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Register a new userModeling the Anomalous Microwave Emission with Spinning Nanoparticles: No PAHs Required
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In light of recent observational results indicating an apparent lack of correlation between the Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME) and mid-infrared emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), we assess whether rotational emission from spinning silicate and/or iron nanoparticles could account for the observed AME without violating observational constraints on interstellar abundances, ultraviolet extinction, and infrared emission. By modifying the SpDust code to compute the rotational emission from these grains, we find that nanosilicate grains could account for the entirety of the observed AME, whereas iron grains could be responsible for only a fraction, even for extreme assumptions on the amount of interstellar iron concentrated in ultrasmall iron nanoparticles. Given the added complexity of contributions from multiple grain populations to the total spinning dust emission, as well as existing uncertainties due to the poorly-constrained grain size, charge, and dipole moment distributions, we discuss generic, carrier-independent predictions of spinning dust theory and observational tests that could help identify the AME carrier(s).
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We employ an all-sky map of the anomalous microwave emission (AME) produced by component separation of the microwave sky to study correlations between the AME and Galactic dust properties. We find that while the AME is highly correlated with all tracers of dust emission, the best predictor of the AME strength is the dust radiance. Fluctuations in the AME intensity per dust radiance are uncorrelated with fluctuations in the emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), casting doubt on the association between AME and PAHs. The PAH abundance is strongly correlated with the dust optical depth and dust radiance, consistent with PAH destruction in low density regions. We find that the AME intensity increases with increasing radiation field strength, at variance with predictions from the spinning dust hypothesis. Finally, the temperature-dependence of the AME per dust radiance disfavors the interpretation of the AME as thermal emission. A reconsideration of other AME carriers, such as ultrasmall silicates, and other emission mechanisms, such as magnetic dipole emission, is warranted.
Several interstellar environments produce anomalous microwave emission, with brightness-peaks at tens-of-gigahertz frequencies. The emissions origins are uncertain - rapidly-spinning nano-particles could emit electric-dipole radiation, but polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons proposed as the carrier are now found not to correlate with Galactic signals. The difficulty is to identify co-spatial sources over long lines of sight. Here we identify anomalous microwave emission in three proto-planetary discs. These are the only known systems that host hydrogenated nano-diamonds, in contrast to very common detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Spectroscopy locates the nano-diamonds close to the host-stars, at physically-constrained temperatures. Developing disc models, we reproduce the emission with diamonds 0.75-1.1 nanometres in radius, holding less than or equal to 1-2 per cent of the carbon budget. The microwave-emission:stellar-luminosity ratios are approximately constant, allowing nano-diamonds to be ubiquitous but emitting below detection thresholds in many star-systems. This can unify the findings with similar-sized diamonds found within solar system meteorites. As nano-diamond spectral absorption is seen in interstellar sightlines, these particles are also a candidate for generating galaxy-scale anomalous microwave emission.
Anomalous microwave emission (AME) has been observed by numerous experiments in the frequency range ~10-60 GHz. Using Planck maps and multi-frequency ancillary data, we have constructed spectra for two known AME regions: the Perseus and Rho Ophiuchi molecular clouds. The spectra are well fitted by a combination of free-free radiation, cosmic microwave background, thermal dust, and electric dipole radiation from small spinning dust grains. The spinning dust spectra are the most precisely measured to date, and show the high frequency side clearly for the first time. The spectra have a peak in the range 20-40 GHz and are detected at high significances of 17.1 sigma for Perseus and 8.4 sigma for Rho Ophiuchi. In Perseus, spinning dust in the dense molecular gas can account for most of the AME; the low density atomic gas appears to play a minor role. In Rho Ophiuchi, the ~30 GHz peak is dominated by dense molecular gas, but there is an indication of an extended tail at frequencies 50-100 GHz, which can be accounted for by irradiated low density atomic gas. The dust parameters are consistent with those derived from other measurements. We have also searched the Planck map at 28.5 GHz for candidate AME regions, by subtracting a simple model of the synchrotron, free-free, and thermal dust. We present spectra for two of the candidates; S140 and S235 are bright HII regions that show evidence for AME, and are well fitted by spinning dust models.
In this chapter, we will outline the scientific motivation for studying Anomalous Microwave Emission (AME) with the SKA. AME is thought to be due to electric dipole radiation from small spinning dust grains, although thermal fluctuations of magnetic dust grains may also contribute. Studies of this mysterious component would shed light on the emission mechanism, which then opens up a new window onto the interstellar medium (ISM). AME is emitted mostly in the frequency range $sim 10$--100,GHz, and thus the SKA has the potential of measuring the low frequency side of the AME spectrum, particularly in band 5. Science targets include dense molecular clouds in the Milky Way, as well as extragalactic sources. We also discuss the possibility of detecting rotational line emission from Poly-cyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), which could be the main carriers of AME. Detecting PAH lines of a given spacing would allow for a definitive identification of specific PAH species.
Using 1 cm and 3 mm CARMA and 2 mm GISMO observations, we follow up the first extragalactic detection of anomalous microwave emission (AME) reported by Murphy et al. 2010 in an extranuclear region (Enuc. 4) of the nearby face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946. We find the spectral shape and peak frequency of AME in this region to be consistent with models of spinning dust emission. However, the strength of the emission far exceeds the Galactic AME emissivity given the abundance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in that region. Using our galaxy-wide 1 cm map (21 resolution), we identify a total of eight 21x21 regions in NGC 6946 that harbour AME at >95% significance at levels comparable to that observed in Enuc. 4. The remainder of the galaxy has 1 cm emission consistent with or below the observed Galactic AME emissivity per PAH surface density. We probe relationships between the detected AME and dust surface density, PAH emission, and radiation field, though no environmental property emerges to delineate regions with strong versus weak or non-existent AME. On the basis of these data and other AME observations in the literature, we determine that the AME emissivity per unit dust mass is highly variable. We argue that the spinning dust hypothesis, which predicts the AME power to be approximately proportional to the PAH mass, is therefore incomplete.
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