arXiv subjects

Q. Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Q. Zhang.

At least 217 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

Submillimeter emission from the hot molecular jet HH 211

We observed the HH 211 jet in the submillimeter continuum and the CO(3-2) and SiO(8-7) transitions with the Submillimeter Array. The continuum source detected at the center of the outflow shows an elongated morphology, perpendicular to the direction of the outflow axis. The high-velocity emission of both molecules shows a knotty and highly collimated structure. The SiO(8-7) emission at the base of the outflow, close to the driving source, spans a wide range of velocities, from -20 up to 40 km s^{-1}. This suggests that a wide-angle wind may be the driving mechanism of the HH 211 outflow. For distances greater than 5" (1500 AU) from the driving source, emission from both transitions follows a Hubble-law behavior, with SiO(8-7) reaching higher velocities than CO(3-2), and being located upstream of the CO(3-2) knots. This indicates that the SiO(8-7) emission is likely tracing entrained gas very close to the primary jet, while the CO(3-2) is tracing less dense entrained gas. From the SiO(5-4) data of Hirano et al. we find that the SiO(8-7)/SiO(5-4) brightness temperature ratio along the jet decreases for knots far from the driving source. This is consistent with the density decreasing along the jet, from (3-10)x10^6 cm^{-3} at 500 AU to (0.8-4)x10^6 cm^{-3} at 5000 AU from the driving source.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Giant electrocaloric effect in thin film Pb Zr_0.95 Ti_0.05 O_3

An applied electric field can reversibly change the temperature of an electrocaloric material under adiabatic conditions, and the effect is strongest near phase transitions. This phenomenon has been largely ignored because only small effects (0.003 K V^-1) have been seen in bulk samples such as Pb0.99Nb0.02(Zr0.75Sn0.20Ti0.05)0.98O3 and there is no consensus on macroscopic models. Here we demonstrate a giant electrocaloric effect (0.48 K V^-1) in 300 nm sol-gel PbZr0.95Ti0.05O3 films near the ferroelectric Curie temperature of 222oC. We also discuss a solid state device concept for electrical refrigeration that has the capacity to outperform Peltier or magnetocaloric coolers. Our results resolve the controversy surrounding macroscopic models of the electrocaloric effect and may inspire ab initio calculations of electrocaloric parameters and thus a targeted search for new materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2005

Submillimeter Array 440$μ$m/690GHz line and continuum observations of Orion-KL

Submillimeter Array observations of Orion-KL at 1'' resolution in the 440mu/690GHz band reveal new insights about the continuum and line emission of the region. The 440mu continuum flux density measurement from source I allows us to differentiate among the various proposed physical models: Source I can be well modeled by a ``normal'' protostellar SED consisting of a proton-electron free-free emission component at low frequencies and a strong dust component in the submillimeter bands. Furthermore, we find that the protostellar object SMA1 is clearly distinct from the hot core. The non-detection of SMA1 at cm and infrared wavelengths suggests that it may be one of the youngest sources in the entire Orion-KL region. The molecular line maps show emission mainly from the sources I, SMA1 and the hot core peak position. An analysis of the CH$3CN(37_K-36_K) K-ladder (K=0...3) indicates a warm gas component of the order 600+-200K. In addition, we detect a large fraction (~58%) of unidentified lines and discuss the difficulties of line identifications at these frequencies.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Experimental Fault-Tolerant Quantum Cryptography in a Decoherence-Free Subspace

we experimentally implement a fault-tolerant quantum key distribution protocol with two photons in a decoherence-free subspace (DFS). It is demonstrated that our protocol can yield good key rate even with large bit-flip error rate caused by collective rotation, while the usual realization of BB84 protocol cannot produce any secure final key given the same channel. Since the experiment is performed in polarization space and does not need the calibration of reference frame, important applications in free-space quantum communication are expected. Moreover, our method can also be used to robustly transmit an arbitrary two-level quantum state in a type of DFS.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2005

