arXiv subjects

Arnaud Belloche

Publications and source records attributed to Arnaud Belloche.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Toward a global model of the interactions in low-lying states of methyl cyanide: rotational and rovibrational spectroscopy of the $v_4 = 1$ state and tentative interstellar detection of the $v_4 = v_8 = 1$ state in Sgr B2(N)

New and existing rotational spectra of methyl cyanide were analyzed to extend the global model of low-lying vibrational states and their interactions to $v_4=1$ at 920 cm$^{-1}$. The rotational spectra cover large portions of the 36$-$1439 GHz region and reach quantum numbers $J$ and $K$ of 79 and 16, respectively. Information on the $K$ level structure of CH$_3$CN is obtained from IR spectra. A spectrum of $2ν_8$ around 717 cm$^{-1}$, analyzed in our previous study, covered also the $ν_4$ band. The assignments in this band cover 880$-$952 cm$^{-1}$, attaining quantum numbers $J$ and $K$ of 61 and 13, respectively. The most important interaction of $v_4=1$ appears to be with $v_8=3$, $ΔK=0$, $Δl=+3$, a previously characterized anharmonic resonance. We report new analyses of interactions with $ΔK=-2$ and $Δl=+1$, with $ΔK=-4$ and $Δl=-1$, and with $ΔK=-6$ and $Δl=-3$; these four types of interactions connect all $l$ substates of $v_8=3$ in energy to $v_4=1$. A known $ΔK=-2$, $Δl=+1$ interaction with $v_7=1$ was also analyzed, and investigations of the $ΔK=+1$, $Δl=-2$ and $ΔK=+3$, $Δl=0$ resonances with $v_8=2$ were improved, as were interactions between successive states with $v_8\le 3$, mainly through new $v_8\le 2$ rotational data. A preliminary single state analysis of the $v_4=v_8=1$ state was carried out based on rotational transition frequencies and on $ν_4+ν_8-ν_8$ hot band data. A considerable fraction of the $K$ levels was reproduced within uncertainties in its entirety or in part, despite obvious widespread perturbations in $v_4=v_8=1$. We detect rotational transitions of methyl cyanide from within all vibrational states up to $v_4=1$ and $v_4=v_8=1$ tentatively toward the hot molecular core of Sagittarius B2(N) employing the Atacama Large Millimeter Array.

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arXiv2020

Astrochemistry During the Formation of Stars

Star-forming regions show a rich and varied chemistry, including the presence of complex organic molecules - both in the cold gas distributed on large scales, and in the hot regions close to young stars where protoplanetary disks arise. Recent advances in observational techniques have opened new possibilities for studying this chemistry. In particular, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has made it possible to study astrochemistry down to Solar System size scales, while also revealing molecules of increasing variety and complexity. In this review, we discuss recent observations of the chemistry of star-forming environments, with a particular focus on complex organic molecules, taking context from the laboratory experiments and chemical models that they have stimulated. The key takeaway points are: The physical evolution of individual sources plays a crucial role in their inferred chemical signatures, and remains an important area for observations and models to elucidate. Comparisons of the abundances measured toward different star-forming environments (high-mass versus low-mass, Galactic center versus Galactic disk) reveal a remarkable similarity, an indication that the underlying chemistry is relatively independent of variations in their physical conditions. Studies of molecular isotopologs in star-forming regions provide a link with measurements in our own Solar System, and thus may shed light on the chemical similarities and differences expected in other planetary systems.

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arXiv2019

Low dust emissivities and radial variations in the envelopes of Class 0 protostars: a signature of early grain growth?

Analyzing the properties of dust and its evolution in the early phases of star formation is crucial to put constraints on the collapse and accretion processes as well as on the pristine properties of planet-forming seeds. We analyze PdBI observations at 1.3 and 3.2 mm for 12 Class 0 protostars obtained as part of the CALYPSO survey and derive dust emissivity index (beta) profiles as a function of the envelope radius at 200-2000 au scales. Most of the protostellar envelopes show low dust emissivity indices decreasing toward the central regions. The decreasing trend remains after correction of the (potentially optically-thick) central region emission, with surprisingly low beta (lower than 1) values across most of the envelope radii of NGC1333-IRAS4A, NGC1333-IRAS4B, SVS13B, and Serpens-SMM4. We discuss the various processes that could explain such low and varying dust emissivity indices at envelope radii 200-2000 au. Our observations of extremely low dust emissivity indices could trace the presence of large (mm-size) grains in Class 0 envelopes and a radial increase of the dust grain size toward the inner envelope regions. While it is expected that large grains in young protostellar envelopes could be built via grain growth and coagulation, we stress that the typical timescales required to build mm grains in current coagulation models are at odds with the youth of our Class 0 protostars. Additional variations in the dust composition could also partly contribute to the low beta we observe. The steepness of the beta radial gradient depends strongly on the envelope mass, which might favor a scenario where large grains are built in high density protostellar disks and transported to the intermediate envelope radii, for example with the help of outflows and winds.

