arXiv subjects

Seok-Jun Chang

Publications and source records attributed to Seok-Jun Chang.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Circumgalactic Ly$α$ emission around submillimeter-bright galaxies with different quasar contributions

We present VLT/MUSE observations targeting the extended Lyman-$α$ (Ly$α$) emission of five high-redshift ($z\sim$3-4) submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) with increasing quasar (QSO) radiation: two SMGs, two SMGs hosting a QSO, and one SMG hosting a QSO with a SMG companion (QSO+SMG). These sources should be located in dark matter halos of comparable masses (average mass of $M_{\rm DM}\sim10^{12.2}\,{\rm M}_\odot$). We quantify the luminosity and extent of the Ly$α$ emission, together with its kinematics, and examine four Ly$α$ powering mechanisms: photoionization from QSOs/star formation, shocks by galactic/QSO outflows, gravitational cooling radiation, and Ly$α$ photons resonant scattering. We find a variety of Ly$α$ luminosities and extents, with the QSO+SMG system displaying the most extended and bright nebula, followed by the SMGs hosting a QSO, and finally the undetected circumgalactic medium (CGM) of SMGs. This diversity implies that gravitational cooling is unlikely to be the main powering mechanism. We show that photoionization from the QSO and QSO outflows can contribute to power the emission for average densities $n_{\rm H}>0.5\,$cm$^{-3}$. Moreover, the observed Ly$α$ luminosities scale with the QSO's budget of Ly$α$ photons modulo the dust content in each galaxy, highlighting a possible contribution from resonant scattering of QSO's radiation in powering the nebulae. We find larger Ly$α$ linewidths (FWHM$\gtrsim 1200\,$km$\,$s$^{-1}$) than usually reported around radio-quiet systems, pointing to large-scale outflows. A statistical survey targeting similar high-redshift massive systems with known host properties is needed to confirm our findings.

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arXiv2023

Twenty-Five Years of Accretion onto the Classical T Tauri Star TW Hya

Accretion plays a central role in the physics that governs the evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary disks. The primary goal of this paper is to analyze the stability over time of the mass accretion rate onto TW Hya, the nearest accreting solar-mass young star. We measure veiling across the optical spectrum in 1169 archival high-resolution spectra of TW Hya, obtained from 1998--2022. The veiling is then converted to accretion rate using 26 flux-calibrated spectra that cover the Balmer jump. The accretion rate measured from the excess continuum has an average of $2.51\times10^{-9}$~M$_\odot$~yr$^{-1}$ and a Gaussian distribution with a FWHM of 0.22 dex. This accretion rate may be underestimated by a factor of up to 1.5 because of uncertainty in the bolometric correction and another factor of 1.7 because of excluding the fraction of accretion energy that escapes in lines, especially Ly$α$. The accretion luminosities are well correlated with He line luminosities but poorly correlated with H$α$ and H$β$ luminosity. The accretion rate is always flickering over hours but on longer timescales has been stable over 25 years. This level of variability is consistent with previous measurements for most, but not all, accreting young stars.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2023

Distribution and Kinematics of H I through Raman He II Spectroscopy of NGC 6302

The young planetary nebula NGC 6302 is known to exhibit Raman-scattered He II features at 6545 and 4851 Angstrom. These features are formed through inelastic scattering of He II$λλ$ 1025 and 972 with hydrogen atoms in the ground state, for which the cross sections are $1.2 \times 10^{-21}$ and $1.4\times 10^{-22} {\rm\ cm^2}$, respectively. We investigate the spectrum of NGC 6302 archived in the ESO Science Portal. Our Gaussian line fitting analysis shows that the Raman-scattered He II features are broader and more redshifted than the hypothetical model Raman features that would be formed in a cold static H I medium. We adopt a simple scattering geometry consisting of a compact He II emission region surrounded by a H I medium to perform Monte Carlo simulations using the radiative transfer code ${\it STaRS}$. Our simulations show that the H I region is characterized by the H I column density $N_{\rm HI}=3\times 10^{21}{\rm\ cm^{-2}}$ with the random speed component $v_{\rm ran}=10{\rm\ km\ s^{-1}}$ expanding with a speed $v_{\rm exp}= 13{\rm\ km\ s^{-1}}$ from the He II emission region. Based on our best fit parameters, we estimate the H I mass of the neutral medium $M_{\rm HI} \simeq 1.0\times 10^{-2}\ {\rm M_\odot}$, pointing out the usefulness of Raman He II spectroscopy as a tool to trace H I components.

