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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 973 records · Page 54
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars in SDSS/Segue. II. Comparison of CEMP-star frequencies with binary population-synthesis models

We present a comparison of the frequencies of carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) giant and main-sequence turnoff (MSTO) stars with predictions from binary population-synthesis models involving asymptotic giant-branch (AGB) mass transfer. The giant and MSTO stars are selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration. We consider two initial mass functions (IMFs)—a Salpeter IMF, and a mass function with a characteristic mass of 10 M {sub ☉}. For giant stars, the comparison indicates a good agreement between the observed CEMP frequencies and the AGB binary model using a Salpeter IMF for [Fe/H] > – 1.5, and a characteristic mass of 10 M {sub ☉} for [Fe/H] < – 2.5. This result suggests that the IMF shifted from high- to low-mass dominated in the early history of the Milky Way, which appears to have occurred at a 'chemical time' between [Fe/H] =–2.5 and [Fe/H] =–1.5. The CEMP frequency for the turnoff stars with [Fe/H] < – 3.0 is much higher than the AGB model prediction from the high-mass IMF, supporting the previous assertion that one or more additional mechanisms, not associated with AGB stars, are required for the production of carbon-rich material below [Fe/H] =–3.0. We also discuss possible effects of first dredge-up and extra mixing in red giants and internal mixing in turnoff stars on the derived CEMP frequencies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

YOUNG STARS IN AN OLD BULGE: A NATURAL OUTCOME OF INTERNAL EVOLUTION IN THE MILKY WAY

The center of our disk galaxy, the Milky Way, is dominated by a boxy/peanut-shaped bulge. Numerous studies of the bulge based on stellar photometry have concluded that the bulge stars are exclusively old. The perceived lack of young stars in the bulge strongly constrains its likely formation scenarios, providing evidence that the bulge is a unique population that formed early and separately from the disk. However, recent studies of individual bulge stars using the microlensing technique have reported that they span a range of ages, emphasizing that the bulge may not be a monolithic structure. In this Letter we demonstrate that the presence of young stars that are located predominantly nearer to the plane is expected for a bulge that has formed from the disk via dynamical instabilities. Using an N-body+ smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulation of a disk galaxy forming out of gas cooling inside a dark matter halo and forming stars, we find a qualitative agreement between our model and the observations of younger metal-rich stars in the bulge. We are also able to partially resolve the apparent contradiction in the literature between results that argue for a purely old bulge population and those that show a population comprised of a range in ages; the key is where to look.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1993

Quasiparticle Interactions in Neutron Matter for Applications in Neutron Stars

A microscopic model for the quaisiparticle interaction in neutron matter is presented. Both particle-particle (pp) and particle-hole (ph) correlation are are included. The pp correlations are treated in semi-empirical way, while ph correlations are incorporated by solving coupled two-body equations for the particle hole interaction and the scattering amplitude on the Fermi sphere. The resulting integral equations self-consistently sum the ph reducible diagrams. Antisymmetry is kept at all stages and hence the forward-scattering sum rules are obeyed. Results for Landau parameters and transport coefficients in a density regime representing the crust of a neutron star are presented. We also estimate the S-1 gap parameter for neutron superfluidity and comment briefly on neutron-star implications.

Wambach, J.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Neutron-star accretion in a stellar wind - Model for a pulsed X-ray source.

Description of a relatively simple stellar-wind-driven accretion model that appears to satisfactorily account for many of the observed features of the pulsing X-ray sources Cen X-3 and Her X-1. A rotating magnetized neutron star orbits a more massive slightly evolved star and accretes mass from the stellar wind emanating from that star. Some of the implications of the model are discussed.

Davidson, K.↗
NASA NTRS1991

On the wind geometry of the Wolf-Rayet star EZ Canis Majoris

Recent models of Wolf-Rayet star winds have been tailored to EZ CMa, and make predictions of the envelope structure and location of line-emitting regions. It is discussed how the wind structure of EZ CMa can be probed observationally through electron distribution integrals as measured by spectropolarimetry, and then present, analyze, and interpret a time-dependent spectropolarimetric data set of EZ CMa. The observations further the view of an electron-scattering wind that is axisymmetric, rotating, and expanding, with a variable mass-loss rate being responsible for the quasi-periodic polarimetric variability. It is demonstrated that the emission lines of EZ CMa are partially polarized, indicating that line photons are electron-scattered in the wind. The polarization in N V lambda 4945 and N IV lambda 4058 is observed to be larger than that of He II lambda 4686 and He I lambda 5876, as expected from ionization stratification.

