arXiv subjects

Duncan Christie

Publications and source records attributed to Duncan Christie.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

GMC Collisions as Triggers of Star Formation. II. 3D Turbulent, Magnetized Simulations

We investigate giant molecular cloud (GMCs) collisions and their ability to induce gravitational instability and thus star formation. This mechanism may be a major driver of star formation activity in galactic disks. We carry out a series of three dimensional, magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) simulations to study how cloud collisions trigger formation of dense filaments and clumps. Heating and cooling functions are implemented based on photo-dissociation region (PDR) models that span the atomic to molecular transition and can return detailed diagnostic information. The clouds are initialized with supersonic turbulence and a range of magnetic field strengths and orientations. Collisions at various velocities and impact parameters are investigated. Comparing and contrasting colliding and non-colliding cases, we characterize morphologies of dense gas, magnetic field structure, cloud kinematic signatures, and cloud dynamics. We present key observational diagnostics of cloud collisions, especially: relative orientations between magnetic fields and density structures, like filaments; $^{13}$CO($J$=2-1), $^{13}$CO($J$=3-2), and $^{12}$CO($J$=8-7) integrated intensity maps and spectra; and cloud virial parameters. We compare these results to observed Galactic clouds.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Investigation of the environment around close-in transiting exoplanets using CLOUDY

It has been suggested that hot stellar wind gas in a bow shock around an exoplanet is sufficiently opaque to absorb stellar photons and give rise to an observable transit depth at optical and UV wavelengths. In the first part of this paper, we use the CLOUDY plasma simulation code to model the absorption from X-ray to radio wavelengths by 1-D slabs of gas in coronal equilibrium with varying densities ($10^{4}-10^{8} \, {\rm cm^{-3}}$) and temperatures ($2000-10^{6} \ {\rm K}$) illuminated by a solar spectrum. For slabs at coronal temperatures ($10^{6} \ {\rm K}$) and densities even orders of magnitude larger than expected for the compressed stellar wind ($10^{4}-10^{5} \, {\rm cm^{-3}}$), we find optical depths orders of magnitude too small ($> 3\times10^{-7}$) to explain the $\sim3\%$ UV transit depths seen with Hubble. Using this result and our modeling of slabs with lower temperatures ($2000-10^4 {\rm K}$), the conclusion is that the UV transits of WASP-12b and HD 189733b are likely due to atoms originating in the planet, as the stellar wind is too highly ionized. A corollary of this result is that transport of neutral atoms from the denser planetary atmosphere outward must be a primary consideration when constructing physical models. In the second part of this paper, additional calculations using CLOUDY are carried out to model a slab of planetary gas in radiative and thermal equilibrium with the stellar radiation field. Promising sources of opacity from the X-ray to radio wavelengths are discussed, some of which are not yet observed.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2016

Axisymmetric Simulations of Hot Jupiter-Stellar Wind Hydrodynamic Interaction

Gas giant exoplanets orbiting at close distances to the parent star are subjected to large radiation and stellar wind fluxes. In this paper, hydrodynamic simulations of the planetary upper atmosphere and its interaction with the stellar wind are carried out to understand the possible flow regimes and how they affect the Lyman-alpha transmission spectrum. Following Tremblin and Chiang, charge exchange reactions are included to explore the role of energetic atoms as compared to thermal particles. In order to understand the role of the tail as compared to the leading edge of the planetary gas, the simulations were carried out under axisymmetry, and photoionization and stellar wind electron impact ionization reactions were included to limit the extent of the neutrals away from the planet. By varying the planetary gas temperature, two regimes are found. At high temperature, a supersonic planetary wind is found, which is turned around by the stellar wind and forms a tail behind the planet. At lower temperatures, the planetary wind is shut off when the stellar wind penetrates inside where the sonic point would have been. In this regime mass is lost by viscous interaction at the boundary between planetary and stellar wind gases. Absorption by cold hydrogen atoms is large near the planetary surface, and decreases away from the planet as expected. The hot hydrogen absorption is in an annulus and typically dominated by the tail, at large impact parameter, rather than by the thin leading edge of the mixing layer near the substellar point.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Hα Absorption in Transiting Exoplanet Atmospheres

Absorption of stellar Hα by the upper atmosphere of the planet HD189733b has recently been detected by Jensen et al. Motivated by this observation, we have developed a model for atomic hydrogen in the n=2 state and compared the resulting Hα line profile to the observations. The model atmosphere is in hydrostatic balance, as well as thermal and photoionization equilibrium. Collisional and radiative transitions are included in the determination of the n=2 state level population. We find that Hα absorption is dominated by an optical depth τ ~ 1 shell, composed of hydrogen in the metastable 2s state that is located below the hydrogen ionization layer. The number density of the 2s state within the shell is found to vary slowly with radius, while that of the 1s state falls rapidly. Thus while the Lyαabsorption, for a certain wavelength, occurs inside a relatively well defined impact parameter, the contribution to Hα absorption is roughly uniform over the entire atomic hydrogen layer. The model can approximately reproduce the observed Lyα and Hα integrated transit depths for HD189733b by using an ionization rate enhanced over that expected for the star by an order of magnitude. For HD 209458b, we are unable to explain the asymmetric Hα line profile observed by Jensen et al., as the model produces a symmetric line profile with transit depth comparable to that of HD 189733b. In an appendix, we study the effect of the stellar Lyα absorption on the net cooling rate.

astro-ph.EP↗