Population Of Small Grains Research Articles

Dust evolution during a protostellar collapse: Influence on the coupling between the neutral gas and magnetic field

Context. The extent of the coupling between the magnetic field and the gas during the collapsing phase of star-forming cores is strongly affected by the dust size distribution, which is expected to evolve by means of coagulation, fragmentation, and other collision outcomes. Aims. We aim to investigate the influence of key parameters on the evolution of the dust distribution, as well as on the magnetic resistivities during protostellar collapse. Methods. We performed a set of collapsing single-zone simulations with shark. The code computes the evolution of the dust distribution, accounting for different grain growth and destruction processes, with the grain collisions being driven by brownian motion, turbulence, and ambipolar drift. It also computes the charges carried by each grain species and the ion and electron densities, as well as the magnetic resistivities. Results. We find that the dust distribution significantly evolves during the protostellar collapse, shaping the magnetic resistivities. The peak size of the distribution, population of small grains, and, consequently, the magnetic resistivities are controlled by both coagulation and fragmentation rates. Under standard assumptions, the small grains coagulate very early as they collide by ambipolar drift, yielding magnetic resistivities that are many orders of magnitude apart from the non-evolving dust case. In particular, the ambipolar resistivity, ηAD, is very high prior to nH = 1010 cm−3. As a consequence, magnetic braking is expected to be ineffective. In this case, large size protoplanetary discs should result, which is inconsistent with recent observations. To alleviate this tension, we identified mechanisms that are capable of reducing the ambipolar resistivity during the ensuing protostellar collapse. Among them, electrostatic repulsion and grain-grain erosion feature as the most promising approaches. Conclusions. The evolution of the magnetic resistivities during the protostellar collapse and consequently the shape of the magnetic field in the early life of the protoplanetary disc strongly depends on the possibility to repopulate the small grains or to prevent their early coagulation. Therefore, it is crucial to better constrain the collision outcomes and the dust grain’s elastic properties, especially the grain’s surface energy based on both theoretical and experimental approaches.

Multiband polarimetric imaging of HD 34700 with SCExAO/CHARIS

Abstract We present Subaru/SCExAO + CHARIS broadband (JHK) integral field spectroscopy of HD 34700 A in polarized light. CHARIS has the unique ability to obtain polarized integral field images at 22 wavelength channels in broadband, as the incoming light is first split into different polarization states before passing though the lenslet array. We recover the transition disk around HD 34700 A in multiband polarized light in our data. We combine our polarized intensity data with previous total intensity data to examine the scattering profiles, scattering phase functions and polarized fraction of the disk at multiple wavelengths. We also carry out 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer simulations of the disk using MCFOST, and make qualitative comparisons between our models and data to constrain dust grain properties. We find that in addition to micron-sized dust grains, a population of sub-micron grains is needed to match the surface brightness in polarized light and polarized fraction. This could indicate the existence of a population of small grains in the disk, or it could be caused by Mie theory simulations using additional small grains to compensate for sub-micron structures of real dust aggregates. We find models that match the polarized fraction of the data but the models do not apply strong constraints on the dust grain type or compositions. We find no models that can match all observed properties of the disk. More detailed modeling using realistic dust aggregates with irregular surfaces and complex structures is required to further constrain the dust properties.

Coagulation–Fragmentation Equilibrium for Charged Dust: Abundance of Submicron Grains Increases Dramatically in Protoplanetary Disks

Dust coagulation in protoplanetary disks is not straightforward and is subject to several slowdown mechanisms, such as bouncing, fragmentation, and radial drift to the star. Furthermore, dust grains in UV-shielded disk regions are negatively charged due to collisions with the surrounding electrons and ions, which leads to their electrostatic repulsion. For typical disk conditions, the relative velocities between micron-sized grains are small, and their collisions are strongly affected by the repulsion. On the other hand, collisions between pebble-sized grains can be too energetic, leading to grain fragmentation. The aim of the present paper is to study the combined effect of the electrostatic and fragmentation barriers on dust evolution. We numerically solve the Smoluchowski coagulation–fragmentation equation for grains whose charging occurs under conditions typical for the inner disk regions, where thermal ionization operates. We find that dust fragmentation efficiently resupplies the population of small grains under the electrostatic barrier. As a result, the equilibrium abundance of submicron grains is enhanced by several orders of magnitude compared to the case of neutral dust. For some conditions with fragmentation velocities of ∼1 m s−1, macroscopic grains are completely destroyed.

