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Recent observations suggest that planets formation starts early, in protostellar disks of $\le10^5$ yrs, which are characterized by strong interactions with the environment, e.g., through accretion streamers and molecular outflows. To investigate the impact of such phenomena on disk physical and chemical properties it is key to understand what chemistry planets inherit from their natal environment. In the context of the ALMA Large Program Fifty AU STudy of the chemistry in the disk/envelope system of Solar-like protostars (FAUST), we present observations on scales from ~1500 au to ~60 au of H$_2$CO, HDCO, and D$_2$CO towards the young planet-forming disk IRS~63. H$_2$CO probes the gas in the disk as well as in a large scale streamer (~1500 au) impacting onto the South-East (SE) disk side. We detect for the first time deuterated formaldehyde, HDCO and D$_2$CO, in a planet-forming disk, and HDCO in the streamer that is feeding it. This allows us to estimate the deuterium fractionation of H$_2$CO in the disk: [HDCO]/[H$_2$CO]$\sim0.1-0.3$ and [D$_2$CO]/[H$_2$CO]$\sim0.1$. Interestingly, while HDCO follows the H$_2$CO distribution in the disk and in the streamer, the distribution of D$_2$CO is highly asymmetric, with a peak of the emission (and [D]/[H] ratio) in the SE disk side, where the streamer crashes onto the disk. In addition, D$_2$CO is detected in two spots along the blue- and red-shifted outflow. This suggests that: (i) in the disk, HDCO formation is dominated by gas-phase reactions similarly to H$_2$CO, while (ii) D$_2$CO was mainly formed on the grain mantles during the prestellar phase and/or in the disk itself, and is at present released in the gas-phase in the shocks driven by the streamer and the outflow. These findings testify on the key role of streamers in the build-up of the disk both concerning the final mass available for planet formation and its chemical composition., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication on A&A

The origin of the chemical diversity observed around low-mass protostars probably resides in the earliest history of these systems. We aim to investigate the impact of protostellar feedback on the chemistry and grain growth in the circumstellar medium of multiple stellar systems. In the context of the ALMA Large Program FAUST, we present high-resolution (50 au) observations of CH$_3$OH, H$_2$CO, and SiO and continuum emission at 1.3 mm and 3 mm towards the Corona Australis star cluster. Methanol emission reveals an arc-like structure at $\sim$1800 au from the protostellar system IRS7B along the direction perpendicular to the major axis of the disc. The arc is located at the edge of two elongated continuum structures that define a cone emerging from IRS7B. The region inside the cone is probed by H$_2$CO, while the eastern wall of the arc shows bright emission in SiO, a typical shock tracer. Taking into account the association with a previously detected radio jet imaged with JVLA at 6 cm, the molecular arc reveals for the first time a bow shock driven by IRS7B and a two-sided dust cavity opened by the mass-loss process. For each cavity wall, we derive an average H$_2$ column density of $\sim$7$\times$10$^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$, a mass of $\sim$9$\times$10$^{-3}$ M$_\odot$, and a lower limit on the dust spectral index of $1.4$. These observations provide the first evidence of a shock and a conical dust cavity opened by the jet driven by IRS7B, with important implications for the chemical enrichment and grain growth in the envelope of Solar System analogues., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables. Accepted Letter in Astronomy & Astrophysics

Methanol is a ubiquitous species commonly found in the molecular interstellar medium. It is also a crucial seed species for the building-up of the chemical complexity in star forming regions. Thus, understanding how its abundance evolves during the star formation process and whether it enriches the emerging planetary system is of paramount importance. We used new data from the ALMA Large Program FAUST (Fifty AU STudy of the chemistry in the disk/envelope system of Solar-like protostars) to study the methanol line emission towards the [BHB2007] 11 protobinary system (sources A and B), where a complex structure of filaments connecting the two sources with a larger circumbinary disk has been previously detected. Twelve methanol lines have been detected with upper energies in the range [45-537] K along with one 13CH3OH transition. The methanol emission is compact and encompasses both protostars, separated by only 28 au and presents three velocity components, not spatially resolved by our observations, associated with three different spatial regions, with two of them close to 11B and the third one associated with 11A. A non-LTE radiative transfer analysis of the methanol lines concludes that the gas is hot and dense and highly enriched in methanol with an abundance as high as 1e-5. Using previous continuum data, we show that dust opacity can potentially completely absorb the methanol line emission from the two binary objects. Although we cannot firmly exclude other possibilities, we suggest that the detected hot methanol is resulting from the shocked gas from the incoming filaments streaming towards [BHB2007] 11 A and B, respectively. Higher spatial resolution observations are necessary to confirm this hypothesis., Comment: 17 pages, accepted in A&A

