Small Impact Parameters Research Articles

The MUSE Ultra Deep Field (MUDF). VI. The Relationship between Galaxy Properties and Metals in the Circumgalactic Medium

We present initial results associating galaxies in the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) Ultra Deep Field (MUDF) with gas seen in absorption along the line of sight to two bright quasars in this field to explore the dependence of metals in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) on galaxy properties. The MUDF includes ∼140 hr of Very Large Telescope (VLT)/MUSE data and 90 orbits of Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/G141M grism observations alongside VLT/Ultraviolet and Visual Echelle Spectrograph spectroscopy of the two quasars and several bands of HST imaging. We compare the metal absorption around galaxies in this field as a function of impact parameter, azimuthal angle, and galaxy metallicity across redshifts 0.5 < z < 3.2. Due to the depth of our data and a large field of view, our analysis extends to low stellar masses (<107 M ⊙) and high impact parameters (>600 kpc). We find a correlation between the absorber equivalent width and the number of nearby galaxies, but do not detect a significant anticorrelation with the impact parameter. Our full sample does not show any significant change in absorber incidence as a function of azimuthal angle. However, we do find a bimodality in the azimuthal angle distribution of absorption at small impact parameters (<2 r vir) and around highly star-forming galaxies, possibly indicating disk-like accretion and biconical outflows. Finally, we do not detect any systematic deviation from the fundamental metallicity relation among galaxies with detected absorption. This work is limited by gaps in the wavelength coverage of our current data; broader-wavelength observations with the James Webb Space Telescope will allow us to unlock the full potential of the MUDF for studying the CGM.

On the Origin of the Ancient, Large-scale Cold Front in the Perseus Cluster of Galaxies

The intracluster medium of the Perseus Cluster exhibits spiral-shaped X-ray surface brightness discontinuities known as “cold fronts,” which simulations indicate are caused by the sloshing motion of the gas after the passage of a subcluster. Recent observations of Perseus have shown that these fronts extend to large radii. In this work, we present simulations of the formation of sloshing cold fronts in Perseus using the AREPO magnetohydrodynamics code, to produce a plausible scenario for the formation of the large front at a radius of 700 kpc. Our simulations explore a range of subcluster masses and impact parameters. We find that low-mass subclusters cannot generate a cold front that can propagate to such a large radius, and that small impact parameters create too much turbulence, which leads to the disruption of the cold front before it reaches such a large distance. Subclusters that make only one core passage produce a stable initial front that expands to large radii, but without a second core passage of the subcluster, other fronts are not created at a later time in the core region. We find a small range of simulations with subclusters with mass ratios of R ∼ 1:5 and an initial impact parameter of θ ∼ 20°–25° that not only produce the large cold front but a second set in the core region at later times. These simulations indicate that the “ancient” cold front is ∼6–8.5 Gyr old. For the simulations providing the closest match with observations, the subcluster has completely merged into the main cluster.

Frustrated charge transfer in vibrationally inelastic Ar++N2 collisions via hard collision glory scattering

Vibrational energy transfer in collisions between ions and neutrals is a fundamental process in interstellar media, planetary atmospheres, and plasmas. The conventional wisdom is that glancing collisions with large impact parameters are forward-scattered with low vibrational excitation, while hard collisions with small impact parameters are sideway- or backward-scattered with relatively high vibrational excitation. Here, we report experimental observations with a three-dimensional velocity-map imaging crossed-beam apparatus in the inelastic scattering process Ar++N2(v′′ = 0, J′′)→Ar++N2(v′, J′), where all the vibrationally excited N2 products are dominated by forward scattering, contradicting the textbook model. Trajectory surface hopping calculations not only reproduced the experimental observation qualitatively, but also revealed that the vibrational excitation mainly occurs through a transient charge-transfer process. The hard collision glory mechanism, which has so far only been observed in inelastic rotational energy transfer between neutrals, is shown to play a major role for vibrational excitation in the inelastic Ar++N2 collision, via the frustrated charge transfer process.