Grain growth and segregation in Fe-doped SrTiO3: Experimental evidence for solute drag

In functional ceramics, the impact of dopants on bulk crystals is generally well understood. Their impact on grain boundaries is less well known. The present study investigates the impact of acceptor dopants on grain growth in strontium titanate. Scanning electron microscopy and analytical (scanning) transmission electron microscopy have been used to gain knowledge on Fe segregation behavior, grain sizes, and grain size distributions of SrTiO3. While undoped microstructures show normal grain growth at low temperatures (<1350 °C), doped microstructures evolve bimodally. With increasing acceptor dopant concentration, an increasing population of small grains develops. It is shown that Fe segregates to the grain boundaries due to its negative charge and a positive boundary potential. Thus, the experimental findings seem to be well explained by the theory of solute drag: The diffusion of segregated defects (‘solutes’) at grain boundaries can retard grain boundary migration.

Fragmentation with discontinuous Galerkin schemes: non-linear fragmentation

ABSTRACT Small grains play an essential role in astrophysical processes such as chemistry, radiative transfer, and gas/dust dynamics. The population of small grains is mainly maintained by the fragmentation process due to colliding grains. An accurate treatment of dust fragmentation is required in numerical modelling. However, current algorithms for solving fragmentation equation suffer from an overdiffusion in the conditions of 3D simulations. To tackle this challenge, we developed a discontinuous Galerkin scheme to solve efficiently the non-linear fragmentation equation with a limited number of dust bins.

Distribution of solids in the rings of the HD 163296 disk: a multiwavelength study

Context. Observations at millimeter wavelengths of bright protoplanetary disks have shown the ubiquitous presence of structures such as rings and spirals in the continuum emission. The derivation of the underlying properties of the emitting material is nontrivial because of the complex radiative processes involved. Aims. In this paper we analyze new observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at high angular resolution corresponding to 5 – 8 au to determine the dust spatial distribution and grain properties in the ringed disk of HD 163296. Methods. We fit the spectral energy distribution as a function of the radius at five wavelengths from 0.9 to 9 mm, using a simple power law and a physical model based on an analytic description of radiative transfer that includes isothermal scattering. We considered eight dust populations and compared the models' performance using Bayesian evidence. Results. Our analysis shows that the moderately high optical depth (τ&gt;1) at λ ≤ 1.3 mm in the dust rings artificially lower the millimeter spectral index, which should therefore not be considered as a reliable direct proxy of the dust properties and especially the grain size. We find that the outer disk is composed of small grains on the order of 200 µm with no significant difference between rings at 66 and 100 au and the adjacent gaps, while in the innermost ~30 au, larger grains (≥mm) could be present. We show that the assumptions on the dust composition have a strong impact on the derived surface densities and grain size. In particular, increasing the porosity of the grains to 80% results in a total dust mass about five times higher with respect to grains with 25% porosity. Finally, we find that the derived opacities as a function of frequency deviate from a simple power law and that grains with a lower porosity seem to better reproduce the observations of HD 163296. Conclusions. While we do not find evidence of differential trapping in the rings of HD 163296, our overall results are consistent with the postulated presence of giant planets affecting the dust temperature structure and surface density, and possibly originating a second-generation dust population of small grains.

Dust in RCW 58: Clues to common envelope channel formation?