Schulte-Ladbeck, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Quasiparticle Interactions in Neutron Matter for Applications in Neutron Stars

A microscopic model for the quasiparticle interaction in neutron matter is presented. Both-particle (pp) and particle-hole (ph) correlations are included. The pp correlations are treated in semi-empirical way, while ph correlations are incorporated by solving coupled two-body equations for particle-hole interaction and the scattering amplitude of the Fermi sphere. The resulting integral equations self-consistently sum the ph reducible diagrams. Antisymmetry is kept at all stages and hence the forward-scattering sum rules for the scattering amplitude are obeyed. Results for Landau parameters and transport coefficients in a density regime representing the crust of a neutron star are presented. We also estimate the (1)S(sub 0) gap parameter for neutron superfluidity and comment briefly on neutron-star implications.

Wambach, J↗
DOE OSTI2014

Luminous blue variables and superluminous supernovae from binary mergers

Evidence suggests that the direct progenitor stars of some core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) are luminous blue variables (LBVs), perhaps including some Type II 'superluminous supernovae' (SLSNe). We examine models in which massive stars gain mass soon after the end of core hydrogen burning. These are mainly intended to represent mergers following a brief contact phase during early Case B mass transfer, but may also represent stars which gain mass in the Hertzsprung Gap or extremely late during the main-sequence phase for other reasons. The post-accretion stars spend their core helium-burning phase as blue supergiants (BSGs), and many examples are consistent with being LBVs at the time of core collapse. Other examples are yellow supergiants at explosion. We also investigate whether such post-accretion stars may explode successfully after core collapse. The final core properties of post-accretion models are broadly similar to those of single stars with the same initial mass as the pre-merger primary star. More surprisingly, when early Case B accretion does affect the final core properties, the effect appears likely to favor a successful SN explosion, i.e., to make the core properties more like those of a lower-mass single star. However, the detailed structures of these cores sometimes display qualitative differences to any single-star model we have calculated. The rate of appropriate binary mergers may match the rate of SNe with immediate LBV progenitors; for moderately optimistic assumptions we estimate that the progenitor birthrate is ∼1% of the CCSN rate.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

CHANDRA PHASE-RESOLVED X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY OF THE CRAB PULSAR

We present a new study of the X-ray spectral properties of the Crab Pulsar. The superb angular resolution of the Chandra X-Ray Observatory enables distinguishing the pulsar from the surrounding nebulosity. Analysis of the spectrum as a function of pulse phase allows the least-biased measure of interstellar X-ray extinction due primarily to photoelectric absorption and secondarily to scattering by dust grains in the direction of the Crab Nebula. We modify previous findings that the line of sight to the Crab is underabundant in oxygen and provide measurements with improved accuracy and less bias. Using the abundances and cross sections from Wilms et al. we find [O/H] = (5.28 {+-} 0.28) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} (4.9 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -4} is solar abundance). We also measure for the first time the impact of scattering of flux out of the image by interstellar grains. We find {tau}{sub scat} = 0.147 {+-} 0.043. Analysis of the spectrum as a function of pulse phase also measures the X-ray spectral index even at pulse minimum-albeit with increasing statistical uncertainty. The spectral variations are, by and large, consistent with a sinusoidal variation. The only significant variation from the sinusoid occurs over the same phase range as some rather abrupt behavior in the optical polarization magnitude and position angle. We also compare these spectral variations to those observed in gamma-rays and conclude that our measurements are both a challenge and a guide to future modeling and will thus eventually help us understand pair cascade processes in pulsar magnetospheres. The data are also used to set new, and less biased, upper limits to the surface temperature of the neutron star for different models of the neutron star atmosphere. We discuss how such data are best connected to theoretical models of neutron star cooling and neutron star interiors. The data restrict the neutrino emission rate in the pulsar core and the amount of light elements in the heat-blanketing envelope. The observations allow the pulsar, irrespective of the composition of its envelope, to have a neutrino emission rate higher than {approx}0.2 of the standard rate of a non-superfluid star cooling via the modified Urca process. The observations also allow the rate to be lower but now with a limited amount of accreted matter in the envelope.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Star Cluster Formation from Turbulent Clumps. I. The Fast Formation Limit

