Multifluid magnetohydrodynamic turbulent decay

It is generally believed that turbulence has a significant impact on the dynamics and evolution of molecular clouds and the star formation which occurs within them. Non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic effects are known to influence the nature of this turbulence. We present the results of a suite of 512-cubed resolution simulations of the decay of initially super-Alfvenic and supersonic fully multifluid MHD turbulence. We find that ambipolar diffusion increases the rate of decay of the turbulence while the Hall effect has virtually no impact. The decay of the kinetic energy can be fitted as a power-law in time and the exponent is found to be -1.34 for fully multifluid MHD turbulence. The power spectra of density, velocity and magnetic field are all steepened significantly by the inclusion of non-ideal terms. The dominant reason for this steepening is ambipolar diffusion with the Hall effect again playing a minimal role except at short length scales where it creates extra structure in the magnetic field. Interestingly we find that, at least at these resolutions, the majority of the physics of multifluid turbulence can be captured by simply introducing fixed (in time and space) resistive terms into the induction equation without the need for a full multifluid MHD treatment. The velocity dispersion is also examined and, in common with previously published results, it is found not to be power-law in nature.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

Massive molecular outflows at high spatial resolution

We present high-spatial resolution Plateau de Bure Interferometer CO(2-1) and SiO(2-1) observations of one intermediate-mass and one high-mass star-forming region. The intermediate-mass region IRAS20293+3952 exhibits four molecular outflows, one being as collimated as the highly collimated jet-like outflows observed in low-mass star formation sources. Furthermore, comparing the data with additional infrared H2 and cm observations we see indications that the nearby ultracompact HII region triggers a shock wave interacting with the outflow. The high-mass region IRAS19217+1651 exhibits a bipolar outflow as well and the region is dominated by the central driving source. Adding two more sources from the literature, we compare position-velocity diagrams of the intermediate- to high-mass sources with previous studies in the low-mass regime. We find similar kinematic signatures, some sources can be explained by jet-driven outflows whereas other are better constrained by wind-driven models. The data also allow to estimate accretion rates varying from a few times 10^{-5}Msun/yr for the intermediate-mass sources to a few times 10^{-4}Msun/yr for the high-mass source, consistent with models explaining star formation of all masses via accretion processes.Comment: 14 pages text, 4 tables, 8 figures, accepted for Ap

Dense Molecular Gas and the Role of Star Formation in the Host Galaxies of Quasi-Stellar Objects

New millimeter-wave CO and HCN observations of the host galaxies of infrared-excess Palomar Green quasi-stellar objects (PG QSOs) previously detected in CO are presented. These observations are designed to assess the validity of using the infrared luminosity to estimate star formation rates of luminous AGN by determining the relative significance of dust-heating by young, massive stars and active galactic nuclei (AGN) in QSO hosts and IRAS galaxies with warm, AGN-like infrared colors. The HCN data show the PG QSO host IZw1 and most of the warm IRAS galaxies to have high L_IR / L'_HCN (>1600) relative to the cool IRAS galaxy population for which the median L_IR / L'_HCN ~ 890(+440,-470). If the assumption is made that the infrared emission from cool IRAS galaxies is reprocessed light from embedded star-forming regions, then high values of L_IR / L'_HCN are likely the result of dust heating by the AGN. Further, if the median ratio of L'_HCN / L'_CO ~ 0.06 observed for Seyfert galaxies and IZw1 is applied to the PG QSOs not detected in HCN, then the derived L_IR / L'_HCN correspond to a stellar contribution to the production of L_IR of ~ 7-39%, and star formation rates ~ 2-37 M_sun/yr are derived for the QSO hosts. Alternatively, if the far-infrared is adopted as the star formation component of the total infrared in cool galaxies, the stellar contributions in QSO hosts to their L_FIR are up to 35% higher than the percentages derived for L_IR. This raises the possibility that the L_FIR in several of the PG QSO hosts, including IZw1, could be due entirely to dust heated by young, massive stars. Finally, there is no evidence that the global HCN emission is enhanced relative to CO in galaxies hosting luminous AGN.Comment: LaTex, 31 pages, including 9 postscript figures, AJ, in press (December 2006

