arXiv subjects

Zhi-Yun Li

Publications and source records attributed to Zhi-Yun Li.

At least 235 records · Page 13Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

The Next Generation BLAST Experiment

The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry (BLASTPol) was a suborbital experiment designed to map magnetic fields in order to study their role in star formation processes. BLASTPol made detailed polarization maps of a number of molecular clouds during its successful flights from Antarctica in 2010 and 2012. We present the next-generation BLASTPol instrument (BLAST-TNG) that will build off the success of the previous experiment and continue its role as a unique instrument and a test bed for new technologies. With a 16-fold increase in mapping speed, BLAST-TNG will make larger and deeper maps. Major improvements include a 2.5 m carbon fiber mirror that is 40% wider than the BLASTPol mirror and ~3000 polarization sensitive detectors. BLAST-TNG will observe in three bands at 250, 350, and 500 microns. The telescope will serve as a pathfinder project for microwave kinetic inductance detector (MKID) technology, as applied to feedhorn coupled submillimeter detector arrays. The liquid helium cooled cryostat will have a 28-day hold time and will utilize a closed-cycle $^3$He refrigerator to cool the detector arrays to 270 mK. This will enable a detailed mapping of more targets with higher polarization resolution than any other submillimeter experiment to date. BLAST-TNG will also be the first balloon-borne telescope to offer shared risk observing time to the community. This paper outlines the motivation for the project and the instrumental design.

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arXiv2014

The VLA Nascent Disk And Multiplicity (VANDAM) Survey of Perseus Protostars. Resolving the Sub-Arcsecond Binary System in NGC 1333 IRAS2A

We are conducting a Jansky VLA Ka-band (8 mm and 1 cm) and C-band (4 cm and 6.4 cm) survey of all known protostars in the Perseus Molecular Cloud, providing resolution down to $\sim$0.06'' and $\sim$0.35" in Ka-band and C-band, respectively. Here we present first results from this survey that enable us to examine the source NGC 1333 IRAS2A in unprecedented detail and resolve it into a proto-binary system separated by 0.621"$\pm$0.006" ($\sim$143 AU) at 8 mm, 1 cm, and 4 cm. These 2 sources (IRAS2A VLA1 and VLA2) are likely driving the two orthogonal outflows known to originate from IRAS2A. The brighter source IRAS2A VLA1 is extended perpendicular to its outflow in the VLA data, with a deconvolved size of 0.055" ($\sim$13 AU), possibly tracing a protostellar disk. The recently reported candidate companions (IRAS2A MM2 and MM3) are not detected in either our VLA data, CARMA 1.3 mm data, or SMA 850 $μ$m data. SMA CO ($J=3\rightarrow2$), CARMA CO ($J=2\rightarrow1$), and lower resolution CARMA CO ($J=1\rightarrow0$) observations are used to examine the outflow origins and the nature of the candidate companions to IRAS2A VLA1. The CO ($J=3\rightarrow2$) and ($J=2\rightarrow1$) data show that IRAS2A MM2 is coincident with a bright CO emission spot in the east-west outflow, and IRAS2A MM3 is within the north-south outflow. In contrast, IRAS2A VLA2 lies at the east-west outflow symmetry point. We propose that IRAS2A VLA2 is the driving source of the East-West outflow and a true companion to IRAS2A VLA1, whereas IRAS2A MM2 and MM3 may not be protostellar.

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arXiv2014

Spatially Resolved Magnetic Field Structure in the Disk of a T Tauri Star

Magnetic fields in accretion disks play a dominant role during the star formation process but have hitherto been observationally poorly constrained. Field strengths have been inferred on T Tauri stars themselves and possibly in the innermost part of the accretion disk, but the strength and morphology of the field in the bulk of the disk have not been observed. Unresolved measurements of polarized emission (arising from elongated dust grains aligned perpendicular to the field) imply average fields aligned with the disks. Theoretically, the fields are expected to be largely toroidal, poloidal, or a mixture of the two, which imply different mechanisms for transporting angular momentum in the disks of actively accreting young stars such as HL Tau. Here we report resolved measurements of the polarized 1.25 mm continuum emission from HL Tau's disk. The magnetic field on a scale of 80 AU is coincident with the major axis (~210 AU diameter) of the disk. From this we conclude that the magnetic field inside the disk at this scale cannot be dominated by a vertical component, though a purely toroidal field does not fit the data well either. The unexpected morphology suggests that the magnetic field's role for the accretion of a T Tauri star is more complex than the current theoretical understanding.

