Probing primordial 3He from hyperfine line afterglows around supercritical black holes

We consider the possibility of the detection of 3HeII hyperfine line (rest frequency, $8.67 \, \rm GHz$) emission from ionized zones around accreting black holes (BHs) formed at high redshifts, z = 15–30. We show that the brightness temperature in 8.67GHz line increases and reaches a peak value after the accretion onto the BH exhausts and HeIII recombines into HeII. This period of brightening last up to 40 million years. We find that during this period the maximum brightness temperature reaches ≃ 0.2–0.5μK, depending on the epoch when such a black hole starts growing. The maximum angular size of the region emitting in the hyperfine line is around 0.5′. The flux from such a region ($\simeq 0.3 \, \rm nJy$) is too small to be detected by SKA1-MID. The RMS of the collective flux from many emitting regions from a volume bounded by the synthesized beam and the band-width of SKA1-MID might reach 100 nJy, which is potentially detectable by SKA1-MID.

The first power spectrum limit on the 21-cm signal of neutral hydrogen during the Cosmic Dawn at z = 20–25 from LOFAR

ABSTRACT Observations of the redshifted 21-cm hyperfine line of neutral hydrogen from early phases of the Universe such as Cosmic Dawn and the Epoch of Reionization promise to open a new window onto the early formation of stars and galaxies. We present the first upper limits on the power spectrum of redshifted 21-cm brightness temperature fluctuations in the redshift range z = 19.8–25.2 (54–68 MHz frequency range) using 14 h of data obtained with the LOFAR-Low Band Antenna (LBA) array. We also demonstrate the application of a multiple pointing calibration technique to calibrate the LOFAR-LBA dual-pointing observations centred on the North Celestial Pole and the radio galaxy 3C220.3. We observe an unexplained excess of $\sim 30\!-\!50{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ in Stokes / noise compared to Stokes V for the two observed fields, which decorrelates on ≳12 s and might have a physical origin. We show that enforcing smoothness of gain errors along frequency direction during calibration reduces the additional variance in Stokes I compared Stokes V introduced by the calibration on sub-band level. After subtraction of smooth foregrounds, we achieve a 2σ upper limit on the 21-cm power spectrum of $\Delta _{21}^2 \lt (14561\, \text{mK})^2$ at $k\sim 0.038\, h\, \text{cMpc}^{-1}$ and $\Delta _{21}^2 \lt (14886\, \text{mK})^2$ at $k\sim 0.038 \, h\, \text{cMpc}^{-1}$ for the 3C220 and NCP fields respectively and both upper limits are consistent with each other. The upper limits for the two fields are still dominated by systematics on most k modes.

Perturbation Theory

This chapter examines applications drawn from perturbation theory. The main topic in perturbation theory is the energy and spontaneous decay rate of the 21-cm hyperfine line in atomic hydrogen. Before there were electronic computers, people had quite an accurate theoretical understanding of the energy levels in helium and more complicated systems. The trick was (and is) to find approximation schemes that treat unimportant parts of a physical system in quite crude approximations while reducing the interesting parts to a problem simple enough that it is feasible to compute but yet detailed enough to yield accurate results. The approximation methods in the chapter deal with the effects of small changes in the Hamiltonian, resulting for example from the application of a static or time variable electric or magnetic field. This may cause small changes in energy levels, and it may induce transitions among eigenstates of the original Hamiltonian.

Direct estimation of electron density in the Orion Bar PDR from mm-wave carbon recombination lines

Context. A significant fraction of the molecular gas in star-forming regions is irradiated by stellar UV photons. In these environments, the electron density (ne) plays a critical role in the gas dynamics, chemistry, and collisional excitation of certain molecules. Aims. We determine ne in the prototypical strongly irradiated photodissociation region (PDR), the Orion Bar, from the detection of new millimeter-wave carbon recombination lines (mmCRLs) and existing far-IR [13C II] hyperfine line observations. Methods. We detect 12 mmCRLs (including α, β, and γ transitions) observed with the IRAM 30 m telescope, at ∼25″ angular resolution, toward the H/H2 dissociation front (DF) of the Bar. We also present a mmCRL emission cut across the PDR. Results. These lines trace the C+/C/CO gas transition layer. As the much lower frequency carbon radio recombination lines, mmCRLs arise from neutral PDR gas and not from ionized gas in the adjacent H II region. This is readily seen from their narrow line profiles (Δv = 2.6 ± 0.4 km s−1) and line peak velocities (vLSR = +10.7 ± 0.2 km s−1). Optically thin [13C II] hyperfine lines and molecular lines – emitted close to the DF by trace species such as reactive ions CO+ and HOC+ – show the same line profiles. We use non-LTE excitation models of [13C II] and mmCRLs and derive ne = 60–100 cm−3 and Te = 500–600 K toward the DF. Conclusions. The inferred electron densities are high, up to an order of magnitude higher than previously thought. They provide a lower limit to the gas thermal pressure at the PDR edge without using molecular tracers. We obtain Pth ≥ (2−4) × 108 cm−3 K assuming that the electron abundance is equal to or lower than the gas-phase elemental abundance of carbon. Such elevated thermal pressures leave little room for magnetic pressure support and agree with a scenario in which the PDR photoevaporates.

