| 1. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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Calibration and characterization of the IceCube photomultiplier tube
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 618:1-3, s. 139-152
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over 5000 PMTs are being deployed at the South Pole to compose the IceCube neutrino observatory. Many are placed deep in the ice to detect Cherenkov light emitted by the products of high-energy neutrino interactions, and others are frozen into tanks on the surface to detect particles from atmospheric cosmic ray showers. IceCube is using the 10-in. diameter R7081-02 made by Hamamatsu Photonics. This paper describes the laboratory characterization and calibration of these PMTs before deployment. PMTs were illuminated with pulses ranging from single photons to saturation level. Parameterizations are given for the single photoelectron charge spectrum and the saturation behavior. Time resolution, late pulses and afterpulses are characterized. Because the PMTs are relatively large, the cathode sensitivity uniformity was measured. The absolute photon detection efficiency was calibrated using Rayleigh-scattered photons from a nitrogen laser. Measured characteristics are discussed in the context of their relevance to IceCube event reconstruction and simulation efforts. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 2. |
- Abbasi, R., et al.
(författare)
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Search for muon neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts with the IceCube neutrino telescope
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 710:1, s. 346-359
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the results of searches for high-energy muon neutrinos from 41 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) in the northern sky with the IceCube detector in its 22 string configuration active in 2007/2008. The searches cover both the prompt and a possible precursor emission as well as a model-independent, wide time window of -1 hr to + 3 hr around each GRB. In contrast to previous searches with a large GRB population, we do not utilize a standard Waxman-Bahcall GRB flux for the prompt emission but calculate individual neutrino spectra for all 41 GRBs from the burst parameters measured by satellites. For all of the three time windows, the best estimate for the number of signal events is zero. Therefore, we place 90% CL upper limits on the fluence from the prompt phase of 3.7 x 10(-3) erg cm(-2) (72 TeV-6.5 PeV) and on the fluence from the precursor phase of 2.3 x 10(-3) erg cm(-2) (2.2-55 TeV), where the quoted energy ranges contain 90% of the expected signal events in the detector. The 90% CL upper limit for the wide time window is 2.7 x 10(-3) erg cm(-2) (3 TeV-2.8 PeV) assuming an E-2 flux.
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| 3. |
- Festin, Leif
(författare)
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The faintest stars : A study of white, red and brown dwarfs
- 1998
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The local space density of the faintest stars, including M dwarfs, white dwarfs and brown dwarfs has been studied by two different methods.By using dark nebulae as opaque outer screens, the luminosity functions of M dwarfs and white dwarfs were studied as volume-limited and dynamically unbiassed foreground samples. The surveyed volume corresponds to 464 pc3 in the solar neighbourhood and contains 21 M dwarfs and 7 white dwarfs. The derived M-dwarf luminosity function is consistent with previous findings, showing no substantial upturnbeyond Mv = 16. The white dwarf space density is consistent with a 20% fraction of the dynamical matter in the solar neighbourhood residing in white dwarfs. This is in line with the most recent independent results obtained with different methods, making the white dwarfs the best explanation to the Milky Way dark matter at present.The brown dwarfs were studied in the Pleiades open cluster. The distance and age of the Pleiades make the rapidly fading brown dwarfs still rather bright and easy to detect. 850 arcmin2 were covered in a deep RIJK survey. Nine new possible cluster members were discovered, four of which are below the brown dwarf limit. The faintest of these has an estimated mass of 0.040 M. and is thereby the lowest mass brown dwarf identified in the Pleiades cluster at present. The derived Pleiades substellar luminosity function is consistent with a mass function index between 0 and 1, making the brown dwarfs unlikely to contribute more than a few percent to the cluster mass, which is also consistent with recent dynamical results.
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| 4. |
- Gunnarsson, Marcus, 1971-
(författare)
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Gas Production in Distant Comets
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Molecular spectroscopy at radio wavelengths is a tool well suited for studying the composition and outgassing kinematics of cometary comae. This is particularly true for distant comets, i.e. comets at heliocentric distances greater than a few AU, where the excitation of molecules is inefficient other than for rotational energy levels. At these distances, water sublimation is inefficient, and cometary activity is dominated by outgassing of carbon monoxide.An observing campaign is presented, where the millimeter-wave emission from CO in comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 has been studied in detail using the Swedish-ESO Submillimetre Telescope (SEST). Coma models have been used to analyse the spectra. The production of CO is found to have two separate sources, one releasing CO gas on the nuclear dayside, and one extended source, where CO is produced from coma material, proposed to be icy dust grains.Radio observations of many molecules in comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) have been carried out in a long-term international effort using several radio telescopes. An overview of the results is presented, describing the evolution of the gas production as the comet passed through the inner Solar system. Spectra recorded using the SEST, primarily of CO, for heliocentric distances from 3 to 11 AU are analysed in detail, also using coma models.The concept of icy grains constituting the extended source discovered in comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 is examined by theoretical modelling of micrometre-sized ice/dust particles at 6 AU from the Sun. It is shown that that such grains can release their content of volatiles on timescales similar to that found for the extended source.