A sensitive search for CO J=1-0 emission in 4C 41.17: high-excitation molecular gas at z=3.8

We report sensitive imaging observations of the CO J=1-0 line emission in the powerful high-redshift radio galaxy 4C 41.17 (z=3.8) with the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA), conducted in order to detect the large concomitant H_2 gas reservoir recently unveiled in this system by De Breuck et al (2005) via the emission of the high excitation J=4-3 line. Our observations fail to detect the J=1-0 line but yield sensitive lower limits on the R_43=(4-3)/(1-0) brightness temperature ratio of R_43 ~ 0.55 - >1.0 for the bulk of the H_2 gas mass. Such high ratios are typical of the high-excitation molecular gas phase ``fueling'' the star formation in local starbursts, but quite unlike these objects, much of the molecular gas in 4C 41.17 seems to be in such a state, and thus participating in the observed starburst episode. The widely observed and unique association of highly excited molecular gas with star forming sites allows CO line emission with large (high-J)/(low-J) intensity ratios to serve as an excellent ``marker'' of the spatial distribution of star formation in distant dust-obscured starbursts, unaffected by extinction.Comment: 7 Pages including 8 PostScript figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Observations on the Formation of Massive Stars by Accretion

Observations of the H66a recombination line from the ionized gas in the cluster of newly formed massive stars, G10.6-0.4, show that most of the continuum emission derives from the dense gas in an ionized accretion flow that forms an ionized disk or torus around a group of stars in the center of the cluster. The inward motion observed in the accretion flow suggests that despite the equivalent luminosity and ionizing radiation of several O stars, neither radiation pressure nor thermal pressure has reversed the accretion flow. The observations indicate why the radiation pressure of the stars and the thermal pressure of the HII region are not effective in reversing the accretion flow. The observed rate of the accretion flow, 0.001 solar masses/yr, is sufficient to form massive stars within the time scale imposed by their short main sequence lifetimes. A simple model of disk accretion relates quenched HII regions, trapped hypercompact HII regions, and photo-evaporating disks in an evolutionary sequence

Time-resolved, multi-color photometry and spectroscopy of Virgo 4 (OU Vir): a high orbital inclination, short orbital period dwarf nova

We present multi-color photometry and time resolved spectroscopy of OU Vir. The analysis of the quiescent light curve shows that OU Vir is characterized by i) strong cycle-to-cycle brightness variations, and ii) hot spot modulated light curve with grazing eclipse of the impact region. Colors are derived both in- and out- of eclipse. The time-resolved spectroscopy allows us to produce the radial velocity curve from the H$\alpha$ accretion disk emission line which possibly reveals only weak evidence for hot spot line emission. The hot spot is believed to be a turbulent optically thick region, producing mostly continuum emission.Comment: 8 pages (including figures), 7 figures. To Be published in A&

SPT 0538–50: Physical Conditions in the Interstellar Medium of a Strongly Lensed Dusty Star-forming Galaxy at z = 2.8

We present observations of SPT-S J053816–5030.8, a gravitationally lensed dusty star-forming galaxy (DSFG) at z = 2.7817 that was first discovered at millimeter wavelengths by the South Pole Telescope. SPT 0538–50 is typical of the brightest sources found by wide-field millimeter-wavelength surveys, being lensed by an intervening galaxy at moderate redshift (in this instance, at z = 0.441). We present a wide array of multi-wavelength spectroscopic and photometric data on SPT 0538–50, including data from ALMA, Herschel PACS and SPIRE, Hubble, Spitzer, the Very Large Telescope, ATCA, APEX, and the Submillimeter Array. We use high-resolution imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope to de-blend SPT 0538–50, separating DSFG emission from that of the foreground lens. Combined with a source model derived from ALMA imaging (which suggests a magnification factor of 21 ± 4), we derive the intrinsic properties of SPT 0538–50, including the stellar mass, far-IR luminosity, star formation rate, molecular gas mass, and—using molecular line fluxes—the excitation conditions within the interstellar medium. The derived physical properties argue that we are witnessing compact, merger-driven star formation in SPT 0538–50 similar to local starburst galaxies and unlike that seen in some other DSFGs at this epoch