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arXiv2019

Chronology of Episodic Accretion in Protostars -- an ALMA survey of the CO and H$_2$O snowlines

Episodic accretion has been used to explain the wide range of protostellar luminosities, but its origin and influence on the star forming process are not yet fully understood. We present an ALMA survey of N$_2$H$^+$ ($1-0$) and HCO$^+$ ($3-2$) toward 39 Class 0 and Class I sources in the Perseus molecular cloud. N$_2$H$^+$ and HCO$^+$ are destroyed via gas-phase reactions with CO and H$_2$O, respectively, thus tracing the CO and H$_2$O snowline locations. A snowline location at a much larger radius than that expected from the current luminosity suggests that an accretion burst has occurred in the past which has shifted the snowline outward. We identified 18/18 Class 0 and 9/10 Class I post-burst sources from N$_2$H$^+$, and 7/17 Class 0 and 1/8 Class I post-burst sources from HCO$^+$.The accretion luminosities during the past bursts are found to be $\sim10-100~L_\odot$. This result can be interpreted as either evolution of burst frequency or disk evolution. In the former case, assuming that refreeze-out timescales are 1000 yr for \ce{H2O} and 10,000 yr for CO, we found that the intervals between bursts increases from 2400 yr in the Class 0 to 8000 yr in the Class I stage. This decrease in the burst frequency may reflect that fragmentation is more likely to occur at an earlier evolutionary stage when the young stellar object is more prone to instability.

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arXiv2019

Molecular complexity in the interstellar medium

The search for complex organic molecules in the interstellar medium (ISM) has revealed species of ever greater complexity. This search relies on the progress made in the laboratory to characterize their rotational spectra. Our understanding of the processes that lead to molecular complexity in the ISM builds on numerical simulations that use chemical networks fed by laboratory and theoretical studies. The advent of ALMA and NOEMA has opened a new door to explore molecular complexity in the ISM. Their high angular resolution reduces the spectral confusion of star-forming cores and their increased sensitivity allows the detection of low-abundance molecules that could not be probed before. The complexity of the recently-detected molecules manifests itself not only in terms of number of atoms but also in their molecular structure. We discuss these developments and report on ReMoCA, a new spectral line survey performed with ALMA toward the high-mass star-forming region Sgr B2(N).

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arXiv2019

Laboratory rotational spectroscopy of isotopic acetone, CH$_3^{13}$C(O)CH$_3$ and $^{13}$CH$_3$C(O)CH$_3$, and astronomical search in Sagittarius B2(N2)

We want to study the rotational spectra of CH$_3^{13}$C(O)CH$_3$ and $^{13}$CH$_3$C(O)CH$_3$ and search for them in Sagittarius B2(N2). We investigated the laboratory rotational spectrum of isotopically enriched CH$_3^{13}$C(O)CH$_3$ between 40 GHz and 910 GHz and of acetone between 36 GHz and 910 GHz in order to study $^{13}$CH$_3$C(O)CH$_3$ in natural isotopic composition. In addition, we searched for emission lines produced by these species in a molecular line survey of Sagittarius B2(N) carried out with ALMA. Discrepancies between predictions of the main isotopic species and the ALMA spectrum prompted us to revisit the rotational spectrum of this isotopolog. We assigned 9711 new transitions of CH$_3^{13}$C(O)CH$_3$ and 63 new transitions of $^{13}$CH$_3$C(O)CH$_3$ in the laboratory spectra. More than 1000 additional lines were assigned for the main isotopic species. We modeled the ground state data of all three isotopologs satisfactorily with the ERHAM program. We find that models of the torsionally excited states $v _{12} = 1$ and $v _{17} = 1$ of CH$_3$C(O)CH$_3$ improve only marginally. No transition of CH$_3^{13}$C(O)CH$_3$ is clearly detected toward the hot molecular core Sgr B2(N2). However, we report a tentative detection of $^{13}$CH$_3$C(O)CH$_3$ with a $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C isotopic ratio of 27 that is consistent with the ratio previously measured for alcohols in this source. Several dozens of transitions of both torsional states of the main isotopolog are detected as well. Our predictions of CH$_3^{13}$C(O)CH$_3$ and CH$_3$C(O)CH$_3$ are reliable into the terahertz region. The spectrum of $^{13}$CH$_3$C(O)CH$_3$ should be revisited in the laboratory with an enriched sample. Transitions pertaining to the torsionally excited states $v _{12} = 1$ and $v _{17} = 1$ of CH$_3$C(O)CH$_3$ could be identified unambiguously in Sagittarius B2(N2).

