Hot Gas Phase Research Articles

Where is the supervirial hot gas? I: a pilot study with sightlines to Galactic X-ray binaries

ABSTRACT Hot, $\log (T/\mathrm{K})$$\sim$ 7.5, gas was recently discovered in the Milky Way in extragalactic sightlines. In order to determine its location, here we present sightlines to Galactic X-ray binaries (XRBs) passing through the Interstellar Medium (ISM). In this pilot study, we investigate absorption features of S$_{\mathrm{XVI}}$, Si$_{\mathrm{XIV}}$, and Ne$_{\mathrm{X}}$ in the spectra of three XRBs, namely 4U 1735–44, 4U 1820–30, and Cyg X-2, using Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating archival observations. We do not detect any of these lines. We determine the 2$\sigma$ upper limit for the equivalent widths of the undetected absorption lines and the column densities of the corresponding ions. We note that the 2$\sigma$ upper limits for S$_{\mathrm{XVI}}$ K$\alpha$ and Si$_{\mathrm{XIV}}$ K$\alpha$ are an order of magnitude smaller than those previously detected in the extragalactic sightlines. Our finding suggests that if any gas at $\log (T/\mathrm{K})$$\gt\ 7$ is present in the Galactic ISM, it is unlikely to be ubiquitous. This is an important result because it implies that S$_{\mathrm{XVI}}$, Si$_{\mathrm{XIV}}$, and Ne$_{\mathrm{X}}$ absorption detected in extragalactic sightlines is not from the ISM, but is likely from a hot gas phase in the extraplanar region beyond the ISM or in the extended Circumgalactic Medium.

Ultrafast internal conversion and photochromism in gas-phase salicylideneaniline.

Salicylideneaniline (SA) is an archetypal system for excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) in non-planar systems. Multiple channels for relaxation involving both the keto and enol forms have been proposed after excitation to S1 with near-UV light. Here, we present transient absorption measurements of hot gas-phase SA, jet-cooled SA, and SA in Ar clusters using cavity-enhanced transient absorption spectroscopy (CE-TAS). Assignment of the spectra is aided by simulated TAS spectra, computed by applying time-dependent complete active space configuration interaction (TD-CASCI) to structures drawn from nonadiabatic molecular dynamics simulations. We find prompt ESIPT in all conditions followed by the rapid generation of the trans keto metastable photochrome state and fluorescent keto state in parallel. Increasing the internal energy increases the photochrome yield and decreases the fluorescent yield and fluorescent state lifetime observed in TAS. In Ar clusters, internal conversion of SA is severely hindered, but the photochrome yield is unchanged. Taken together, these results are consistent with the photochrome being produced via the vibrationally excited keto population after ESIPT.

Thermodynamics of black string from Rényi entropy in de Rham–Gabadadze–Tolley massive gravity theory

The de Rham–Gabadadze–Tolley black string solution is a cylindrically symmetric and static solution of the Einstein field equation with graviton mass term. For the asymptotically de Sitter solution, it is possible to obtain the black string with two event horizons corresponding to two thermodynamic systems. The Rényi entropy is one of the entropic forms which is suitable to deal with nonextensive properties of the black string. In this work, we investigated the possibility to obtain a stable black string by using the Rényi entropy in both separated and effective approaches. We found that the nonextensivity provides the thermodynamically stable black string with moderate size in both approaches. The transition from the hot gas phase to the moderate-sized stable black string in the separated/effective description is a first-order/zeroth-order phase transition. The significant ways to distinguish the black string from both approaches are discussed.

Gas distribution from clusters to filaments in IllustrisTNG

Matter distribution in the environment of galaxy clusters, from their cores to their connected cosmic filaments, must in principle be related to the underlying cluster physics and its evolutionary state. We aim to investigate how radial and azimuthal distribution of gas is affected by cluster environments and how it can be related to cluster-mass assembly history. We first analysed the radial physical properties of gas (velocity, temperature, and density) around 415 galaxy cluster environments from IllustrisTNG simulations at z = 0 (TNG300-1). Whereas hot plasma is virialised inside clusters (< R200), the dynamics of a warm, hot, intergalactic medium (WHIM) can be separated in two regimes: accumulating and slowly infalling gas at cluster peripheries (∼R200) and fast infalling motions outside clusters (> 1.5 R200). The azimuthal distribution of dark matter (DM), hot, and warm gas phases is secondly statistically probed by decomposing their 2D distribution in harmonic space. Inside clusters, the azimuthal symmetries of DM and hot gas trace cluster structural properties well. These include their centre offsets, substructure fractions, and elliptical shapes. Beyond cluster-virialised regions, we find that WHIM gas follows the azimuthal distribution of DM, thus tracing cosmic filament patterns. Azimuthal symmetries of hot and warm gas distribution are finally shown to be imprints of cluster mass assembly history, strongly correlated with the formation time, mass accretion rate, and dynamical state of clusters. The azimuthal mode decomposition of 2D gas distribution is a promising probe to assess the 3D physical and dynamical cluster properties up to their connected cosmic filaments.

