity-bounded constructional units. Two types of breccia are gradational with lava-flow cores. Red breccias gradational with irregularly shaped lava-flow cores were emplaced at temperatures in excess of 580 °C and are interpreted as aa flow breccias. Clasts in gray breccia gradational with tabular lava-flow cores, and in some places forming down-slope-dipping avalanche bedding beneath flows, were emplaced at varying temperatures between 200 and 550 °C and are interpreted as forming part of block lava flows. Three textural types of breccia are found in less intimate association with lava-flow cores. Matrix-poor, well-sorted breccia can be traced upslope to lava-flow cores encased in autoclastic breccia. Unsorted boulder breccia comprises constructional units lacking significant exposed lava-flow cores. Clasts in both of these breccia types have paleomagnetic properties generally similar to those of the gray breccias gradational with lava-flow cores; they indicate reorientation after acquisition of some, or all, magnetization and ultimate emplacement over a range of temperatures between 100 and 550 °C. These breccias are interpreted as autoclastic breccias associated with block lava flows. Matrix-poor, well-sorted breccia formed by disintegration of lava flows on steep slopes and unsorted boulder breccia is interpreted to represent channel-floor and levee breccias for block lava flows that continued down slope. Less common, matrix-rich, stratified tuff breccias consisting of angular blocks, minor scoria, and a conspicuously well-sorted ash matrix were generally emplaced at ambient temperature, although some deposits contain clasts possibly emplaced at temperatures as high as 525 °C. These breccias are interpreted as debris-flow and sheetwash deposits with a dominant pyroclastic matrix and containing clasts likely of mixed autoclastic and pyroclastic origin. Pyroclastic deposits have limited preservation potential on the steep, proximal slopes of composite volcanoes. Likewise, these steep slopes are more likely sites of erosion and transport by channeled or unconfined runoff rather than depositional sites for reworked volcaniclastic debris. Autoclastic breccias need not be intimately associated with coherent lava flows in single outcrops, and fine matrix can be of autoclastic rather than pyroclastic origin. In these cases, and likely many other cases, the alternation of coherent lava flows and fragmental deposits defining composite volcanoes is better described as interlayered lava-flow cores and cogenetic autoclastic breccias, rather than as interlayered lava flows and pyroclastic beds. Reworked deposits are probably insignificant components of most proximal cone-forming sequences.

Coherence in Dense Cores. II. The Transition to Coherence

After studying how line width depends on spatial scale in low-mass star-forming regions, we propose that dense cores (Myers & Benson 1983) represent an inner scale of a self-similar process that characterizes larger scale molecular clouds. In the process of coming to this conclusion, we define four distinct types of line width-size relation (ΔvRai), which have power-law slopes a1, a2, a3, and a4, as follows: Type 1—multitracer, multicloud intercomparison; Type 2—single-tracer, multicloud intercomparison; Type 3—multitracer study of a single cloud; and Type 4—single-tracer study of a single cloud. Type 1 studies (of which Larson 1981 is the seminal example) are compendia of Type 3 studies which illustrate the range of variation in the line width-size relation from one region to another. Using new measurements of the OH and C18O emission emanating from the environs of several of the dense cores studied in NH3 by Barranco & Goodman (1998; Paper I), we show that line width increases with size outside the cores with a4 ~ 0.2. On scales larger than those traced by C18O or OH,12CO and 13CO observations indicate that a4 increases to ~0.5 (Heyer & Schloerb 1997). By contrast, within the half-power contour of the NH3 emission from the cores, line width is virtually constant, with a4 ~ 0. We interpret the correlation between increasing density and decreasing Type 4 power-law slope as a transition to coherence. Our data indicate that the radius Rcoh at which the gas becomes coherent (i.e., a4 → 0) is of order 0.1 pc in regions forming primarily low-mass stars. The value of the nonthermal line width at which coherence is established is always less than but still of order of the thermal line width of H2. Thus coherent cores are similar to, but not exactly the same as, isothermal balls of gas. Two other results bolster our proposal that a transition to coherence takes place at ~0.1 pc. First, the OH, C18O, and NH3 maps show that the dependence of column density on size is much steeper (N R-0.9) inside Rcoh than outside of it (N R-0.2), which implies that the volume filling factor of coherent cores is much larger than in their surroundings. Second, Larson (1995) has recently found a break in the power law characterizing the clustering of stars in Taurus at 0.04 pc, just inside of Rcoh. Larson and we interpret this break in slope as the point at which stellar clustering properties change from being determined by the (fractal) gas distribution (on scales greater than 0.04 pc) to being determined by fragmentation processes within coherent cores (on scales less than 0.04 pc). We speculate that the transition to coherence takes place when a dissipation threshold for the MHD turbulence that characterizes the larger scale medium is crossed at the critical inner scale Rcoh. We suggest that the most likely explanation for this threshold is the marked decline in the coupling of the magnetic field to gas motions due to a decreased ion/neutral ratio in dense, high filling factor gas.

Coherent Dense Cores. I. NH3Observations

In a study of the velocity dispersion of molecular gas in NH3 maps of four dense cores, we find that: (1) within the interiors of dense cores, the line widths are roughly constant at a value slightly but significantly higher than a purely thermal line width; and (2) at the edges of the maps of the dense cores, it appears that the line width starts to increase. We suggest that these dense cores are in that the nonthermal, turbulent, contributions to the line width are so small that observed velocity dispersion is nearly independent of scale within the cores. In the second paper of this series (Goodman et al.), by analyzing maps of the cores' environments, we find an apparent transition to this coherent regime from a more turbulent one, at about the size scale of a FWHM NH3 contour, or ~0.1 pc. Analysis of velocity gradients in dense cores and their environs indicates that the cores appear to spin independently of their surroundings, along an axis not obviously related to their shape. Comparison of gradients implied by the relative velocities of high-density cores in complexes and gradients in the extended low-density gas in these complexes suggests a picture in which the coherent cores behave as (independently spinning) test particles, floating along in a turbulent flow. An appendix to this paper presents a new algorithm for predicting the intrinsic width of the 18 hyperfine lines in the NH3 inversion spectrum from a Gaussian fit to the main hyperfine blend and an estimate of the optical depth.

Comments on collision mechanics in ring systems

ABSTRACTThe nature of collisions within ring systems is reviewed with emphasis on Saturn's rings. The particles may have coherent icy cores and less coherent granular or frosty surface layers, consistent with thermal eclipse observations. Present-day collisions of such ring particles do not cause catastrophic fragmentation of the particles, although some minor surface erosion and reaccretion is possible. Evolution by collisional fragmentation is thus not as important as in the asteroid belt.

Coupling of two quasiparticles to coherent cores in the Pt isotopes

A model for coupling the motion of particles to that of a quadrupole-collective core is proposed. The quadrupole vibrations and rotations of the core are described by angular momentum projected coherent states. The spherical shell model particles interact among themselves by pairing and surface delta interactions. The particles are coupled to the core through a multipole-multipole interaction. The method is applied to several even mass isotopes of Pt. The agreement with experimental data of the excitation energies, gyromagnetic factors andE2 probabilities is very good.