The age of the Milky Way inner halo

The Milky Way galaxy has several components, such as the bulge, disk and halo. Unravelling the assembly history of these stellar populations is often restricted because of difficulties in measuring accurate ages for low-mass, hydrogen-burning stars. Unlike these progenitors, white dwarf stars, the 'cinders' of stellar evolution, are remarkably simple objects and their fundamental properties can be measured with little ambiguity. Here I report observations of newly formed white dwarf stars in the halo of the Milky Way, and a separate analysis of archival data in the well studied 12.5-billion-year-old globular cluster Messier 4. I measure the mass distribution of the remnant stars and invert the stellar evolution process to develop a mathematical relation that links this final stellar mass to the mass of their immediate progenitors, and therefore to the age of the parent population. By applying this technique to a small sample of four nearby and kinematically confirmed halo white dwarf stars, I calculate the age of local field halo stars to be 11.4?±?0.7 billion years. The oldest globular clusters formed 13.5?billion years ago. Future observations of newly formed white dwarf stars in the halo could be used to reduce the uncertainty, and to probe relative differences between the formation times of the youngest globular clusters and the inner halo.     

对NGC5128星系50 kpc内表面亮度轮廓的研究

NGC5128是距离地球最近的、可通过地面望远镜直接分辨其中红巨星分支恒星的巨椭球星系。通过分辨并计数该星系外晕中的红巨星分支恒星, 研究其星系晕的表面亮度轮廓, 并对位于该星系外恒星晕主轴方向的内外两个视场的图像进行测光研究, 这些CCD图像来自Magellan/IMACS f/4望远镜的V和I两个波段。通过星等和颜色对红巨星分支恒星进行筛选, 最终在两个视场的图像中分别得到包含4719和980个红巨星分支恒星候选的样本, 并将外场样本用于对内场污染的估计和矫正。采用 Sersic定律对内场表面亮度轮廓进行拟合, 得到的最佳拟合参数为: V波段, r_e = 6.21角分, μ_e = 22.05 mag/arcsec², n = 1.90, 拟合误差为0.37星等; I波段, r_e = 6.57角分, μ_e =20.79 mag/arcsec², n = 1.90, 拟合误差为0.41星等。结果显示V和I波段的拟合结果一致, 并且在数据的精度内, 没有发现轮廓向晕族突变的迹象。     

黄土地区油气晕遥感成像机理初探

为揭示黄土地区TM图像上油气晕环成像机理，分析了试验5个环形影象1个已知油气显示环形影象的地表土壤光谱与油气地球化学指标的相关关系。同时，分析TM图像上该5个环形影像内外亮度变化规律，并与已知油气显示环比较，得出以下结论：（1）虽然6个环的地表土壤的单波段光谱与单个油气地球化学指标（含水量除外）之间无显著相关，但典型相关分析结果表明，各环的地表土壤光谱与油气地球化学指标却有显著的典型相关关系。（2）每个环形影象内、外TM亮度变化规律与已知油气显示环内外亮度变化规律的相似怀，和它们的油气地球化学元素的共生组合及元素在环内外差异特征的相似性基本一致。上述结果表明，TM图像上油气晕环是油气晕地球化学元素的共生组合及元素在环内外差异特征的反映。     

网络隔离与信息交换理论基础的研究

为网络隔离与信息交换系统(ISOX)定义一个具有通用意义的抽象结构,并以此为基础从理论上研究网络隔离与信息交换系统的工作原理、安全作用和实用价值。用ISOX连接内网和外网,或者可以实现内网与外网的有效隔离,或者可以实现内网与外网间的实时信息交换,但难以在实现有效隔离的同时实现实时信息交换。     

Fast core rotation in red-giant stars as revealed by gravity-dominated mixed modes

When the core hydrogen is exhausted during stellar evolution, the central region of a star contracts and the outer envelope expands and cools, giving rise to a red giant. Convection takes place over much of the star's radius. Conservation of angular momentum requires that the cores of these stars rotate faster than their envelopes; indirect evidence supports this. Information about the angular-momentum distribution is inaccessible to direct observations, but it can be extracted from the effect of rotation on oscillation modes that probe the stellar interior. Here we report an increasing rotation rate from the surface of the star to the stellar core in the interiors of red giants, obtained using the rotational frequency splitting of recently detected 'mixed modes'. By comparison with theoretical stellar models, we conclude that the core must rotate at least ten times faster than the surface. This observational result confirms the theoretical prediction of a steep gradient in the rotation profile towards the deep stellar interior.     