Isotopic ratios provide a powerful tool for understanding the origins of materials, including the volatile and refractory matter within solar system bodies. Recent high sensitivity observations of molecular isotopologues, in particular with ALMA, have brought us new information on isotopic ratios of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in star and planet forming regions as well as the solar system objects. Solar system exploration missions, such as Rosetta and Cassini, have given us further new insights. Meanwhile, the recent development of sophisticated models for isotope chemistry including detailed gas-phase and grain surface reaction network has made it possible to discuss how isotope fractionation in star and planet forming regions is imprinted into the icy mantles of dust grains, preserving a record of the initial isotopic state of solar system materials. This chapter reviews recent progress in observations of molecular isotopologues in extra-solar planet forming regions, prestellar/protostellar cores and protoplanetary disks, as well as objects in our solar system -- comets, meteorites, and planetary/satellite atmospheres -- and discusses their connection by means of isotope chemical models., Comment: To appear in Protostars and Planets VII, University of Arizona Press, eds. Shu-ichiro Inutsuka, Yuri Aikawa, Takayuki Muto, Kengo Tomida, and Motohide Tamura

In this era of spatially resolved observations of planet forming disks with ALMA and large ground-based telescopes such as the VLT, Keck and Subaru, we still lack statistically relevant information on the quantity and composition of the material that is building the planets, such as the total disk gas mass, the ice content of dust, and the state of water in planetesimals. SPICA is an infrared space mission concept developed jointly by JAXA and ESA to address these questions. The key unique capabilities of SPICA that enable this research are (1) the wide spectral coverage 10-220 micron, (2) the high line detection sensitivity of (1-2) 10-19 W m-2 with R~2000-5000 in the far-IR (SAFARI) and 10-20 W m-2 with R~29000 in the mid-IR (SMI, spectrally resolving line profiles), (3) the high far-IR continuum sensitivity of 0.45 mJy (SAFARI), and (4) the observing efficiency for point source surveys. This paper details how mid- to far-IR infrared spectra will be unique in measuring the gas masses and water/ice content of disks and how these quantities evolve during the planet forming period. These observations will clarify the crucial transition when disks exhaust their primordial gas and further planet formation requires secondary gas produced from planetesimals. The high spectral resolution mid-IR is also unique for determining the location of the snowline dividing the rocky and icy mass reservoirs within the disk and how the divide evolves during the build-up of planetary systems. Infrared spectroscopy (mid- to far-IR) of key solid state bands is crucial for assessing whether extensive radial mixing, which is part of our Solar System history, is a general process occurring in most planetary systems and whether extrasolar planetesimals are similar to our Solar System comets/asteroids. ... (abbreviated), Comment: accepted for publication in PASA

The study of hot corinos in Solar-like protostars has been so far mostly limited to the Class 0 phase, hampering our understanding of their origin and evolution. In addition, recent evidence suggests that planet formation starts already during Class I phase, which, therefore, represents a crucial step in the future planetary system chemical composition. Hence, the study of hot corinos in Class I protostars has become of paramount importance. Here we report the discovery of a hot corino towards the prototypical Class I protostar L1551 IRS5, obtained within the ALMA Large Program FAUST. We detected several lines from methanol and its isopotologues ($^{13}$CH$_{\rm 3}$OH and CH$_{\rm 2}$DOH), methyl formate and ethanol. Lines are bright toward the north component of the IRS5 binary system, and a possible second hot corino may be associated with the south component. The methanol lines non-LTE analysis constrains the gas temperature ($\sim$100 K), density ($\geq$1.5$\times$10$^{8}$ cm$^{-3}$), and emitting size ($\sim$10 au in radius). All CH$_{\rm 3}$OH and $^{13}$CH$_{\rm 3}$OH lines are optically thick, preventing a reliable measure of the deuteration. The methyl formate and ethanol relative abundances are compatible with those measured in Class 0 hot corinos. Thus, based on the present work, little chemical evolution from Class 0 to I hot corinos occurs., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures

