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Grain Shattering and Coagulation in Interstellar Medium

This research proposes that the distribution of grain sizes in the interstellar medium can be strongly influenced by shattering and coagulation processes. The study examines the effects of these processes on star formation and the extinction curve.

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Grain Shattering and Coagulation in Interstellar Medium

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  1. Grain Shattering and Coagulation in Interstellar Medium Hiroyuki Hirashita (ASIAA, Taiwan) Huirong Yan (Univ. of Arizona) Kazu Omukai (NAOJ)

  2. Outline • Motivation • Interstellar Turbulence • Effects of Coagulation on Star Formation

  3. We propose that the grain size distribution can be strongly modified by interstellar shattering and coagulation. 1. Motivation • Grain size distribution • Contains information on the production sources • Important for the extinction curve and the infrared emission SED What determines the grain size distribution? • Source (supernovae, AGB stars, etc.) • Modified by interstellar processing?

  4. 2. Interstellar Turbulence ISM is turbulent (often supersonic) (e.g., McKee & Ostriker 2007). Implication for shattering: cs ~ 10 km/s in warm (~ 8000 K) medium → above the shattering threshold (~ a few km/s). Implication for coagulation: vturbgrain thermal speed. → If grain motion is coupled with turbulence, grain-grain collision occurs frequently (e.g., Ossenkopf 1993).

  5. The Scale Length of Coupling a vt mgr = (4/3)a3s Gas drag timescale td: (mHv)(a2vnH)td = mgrv. Grain motion is coupled with the gas motion on a scale l large enough: l ~ vtd = (4/3)as/(mHnH) ~ (10/nH)(a/0.1 m) pc nH Large grains tend to be coupled with larger motions. Kolmogorov turbulence: v ∝ l1/3 Large grains tend to obtain larger velocities.

  6. MHD Turbulence Model Yan, Lazarian, & Draine (2004) Warm Ionized Medium (T ~ 8000 K, VA ~ 20 km/s) Dense Cloud (T ~ 10 K, VA ~ 1.5 km/s) Large grains tend to acquire large velocities.

  7. Shattering and Coagulation Hirashita & Yan (2009) Coagulation Shattering coagulation rate = grain-grain collision rate (sticking efficiency = 1) Threshold: ~ 103 cm/s Shattering threshold: 2.7 km/s (silicate), 1.2 km/s (graphite) (Jones et al. 1996)

  8. Results Small grains are strongly depleted. Shattering of large grains on a short timescale Upper limit? Warm ionized medium T = 8000 K nH = 0.1 cm-3 B = 3.4 G Warm neutral medium T = 6000 K nH = 0.3 cm-3 B = 5.8 G Dense cloud T = 10 K nH = 104 cm-3 B = 80 G

  9. The central position of the carbon bump is unchanged. The UV slope correlates with the bump strength in the right sense. Effects on the Extinction Curves Warm ionized medium Dense cloud

  10. Metallicity (∝ Dust/Gas) Dependence Warm ionized medium (10 Myr) with different metallicities Dense cloud (10 Myr) with different metallicities Inefficient in low-metallicity (<~ 1/10 Z) environments.

  11. Scenario The grain size distribution in the formation by supernovae (or AGB stars) is preserved if the metallicity is << 1/10 Z. After the metallicity enrichment, grain processing in ISM should be considered (even if the age is young!!). In considering the origin of the MRN size distribution, interstellar processing should be important.

  12. We calculate the variation of S and P in star-forming (collapsing) clouds. 3. Effects of Coagulation on SF Hirashita & Omukai (2009) • How about the denser regime? • Importance of dust grains in star formation: • H2 formation (H2 is an efficient coolant for Z < 0.01 Z) ⇒ The grain surface S is important. • Dust cooling ⇒ The grain opacity P is important. Grain motion is assumed to be thermal.

  13. Gas Evolution in Collapsing Clouds Omukai et al. (2005) Numbers = log (Z/Z) dust cooling (induce fragmentation) Omukai et al. (2005) Schneider et al. (2004) H2 formation on grain surface: important coolant for log (Z/Z) < 2

  14. Change of Grain Surface and Opacity by Coagulation

  15. Change of Grain Surface and Opacity by Coagulation

  16. Physical Considerations • ☆ Grain surface is dominated by small grains. → Once the smallest grains are affected by coagulation, S begins to decrease (however, H2 formation occurs faster). • tff > tcoag ⇔ nH > 107(Z/Z)2(T/30 K)1 cm3 • ☆ Opacity (P∝a2Q∝ a3) is only a function of mass as long as a << . ⇒ P does not change even if coagulation proceeds. Coagulation has no effect on the thermal evolution in protostellar collapse.

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