Interaction between a high-velocity star and a hot dense cloud

In order to investigate the fate of a high-velocity star confined to a massive gas cloud, the hydrodynamic behavior of a radiation-dominated flow past a finite-size gravitating object is calculated. Such a study is important in the context of quasars and active galactic nuclei, since large gas clouds have been suggested to be associated with the phenomena occurring in these systems. In particular, we study the processes of mass and energy exchange between the ambient gas and the star. A significant result is that the effective accretion cross-section is found to be a substantial fraction of the stellar geometrical cross-section. Consequently, the buildup of massive stars via accretion of the surrouding gas may be important in determining the evolution of the system of stars confined to the cloud.     

Gas flow and dust acceleration in a cometary Knudsen layer

An analytical model of the innermost gas–dust coma region is proposed. The kinetic Knudsen layer adjacent to the surface of the cometary nucleus, where the initially non-equilibrium velocity distribution function of gas molecules relaxes to Maxwell equilibrium distribution function and, as a result, the macro-characteristics of gas and dust flows vary several-fold, is considered. The gas phase model is based on the equations for mass, momentum and energy flux conservation, and is a natural development of the Anisimov, 1968 and Cercignani, 1981 approaches. The analytical relations between the characteristics of the gas flow on the boundaries of the non-equilibrium layer and the characteristics of the returning gas flow adsorbed by the surface are determined. These values form a consistent basis both for hydrodynamic models of the inner coma and for jet force models. Three particular models are presented: (1) sublimation of a polyatomic one-component gas; (2) sublimation of a two-component polyatomic gas mixture, in both cases from a plane surface; and (3) sublimation of water ice through a porous dust mantle. We conclude that the characteristics of the gas flow emerging from the Knudsen layer over a porous dust mantle is not very sensitive to the structure of the mantle.We also treat the expansion of dust into the coma, concentrating on the interaction between a non-equilibrium gas flow and a test particle. The dynamics of a grain of idealized shape is explored by using several simplifying assumptions for the variation of the drag force. The velocity of a particle at the exterior boundary of the Knudsen layer is thus estimated. Examining various model behaviours of the drag force inside the Knudsen layer, we show that the dust velocity is not sensitive to these variations.     

The effect of a central supermassive black hole on gas fuelling

When a supermassive black hole exists in the centre of a galaxy, an additional inner Lindblad resonance (ILR) exists inside the usual ILRs. We study gas dynamics in a weakly barred potential with a central supermassive black hole by using 2D numerical simulations, and we investigate the effect of the additional ILR on the fuelling of gas into nuclear starburst regions or active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Our numerical results show that strong trailing spiral shocks are formed at the resonance region, and that the gas in the shock region is rapidly fuelled into a central region and makes a nuclear gas ring. As a result, a large amount of gas is concentrated in the nuclear region beyond the ILR in a dynamical time-scale.     

Propagation of a strong cylindrical shock wave in a rotational axisymmetric dusty gas with exponentially varying density

Non-similarity solutions are obtained for one-dimensional isothermal and adiabatic flow behind strong cylindrical shock wave propagation in a rotational axisymmetric dusty gas,which has a variable azimuthal and axial fluid velocity.The dusty gas is assumed to be a mixture of small solid particles and perfect gas.The equilibrium flow conditions are assumed to be maintained,and the density of the mixture is assumed to be varying and obeying an exponential law.The fluid velocities in the ambient medium are assumed to obey exponential laws.The shock wave moves with variable velocity.The effects of variation of the mass concentration of solid particles in the mixture,and the ratio of the density of solid particles to the initial density of the gas on the flow variables in the region behind the shock are investigated at given times.Also,a comparison between the solutions in the cases of isothermal and adiabatic flows is made.     