Inner core’s seismic anisotropy is related to its rotation

The inner core has a differential rotation relative to the crust and mantle, the relative linear velocity between the solid inner core and the molten outer core is the biggest at the equator and zero at pole area. As a result, the inner core grows faster at the equator than at the pole area. The gravitational force drives the material flow from the equator to the pole area and makes the inner core remain quasi-orbicular. The corresponding axial symmetric stress field makesc-axes of hexagonal close packed (hcp) iron align with inner core’s rotation axis, resulting in observed seismic anisotropy.     

计入浮环传热的增压器浮环轴承润滑分析

以增压器浮环轴承为研究对象,基于浮环平衡模型、流体润滑模型和热量分配模型,计算不同工况下内层油膜与外层油膜之间传递的热量,并以此作为润滑分析的条件之一,提出了没有热量传递时外膜偏心率的识别方法,并对浮环轴承润滑性能进行研究,主要分析讨论浮环传热在不同外膜偏心率和不同转速下对浮环轴承润滑性能的影响.结果表明,不同外膜偏心率下,浮环传热的情况有较大差异;存在某一外膜偏心率,内膜-浮环-外膜间没有热量传递;转速越高,浮环传热量越多;浮环传热对环速比的影响较大;计入浮环传热后,浮环轴承内外膜温升、内外膜摩擦功耗、外膜端泄流量有较明显变化.     

Sublimation from icy jets as a probe of the interstellar volatile content of comets

Comets are some of the most primitive bodies left over from the Solar System's early history. They may preserve both interstellar material and material from the proto-solar nebula, and so studies of their volatile components can provide clues about the evolution of gases and ices, as a collapsing molecular cloud transforms into a mature planetary system. Previous observations of emission from rotational transitions in molecules have averaged over large areas of the inner coma, and therefore include both molecules that sublimed from the nucleus and those that result from subsequent chemical processes in the coma Here we present high-resolution observations of emission from the molecules HNC, DCN and HDO associated with comet Hale-Bopp. Our data reveal arc-like structures-icy jets-offset from (but close to) the nucleus. The measured abundance ratios on 1-3" scales are substantially different from those on larger scales, and cannot be accounted for by models of chemical processes in the coma; they are, however, similar to the values observed in the cores of dense interstellar clouds and young stellar objects. We therefore propose that sublimation from millimetre-sized icy grains ejected from the nucleus provides access to relatively unaltered volatiles. The D/H ratios inferred from our data suggest that, by mass, Hale-Bopp (and by inference the outer regions of the early solar nebula) consists of > or =15-40% of largely unprocessed interstellar material.     

Charon's radius and atmospheric constraints from observations of a stellar occultation

The physical characteristics of Pluto and its moon, Charon, provide insight into the evolution of the outer Solar System. Although previous measurements have constrained the masses of these bodies, their radii and densities have remained uncertain. The observation of a stellar occultation by Charon in 1980 established a lower limit on its radius of 600 km (ref. 3) (later refined to 601.5 km; ref. 4) and suggested a possible atmosphere. Subsequent, mutual event modelling yielded a range of 600-650 km (ref. 5), corresponding to a density of 1.56 +/- 0.22 g cm(-3) (refs 2, 5). Here we report multiple-station observations of a stellar occultation by Charon. From these data, we find a mean radius of 606 +/- 8 km, a bulk density of 1.72 +/- 0.15 g cm(-3), and rock-mass fraction 0.63 +/- 0.05. We do not detect a significant atmosphere and place 3sigma upper limits on atmospheric number densities for candidate gases. These results seem to be consistent with collisional formation for the Pluto-Charon system in which the precursor objects may have been differentiated, and they leave open the possibility of atmospheric retention by the largest objects in the outer Solar System.     