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arXiv2019

Rotational spectroscopy of isotopic species of methyl mercaptan at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths: CH$_3$$^{34}$SH

Methyl mercaptan (CH$_3$SH) is an important sulfur-bearing species in the interstellar medium, terrestrial environment, and potentially in planetary atmospheres. The aim of the present study is to provide accurate spectroscopic parameters for the most abundant minor isotopolog CH$_3$$^{34}$SH to support radio astronomical observations at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths. The rotational spectrum of CH$_3$$^{34}$SH, which is complicated by the large-amplitude internal rotation of the CH$_3$ group versus the $^{34}$SH frame, was investigated in the 49$-$510 GHz and 1.1$-$1.5 THz frequency ranges in natural isotopic abundance. The analysis of the spectrum was performed up to the second excited torsional state, and the obtained data were modeled with the RAM36 program. A fit within experimental accuracy was obtained with a RAM Hamiltonian model that uses 72 parameters. Predictions based on this fit are used to search for CH$_3$$^{34}$SH with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) toward the hot molecular core Sgr B2(N2), but blends with emission lines of other species prevent its firm identification in this source.

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arXiv2019

Submillimeter spectroscopy and astronomical searches of vinyl mercaptan, C$_2$H$_3$SH

We have extended the pure rotational investigation of the two isomers syn and anti vinyl mercaptan to the millimeter domain using a frequency-multiplication spectrometer. The species were produced by a radiofrequency discharge in 1,2-ethanedithiol. Additional transitions have been re-measured in the centimeter band using Fourier-transform microwave spectroscopy to better determine rest frequencies of transitions with low-$J$ and low-$K_a$ values. Experimental investigations were supported by quantum chemical calculations on the energetics of both the [C$_2$,H$_4$,S] and [C$_2$,H$_4$,O] isomeric families. Interstellar searches for both syn and anti vinyl mercaptan as well as vinyl alcohol were performed in the EMoCA (Exploring Molecular Complexity with ALMA) spectral line survey carried out toward Sagittarius (Sgr) B2(N2) with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Highly accurate experimental frequencies (to better than 100 kHz accuracy) for both syn and anti isomers of vinyl mercaptan have been measured up to 250 GHz; these deviate considerably from predictions based on extrapolation of previous microwave measurements. Reliable frequency predictions of the astronomically most interesting millimeter-wave lines for these two species can now be derived from the best-fit spectroscopic constants. From the energetic investigations, the four lowest singlet isomers of the [C$_2$,H$_4$,S] family are calculated to be nearly isoenergetic, which makes this family a fairly unique test bed for assessing possible reaction pathways. Upper limits for the column density of syn and anti vinyl mercaptan are derived toward the extremely molecule-rich star-forming region Sgr B2(N2) enabling comparison with selected complex organic molecules.

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arXiv2018

ALMA observations of the protostellar disk around the VeLLO IRAS 16253-2429

We present ALMA long-baseline observations toward the Class 0 protostar IRAS 16253-2429 (hereafter IRAS 16253) with a resolution down to 0.12" (~15 au). The 1.3 mm dust continuum emission has a deconvolved Gaussian size of 0.16" x 0. 07" (20 au x 8.8 au), likely tracing an inclined dusty disk. Interestingly, the position of the 1.38 mm emission is offset from that of the 0.87 mm emission along the disk minor axis. Such an offset may come from a torus-like disk with very different optical depths between these two wavelengths. Furthermore, through CO (2 - 1) and C18O (2 - 1) observations, we study rotation and infall motions in this disk-envelope system and infer the presence of a Keplerian disk with a radius of 8 - 32 au. This result suggests that the disk could have formed by directly evolving from a first core, because IRAS16253 is too young to gradually grow a disk to such a size considering the low rotation rate of its envelope. In addition, we find a quadruple pattern in the CO emission at low velocity, which may originate from CO freeze out at the disk/envelope midplane. This suggests that the "cold disk" may appear in the early stage, implying a chemical evolution for the disk around this proto-brown dwarf (or very low-mass protostar) different from that of low-mass stars.

