Low-density Tracers Research Articles

Understanding biases in measurements of molecular cloud kinematics using line emission

ABSTRACT Molecular line observations using a variety of tracers are often used to investigate the kinematic structure of molecular clouds. However, measurements of cloud velocity dispersions with different lines, even in the same region, often yield inconsistent results. The reasons for this disagreement are not entirely clear, since molecular line observations are subject to a number of biases. In this paper, we untangle and investigate various factors that drive linewidth measurement biases by constructing synthetic position–position–velocity cubes for a variety of tracers from a suite of self-gravitating magnetohydrodynamic simulations of molecular clouds. We compare linewidths derived from synthetic observations of these data cubes to the true values in the simulations. We find that differences in linewidth as measured by different tracers are driven by a combination of density-dependent excitation, whereby tracers that are sensitive to higher densities sample smaller regions with smaller velocity dispersions, opacity broadening, especially for highly optically thick tracers such as CO, and finite resolution and sensitivity, which suppress the wings of emission lines. We find that, at fixed signal-to-noise ratio, three commonly used tracers, the J = 4 → 3 line of CO, the J = 1 → 0 line of C18O, and the (1,1) inversion transition of NH3, generally offer the best compromise between these competing biases, and produce estimates of the velocity dispersion that reflect the true kinematics of a molecular cloud to an accuracy of $\approx 10{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ regardless of the cloud magnetic field strengths, evolutionary state, or orientations of the line of sight relative to the magnetic field. Tracers excited primarily in gas denser than that traced by NH3 tend to underestimate the true velocity dispersion by $\approx 20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ on average, while low-density tracers that are highly optically thick tend to have biases of comparable size in the opposite direction.

Relative Alignment between the Magnetic Field and Molecular Gas Structure in the Vela C Giant Molecular Cloud Using Low- and High-density Tracers

We compare the magnetic field orientation for the young giant molecular cloud Vela C inferred from 500-$\mu$m polarization maps made with the BLASTPol balloon-borne polarimeter to the orientation of structures in the integrated line emission maps from Mopra observations. Averaging over the entire cloud we find that elongated structures in integrated line-intensity, or zeroth-moment maps, for low density tracers such as $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO $J$ $\rightarrow$ 1 - 0 are statistically more likely to align parallel to the magnetic field, while intermediate or high density tracers show (on average) a tendency for alignment perpendicular to the magnetic field. This observation agrees with previous studies of the change in relative orientation with column density in Vela C, and supports a model where the magnetic field is strong enough to have influenced the formation of dense gas structures within Vela C. The transition from parallel to no preferred/perpendicular orientation appears to happen between the densities traced by $^{13}$CO and by C$^{18}$O $J$ $\rightarrow$ 1 - 0. Using RADEX radiative transfer models to estimate the characteristic number density traced by each molecular line we find that the transition occurs at a molecular hydrogen number density of approximately $10^3$ cm$^{-3}$. We also see that the Centre-Ridge (the highest column density and most active star-forming region within Vela C) appears to have a transition at a lower number density, suggesting that this may depend on the evolutionary state of the cloud.

Experimental characterization of axial fuel mixing in fluidized beds by magnetic particle tracking

A magnetic particle tracking (MPT) system is applied to a bubbling fluidized bed to study how axial mixing and segregation of fuel are influenced by the fuel density and operational conditions (fluidization velocity, bed height and pressure drop across the gas distributor). The MPT system is used to determine the vertical distribution of the tracer particle in a fluid-dynamically down-scaled cold unit resembling a 0.74×0.74m2 fluidized bed reactor operating at 800°C. This work uses a tracer particle of 10mm in diameter, corresponding to a fuel particle of 44mm. Different tracer particles are applied with solids density representing biomass, biomass char and that of the average bulk. The MPT system yields a spatial accuracy in the order of 10−3m and a time resolution of 10−3s.For the operational range investigated, three fuel segregation regimes can be identified from the MPT measurements: 1) A flotsam regime which occurs at low fluidization velocities and for low density tracer particles, 2) A transition regime over which an increase in fluidization velocity results in the presence of fuel particles at the bed surface decreases rapidly, and 3) A fully developed mixing regime in which the presence of tracer particle at the bed surface and the splash zone remains constant with fluidization velocity. The transition velocities between the regimes depend on bed height and density of the tracer particle.