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arXiv2023

Lyman-alpha Scattering Models Trace Accretion and Outflow Kinematics in T Tauri Systems

T Tauri stars produce broad Lyman-alpha emission lines that contribute $\sim$88% of the total UV flux incident on the inner circumstellar disks. Lyman-alpha photons are generated at the accretion shocks and in the protostellar chromospheres and must travel through accretion flows, winds and jets, the protoplanetary disks, and the interstellar medium before reaching the observer. This trajectory produces asymmetric, double-peaked features that carry kinematic and opacity signatures of the disk environments. To understand the link between the evolution of Lyman-alpha emission lines and the disks themselves, we model HST-COS spectra from targets included in Data Release 3 of the Hubble UV Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards (ULLYSES) program. We find that resonant scattering in a simple spherical expanding shell is able to reproduce the high velocity emission line wings, providing estimates of the average velocities within the bulk intervening H I. The model velocities are significantly correlated with the K band veiling, indicating a turnover from Lyman-alpha profiles absorbed by outflowing winds to emission lines suppressed by accretion flows as the hot inner disk is depleted. Just 30% of targets in our sample have profiles with red-shifted absorption from accretion flows, many of which have resolved dust gaps. At this stage, Lyman-alpha photons may no longer intersect with disk winds along the path to the observer. Our results point to a significant evolution of Lyman-alpha irradiation within the gas disks over time, which may lead to chemical differences that are observable with ALMA and JWST.

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arXiv2022

Radiative Transfer in Lyα Nebulae: I. Modeling a Continuous or Clumpy Spherical Halo with a Central Source

To understand the mechanism behind high-$z$ Ly$α$ nebulae, we simulate the scattering of Ly$α$ in a $\rm H\,I$ halo about a central Ly$α$ source. For the first time, we consider both smooth and clumpy distributions of halo gas, as well as a range of outflow speeds, total $\rm H\,I$ column densities, $\rm H\,I$ spatial concentrations, and central source galaxies (e.g., with Ly$α$ line widths corresponding to those typical of AGN or star-forming galaxies). We compute the spatial-frequency diffusion and the polarization of the Ly$α$ photons scattered by atomic hydrogen. Our scattering-only model reproduces the typical size of Ly$α$ nebulae ($\sim 100\,$kpc) at total column densities $N_{\rm HI} \geq 10^{20} \rm cm^{-2}$ and predicts a range of positive, flat, and negative polarization radial gradients. We also find two general classes of Ly$α$ nebula morphologies: with and without bright cores. Cores are seen when $N_{\rm HI}$ is low, i.e., when the central source is directly visible, and are associated with a polarization jump, a steep increase in the polarization radial profile just outside the halo center. Of all the parameters tested in our smooth or clumpy medium model, $N_{\rm HI}$ dominates the trends. The radial behaviors of the Ly$α$ surface brightness, spectral line shape, and polarization in the clumpy model with covering factor $f_c \gtrsim 5$ approach those of the smooth model at the same $N_{\rm HI}$. A clumpy medium with high $N_{\rm HI}$ and low $f_c \lesssim 2$ generates Ly$α$ features via scattering that the smooth model cannot: a bright core, symmetric line profile, and polarization jump.

