arXiv subjects

T. W. Hartquist

Publications and source records attributed to T. W. Hartquist.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2018

Gravitational instabilities in a protosolar-like disc III: molecular line detection and sensitivities

At the time of formation, protoplanetary discs likely contain a comparable mass to their host protostars. As a result, gravitational instabilities (GIs) are expected to play a pivotal role in the early phases of disc evolution. However, as these young objects are heavily embedded, confirmation of GIs has remained elusive. Therefore, we use the radiative transfer code LIME to produce line images of a $0.17\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ self-gravitating protosolar-like disc. We note the limitations of using LIME and explore methods to improve upon the default gridding. We synthesise noiseless observations to determine the sensitivities required to detect the spiral flux, and find that the line flux distribution does not necessarily correlate to the abundance density distribution; hence performing radiative transfer calculations is imperative. Moreover, the spiral features are seen in absorption, due to the GI-heated midplane and high extinction, which could be indicative of GI activity. If a small beamsize and appropriate molecular line are used then spatially resolving spirals in a protosolar-like disc should be possible with ALMA for an on-source time of 30 hr. Spectrally resolving non-axisymmetric structure takes only a tenth as long for a reasonable noise level, but attributing this structure to GI-induced activity would be tentative. Finally, we find that identifying finger-like features in PV diagrams of nearly edge-on discs, which are a direct indicator of spirals, is feasible with an on-source time of 19 hr, and hence likely offers the most promising means of confirming GI-driven spiral structure in young, embedded protoplanetary discs.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

The chemistry of protoplanetary fragments formed via gravitational instabilities

In this paper, we model the chemical evolution of a 0.25 M$_{\odot}$ protoplanetary disc surrounding a 1 M$_{\odot}$ star that undergoes fragmentation due to self-gravity. We use Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics including a radiative transfer scheme, along with time-dependent chemical evolution code to follow the composition of the disc and resulting fragments over approximately 4000 yrs. Initially, four quasi-stable fragments are formed, of which two are eventually disrupted by tidal torques in the disc. From the results of our chemical modelling, we identify species that are abundant in the fragments (e.g. H$_{\rm 2}$O, H$_{\rm 2}$S, HNO, N$_{\rm 2}$, NH$_{\rm 3}$, OCS, SO), species that are abundant in the spiral shocks within the disc (e.g. CO, CH$_{\rm 4}$, CN, CS, H$_{\rm 2}$CO), and species which are abundant in the circumfragmentary material (e.g. HCO$^{\rm +}$). Our models suggest that in some fragments it is plausible for grains to sediment to the core before releasing their volatiles into the planetary envelope, leading to changes in, e.g., the C/O ratio of the gas and ice components. We would therefore predict that the atmospheric composition of planets generated by gravitational instability should not necessarily follow the bulk chemical composition of the local disc material.

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arXiv2017

Gravitational instabilities in a protosolar-like disc II: continuum emission and mass estimates

Gravitational instabilities (GIs) are most likely a fundamental process during the early stages of protoplanetary disc formation. Recently, there have been detections of spiral features in young, embedded objects that appear consistent with GI-driven structure. It is crucial to perform hydrodynamic and radiative transfer simulations of gravitationally unstable discs in order to assess the validity of GIs in such objects, and constrain optimal targets for future observations. We utilise the radiative transfer code LIME to produce continuum emission maps of a $0.17\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ self-gravitating protosolar-like disc. We note the limitations of using LIME as is and explore methods to improve upon the default gridding. We use CASA to produce synthetic observations of 270 continuum emission maps generated across different frequencies, inclinations and dust opacities. We find that the spiral structure of our protosolar-like disc model is distinguishable across the majority of our parameter space after 1 hour of observation, and is especially prominent at 230$\,$GHz due to the favourable combination of angular resolution and sensitivity. Disc mass derived from the observations is sensitive to the assumed dust opacities and temperatures, and therefore can be underestimated by a factor of at least 30 at 850$\,$GHz and 2.5 at 90$\,$GHz. As a result, this effect could retrospectively validate GIs in discs previously thought not massive enough to be gravitationally unstable, which could have a significant impact on the understanding of the formation and evolution of protoplanetary discs.