We investigate the formation and early evolution of star clusters, assuming that they form from a turbulent starless clump of a given mass bounded inside a parent self-gravitating molecular cloud characterized by a particular mass surface density. As a first step, we assume instantaneous star cluster formation and gas expulsion. We draw our initial conditions from observed properties of starless clumps. We follow the early evolution of the clusters up to 20 Myr, investigating the effects of different star formation efficiencies, primordial binary fractions and eccentricities, and primordial mass segregation levels. We investigate clumps with initial masses of M{sub cl}=3000 M{sub ⊙} embedded in ambient cloud environments with mass surface densities Σ{sub cloud}=0.1 and 1 g cm{sup −2}. We show that these models of fast star cluster formation result, in the fiducial case, in clusters that expand rapidly, even considering only the bound members. Clusters formed from higher Σ{sub cloud} environments tend to expand more quickly and thus are soon larger than clusters born from lower Σ{sub cloud} conditions. To form a young cluster of a given age, stellar mass, and mass surface density, these models need to assume a parent molecular clump that is many times denser, which is unrealistic compared to observed systems. We also show that, in these models, the initial binary properties are only slightly modified by interactions, meaning that the binary properties, e.g., at 20 Myr, are very similar to those at birth. With this study, we set up the foundation for future work, where we will investigate more realistic models of star formation compared to this instantaneous, baseline case.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

CONTINUED NEUTRON STAR CRUST COOLING OF THE 11 Hz X-RAY PULSAR IN TERZAN 5: A CHALLENGE TO HEATING AND COOLING MODELS?

The transient neutron star low-mass X-ray binary and 11 Hz X-ray pulsar IGR J17480-2446 in the globular cluster Terzan 5 exhibited an 11 week accretion outburst in 2010. Chandra observations performed within five months after the end of the outburst revealed evidence that the crust of the neutron star became substantially heated during the accretion episode and was subsequently cooling in quiescence. This provides the rare opportunity to probe the structure and composition of the crust. Here, we report on new Chandra observations of Terzan 5 that extend the monitoring to ≅2.2 yr into quiescence. We find that the thermal flux and neutron star temperature have continued to decrease, but remain significantly above the values that were measured before the 2010 accretion phase. This suggests that the crust has not thermally relaxed yet, and may continue to cool. Such behavior is difficult to explain within our current understanding of heating and cooling of transiently accreting neutron stars. Alternatively, the quiescent emission may have settled at a higher observed equilibrium level (for the same interior temperature), in which case the neutron star crust may have fully cooled.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1984

Electromagnetic damping of neutron star oscillations

A simple model of magnetic field perturbations driven by neutron star oscillations is used to estimate the electromagnetic power radiated by g-modes and torsional oscillations. The calculation assumes that the neutron star has a frozen-in magnetic field which is perturbed by the oscillatory motions of the surface. The disturbances propagate into the vacuum as outgoing electromagnetic waves. The relative effectiveness of Joule heating of the neutron star crust by pulsation-induced electric currents is estimated. It is concluded that electromagnetic damping is the dominant energy dissipation mechanism for quadrupole g-mode oscillations of neutron stars. For dipole spheroidal modes, both electromagnetic radiation and Joule heating are important, and there is no gravitational radiation emitted by these modes.

Mcdermott, P. N.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Variations in the star formation efficiency of the dense molecular gas across the disks of star-forming galaxies

We present a new survey of HCN(1–0) emission, a tracer of dense molecular gas, focused on the little-explored regime of normal star-forming galaxy disks. Combining HCN, CO, and infrared (IR) emission, we investigate the role of dense gas in star formation, finding systematic variations in both the apparent dense gas fraction (traced by the HCN-to-CO ratio) and the apparent star formation efficiency of dense gas (traced by the IR-to-HCN ratio). The latter may be unexpected, given the recent popularity of gas density threshold models to explain star formation scaling relations. Our survey used the IRAM 30 m telescope to observe HCN(1–0), CO(1–0), and several other emission lines across 29 nearby disk galaxies whose CO(2–1) emission has previously been mapped by the HERACLES survey. We detected HCN in 48 out of 62 observed positions. Because our observations achieve a typical resolution of ∼1.5 kpc and span a range of galaxies and galactocentric radii (56% lie at r{sub gal}>1 kpc), we are able to investigate the properties of the dense gas as a function of local conditions in a galaxy disk. We focus on how the ratios IR-to-CO, HCN-to-CO, and IR-to-HCN (observational cognates of the star formation efficiency, dense gas fraction, and dense gas star formation efficiency) depend on the stellar surface density, Σ{sub star}, and the molecular-to-atomic gas ratio, Σ{sub mol}/Σ{sub atom}. The HCN-to-CO ratio is low, often ∼1/30, and correlates tightly with both the molecular-to-atomic ratio and the stellar mass surface density across a range of 2.1 dex (factor of ≈125) in both parameters. Thus for the assumption of fixed CO-to-H{sub 2} and HCN-to-dense gas conversion factors, the dense gas fraction depends strongly on location in the disk, being higher in the high surface density, highly molecular parts of galaxies. At the same time, the IR-to-HCN ratio (closely related to the star formation efficiency of dense molecular gas) decreases systematically with these same parameters and is ∼6–8 times lower near galaxy centers than in the outer regions of the galaxy disks. For fixed conversion factors, these results are incompatible with a simple model in which star formation depends only on the amount of gas mass above some density threshold. Moreover, only a very specific set of environment-dependent conversion factors can render our observations compatible with such a model. Whole cloud models, such as the theory of turbulence regulated star formation, do a better job of matching our observations. We explore one such model in which variations in the Mach number drive many of the trends within galaxy disks, while density contrasts drive the differences between disk and merging galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1993

