By means of radiative transfer simulation we study the evolution of the far-infrared colours of protoplanetary discs undergoing inside-out dispersal, often referred to as transition discs. We show that a brightening of the mid and far-infrared emissi
on from these objects is a natural consequence of the removal of the inner disc. Our results can fully explain recent observations of transition discs in the Chamaleon and Lupus star forming regions from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey, which show a higher median for the 70?um (Herschel PACS 1) band of known transition objects compared with primordial discs. Our theoretical results hence support the suggestion that the 70?um band may be a powerful diagnostic for the identification of transition discs from photometry data, provided that the inner hole is larger than tens of AU, depending on spectral type. Furthermore we show that a comparison of photometry in the K , 12?um and 7u0?m bands to model tracks can provide a rough, but quick estimate of the inner hole size of these objects, provided their inclination is below ?85 degrees and the inner hole size is again larger than tens of AU.
We compare emission line intensities from photoionization models of smooth and fractal shell geometries for low density H II regions, with particular focus on the low-ionization diagnostic diagram [N II]/H-alpha vs H-alpha. Building on previously pub
lished models and observations of Barnards Loop, we show that the observed range of intensities and variations in the line intensity ratios may be reproduced with a three dimensional shell geometry. Our models adopt solar abundances throughout the model nebula, in contrast with previous one dimensional modeling which suggested the variations in line intensity ratios could only be reproduced if the heavy element abundances were increased by a factor of 1.4. For spatially resolved H II regions, the multiple sightlines that pierce and sample different ionization and temperature conditions within smooth and fractal shells produce a range of line intensities that are easily overlooked if only the total integrated intensities from the entire nebula model are computed. Our conclusion is that inference of H II region properties, such as elemental abundances, via photoionization models of one dimensional geometries must be treated with caution and further tested through three dimensional modeling.
Feedback from photoionisation may dominate on parsec scales in massive star-forming regions. Such feedback may inhibit or enhance the star formation efficiency and sustain or even drive turbulence in the parent molecular cloud. Photoionisation feedba
ck may also provide a mechanism for the rapid expulsion of gas from young clusters potentials, often invoked as the main cause of infant mortality. There is currently no agreement, however, with regards to the efficiency of this process and how environment may affect the direction (positive or negative) in which it proceeds. The study of the photoionisation process as part of hydrodynamical simulations is key to understanding these issues, however, due to the computational demand of the problem, crude approximations for the radiation transfer are often employed. We will briefly review some of the most commonly used approximations and discuss their major drawbacks. We will then present the results of detailed tests carried out using the detailed photoionisation code MOCASSIN and the SPH+ionisation code iVINE code, aimed at understanding the error introduced by the simplified photoionisation algorithms. This is particularly relevant as a number of new codes have recently been developed along those lines. We will finally propose a new approach that should allow to efficiently and self-consistently treat the photoionisation problem for complex radiation and density fields.
We have undertaken SED modeling of discs around low mass T Tauri stars in order to delineate regions of the infrared two colour plane (K - [8] versus K - [24]) that correspond to discs in different evolutionary stages. This provides a ready tool for
classifying the nature of star-disc systems based on infrared photometry. In particular we demonstrate the distinct loci followed by discs that undergo `uniform draining (reduction in surface density by a spatially uniform factor) from those that clear from the inside out. We draw attention to the absence of objects on this `draining locus in those star forming regions where the 24um sensitivity would permit their detection, as compared with the ~20 objects in these regions with colours suggestive of inner holes. We thus conclude that discs predominantly clear from the inside out. We also apply our classification of the infrared two colour plane to stars of spectral type M3-M5 in the IC 348 cluster and show that some of its members (dubbed `weak excess sources by Muzerolle et al 2010) that had previously been assumed to be in a state of clearing are instead likely to be optically thick discs in which the dust is well settled towards the mid-plane. Nevertheless, there are many discs in a state of partial clearing in IC 348, with their abundance (relative to the total population of disc bearing stars) being around four times higher than for comparable stars in Taurus. However, the number of partially cleared discs relative to the total number of late type stars is similarly low in both regions (10 and 20 % respectively). We therefore conclude that IC 348 represents a more evolved version of the Taurus population (with more of its discs being highly settled or partially cleared) but that the timescale for clearing is similarly short (a few times 10^5 years) in both cases.
We present a calculation of the atomic and low-ionisation emission line spectra of photoevaporating protoplanetary discs. Line luminosities and profiles are obtained from detailed photoionisation calculations of the disc and wind structures surroundi
ng young active solar-type stars. The disc and wind density and velocity fields were obtained from the recently developed radiation-hydrodynamic models of Owen et al., that include stellar X-ray and EUV irradiation of protoplanetary discs at various stages of clearing, from primordial sources to inner hole sources of various hole sizes. Our models compare favourably with currently available observations, lending support to an X-ray driven photoevaporation model for disc dispersal. In particular, we find that X-rays drive a warm, predominantly neutral flow where the OI 6300A line can be produced by neutral hydrogen collisional excitation. Our models can, for the first time, provide a very good match to both luminosities and profiles of the low-velocity component of the OI 6300A line and other forbidden lines observed by Hartigan et al., which covered a large sample of T-Tauri stars. We find that the OI 6300A and the NeII 12.8um lines are predominantly produced in the X-ray-driven wind and thus appear blue-shifted by a few km/s for some of the systems when observed at non-edge-on inclinations. We note however that blue-shifts are only produced under certain conditions: X-ray luminosity, spectral shape and inner hole size all affect the location of the emitting region and the physical conditions in the wind. We caution therefore that while a blueshifted line is a tell-tale sign of an outflow, the lack of a blueshift should not be necessarily interpreted as a lack of outflow.