The first X-ray spectrum of the high-mass X-ray binary XTE J1855−026 during the compact object eclipse

ABSTRACT We present the first XMM–Newton observation of the classical supergiant high-mass X-ray binary XTE J1855−026 taken entirely during the eclipse of the neutron star (NS), covering the orbital phases ϕ = 0.00–0.11. The analysis of the data allows us to (a) compare with the parameters obtained during the existing pre-eclipse observation and (b) explore the back-illuminated stellar wind of the B0I-type donor. The blackbody component, used to describe the soft excess during pre-eclipse, is not observed during eclipse. It must be then produced near the NS or along the donor–NS line. The 0.3–10 keV luminosity during eclipse (∼1034 erg s−1) is 70 times lower than pre-eclipse. The intensity of the Fe Kα line, in the average eclipse spectrum, is ∼7.4 times lower than the one measured during pre-eclipse. Since Kα photons cannot be resonantly scattered in the wind, the vast majority of Fe Kα emission must come from distances within 1R* from the NS. The eclipse spectrum is successfully modelled through the addition of two photoionized plasmas, one with low ionization (log ξ1,cold = 0.36) and high emission measure (EM1,cold ≈ 3 × 1059 cm−3) and another with high ionization (log ξ2,hot = 3.7) and low emission measure (EM2,hot ≈ 2 × 1056 cm−3). Assuming that the cold and hot gas phases are the clumps and the interclump medium of the stellar wind, respectively, and a clump volume filling factor of ≈0.04–0.05, typical for massive stars, a density contrast between clumps and the interclump medium of nc/ni ≈ 180 is deduced, in agreement with theoretical expectations and optical–ultraviolet observations of massive star winds.

Velocity structure functions in multiphase turbulence: interpreting kinematics of Hα filaments in cool-core clusters

ABSTRACT The central regions of cool-core galaxy clusters harbour multiphase gas, with gas temperatures ranging from $10$ to $10^7\, \mathrm{K}$. Feedback from active galactic nuclei jets prevents the gas from undergoing a catastrophic cooling flow. However, the exact mechanism of this feedback energy input is unknown, mainly due to the lack of velocity measurements of the hot-phase gas. However, recent observations have measured the velocity structure functions (VSFs) of the cooler molecular (${\sim} 10\, \mathrm{K}$) and Hα filaments (${\sim} 10^4\, \mathrm{K}$) and used them to indirectly estimate the motions of the hot phase. In the first part of this study, we conduct high-resolution (3843–15363 resolution elements) simulations of homogeneous isotropic subsonic turbulence, without radiative cooling. We analyse the second-order velocity structure functions (VSF2) in these simulations and study the effects of varying spatial resolution, the introduction of magnetic fields, and the effect of projection along the line of sight (LOS) on it. In the second part of the study, we analyse high-resolution (7683 resolution elements) idealized simulations of multiphase turbulence in the intracluster medium from the companion study Mohapatra et al. We compare the VSF2 for both the hot ($T\sim 10^7\, \mathrm{K}$) and cold ($T\sim 10^4\, \mathrm{K}$) phases and find that their amplitude depends on the density contrast between the phases. They have similar scaling with separation, but introducing magnetic fields steepens the VSF2 of only the cold phase. We also find that projection along the LOS steepens the VSF2 for the hot phase and mostly flattens it for the cold phase.

