arXiv subjects

J. Hurley

Publications and source records attributed to J. Hurley.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Efficient black hole seed formation in low metallicity and dense stellar clusters with implications for JWST sources

Recent observations with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reveal young massive clusters (YMCs) as key building blocks of early galaxies. They are not only important constituents of galaxies, but also potential birthplaces of very massive stars (VMSs) and black hole (BH) seeds. We explore stellar dynamics in extremely dense clusters with initial half-mass densities of $ρ_h \gtrsim 10^8M_\odot{\rm pc}^{-3}$ at very low metallicity, comparable to some of the densest clusters seen by JWST. Using direct N-body and Monte Carlo simulations with stellar evolution, we show that VMS formation through collisions is unavoidable, with final masses reaching $5\times10^3$ to $4\times10^4M_\odot$. These results support the existence of a critical mass scale above which collisions become highly efficient, enabling the formation of VMSs and intermediate-mass BHs (IMBHs). Our models, using nbody6++gpu and MOCCA with updated SSE/BSE routines, show that dense clusters rapidly form VMSs via stellar bombardment. The VMSs then collapse into BH seeds of a few $10^3$ to $10^4M_\odot$ in less than 4 Myr. We identify a critical mass-density threshold beyond which clusters undergo runaway collisions that yield massive BH seeds. For typical YMCs detected by JWST, efficiencies up to 10% are expected, implying BH masses up to $10^5M_\odot$ if formed via collisions. We predict a scaling relation for BH mass, $\log(M_{\rm BH}/M_\odot)=-0.76+0.76\log(M/M_\odot)$. Frequent VMS formation may also explain the high nitrogen abundance observed in galaxies at high redshift.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2021

Preparing the next gravitational million-body simulations: Evolution of single and binary stars in Nbody6++GPU, MOCCA and McLuster

We present the implementation of updated stellar evolution recipes in the codes \texttt{Nbody6++GPU, MOCCA} and \texttt{McLuster}. We test them through numerical simulations of star clusters containing $1.1\times 10^5$ stars (with $2.0\times 10^4$ in primordial hard binaries) performing high-resolution direct $N$-body (\texttt{Nbody6++GPU}) and Monte-Carlo (\texttt{MOCCA}) simulations to an age of 10~Gyr. We compare models implementing either delayed or core-collapse supernovae mechanisms, a different mass ratio distribution for binaries, and white dwarf natal kicks enabled/disabled. Compared to \texttt{Nbody6++GPU}, the \texttt{MOCCA} models appear to be denser, with a larger scatter in the remnant masses, and a lower binary fraction on average. The \texttt{MOCCA} models produce more black holes (BHs) and helium white dwarfs (WDs), whilst \texttt{Nbody6++GPU} models are characterised by a much larger amount of WD-WD binaries. The remnant kick velocity and escape speed distributions are similar for the BHs and neutron stars (NSs), and some NSs formed via electron-capture supernovae, accretion-induced collapse or merger-induced collapse escape the cluster in all simulations. The escape speed distributions for the WDs, on the other hand, are very dissimilar. We categorise the stellar evolution recipes available in \texttt{Nbody6++GPU}, \texttt{MOCCA} and \texttt{Mcluster} into four levels: the one implemented in previous \texttt{Nbody6++GPU} and \texttt{MOCCA} versions (\texttt{level A}), state-of-the-art prescriptions (\texttt{level B}), some in a testing phase (\texttt{level C}), and those that will be added in future versions of our codes.

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arXiv2020

Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory: A kilohertz-band gravitational-wave detector in the global network

Gravitational waves from coalescing neutron stars encode information about nuclear matter at extreme densities, inaccessible by laboratory experiments. The late inspiral is influenced by the presence of tides, which depend on the neutron star equation of state. Neutron star mergers are expected to often produce rapidly-rotating remnant neutron stars that emit gravitational waves. These will provide clues to the extremely hot post-merger environment. This signature of nuclear matter in gravitational waves contains most information in the 2-4 kHz frequency band, which is outside of the most sensitive band of current detectors. We present the design concept and science case for a neutron star extreme matter observatory (NEMO): a gravitational-wave interferometer optimized to study nuclear physics with merging neutron stars. The concept uses high circulating laser power, quantum squeezing and a detector topology specifically designed to achieve the high-frequency sensitivity necessary to probe nuclear matter using gravitational waves. Above one kHz, the proposed strain sensitivity is comparable to full third-generation detectors at a fraction of the cost. Such sensitivity changes expected event rates for detection of post-merger remnants from approximately one per few decades with two A+ detectors to a few per year, and potentially allows for the first gravitational-wave observations of supernovae, isolated neutron stars, and other exotica.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2018