ABSTRACT We present a characterization of the dust in the Wolf–Rayet (WR) nebula RCW 58 around the WN8h star WR 40 using archival infrared (IR) observations from WISE and Herschel and radio observations from ATCA. We selected two clumps, free from contamination from material along the line of sight and located towards southern regions in RCW 58, as representative of the general properties of this WR nebula. Their optical, IR, and radio properties are then modelled using the photoionization code cloudy, which calculates a self-consistent spatial distribution of dust and gas properties. Two populations of dust grains are required to model the IR SED: a population of small grains with sizes 0.002–0.01 $\mu$m, which is found throughout the clumps, and a population of large grains, with sizes up to 0.9 $\mu$m, located further from the star. Moreover, the clumps have very high dust-to-gas ratios, which present a challenge for their origin. Our model supports the hypothesis that RCW 58 is distributed in a ring-like structure rather than a shell, and we estimate a mass of ∼2.5 M⊙. This suggests that the mass of the progenitor of WR 40 was about $\approx 40^{+2}_{-3}$ M⊙. The ring morphology, low nebular mass, large dust grain size, and high dust-to-gas ratio lead us to propose that RCW 58 has formed through a common envelope channel, similar to what has been proposed for M 1-67.

Effect of a metallic surfactant on the electrical percolation of gold films

Abstract The electrical transport of ultrathin films is an issue for modern electronics, since conduction properties of commonly used metals present important differences for thicknesses in the nanometer scale. This report shows that the sheet resistance of gold ultrathin films (between 1.2 nm and 3.8 nm) decreases up to 5 orders of magnitude when a chromium layer 0.8 nm thick is used as surfactant. The chromium layer changes the morphology of the gold films on mica, composed by large isolated grains, allowing the formation of a population of small grains between the large ones, therefore reducing the thickness at which the electrical percolation is achieved. The electrical percolation thickness, evidenced as a sharp decay in sheet resistance, occurs at 3.9 nm, for gold deposited directly on mica, while this value is reduced to 1.2 nm if a thin chromium layer is previously grown on the mica substrate. A deeper study of the electrical properties of this gold ultrathin films grown on Cr/mica show that above 2.8 nm, they already present a metallic behavior; while films near 2.2 nm show a zero temperature coefficient, meaning that the electrical conduction driven by tunneling still plays an important role in the electronic transport. Finally, is demonstrated, that the contribution of the chromium layer to the electrical conductivity of films can be neglected. Namely the influence of the chromium layer on metallic ultrathin films, is mainly as a surfactant, with no direct role in the electronic transport itself.

Quantitative Evolution of WC-Co Cemented Carbide Tool Surface during the Cold Forming of Steel Parts

The present paper investigates the evolution of the WC grain size and morphology with the number of produced parts. Four reduction dies used in cold forward extrusion of steel are taken from the production line: a brand new die and three dies which have respectively produced 100.000, 150.000 and 220.000 parts. 3D roughness measurements and SEM micrographs are performed on the contact surface of each die. Results of these analyses highlight that WC grains are subject to plastic strain and are removed from the surface as the number of produced parts increase, leading to a growth of WC free areas where steel adhesion may occur. When analyzing the size of the WC grains, it appears that the population of small grains increases with the number of produced parts until 150.000. Then the population of small grains decreases. A wear mechanism is proposed to explain this variation of WC grains size with the number of extruded parts.

Breakthrough revisited: investigating the requirements for growth of dust beyond the bouncing barrier

AbstractFor grain growth to proceed effectively and lead to planet formation, a number of barriers to growth must be overcome. One such barrier, relevant for compact grains in the inner regions of the disc, is the ‘bouncing barrier’ in which large grains (∼mm size) tend to bounce off each other rather than sticking. However, by maintaining a population of small grains, it has been suggested that cm-size particles may grow rapidly by sweeping up these small grains. We present the first numerically resolved investigation into the conditions under which grains may be lucky enough to grow beyond the bouncing barrier by a series of rare collisions leading to growth (so-called ‘breakthrough’). Our models support previous results, and show that in simple models breakthrough requires the mass ratio at which high-velocity collisions transition to growth instead of causing fragmentation to be low, ϕ ≲ 50. However, in models that take into account the dependence of the fragmentation threshold on mass ratio, we find that breakthrough occurs more readily, even if mass transfer is relatively inefficient. This suggests that bouncing may only slow down growth, rather than preventing growth beyond a threshold barrier. However, even when growth beyond the bouncing barrier is possible, radial drift will usually prevent growth to arbitrarily large sizes.