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arXiv2016

The interaction of hydrodynamic shocks with self-gravitating clouds

We describe the results of 3D simulations of the interaction of hydrodynamic shocks with Bonnor-Ebert spheres performed with an Adaptive Mesh Refinement code. The calculations are isothermal and the clouds are embedded in a medium in which the sound speed is either four or ten times that in the cloud. The strengths of the shocks are such that they induce gravitational collapse in some cases and not in others and we derive a simple estimate for the shock strength required for this to occur. These results are relevant to dense cores and Bok globules in star forming regions subjected to shocks produced by stellar feedback.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Ambipolar diffusion regulated collapse of filaments threaded by perpendicular magnetic fields

We numerically reproduce the density profiles for filaments that are in magnetohydrostatic and pressure equilibrium with their surroundings obtained in Tomisaka (2014) and show that these equilibria are dynamically stable. If the effect of ambipolar diffusion is considered, these filaments lose magnetic support initiating cloud collapse. The filaments do not lose magnetic flux. Rather the magnetic flux is redistributed within the filament from the centre towards the envelope. The rate of the collapse is inversely proportional to the fractional ionisation and two gravitationally-driven ambipolar diffusion regimes for the collapse are observed as predicted in Mouschovias & Morton (1991). For high values of the ionisation coefficient, that is $X \geq 10^{-7}$, the gas is strongly coupled to the magnetic field and the Jeans length is larger than the ambipolar diffusion length scale. Then the collapse is governed by magnetically-regulated ambipolar diffusion. For $X \lesssim 10^{-8}$, the gas is weakly coupled to the magnetic field and the magnetic support is removed by gravitationally-dominated ambipolar diffusion. Here, neutrals and ions only collide sporadically, that is the ambipolar diffusion length scale is larger than the Jeans length. When decaying turbulence is included, additional support is provided to the filament. This slows down the collapse of the filament even in the absence of a magnetic field. When a magnetic field is present, the collapse rate increases by a ratio smaller than for the non-magnetic case. This is because of a speed-up of the ambipolar diffusion due to larger magnetic field gradients generated by the turbulence and because the ambipolar diffusion aids the dissipation of turbulence below the ambipolar diffusion length scale. The highest increase in the rate is observed for the lowest ionisation coefficient and the highest turbulent intensity.

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arXiv2015

Gravitational instabilities in a protosolar-like disc I: dynamics and chemistry

To date, most simulations of the chemistry in protoplanetary discs have used 1+1D or 2D axisymmetric $α$-disc models to determine chemical compositions within young systems. This assumption is inappropriate for non-axisymmetric, gravitationally unstable discs, which may be a significant stage in early protoplanetary disc evolution. Using 3D radiative hydrodynamics, we have modelled the physical and chemical evolution of a 0.17 M$_{\odot}$ self-gravitating disc over a period of 2000 yr. The 0.8 M$_{\odot}$ central protostar is likely to evolve into a solar-like star, and hence this Class 0 or early Class I young stellar object may be analogous to our early Solar System. Shocks driven by gravitational instabilities enhance the desorption rates, which dominate the changes in gas-phase fractional abundances for most species. We find that at the end of the simulation, a number of species distinctly trace the spiral structure of our relatively low-mass disc, particularly CN. We compare our simulation to that of a more massive disc, and conclude that mass differences between gravitationally unstable discs may not have a strong impact on the chemical composition. We find that over the duration of our simulation, successive shock heating has a permanent effect on the abundances of HNO, CN and NH$_3$, which may have significant implications for both simulations and observations. We also find that HCO$^+$ may be a useful tracer of disc mass. We conclude that gravitational instabilities induced in lower mass discs can significantly, and permanently, affect the chemical evolution, and that observations with high-resolution instruments such as ALMA offer a promising means of characterising gravitational instabilities in protosolar discs.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Numerical Simulations of a Shock Interacting with Multiple Magnetized Clouds