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arXiv2014

Recollimation boundary layers as X-ray sources in young stellar jets

Young stars accrete mass from circumstellar disks and in many cases, the accretion coincides with a phase of massive outflows, which can be highly collimated. Those jets emit predominantly in the optical and IR wavelength range. However, in several cases X-ray and UV observations reveal a weak but highly energetic component in those jets. X-rays are observed both from stationary regions close to the star and from knots in the jet several hundred AU from the star. In this article we show semi-analytically that a fast stellar wind which is recollimated by the pressure from a slower, more massive disk wind can have the right properties to power stationary X-ray emission. The size of the shocked regions is compatible with observational constraints. Our calculations support a wind-wind interaction scenario for the high energy emission near the base of YSO jets. For the specific case of DG Tau, a stellar wind with a mass loss rate of $5\cdot10^{-10}\;M_{\odot}\;\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ and a wind speed of 800 km s$^{-1}$ reproduces the observed X-ray spectrum. We conclude that a stellar wind recollimation shock is a viable scenario to power stationary X-ray emission close to the jet launching point.

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arXiv2014

On the Role of Pseudodisk Warping and Reconnection in Protostellar Disk Formation in Turbulent Magnetized Cores

The formation of rotationally supported protostellar disks is suppressed in ideal MHD in non-turbulent cores with aligned magnetic field and rotation axis. A promising way to resolve this so-called "magnetic braking catastrophe" is through turbulence. The reason for the turbulence-enabled disk formation is usually attributed to the turbulence-induced magnetic reconnection, which is thought to reduce the magnetic flux accumulated in the disk-forming region. We advance an alternative interpretation, based on magnetic decoupling-triggered reconnection of severely pinched field lines close to the central protostar and turbulence-induced warping of the pseudodisk of Galli and Shu. Such reconnection weakens the central split magnetic monopole that lies at the heart of the magnetic braking catastrophe under flux freezing. We show, through idealized numerical experiments, that the pseudodisk can be strongly warped, but not completely destroyed, by a subsonic or sonic turbulence. The warping decreases the rates of angular momentum removal from the pseudodisk by both magnetic torque and outflow, making it easier to form a rotationally supported disk. More importantly, the warping of the pseudodisk out of the disk-forming, equatorial plane greatly reduces the amount of magnetic flux threading the circumstellar, disk-forming region, further promoting disk formation. The beneficial effects of pseudodisk warping can also be achieved by a misalignment between the magnetic field and rotation axis. These two mechanisms of disk formation, enabled by turbulence and field-rotation misalignment respectively, are thus unified. We find that the disks formed in turbulent magnetized cores are rather thick and significantly magnetized. Implications of these findings, particularly for the thick young disk inferred in L1527, are briefly discussed.

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arXiv2014

Magnetic Fields and Massive Star Formation

Massive stars ($M > 8$ \msun) typically form in parsec-scale molecular clumps that collapse and fragment, leading to the birth of a cluster of stellar objects. We investigate the role of magnetic fields in this process through dust polarization at 870 $μ$m obtained with the Submillimeter Array (SMA). The SMA observations reveal polarization at scales of $\lsim$ 0.1 pc. The polarization pattern in these objects ranges from ordered hour-glass configurations to more chaotic distributions. By comparing the SMA data with the single dish data at parsec scales, we found that magnetic fields at dense core scales are either aligned within $40^\circ$ of or perpendicular to the parsec-scale magnetic fields. This finding indicates that magnetic fields play an important role during the collapse and fragmentation of massive molecular clumps and the formation of dense cores. We further compare magnetic fields in dense cores with the major axis of molecular outflows. Despite a limited number of outflows, we found that the outflow axis appears to be randomly oriented with respect to the magnetic field in the core. This result suggests that at the scale of accretion disks ($\lsim 10^3$ AU), angular momentum and dynamic interactions possibly due to close binary or multiple systems dominate over magnetic fields. With this unprecedentedly large sample massive clumps, we argue on a statistical basis that magnetic fields play an important role during the formation of dense cores at spatial scale of 0.01 - 0.1 pc in the context of massive star and cluster star formation.