Charge distribution over dust particles configured with size distribution in a complex plasma

A theoretical kinetic model describing the distribution of charge on the dust particles configured with generalized Kappa size distribution in a complex plasma has been developed. The formulation is based on the manifestation of uniform potential theory with an analytical solution of the master differential equation for the probability density function of dust charge; the number and energy balance of the plasma constituents are utilized in writing the kinetic equations. A parametric study to determine the steady state plasma parameters and the charge distribution corresponding to a size distribution of dust grains in the complex plasma has been made; the numerical results are presented graphically. The charge distribution is seen sensitive to the population of small grains in the particle size distribution and thus in contrast to symmetrical distribution of charge around a mean value for uniform sized grains, the charge distribution in the present case peaks around lower charge.

THE EFFECTS OF GRAIN SIZE AND TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTIONS ON THE FORMATION OF INTERSTELLAR ICE MANTLES

ABSTRACT Computational models of interstellar gas-grain chemistry have historically adopted a single dust-grain size of 0.1 micron, assumed to be representative of the size distribution present in the interstellar medium. Here, we investigate the effects of a broad grain-size distribution on the chemistry of dust-grain surfaces and the subsequent build-up of molecular ices on the grains, using a three-phase gas-grain chemical model of a quiescent dark cloud. We include an explicit treatment of the grain temperatures, governed both by the visual extinction of the cloud and the size of each individual grain-size population. We find that the temperature difference plays a significant role in determining the total bulk ice composition across the grain-size distribution, while the effects of geometrical differences between size populations appear marginal. We also consider collapse from a diffuse to a dark cloud, allowing dust temperatures to fall. Under the initial diffuse conditions, small grains are too warm to promote grain-mantle build-up, with most ices forming on the mid-sized grains. As collapse proceeds, the more abundant, smallest grains cool and become the dominant ice carriers; the large population of small grains means that this ice is distributed across many grains, with perhaps no more than 40 monolayers of ice each (versus several hundred assuming a single grain size). This effect may be important for the subsequent processing and desorption of the ice during the hot-core phase of star formation, exposing a significant proportion of the ice to the gas phase, increasing the importance of ice-surface chemistry and surface–gas interactions.

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and magnetic properties of obsidians: volcanic implications

The anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS), hysteresis and thermomagnetic curves of two sets of obsidians with contrasting bulk compositions are reported in this work. The cooling and deformation history of one of those obsidians is perfectly known, as these specimens were produced in the laboratory using material from a basaltic lava flow. The other samples are occurrences of a more silicic composition and for which the AMS has been documented to have a close relationship with the distribution of microlites. The results of our measurements indicate that although the deformation and cooling histories of the lava might influence the exact composition of the ferromagnetic fraction, the relationship between the AMS and the deformation history does not seem to be altered. Furthermore, the results of this work indicate that the AMS can be associated to a population of ferromagnetic minerals of a submicroscopic size, despite of which it can be very well defined and yield large degrees of anisotropy. It is suggested that the AMS associated to such population of small grains might indeed be the origin of the AMS of other igneous rocks that have an optically observable fraction of mineral grains, although until present it had been overlooked in most instances. Use of tests designed to identify the contribution of a superparamagnetic fraction (SP) in the magnetic properties of a rock can help us to identify the presence of such a SP-related AMS in other cases.

