Contribution to the search for binaries among Am stars – V. Orbital elements of eight short-period spectroscopic binaries

We present the results of a radial-velocity study of eight Am stars (HD 341, 55822, 61250, 67317, 93991, 162950, 224890 and 225137) observed at Observatoire de Haute-Provence with the CORAVEL instrument. We find that these systems are single-line spectroscopic binaries whose orbital elements are determined for the first time.     

High-resolution calculations of merging neutron stars – II. Neutrino emission

The remnant resulting from the merger of two neutron stars produces neutrinos in copious amounts. In this paper we present the neutrino emission results obtained via Newtonian, high-resolution simulations of the coalescence event. These simulations use three-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamics together with a nuclear, temperature-dependent equation of state and a multiflavour neutrino leakage scheme. We present the details of our scheme, discuss the neutrino emission results from a neutron star coalescence and compare them with the core-collapse supernova case where neutrino emission has been studied for several decades. The average neutrino energies are similar to those in the supernova case, but contrary to the latter, the luminosities are dominated by electron-type antineutrinos that are produced in the hot, neutron-rich, thick disc of the merger remnant. The cooler parts of this disc contain substantial fractions of heavy nuclei, which, however, do not influence the overall neutrino emission results significantly. Our total neutrino luminosities from the merger event are considerably lower than those found in previous investigations. This imposes constraints on the ability of neutron star mergers to produce a gamma-ray burst via neutrino annihilation. The neutrinos are emitted preferentially along the initial binary rotation axis, an event seen 'pole-on' would appear much brighter in neutrinos than a similar event seen 'edge-on'.     

Bar dissolution in non-spherical halos

Dynamical evolution of N-body bars embedded in spherical and prolate dark matter halos is investigated. In particular, the configuration such that galactic disks are placed in the plane perpendicular to the equatorial plane of the prolate halos is considered. Such a configuration is frequently found in cosmological simulations. N-body disks embedded in a fixed external halo potential were simulated, so that the barred structure was formed via dynamical instability in initially cool disks. In the subsequent evolution, bars in prolate halos dissolved gradually with time, while the bar pattern in spherical halos remained almost unchanged until the end of simulations. The e-folding time of bars suggest that they could be destroyed in a time smaller than a Hubble time. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Radio spectra of the low-luminosity active galactic nucleus NGC 266 at centimetre-to-submillimetre wavelengths

We report multi-frequency and multi-epoch radio continuum observations with multi-spatial resolution for the low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (LLAGN) NGC 266. In the centimetre regime, we find diffuse components with Very Large Array (VLA) observations, and a variable compact core with a rising spectrum with Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations. Although the spectral index of the rising spectrum is consistent with the prediction of the simple advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF) model, the observed radio power is slightly high compared with that of the model prediction. A spectral break at centimetre-to-millimetre wavelengths is inferred from the upper limits of flux densities from Nobeyama Millimetre Array (NMA) and James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) data at millimetre and submillimetre wavelengths, respectively. More complicated considerations are required for the theoretical model to interpret such observed radio properties.     

Chaos and elliptical galaxies

Recent results on chaos in triaxial galaxy models are reviewed. Central mass concentrations like those observed in early-type galaxies - either stellar cusps, or massive black holes — render most of the box orbits in a triaxial potential stochastic. Typical Liapunov times are 3–5 crossing times, and ensembles of stochastic orbits undergo mixing on timescales that are roughly an order of magnitude longer. The replacement of the regular orbits by stochastic orbits reduces the freedom to construct self-consistent equilibria, and strong triaxiality can be ruled out for galaxies with sufficiently high central mass concentrations.