THE CIRCUMBINARY OUTFLOW: A PROTOSTELLAR OUTFLOW DRIVEN BY A CIRCUMBINARY DISK

The protostellar outflows have indispensable role in the formation of single stars, because they carry off the excess angular momentum from the centre of the shrinking gas cloud, and permits further collapse to form a star. On the other hand, a significant fraction of stars is supposed to be born as binaries with circumbinary disk that are frequently observed. Here, we investigate the evolution of a magnetized rotating cloud using three-dimensional resistive MHD nested-grid code, and show that the outflow is driven by the circumbinary disk and has an important role even in the binary formation. After the adiabatic core formation in the collapsing cloud core, the magnetic flux is significantly removed from the centre of the cloud by the Ohmic dissipation. Since this removal makes the magnetic braking ineffective, the adiabatic core continuously acquires the angular momentum to induce fragmentation and subsequent binary formation. The magnetic field accumulates in the circumbinary disk where the removal and accretion of magnetic field are balanced, and finally drives circumbinary outflow. This result explains the spectacular morphology of some specific young stellar objects such as L1551 IRS5. We can infer that most of the bipolar molecular outflows observed by low density tracers (i.e., CO) would correspond to circumbinary or circum-multiple outflows found in this report, since most of the young stellar objects are supposed to be binaries or multiples.

Molecular line mapping of the giant molecular cloud associated with RCW 106 - III. Multimolecular line mapping

We present multimolecular line maps obtained with the Mopra telescope towards the southern giant molecular cloud (GMC) complex G333, associated with the H ii region RCW 106. We have characterized the GMC by decomposing the 3D data cubes with gaussclumps, and investigated spatial correlations among different molecules with principal component analysis (PCA). We find no correlation between clump size and linewidth, but a strong correlation between emission luminosity and linewidth. PCA classifies molecules into high- and low-density tracers, and reveals that HCO+ and N2H+ are anticorrelated.

Extragalactic Chemistry: HCN, HNC, and HCO+

High- and low-density tracer molecules have been observed in (Ultra-) Luminous Infrared Galaxies in order to initiate multi-molecule multi-transition studies to evaluate the physical and chemical environment of the nuclear medium and the ongoing nuclear activity. The data, augmented with data available in the literature, are presented in Baan et al. (2007), which also presents a first order analysis. Here, we present the chemical analysis of the J=1–0 transition lines of HCN, HNC, and HCO+.

Outflow and Dense Gas Emission from Massive Infrared Dark Clouds

Infrared Dark Clouds are expected to harbor sources in different, very young evolutionary stages. To better characterize these differences, we observed a sample of 43 massive Infrared Dark Clouds, originally selected as candidate high-mass starless cores, with the IRAM 30m telescope covering spectral line tracers of low-density gas, high-density gas, molecular outflows/jets and temperature effects. The SiO(2-1) observations reveal detections toward 18 sources. Assuming that SiO is exclusively produced by sputtering from dust grains, this implies that at least in 40% of this sample star formation is on-going. A broad range of SiO line-widths is observed (between 2.2 and 65km/s), and we discuss potential origins for this velocity spread. While the low-density tracers 12CO(2-1) and 13CO(1-0) are detected in several velocity components, the high-density tracer H13CO+(1--0) generally shows only a single velocity component and is hence well suited for kinematic distance estimates of IRDCs. Furthermore, the H13CO+ line-width is on average 1.5 times larger than that of previously observed NH3(1,1). This is indicative of more motion at the denser core centers, either due to turbulence or beginning star formation activity. In addition, we detect CH3CN toward only six sources whereas CH3OH is observed toward approximately 40% of the sample. Estimates of the CH3CN and CH3OH abundances are low with average values of 1.2x10^{-10} and 4.3x10^{-10}, respectively. These results are consistent with chemical models at the earliest evolutionary stages of high-mass star formation. Furthermore, the CH3OH abundances compare well to recently reported values for low-mass starless cores.