Carroll geodesics

Using effective field theory methods, we derive the Carrollian analog of the geodesic action. We find that it contains both “electric” and “magnetic” contributions that are in general coupled to each other. The equations of motion descending from this action are the Carrollian pendant of geodesics, allowing surprisingly rich dynamics. As an example, we derive Carrollian geodesics on a Carroll–Schwarzschild background and discover an effective potential similar to the one appearing in geodesics on Schwarzschild backgrounds. However, the Newton term in the potential turns out to depend on the Carroll particle’s energy. As a consequence, there is only one circular orbit localized at the Carroll extremal surface, and this orbit is unstable. For large impact parameters, the deflection angle is half the value of the general relativistic light-bending result. For impact parameters slightly bigger than the Schwarzschild radius, orbits wind around the Carroll extremal surface. For small impact parameters, geodesics get reflected by the Carroll black hole, which acts as a perfect mirror.

Measurement of the impact-parameter dependent azimuthal anisotropy in coherent ρ0 photoproduction in Pb–Pb collisions at [formula omitted] TeV

This Letter presents the first measurement of the impact-parameter dependent angular anisotropy in the decay of coherently photoproduced ρ0 mesons. The ρ0 mesons are reconstructed through their decay into pion pairs. The measured anisotropy corresponds to the amplitude of the cos⁡(2ϕ) modulation, where ϕ is the angle between the two vectors formed by the sum and the difference of the transverse momenta of the pions, respectively. The measurement was performed by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC using data from ultraperipheral Pb–Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy of sNN=5.02 TeV per nucleon pair. Different impact-parameter regions are selected by classifying the events in nuclear-breakup classes. The amplitude of the cos⁡(2ϕ) modulation is found to increase by about one order of magnitude from large to small impact parameters. Theoretical calculations describe the measured cos⁡(2ϕ) anisotropy and its impact-parameter dependence as the result of a quantum interference effect at the femtometer scale, arising from the ambiguity regarding which of the nuclei is the photon source in the interaction.

Magnetic field and kinetic helicity evolution in simulations of interacting disk galaxies

Context. There are indications that the magnetic field evolution in galaxies is influenced by tidal interactions and mergers between galaxies. Aims. We carried out a parameter study of interacting disk galaxies with impact parameters ranging from central collisions to weakly interacting scenarios. The orientations of the disks were also varied. In particular, we investigated how magnetic field amplification depends on these parameters. Methods. We used magnetohydrodynamics for gas disks in combination with live dark-matter halos in adaptive mesh refinement simulations. The disks were initialized using a setup for isolated disks in hydrostatic equilibrium. Since we focused on the impact of tidal forces on magnetic field evolution, adiabatic physics was applied. Small-scale filtering of the velocity and magnetic field allowed us to estimate the turbulent electromotive force (EMF) and kinetic helicity. Results. Time series of the average magnetic field in central and outer disk regions show pronounced peaks during close encounters and mergers. This agrees with observed magnetic fields at different interaction stages. The central field strength exceeds 10 μG (corresponding to an amplification factor of 2–3) for small impact parameters. As the disks are increasingly disrupted and turbulence is produced by tidal forces, the small-scale EMF reaches a significant fraction of the total EMF. The small-scale kinetic helicity is initially antisymmetric across the disk plane. Though its evolution is sensitive to both the impact parameter and inclinations of the rotation axes with respect to the relative motion of the disks, antisymmetry is generally broken through interactions and the merger remnant loses most of the initial helicity. The EMF and the magnetic field also decay rapidly after coalescence. Conclusions. The strong amplification during close encounters of the interacting galaxies is mostly driven by helical flows and a mean-field dynamo. The small-scale dynamo contributes significantly in post-interaction phases. However, the amplification of the magnetic field cannot be sustained.

Imaging Rovibrational Excitation of Scattered YO Molecules in Inelastic Collisions with Kr and Ne.