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arXiv2021

Ly-alpha Radiative Transfer: A Stokes Vector Approach to Ly-alpha Polarization

Ly-alpha emitting galaxies and giant Ly-alpha blobs (LABs) have been extensively observed to study the formation history of galaxies. However, the origin of their extended Ly-alpha emission, especially of LABs, remains controversial. Polarization signals from some LABs have been discovered, and this is commonly interpreted as strong evidence supporting that the extended Ly-alpha emission originates from the resonance scattering. The Monte Carlo Ly-alpha radiative transfer code LaRT is updated to investigate the polarization of Ly-alpha using the Stokes vector formalism. We apply LaRT to a few models to explore the fundamental polarization properties of Ly-alpha. Interestingly, individual Ly-alpha photon packets are found to be almost completely polarized by a sufficient number of scatterings (N_scatt > 10^4-10^5 in a static medium) or Doppler shifts induced by gas motion, even starting from unpolarized light. It is also found that the polarization pattern can exhibit a non-monotonically increasing pattern in some cases, besides the commonly-known trend that the polarization monotonically increases with radius. The polarization properties are primarily determined by the degree of polarization of individual photon packets and the anisotropy of the Ly-alpha radiation field, which are eventually controlled by the medium's optical depth and velocity field. If once Ly-alpha photon packets achieve ~100% polarization, the radial profile of polarization appears to correlate with the surface brightness profile. A steep surface brightness profile tends to yield a rapid increase of the linear polarization near the Ly-alpha source location. In contrast, a shallow surface brightness profile gives rise to a slowly increasing polarization pattern.

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arXiv2020

3D Grid-Based Monte Carlo Code for Radiative Transfer through Raman and Rayleigh Scattering with Atomic Hydrogen -- STaRS

Emission features formed through Raman scattering with atomic hydrogen provide unique and crucial information to probe the distribution and kinematics of a thick neutral region illuminated by a strong far UV emission source. We introduce a new 3 dimensional Monte-Carlo code in order to describe the radiative transfer of line photons that are subject to Raman and Rayleigh scattering with atomic hydrogen. In this code entitled "${\bf S}$ejong Radiative ${\bf T}$r${\bf a}$nsfer through ${\bf R}$aman and Rayleigh ${\bf S}$cattering (${\it STaRS}$), each photon is traced until escape with a tag attached carrying information including the position, direction, wavelength, and polarization. The thick neutral scattering region is divided into numerous cells with each cell being characterized by its velocity and density, which ensures huge flexibility of the code in analyzing Raman-scattered features formed in a neutral region with complicated kinematics and density distribution. As a test of the code, we revisit the formation of Balmer wings through Raman scattering of far UV continuum near Ly$β$ and Ly$γ$ in a static neutral region. An additional check is made to investigate Raman scattering of O VI in an expanding neutral medium. We find fairly good agreement of our results with previous works, demonstrating the capability of dealing with radiative transfer modeling that can be applied to spectropolarimetric imaging observations of various objects including symbiotic stars, young planetary nebulae, and active galactic nuclei.

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arXiv2019

Line Formation of Raman-Scattered He II $λ$ 4851 in an Expanding Spherical H I Shell in Young Planetary Nebulae

We investigate line formation of Raman-scattered He II at 4851 in an expanding neutral spherical shell that surrounds a point-like He II source located at the center. A new grid-based Monte Carlo code is used to take into consideration the H I density variation along each photon path. In the case of a monochromatic He II emission source, the resultant line profiles are characterized by an asymmetric double peak structure with a tertiary peak and a significant red tail that may extend to line centers of He II$λ$4859 and H$β$. The peak separation corresponds to the expansion velocity, which we consider is in the range $20-40{\rm\ km\ s^{-1}}$ in this work. Tertiary red peaks are formed as a result of multiple Rayleigh reflections at the inner surface of a hollow spherical shell of \ion{H}{1}. Due to a sharp increase of scattering cross section near resonance, the overall Raman conversion efficiency is significantly enhanced as the expansion speed increases. In the case of a He II line source with a Gaussian line profile with a full width at half maximum of $30 - 70{\rm\ km\ s^{-1}}$, we obtain distorted redward profiles due to increasing redward cross section of H I. A simple application to the young planetary nebula IC 5117 is consistent with a neutral shell expanding with a speed $\sim 30{\rm\ km\ s^{-1}}$.

