Kinematics of the Milky Way Thick disk in solar neighborhood

Using GAIA EDR3 catalog, we present the detailed analysis of the two-component Milky Way stellar disk in the solar neighborhood. To determine the kinematical properties of the thin and of the Thick disks, we select the complete sample of about 278,000 evolved red giant branch (RGB) stars distributed in the cylinder of 1 kpc radius and 0.5 kpc height centered at the Sun. We measured the following mean velocities and dispersions for the thin and the Thick disks, respectively: [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]km s[Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]km s[Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]km s[Formula: see text] with [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]km s[Formula: see text]. Errors in mean velocities and dispersions are all less than 1[Formula: see text]km s[Formula: see text]. Same values were computed on much smaller subsamples of our Gaia data with RAVE DR5 [Fe/H] values, from which a metallicity selection was added. Results are basically the same. We find that up to 500 pc height above/below the galactic plane, Thick disk stars comprise about half the stars of the disk. We also find evidence of a substructure in [Formula: see text] versus [Formula: see text] in the thick disk population mostly that would give support to the accretion scenario for the formation of the thick disk.

Chloride Migration in Graphene Oxide Concrete

This paper presents experimental work on the chloride penetration resistance of concrete, incorporating 0%, 2% and 3% Graphene Oxide (GO) by weight of cement. Nine 100mm diameter and 200mm high concrete cylinders were cast in the Materials Laboratory at the University of Plymouth. The cylinders were cut into 50mm thick disks and rapid chloride migration tests were carried out. After the tests, the penetration depth of the disks were measured and chloride migration coefficients were determined. It was found that compared with the control samples, the addition of 2% and 3% GO reduced the migration coefficient of concrete by about 11% and 17% respectively at 28 days after casting. This suggests that the inclusion of GO into a cementitious mix does have a noticeable effect on the increase of chloride resistance and hence the longevity of concrete.

Powerful Jets from Radiatively Efficient Disks, a Decades-Old Unresolved Problem in High Energy Astrophysics

The discovery of 3C 273 in 1963, and the emergence of the Kerr solution shortly thereafter, precipitated the current era in astrophysics focused on using black holes to explain active galactic nuclei (AGN). But while partial success was achieved in separately explaining the bright nuclei of some AGN via thin disks, as well as powerful jets with thick disks, the combination of both powerful jets in an AGN with a bright nucleus, such as in 3C 273, remained elusive. Although numerical simulations have taken center stage in the last 25 years, they have struggled to produce the conditions that explain them. This is because radiatively efficient disks have proved a challenge to simulate. Radio quasars have thus been the least understood objects in high energy astrophysics. But recent simulations have begun to change this. We explore this milestone in light of scale-invariance and show that transitory jets, possibly related to the jets seen in these recent simulations, as some have proposed, cannot explain radio quasars. We then provide a road map for a resolution.

Borate and Quaternary Ammonia Dip Diffusion to Treat Fungal Pathogens of Metrosideros polymorpha Wood

Rapid Ohia Death is a major concern for the viability of ohia (Metrosideros polymorpha) in Hawaii and has led to restrictions on log movement. The potential for using disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) and didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DDAC) dip diffusion treatments to control the two causal fungi (Ceratocystis lukuohia and Ceratocystis huliohia) was investigated. A 10 percent boric acid equivalent dip diffusion treatment killed the pathogens in 0.5-cm-thick disks obtained from 4.0- to 5.0-cm-diameter limbs of naturally colonized trees. DOT tended to diffuse more consistently in 50- to 60-cm-long bolts of small (4.0 to 9.0 cm) and large (9.1 to 17.0 cm) diameter healthy ohia compared with those bolts naturally infected by C. lukuohia. Diffusion periods longer than 6 weeks resulted in deeper penetration. Immersion (24 h) of logs (1.3 m long; 9 to 17 cm diameter) from C. lukuohia artificially inoculated trees in two forest locations in a 15 percent DOT/1 percent DDAC solution and storage for 10 weeks before evaluation resulted in incomplete elimination of the pathogen and lower boron concentrations in the inner sapwood than outer. Further investigations are needed to explore using either higher boron concentrations or longer diffusion periods to deliver fungicidal concentrations of boron deeper within the wood matrix.