Energy transfer between atoms and molecules is fundamental to many physical and chemical processes, and understanding the mechanisms and outcomes of energy transfer is crucial for various applications in physics and chemistry. Here, the rovibrational excitation of YO(X 2Σ+) molecules with the collision of Kr and Ne has been studied in the laser-ablation crossed beam and time-sliced ion velocity map imaging setup in combination with the resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization scheme. Significant changes in the angular distribution for different rovibrational excitations of YO molecules are observed with the collision of Kr. The sharp forward distribution for low rovibrational excitation of YO(v' = 0, 1) molecules suggest that the weak attractive potential between Kr and YO is dominant at large impact parameters. Comparatively, the strong sideway distribution for highly rovibrationally excited YO(v' = 1, 2, 3, and 5) is due to rainbow scattering from the stronger attractive potential of Kr···YO at relatively small impact parameters. The more isotropic angular distribution in the highly rovibrationally excited YO(v' = 11) indicates the formation of a short-lived complex. A change in the angular distribution of scattered YO with different rovibrational excitations was also observed in the collisions of Ne. For YO as a heteronuclear diatomic molecule, collisions of the Y- and the O-end of YO with rare gases would affect the contribution of inelastic processes at different impact parameters.

Distinguishing the observational signatures of hot spots orbiting Reissner-Nordström spacetime*

Abstract This paper investigates observable signatures of hot spots orbiting Reissner-Nordström (RN) black holes and naked singularities. For an RN black hole, we find two discernible lensing image tracks in time integrated images, capturing a complete orbit of hot spots and a image shadow within the critical curve where photons with a small impact parameter fall into the event horizon. Conversely, in RN singularities, additional image tracks can be found within the critical curve, originating from photons reflected by the infinitely high effective potential well. Moreover, we find incomplete and converging tracks from the time integrated images of hot spot orbiting RN singularities that have no photon sphere. The presence of these additional image tracks significantly influences temporal magnitudes at their local maxima, enabling us to differentiate between RN black holes and RN naked singularities.

Light curves and spectra for theoretical models of high-velocity red-giant star collisions

High-velocity stellar collisions driven by a supermassive black hole (BH) or BH-driven disruptive collisions in dense, nuclear clusters can rival the energetics of supergiant star explosions following the gravitational collapse of their iron core. Starting from a sample of red-giant star collisions simulated with the hydrodynamics code AREPO, we generated photometric and spectroscopic observables using the nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium time-dependent radiative transfer code CMFGEN. Collisions from more extended giants or more violent collisions (with higher velocities or smaller impact parameters) yield bolometric luminosities on the order of 1043 erg s−1 at 1 d, evolving on a timescale of a week to a bright plateau at ∼1041 erg s−1 before plunging precipitously after 20–40 d at the end of the optically thick phase. This luminosity falls primarily in the UV in the first few days, thus when it is at its maximum, and shifts to the optical thereafter. Collisions at lower velocities or from less extended stars produce ejecta that are fainter but can remain optically thick for up to 40 d if they have a low expansion rate. This collision debris shows a similar spectral evolution as that observed or modeled for Type II supernovae from blue-supergiant star explosions, differing only in the more rapid transition to the nebular phase. Such BH-driven disruptive collisions should be detectable by high-cadence surveys in the UV such as ULTRASAT.

Electronic stopping in ternary material SiCN: Anomalous behavior of slow channeling helium ions

By performing time-dependent density functional theory simulations, we reveal an anomalous deviation from linear low-velocity electronic stopping for slow channeling helium ions in the ternary material SiCN. We ascribe the deviation behavior that occurs upon helium ion irradiated SiCN to trapped electrons in the final stage of collision. The result show that the electron trapping for the exit-side of the material is more sensitive to the projectile velocity than that for the entrance-side, and that this has a corresponding relationship with nonlinear electronic stopping. In addition, our calculations reveal enhanced nonlinear electronic stopping to the off-center channels, particularly near the C/N layers. We propose the increased electron excitation for the increased charge density channel under a small impact parameter as the most plausible explanation for this behavior.