The formation and early evolution of low mass young stellar objects (YSOs) are investigated using three-dimensional non-ideal magneto-hydrodynamics simulations. We investigate the evolution of YSOs up to ~ 10^4 yr after protostar formation, at which protostellar mass reaches ~ 0.1 M_\odot . We particularly focus on the impact of the dust model on the evolution. We found that a circumstellar disk is formed in all simulations regardless of the dust model. Disk size is approximately 10 AU at the protostar formation epoch, and it increases to several tens of AU at ~ 10^4 yr after protostar formation. Disk mass is comparable to central protostellar mass and gravitational instability develops. In the simulations with small dust size, the warp of the pseudodisk develops ~ 10^4 yr after protostar formation. The warp strengthens magnetic braking in the disk and decreases disk size. Ion-neutral drift can occur in the infalling envelope under the conditions that the typical dust size is a \gtrsim 0.2{\mu}m and the protostar (plus disk) mass is M \gtrsim 0.1 M_\odot. The outflow activity is anti-correlated to the dust size and the strong outflow appears with small dust grains., Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. The published version is available from https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ab93d0. This is open access

Skyrmion is a topologically protected spin texture excited in magnetic thin films. The radii of skyrmions are typically 10-100 nm. Because of the size, the skyrmion is expected to be a candidate for memory and novel-device usages. To realize the futuristic devices that will be using the skyrmion circuit, the tracks which guide the motion of skyrmions are needed. The tracks patterned with differences in the magnetic-anisotropy energy are well-paved without a potential pocket, whereas the tracks carved out of magnetic films have the potential pockets at corners due to the demagnetizing field. Therefore, the tracks patterned with the magnetic anisotropy plays a key role in making the skyrmion circuits. The experiment along this idea has been conducted for the hub and bent tracks. However, we have little known the motion of skyrmions in these tracks. This work aims to identify the forces acting between skyrmions and walls of the tracks. The static force on a skyrmion can be expressed as minus the gradient of the potential energy caused by the magnetic-anisotropy undulation. The potential can be estimated numerically, modeling the shape of skyrmions with their radii and domain wall widths. We find that the forces depend not only on the distance from the wall but also on the shape of skyrmions. We have also performed micromagnetic simulations where the Magnus force and the acceleration by the magnetic-anisotropy gradient are taken into account as well as the force by the walls. The simulation results show good agreement with those calculated from the modeled skyrmions., Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures

We analyze $^{12}$CO($J$=2-1), $^{13}$CO($J$=2-1), C$^{18}$O ($J$=2-1), and 1.3 mm continuum maps of the $\rho$ Ophiuchi A photo-dissociation region (PDR) obtained with ALMA. Layered structures of the three CO isotopologues with an angular separation of 10 arcsec = 6.6$\times$10$^{-3}$ pc = 1400 au are clearly detected around the Be star, S1 (i.e., each front of emission shifts from the near to far side in order of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O). We estimate the spatial variations of $X$($^{13}$CO)/$X$(C$^{18}$O) abundance ratios, and find that the abundance ratio is as high as 40 near the emission front, and decreases to the typical value in the solar system of 5.5 in a small angular scale of 4 arcsec = 2.6$\times$10$^{-3}$ pc = 560 au. We also find that the $I$($^{12}$CO(2-1))/$I$($^{13}$CO(2-1)) intensity ratio is very high ($>$21) in the flat-spectrum young stellar object, GY-51, located in the PDR. The enhancement of the ratios indicates that the UV radiation significantly affects the CO isotopologues via selective dissociation in the overall $\rho$ Ophiuchi A PDR, and that the $\rho$ Ophiuchi A PDR has a plane-parallel structure., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, ApJ accepted