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arXiv2018

Probing Episodic Accretion in Very Low Luminosity Objects

Episodic accretion has been proposed as a solution to the long-standing luminosity problem in star formation; however, the process remains poorly understood. We present observations of line emission from N2H+ and CO isotopologues using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in the envelopes of eight Very Low Luminosity Objects (VeLLOs). In five of the sources the spatial distribution of emission from N2H+ and CO isotopologues shows a clear anti-correlation. It is proposed that this is tracing the CO snow line in the envelopes: N2H+ emission is depleted toward the center of these sources in contrast to the CO isotopologue emission which exhibits a peak. The positions of the CO snow lines traced by the N2H+ emission are located at much larger radii than those calculated using the current luminosities of the central sources. This implies that these five sources have experienced a recent accretion burst because the CO snow line would have been pushed outwards during the burst due to the increased luminosity of the central star. The N2H+ and CO isotopologue emission from DCE161, one of the other three sources, is most likely tracing a transition disk at a later evolutionary stage. Excluding DCE161, five out of seven sources (i.e., ~70%) show signatures of a recent accretion burst. This fraction is larger than that of the Class 0/I sources studied by Jørgensen et al. (2015) and Frimann et al. (2016) suggesting that the interval between accretion episodes in VeLLOs is shorter than that in Class 0/I sources.

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arXiv2017

Rotational and high-resolution infrared spectrum of HC$_3$N: global ro-vibrational analysis and improved line catalogue for astrophysical observations

HC$_3$N is an ubiquitous molecule in interstellar environments, from external galaxies, to Galactic interstellar clouds, star forming regions, and planetary atmospheres. Observations of its rotational and vibrational transitions provide important information on the physical and chemical structure of the above environments. We present the most complete global analysis of the spectroscopic data of HC$_3$N. We have recorded the high-resolution infrared spectrum from 450 to 1350 cm$^{-1}$, a region dominated by the intense $ν_5$ and $ν_6$ fundamental bands, located at 660 and 500 cm$^{-1}$, respectively, and their associated hot bands. Pure rotational transitions in the ground and vibrationally excited states have been recorded in the millimetre and sub-millimetre regions in order to extend the frequency range so far considered in previous investigations. All the transitions from the literature and from this work involving energy levels lower than 1000 cm$^{-1}$ have been fitted together to an effective Hamiltonian. Because of the presence of various anharmonic resonances, the Hamiltonian includes a number of interaction constants, in addition to the conventional rotational and vibrational l-type resonance terms. The data set contains about 3400 ro-vibrational lines of 13 bands and some 1500 pure rotational lines belonging to 12 vibrational states. More than 120 spectroscopic constants have been determined directly from the fit, without any assumption deduced from theoretical calculations or comparisons with similar molecules. An extensive list of highly accurate rest frequencies has been produced to assist astronomical searches and data interpretation. These improved data, have enabled a refined analysis of the ALMA observations towards Sgr B2(N2).

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arXiv2017

Exploring molecular complexity in the Galactic Center with ALMA

The search for complex organic molecules (COMs) in the ISM has revealed chemical species of ever greater complexity. This search relies heavily on the progress made in the laboratory to characterize the rotational spectra of these molecules. Observationally, the advent of ALMA with its high angular resolution and sensitivity has allowed to reduce the spectral confusion and detect low-abundance molecules that could not be probed before. We present results of the EMoCA survey conducted with ALMA toward the star-forming region Sgr B2(N). This spectral line survey aims at deciphering the molecular content of Sgr B2(N) in order to test the predictions of astrochemical models and gain insight into the chemical processes at work in the ISM. We report on the tentative detection of N-methylformamide, on deuterated COMs, and on the detection of a branched alkyl molecule. Prospects for probing molecular complexity in the ISM even further are discussed at the end.

