Engineering topics

Clayton, Donald D.

Publications and source records attributed to Clayton, Donald D..

At least 19 records

NASA NTRS1994

Energy deposition and K-shell ionization of supernovae

We present explicit evaluation of K-shell ionization caused by photoelectric absorption, by Compton scattering, and by electron collisions in supernovae envelopes. Each process derives from the radioactivity that dominates the bolometric luminosity of the model supernovae. We include the ionization by bremsstrahlung. We find that electron-collision ionization with decelerating Compton electrons is the dominant process of K-shell ionization for light elements (lighter than Si) whereas photoelectric K-shell absorption of Comptonized gammas is the dominant process of K-shell ionization for heavy elements (like Fe). The relative importance of the ionization processes also depends upon composition and upon time, as well as upon supernova type. For Type Ia all four ionization sources are of importance. We present fitting formulas for the deposition of radioactive power in each class of models studied. The energy deposition of all mechanisms decreases with time, including the rate of K-shell ionizations of all elements throughout the supernovae model evaluated herein. We compare the relative contributions to the energy deposition and confirm with greater numerical detail results already established.

The, Lih-Sin↗

NASA NTRS1993

On Al-26 and other short-lived interstellar radioactivity

Several authors have shown that massive stars exploding at a rate of about three per century can account for a large portion, if not all, of the observed interstellar Al-26. In a separate argument using models of Galactic chemical evolution, Clayton (1984) showed that the Al-26/Al-27 production ratio was not large enough to maintain enough Al-26 in the Galactic disk gas of about 10 exp 10 solar masses having solar composition. We present a resolution of those conflicting arguments. A past history of Galactic infall growing the Galactic disk so dilutes the stable Al-27 concentration that the two approaches can be brought into near agreement. If massive stars dominate the production of Al-26, we suggest that the apparent shortfall of their Al-26/Al-27 yield ratio is to be interpreted as evidence for significant growth of the Galactic disk. We also discuss the implications of these arguments for other extinct radioactivities in meteorites, using I-129 and Sm-146 as examples.

Clayton, Donald D.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Inhomogeneous chemical evolution of the Galactic disk

We present analytical models for inhomogeneous chemical evolution (ICE) of systems in which the star formation history resembles a series of bursts, localized in space and/or time, with intermittent periods of remixing. The additional parameter of this model is the metallicity increment of bursting subsystems, but this parameter is constrained by the spread in the age-metallicity relation. We apply this model to the solar annulus in the Galactic disk and show that ICE models yield an improved fit to the observed shape of the stellar abundance distribution function (ADF). The G-dwarf problem can be alleviated with ICE models, but infall of metal poor gas and/or some preenrichment of the disk during the epoch of protogalactic evolution is still required to explain the paucity of low-metallicity dwarfs. ICE models also suggest an explanation of the reduced frequency of metal-rich G-dwarfs relative to the predictions of the simple model. It does not seem likely that chemical evolution of the solar annulus proceeded in a medium that was well-mixed at all times.

Malinie, Guy↗

NASA NTRS1993

The cosmic gamma-ray background from Type Ia supernovae

We present an improved calculation of the cumulative gamma-ray spectrum of Type Ia supernovae during the history of the universe. We follow Clayton & Ward (1975) in using a few Friedmann models and two simple histories of the average galaxian nucleosynthesis rate, but we improve their calculation by modeling the gamma-ray scattering in detailed numerical models of SN Ia's. The results confirm that near 1 MeV the SN Ia background may dominate, and that it is potentially observable, with high scientific importance. A very accurate measurement of the cosmic background spectrum between 0.1 and 1.0 MeV may reveal the turn-on time and the evolution of the rate of Type Ia supernova nucleosynthesis in the universe.

The, Lih-Sin↗

NASA NTRS1993

Carbon and nitrogen in Type 2 supernova diamonds

Abundant diamonds found in meteorites seem either to have condensed within supernova interiors during their expansions and coolings or to have been present around those explosions. Either alternative allows implantation of Xe-HL prior to interstellar mixing. A puzzling feature is the near normalcy of the carbon isotopes, considering that the only C-rich matter, the He-burning shell, is pure C-12 in that region. That last fact has caused many to associate supernova carbon with C-12 carbon, so that its SUNOCONS have been anticipated as very C-12-rich. We show that this expectation is misleading because the C-13-rich regions of Type 2's have been largely overlooked in this thinking. We here follow the idea that the diamonds nucleated in the C-12-rich He shell, the only C-rich site for nucleation, but then attached C-13-rich carbon during turbulent encounters with overlying C-13-rich matter. That is, the initial diamonds continued to grow during the same collisional encounters that cause the Xe-HL implantation. Instead of interacting with the small carbon mass having 13/12 = 0.2 in the upper He zone, however, we have calculated the remnants of the initial H-burning core, which left behind C-13-rich matter as it receded during core hydrogen burning. Howard et al. described why the velocity mixing would be essential to understanding the implantation of both the Xe-H and Xe-L components. Velocity mixing is now known to occur from the X-ray and gamma-ray light curves of supernova 1987A. Using the stellar evolution code developed at Goettingen, we calculated at Clemson the evolution of a grid of massive stars up to the beginning of core He burning. We paid attention to all H-burning reactions throughout the star, to the treatment of both convection and semiconvection, and to the recession of the outer boundary of the convective H-burning core as the star expands toward a larger redder state. This program was to generate a careful map of the CNO isotope distribution as He burning begins. Our result for the 30 solar mass star is shown.