We examined the excitations of planetesimals caused by the resonances of a giant planet in a protoplanetary gas disk. The highly excited planetesimals generate bow shocks, the mechanism of which results in chondrule formation, crystallization of silicate dust, and evaporation of icy planetesimals. The planetesimals beyond 2:1 resonance migrate owing to the gas drag and obtain the maximum eccentricity around 3:1 resonance, which is located at approximately half the planetary distance. The eccentricity depends on the parameters of the planetesimals and the Jovian planet, such as size and location, and gas density of the disk. The maximum relative velocity of a 100-km-sized planetesimal with respect to the gas disk reaches up to ~12 km/s in the case of Jupiter owing to secular resonance, which occurs because of the disk's gravity. We find that if a Jovian mass planet is located within 10 au, the planetesimals larger than 100 km gain sufficient velocity to cause the melting of chondrule precursors and crystallization of the silicate. The maximum velocity is higher for large planetesimals and eccentric planets. Planetesimals are trapped temporarily in the resonances and continue to have high speed over >1 Myr after the formation of a Jovian planet. This duration fits into the timescale of chondrule formation suggested by the isotopic data. The evaporation of icy planetesimals occurs when a Jovian planet is located within 15 au. This mechanism can be a new indicator of planet formation in exosystems if some molecules ejected from icy planetesimals are detected.

Since the pioneering experiment, E89-009 studying hypernuclear spectroscopy using the $(e,e^{\prime}K^+)$ reaction was completed, two additional experiments, E01-011 and E05-115, were performed at Jefferson Lab. These later experiments used a modified experimental design, the "tilt method", to dramatically suppress the large electromagnetic background, and allowed for a substantial increase in luminosity. Additionally, a new kaon spectrometer, HKS (E01-011), a new electron spectrometer, HES, and a new splitting magnet were added to produce precision, high-resolution hypernuclear spectroscopy. These two experiments, E01-011 and E05-115, resulted in two new data sets, producing sub-MeV energy resolution in the spectra of ${}^{7}_{\Lambda}\text{He}$, ${}^{12}_{\Lambda}\text{B}$ and ${}^{28}_{\Lambda}\text{Al}$ and ${}^{7}_{\Lambda}\text{He}$, ${}^{10}_{\Lambda}\text{Be}$, ${}^{12}_{\Lambda}\text{B}$ and ${}^{52}_{\Lambda}\text{V}$. All three experiments obtained a ${}^{12}_{\Lambda}\text{B}$, spectrum, which is the most characteristic $p$-shell hypernucleus and is commonly used for calibration. Independent analyses of these different experiments demonstrate excellent consistency and provide the clearest level structure to date of this hypernucleus as produced by the $(e,e^{\prime}K^+)$ reaction. This paper presents details of these experiments, and the extraction and analysis of the observed ${}^{12}_{\Lambda}\text{B}$ spectrum.

A procedure for measuring material thickness by means of necessarily-long acoustic wavelengths is examined. The approach utilizes a temporal phase lag caused by the impulse time of wave momentum transferred through a thin layer that is much denser than its surrounding medium. In air, it is predicted that solid or liquid layers below approximately 1/2000 of the acoustic wavelength will exhibit a phase shift with an arctangent functional dependence on thickness and layer density. The effect is verified for thin films on the scale of 10 microns using audible frequency sound (7 kHz). Soap films as thin as 100 nm are then measured using 40 kHz air ultrasound. The method's potential for imaging applications is demonstrated by combining the approach with near-field holography, resulting in reconstructions with sub-wavelength resolution in both the depth and lateral directions. Potential implications at very high and very low acoustic frequencies are discussed., Comment: Submitted to Journal of Applied Physics