We present 2D adiabatic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of a shock interacting with groups of two or three cylindrical clouds. We study how the presence of a nearby cloud influences the dynamics of this interaction, and explore the resulting differences and similarities in the evolution of each cloud. The understanding gained from this small-scale study will help to interpret the behaviour of systems with many 10's or 100's of clouds. We observe a wide variety of behaviour in the interactions studied, which is dependent on the initial positions of the clouds and the orientation and strength of the magnetic field. We find: i) some clouds are stretched along their field-lines, whereas others are confined by their field-lines; ii) upstream clouds may accelerate past downstream clouds (though magnetic tension can prevent this); iii) clouds may also change their relative positions transverse to the direction of shock propagation as they "slingshot" past each other; iv) downstream clouds may be offered some protection from the oncoming flow as a result of being in the lee of an upstream cloud; v) the cycle of cloud compression and re-expansion is generally weaker when there are nearby neighbouring clouds; vi) the plasma $β$ in cloud material can vary rapidly as clouds collide with one another, but low values of $β$ are always transitory. This work is relevant to studies of multi-phase regions, where fast, low-density gas interacts with dense clouds, such as in circumstellar bubbles, supernova remnants, superbubbles and galactic winds.

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arXiv2013

Ram pressure stripping of the hot gaseous haloes of galaxies using the k-epsilon sub-grid turbulence model

We perform three dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the ram pressure stripping of the hot extended gaseous halo of a massive galaxy using the k-epsilon sub-grid turbulence model at Mach numbers 0.9, 1.1 and 1.9. The k-epsilon model is used to simulate high Reynolds number flows by increasing the transport coefficients in regions of high turbulence. We find that the initial, instantaneous stripping is the same whether or not the k-epsilon model is implemented and is in agreement with the results of other studies. However the use of the k-epsilon model leads to five times less gas remaining after stripping by a supersonic flow has proceeded for 10 Gyr, which is more consistent with what simple analytic calculations indicate. Hence the continual Kelvin-Helmholtz stripping plays a significant role in the ram pressure stripping of the haloes of massive galaxies. To properly account for this, simulations of galaxy clusters will require the use of sub-grid turbulence models

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Simulated Observations of Young Gravitationally Unstable Protoplanetary Discs

The formation and earliest stages of protoplanetary discs remain poorly constrained by observations. ALMA will soon revolutionise this field. Therefore, it is important to provide predictions which will be valuable for the interpretation of future high sensitivity and high angular resolution observations. Here we present simulated ALMA observations based on radiative transfer modelling of a relatively massive (0.39 M_solar) self-gravitating disc embedded in a 10 M_solar dense core, with structure similar to the pre-stellar core L1544. We focus on simple species and conclude that C17O 3-2, HCO+ 3-2, OCS 26-25 and H2CO 404-303 lines can be used to probe the disc structure and kinematics at all scales.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2013

The Responses of Magnetically Sub-Critical Cores to Shocks

An ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code with adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) was used to investigate the interactions of fast-mode shocks with self-gravitating, isothermal cores with mass-to-flux ratios that are somewhat below the minimum value required for gravitational collapse. We find that shock focussing produces colliding flows along the field lines that generate very high densities, even for relatively weak shocks. Self-gravity plays only a minor role in determining the highest density that is reached, but it does play a role in the subsequent evolution. The densities at comparable times differ by a factor of a few for shocks initially propagating perpendicularly or obliquely to the magnetic field in the ambient medium.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2012

Sputtering in oblique C-type shocks

We present the first results for the sputtering of grain mantles and cores obtained with self-consistent multifluid hydromagnetic models of C-type shocks propagating through dusty media. The threshold shock speed for mantle sputtering is about 10 km/s and is independent of density. The mantles are completely vapourised in shocks with speeds of 20-25 km/s. At such shock speeds core sputtering commences and gas-phase SiO forms. Core destruction is not total in any C-type shock because grains are not completely destroyed in shocks with speeds near the minimum speeds at which J-type shocks appear. Due to the density-dependence of the critical shock speed for this transition, higher gas-phase SiO fractional abundances are produced behind shocks propagating in lower density gas. For shock speeds near the threshold speeds for both core and mantle sputtering, sputtering is much greater for shock velocities at smaller angles relative to the upstream magnetic field. At higher shock speeds, the angular variation is still present but less pronounced.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