The formation of planets within a disc must operate within the time frame of disc dispersal, it is thus crucial to establish what is the dominant process that disperses the gaseous component of discs around young stars. Planet formation itself as wel
l as photoevaporation by energetic radiation from the central young stellar object have been proposed as plausible dispersal mechanisms. [abridged]. In this paper we use the different metallicity dependance of X-ray photoevaporation and planet formation to discriminate between these two processes. We study the effects of metallicity, Z, on the dispersal timescale, t_phot, in the context of a photoevaporation model, by means of detailed thermal calculations of a disc in hydrostatic equilibrium irradiated by EUV and X-ray radiation from the central source. Our models show t_phot propto Z^0.52 for a pure photoevaporation model. By means of analytical estimates we derive instead a much stronger negative power dependance on metallicity of the disc lifetime for a dispersal model based on planet formation. A census of disc fractions in lower metallicity regions should therefore be able to distinguish between the two models. A recent study by Yasui et al. in low metallicity clusters of the extreme outer Galaxy ([O/H] ~- 0.7dex and dust to gas ratio of ~0.001) provides preliminary observational evidence for shorter disc lifetimes at lower metallicities, in agreement with the predictions of a pure photoevaporation model. [abridged] We finally develop an analytical framework to study the effects of metallicity dependent photoevaporation on the formation of gas giants in the core accretion scenario. We show that accounting for this effect strengthens the conclusion that planet formation is favoured at higher metallicity. [abridged]
We present a theoretical investigation of the effect of multiple ionisation sources in HII regions on the total elemental abundances derived from the analysis of collisionally excited emission lines. We focus on empirical methods based on direct temp
erature measurements that are commonly employed in cases when the temperature of the nebular gas can be determined from the ratio of nebular to auroral lines of (e.g.) doubly ionised oxygen. We find that direct temperature methods that employ a two-temperature zone approach (DT2T methods) are very robust against the spatial distribution of sources. Errors smaller than 0.15 dex are estimated for regions where the metallicity is twice solar and errors below 0.05 dex for solar metallicities and below. The biases introduced by the spatial distribution of the ionisation sources are thus much smaller for DT2T methods than for strong line methods, previously investigated by Ercolano, Bastian & Stasinska. Our findings are in agreement with the recent study of HII regions in NGC 300 by Bresolin et al.
We re-examine the well-known discrepancy between ionic abundances determined via the analysis of recombination lines (RLs) and collisionally excited lines (CELs). We show that abundance variations can be mimicked in a {it chemically homogeneous} medi
um by the presence of dense X-ray irradiated regions which present different ionisation and temperature structures from those of the more diffuse medium they are embedded in, which is predominantly ionised by extreme-ultraviolet radiation. The presence of X-ray ionised dense clumps or filaments also naturally explains the lower temperatures often measured from O {sc ii} recombination lines and from the Balmer jump when compared to temperatures determined by CELs. We discuss the implications for abundances determined via the analysis of CELs and RLs and provide a simple analytical procedure to obtain upwards corrections for CEL-determined abundance. While we show that the abundance discrepancy factor (ADF) and the Balmer Jump temperature determined from observations of the Orion Nebula can simultaneously be reproduced by this model (implying upward corrections for CELs by a factor of 1.15), we find that the required X-ray fluxes exceed the known Orions stellar and diffuse X-ray budget, if we assume that the clumps are located at the edge of the blister. We propose, however, that spatially resolved observations may be used to empirically test the model, and we outline how the framework developed in this letter may be applied in the future to objects with better constrained geometries (e.g. planetary nebulae).
We present new models for the X-ray photoevaporation of circumstellar discs which suggest that the resulting mass loss (occurring mainly over the radial range 10-40 AU) may be the dominant dispersal mechanism for gas around low mass pre-main sequence
stars, contrary to the conclusions of previous workers. Our models combine use of the MOCASSIN Monte Carlo radiative transfer code and a self-consistent solution of the hydrostatic structure of the irradiated disc. We estimate the resulting photoevaporation rates assuming sonic outflow at the surface where the gas temperature equals the local escape temperature and derive mass loss rates of ~10^{-9} M_sun/yr, typically a factor 2-10 times lower than the corresponding rates in our previous work (Ercolano et al., 2008) where we did not adjust the density structure of the irradiated disc. The somewhat lower rates, and the fact that mass loss is concentrated towards slightly smaller radii, result from the puffing up of the heated disc at a few AU which partially screens the disc at tens of AU. (.....) We highlight the fact that X-ray photoevaporation has two generic advantages for disc dispersal compared with photoevaporation by extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photons that are only modestly beyond the Lyman limit: the demonstrably large X-ray fluxes of young stars even after they have lost their discs and the fact that X-rays are effective at penetrating much larger columns of material close to the star (abridged).
We re-examine the recent suggestion of a high fraction of transition discs (i.e. those with a cleared inner hole) in M stars, motivated by the fact that we expect that, for M stars, even discs without inner holes should exhibit very weak excess short
ward of around 10um. Our analysis of spectral energy distribution models suggest that this indeed means that M stars where a detectable excess begins at around 6um may be mis-classified as transition discs when in fact they have optically thick dust extending in to the dust sublimation radius. Consequently, we estimate that the transition disc fraction among M stars in the Coronet cluster is ~15 +/-10 % (rather than the recently claimed value of 50%). This revised figure would imply that the transition disc fraction is not after all markedly higher in later type stars. We suggest that for M stars, transition discs can only be readily identified if they have emission that is close to photospheric out to > 10um.