Molecular properties of (U)LIRGs: CO, HCN, HNC and HCO+

AbstractThe observed molecular properties of a sample of FIR-luminous and OH megamaser (OH-MM) galaxies have been investigated. The ratio of high and low-density tracer lines is found to be determined by the progression of the star formation in the system. The HCO+/HCN and HCO+/HNC line ratios are good proxies for the density of the gas, and PDR and XDR sources can be distinguished using the HNC/HCN line ratio. The properties of the OH-MM sources in the sample can be explained by PDR chemistry in gas with densities higher than 105.5cm−3, confirming the classical OH-MM model of IR pumped amplification with (variable) low gains.

A study of the Keplerian accretion disk and precessing outflow in the massive protostar IRAS 20126+4104

We report on interferometric observations at 3.2 and 1.3 mm of the massive young stellar object IRAS 20126+4104 obtained in the C 34 Sa nd CH 3OH lines and in the continuum emission. The C 34 S data confirm the existence of a Keplerian disk, as already suggested by various authors. However, the mass of the central object is ∼7 M� , significantly less than previous estimates. We believe that such a discrepancy is due to the fact that the rotation curve is affected not only by the star but also by the mass in the innermost regions of the disk itself: this leads to an overestimate of the stellar mass when low-density tracers are used to study the velocity field over regions larger than a few seconds of arc (i.e. a few 0.01 pc). On the basis of the line profiles we speculate that accretion onto the star might be still occurring through the disk. This seems consistent with current models of high-mass star formation which predict an accretion luminosity equal to that of IRAS 20126+4104 for a 7 Mprotostar. The CH3OH lines trace both the disk and the bipolar outflow previously detected in other molecules such as HCO + ,S iO, and H 2. New H2 images obtained at 2.2 µm confirm that the outflow axis is undergoing precession. We elaborate a simple model that suitably fits the data thus allowing derivation of a few basic parameters of the precession.

Physical versus Observational Properties of Clouds in Turbulent Molecular Cloud Models

We examine the question of how well the physical properties of clumps in turbulent molecular clouds can be determined by measurements of observed clump structures. To do this, we compare simulated observations of three-dimensional numerical models of isothermal, magnetized, supersonic turbulence with the actual physical structure of the models. We begin by determining how changing the parameters of the turbulence changes the structure of the simulations. Stronger driving produces greater density fluctuations, and longer wavelength driving produces larger structures. Magnetic fields have a less pronounced effect on structure, one that is not monotonic with field strength. Aligned structures are seen only with low-density tracers and when the intensity of the field is large. Comparing different regions with the same tracers (or conversely, the same region with different tracers) can give information about the physical conditions of the region. In particular, different density tracers can help determine the size of the density fluctuations and thus the strength of the driving. Nevertheless, velocity superposition of multiple physical clumps can fully obscure the physical properties of those clumps, and short-wavelength (compared with the size of the region under analysis) driving worsens this effect. We then compare Larson's relationships and mass spectra in physical and observational space for the same structure data set. We confirm previous claims that the mean density-size relationship is an observational artifact due to limited dynamical range in column density: it is the inevitable consequence of the presence of a lower cutoff in column density. The velocity dispersion-size relationship, on the other hand, is reproduced in both physical and observed clumps, although with substantial scatter in the derived slope, consistent with observations. Finally, we compute the mass spectra for the models and compare them to mass spectra derived from simulated observations of the models. We show that when we look for clumps with high enough resolution, both spectra converge to the same shape. This shape appears to be lognormal, however, rather than the power-law function usually used in the literature.

TDC Flow Field Structure of Two-Intake-Valve Engines with Pentroof Combustion Chamber.

The Laser sheet particle track velocimetry procedure was improved by employing a two-color light source. Velocity vectors resolving the directional ambiguity could be obtained with high spatial resolution. The forward-scattering LDV adopting a high-power light source and large diameter / low density tracer particles revealed a potential for cycle-resolved turbulence analysis with high temporal resolution. Adopting these procedures, flow field in the pentroof combustion chamber of a two-intake-valve engine was analyzed. It was clarified that at the early and middle stages of the compression stroke, both tumble and swirl maintain distinctive vortex structures and at the late stage of the compression stroke, tumble and swirl are converted into many small eddies of relatively large scale. Experimental results demonstrated that because these eddies are distributed uniformly throughout the combustion chamber and the scale conversion proceeds, maintaining the equilibrium relationship, it is reasonable to treat these eddies as turbulence.