GASPS is a far-infrared line and continuum survey of protoplanetary and young debris disks using PACS on the Herschel Space Observatory. The survey includes [OI] at 63 microns, as well as 70, 100 and 160um continuum, with the brightest objects also studied in [OI]145um, [CII]157um, H2O and CO. Targets included T Tauri stars and debris disks in 7 nearby young associations, and a sample of isolated Herbig AeBe stars. The aim was to study the global gas and dust content in a wide disk sample, systemically comparing the results with models. In this paper we review the main aims, target selection and observing strategy. We show initial results, including line identifications, sources detected, and a first statistical study. [OI]63um was the brightest line in most objects, by a factor of ~10. Detection rates were 49%, including 100% of HAeBe stars and 43% of T Tauri stars. Comparison with published dust masses show a dust threshold for [OI]63um detection of ~1e-5 M_solar. Normalising to 140pc distance, 32% with mass 1e-6 - 1e-5 M_solar, and a small number with lower mass were also detected. This is consistent with moderate UV excess and disk flaring. In most cases, continuum and line emission is spatially and spectrally unresolved, suggesting disk emission. ~10 objects were resolved, likely from outflows. Detection rates in [OI]145um, [CII]157um and CO J=18-17 were 20-40%, but [CII] was not correlated with disk mass, suggesting it arises instead from a compact envelope. [OI] detection rates in T Tauri associations of ages 0.3-4Myr were ~50%. ~2 stars were detectable in associations of 5-20Myr, with no detections in associations of age >20Myr. Comparing with the total number of young stars, and assuming a ISM-like gas/dust ratio, this indicates that ~18% of stars retain a gas-rich disk of total mass >1M_Jupiter for 1-4Myr, 1-7% keep such disks for 5-10Myr, and none remain beyond 10-20Myr., Comment: Accepted for PASP

An experiment with a newly developed high-resolution kaon spectrometer (HKS) and a scattered electron spectrometer with a novel configuration was performed in Hall C at Jefferson Lab (JLab). The ground state of a neutron-rich hypernucleus, He 7 Lambda, was observed for the first time with the (e,e'K+) reaction with an energy resolution of ~0.6 MeV. This resolution is the best reported to date for hypernuclear reaction spectroscopy. The he 7 Lambda binding energy supplies the last missing information of the A=7, T=1 hypernuclear iso-triplet, providing a new input for the charge symmetry breaking (CSB) effect of \Lambda N potential., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PRL

Context - Circumstellar discs are ubiquitous around young stars, but rapidly dissipate their gas and dust on timescales of a few Myr. The Herschel space observatory allows for the study of the warm disc atmosphere, using far-infrared spectroscopy to measure gas content and excitation conditions, and far-IR photometry to constrain the dust distribution. Aims - We aim to detect and characterize the gas content of circumstellar discs in four targets as part of the Herschel science demonstration phase. Methods - We carried out sensitive medium resolution spectroscopy and high sensitivity photometry at lambda ~60-190 micron using the Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer instrument on the Herschel space observatory. Results - We detect [OI] 63 micron emission from the young stars HD 169142, TW Hydrae, and RECX 15, but not HD 181327. No other lines, including [CII] 158 and [OI] 145, are significantly detected. All four stars are detected in photometry at 70 and 160 micron. Extensive models are presented in associated papers., Comment: Comments: 5 pages, 2 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in the A&A Herschel special issue

The Herschel GASPS Key Program is a survey of the gas phase of protoplanetary discs, targeting 240 objects which cover a large range of ages, spectral types, and disc properties. To interpret this large quantity of data and initiate self-consistent analyses of the gas and dust properties of protoplanetary discs, we have combined the capabilities of the radiative transfer code MCFOST with the gas thermal balance and chemistry code ProDiMo to compute a grid of 300 000 disc models (DENT). We present a comparison of the first Herschel/GASPS line and continuum data with the predictions from the DENT grid of models. Our objective is to test some of the main trends already identified in the DENT grid, as well as to define better empirical diagnostics to estimate the total gas mass of protoplanetary discs. Photospheric UV radiation appears to be the dominant gas-heating mechanism for Herbig stars, whereas UV excess and/or X-rays emission dominates for T Tauri stars. The DENT grid reveals the complexity in the analysis of far-IR lines and the difficulty to invert these observations into physical quantities. The combination of Herschel line observations with continuum data and/or with rotational lines in the (sub-)millimetre regime, in particular CO lines, is required for a detailed characterisation of the physical and chemical properties of circumstellar discs., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in the A&A Herschel special issue