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arXiv2014

The next-generation BLASTPol experiment

The Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope for Polarimetry (BLASTPol) is a suborbital mapping experiment designed to study the role magnetic fields play in star formation. BLASTPol has had two science flights from McMurdo Station, Antarctica in 2010 and 2012. These flights have produced thousands of polarization vectors at 250, 350 and 500 microns in several molecular cloud targets. We present the design, specifications, and progress towards the next-generation BLASTPol experiment (BLAST-TNG). BLAST-TNG will fly a 40% larger diameter primary mirror, with almost 8 times the number of polarization-sensitive detectors resulting in a factor of 16 increase in mapping speed. With a spatial resolution of 22 arcseconds and four times the field of view of BLASTPol, BLAST-TNG will bridge the angular scales between Planck's low resolution all-sky maps and ALMA's ultra-high resolution narrow fields. The new receiver has a larger cryogenics volume, allowing for a 28 day hold time. BLAST-TNG employs three arrays of Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs) with 30% fractional bandwidth at 250, 350 and 500 microns. In this paper, we will present the new BLAST-TNG instrument and science objectives.

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arXiv2014

Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Hot Jupiter Upper Atmospheres

Two-dimensional simulations of hot Jupiter upper atmospheres including the planet's magnetic field are presented. The goal is to explore magnetic effects on the layer of the atmosphere that is ionized and heated by stellar EUV radiation, and the imprint of these effects on the Ly$α$ transmission spectrum. The simulations are axisymmetric, isothermal, and include both rotation and azimuth-averaged stellar tides. Mass density is converted to atomic hydrogen density through the assumption of ionization equilibrium. The three-zone structure -- polar dead zone, mid-latitude wind zone, and equatorial dead zone -- found in previous analytic calculations is confirmed. For a magnetic field comparable to that of Jupiter, the equatorial dead zone, which is confined by the magnetic field and corotates with the planet, contributes at least half of the transit signal. For even stronger fields, the gas escaping in the mid-latitude wind zone is found to have a smaller contribution to the transit depth than the equatorial dead zone. Transmission spectra computed from the simulations are compared to HST STIS and ACS data for HD 209458b and HD 189733b, and the range of model parameters consistent with the data is found. The central result of this paper is that the transit depth increases strongly with magnetic field strength when the hydrogen ionization layer is magnetically dominated, for dipole magnetic field $B_0 > 10\ {\rm G}$. Hence transit depth is sensitive to magnetic field strength, in addition to standard quantities such as the ratio of thermal to gravitational binding energies.

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arXiv2014

Discovery of Two Rare Rigidly-Rotating Magnetosphere Stars in the APOGEE Survey

The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) - one of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III programs -- is using near-infrared spectra of $\sim 100,000$ red giant branch star candidates to study the structure of the Milky Way. In the course of the survey, APOGEE also acquires spectra of hot field stars to serve as telluric calibrators for the primary science targets. We report the serendipitous discovery of two rare, fast-rotating B stars of the $σ$ Ori E type among those blue field stars observed during the first year of APOGEE operations. Both of the discovered stars display the spectroscopic signatures of the rigidly rotating magnetospheres (RRM) common to this class of highly-magnetized ($B \sim 10$ kiloGauss) stars, increasing the number of known RRM stars by $\sim 10 \%$. One (HD 345439) is a main-sequence B star with unusually strong He absorption (similar to $σ$ Ori E), while the other (HD 23478) fits a "He-normal" B3IV classification. We combine the APOGEE discovery spectra with other optical and near-infrared spectra of these two stars, and of $σ$ Ori E itself, to show how near-infrared spectroscopy can be a uniquely powerful tool for discovering more of these rare objects, which may show little/no RRM signatures in their optical spectra. We discuss the potential for further discovery of $σ$ Ori E type stars, as well as the implications of our discoveries for the population of these objects and insights into their origin and evolution.

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arXiv2014

The Link between Magnetic Fields and Cloud/Star Formation

The question whether magnetic fields play an important role in the processes of molecular cloud and star formation has been debated for decades. Recent observations have revealed a simple picture that may help illuminate these questions: magnetic fields have a tendency to preserve their orientation at all scales that have been probed - from 100-pc scale inter-cloud media down to sub-pc scale cloud cores. This ordered morphology has implications for the way in which self-gravity and turbulence interact with magnetic fields: both gravitational contraction and turbulent velocities should be anisotropic, due to the influence of dynamically important magnetic fields. Such anisotropy is now observed. Here we review these recent observations and discuss how they can improve our understanding of cloud/star formation.