A circumstellar disk associated with a massive protostellar object

The formation process for stars with masses several times that of the Sun is still unclear. The two main theories are mergers of several low-mass young stellar objects, which requires a high stellar density, or mass accretion from circumstellar disks in the same way as low-mass stars are formed, accompanied by outflows during the process of gravitational infall. Although a number of disks have been discovered around low- and intermediate-mass young stellar objects, the presence of disks around massive young stellar objects is still uncertain and the mass of the disk system detected around one such object, M17, is disputed. Here we report near-infrared imaging polarimetry that reveals an outflow/disk system around the Becklin-Neugebauer protostellar object, which has a mass of at least seven solar masses (M(o)). This strongly supports the theory that stars with masses of at least 7M(o) form in the same way as lower mass stars.     

An almost head-on collision as the origin of two off-centre rings in the Andromeda galaxy

The unusual morphology of the Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31, the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way) has long been an enigma. Although regarded for decades as showing little evidence of a violent history, M31 has a well-known outer ring of star formation at a radius of ten kiloparsecs whose centre is offset from the galaxy nucleus. In addition, the outer galaxy disk is warped, as seen at both optical and radio wavelengths. The halo contains numerous loops and ripples. Here we report the presence of a second, inner dust ring with projected dimensions of 1.5 x 1 kiloparsecs and offset by about half a kiloparsec from the centre of the galaxy (based upon an analysis of previously-obtained data). The two rings appear to be density waves propagating in the disk. Numerical simulations indicate that both rings result from a companion galaxy plunging through the centre of the disk of M31. The most likely interloper is M32. Head-on collisions between galaxies are rare, but it appears nonetheless that one took place 210 million years ago in our Local Group of galaxies.     

基于显式动力学的发动机转子中介轴承的仿真分析

为研究复杂工况下中介轴承的动力学特性，针对外圈支承于低压转子轴颈，内圈支承于高压转子轴颈支承形式的中介轴承的工作特点，应用LS-DYNA建立了中介圆柱滚子轴承动力学模型，开展动力学仿真。该模型以显式算法为基础，在充分考虑中介轴承转速、旋转方向、负载、接触及摩擦的条件下，基于动力学仿真模型，分析了中介轴承应力水平随内外圈旋转方向、内外圈转速及径向外载荷变化的规律。分析结果表明：在内外圈反向旋转以及外圈转速增加的情况下中介轴承的振动更为平稳，而在径向外载荷增大的情况下，中介轴承的振动更加剧烈。仿真结果验证了模型的正确性，为中介轴承故障诊断提供了有益参考。     

Principle of Melt-glue Cloth

This paper advances a new concept of textile-melt-glue cloth, and introduces the readers to the basicprinciple of melt-glue cloth. On the basis of meltspinning, the spinneret can be replaced by a spinningdevice that consists of an outer spinneret (a loop)and an inner spinneret (a round plate), and betweenthem there is an interval circle on which the centers     

Discovery of X-rays from the protostellar outflow object HH2

Herbig-Haro (HH) objects have been known for 50 years to be luminous condensations of gas in star-forming regions, but their underlying physical nature is still being elucidated. Previously suggested models encompass newborn stars, stellar winds clashing with nebular material, dense pockets of interstellar gas excited by shocks from outflows, and interstellar 'bullets' (ref. 6). Recent progress has been made with the jet-induced shock model, in which material streams out of young stellar objects and collides with the surrounding interstellar medium. A clear prediction of this model is that the most energetic Herbig-Haro objects will emit X-rays, although they have not hitherto been detected. Here we report the discovery of X-ray emission from one of the brightest and closest Herbig-Haro objects, HH2, at a level consistent with the model predictions. We conclude that this Herbig-Haro object contains shock-heated material located at or near its leading edge with a temperature of about 106 K.     