IMPACT OF GRAIN EVOLUTION ON THE CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

We study the impact of dust evolution in a protoplanetary disk around a T Tauri star on the disk chemical composition. For the first time we utilize a comprehensive model of dust evolution which includes growth, fragmentation and sedimentation. Specific attention is paid to the influence of grain evolution on the penetration of the UV field in the disk. A chemical model that includes a comprehensive set of gas phase and grain surface chemical reactions is used to simulate the chemical structure of the disk. The main effect of the grain evolution on the disk chemical composition comes from sedimentation, and, to a lesser degree, from the reduction of the total grain surface area. The net effect of grain growth is suppressed by the fragmentation process which maintains a population of small grains, dominating the total grain surface area. We consider three models of dust properties. In model GS both growth and sedimentation are taken into account. In models A5 and A4 all grains are assumed to have the same size (10(-5) cm and 10(-4) cm, respectively) with constant gas-to-dust mass ratio of 100. Like in previous studies, the "three-layer" pattern (midplane, molecular layer, hot atmosphere) in the disk chemical structure is preserved in all models, but shifted closer to the midplane in models with increased grain size (GS and A4). Unlike other similar studies, we find that in models GS and A4 column densities of most gas-phase species are enhanced by 1-3 orders of magnitude relative to those in a model with pristine dust (A5), while column densities of their surface counterparts are decreased. We show that column densities of certain species, like C2H, HC(2n+1)N (n=0-3), H2O and some other molecules, as well as the C2H2/HCN abundance ratio which are accessible with Herschel and ALMA can be used as observational tracers of early stages of the grain evolution process in protoplanetary disks.

ACCELERATION OF SMALL ASTROPHYSICAL GRAINS DUE TO CHARGE FLUCTUATIONS

We discuss a novel mechanism of dust acceleration which may dominate for particles smaller than $\sim0.1~\mu$m. The acceleration is caused by their direct electrostatic interactions arising from fluctuations of grain charges. The energy source for the acceleration are the irreversible plasma processes occurring on the grain surfaces. We show that this mechanism of charge-fluctuation-induced acceleration likely affects the rate of grain coagulation and shattering of the population of small grains.

Dust retention in protoplanetary disks

Context: Protoplanetary disks are observed to remain dust-rich for up to several million years. Theoretical modeling, on the other hand, raises several questions. Firstly, dust coagulation occurs so rapidly, that if the small dust grains are not replenished by collisional fragmentation of dust aggregates, most disks should be observed to be dust poor, which is not the case. Secondly, if dust aggregates grow to sizes of the order of centimeters to meters, they drift so fast inwards, that they are quickly lost. Aims: We attempt to verify if collisional fragmentation of dust aggregates is effective enough to keep disks 'dusty' by replenishing the population of small grains and by preventing excessive radial drift. Methods: With a new and sophisticated implicitly integrated coagulation and fragmentation modeling code, we solve the combined problem of coagulation, fragmentation, turbulent mixing and radial drift and at the same time solve for the 1-D viscous gas disk evolution. Results: We find that for a critical collision velocity of 1 m/s, as suggested by laboratory experiments, the fragmentation is so effective, that at all times the dust is in the form of relatively small particles. This means that radial drift is small and that large amounts of small dust particles remain present for a few million years, as observed. For a critical velocity of 10 m/s, we find that particles grow about two orders of magnitude larger, which leads again to significant dust loss since larger particles are more strongly affected by radial drift.

Magnetorotational instability in protoplanetary discs: the effect of dust grains

We investigate the linear growth and vertical structure of the MRI in protoplanetary discs when dust grains are well mixed with the gas over the entire disc thickness. All the grains have the same radius (a = 0.1, 1 or 3 micron) and constitute 1 % of the total mass of the gas. Solutions are obtained at R = 5 and 10 AU for a minimum-mass solar nebula model and different choices of the initially vertical magnetic field strength (B), configuration of the diffusivity tensor and grain sizes. We find that when no grains are present, or they are > 1 micron, the midplane remains magnetically coupled for B up to a few gauss at both radii. In contrast, when a population of small grains (a = 0.1 micron) is present, the disc is magnetically inactive for z/H 5, ambipolar diffusion is severe and prevents the field from coupling to the gas for all B. Hall diffusion is dominant for a wide range of field strengths at both radii when dust grains are present. The growth rate, wavenumber and range of magnetic field strengths for which MRI-unstable modes exist are all drastically diminished when dust grains are present, particularly when they are small (a ~ 0.1 micron). We conclude that in protoplanetary discs, the magnetic field is able to couple to the gas and shear over a wide range of fluid conditions even when small dust grains are well mixed with the gas. Despite the low magnetic coupling, MRI modes grow for an extended range of magnetic field strengths and Hall diffusion largely determines the properties of the perturbations in the inner regions of the disc (abridged).