Axisymmetric dusty gas jet in the inner coma of a comet

The behavior of expanding pure and dusty gas jets is investigated in the inner coma of an H₂O-dominated comet by numerically solving the axisymmetric, time-dependent, coupled hydrodynamic equations for H₂O gas and single-sized dust (0.65 μ) in polar coordinates (r, θ, φ). The jet profile is assumed to be Gaussian on the surface of a nucleus. The viscosity of the gas is taken into account. Two-dimensional distributions of the densities, velocities in the r and θ directions, and temperatures for the gas and dust have been obtained. For the dusty jet, the axisymmetric transonic solution for the gas has been calculated time-dependently. For a narrow dusty gas jet (i.e., of breadth 10°), the gas density peaks shift from the central axis of the jet (θ = 0°) to its wings (θ ∼ 30°) with the gas flowing away from the cometary nucleus, owing to a steep density gradient in the θ direction. Dragged by this laterally expanding gas outflow, the dust particles are swept away from the central axis and are also concentrated more sharply at θ ∼ 35° than the gas particles. This lateral expansion of the jet is overwhelming only within the innermost region (r ≦ 10 km). The jet feature for the gas becomes indiscernible by the time the flow reaches the outer boundary (r = 100 km), while the corresponding dust feature remains even at the outer boundary. The radial velocities of the gas and dust are enhanced inside the jet, compared with those in the background. For a broad pure gas jet (i.e., of breadth 30°), on the other hand, the gas density peaks do not shift to the wings and the jet feature can still be seen at the outer boundary, in contrast to the narrow case.     

Plane relativistic shock waves at the edge of a gas

Similarity solutions for propagation of plane relativistic shock waves through a medium of decreasing nucleon density and approaching the edge of the gas as well as for the subsequent motion of the gas after the shock front arrives at the vacuous boundary are studied in this paper. The medium in the pre-disturbed stage is assumed cold and in the disturbed stage its equation of state is taken as that of a photonic gas.     

Drag-driven instability of a dust layer in a magnetized protoplanetary disc

We study drag-driven instability in a protoplanetary disc consisting of a layer of single-sized dust particles which are coupled to the magnetized gas aerodynamically and the particle-to-gas feedback is included. We find a dispersion relation for axisymmetric linear disturbances and growth rate of the unstable modes are calculated numerically. While the secular gravitational instability in the absence of particle-togas feedback predicts the dust layer is unstable, magnetic fields significantly amplify the instability if the Toomre parameter for the gas component is fixed. We also show that even a weak magnetic field is able to amplify the instability more or less irrespective of the dust-gas coupling.     

Simulations of Gas Flow from a Galactic Disk Towards the Black-Hole Accretion Disk

We report preliminary results of hydrodynamical modeling of gas flow in a galaxy potential towards a central massive black hole. We use a bar-like perturbation on the large scale in order to cause the initial inflow, and we concentrate our attention on the inner parts of the galaxy, where the potential becomes axisymmetric, or where it is dominated by an inner, secondary bar. Our high-resolution grid-based algorithm allows us to get a detailed picture of gas dynamics down to about 10 pc from the galaxy center, where the black hole becomes dominant. We find that inner bars may not increase the gas inflow, but for certain potential and gas parameters, gas flows to the center in a spiral shock. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Gas flow in a two component galactic disk

Numerical simulations of two-component (stars + gas) self-gravitating galactic disks show that the interstellar gas can significantly affect the dynamical evolution of the disk even if its mass fraction (relative to the total galaxy mass) is as low as several percent. Aided by efficient energy dissipation, the gas becomes gravitationally unstable onlocal scale and forms massive clumps. Gravitational scattering of stars by these clumps leads to suppression of bar instability usually seen in heavy stellar disks. In this case, gas inflow towards the galactic center is driven by dynamical friction which gas clumps suffer instead of bar forcing.     

Thermal-chemical instability in a pre-galactic gas cloud

The growth of thermal-chemical instability in a pre-galactic medium is followed by numerical simulation of gas dynamics. Results show that a primordial gas cloud breaks into self-gravitating subcondensations with the mass of normal stars.Paper presented at the IAU Third Asian-Pacific Regional Meeting, held in Kyoto, Japan, between 30 September–6 October, 1984.     