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arXiv2017

CALYPSO view of SVS 13A with PdBI: Multiple jet sources

Aims. We wish to clarify the origin of the multiple jet features emanating from the binary protostar SVS 13A (= VLA4A/VLA4B). Methods. We used the Plateau de Bure Interferometer to map at 0.3-0.8" (~70-190 au) dust emission at 1.4 mm, CO(2-1), SiO(5-4), SO(65-54). Revised proper motions for VLA4A/4B and jet wiggling models are computed to clarify their respective contribution. Results. VLA4A shows compact dust emission suggestive of a disk < 50 au, and is the hot corino source, while CO/SiO/SO counterparts to the small-scale H2 jet originate from VLA4B and reveal the jet variable velocity structure. This jet exhibits ~ 3" wiggling consistent with orbital motion around a yet undetected ~ 20-30 au companion to VLA4B, or jet precession. Jet wiggling combined with velocity variability can explain the large apparent angular momentum in CO bullets. We also uncover a synchronicity between CO jet bullets and knots in the HH7-11 chain demonstrating that they trace two distinct jets. Their ~ 300 yr twin outburst period may be triggered by close perihelion approach of VLA4A in an eccentric orbit around VLA4B. A third jet is tentatively seen at PA ~ 0 degrees. Conclusions. SVS13 A harbors at least 2 and possibly 3 distinct jet sources. The CO and HH7-11 jets are launched from quasi-coplanar disks, separated by 20-70 au. Their synchronous major events every 300 yr favor external triggering by close binary interactions, a scenario also invoked for FU Or outbursts.

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arXiv2017

Widening of Protostellar Outflows: an Infrared Outflow Survey in Low Luminosity Objects

We present an outflow survey toward 20 Low Luminosity Objects (LLOs), namely protostars with an internal luminosity lower than 0.2 Lsun. Although a number of studies have reported the properties of individual LLOs, the reasons for their low luminosity remain uncertain. To answer this question, we need to know the evolutionary status of LLOs. Protostellar outflows are found to widen as their parent cores evolve, and therefore, the outflow opening angle could be used as an evolutionary indicator. The infrared scattered light escapes out through the outflow cavity and highlights the cavity wall, giving us the opportunity to measure the outflow opening angle. Using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, we detected outflows toward eight LLOs out of 20 at Ks band, and based on archival Spitzer IRAC1 images, we added four outflow-driving sources from the remaining 12 sources. By fitting these images with radiative transfer models, we derive the outflow opening angles and inclination angles. To study the widening of outflow cavities, we compare our sample with the young stellar objects from Arce & Sargent 2006 and Velusamy et al. 2014 in the plot of opening angle versus bolometric temperature taken as an evolutionary indicator.Our LLO targets match well the trend of increasing opening angle with bolometric temperature reported by Arce & Sargent and are broadly consistent with that reported by Velusamy et al., suggesting that the opening angle could be a good evolutionary indicator for LLOs. Accordingly, we conclude that at least 40% of the outflow-driving LLOs in our sample are young Class 0 objects.

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arXiv2016

Laboratory spectroscopic study and astronomical detection of vibrationally excited n-propyl cyanide

We performed a spectral line survey called Exploring Molecular Complexity with ALMA (EMoCA) toward Sagittarius~B2(N) between 84.1 and 114.4 GHz with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in its Cycles 0 and 1. We determined line intensities of n-propyl cyanide in the ground vibrational states of its gauche and anti conformers toward the hot molecular core Sagittarius B2(N2) which suggest that we should also be able to detect transitions pertaining to excited vibrational states. We wanted to determine spectroscopic parameters of low-lying vibrational states of both conformers of n-propyl cyanide to search for them in our ALMA data. We recorded laboratory rotational spectra of n-propyl cyanide in two spectral windows between 36 and 127 GHz. We searched for emission lines produced by these states in the ALMA spectrum of Sagittarius B2(N2). We modeled their emission and the emission of the ground vibrational states assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE). We have made extensive assignments of a- and b-type transitions of the four lowest vibrational states of the gauche conformer which reach J and Ka quantum numbers of 65 and 20, respectively. We assigned mostly a-type transitions for the anti conformer with J and Ka quantum numbers up to 48 and 24, respectively. Rotational and Fermi perturbations between two anti states allowed us to determine their energy difference. The resulting spectroscopic parameters enabled us to identify transitions of all four vibrational states of each conformer in our ALMA data. The emission features of all states, including the ground vibrational state, are well-reproduced with the same LTE modeling parameters, which gives us confidence in the reliability of the identifications, even for the states with only one clearly detected line.