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| 5. |
- Hidalgo-Gámez, Ana Maria
(författare)
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A study of possible chemical inhomogeneities of dwarf irregular galaxies and the influence on the Z-L relationship
- 1999
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A study on the chemical abundances of dwarf irregular galaxies (dI's) is presented in this work. This type of galaxies have typically low metallicity. First of all, a definition of dI is proposed, in order to obtain a homogeneous group of targets.Due to the small size of the dI galaxies and the absence of strong dynamical processes a homogeneous chemical composition is normally assumed. The main argument is that the gas in the interstellar medium of the galaxies are probably not too much affected by internal dynamics and could therefore be well mixed. This hypothesis has been investigated. Optical spectra for various star-forming regions (HII regions) in five dI's have been obtained and analysed. For all the HII regions, the chemical abundances of the whole region have been determined. Spectra of four of these HII regions are of very high quality which allow an additional study of possible variations of the chemical abundances within the regions. It could be concluded that the existence of variations in the chemical abundances, especially at large scales, may depend on thephysical properties of the galaxy and its environment.Another important aspect to study is the behaviour of the dI galaxies in the metallicity-luminosity plane. A deep study of previous relationships for this kind of objects were performed as well as the possible sources of dispersion from this relationship. With the results on the chemical abundances of eight galaxies and the latest distance determinations a new, weak, relationship between the metallicity and the luminosity was derived. The influence of the environment and other physical properties of the galaxies have also been studied.
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| 6. |
- Lagerros, Johan S. V.
(författare)
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Thermal physics of asteroids
- 1998
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thermal infrared and microwave emission from asteroids have many applications. Fundamental physical properties can be investigated, which have implications for the geophysical evolution of the asteroids, and the early history of the solar system.A new thermophysical model of asteroids is presented. A number of physical processes previously neglected in the Standard Thermal Model are now considered. The new model predicts the thermal emission of asteroids, from mid-infrared to microwave wavelengths. The irregular shapes of asteroids are modelled in detail, and the spin state of the asteroids is taken into account, whereby it is possible to calculate model thermal lightcurves. The heat conduction into the surface material in general lowers the mid-infrared flux from main-belt asteroids. The model is able to explain the observed "beaming" of the emission into the solar direction, under the assumption that it is caused by the small-scale surface roughness. Subsurface scattering processes are considered when calculating the directional- and wavelength-dependent emissivity.The model is applied to a large database of observations in the wavelength range of 7-2 000 µm. The purpose is to derive the thermophysical properties of ten asteroids, selected as calibration targets for the instruments on board the Infrared Space Observatory. The results indicate very rough and porous surfaces, with low levels of heat conduction. The emissivity variessignificantly with wavelength.
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| 7. |
- Mattsson, Lars, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Dust driven mass loss from carbon stars as a function of stellar parameters I : A grid of solar-metallicity wind models
- 2010
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 509:1, s. 13-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Knowing how the mass loss of carbon-rich AGB stars depends on stellar parameters is crucial for stellar evolution modelling, as well as for the understanding of when and how circumstellar structures emerge around these stars, e.g., dust shells and so-called detached shells of expelled gas.Aims. The purpose of this paper is to explore the stellar parameter space using a numerical radiation hydrodynamic (RHD) model of carbon-star atmospheres, including a detailed description of dust formation and frequency-dependent radiative transfer, in order to determine how the mass loss of carbon stars changes with stellar parameters.Methods. We have computed a grid of 900 numeric dynamic model atmospheres (DMAs) using a well-tested computer code. This grid of models covers most of the expected combinations of stellar parameters, which are the stellar temperature, the stellar luminosity, the stellar mass, the abundance of condensible carbon, and the velocity amplitude of the pulsation.Results. The resultant mass-loss rates and wind speeds are clearly affected by the choice of stellar temperature, mass, luminosity and the abundance of available carbon. In certain parts of the parameter space there is also an inevitable mass-loss threshold, below which a dust-driven wind is not possible. Contrary to some previous studies, we find a strong dependence on the abundance of free carbon, which turns out to be a critical parameter. Furthermore, we have found that the dust grains that form in the atmosphere may grow too large for the commonly-used small-particle approximation of the dust opacity to be strictly valid. This may have some bearing on the wind properties, although further study of this problem is needed before quantitative conclusions can be drawn.Conclusions. The wind properties show relatively simple dependences on stellar parameters above the mass-loss threshold, while the threshold itself is of a more complicated nature. Hence, we chose not to derive any simplistic mass-loss formula, but rather provide a mass-loss prescription in the form of aeasy-to-use FORTRAN routine. Since this mass-loss routine is based on data coming from an essentially self-consistent model of mass loss, it may therefore serve as a better mass-loss prescription for stellar evolution calculations than empirical formulae. Furthermore, we conclude that there are still some issues that need to be investigated, such as the role of grain-sizes.