A Hexagon in Saturn's Northern Stratosphere Surrounding the Emerging Summertime Polar Vortex

Saturn's polar stratosphere exhibits the seasonal growth and dissipation of broad, warm, vortices poleward of $\sim75^\circ$ latitude, which are strongest in the summer and absent in winter. The longevity of the exploration of the Saturn system by Cassini allows the use of infrared spectroscopy to trace the formation of the North Polar Stratospheric Vortex (NPSV), a region of enhanced temperatures and elevated hydrocarbon abundances at millibar pressures. We constrain the timescales of stratospheric vortex formation and dissipation in both hemispheres. Although the NPSV formed during late northern spring, by the end of Cassini's reconnaissance (shortly after northern summer solstice), it still did not display the contrasts in temperature and composition that were evident at the south pole during southern summer. The newly-formed NPSV was bounded by a strengthening stratospheric thermal gradient near $78^\circ$N. The emergent boundary was hexagonal, suggesting that the Rossby wave responsible for Saturn's long-lived polar hexagon - which was previously expected to be trapped in the troposphere - can influence the stratospheric temperatures some 300 km above Saturn's clouds.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Seasonal Evolution of Saturn's Polar Temperatures and Composition

The seasonal evolution of Saturn's polar atmospheric temperatures and hydrocarbon composition is derived from a decade of Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) 7-16 $μ$m thermal infrared spectroscopy. We construct a near-continuous record of atmospheric variability poleward of 60$^\circ$ from northern winter/southern summer (2004, $L_s=293^\circ$) through the equinox (2009, $L_s=0^\circ$) to northern spring/southern autumn (2014, $L_s=56^\circ$). The hot tropospheric polar cyclones and the hexagonal shape of the north polar belt are both persistent features throughout the decade of observations. The hexagon vertices rotated westward by $\approx30^\circ$ longitude between March 2007 and April 2013, confirming that they are not stationary in the Voyager-defined System III longitude system as previously thought. The extended region of south polar stratospheric emission has cooled dramatically poleward of the sharp temperature gradient near 75$^\circ$S, coinciding with a depletion in the abundances of acetylene and ethane, and suggestive of stratospheric upwelling with vertical wind speeds of $w\approx+0.1$ mm/s. This is mirrored by a general warming of the northern polar stratosphere and an enhancement in acetylene and ethane abundances that appears to be most intense poleward of 75$^\circ$N, suggesting subsidence at $w\approx-0.15$ mm/s. However, the sharp gradient in stratospheric emission expected to form near 75$^\circ$N by northern summer solstice (2017, $L_s=90^\circ$) has not yet been observed, so we continue to await the development of a northern summer stratospheric vortex. North polar minima in tropospheric and stratospheric temperatures were detected in 2008-2010 (lagging one season, or 6-8 years, behind winter solstice); south polar maxima appear to have occurred before the start of the Cassini observations (1-2 years after summer solstice). [Abridged]

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2012

Deep HST Imaging in NGC 6397: Stellar Dynamics

Multi-epoch observations with ACS on HST provide a unique and comprehensive probe of stellar dynamics within NGC 6397. We are able to confront analytic models of the globular cluster with the observed stellar proper motions. The measured proper motions probe well along the main sequence from 0.8 to below 0.1 M$_\odot$ as well as white dwarfs younger than one gigayear. The observed field lies just beyond the half-light radius where standard models of globular cluster dynamics (e.g. based on a lowered Maxwellian phase-space distribution) make very robust predictions for the stellar proper motions as a function of mass. The observed proper motions show no evidence for anisotropy in the velocity distribution; furthermore, the observations agree in detail with a straightforward model of the stellar distribution function. We do not find any evidence that the young white dwarfs have received a natal kick in contradiction with earlier results. Using the observed proper motions of the main-sequence stars, we obtain a kinematic estimate of the distance to NGC 6397 of $2.2^{+0.5}_{-0.7}$ kpc and a mass of the cluster of $1.1 \pm 0.1 \times 10^5 \mathrm{M}_\odot$ at the photometric distance of 2.53 kpc. One of the main-sequence stars appears to travel on a trajectory that will escape the cluster, yielding an estimate of the evaporation timescale, over which the number of stars in the cluster decreases by a factor of e, of about 3 Gyr. The proper motions of the youngest white dwarfs appear to resemble those of the most massive main-sequence stars, providing the first direct constraint on the relaxation time of the stars in a globular cluster of greater than or about 0.7 Gyr.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2011

The Spectral Energy Distributions of White Dwarfs in 47 Tucanae: The Distance to the Cluster