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arXiv2016

IRAS 16253-2429: the First Proto-Brown Dwarf Binary Candidate Identified through Dynamics of Jets

The formation mechanism of brown dwarfs (BDs) is one of the long-standing problems in star formation because the typical Jeans mass in molecular clouds is too large to form these substellar objects. To answer this question, it is crucial to study a BD at the embedded phase. IRAS 16253-2429 is classified as a very low luminosity object (VeLLO) with internal luminosity 0.1 Lsun. VeLLOs are believed to be very low-mass protostars or even proto-BDs. We observed the jet/outflow driven by IRAS 16253-2429 in CO (2-1), (6-5), and (7-6) using the IRAM 30 m and APEX telescopes and the SMA in order to study its dynamical features and physical properties. Our SMA map reveals two protostellar jets, indicating the existence of a proto-binary system as implied by the precessing jet detected in H2 emission. We detect a wiggling pattern in the position-velocity diagrams along the jet axes, which is likely due to the binary orbital motion. Based on this, we derive the current mass of the binary as ~0.032 Msun. Given the low envelope mass, IRAS 16253-2429 will form a binary that probably consist of one or two BDs. Furthermore, we found that the outflow force as well as the mass accretion rate are very low based on the multi-transition CO observations, which suggests that the final masses of the binary components are at the stellar/substellar boundary. Since IRAS 16253 is located in an isolated environment, we suggest that BDs can form through fragmentation and collapse like low-mass stars.

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arXiv2015

An ATCA Survey of Sagittarius~B2 at 7~mm: Chemical Complexity Meets Broadband Interferometry

We present a 30 - 50 GHz survey of Sagittarius B2(N) conducted with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) with 5 - 10 arcsec resolution. This work releases the survey data and demonstrates the utility of scripts that perform automated spectral line fitting on broadband line data. We describe the line-fitting procedure, evaluate the performance of the method, and provide access to all data and scripts. The scripts are used to characterize the spectra at the positions of three HII regions, each with recombination line emission and molecular line absorption. Towards the most line-dense of the three regions characterised in this work, we detect ~500 spectral line components of which ~90 per cent are confidently assigned to H and He recombination lines and to 53 molecular species and their isotopologues. The data reveal extremely subthermally excited molecular gas absorbing against the continuum background at two primary velocity components. Based on the line radiation over the full spectra, the molecular abundances and line excitation in the absorbing components appear to vary substantially towards the different positions, possibly indicating that the two gas clouds are located proximate to the star forming cores instead of within the envelope of Sgr B2. Furthermore, the spatial distributions of species including CS, OCS, SiO, and HNCO indicate that the absorbing gas components likely have high UV-flux. Finally, the data contain line-of-sight absorption by $\sim$15 molecules observed in translucent gas in the Galactic Center, bar, and intervening spiral arm clouds, revealing the complex chemistry and clumpy structure of this gas. Formamide (NH$_2$CHO) is detected for the first time in a translucent cloud.

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arXiv2015

Properties of the Molecular Cores of Low Luminosity Objects

We present a survey toward 16 Low Luminosity Objects (LLOs with an internal luminosity, Lint, lower than 0.2 Lsun) with N2H+ (1-0), N2H+ (3-2), N2D+ (3-2), HCO+ (3-2) and HCN (3-2) using the Arizona Radio Observatory Kitt Peak 12m Telescope and Submillimeter Telescope. Our goal is to probe the nature of these faint protostars which are believed to be either very low mass or extremely young protostars. We find that the N2D+/N2H+ column density ratios of LLOs are similar to those of typical starless cores and Class 0 objects. The N2D+/N2H+ column density ratios are relatively high (> 0.05) for LLOs with kinetic temperatures less than 10 K in our sample. The distribution of N2H+ (1-0) line widths spreads between that of starless cores and young Class 0 objects. If we use the line width as a dynamic evolutionary indicator, LLOs are likely young Class 0 protostellar sources. We further use the optically thick tracers, HCO+ (3-2) and HCN (3-2), to probe the infall signatures of our targets. We derive the asymmetry parameters from both lines and estimate the infall velocities by fitting the HCO+ (3-2) spectra with two-layer models. As a result, we identify eight infall candidates based on the infall velocities and seven candidates have infall signatures supported by asymmetry parameters from at least one of HCO+ (3-2) and HCN (3-2).

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