Lattice dynamical system modelling of molecular clouds

Because a comprehensive microscopic treatment of interstellar molecular clouds is out of reach, an alternative approach is proposed in which most of the crucial ingredients of the problem are considered, but at some 'minimal' level of modelling. This leads to the elaboration of a lattice dynamical system , i.e. a time-dependent, spatially extended, deterministic system of macroscopic cells coupled through radiative transfer. Each cell is characterized by a small set of variables and supports a caricatural chemistry possessing the essential dynamical features of more realistic reaction schemes.   This approach naturally precludes quantitative results, but allows heretofore unavailable insights into some of the basic mechanisms at play. We focus on the response of the transfer process and the chemistry to a frozen 'turbulent' velocity field. It is shown that the system settles generically into a state where the effective coupling between cells is neither local nor global, and for which no single length-scale exists.   The spectral lines reconstructed from the spatiotemporal evolution of our model may, depending on the velocity field, exhibit profiles ranging from Gaussian to bimodal with strong realization effects. In the bimodal case, the model intrinsically displays an energy cascade transport mechanism to the cells that cool most efficiently: the feedback of chemistry on radiative transfer cannot be neglected.   Finally, extensions of this work are discussed and future developments are outlined.     

Diffuse interstellar bands in low E (B – V) objects

We analyse spectra of slightly reddened, early-type stars in which the major diffuse interstellar bands at 5870 and 5797 Å are either strong or weak in relation to E(B – V) . It is demonstrated that among the low E(B – V) objects one can find stars obscured by 'sigma' as well as 'zeta' type clouds. The profiles of the diffuse bands seem not to be dependent on the total opacities of the interstellar clouds. We also discuss the physical conditions leading to the formation of the diffuse band carriers in low-opacity interstellar clouds; the carriers are apparently formed in media in which one can observe complex velocity fields.     

C-type shocks in the interstellar medium: profiles of CH+ and CH absorption lines

We have computed optical absorption-line profiles of CH⁺ and CH, as predicted by a model of a C-type shock propagating in a diffuse interstellar cloud. Both these species are produced in the shock wave in the reaction sequence that is initiated by C⁺(H₂, H)CH⁺. Whilst CH⁺ flows at the ion speed, CH, which forms in the dissociative recombination reaction CH⁺₃(e⁻, H₂)CH, flows at a speed which is intermediate between those of the ions and the neutrals. The predicted velocity shift between the CH⁺ and CH line profiles is found to be no more than approximately 2 km s⁻¹, which is smaller than has previously been assumed. We also investigate OH and HCO⁺, finding that the correlation between their column densities, recently observed in the diffuse interstellar medium, can be reproduced by the model.     

Collapse and fragmentation of rotating, prolate clouds

We present the results of collapse calculations for uniformly rotating, prolate clouds performed using the numerical method: smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). The clouds considered are isothermal, prolate spheroids with different axial ratios ( a/b ), and with different values of β, the ratio of the rotational to gravitational energy. Small density perturbations are added to the clouds, and different initial perturbation spectra are studied. All of the clouds considered are strongly unstable to gravitational contraction, and so collapse to form a spindle configuration. Such a linear structure is unstable to fragmentation, so that the clouds break up into a number of subcondensations. The long-term evolution of the system is then determined by the angular momentum possessed by these fragments.
It is found that a number of the calculations performed result in the formation of orbitally stable binary systems, composed of two rotationally supported discs in orbit about their common centre of mass. Tidal interactions during closest approach, close three-body interactions and the continued accretion of material with high specific angular momentum are all found to increase the orbital separation during these calculations, ensuring that the systems do not merge at later times. The calculations are therefore relevant to the problem of binary star formation, though the systems produced tend to have large orbital separations and periods. One of the strong points of the models presented, however, is their ability to produce systems with a range of mass ratios and orbital eccentricities, without the explicit inclusion of biases in the initial conditions.     

Gas cooling by dust during dynamical fragmentation

We suggest that the abrupt switch, from hierarchical clustering on scales ≳ 0.04 pc, to binary (and occasionally higher multiple) systems on smaller scales, which Larson has deduced from his analysis of the grouping of pre-main-sequence stars in Taurus, arises because pre-protostellar gas becomes thermally coupled to dust at sufficiently high densities. The resulting change — from gas cooling by molecular lines at low densities to gas cooling by dust at high densities — enables the matter to radiate much more efficiently, and hence to undergo dynamical fragmentation. We derive the domain in which gas cooling by dust facilitates dynamical fragmentation. Low-mass (∼ M⊙) clumps — those supported mainly by thermal pressure — can probably access this domain spontaneously, albeit rather quasi-statically, provided that they exist in a region in which external perturbations are few and far between. More massive clumps probably require an impulsive external perturbation, for instance a supersonic collision with another clump, in order for the gas to reach sufficiently high density to couple thermally to the dust. Impulsive external perturbations should promote fragmentation, by generating highly non-linear substructures which can then be amplified by gravity during the subsequent collapse.     

On mixing processes in cumulus clouds

An examination is made of the hypothesis that internal cloud properties are determined by the mixing of dry air from above the cloud top and cloud base air in such a way that the mixture is neutrally buoyant with respect to the clear air environment at each level. It is concluded that the resulting mixture is much drier than is actually observed. Comments are made about observed cloud properties which need to be taken into account in any model of the mixing process.     

赤道太平洋对流活动异常对我国夏季降水和气温的影响

利用月平均ＯＬＲ、降水和气温资料,研究了ＥＮＳＯ期间赤道太平洋对流活动与我国夏季降水和气温的关系。结果表明：春季、夏季中、西太平洋对流活动异常与我国夏季江淮地区的降水有密切关系;春季和前一年冬季西太平洋对流活动异常与东北地区夏季降水有显著相关。前一年冬季中、西太平洋对流活动异常与我国降水的显著相关区是不同的,前者为华南、西南地区,后者为东北至内蒙古一带。气温与同期中、西太平洋对流活动的相关不显著。     

对流云团资料在局地暴雨数值模拟预报中的应用

使用ＰＳＵ／ＮＣＡＲ中尺度数值模式,对两次暴雨实例进行了数值模拟试验。结果表明：相对应用地面及高空常规资料作为初始场的控制试验而言,就用实时卫星对流云团资料增强局部湿度场的敏感性试验,可使暴雨及邻近地区对流层中低层气流辐合上升运动增强,     

MESO-α-SCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEMS OVER CHINA DURING 1995

There were 102 meso-α-scale convective systems(MαCSs)generated over China and theneighboring sea during June—August 1995.Those MαCSs were concentrated in three major areas:the west of South China,Sichuan Basin,and the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang andthe Huanghe River Basin.Six cases of MαCS in different regions are given to show the variety ofthe MαCS genesis and development by the distributions of their cold-cloud-shield black bodytemperature.     

中尺度对流复合体的热力学特征分析

用合成分析方法探讨ＭＣＣ热力学结构的演变规律,结果表明：ＭＣＣ整个生命史里,对流层中下部为正涡度区,２００ｈＰａ以上为负涡度区;发展时刻辐合区突然抬升;ＭＣＣ前期的垂直上升速度最大中心高度低于后期的;ＭＣＣ的高低空的冷心、中层暖心的温度结构在成熟期以后不明显