Detection of diffuse H i emission in the circumgalactic medium of NGC 891 and NGC 4565 - II

ABSTRACT We probe the neutral circumgalactic medium (CGM) along the major axes of NGC 891 and NGC 4565 in 21-cm emission out to ≳100 kpc using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), extending our previous minor axes observations. We achieve an unprecedented 5σ sensitivity of 6.1 × 1016 cm−2 per 20 km s−1 velocity channel. We detect H i with diverse spectral shapes, velocity widths, and column densities. We compare our detections to the interferometric maps from the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT) obtained as part of the HALOGAS survey. At small impact parameters, $\gt 31\!-\!43~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the emission detected by the GBT cannot be explained by emission seen in the WSRT maps, and it increases to $\gt 64\!-\!73~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ at large impact parameters. This implies the presence of diffuse circumgalactic H i. The mass ratio between H i in the CGM and H i in the disc is an order of magnitude larger than previous estimates based on shallow GBT mapping. The diffuse H i along the major axes pointings is corotating with the H i disc. The velocity along the minor axes pointings is consistent with an inflow and/or fountain in NGC 891 and an inflow/outflow in NGC 4565. Including the circumgalactic H i, the depletion time and the accretion rate of NGC 4565 are sufficient to sustain its star formation. In NGC 891, most of the required accreting material is still missing.

The galaxy counterpart and environment of the dusty damped Lyman-αabsorber atz= 2.226 towards Q 1218+0832

We report on further observations of the field of the quasar Q 1218+0832. Geier et al. (2019, A&amp;A, 625, L9) presented the discovery of the quasar resulting from a search for quasars reddened and dimmed by dust in foreground damped Lyman-αabsorbers (DLAs). The DLA is remarkable by having a very large H Icolumn density close to 1022cm−2. Its dust extinction curve shows the 2175 Å bump known from the Local Group. It also shows absorption from cold gas exemplified by C Iand CO molecules. For this paper, we present narrow-band observations of the field of Q 1218+0832 and also use an archivalHubbleSpace Telescope (HST) image to search for the galaxy counterpart of the DLA. No emission from the DLA galaxy is found in either the narrow-band imaging or in the HST image. In the HST image, we could probe down to an impact parameter of 0.3 arcsec and a 3-σdetection limit of 26.8 mag per arcsec2. In the narrow-band image, we probed down to a 0 arcsec impact parameter and detected nothing down to a 3-σdetection limit of about 3 × 10−17erg s−1cm−2. We did detect a bright Lyman-αemitter 59 arcsec south of Q 1218+0832 with a flux of 3 × 10−16erg s−1cm−2. We conclude that the DLA galaxy must be located at a very small impact parameter (&lt; 0.3 arcsec, 2.5 kpc) or it is optically dark. Also, the DLA galaxy most likely is part of a galaxy group.

Enhancements of electron-positron pair production at very low transverse momentum in peripheral hadronic A + A collisions

The STAR collaboration has observed an excess production of electron-positron pairs which have transverse momenta p⊥< 150 MeV/c in peripheral gold-gold and uranium-uranium collisions. ALICE has also reported on an excess of μ+μ− pairs at low p⊥ in very peripheral (70–90% centrality) lead-lead collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV/nucleon pair. These excesses cannot be explained by the QGP thermal radiation and ρ in-medium broadening calculations. This is a sign of coherent photon–photon interactions in ultra-peripheral collisions. However, the number of lepton pair production is more than the predictions from hadronic production models. In literature, there are number of explanations about the p⊥ broadening, however none of them has included the multi-pair production processes in their calculations. The aim of this paper is to show that at RHIC and LHC energies and for small impact parameters unitarity is violated and lowest order calculations are not adequate to calculate electromagnetic lepton pair production. Therefore, we have to include higher order effects in the calculations. We have shown that electron-positron multi-pair production cross section is large and it cannot be ignored in explaining the excess production of electron-positron pairs for low transverse momenta.