Effective thermodynamical system of Schwarzschild–de Sitter black holes from Rényi statistics

It has been known that the Schwarzschild-de Sitter (Sch-dS) black hole may not be in thermal equilibrium and also be found to be thermodynamically unstable in the standard black hole thermodynamics. In the present work, we investigate the possibility to realize the thermodynamical stability of the Sch-dS black hole as an effective system by using the R\'{e}nyi statistics, which includes the non-extensive nature of black holes. Our results indicate that the non-extensivity allows the black hole to be thermodynamically stable which gives rise to the lower bound on the non-extensive parameter. By comparing the results to ones in the separated system approach, we find that the effective temperature is always smaller than the black hole horizon temperature and the thermodynamically stable black hole in effective approach is always larger than one in separated approach at a certain temperature. There exists only the zeroth-order phase transition from the the hot gas phase to the black hole phase for the effective system while it is possible to have the transition of both the zeroth order and the first order for the separated system.

I – A hydrodynamical clone of the Virgo cluster of galaxies to confirm observationally driven formation scenarios

ABSTRACT At ∼16–17 Mpc from us, the Virgo cluster is a formidable source of information to study cluster formation and galaxy evolution in rich environments. Several observationally driven formation scenarios arose within the past decade to explain the properties of galaxies that entered the cluster recently and the nature of the last significant merger that the cluster underwent. Confirming these scenarios requires extremely faithful numerical counterparts of the cluster. This paper presents the first clone, Constrained LOcal and Nesting Environment, simulation of the Virgo cluster within a ∼15 Mpc radius sphere. This cosmological hydrodynamical simulation, with feedback from supernovae and active galactic nuclei, with a ∼3 × 107 M⊙ dark matter particle mass and a minimum cell size of 350 pc in the zoom region, reproduces Virgo within its large-scale environment unlike a random cluster simulation. Overall the distribution of the simulated galaxy population matches the observed one including M87. The simulated cluster formation reveals exquisite agreements with observationally driven scenarios: within the last Gyr, about 300 small galaxies (M* > 107 M⊙) entered the cluster, most of them within the last 500 Myr. The last significant merger event occurred about 2 Gyr ago: a group with a tenth of the mass of today’s cluster entered from the far side as viewed from the Milky Way. This excellent numerical replica of Virgo will permit studying different galaxy type evolution (jellyfish, backsplash, etc.) as well as feedback phenomena in the cluster core via unbiased comparisons between simulated and observed galaxies and hot gas phase profiles to understand this great physics laboratory.

Precise measurements of thermionic emission behaviors for hot gas-phase C60 and C70 molecules

Thermionic emission (delayed ionization) experiments have been performed on nanosecond laser excited gas-phase C60/C70 molecules. Time resolved velocity-map-imaging spectrometer is used to measure a series of photoion spectra in a wide range of time delay. The position distribution features of photoions recorded in each spectrum allow us to well identify a specific ionic species originating from pure delayed ionization process, namely from C60/C70 electron emission without contamination from other decay channels to be activated when molecules have an energy required for thermionic emission. Hence, thermionic emission behaviors for hot C60/C70 molecules can be obtained precisely, which may have significance for improving determination precisions of some basic decay parameters of neutral fullerene molecules.

The GUAPOS project: G31.41+0.31 Unbiased ALMA sPectral Observational Survey

Context.One of the goals of astrochemistry is to understand the degree of chemical complexity that can be reached in star-forming regions, along with the identification of precursors of the building blocks of life in the interstellar medium. To answer such questions, unbiased spectral surveys with large bandwidth and high spectral resolution are needed, in particular, to resolve line blending in chemically rich sources and identify each molecule (especially for complex organic molecules). These kinds of observations have already been successfully carried out, primarily towards the Galactic Center, a region that shows peculiar environmental conditions.Aims.We present an unbiased spectral survey of one of the most chemically rich hot molecular cores located outside the Galactic Center, in the high-mass star-forming region G31.41+0.31. The aim of this 3mm spectral survey is to identify and characterize the physical parameters of the gas emission in different molecular species, focusing on complex organic molecules. In this first paper, we present the survey and discuss the detection and relative abundances of the three isomers of C2H4O2: methyl formate, glycolaldehyde, and acetic acid.Methods.Observations were carried out with the ALMA interferometer, covering all of band 3 from 84 to 116 GHz (~32 GHz bandwidth) with an angular resolution of 1.2′′ × 1.2′′ (~ 4400 au × 4400 au) and a spectral resolution of ~0.488 MHz (~1.3−1.7 km s−1). The transitions of the three molecules have been analyzed with the software XCLASS to determine the physical parameters of the emitted gas.Results.All three isomers were detected with abundances of (2 ± 0.6) × 10−7, (4.3−8) × 10−8, and (5.0 ± 1.4) × 10−9for methyl formate, acetic acid, and glycolaldehyde, respectively. Methyl formate and acetic acid abundances are the highest detected up to now, if compared to sources in the literature. The size of the emission varies among the three isomers with acetic acid showing the most compact emission while methyl formate exhibits the most extended emission. Different chemical pathways, involving both grain-surface chemistry and cold or hot gas-phase reactions, have been proposed for the formation of these molecules, but the small number of detections, especially of acetic acid and glycolaldehyde, have made it very difficult to confirm or discard the predictions of the models. The comparison with chemical models in literature suggests the necessity of grain-surface routes for the formation of methyl formate in G31, while for glycolaldehyde both scenarios could be feasible. The proposed grain-surface reaction for acetic acid is not capable of reproducing the observed abundance in this work, while the gas-phase scenario should be further tested, given the large uncertainties involved.