Clayton, Donald D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

The Co-57 abundance in SN 1987A

Astrophysical implications of the detection by OSSE of Co-57 gamma radiation from SN 1987A are discussed. By burying the alpha-rich-freezeout portion at deeper gamma depths than in published models, it is shown that it remains barely possible that the bolometric luminosity during days 1200-1800 could derive from Co-57 power without requiring 57/56 production ratios greater than twice solar. Alternative mechanisms which may contribute to the bolometric power at late times are proposed.

Clayton, Donald D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Silicon isotopic composition in large meteoritic SiC particles and Na-22 origin of Ne-22

Large SiC particles extracted from acid-insoluble residues of carbonaceous chondrites are isotopically anomalous in both silicon and carbon and contain isotopically extreme noble gases. These particles are thought to have originated in mass outflows from red giant stars and to have existed in the interstellar medium at the time the solar system formed from an interstellar cloud. Calculations show that the silicon isotope correlations in those large SiC particles can be generated only in the most massive carbon stars. Consequently, the almost pure Ne-22 in those particles must be interpreted as the condensation of radioactive Na-22 in the particles as they flowed away from the stars. The Na-22 is produced through proton capture by Ne-21 at the base of the surface convection zone. Ne-22 does not exist abundantly in helium shells hot enough to burn magnesium, which is necessary to establish the measured silicon isotopic composition.

Brown, Lawrence E.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Heavy-element abundances from a neutron burst that produces Xe-H

We examine quantitatively the suggestion that the heavy anomalous isotopes of Xe-HL found in meteoritic diamonds were produced by a short intense neutron burst and then implanted into the diamonds. Using a large nuclear reaction network we establish one (out of many) neutron irradiation hostories that successfully reproduces the heavy isotopes of Xe-HL, and then evaluate what that same history would produce in every heavy element. This has become more relevant following recent measurement of anomalous Ba and Sr in those same diamond samples. Therefore we offer these calculations as a guide to the anomalies to be expected in all elements if this scenario is correct. We also discuss several other aspects of the problem, especially the established contradictions for Ba, the observed Kr pattern, the near normalcy of Xe-129 and some related astrophysical ideas. In particular we argue from p-process theory that the observed deficit of Kr-78 in correlation with Xe-(124-126) excess implicates Type II supernovae as the diamond sources.

Howard, W. M.↗

NASA NTRS1992

SiC particles from asymptotic giant branch stars - Mg burning and the s-process

The question of whether isotopically anomalous SiC particles found in meteorites originate in AGB stars is addressed. It is shown that if the peak helium shell flash temperatures of massive (6-9 solar masses) stars are about 10 percent larger than they are normally assumed to be, alpha particle reactions with the magnesium will become significant. Then the (Mg-29)(alpha, n)Si-29 reaction produces a large excess of Si-29. With a light element nuclear reaction network, the evolution of the silicon isotopic composition during AGB evolution is calculated. It is found that the experimentally determined correlation between excess Si-29 and excess Si-30 in SiC particles from carbonaceous chondrites can indeed be naturally produced in this way. It is suggested that if the large isotopically anomalous SiC particles carrying nearly pure-process krypton and xenon do indeed originate in AGB stars, those stars were massive and had peak shell flash temperatures near 450 KM.

Brown, Lawrence E.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Meteoritics and the origins of atomic nuclei

A review of new issues that have emerged in the study of nucleosynthesis is presented. The issues explored in detail are: (1) a quantitative s-process theory, (2) cosmoradiogenic chronology, (3) explosive nucleosynthesis and gamma-ray astronomy, and (4) cosmic chemical memory. The unexpected abundance patterns within meteorites that were suggested by the resolution of these issues are described.

Clayton, Donald D.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Gamma ray pulsar analysis from photon probability maps

A new method is presented of analyzing skymap-type gamma ray data. Each photon event is replaced by a probability distribution on the sky corresponding to the observing instrument's point spread function. The skymap produced by this process may be used for source detection or identification. Most important, the use of these photon weights for pulsar analysis promises significant improvement over traditional techniques.

Brown, Lawrence E.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Cosmic gamma-ray bursts from BATSE - Another great debate

The BATSE detectors aboard Compton Observatory record about one cosmic gamma-ray burst (GRB) per day. Preliminary data analysis shows a highly isotropic sky map and a nonuniform brightness distribution. Anisotropies expected from a Galactic neutron star population, the most frequently considered source model, did not emerge from the data. Taken at face value, the data seem to suggest a heliocentric solution of the GRB puzzle. The observed isotropy can be achieved if sources are either very near or extragalactic. Pop I neutron stars in the disk do not simultaneously fit sky and brightness distributions. A possibility are sources in an extended Galactic halo with scale length large enough to avoid strong anisotropies due to the solar offset from the Galactic center. If GRBs are located in an extended halo we ask whether the neutron star paradigm can survive. We show that the recently discovered high velocity radio pulsars may provide a natural source population for GRBs. If these pulsars formed in the halo, as suggested by the radio data, the possibility arises that GRBs and high velocity pulsars are two related phenomena that provide observational evidence of the dark Galactic corona. We also discuss cosmological redshift constraints that follow from the observed brightness distribution.