Boundary layer on the surface of a neutron star

In an attempt to model the accretion on to a neutron star in low-mass X-ray binaries, we present 2D hydrodynamical models of the gas flow in close vicinity of the stellar surface. First, we consider a gas pressure-dominated case, assuming that the star is non-rotating. For the stellar mass we take   M _star= 1.4 × 10⁻² M_⊙  and for the gas temperature   T = 5 × 10⁶ K  . Our results are qualitatively different in the case of a realistic neutron star mass and a realistic gas temperature of T ≃ 10⁸ K, when the radiation pressure dominates. We show that to get the stationary solution in a latter case, the star most probably has to rotate with the considerable velocity.     

The formation of a gas giant planet in a viscously evolved protoplanetary disk within the core accretion model

The gas giant planets’ formation processes in a viscously evolved protoplanetary disk are studied in the context of the core accretion model. In this paper, we follow the entire formation process of the core accretion model (the three stages). We find that the gas giant planets’ final masses and formation regions have strong dependence on the molecular cloud core’s properties (angular velocity \(\omega \) and mass \(M _{c d}\)) and the \(\alpha _{ \mathit{min} }\) parameter. We find and build the relationship between gas giant planets’ properties and molecular cloud core’s properties. In contrast to the previous works, we find that the formation process can be finished within the protoplanetary disk’s lifetime (4×10⁶ yr) in our disk model. This is because the mass influx produced by the molecular cloud core can provide enough material to the protoplanetary disk. We also find that the gas giant planets’ final masses increase generally with the viscosity coefficient \(\alpha \). This is because most of the gas giant planet’s mass is captured during the rapid gas accretion phase (the third stage of the core accretion model), and furthermore the accretion of gas in this phase is dominated by the “gap limiting case”. And our numerical results can also be compared with the observed data of exoplanet systems.     

Evaporation and condensation of giant interstellar clouds in a hot-gas environment

Gas phases of the interstellar medium (ISM) coexist locally, penetrate each other and mix by means of dynamical and plasmaphysical processes. E.g. heat conduction from the hot to the cooler gas leads to energy and mass exchange between the gas phases. Analytical solutions exist under which evaporation of cloudy material or condensation of hot gas onto the clouds' surface dominate. Since these results are derived for stationary and static conditions and under ideal assumptions, they do not necessarily hold for a dynamical ISM. On the other hand, the mass and energy exchange between the gas phases is of great importance for the energy budget of the ISM and by this influences the evolution of galaxies. This led us to investigate the evolution of interstellar clouds in a hot gas by means of numerical simulations. At first, we compare static models with the analytical results and found that interstellar clouds with parameters requiring analytically evaporation are, in contrast, accreting surrounding material if self-gravitation and cooling are implied. For the more realistic case, where clouds are embedded in a streaming hot gas, the models show that Kelvin-Helmholtz instability which leads to the disruption of the clouds is suppressed by heat conduction so that the clouds are stabilized to survive. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A self-similar flow behind a shock wave in a gravitating or non-gravitating gas with heat conduction and radiation heat-flux

The propagation of a spherical shock wave in an ideal gas with heat conduction and radiation heat-flux, and with or without self-gravitational effects, is investigated. The initial density of the gas is assumed to obey a power law. The heat conduction is expressed in terms of Fourier’s law and the radiation is considered to be of the diffusion type for an optically thick grey gas model. The thermal conductivity and the absorption coefficient are assumed to vary with temperature and density, and the total energy of the wave to vary with time. Similarity solutions are obtained and the effects of variation of the heat transfer parameters, the variation of initial density and the presence of self-gravitational field are investigated.     