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arXiv2014

Dense molecular cloud cores as a source of micrometer-sized grains in galaxies

Coreshine in dense molecular cloud cores (dense cores) is interpreted as evidence for micrometer-sized grains (referred to as very large grains, VLGs). VLGs may have a significant influence on the total dust amount and the extinction curve. We estimate the total abundance of VLGs in the Galaxy, assuming that dense cores are the site of VLG formation. We find that the VLG abundance relative to the total dust mass is roughly $ϕ_\mathrm{VLG}\sim 0.01(1-ε)/ε(τ_\mathrm{SF}/5\times 10^9~\mathrm{yr})^{-1} (f_\mathrm{VLG}/0.5)(t_\mathrm{shat}/10^8~\mathrm{yr})$, where $ε$ is the star formation efficiency in dense cores, $τ_\mathrm{SF}$ the timescale of gas consumption by star formation, $f_\mathrm{VLG}$ the fraction of dust mass eventually coagulated into VLGs in dense cores, and $t_\mathrm{shat}$ the lifetime of VLGs (determined by shattering). Adopting their typical values for the Galaxy, we obtain $ϕ_\mathrm{VLG}\sim 0.02$--0.09. This abundance is well below the value detected in the heliosphere by Ulysses and Galileo, which means that local enhancement of VLG abundance in the solar neighborhood is required if the VLGs originate from dense cores. We also show that the effects of VLGs on the extinction curve are negligible even with the upper value of the above range, $ϕ_\mathrm{VLG}\sim 0.09$. If we adopt an extreme value, $ϕ_\mathrm{VLG}\sim 0.5$, close to that inferred from the above spacecraft data, the extinction curve is still in the range of the variation in Galactic extinction curves, but is not typical of the diffuse ISM.

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arXiv2014

Confronting Outflow-Regulated Cluster Formation Model with Observations

Protostellar outflows have been shown theoretically to be capable of maintaining supersonic turbulence in cluster-forming clumps and keeping the star formation rate per free-fall time as low as a few percent. We aim to test two basic predictions of this outflow-regulated cluster formation model, namely (1) the clump should be close to virial equilibrium and (2) the turbulence dissipation rate should be balanced by the outflow momentum injection rate, using recent outflow surveys toward 8 nearby cluster-forming clumps (B59, L1551, L1641N, Serpens Main Cloud, Serpens South, $ρ$ Oph, IC 348, and NGC 1333). We find, for almost all sources, that the clumps are close to virial equilibrium and the outflow momentum injection rate exceeds the turbulence momentum dissipation rate. In addition, the outflow kinetic energy is significantly smaller than the clump gravitational energy for intermediate and massive clumps with $M_{\rm cl} \gtrsim {\rm a \ few} \times 10^2 M_\odot$, suggesting that the outflow feedback is not enough to disperse the clump as a whole. The number of observed protostars also indicates that the star formation rate per free-fall time is as small as a few percent for all clumps. These observationally-based results strengthen the case for outflow-regulated cluster formation.

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arXiv2014

The Earliest Stages of Star and Planet Formation: Core Collapse, and the Formation of Disks and Outflows

(Abridged) In this review we focus on the observations and theory of the formation of early disks and outflows, and their connections with the first phases of planet formation. Large rotationally supported circumstellar disks, although common around more evolved young stellar objects, are rarely detected during the earliest, "Class 0" phase; however, a few excellent candidates have been discovered recently around both low and high mass protostars. In this early phase, prominent outflows are ubiquitously observed; they are expected to be associated with at least small magnetized disks. Disk formation - once thought to be a simple consequence of the conservation of angular momentum during hydrodynamic core collapse - is far more subtle in magnetized gas. In this case, the rotation can be strongly magnetically braked. Indeed, both analytic arguments and numerical simulations have shown that disk formation is suppressed in the strict ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) limit for the observed level of core magnetization. We review what is known about this "magnetic braking catastrophe", possible ways to resolve it, and the current status of early disk observations. Outflows are also intimately linked to disk formation; they are a natural product of magnetic fields and rotation and are important signposts of star formation. We review new developments on early outflow generation since PPV. The properties of early disks and outflows are a key component of planet formation in its early stages and we review these major connections.

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arXiv2014

Star Cluster Formation and Feedback

Stars do not generally form in isolation. Instead, they form in clusters, and in these clustered environments newborn stars can have profound effects on one another and on their parent gas clouds. Feedback from clustered stars is almost certainly responsible for a number of otherwise puzzling facts about star formation: that it is an inefficient process that proceeds slowly when averaged over galactic scales; that most stars disperse from their birth sites and dissolve into the galactic field over timescales $\ll 1$ Gyr; and that newborn stars follow an initial mass function (IMF) with a distinct peak in the range $0.1 - 1$ $M_\odot$, rather than an IMF dominated by brown dwarfs. In this review we summarize current observational constraints and theoretical models for the complex interplay between clustered star formation and feedback.