Hartmann, Dieter H.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Gamma ray constraints on the Galactic supernova rate

We perform Monte Carlo simulations of the expected gamma ray signatures of Galactic supernovae of all types to estimate the significance of the lack of a gamma ray signal due to supernovae occurring during the last millenium. Using recent estimates of the nuclear yields, we determine mean Galactic supernova rates consistent with the historic supernova record and the gamma ray limits. Another objective of these calculations of Galactic supernova histories is their application to surveys of diffuse Galactic gamma ray line emission.

Hartmann, D.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Gamma ray pulsar analysis from photon pobability maps

We present a new method of analyzing skymap-type gamma ray data. Each photon event is replaced by a probability distribution on the sky corresponding to the observing instrument's point spread function. The skymap produced by this process may be used for source detection or identification. Most important, the use of these photon weights for pulsar analysis promises significant improvement over traditional techniques.

Brown, Lawrence E.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Bremsstrahlung and energetic electrons in supernovae

Explicit Monte Carlo calculations are presented for the rate of Compton scattering and for the spectrum recoil electrons per gram at discrete depths within models of supernovae, with emphasis on the bremsstrahlung emissivity within supernova interiors. The spectrum of the bremsstrahlung emissivity is calculated at E to the -1.3 for a wide range of supernova models. The radial and temporal dependence of that emissivity is calculated for two models of SN 1987A and for one model of a Type Ia and of a He core explosion model of a Type Ib. The spectrum emerging from the surface, which is then evaluated by Monte Carlo techniques, was found to be sensitive to the photoelectric opacity and inverted by it, i.e., the spectral luminosity of the bremsstrahlung component increases slowly between 1 and 30 keV even though the emissivity declines with energy within that energy band. The bremsstrahlung luminosity was found to dominate that of the primary scattered gammas for E of less than 20 keV.

Clayton, Donald D.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Bremsstrahlung emission of the SN1987A interior

The down-scattering of gamma photons stores a significant fraction of the total energy in recoil electrons. This paper presents the bremsstrahlung emission of those recoil electrons in SN1987A. If the bolometric luminosity derives from radioactive decay, the bremsstrahlung emissivity must be present, but has not previously been treated. Initially it was our hope to account for the Ginga 16-28 keV measurement of SN1987A or to find a detectable X-ray luminosity near 1 keV for ROSAT. Although this bremsstrahlung emission fails to explain Ginga fluxes, it dominates the X-ray fluxes below 20 keV and can have detectable consequences for the X-ray lines from circumstellar matter. Results for day 175, 500, 1000, and 1500 are shown.

The, Lih-Sin↗

NASA NTRS1989

Age structure of refractory interstellar dust and isotopic consequences

A sputtering and recycling Monte Carlo model, developed by Liffman and Clayton (1988) is used to calculate the distribution of existence times of the matter in interstellar dust composed of refractory metals. The mean age of each dust particle is defined not as the time it has existed but rather as the mass-weighted existence times of its parts at t = 6 Gyr of the modeled solar system formation. It is shown that Galactic evolution generates a mean correlation, applying to large numbers of particles binned according to size rather than according to individual particles, whose mean ages fluctuate statistically. The cosmochemical consequence is that if interstellar particles can be dynamically sorted into separate size populations during the aggregation history of solar system bodies, the collections of larger grains will constitute matter that is chemically older than collections of smaller grains. The macroscopic age difference generates isotopic anomalies by virtue of the time dependence of the secondary/primary nucleosynthesis yields. Results are compared with three different prescriptions for the sputtering of interstellar dust.

Clayton, Donald D.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Stochastic evolution of refractory interstellar dust during the chemical evolution of a two-phase interstellar medium

The evolution course of refractoary interstellar dust during the chemical evolution of a two-phase interstellar medium (ISM) is studied using a simple model of the chemical evolution of ISM. It is assumed that, in this medium, the stars are born in molecular clouds, but new nucleosynthesis products and stellar return are entered into a complementary diffuse medium; the well-mixed matter of each interstellar phase is repeatedly cycled stochastically through the complementary phase and back. The dust is studied on a particle-by-particle bases as it is sputtered by shock waves in the diffuse medium, accretes an amorphous mantle of gaseous refractory atoms while its local medium joins the molecular cloud medium, and encounters the possibility of astration within molecular clouds. Results are presented relevant to the size spectrum of accreted mantles, its age spectrum and the distinction among its several lifetimes, depletion factors of refractory atoms in the diffuse gas, and isotopic anomalies.

Liffman, Kurt↗