Aging haloes: implications of the magnitude gap on conditional statistics of stellar and gas properties of massive haloes

ABSTRACT Cold dark matter model predicts that the large-scale structure grows hierarchically. Small dark matter haloes form first. Then, they grow gradually via continuous merger and accretion. These haloes host the majority of baryonic matter in the Universe in the form of hot gas and cold stellar phase. Determining how baryons are partitioned into these phases requires detailed modelling of galaxy formation and their assembly history. It is speculated that formation time of the same mass haloes might be correlated with their baryonic content. To evaluate this hypothesis, we employ haloes of mass above $10^{14}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$ realized by TNG300 solution of the IllustrisTNG project. Formation time is not directly observable. Hence, we rely on the magnitude gap between the brightest and the fourth brightest halo galaxy member, which is shown that traces formation time of the host halo. We compute the conditional statistics of the stellar and gas content of haloes conditioned on their total mass and magnitude gap. We find a strong correlation between magnitude gap and gas mass, BCG stellar mass, and satellite galaxies stellar mass, but not the total stellar mass of halo. Conditioning on the magnitude gap can reduce the scatter about halo property–halo mass relation and has a significant impact on the conditional covariance. Reduction in the scatter can be as significant as 30 per cent, which implies more accurate halo mass prediction. Incorporating the magnitude gap has a potential to improve cosmological constraints using halo abundance and allows us to gain insight into the baryon evolution within these systems.

Discovery of a Very Hot Phase of the Milky Way Circumgalactic Medium with Non-solar Abundance Ratios

Abstract We present the discovery of a very hot gas phase of the Milky Way circumgalactic medium (CGM) at T ≈ 107 K, using deep XMM-Newton Reflection Grating Spectrometer observations of the blazar 1ES 1553+113. The hot gas, coexisting with a warm-hot phase at T ≈ 106 K is α-enhanced, with , indicating core-collapse supernovae enrichment. Additionally, we find [Ne/O] and , such that N/Ne is consistent with solar. Along with the enrichment by asymptotic giant branch stars and core-collapse supernovae, this indicates that some oxygen has depleted onto dust and/or transited to cooler gas phase(s). These results may affect previous baryonic and metallic mass estimations of the warm-hot and hot CGM from the observations of oxygen emission and absorption. Our results provide insights on the heating, mixing, and chemical enrichment of the Milky Way CGM, and provide inputs to theoretical models of galaxy evolution.

Spatially Resolved Metal Loss from M31

Abstract As galaxies evolve, they must enrich and exchange gas with the surrounding medium, but the timing of these processes and how much gas is involved remain poorly understood. In this work, we leverage metals as tracers of past gas flows to constrain the history of metal ejection and redistribution in M31. This roughly L* galaxy is a unique case where spatially resolved measurements of the gas-phase and stellar metallicity, dust extinction, and neutral interstellar gas content are all available, enabling a census of the current metal mass. We combine spatially resolved star formation histories from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury survey with a metal production model to calculate the history of metal production in M31. We find that 1.8 × 109 M ⊙ of metals, or 62% of the metal mass formed within r < 19 kpc, is missing from the disk in our fiducial model, implying that the M31 disk has experienced significant gaseous outflows over its lifetime. Under a conservative range of model assumptions, we find that between 3% and 88% of metals have been lost (1.9 × 107–6.4 × 109 M ⊙), which means that metals are missing even when all model parameters are chosen to favor metal retention. We show that the missing metal mass could be harbored in the circumgalactic medium of M31 if the majority of the metals reside in a hot gas phase. Finally, we find that some metal mass produced in the past 1.5 Gyr in the central ∼5 kpc has likely been redistributed to larger radii within the disk.