Submm line imaging of Orion-KL with the Submillimeter Array

We present the first submm (865mum) imaging spectral line survey at one arcsecond resolution conducted with the Submillimeter Array toward Orion-KL. Within the 2x2 GHz bandpasses (lower and upper sidebands, 337.2-339.2GHz and 347.2-349.2GHz), we find about 145 spectral lines from 13 species, 6 isotopologues, and 5 vibrational excited states. Most nitrogen-bearing molecules are strong toward the hot core, whereas the oxygen-bearing molecules peak toward the south-west in the so-called compact ridge. Imaging of spectral lines is shown to be an additional tool to improve the identifications of molecular lines. Arcsecond spatial resolution allows us to distinguish the molecular line emission of the sources I and n from that of the hot core. The only molecular species detected strongly toward source I is SiO, delineating mainly the collimated north-east south-west low-velocity outflow. The two positions close to source I, which have previously been reported to show maser emission in the v=0 28SiO(1-0) and (2-1) lines, show no detectable maser emission in the v=0 28SiO(8-7) line at our spatial resolution. SiO is weak toward source n, and thus source n may not currently be driving a molecular outflow. CH$_3$OH is the molecule with the highest number of identified lines (46) in this spectral window. This ``line forest'' allows us to estimate temperatures in the region, and we find temperatures between 50 and 350K, with the peak temperatures occurring toward the hot core. The detection of strong vibrational excited line emission from the submm continuum peak SMA1 supports the interpretation that the source SMA1 is likely of protostellar nature.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Discovery of a massive SCUBA core with both inflow and outflow motions

We report the discovery of a massive SCUBA core with evidence of inflow and outflow motions. This core is detected by SCUBA at both 450 and 850 micro meter. Barely resolved by the telescope beam at 450 micro meter, it has a size of 10 arcsec, corresponding to 0.28 pc at a distance of 5.7 kpc. The dust temperature is estimated to be less than 29 K, the total mass is 820 solar mass and the average density is 1.1e-6 per cube-cm in a region with a radius of 5 arcsec. Follow-up spectral line observations, including HCN (3-2), HCO+ (3-2), H13CO+ (3-2) and C17O (2-1) reveal a typical blue profile which indicates that this core is collapsing. The CO (3-2) line profile is as broad as 38 km/s, indicating outflow motions in this region. This core is approximately 1.5 pc away from the known HII region G25.4NW, but there are no obvious radio, IRAS, MSX or Spitzer sources associated with it. We suggest that this core is at a very early stage of massive star or cluster formation.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Testing the massive disk scenario for IRAS 18089-1732

Investigating in more detail the previously suggested massive disk scenario for the High-Mass Protostellar Object IRAS18089-1732, we observed the source in the 860mum band with the Submillimeter Array in various spectral lines and the submm continuum emission at (sub-)arcsecond spatial resolution. Fifty spectral lines from eighteen different species spanning upper level energy states between 17 and 747K were detected. One of the assumed best tracers for massive disks, CH3CN, is optically thick and does not allow a further disk investigation. However, the complex molecule HCOOCH3 appears optically thin and exhibits a velocity shift across the central core perpendicular to the emanating outflow. Assuming equilibrium between centrifugal and gravitational force, the estimated mass for this rotating structure is 16/(sin2(i))Msun (with i the unknown inclination angle), of the same order as the gas mass derived from the continuum emission. A temperature estimate based on the CH3CN(19--18) K-ladder results in ~350K, thus a hot core has already formed in this region. An analysis of the submm continuum emission reveals even at this high spatial resolution only one isolated massive dust core without any detectable companions down to mass limits between 0.2 and 3Msun (depending on the assumed temperature). Potential implications for the massive cluster formation are discussed.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

High-spatial-resolution observations of NH3 and CH3OH towards the massive twin cores NGC6334 I & I(N)

Molecular line observations of NH3 (J,K)=(1,1), (2,2) and CH3OH at 24.93GHz taken with the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) toward the massive twin cores NGC6334 I & I(N) reveal significant variations in the line emission between the two massive cores. The UCHII region/hot core NGC6334 I exhibits strong thermal NH3 and CH3OH emission adjacent to the UCHII region and coincident with two mm continuum peaks observed by Hunter et al. (in prep.). In contrast, we find neither compact NH3 nor thermal CH3OH line emission toward NGC6334 I(N). There, the NH3 emission is distributed over a broad region (>1') without a clear peak, and we find Class I CH3OH maser emission with peak brightness temperatures up to 7000K. The maser emission peaks appear to be spatially associated with the interfaces between the molecular outflows and the ambient dense gas. Peak NH3(1,1) line brightness temperatures >= 70K in both regions indicate gas temperatures of the same order. NH3 emission is also detected toward the outflow in NGC6334 I resulting in an estimated rotational temperature of Trot~19K. Furthermore, we observe CH3OH and NH3 absorption toward the UCHII region, the velocity structure is consistent with expanding molecular gas around the UCHII region. Thermal and kinematic effects possibly imposed from the UCHII region on the molecular core are also discussed.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