Evidence for a dispersion in the lithium abundances of extreme halo stars

Evidence is presented to the effect that there exists a small dispersion in the lithium abundances of extreme halo dwarfs. This dispersion cannot be accounted for by standard stellar models alone, particularly toward the turnoff, and would thus require early differential Galactic Li enrichment, perhaps independent of metallicity. The magnitude of the dispersion is also consistent with the predictions of evolutionary models of halo stars with rotation, which do not require, but do not rule out either, early Galactic enrichment. These rotational models also predict a significant depletion in the lithium abundance during the stars' lifetime. The rotational models predict that stars which formed with very low initial angular momentum will have lithium abundances measurably above the plateau.

Deliyannis, Constantine P.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Speculative-theoretical Modeling of the Atmosphere Enveloping a Hypothetical (closed, Thermal) Star

The predictions of theoretical stellar atmospheric structural modeling and the theoretical picture of the local stellar environment as derived from the speculation that stars are (closed, thermal) thermodynamic systems, are summarized. The definition and representation of space- and state-fluxes is discussed and both classical (local thermodynamic equilibrium) and neoclassical (non-local thermodynamic equilibrium) thermal models are addressed.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1988

Modulated mass-transfer model for superhumps in SU Ursae Majoris stars

The response of a circular accretion disk to rapid modulation of the mass-transfer rate into the disk is explored in order to model superhumps in SU UMa stars. It is proposed that periodically enhanced flow may disrupt or heat up the outer disk and produce the dips noted just before the superhump peaks. The elliptical accretion-disk model with extended vertical disk structure can account for the observed characteristics of superhumps in these stars.

Mineshige, Shin↗
DOE OSTI2016

EVOLUTIONARY TRACKS OF THE CLIMATE OF EARTH-LIKE PLANETS AROUND DIFFERENT MASS STARS

The climatic evolution of the Earth depends strongly on the evolution of the insolation from the Sun and the amount of the greenhouse gasses, especially CO{sub 2} in the atmosphere. Here, we investigate the evolution of the climate of hypothetical Earths around stars whose masses are different from the solar mass with a luminosity evolution model of the stars, a mantle degassing model coupled with a parameterized convection model of the planetary interiors, and an energy balance climate model of the planetary surface. In the habitable zone (HZ), the climate of the planets is initially warm or hot, depending on the orbital semimajor axes. We found that, in the inner HZ, the climate of the planets becomes hotter with time owing to the increase in the luminosity of the central stars, while, in the outer HZ, it becomes colder and eventually globally ice-covered owing to the decrease in the CO{sub 2} degassing rate of the planets. The orbital condition for maintaining the warm climate similar to the present Earth becomes very limited, and more interestingly, the planet orbiting in the outer HZ becomes globally ice-covered after a certain critical age (∼3 Gyr for the hypothetical Earth with standard parameters), irrespective of the mass of the central star. This is because the critical age depends on the evolution of the planets and planetary factors, rather than on the stellar mass. The habitability of the Earth-like planet is shown to be limited with age even though it is orbiting within the HZ.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

RADIAL STABILITY IN STRATIFIED STARS

We formulate within a generalized distributional approach the treatment of the stability against radial perturbations for both neutral and charged stratified stars in Newtonian and Einstein's gravity. We obtain from this approach the boundary conditions connecting any two phases within a star and underline its relevance for realistic models of compact stars with phase transitions, owing to the modification of the star's set of eigenmodes with respect to the continuous case.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Next-Generation Simulations of the Remarkable Deaths Of Massive Stars [Slides]

3D models of stellar convection are necessary for accurate description of state of model near collapse. Convection is occurring at many scales with the large dominant mode near collapse. 3D instabilities can affect flow properties and mass entrainment. Mach number profiles show favorable conditions for explosion. 3D rotating progenitor models are ALSO necessary. The redistribution of AM diverges from the MESA model, with implications for remnant. There is turbulent transport of AM in convective shell regions. Multi-D models can provide input for successful CCSN models. Larger non-radial kinetic energy exists when using multi-D progenitor input. The 3D CCSN model showed prompt convection and asymmetric shock runaway. Explosion properties suggest robust impact on multi-messenger signals.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