Forming a large disc galaxy from a z < 1 major merger

Using high-resolution SPH simulations in a fully cosmological Λ cold dark matter context, we study the formation of a bright disc-dominated galaxy that originates from a 'wet' major merger at   z = 0.8  . The progenitors of the disc galaxy are themselves disc galaxies that formed from early major mergers between galaxies with blue colours. A substantial thin stellar disc grows rapidly following the last major merger and the present-day properties of the final remnant are typical of early-type spiral galaxies, with an i -band bulge-to-disc ratio ∼0.65, a disc scalelength of 7.2 kpc,   g − r = 0.5 mag  , an H  i linewidth ( W ₂₀/2) of 238 km s⁻¹ and total magnitude   i =−22.4  . The key ingredients for the formation of a dominant stellar disc component after a major merger are (i) substantial and rapid accretion of gas through cold flows followed at late times by cooling of gas from the hot phase, (ii) supernova feedback that is able to partially suppress star formation during mergers and (iii) relative fading of the spheroidal component. The gas fraction of the progenitors' discs does not exceed 25 per cent at   z < 3  , emphasizing that the continuous supply of gas from the local environment plays a major role in the regrowth of discs and in keeping the galaxies blue. The results of this simulation alleviate the problem posed for the existence of disc galaxies by the high likelihood of interactions and mergers for galaxy-sized haloes at relatively low z .     

Gravitational Instability in the Dust Layer of a Protoplanetary Disk with Interaction between the Layer and the Surrounding Gas

We consider gravitational instability of the dust layer in the midplane of a protoplanetary disk with turbulence and shear stresses between the gas in the disk and that in the dust layer. We solve a linearized system of hydrodynamic equations for perturbations of dust (monodisperse) and gas phases in the incompressible gas approximation. We take into account the gas drag of solid particles (dust aggregates), turbulent diffusion and the velocity dispersion of particles, and the perturbation of the azimuthal velocity of gas in the layer upon the transfer of angular momentum from solid particles to it and from this gas to the surrounding gas in the disk. We obtain and solve the dispersion equation for the layer with the ratio of surface densities of the dust phase and gas being well above unity. The following parameters of gravitational instability in the dust layer are calculated: the critical surface density of solid matter and the Stokes number of particles corresponding to the onset of instability, the wavelength range in which instability occurs, and the rate of its growth as a function of the perturbation wavelength in the circumsolar disk at radial distances of 1 and 10 AU. We show that at 10 AU, the maximum instability growth rate increases due to the transfer of angular momentum of gas in the layer to gas outside it, a new maximum emerges at a longer wavelength, a long-wavelength instability “tail” forms, and the critical surface density initiating instability decreases relative to that determined without the transfer of angular momentum to gas outside the layer. None of these effects are observed at 1 AU, since instability in this region probably develops faster than the transfer of angular momentum to the surrounding gаs of a protoplanetary disk occurs.     

Analytical solutions of the rayleigh flow problem for a highly rarefied gas of a homogeneous system of charged particles

The Rayleigh flow problem for a highly rarefied gas of a homogeneous system of charged particles is investigated in the framework of kinetic theory of gases. The moments method with two-sided distribution function is used to solve the adopted BGK kinetic model. Approximate analytic solutions are obtained by a resort to Laplace's transform and the small parameter method. The dynamical and electromagnetic behaviour of the gas is examined.     

Energy characteristics of a relativistic Fermi gas in a magnetic field

We derive expressions for the chemical potential, pressure, and mean total energy of an extremely degenerate ideal relativistic gas of charged fermions. We take into account their static anomalous magnetic moments in the presence of a quantizing magnetic field. We examine the cases of ultra-strong magnetic fields and of weak fields in which one does not need to take into account Landau quantization when describing a Fermi gas in ultra-dense matter.Translated from Astrofizika, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp. 161–165, January–March, 1994.     

Shock waves from point-sources in a heat-conducting gas

The shock wave produced by a point source has been studied in a heat-conducting gas medium. The shock is assumed to be strong enough to neglect the ambient gas pressure and the similarity method is used. The distribution of flow quantities behind the shock have been obtained by the numerical integration of a system of ordinary differential equations using the boundary conditions at the shock wave.     

2-D Code for Simulating a Hollow Gas Puff Z-Pinch

We compare the dynamics of plasma in a hollow gas puff Z-pinch device, obtained with Schlieren pictures, with the predictions of a 2-D MHD Lagrangian code. We show that agreement between the model and experiment require an axially variable line density and width of the injected gas.