Mitigation of Pulsed Interference to Redshifted HI and OH Observations between 960 and 1215 MHz

The neutral hydrogen 21-cm spectral line (1420.4 MHz) and the four 18-cm lines of the hydroxyl molecule (1612-1720 MHz) are observable at redshifts which put their measured line frequencies well below their protected frequency bands. Part of the redshift ranges (z = 0.171-0.477 for HI and z = 0.37-0.73 for OH) fall in the 960 to 1215 MHz band that is allocated to aircraft navigation. Most of the signals in this band are pulsed emissions of low duty cycle so much of the time between pulses is interference free. This paper outlines the structure and measured properties of signals in this band and demonstrates a signal processing strategy that is effective at removing the pulsed signals from spectra at sensitivities produced by several hours of integration.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Organic Molecules in Low-Mass Protostellar Hot Cores: Submillimeter Imaging of IRAS 16293-2422

Arcsecond-resolution spectral observations toward the protobinary system IRAS 16293-2422 at 344 and 354 GHz were conducted using the Submillimeter Array. Complex organic molecules such as CH3OH and HCOOCH3 were detected. Together with the rich organic inventory revealed, it clearly indicates the existence of two, rather than one, compact hot molecular cores (smaller than or equal to 400 AU in radius) associated with each of the protobinary components identified by their dust continuum emission in the inner star-forming core.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Sub-arcsecond sub-mm continuum observations of Orion-KL

We present the first 865 mu continuum image with sub-arcsecond resolution obtained with the Submillimeter Array. These data resolve the Orion-KL region into the hot core, the nearby radio source I, the sub-mm counterpart to the infrared source n (radio source L), and new sub-mm continuum sources. The radio to submillimeter emission from source I may be modeled as either the result of proton-electron free-free emission that is optically thick to ~100 GHz plus dust emission that accounts for the majority of the submillimeter flux, or H- free-free emission that gives rise to a power-law spectrum with power-law index of ~1.6. The latter model would indicate similar physical conditions as found in the inner circumstellar environment of Mira variable stars. Future sub-arcsecond observations at shorter sub-mm wavelengths should easily discriminate between these two possibilities. The sub-mm continuum emission toward source n can be interpreted in the framework of emission from an accretion disk.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Nature of two massive protostellar candidates: IRAs 21307+5049 and IRAS 22172+5549

We present observations of continuum and molecular lines towards the protostar candidates IRAS 21307+5049 and IRAS 22172+5549. Single-dish maps in the 12CO(2--1), C18O(2--1), HCO+(1--0) lines and sub-mm continuum are compared with interferometric maps in the 12CO(1--0) line and 3 mm continuum, and with mid- and near-infrared images. A plausible interpretation of our data based on the continuum maps and spectral energy distributions is that two components are present: a compact molecular core, responsible for the continuum emission at wavelengths longer than ~25 \mum, and a cluster of stars located close to the center of the core, but not spatially coincident with it, responsible for the emission at shorter wavelengths. The core is approximately located at the center of the associated molecular outflow, detected for both sources in the 12CO(1--0) and (2--1) lines. The cores have masses of ~50 M_{\odot}, and luminosities of ~10^{3} L_{\odot}. The outflows parameters are consistent with those typically found in high-mass young stellar objects. Our results support the hypothesis that in these sources the luminosity is dominated by accretion rather than by nuclear burning. We conclude that the sources embedded inside the cores are likely protostars with mass ~5-8 M_{\odot}.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Submillimeter Array multiline observations of the massive star-forming region IRAS 18089-1732

Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations of the high-mass star-forming region IRAS 18089-1732 in the 1 mm and 850 $μ$m band with 1 GHz bandwidth reveal a wealth of information. We present the observations of 34 lines from 16 different molecular species. Most molecular line maps show significant contributions from the outflow, and only few molecules are confined to the inner core. We present and discuss the molecular line observations and outline the unique capabilities of the SMA for future imaging line surveys at high spatial resolution.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Compact K\" ahler threefolds of $π_1$-general type