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arXiv2018

Broad Wings around H$α$ and H$β$ in the Two S-Type Symbiotic Stars Z Andromedae and AG Draconis

Symbiotic stars often exhibit broad wings around Balmer emission lines, whose origin is still controversial. We present the high resolution spectra of the S type symbiotic stars Z Andromedae and AG Draconis obtained with the ESPaDOnS and the 3.6 m Canada France Hawaii Telescope to investigate the broad wings around H$α$ and H$β$. When H$α$ and H$β$ lines are overplotted in the Doppler space, it is noted that H$α$ profiles are overall broader than H$β$ in these two objects. Adopting a Monte Carlo approach, we consider the formation of broad wings of H$α$ and H$β$ through Raman scattering of far UV radiation around Ly$β$ and Ly$γ$ and Thomson scattering by free electrons. Raman scattering wings are simulated by choosing an H I region with a neutral hydrogen column density $N_{HI}$ and a covering factor $CF$. For Thomson wings, the ionized scattering region is assumed to cover fully the Balmer emission nebula and is characterized by the electron temperature $T_e$ and the electron column density $N_e$. Thomson wings of H$α$ and H$β$ have the same width that is proportional to $T_e^{1/2}$. However, Raman wings of H$α$ are overall three times wider than H$β$ counterparts, which is attributed to different cross section for Ly$β$ and Ly$γ$. Normalized to have the same peak values and presented in the Doppler factor space. H$α$ wings of Z And and AG Dra are observed to be significantly wider than H$β$ counterpart, favoring the Raman scattering origin of broad Balmer wings.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

Escape of Resonantly Scattered Ly$β$ and H$α$ from Hot and Optically Thick Media

We investigate the escape of Ly$β$ from emission nebulae with a significant population of excited hydrogen atoms in the level $n=2$, rendering them optically thick in H$α$. The transfer of Ly$β$ line photons in these optically thick regions is complicated by the presence of another scattering channel leading to re-emission of H$α$, alternating their identities between Ly$β$ and H$α$. In this work, we develop a Monte Carlo code to simulate the transfer of Ly$β$ line photons incorporating the scattering channel into H$α$. Both H$α$ and Ly$β$ lines are formed through diffusion in frequency space, where a line photon enters the wing regime after a fairly large number of resonance scatterings with hydrogen atoms. Various line profiles of H$α$ and Ly$β$ emergent from our model nebulae are presented. It is argued that the electron temperature is a critical parameter which controls the flux ratio of emergent Ly$β$ and H$α$. Specifically for $T=3 \times 10^4{\rm\ K}$ and H$α$ line center optical depth $τ_α=10$, the number flux ratio of emergent Ly$β$ and H$α$ is $\sim 49$ percent, which is quite significant. We propose that the leaking Ly$β$ can be an interesting source for the formation of H$α$ wings observed in many symbiotic stars and active galactic nuclei. Similar broad H$α$ wings are also expected in Ly$α$ emitting halos found in the early universe, which can be potentially probed by the {\it James Webb Telescope} in the future.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Polarization of Rayleigh scattered Lyα in active galactic nuclei