We present a new distance determination to the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae by fitting the spectral energy distributions of its white dwarfs to pure hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf models. Our photometric dataset is obtained from a 121 orbit Hubble Space Telescope program using the Wide Field Camera 3 UVIS/IR channels, capturing F390W, F606W, F110W, and F160W images. These images cover more than 60 square arcmins and extend over a radial range of 5-13.7 arcmin (6.5-17.9 pc) within the globular cluster. Using a likelihood analysis, we obtain a best fitting unreddened distance modulus of (m - M)o=13.36+/-0.02+/-0.06 corresponding to a distance of 4.70+/-0.04+/-0.13 kpc, where the first error is random and the second is systematic. We also search the white dwarf photometry for infrared excess in the F160W filter, indicative of debris disks or low mass companions, and find no convincing cases within our sample.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2008

The binary fraction in the globular cluster NGC 6397

Using Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of the globular cluster NGC6397, we constrain the cluster's binary fraction. The observations consist of two fields: the primary science field, a single ACS pointing centered approximately 5' from the cluster center; and the parallel field, a single WFPC2 field centered on the cluster center. Using the exquisite photometric precision of these observations, we determine the binary fraction in these regions of the cluster by examining stars lying off the main sequence. The binary fraction is constrained to be 0.012 +/- 0.004 in the ACS field, and to be 0.051 +/- 0.010 in the WFPC field. N-body simulations by Hurley et al. (2007) suggest that the binary fraction remains nearly constant beyond the half-mass radius for the lifetime of the cluster. In the context of these simulations, our results suggest that NGC 6397 had a primordial binary fraction of only ~1%.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

On the Radial Distribution of White Dwarfs in the Globular Cluster NGC 6397

We have examined the radial distribution of white dwarfs over a single HST/ACS field in the nearby globular cluster NGC 6397. In relaxed populations, such as in a globular cluster, stellar velocity dispersion, and hence radial distribution, is directly dependent on stellar masses. The progenitors of very young cluster white dwarfs had a mass of ~0.8 solar masses, while the white dwarfs themselves have a mass of ~0.5 solar masses. We thus expect young white dwarfs to have a concentrated radial distribution (like that of their progenitors) that becomes more extended over several relaxation times to mimic that of ~0.5 solar mass main-sequence stars. However, we observe young white dwarfs to have a significantly extended radial distribution compared to both the most massive main sequence stars in the cluster and also to old white dwarfs.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Modest-2: A Summary

This is a summary paper of MODEST-2, a workshop held at the Astronomical Institute ``Anton Pannekoek'' in Amsterdam, 16-17 December 2002. MODEST is a loose collaboration of people interested in MOdelling DEnse STellar systems, particularly those interested in modelling these systems using all the available physics (stellar dynamics, stellar evolution, hydrodynamics and the interplay between the three) by defining interfaces between different codes. In this paper, we summarize 1) the main advances in this endeavour since MODEST-1; 2) the main science goals which can be and should be addressed by these types of simulations; and 3) the most pressing theoretical and modelling advances that we identified.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

The Formation of a Bound Star Cluster: From the Orion Nebula Cluster to the Pleiades

(shortened) Direct N-body calculations are presented of the formation of Galactic clusters using GasEx, which is a variant of the code Nbody6. The calculations focus on the possible evolution of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC) by assuming that the embedded OB stars explosively drove out 2/3 of its mass in the form of gas about 0.4 Myr ago. A bound cluster forms readily and survives for 150 Myr despite additional mass loss from the large number of massive stars, and the Galactic tidal field. This is the very first time that cluster formation is obtained under such realistic conditions. The cluster contains about 1/3 of the initial 10^4 stars, and resembles the Pleiades Cluster to a remarkable degree, implying that an ONC-like cluster may have been a precursor of the Pleiades. This scenario predicts the present expansion velocity of the ONC, which will be measurable by upcoming astrometric space missions (DIVA and GAIA). These missions should also detect the original Pleiades members as an associated expanding young Galactic-field sub-population. The results arrived at here suggest that Galactic clusters form as the nuclei of expanding OB associations.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Young star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud: NGC 1805 and NGC 1818

We present colour-magnitude diagrams for two rich (~10^4 Msun) Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters with ages ~10^7 years, constructed from optical and near-infrared data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. These data are part of an HST project to study LMC clusters with a range of ages. In this paper we investigate the massive star content of the young clusters, and determine the cluster ages and metallicities, paying particular attention to Be star and blue straggler populations and evidence of age spreads. We compare our data to detailed stellar population simulations to investigate the turn-off structure of ~25 Myr stellar systems, highlighting the complexity of the blue straggler phenomenon.

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