Operator growth and black hole formation

When two particles collide in an asymptotically AdS spacetime with high enough energy and small enough impact parameter, they can form a black hole. Motivated by dual quantum circuit considerations, we propose a threshold condition for black hole formation. Intuitively the condition can be understood as the onset of overlap of the butterfly cones describing the ballistic spread of the effect of the perturbations on the boundary systems. We verify the correctness of the condition in three bulk dimensions. We describe a six-point correlation function that can diagnose this condition and compute it in two-dimensional CFTs using eikonal resummation.

Born-Infeld Nonlinear Electromagnetism in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

We study the effect of the limiting field strength of Born-Infeld electromagnetism on the dynamics of charged particle scattering. We formulate the Born-Infeld limiting field in an invariant manner, showing that it is the electric field-dominated eigenvalue `$a$' of the field tensor $F^{\mu\nu}$ which is limited rather than the individual field vectors. Heavy ion collisions in particular provide uniquely large values of the field invariants that appear in the BI action, amplifying nonlinear effects. Thus ``$a$'' is the dominant input into the force between heavy ions that we use to compute the scattering angle as a function of impact parameter. We evaluate the BI effects, showing relevance at small impact parameters and exhibiting their dependence on the value of the limiting field strength.

Contributions of quasifission and fusion-fission in the Mg24 + Hf178 reaction at 145 MeV laboratory beam energy using the Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck model

Background: Understanding the mechanism of the quasifission reaction is important, because it is an essential competitor to the fusion reaction leading to superheavy elements. However, it is a challenge to separate the quasifission and fusion-fission components.Purpose: This paper provides a dynamics description of the $^{24}\mathrm{Mg}+^{178}\mathrm{Hf}$ reaction at laboratory beam energy of 145 MeV, and studies contributions of quasifission and fusion-fission in the reaction.Method: The Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck model is improved to study the heavy-ion collision at incident energy near the Coulomb barrier. A method is developed to determine the window of the dinuclear system during the evolution.Results: It is shown that the fusion occurs with a large percentage in the central collision, and the quasiinelastic scattering occurs mainly in the peripheral collision. The quasifission competes with the fusion in collisions with small impact parameters. It is found that the cross sections of quasifission decrease and those of fusion increase with increasing surface energy or incompressibility. The mass-angular correlation of the quasifission events shows the mass asymmetry. The fragments emitted at the front angle are targetlike fragments and those at the back angle are projectilelike fragments. Furthermore, the differential cross sections at the angles ${0}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ and ${180}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ are larger than that at ${90}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$.Conclusions: By comparing the calculations of the mass distribution and mass-angular correlation to the data, it is deduced that the compound nucleus fission plays a main role and accounts for the characteristic of fragment observables in the $^{24}\mathrm{Mg}+^{178}\mathrm{Hf}$ reaction at laboratory beam energy of 145 MeV.

Detection of magnetic fields in the circumgalactic medium of nearby galaxies using Faraday rotation

Context. The existence of magnetic fields in the circumgalactic medium (CGM) is largely unconstrained. Their detection is important as magnetic fields can have a significant impact on the evolution of the CGM, and, in turn, the fields can serve as tracers for dynamical processes in the CGM. Aims. Using the Faraday rotation of polarised background sources, we aim to detect a possible excess of the rotation measure in the surrounding area of nearby galaxies. Methods. We used 2461 residual rotation measures (RRMs) observed with the LOw Frequency ARray (LOFAR), where the foreground contribution from the Milky Way is subtracted. The RRMs were then studied around a subset of 183 nearby galaxies that was selected by apparent B-band magnitude. Results. We find that, in general, the RRMs show no significant excess for small impact parameters (i.e., the perpendicular distance to the line of sight). However, if we only consider galaxies at higher inclination angles and sightlines that pass close to the minor axis of the galaxies, we find significant excess at impact parameters of less than 100 kpc. The excess in |RRM| is 3.7 rad m−2 with an uncertainty between ±0.9 rad m−2 and ±1.3 rad m−2 depending on the statistical properties of the background (2.8σ–4.1σ). With electron densities of ∼10−4 cm−3, this suggests magnetic field strengths of a few tenths of a microgauss. Conclusions. Our results suggest a slow decrease in the magnetic field strength with distance from the galactic disc, as expected if the CGM is magnetised by galactic winds and outflows.