We classify these threefolds, which are the ones such that their universal cover is not compact and not covered by positive-dimensional compact analytic subsets. We show that these threefolds have nonnegative Kodaira dimension, and that their Iitaka-Moishezon fibrations are, after a suitable finite etale cover, bimeromorphic to a submersion with fibres complex tori, and base of general type and $π_1$-general type.

math.AG↗

arXiv2004

Search for Calibrators for the Submillimeter Array: I. High-Mass Star Forming Regions

We present initial results of an ongoing search for interferometric calibrators at submillimeter (sub-mm) wavelengths with the Submillimeter Array (SMA). Powerful radio galaxies are commonly used as calibrators at centimeter and millimeter wavelengths, but many are not strong enough to serve as calibrators at sub-mm wavelengths because of their rapidly declining flux densities toward shorter wavelengths. The inability to find a calibrator close to the target source may limit or even prevent us from imaging many interesting sources at sub-mm wavelengths. Here, we investigate whether high-mass protostellar objects and ultracompact HII regions can serve as useful calibrators for the SMA. The dust emission associated with these objects makes them among the brightest sub-mm sources in the sky. Our observations at 0.85 mm (345 GHz) with an angular resolution of ~3" reveal that although a large fraction of the dust emission originates from an extended ``halo'' component, a compact unresolved component often remains that when sufficiently strong may serve as a useful calibrator. These observations also provide a first glimpse at the small-scale distribution of dust around ultracompact HII regions and high-mass protostellar objects at sub-mm wavelengths. We discuss the origin of the core-halo structure seen in many sources, and conclude with suggestions for future searches for calibrators with the SMA.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Mapping the Outflow from G5.89-0.39 in SiO(5-4)

We have mapped the ultracompact HII region, G5.89-0.39, and its molecular surroundings with the Submillimeter Array at 2".8 x 1".8 angular resolution in 1.3 mm continuum, SiO(5-4), and eight other molecular lines. We have resolved for the first time the highly energetic molecular outflow in this region. At this resolution, the outflow is definitely bipolar and appears to originate in a 1.3 mm continuum source. The continuum source peaks in the center of the HII region. The axis of the outflow lines up with a recently discovered O5V star.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Imaging the Disk around TW Hya with the Submillimeter Array

We present ~2"-4" aperture synthesis observations of the circumstellar disk surrounding the nearby young star TW Hya in the CO J=2--1 and J=3--2 lines and associated dust continuum obtained with the partially completed Submillimeter Array. The extent and peak flux of the 230 and 345 GHz dust emission follow closely the predictions of the irradiated accretion disk model of Calvet et al. (2002). The resolved molecular line emission extends to a radius of at least 200 AU, the full extent of the disk visible in scattered light, and shows a clear pattern of Keplerian rotation. Comparison of the images with 2D Monte Carlo models constrains the disk inclination angle to 7+/-1 degrees. The CO emission is optically thick in both lines, and the kinetic temperature in the line formation region is ~20K. Substantial CO depletion, by an order of magnitude or more from canonical dark cloud values, is required to explain the characteristics of the line emission.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

SMA outflow/disk studies in the massive star-forming region IRAS18089-1732

SMA observations of the massive star-forming region IRAS 18089-1732 in the 1mm and 850mu band reveal outflow and disk signatures in different molecular lines. The SiO(5--4) data show a collimated outflow in the northern direction. In contrast, the HCOOCH3(20--19) line, which traces high-density gas, is confined to the very center of the region and shows a velocity gradient across the core. The HCOOCH3 velocity gradient is not exactly perpendicular to the outflow axis but between an assumed disk plane and the outflow axis. We interpret these HCOOCH3 features as originating from a rotating disk that is influenced by the outflow and infall. Based on the (sub-)mm continuum emission, the mass of the central core is estimated to be around 38M_sun. The dynamical mass derived from the HCOOCH3 data is 22Msun, of about the same order as the core mass. Thus, the mass of the protostar/disk/envelope system is dominated by its disk and envelope. The two frequency continuum data of the core indicate a low dust opacity index beta ~ 1.2 in the outer part, decreasing to beta ~ 0.5 on shorter spatial scales.

astro-ph↗