The Serpens filament at the onset of slightly supercritical collapse

The Serpens filament, as one of the nearest infrared dark clouds, is regarded as a pristine filament at a very early evolutionary stage of star formation. In order to study its molecular content and dynamical state, we mapped this filament in seven species: C18O, HCO+, HNC, HCN, N2H+, CS, and CH3OH. Among them, HCO+, HNC, HCN, and CS show self-absorption, while C18O is most sensitive to the filamentary structure. A kinematic analysis demonstrates that this filament forms a velocity-coherent (trans)sonic structure, a large part of which is one of the most quiescent regions in the Serpens cloud. Widespread C18O depletion is found throughout the Serpens filament. Based on the Herschel dust-derived H2 column density map, the line mass of the filament is 36–41 M⊙ pc−1, and its full width at half maximum is 0.17 ± 0.01 pc, while its length is ≈1.6 pc. The inner radial column density profile of this filament can be well fitted with a Plummer profile with an exponent of 2.2 ± 0.1, a scale radius of 0.018 ± 0.003 pc, and a central density of (4.0 ± 0.8) × 104 cm−3. The Serpens filament appears to be slightly supercritical. The widespread blue-skewed HNC and CS line profiles and HCN hyperfine line anomalies across this filament indicate radial infall in parts of the Serpens filament. C18O velocity gradients also indicate accretion flows along the filament. The velocity and density structures suggest that such accretion flows are likely due to a longitudinal collapse parallel to the filament’s long axis. Both the radial infall rate (~72 M⊙ Myr−1, inferred from HNC and CS blue-skewed profiles) and the longitudinal accretion rate (~10 M⊙ Myr−1, inferred from C18O velocity gradients) along the Serpens filament are lower than all previously reported values in other filaments. This indicates that the Serpens filament lies at an early evolutionary stage when collapse has just begun, or that thermal and nonthermal support are effective in providing support against gravity.

Abundance of HCN and its C and N isotopologues in L1498

The isotopic ratio of nitrogen in nearby protoplanetary disks, recently measured in CN and HCN, indicates that a fractionated reservoir of volatile nitrogen is available at the earliest stage of comet formation. This reservoir also presents a 3:1 enrichment in 15N relative to the elemental ratio of 330, identical to that between the solar system comets and the protosun, suggesting that similar processes are responsible for the fractionation in the protosolar nebula (PSN) and in these PSN analogs. However, where, when, and how the fractionation of nitrogen takes place is an open question. Previously obtained HCN/HC15N abundance ratios suggest that HCN may already be enriched in 15N in prestellar cores, although doubts remain on these measurements, which rely on the double-isotopologue method. Here we present direct measurements of the HCN/H13CN and HCN/HC15N abundance ratios in the L1498 prestellar core based on spatially resolved spectra of HCN(1–0), (3–2), H13CN(1–0), and HC15N(1–0) rotational lines. We use state-of-the-art radiative transfer calculations using ALICO, a 1D radiative transfer code capable of treating hyperfine overlaps. From a multiwavelength analysis of dust emission maps of L1498, we derive a new physical structure of the L1498 cloud. We also use new, high-accuracy HCN-H2 hyperfine collisional rates, which enable us to quantitatively reproduce all the features seen in the line profiles of HCN(1–0) and HCN(3–2), especially the anomalous hyperfine line ratios. Special attention is devoted to derive meaningful uncertainties on the abundance ratios. The obtained values, HCN/H13CN = 45 ± 3 and HCN/HC15N = 338 ± 28, indicate that carbon is heavily fractionated in HCN, but nitrogen is not. For the H13CN/HC15N abundance ratio, our detailed study validates to some extent analyses based on the single excitation temperature assumption. Comparisons with other measurements from the literature suggest significant core-to-core variability. Furthermore, the heavy 13C enrichment we found in HCN could explain the superfractionation of nitrogen measured in solar system chondrites.