Interacting galaxies on FIRE-2: the connection between enhanced star formation and interstellar gas content

We present a comprehensive suite of high-resolution (parsec-scale), idealised (non-cosmological) galaxy merger simulations (24 runs, stellar mass ratio ~2.5:1) to investigate the connection between interaction-induced star formation and the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) in various temperature-density regimes. We use the GIZMO code and the second version of the 'Feedback in Realistic Environments' model (FIRE-2), which captures the multi-phase structure of the ISM. Our simulations are designed to represent galaxy mergers in the local Universe. In this work, we focus on the 'galaxy-pair period' between first and second pericentric passage. We split the ISM into four regimes: hot, warm, cool and cold-dense, motivated by the hot, ionised, atomic and molecular gas phases observed in real galaxies. We find that, on average, interactions enhance the star formation rate of the pair (~30%, merger-suite sample average) and elevate their cold-dense gas content (~18%). This is accompanied by a decrease in warm gas (~11%), a negligible change in cool gas (~4% increase), and a substantial increase in hot gas (~400%). The amount of cold-dense gas with densities above 1000 cm^3 (the cold ultra-dense regime) is elevated significantly (~240%), but only accounts for 0.15% (on average) of the cold-dense gas budget.

Dust properties in the cold and hot gas phases of the ATLAS3D early-type galaxies as revealed by AKARI

Context. The properties of the dust in the cold and hot gas phases of early-type galaxies (ETGs) are key to understanding ETG evolution. Aims. We aim to conduct a systematic study of the dust in a large sample of local ETGs, focusing on relations between the dust and the molecular, atomic, and X-ray gas of the galaxies, as well as their environment. Methods. We estimated the dust temperatures and masses of the 260 ETGs from the ATLAS3D survey, using fits to their spectral energy distributions primarily constructed from AKARI measurements. We also used literature measurements of the cold (CO and H I) and X-ray gas phases. Results. Our ETGs show no correlation between their dust and stellar masses, suggesting inefficient dust production by stars and/or dust destruction in X-ray gas. The global dust-to-gas mass ratios of ETGs are generally lower than those of late-type galaxies, likely due to dust-poor H I envelopes in ETGs. They are also higher in Virgo Cluster ETGs than in group and field ETGs, but the same ratios measured in the central parts of the galaxies only are independent of galaxy environment. Slow-rotating ETGs have systematically lower dust masses than fast-rotating ETGs. The dust masses and X-ray luminosities are correlated in fast-rotating ETGs, whose star formation rates are also correlated with the X-ray luminosities. Conclusions. The correlation between dust and X-rays in fast-rotating ETGs appears to be caused by residual star formation, while slow-rotating ETGs are likely well evolved, and have therefore exhausted their dust. These results appear consistent with the postulated evolution of ETGs, whereby fast-rotating ETGs form by mergers of late-type galaxies and associated bulge growth, while slow-rotating ETGs form by (dry) mergers of fast-rotating ETGs. Central cold dense gas appears to be resilient against ram pressure stripping, suggesting that Virgo Cluster ETGs may not suffer strong related suppression of star formation.

Aerosol synthesis of germanium nanoparticles supported by external seeding: Theoretical and experimental analysis

In this work we present a detailed study of the effect of heterogeneous nucleation on the formation of germanium nanoparticles (Ge NPs) produced from monogermane (GeH4) in a hot wall reactor gas phase synthesis. As external seeding unit we use a hot wire generator (HWG) which produces a stable concentration of aerosol particles. The particle concentration and size of the seeds is easily controllable via the applied voltage and used metal. We demonstrate the importance of seed particles for the production of narrowly distributed Ge NPs with geometrical standard deviations (GSD) < 1.1 in our setup. Thereby, molybdenum and tungsten as wire metal show the best seeding results. The size of the final Ge NPs can be precisely controlled in the range of 20–60 nm. The expansion of Ge lattice seen in XRD and tiny amount of Mo probed by high-resolution STEM-EDXS analysis indicate that the Mo seed particles are most likely dissolved and incorporated in the Ge lattice during growth. Furthermore, we demonstrate an approach to investigate the effect of heterogeneous nucleation on the particle formation by population balance modeling. The results are in good agreement with experimental data. The seed concentration is the key parameter and has a major influence on the nucleation rate.