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arXiv2013

Effect of Magnetic Misalignment on Protobinary Evolution

The majority of solar-type stars reside in multiple systems, especially binaries. They form in dense cores of molecular clouds that are observed to be significantly magnetized. Our previous study shows that magnetic braking can tighten the binary separation during the protostellar mass accretion phase by removing the angular momentum of the accreting material. Recent numerical calculations of single star formation have shown that misalignment between the magnetic field and rotation axis may weaken both magnetic braking and the associated magnetically driven outflows. These two effects allow for disk formation even in strongly magnetized cores. Here we investigate the effects of magnetic field misalignment on the properties of protobinaries. Somewhat surprisingly, the misaligned magnetic field is more efficient at tightening the binary orbit compared to the aligned field. The main reason is that the misalignment weakens the magnetically-driven outflow, which allows more material to accrete onto the binary. Even though the specific angular momentum of this inner material is higher than in the aligned case, it is insufficient to compensate for the additional mass. A corollary of this result is that a weaker field is required to achieve the same degree of inward migration when the field is tilted relative to the rotation axis. Large field misalignment also helps to produce rotationally-supported circumbinary disks even for relatively strong magnetic fields, by weakening the magnetically-dominated structure close to the binary. Our result may provide an explanation for the circumbinary disks detected in recent SMA and ALMA observations.

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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.

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arXiv2013

Earliest Stages of Protocluster Formation: Substructure and Kinematics of Starless Cores in Orion

We study the structure and kinematics of nine 0.1 pc-scale cores in Orion with the IRAM 30-m telescope and at higher resolution eight of the cores with CARMA, using CS(2-1) as the main tracer. The single-dish moment zero maps of the starless cores show single structures with central column densities ranging from 7 to 42 times 10^23 cm^-2 and LTE masses from 20 solar masses to 154 solar masses. However, at the higher CARMA resolution (5 arcsec), all of the cores except one fragment into 3 - 5 components. The number of fragments is small compared to that found in some turbulent fragmentation models, although inclusion of magnetic fields may reduce the predicted fragment number and improve the model agreement. This result demonstrates that fragmentation from parsec-scale molecular clouds to sub-parsec cores continues to take place inside the starless cores. The starless cores and their fragments are embedded in larger filamentary structures, which likely played a role in the core formation and fragmentation. Most cores show clear velocity gradients, with magnitudes ranging from 1.7 to 14.3 km/s/pc. We modeled one of them in detail, and found that its spectra are best explained by a converging flow along a filament toward the core center; the gradients in other cores may be modeled similarly. We infer a mass inflow rate of ~ 2 x 10^{-3} Msolar/yr, which is in principle high enough to overcome radiation pressure and allow for massive star formation. However, the core contains multiple fragments, and it is unclear whether the rapid inflow would feed the growth of primarily a single massive star or a cluster of lower mass objects. We conclude that fast, supersonic converging flow along filaments play an important role in massive star and cluster formation.

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arXiv2013

Condition for the formation of micron-sized dust grains in dense molecular cloud cores

We investigate the condition for the formation of micron-sized grains in dense cores of molecular clouds. This is motivated by the detection of the mid-infrared emission from deep inside a number of dense cores, the so-called `coreshine,' which is thought to come from scattering by micron-sized grains. Based on numerical calculations of coagulation starting from the typical grain size distribution in the diffuse interstellar medium, we obtain a conservative lower limit to the time $t$ to form micron-sized grains: $t/t_\mathrm{ff}>3 (5/S) (n_\mathrm{H}/10^5 \mathrm{cm}^{-3})^{-1/4}$ (where $t_\mathrm{ff}$ is the free-fall time at hydrogen number density $n_\mathrm{H}$ in the core, and $S$ the enhancement factor to the grain-grain collision cross-section to account for non-compact aggregates). At the typical core density $n_\mathrm{H}=10^5 \mathrm{cm}^{-3}$, it takes at least a few free-fall times to form the micron-sized grains responsible for coreshine. The implication is that those dense cores observed in coreshine are relatively long-lived entities in molecular clouds, rather than dynamically transient objects that last for one free-fall time or less.

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