Planets are formed in disks around young stars. With an age of ~10 Myr, TW Hya is one of the nearest T Tauri stars that is still surrounded by a relatively massive disk. In addition a large number of molecules has been found in the TW Hya disk, making TW Hya the perfect test case in a large survey of disks with Herschel-PACS to directly study their gaseous component. We aim to constrain the gas and dust mass of the circumstellar disk around TW Hya. We observed the fine-structure lines of [OI] and [CII] as part of the Open-time large program GASPS. We complement this with continuum data and ground-based 12CO 3-2 and 13CO 3-2 observations. We simultaneously model the continuum and the line fluxes with the 3D Monte-Carlo code MCFOST and the thermo-chemical code ProDiMo to derive the gas and dust masses. We detect the [OI] line at 63 micron. The other lines that were observed, [OI] at 145 micron and [CII] at 157 micron, are not detected. No extended emission has been found. Preliminary modeling of the photometric and line data assuming [12CO]/[13CO]=69 suggests a dust mass for grains with radius < 1 mm of ~1.9 times 10^-4 Msun (total solid mass of 3 times 10^-3 Msun) and a gas mass of (0.5--5) times 10^-3 Msun. The gas-to-dust mass may be lower than the standard interstellar value of 100., Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in the A&A Herschel special issue

In an effort to simultaneously study the gas and dust components of the disc surrounding the young Herbig Ae star HD 169142, we present far-IR observations obtained with the PACS instrument onboard the Herschel Space Observatory. This work is part of the Open Time Key Project GASPS, which is aimed at studying the evolution of protoplanetary discs. To constrain the gas properties in the outer disc, we observed the star at several key gas-lines, including [OI] 63.2 and 145.5 micron, [CII] 157.7 micron, CO 72.8 and 90.2 micron, and o-H2O 78.7 and 179.5 micron. We only detect the [OI] 63.2 micron line in our spectra, and derive upper limits for the other lines. We complement our data set with PACS photometry and 12/13CO data obtained with the Submillimeter Array. Furthermore, we derive accurate stellar parameters from optical spectra and UV to mm photometry. We model the dust continuum with the 3D radiative transfer code MCFOST and use this model as an input to analyse the gas lines with the thermo-chemical code ProDiMo. Our dataset is consistent with a simple model in which the gas and dust are well-mixed in a disc with a continuous structure between 20 and 200 AU, but this is not a unique solution. Our modelling effort allows us to constrain the gas-to-dust mass ratio as well as the relative abundance of the PAHs in the disc by simultaneously fitting the lines of several species that originate in different regions. Our results are inconsistent with a gas-poor disc with a large UV excess; a gas mass of 5.0 +/- 2.0 times 10^(-3) Msun is still present in this disc, in agreement with earlier CO observations., Comment: 5 pages, 3 Postscript figures, accepted for publication in the A&A Herschel special issue

New Jefferson Lab data are presented on the nuclear dependence of the inclusive cross section from 2H, 3He, 4He, 9Be and 12C for 0.3

We have studied the dependence of the profiles of molecular abundances and line emission on the accretion flow in the hot ($\ga 100$K) inner region of protoplanetary disks. The gas-phase reactions initiated by evaporation of the ice mantle on dust grains are calculated along the accretion flow. We focus on methanol, a molecule that is formed predominantly through the evaporation of warm ice mantles, to show how the abundance profile and line emission depend on the accretion flow. Our results show that some evaporated molecules keep high abundances only when the accretion velocity is large enough, and that methanol could be useful as a diagnostic of the accretion flow by means of ALMA observations at the disk radius of $\la 10$AU., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A