Optical spectroscopy of star-forming regions in dwarf Wolf–Rayet galaxies

We present here spatially-resolved optical spectroscopic observations of four nearby dwarf Wolf-Rayet (WR) galaxies. The ages of the most recent starburst events in these galaxies are found between 3 and 10 Myr. The gas-phase metallicities [12+log(O/H)] for the spatially-resolved star-forming regions are derived using several indicators. The star-forming regions within the galaxies are found chemically homogeneous within the uncertainties in the estimates. Nitrogen-enrichment as expected in the WR regions is not detected. This implies that metal-enrichment due to supernovae explosions in the most recent star-forming episode is not being detected here. It is suggested that the newly synthesized metals still reside in hot gas-phase. The metals from the previous episodes, cooled by now and well mixed across the whole extent of galaxies, are making galaxies chemically homogeneous with normal N/O ratio. These galaxies are residing in dense environments with galaxy density in the range of $8-80$ Mpc$^{-3}$.

Sweets in an unexpected place and unexpected ingredients in sweets

Chocolate in space Chemists at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, have confirmed that Earthlings’ favorite food can be found in an unexpected place: outer space. The team has identified the compounds that give chocolate its addictive flavor among the molecules that are likely formed in the interstellar medium (ChemPhysChem 2018, DOI: 10.1002/cphc.201701350). UH Manoa chemistry graduate student Matthew Abplanalpwasn’t looking for a food fix when he started his research. His experiments examine the chemistry that happens in the icy solid phase of space, as opposed to the hot gas phase. “We are trying to fill in the gaps of what can’t be described fully by gas-phase processes,” Abplanalp tells Newscripts. To do that, his team creates an Earth-bound replica of those icy conditions in a stainless steel chamber cooled to –268 °C. They deposit a frozen mixture similar to that found in space inside the vessel, seal it in a

The clumpy absorber in the high-mass X-ray binary Vela X-1

Bright and eclipsing, the high-mass X-ray binary Vela X-1 offers a unique opportunity to study accretion onto a neutron star from clumpy winds of O/B stars and to disentangle the complex accretion geometry of these systems. In Chandra-HETGS spectroscopy at orbital phase ~0.25, when our line of sight towards the source does not pass through the large-scale accretion structure such as the accretion wake, we observe changes in overall spectral shape on timescales of a few kiloseconds. This spectral variability is, at least in part, caused by changes in overall absorption and we show that such strongly variable absorption cannot be caused by unperturbed clumpy winds of O/B stars. We detect line features from high and low ionization species of silicon, magnesium and neon whose strengths and presence depend on the overall level of absorption. They imply a co-existence of cool and hot gas phases in the system that we interpret as a highly variable, structured accretion flow close to the compact object such as has been recently seen in simulations of wind accretion in high-mass X-ray binaries.

Determination of l-glutamic acid and γ-aminobutyric acid in mouse brain tissue utilizing GC-MS/MS.

A rapid and selective method for the quantitation of neurotransmitters, l-Glutamic acid (GA) and γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), was developed and validated using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). The novel method utilized a rapid online hot GC inlet gas phase sample derivatization and fast GC low thermal mass technology. The method calibration was linear from 0.5 to 100μg/mL, with limits of detections of 100ng/mL and 250ng/mL for GA and GABA, respectively. The method was used to investigate the effects of deletion of organic anion transporter 1 (Oat1) or Oat3 on murine CNS levels of GA and GABA at 3 and 18 mo of age, as compared to age matched wild-type (WT) animals. Whole brain concentrations of GA were comparable between WT, Oat1-/-, and Oat3-/- 18 mo at both 3 and 18 mo of age. Similarly, whole brain concentrations of GABA were not significantly altered in either knockout mouse strain at 3 or 18 mo of age, as compared to WT. These results indicate that the developed GC-MS/MS method provides sufficient sensitivity and selectivity for the quantitation of these neurotransmitters in mouse brain tissue. Furthermore, these results suggest that loss of Oat1 or Oat3 function in isolation does not result in significant alterations in brain tissue levels of GA or GABA.