Magnetic Fields and Star Formation

Research performed in the 1950s and 1960s by Leon Mestel on the roles of magnetic fields in star formation established the framework within which he and other key figures have conducted subsequent investigations on the subject. This short tribute to Leon contains a brief summary of some, but not all, of his ground breaking contributions in the area. It also mentions of some of the relevant problems that have received attention in the last few years. The coverage is not comprehensive, and the authors have drawn on their own results more and touched more briefly on those of others than they would in a normal review. Theirs is a personal contribution to the issue honouring Leon, one of the truly great gentlemen, wits, and most insightful of astrophysicists.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2012

Numerical simulations of shocks encountering clumpy regions

We present numerical simulations of the adiabatic interaction of a shock with a clumpy region containing many individual clouds. Our work incorporates a sub-grid turbulence model which for the first time makes this investigation feasible. We vary the Mach number of the shock, the density contrast of the clouds, and the ratio of total cloud mass to inter-cloud mass within the clumpy region. Cloud material becomes incorporated into the flow. This "mass-loading" reduces the Mach number of the shock, and leads to the formation of a dense shell. In cases in which the mass-loading is sufficient the flow slows enough that the shock degenerates into a wave. The interaction evolves through up to four stages: initially the shock decelerates; then its speed is nearly constant; next the shock accelerates as it leaves the clumpy region; finally it moves at a constant speed close to its initial speed. Turbulence is generated in the post-shock flow as the shock sweeps through the clumpy region. Clouds exposed to turbulence can be destroyed more rapidly than a similar cloud in an "isolated" environment. The lifetime of a downstream cloud decreases with increasing cloud-to-intercloud mass ratio. We briefly discuss the significance of these results for starburst superwinds and galaxy evolution.

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arXiv2011

Cosmic Rays and Radiative Instabilities

In the absence of magnetic fields and cosmic rays, radiative cooling laws with a range of dependences on temperature affect the stability of interstellar gas. For about four and a half decades, astrophysicists have recognised the importance of the thermal instablity for the formation of clouds in the interstellar medium. Even in the past several years, many papers have concerned the role of the thermal instability in the production of molecular clouds. About three and a half decades ago, astrophysicists investigating radiative shocks noticed that for many cooling laws such shocks are unstable. Attempts to address the effects of cosmic rays on the stablity of radiative media that are initially uniform or that have just passed through shocks have been made. The simplest approach to such studies involves the assumption that the cosmic rays behave as a fluid. Work based on such an approach is described. Cosmic rays have no effect on the stability of initially uniform, static media with respect to isobaric perturbations, though they do affect the stability of such media with respect to isentropic perturbations. The effect of cosmic rays on the stability of radiative shocked media depends greatly on the efficiency of the conversion of energy in accelerated cosmic rays into thermal energy in the thermalized fluid. If that efficiency is low, radiative cooling makes weak shocks propagating into upstream media with low cosmic-ray pressures more likely to be cosmic-ray dominated than adiabatic shocks of comparable strength. The cosmic-ray dominated shocks do not display radiative overstability. Highly efficient conversion of cosmic-ray energy into thermal energy leads shocked media to behave as they do when cosmic rays are absent.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2011

Chemistry in a gravitationally unstable protoplanetary disc

Until now, axisymmetric, alpha-disc models have been adopted for calculations of the chemical composition of protoplanetary discs. While this approach is reasonable for many discs, it is not appropriate when self-gravity is important. In this case, spiral waves and shocks cause temperature and density variations that affect the chemistry. We have adopted a dynamical model of a solar-mass star surrounded by a massive (0.39 Msun), self-gravitating disc, similar to those that may be found around Class 0 and early Class I protostars, in a study of disc chemistry. We find that for each of a number of species, e.g. H2O, adsorption and desorption dominate the changes in the gas-phase fractional abundance; because the desorption rates are very sensitive to temperature, maps of the emissions from such species should reveal the locations of shocks of varying strengths. The gas-phase fractional abundances of some other species, e.g. CS, are also affected by gas-phase reactions, particularly in warm shocked regions. We conclude that the dynamics of massive discs have a strong impact on how they appear when imaged in the emission lines of various molecular species.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2011

First observations of CN(2-1), HCO$^{+}$(3-2) and C$_{2}$H(3-2) emission lines in the Perseus cluster: constraints on heating mechanisms in the cluster gas