A dynamical calibration of the mass-luminosity relation at very low stellar masses and young ages

Mass is the most fundamental parameter of a star, yet it is also one of the most difficult to measure directly. In general, astronomers estimate stellar masses by determining the luminosity and using the 'mass-luminosity' relationship, but this relationship has never been accurately calibrated for young, low-mass stars and brown dwarfs. Masses for these low-mass objects are therefore constrained only by theoretical models. A new high-contrast adaptive optics camera enabled the discovery of a young (50 million years) companion only 0.156 arcseconds (2.3 au) from the more luminous (> 120 times brighter) star AB Doradus A. Here we report a dynamical determination of the mass of the newly resolved low-mass companion AB Dor C, whose mass is 0.090 +/- 0.005 solar masses. Given its measured 1-2-micrometre luminosity, we have found that the standard mass-luminosity relations overestimate the near-infrared luminosity of such objects by about a factor of approximately 2.5 at young ages. The young, cool objects hitherto thought to be substellar in mass are therefore about twice as massive, which means that the frequency of brown dwarfs and planetary mass objects in young stellar clusters has been overestimated.     

考虑施工过程影响的PCCP地震响应分析

为了研究地震作用下施工过程对预应力钢筒混凝土管(PCCP)的影响,建立考虑PCCP施工过程影响的非线性有限元模型,利用生死单元技术实现PCCP从地应力平衡到施加预应力钢丝预应力、铺设管道,再到回填回填土过程的有限元分析,以压实度作为衡量回填土施工质量的指标,基于黏弹性人工边界理论、等效节点力地震动输入法以及静-动力边界...     

Pulsar spins from an instability in the accretion shock of supernovae

Rotation-powered radio pulsars are born with inferred initial rotation periods of order 300 ms (some as short as 20 ms) in core-collapse supernovae. In the traditional picture, this fast rotation is the result of conservation of angular momentum during the collapse of a rotating stellar core. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that pulsar spin is directly correlated with the rotation of the progenitor star. So far, however, stellar theory has not been able to explain the distribution of pulsar spins, suggesting that the birth rotation is either too slow or too fast. Here we report a robust instability of the stalled accretion shock in core-collapse supernovae that is able to generate a strong rotational flow in the vicinity of the accreting proto-neutron star. Sufficient angular momentum is deposited on the proto-neutron star to generate a final spin period consistent with observations, even beginning with spherically symmetrical initial conditions. This provides a new mechanism for the generation of neutron star spin and weakens, if not breaks, the assumed correlation between the rotational periods of supernova progenitor cores and pulsar spin.     

双旋转轴间瞬态流动与换热的实验研究

对双旋转轴间的瞬态流动与换热的实验研究发现:影响外轴内壁瞬态平均换热系数特性的因素中,以轴向冷气雷诺数的影响最大,外轴罗斯贝数次之,内轴罗斯贝数的影响最小;在双旋转的影响因素中,外轴内壁换热特性主要取决于外轴罗斯贝数,内外轴转速差和正反转因素影响较弱.     

Observation of interstellar lithium in the low-metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud

The primordial abundances of light elements produced in the standard theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) depend only on the cosmic ratio of baryons to photons, a quantity inferred from observations of the microwave background. The predicted primordial (7)Li abundance is four times that measured in the atmospheres of Galactic halo stars. This discrepancy could be caused by modification of surface lithium abundances during the stars' lifetimes or by physics beyond the Standard Model that affects early nucleosynthesis. The lithium abundance of low-metallicity gas provides an alternative constraint on the primordial abundance and cosmic evolution of lithium that is not susceptible to the in situ modifications that may affect stellar atmospheres. Here we report observations of interstellar (7)Li in the low-metallicity gas of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a nearby galaxy with a quarter the Sun's metallicity. The present-day (7)Li abundance of the Small Magellanic Cloud is nearly equal to the BBN predictions, severely constraining the amount of possible subsequent enrichment of the gas by stellar and cosmic-ray nucleosynthesis. Our measurements can be reconciled with standard BBN with an extremely fine-tuned depletion of stellar Li with metallicity. They are also consistent with non-standard BBN.     

一种排序Jacobi算法及其并行实现

针对角对称矩阵的特征值分解问题,提出了一种新的排序Jacobi算法(S-Jacobi).该算法利用Jacobi旋转中的内角和外角实现了特征值的自动排序.仿真结果表明,S-Jacobi的收敛条件在实际中容易满足,而且其收敛速度优于传统的无特征值排序的Jacobi算法.另外,为S-Jacobi的并行实现提出的旋转度计算电路与传统Jacobi算法的情况相比,只需要少量的额外硬件资源.