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| 8. |
- Mattsson, Lars, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Dust Driven Mass Loss from Carbon Stars as Function of Stellar Parameters II : Effects of Relaxing the Small Particle Approximation
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Context. It is well-established that the winds of carbon-rich AGB stars (carbon stars) can be driven by radiation pressure on grains of amorphous carbon and collisional transfer of momentum to the gas. This has been demonstrated by different numerical wind models including time-dependent dust formation, where it has been assumed that the dust grains that form never grow to sizes comparable to wavelengths around the stellar flux maximum (or beyond), which simplifies the treatment of grain opacities considerably. It is not clear, however, if this small particle approximation (SPA) is always valid. Aims. In this paper we explore the effects of relaxing the SPA by considering a few less severe approximations for the radiation pressure efficiency, which include the effects of grain sizes. The purpose of the study is mainly to establish when the SPA can be applied and to quantify the possible errors that may occur when it does not hold. Methods. We have computed wind models with time-dependent dust formation and grain-size dependent opacities, where (1) the radiation pressure efficiency is approximated using grain sizes based on various means of the grain size distribution, and (2) where the problem is simplified by assuming a single dust-grain size. Results. It is shown that in critical cases, the effect of grain sizes can be significant. Mass-loss rates may increase by a factor of two, or more, and wind speeds may be an order of magnitude higher. Furthermore, all models with grain-size dependent opacities that have resultant winds appear to have much lower degrees of dust condensation, compared to corresponding SPA models. Consequently, the "dust-loss rates" are much lower in the new models. However, for well-developed dust-driven winds, where the dust formation has saturated, the effect of grain sizes on the mass-loss rate and wind speed is almost negligible. Conclusions. We conclude that the SPA is, under many circumstances, a reasonable simplification in models of carbon star mass loss. However, critical cases do exist, where especially the effects of momentum transfer due to scattering become significant. It is therefore uncertain whether previous results for winds in the transition regions (between no dust-driven mass loss and well-developed winds) are quantitatively correct. However, we argue that the SPA is a reasonable simplification for strong dust-driven winds. Furthermore, we note that there are other effects (not yet included in the model) than those of grain-size dependent opacities, which may become important in the critical wind regime.
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| 9. |
- Mattsson, Lars, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of Carbon-excess dependent Mass Loss and Molecular Opacities on Models of C-star Evolution
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- We present models of stellar evolution for a 2Msun-star of initial metallicity Z = 0.01 (scaled solar), with focus on the carbon-star phase, the effects of increasing carbon excess on mass loss and molecular opacities. We employ a new, state-of-the-art theoretical mass-loss prescription for dust-driven winds, which takes effects of the carbon excess into account and implement a set of composition-dependent molecular opacities, which incorporates the changes due to the evolution of the carbon excess. This work should be regarded as an exploratory and comparative study. The stellar evolution models were computed using the MESA code-package (http://mesa.sourceforge.net), which includes a new fast and efficient code for stellar evolution, but still needs further calibration before quantitative comparisons with observations can be made. We find that the development of the carbon excess is controlling much of the carbon-star evolution. A very pronounced superwind is forming and the termination of the AGB happens soon after the star becomes carbon rich, in fact, after only 4-5 thermal pulses, which is much less than in existing models.
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| 10. |
- Mattsson, Lars, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Intense mass loss from C-rich AGB stars at low metallicity?
- 2008
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 484:1, s. L5-L8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We argue that the energy injection of pulsations may be of greater importance to the mass-loss rate of AGB stars than metallicity, and that the mass-loss trend with metallicity is not as simple as sometimes assumed. Using our detailed radiation hydrodynamical models that include dust formation, we illustrate the effects of pulsation energy on wind properties. We find that the mass-loss rate scales with the kinetic energy input by pulsations as long as a dust-saturated wind does not occur, and all other stellar parameters are kept constant. This includes the absolute abundance of condensible carbon (not bound in CO), which is more relevant than keeping the C/O-ratio constant when comparing stars of different metallicity. The pressure and temperature gradients in the atmospheres of stars, become steeper and flatter, respectively, when the metallicity is reduced, while the radius where the atmosphere becomes opaque is typically associated with a higher gas pressure. This effect can be compensated for by adjusting the velocity amplitude of the variable inner boundary (piston), which is used to simulate the effects of pulsation, to obtain models with comparable kinetic-energy input. Hence, it is more relevant to compare models with similar energy-injections than of similar velocity amplitude. Since there is no evidence for weaker pulsations in low-metallicity AGB stars, we conclude that it is unlikely that low-metallicity C-stars have lower mass-loss rates, than their more metal-rich counterparts with similar stellar parameters, as long as they have a comparable amount of condensible carbon.
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