We present the first observations of emission lines of CN(2-1), HCO$^{+}$(3-2) and C$_{2}$H(3-2) in the Perseus cluster. We observed at two positions: directly at the central galaxy, NGC 1275 and also at a position about 20$''$ to the east where associated filamentary structure has been shown to have strong CO emission. Clear detections in CN and HCO$^{+}$ transitions and a weak detection of the C$_{2}$H transition were made towards NGC 1275, while weak detections of CN and HCO$^{+}$ were made towards the eastern filamentary structure. Crude estimates of the column densities and fractional abundances (mostly upper limits) as functions of an unknown rotational temperature were made to both sources. These observational data were compared with the outputs of thermal/chemical models previously published by \citet{Baye10c} in an attempt to constrain the heating mechanisms in cluster gas. We find that models in which heating is dominated by cosmic rays can account for the molecular observations. This conclusion is consistent with that of \citet{Ferl09} in their study of gas traced by optical and infrared radiation. The cosmic ray heating rate in the regions probed by molecular emissions is required to be at least two orders of magnitude larger than that in the Milky Way.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Chemistry in Cosmic-Ray Dominated Regions (CRDRs)

Molecular line observations may serve as diagnostics of the degree to which the number density of cosmic ray protons, having energies of 10s to 100s of MeVs each, is enhanced in starburst galaxies and galaxies with active nuclei. Results, obtained with the UCL\_PDR code, for the fractional abundances of molecules as functions of the cosmic-ray induced ionisation rate, $ζ$, are presented. The aim is not to model any particular external galaxies. Rather, it is to identify characteristics of the dependencies of molecular abundances on $ζ$, in part to enable the development of suitable observational programmes for cosmic ray dominated regions (CRDRs) which will then stimulate detailed modelling. For a number density of hydrogen nuclei of of $10^4$ cm$^{-3}$, and high visual extinction, the fractional abundances of some species increase as $ζ$ increases to $10^{-14}$ s$^{-1}$, but for much higher values of $ζ$ the fractional abundances of all molecular species are significantly below their peak values. We show in particular that OH, H$_{2}$O, H$_{3}^{+}$, H$_{3}$O$^{+}$ and OH$^{+}$ attain large fractional abundances ($\geqslant 10^{-8}$) for $ζ$ as large as $10^{-12}$ s$^{-1}$. HCO$^{+}$ is a poor tracer of CRDRs when $ζ> 10^{-13}$ s$^{-1}$. Sulphur-bearing species may be useful tracers of CRDRs gas in which $ζ\sim 10^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$. Ammonia has a large fractional abundance for $ζ\leqslant 10^{-16}$ s$^{-1}$ and nitrogen appears in CN-bearing species at significant levels as $ζ$ increases, even up to $\sim 10^{-14}$ s$^{-1}$. In this paper, we also discuss our model predictions, comparing them to recent detections in both galactic and extragalactic sources. We show that they agree well, to a first approximation, with the observational constraints.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Molecular Tracers of Filamentary CO Emission Regions Surrounding the Central Galaxies of Clusters

Optical emission is detected from filaments around the central galaxies of clusters of galaxies. These filaments have lengths of tens of kiloparsecs. The emission is possibly due to heating caused by the dissipation of mechanical energy and by cosmic ray induced ionisation. CO millimeter and submillimeter line emissions as well as H$_{2}$ infrared emission originating in such filaments surrounding NGC~1275, the central galaxy of the Perseus cluster, have been detected. Our aim is to identify those molecular species, other than CO, that may emit detectable millimeter and submillimeter line features arising in these filaments, and to determine which of those species will produce emissions that might serve as diagnostics of the dissipation and cosmic ray induced ionisation. The time-dependent UCL photon-dominated region modelling code was used in the construction of steady-state models of molecular filamentary emission regions at appropriate pressures, for a range of dissipation and cosmic ray induced ionisation rates and incident radiation fields.HCO$^+$ and C$_2$H emissions will potentially provide information about the cosmic ray induced ionisation rates in the filaments. HCN and, in particular, CN are species with millimeter and submillimeter lines that remain abundant in the warmest regions containing molecules. Detections of the galaxy cluster filaments in HCO$^{+}$, C$_{2}$H, and CN emissions and further detections of them in HCN emissions would provide significant constraints on the dissipation and cosmic ray induced ionisation rates.

astro-ph.CO↗