Spectropolarimetry of the 3.4 μm Feature in the Diffuse ISM toward the Galactic Center Quintuplet Cluster

Aliphatic hydrocarbons exhibit an absorption feature at 3.4 μm, observed toward sources that sample diffuse regions of the interstellar medium (ISM). The absorbers responsible for this feature are assumed to reside in some component of interstellar dust, but the physical nature of the particles (size, shape, structure, etc.) is uncertain. Observations of interstellar polarization provide discrimination. Since the grains that carry the silicate absorption feature are known to be aligned, polarization across the 3.4 μm hydrocarbon feature can be used to test the silicate-core organic refractory mantle grain theory. Although the 3.4 μm feature has been observed to be devoid of polarization for one line of sight toward the Galactic center, a corresponding silicate polarization measurement for the same line of sight was not available. Here, we present spectropolarimetric observations of GCS 3-II and GCS 3-IV toward the Galactic center, where the 9.7 μm silicate polarization has been previously observed. We show that polarization is not detected across the 3.4 μm feature to a limit of 0.06% ± 0.13% (GCS 3-II) and 0.15% ± 0.31% (GCS 3-IV), well below the lowest available prediction of polarization on the basis of the core-mantle model. We conclude that the hydrocarbons in the diffuse ISM do not reside on the same grains as the silicates, and likely form a separate population of small grains.

Grain Boundary Properties and Grain Growth: Al Foils, Al Films

AbstractRelative grain boundary energy as a function of misorientation angle has been measured in cube-oriented, i.e., &lt;100&gt; fiber-textured, 120 [.proportional]m-thick Al foil using orientation imaging microscopy and a statistical multiscale method. The energies of low-angle boundaries increase with misorientation angle, in good agreement with the Read-Shockley model. The relative energies of high-angle boundaries exhibit little variation with misorientation. Examination of the grain structure of &lt;111&gt; fiber-textured, 100 nm-thick Al films annealed at 400°C for 0.5-10 h shows 5 and 6 sided grains to be the most frequent, and the fraction of four-sided grains to be significant. The mean number of sides is slightly lower than the expected value of 6 for two- dimensional structures. Of lognormal, gamma and Rayleigh distributions, gamma gives the best fit to the grain size data in the films; however, the difference between gamma and lognormal is small. Grain growth is not self-similar and stagnates after one hour of annealing. The evolution of the grain size distribution with time indicates that the growth stagnation in the films is neither consistent with boundary pinning by grooving nor with conventional treatments of solute drag. Surface, elastic-strain and plastic-strain energy driving forces do not play a significant role in the grain growth and the subsequent stagnation since the films are strongly textured even in the as- deposited state. The steady-state distributions of reduced grain area for two-dimensional, Monte Carlo and partial differential equation based simulations show excellent agreement with each other, even when anisotropic boundary energies are used. However, comparison with experimental distributions reveals a significantly higher population of small grains in the experiments.

Iron abundance in HII regions

Optical CCD spectra are used to determine the abundances at several positions inside seven bright Galactic HII regions. The observed [] line ratios are compared with the predictions of different sets of collision strengths and transition probabilities for this ion to select the atomic data providing the best fit to the observations. The values found for the and abundances, along with ionization correction factors for the contribution of , obtained from available grids of photoionized models, imply that the Fe/O ratio in the ionized gas is between 2% and 30% of solar. The abundances derived for each area are correlated both with the degree of ionization and the colour excess. A possible explanation is suggested, namely the presence of a population of small grains, probably originating from the fragmentation of larger grains. These small grains would release atoms into the gas after the absorption of energetic photons; the small grains surviving this destruction process would be swept out of the ionized region by the action of radiation pressure or stellar winds. An indication of a further and more efficient destruction agent is given by the high abundance derived for a position sampling the optical jet H 399 in M 20, where dust destruction due to shock waves has presumably taken place.