Full-dimensional automated potential energy surface development and dynamics for the OH + C2H6 reaction.

We develop a full-dimensional analytical potential energy surface (PES) for the OH + C2H6 reaction using the Robosurfer program system, which automatically (1) selects geometries from quasi-classical trajectories, (2) performs ab initio computations using a coupled-cluster singles, doubles, and perturbative triples-F12/triple-zeta-quality composite method, (3) fits the energies utilizing the permutationally invariant monomial symmetrization approach, and (4) iteratively improves the PES via steps (1)-(3). Quasi-classical trajectory simulations on the new PES reveal that hydrogen abstraction leading to H2O + C2H5 dominates in the collision energy range of 10-50 kcal/mol. The abstraction cross sections increase and the dominant mechanism shifts from rebound (small impact parameters and backward scattering) to stripping (larger impact parameters and forward scattering) with increasing collision energy as opacity functions and scattering angle distributions indicate. The abstraction reaction clearly favors side-on OH attack over O-side and the least-preferred H-side approach, whereas C2H6 behaves like a spherical object with only slight C-C-perpendicular side-on preference. The collision energy efficiently flows into the relative translation of the products, whereas product internal energy distributions show only little collision energy dependence. H2O/C2H5 vibrational distributions slightly/significantly violate zero-point energy and are nearly independent of collision energy, whereas the rotational distributions clearly blue-shift as the collision energy increases.

Radio emission from simulated tidal disruption events

ABSTRACT Several tidal disruption events such as ASASSN-14li and XMMSL1 J0740-85 have recently been observed in the radio. While the radio emission of some tidal disruption events are attributed to a relativistic jet, a few others are associated with a non-relativistic outflow. This outflow can either be due to a spherical wind or unbound tidal debris. We explore this latter hypothesis in this paper. We show that the maximum velocity of the unbound debris is a function of the impact parameter, such that smaller impact parameters (closer approaches) produce larger maximum velocities. We then model this outflow which expands and shocks the local interstellar medium and compute the peak radio flux and frequency as functions of the impact parameter. Moreover, multiple epochs of observations can put additional constraints on the profile of the local interstellar medium. We apply this analysis to four tidal disruption events whose radio emission is attributed to a non-relativistic outflow and show that the velocities of the unbound material are consistent with our simulated events. We also place constraints on the density profile of three of the four tidal disruption events with multiple epochs of observations.

Bouncing and spinning of amorphous Lennard-Jones nanoparticles under oblique collisions

Collisions of Lennard-Jones nanoparticles (NPs) may be used to study the generic collision behavior of NPs. We study the collision dynamics of amorphous NPs for oblique collisions using molecular dynamics simulation as a function of collision velocity and impact parameter. In order to allow for NP bouncing, the attraction between atoms originating from differing NPs is reduced. For near-central collisions, a finite region of velocities – a ‘bouncing window’ – exists where the 2 NPs bounce from each other. At smaller velocities, energy dissipation and – at larger velocities – also NP deformation do not allow the NPs to surpass the attractive forces such that they stick to each other. Oblique collisions of non-rotating NPs convert angular momentum into NP spin. For low velocities, the NP spin is well described by assuming the NPs to come momentarily to a complete stop at the contact point (‘grip’), such that orbital and spin angular momentum share the pre-collision angular momentum in a ratio of 5:2. The normal coefficient of restitution increases with impact parameter for small velocities, but changes sign for larger velocities where the 2 NPs do not repel but their motion direction persists. The tangential coefficient of restitution is fixed in the ‘grip’ regime to a value of 5/7, but increases towards 1 for high-velocity collisions at not too small impact parameters, where the 2 NPs slide along each other.