Occurrence rates of small planets from HARPS

Context. The stars in the Milky Way thin and thick disks can be distinguished by several properties such as metallicity and kinematics. It is not clear whether the two populations also differ in the properties of planets orbiting the stars. In order to study this, a careful analysis of both the chemical composition and mass detection limits is required for a sufficiently large sample. Currently, this information is still limited only to large radial-velocity (RV) programs. Based on the recently published archival database of the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) spectrograph, we present a first analysis of low-mass (small) planet occurrence rates in a sample of thin- and thick-disk stars. Aims. We aim to assess the effects of stellar properties on planet occurrence rates and to obtain first estimates of planet occurrence rates in the thin and thick disks of the Galaxy. As a baseline for comparison, we also aim to provide an updated value for the small close-in planet occurrence rate and compare it with the results of previous RV and transit (Kepler) works. Methods. We used archival HARPS RV datasets to calculate detection limits of a sample of stars that were previously analysed for their elemental abundances. For stars with known planets we first subtracted the Keplerian orbit. We then used this information to calculate planet occurrence rates according to a simplified Bayesian model in different regimes of stellar and planet properties. Results. Our results suggest that metal-poor stars and more massive stars host fewer low-mass close-in planets. We find the occurrence rates of these planets in the thin and thick disks to be comparable. In the iron-poor regimes, we find these occurrence rates to be significantly larger at the high-α region (thick-disk stars) as compared with the low-α region (thin-disk stars). In general, we find the average number of close-in small planets (2–100 days, 1–20M⊕) per star (FGK-dwarfs) to be: n¯p = 0.36 ± 0.05, while the fraction of stars with planets is Fh = 0.23−0.03+0.04. Qualitatively, our results agree well with previous estimates based on RV and Kepler surveys. Conclusions. This work provides a first estimate of the close-in small planet occurrence rates in the solar neighbourhood of the thin and thick disks of the Galaxy. It is unclear whether there are other stellar properties related to the Galactic context that affect small-planet occurrence rates, or if it is only the combined effects of stellar metal content and mass. A future larger sample of stars and planets is needed to address those questions.

The impact of planet wakes on the location and shape of the water ice line in a protoplanetary disk

Context. Planets in accretion disks can excite spiral shocks and if these planets are massive enough, they can even open gaps in their vicinity. Both of these effects can influence the overall thermal structure of the disk. Aims. We model planets of different masses and semimajor axes in disks of various viscosities and accretion rates to examine their impact on disk thermodynamics and to highlight the mutable, non-axisymmetric nature of ice lines in systems with massive planets. Methods. We conducted a parameter study using numerical hydrodynamics simulations where we treated viscous heating, thermal cooling, and stellar irradiation as additional source terms in the energy equation, with some runs including radiative diffusion. Our parameter space consists of a grid containing different combinations of planet and disk parameters. Results. Both gap opening and shock heating can displace the ice line, with the effects amplified for massive planets in optically thick disks. The gap region can split an initially hot (T > 170 K) disk into a hot inner disk and a hot ring just outside of the planet’s location, while shock heating can reshape the originally axisymmetric ice line into water-poor islands along spirals. We also find that radiative diffusion does not alter the picture significantly in this context. Conclusions. Shock heating and gap opening by a planet can effectively heat up optically thick disks and, in general, they can move or reshape the water ice line. This can affect the gap structure and migration torques. It can also produce azimuthal features that follow the trajectory of spiral arms, creating hot zones which lead to “islands” of vapor and ice around spirals that could affect the accretion or growth of icy aggregates.