The unification scheme of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) invokes an optically thick molecular torus component hiding the broad emission line region. Assuming the presence of a thick neutral component in the molecular torus characterized by a \ion{H}{I} column density > $10^{22}{\rm\ cm^{-2}}$, we propose that far UV radiation around Ly$α$ can be significantly polarized through Rayleigh scattering. Adopting a Monte Carlo technique we compute polarization of Rayleigh scattered radiation near Ly$α$ in a thick neutral region in the shape of a slab and a cylindrical shell. It is found that radiation near Ly$α$ Rayleigh reflected from a very thick slab can be significantly polarized in a fairly large range of wavelength $Δλ\sim 50$ Å exhibiting a flux profile similar to the incident one. Rayleigh transmitted radiation in a slab is characterized by the central dip with a complicated polarization behavior. The optically thick part near Ly$α$ center is polarized in the direction perpendicular to the slab normal, which is in contrast to weakly polarized wing parts in the direction parallel to the slab normal. A similar polarization flip phenomenon is also found in the case of a tall cylindrical shell, in which the spatial diffusion along the vertical direction near the inner cylinder wall for core photons leads to a tendency of the electric field aligned to the direction perpendicular to the vertical axis. Observational implications are briefly discussed including spectropolarimetry of the quasar PG~1630+377 by Koratkar et al. in 1990 where Ly$α$ is strongly polarized with no other emission lines polarized.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

A Monte Carlo Study of Flux Ratios of Raman Scattered O~VI Features at 6825 Å and 7082 Å in Symbiotic Stars

Symbiotic stars are regarded as wide binary systems consisting of a hot white dwarf and a mass losing giant. They exhibit unique spectral features at 6825 Å and 7082 Å, which are formed via Raman scattering of \ion{O}{6}$λλ$ 1032 and 1038 with atomic hydrogen. We adopt a Monte Carlo technique to generate the same number of \ion{O}{6}$λ$1032 and $λ$1038 line photons and compute the flux ratio $F(6825)/F(7082)$ of these Raman scattered \ion{O}{6} features formed in neutral regions with a simple geometric shape as a function of \ion{H}{1} column density $N_{HI}$. In cylindrical and spherical neutral regions with the \ion{O}{6} source embedded inside, the flux ratio $F(6825)/F(7082)$ shows an overall decrease from 3 to 1 as $N_{HI}$ increases in the range $10^{22-24}{\rm\ cm^{-2}}$. In the cases of a slab geometry and other geometries with the \ion{O}{6} source outside the \ion{H}{1} region, Rayleigh escape operates to lower the flux ratio considerably. For moderate values of $N_{HI}\sim 10^{23}{\rm\ cm^{-2}}$ the flux ratio behaves in a complicated way to exhibit a broad bump with a peak value of 3.5 in the case of a sphere geometry. We find that the ratio of Raman conversion efficiencies of \ion{O}{6}$λλ$1032, 1038 ranges from 0.8 to 3.5. Our high resolution spectra of 'D' type HM~Sge and 'S' type AG~Dra obtained with the {\it Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope} show that the flux ratio $F(6825)/F(7082)$ of AG~Dra is significantly smaller than that of HM~Sge, implying that 'S' type symbiotics are characterized by higher $N_{HI}$ than 'D' type symbiotics.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Formation of Raman Scattering Wings around H alpha, H beta and Pa alpha in Active Galactic Nuclei

Powered by a supermassive black hole with an accretion disk, the spectra of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are characterized by prominent emission lines including Balmer lines. The unification schemes of AGNs require the existence of a thick molecular torus that may hide the broad emission line region from the view of observers near the equatorial direction. In this configuration, one may expect that the far UV radiation from the central engine can be Raman scattered by neutral hydrogen to reappear around Balmer and Paschen emission lines which can be identified with broad wings. We produce H$α$, H$β$ and Pa$α$ wings using a Monte Carlo technique to investigate their properties. The neutral scattering region is assumed to be a cylindrical torus specified by the inner and outer radii and the height. While the covering factor of the scattering region affects the overall strengths of the wings, the wing widths are primarily dependent on the neutral hydrogen column density $N_{\rm HI}$ being roughly proportional to $N_{\rm HI}^{1/2}$. In particular, with $N_{\rm HI}=10^{23}{\rm\ cm^{-2}}$ the H$α$ wings typically show a width $\sim 2\times 10^4{\rm\ km\ s^{-1}}$. We also find that H$α$ and Pa$α$ wing profiles are asymmetric with the red part stronger than the blue part and an opposite behavior is seen for H$β$ wings.

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