The photoproduction process of neutral kaons on a liquid deuterium target is investigated near the threshold region, Egamma = 0.8-1.1 GeV. K0 events are reconstructed from positive and negative pions, and differential cross sections are derived. Experimental momentum spectra are compared with those calculated in the spectator model using a realistic deuteron wave function. Elementary amplitudes as given by recent isobar models and a simple phenomenological model are used to study the effect of the new data on the angular behavior of the elementary cross section. The data favor a backward-peaked angular distribution of the elementary n(gamma,K0)Lambda process, which provides additional constraints on current models of kaon photoproduction. The present study demonstrates that the n(gamma,K0)Lambda reaction can provide key information on the mechanism of the photoproduction of strangeness., Comment: 11 pages, 13 figures

Detailed models for the density and temperature profiles of gas and dust in protoplanetary disks are constructed by taking into account X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation from a central T Tauri star, as well as dust size growth and settling toward the disk midplane. The spatial and size distributions of dust grains in the disks are numerically computed by solving the coagulation equation for settling dust particles. The level populations and line emission of molecular hydrogen are calculated using the derived physical structure of the disks. X-ray irradiation is the dominant heating source of the gas in the inner disk region and in the surface layer, while the far UV heating dominates otherwise. If the central star has strong X-ray and weak UV radiation, the H2 level populations are controlled by X-ray pumping, and the X-ray induced transition lines could be observable. If the UV irradiation is strong, the level populations are controlled by thermal collisions or UV pumping, depending on the properties of the dust grains in the disks. As the dust particles evolve in the disks, the gas temperature at the disk surface drops because the grain photoelectric heating becomes less efficient, while the UV radiation fields become stronger due to the decrease of grain opacity. This makes the H2 level populations change from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) to non-LTE distributions, which results in changes to the line ratios of H2 emission. Our results suggest that dust evolution in protoplanetary disks could be observable through the H2 line ratios. The emission lines are strong from disks irradiated by strong UV and X-rays and possessing small dust grains; such disks will be good targets in which to observe H2 emission., Comment: 33 pages, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

Kaon photo-production process on $^{12}$C has been studied by measuring neutral kaons in a photon energy range of 0.8$-$1.1 GeV. Neutral kaons were identified by the invariant mass constructed from two charged pions emitted in the $K^{0}_{S}\to\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ decay channel. The differential cross sections as well as the integrated ones in the threshold photon energy region were obtained. The obtained momentum spectra were compared with a Spectator model calculation using elementary amplitudes of kaon photo-production given by recent isobar models. Present result provides, for the first time, the information on $n(\gamma,K^{0})\Lambda$ reaction which is expected to play an important role to construct models for strangeness production by the electromagnetic interaction. Experimental results show that cross section of $^{12}{\rm C}(\gamma,K^0)$ is of the same order to that of $^{12}{\rm C}(\gamma,K^+)$ and suggest that slightly backward $K^0$ angular distribution is favored in the $\gamma n\to K^0\Lambda$ process., Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures

We have modeled self-consistently the density and temperature profiles of gas and dust in protoplanetary disks, taking into account irradiation from a central star. Making use of this physical structure, we have calculated the level populations of molecular hydrogen and the line emission from the disks. As a result, we can reproduce the observed strong line spectra of molecular hydrogen from protoplanetary disks, both in the ultraviolet (UV) and the near-infrared, but only if the central star has a strong UV excess radiation., Comment: 19 pages, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

We have made self-consistent models of the density and temperature profiles of the gas and dust surrounding embedded luminous objects using a detailed radiative transfer model together with observations of the spectral energy distribution of hot molecular cores. Using these profiles we have investigated the hot core chemistry which results when grain mantles are evaporated, taking into account the different binding energies of the mantle molecules, as well a model in which we assume that all molecules are embedded in water ice and have a common binding energy. We find that most of the resulting column densities are consistent with those observed toward the hot core G34.3+0.15 at a time around 10$^4$ years after central luminous star formation. We have also investigated the dependence of the chemical structure on the density profile which suggests an observational possibility of constraining density profiles from determination of the source sizes of line emission from desorbed molecules., Comment: 14 pages, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics