Molecular clouds are observed to be turbulent, but the origin of this turbulence is not well understood. As a result, there are two different approaches to simulating molecular clouds, one in which the turbulence is allowed to decay after it is initialized, and one in which it is driven. We use the adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) code, Orion, to perform high-resolution simulations of molecular cloud cores and protostars in environments with both driven and decaying turbulence. We include self-gravity, use a barotropic equation of state, and represent regions exceeding the maximum grid resolution with sink particles. We analyze the properties of bound cores such as size, shape, linewidth, and rotational energy, and we find reasonable agreement with observation. At high resolution, the different rates of core accretion in the two cases have a significant effect on protostellar system development. Clumps forming in a decaying turbulence environment produce high-multiplicity protostellar systems with Toomre-Q unstable disks that exhibit characteristics of the competitive accretion model for star formation. In contrast, cores forming in the context of continuously driven turbulence and virial equilibrium form smaller protostellar systems with fewer low-mass members. Our simulations of driven and decaying turbulence show some statistically significant differences, particularly in the production of brown dwarfs and core rotation, but the uncertainties are large enough that we are not able to conclude whether observations favor one or the other.
Any hint of non-gaussianity in the cosmological initial conditions will provide us with a unique window into the physics of early universe. We show that the impact of a small local primordial non-gaussianity (generated on super-horizon scales) on the statistics of collapsed objects (such as galaxies or clusters) can be approximated by using slightly modified, but gaussian, initial conditions, which we describe through simple analytic expressions. Given that numerical simulations with gaussian initial conditions are relatively well-studied, this equivalence provides us with a simple tool to predict signatures of primordial non-gaussianity in the statistics of collapsed objects. In particular, we describe the predictions for non-gaussian mass function, and also confirm the recent discovery of a non-local bias on large scales (arXiv:0710.4560, arXiv:0801.4826) as a signature of primordial non-gaussianity. We then study the potential of galaxy surveys to constrain non-gaussianity using their auto-correlation and cross-correlation with the CMB (due to the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect), as a function of survey characteristics, and predict that they will eventually yield an accuracy of Delta f_{NL} ~ 0.1 and 3 respectively, which will be better than or competitive with (but independent of) the best predicted constraints from the CMB. Interestingly, the cross-correlation of CMB and NVSS galaxy survey already shows a hint of a large local primordial non-gaussianity: f_{NL} = 236 +/- 127.
The cross-correlation between high redshift galaxies and 21 cm emission from the high redshift intergalactic medium (IGM) promises to be an excellent probe of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). On large scales, the 21 cm and galaxy fields are anti-correlated during most of the reionization epoch. However, on scales smaller than the size of the H II regions around detectable galaxies, the two fields become roughly uncorrelated. Consequently, the 21 cm-galaxy cross power spectrum provides a tracer of bubble growth during reionization, with the signal turning over on progressively larger scales as reionization proceeds. The precise turnover scale depends on the minimum host mass of the detectable galaxies, and the galaxy selection technique. Measuring the turnover scale as a function of galaxy luminosity constrains the characteristic bubble size around galaxies of different luminosities. The cross spectrum becomes positive on small scales if ionizing photons fail to escape from low mass galaxies, and these galaxies are detectable longward of the hydrogen ionization edge, because in this case some identifiable galaxies lie outside of ionized regions. LOFAR can potentially measure the 21 cm-galaxy cross spectrum in conjunction with mild extensions to the existing Subaru survey for $z=6.6$ Lyman-alpha emitters, while the MWA is slightly less sensitive for detecting the cross spectrum. A futuristic galaxy survey covering a sizable fraction of the MWA field of view ($\sim 800$ deg$^2$) can probe the scale dependence of the cross spectrum, constraining the filling factor of H II regions at different redshifts during reionization, and providing other valuable constraints on reionization models.
We study the relation between the internal structure of early-type galaxies and their environment using 70 strong gravitational lenses from the Sloan ACS Lens Survey (SLACS). The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) database is used to determine two measures of overdensity of galaxies around each lens: the projected number density of galaxies inside the tenth nearest neighbor (\Sigma_{10}) and within a cone of radius one h^{-1} Mpc (D_1). Our main results are: 1) Lenses prefer overdense environments as expected for massive early-type galaxies (12/70 are in groups or clusters). 2) The distribution of overdensities is indistinguishable from that of ``twin'' non-lens galaxies selected from SDSS to have the same redshift and stellar velocity dispersion \sigma_*. Thus, within our errors, lens galaxies are an unbiased population, and the SLACS results can be generalized to the overall population of early-type galaxies. 3) Typical contributions from external mass distribution are no more than a few per cent in local mass density, reaching 10-20% (~0.05-0.10 external convergence) only in the most extreme overdensities. 4) No significant correlation between overdensity and slope of the mass density profile of the lens galaxies is found. 5) Satellite galaxies (those with a more luminous companion) have marginally steeper mass density profiles (as quantified by f_SIE=\sigma_*/\sigma_SIE=1.12+-0.05 vs 1.01+-0.01) and smaller dynamically normalized mass enclosed within the Einstein radius (\Delta \log M_{Ein}/M_{dim} differs by -0.09+-0.03 dex) than central galaxies (those without). This result suggests that tidal stripping may affect the mass structure of early-type galaxies down to kpc scales probed by strong lensing, when they fall into larger structures.
We present the discovery of two nearby L dwarfs from our 2MASS proper motion search, which uses multi-epoch 2MASS observations covering ~4700 square degrees of sky. 2MASS J18212815+1414010 and 2MASS J21481628+4003593 were overlooked by earlier surveys due to their faint optical magnitudes and their proximity to the Galactic Plane (10 degrees < |b| < 15 degrees). Assuming that both dwarfs are single, we derive spectrophotometric distances of ~10 pc, thus increasing the number of known L dwarfs within 10 pc to 10. In the near-infrared, 2MASS J21481628+4003593 shows a triangular-shaped H-band spectrum, strong CO absorption, and a markedly red J-Ks color (2.38+/-0.06) for its L6 optical spectral type. 2MASS J18212815+1414010 also shows a triangular-shaped H-band spectrum and a slightly red J-Ks color (1.78+/-0.05) for its L4.5 optical spectral type. Both objects show strong silicate absorption at 9-11 microns. Cumulatively, these features imply an unusually dusty photosphere for both of these objects. We examine several scenarios to explain the underlying cause for their enhanced dust content and find that a metal-rich atmosphere or a low-surface gravity are consistent with these results. 2MASS J18212815+1414010 may be young (and therefore have a low-surface gravity) based on its low tangential velocity of 10 km/s. On the other hand, 2MASS J21481628+4003593 has a high tangential velocity of 62 km/s and is therefore likely old. Hence, high metallicity and low-surface gravity may lead to similar effects.
I compute the effect on the power spectrum of tracers of the large-scale mass-density field (e.g., galaxies) of primordial non-Gaussianity of the form Phi=phi+fNL (phi-<phi^2>)+gNL phi^3+..., where Phi is proportional to the initial potential fluctuations and phi is a Gaussian field, using beyond-linear-order perturbation theory. I find that the need to eliminate large higher-order corrections necessitates the addition of a new term to the bias model, proportional to phi, i.e., delta_g=b_delta delta+b_phi fNL phi+..., with all the consequences this implies for clustering statistics, e.g., P_gg(k)=b_delta^2 P_deltadelta(k)+2 b_delta b_phi fNL P_phidelta(k)+b_phi^2 fNL^2 P_phiphi(k)+... . This result is consistent with calculations based on a model for dark matter halo clustering, showing that the form is quite general, not requiring assumptions about peaks, or the formation or existence of halos. The halo model plays the same role it does in the usual bias picture, giving a prediction for b_phi for galaxies known to sit in a certain type of halo. Previous projections for future constraints based on this effect have been very conservative -- there is enough volume at z<~2 to measure fNL to ~+-1, with much more volume at higher z. As a prelude to the bias calculation, I point out that the beyond-linear (in phi) corrections to the power spectrum of mass-density perturbations are naively infinite, so it is dangerous to assume they are negligible; however, the infinite part can be removed by a renormalization of the fluctuation amplitude, with the residual k-dependent corrections negligible for models allowed by current constraints.
In this talk I shall start by describing how we set about and carried out the
work which led to the publication of B2FH in 1957. I then shall try and relate
this work and the circumstances that surrounded it to the larger problem of the
origin and formation of the universe. Here it is necessary to look back at the
way that ideas developed and how in many situations astronomers went astray. Of
course this is a personal view, though I very strongly believe that if he were
still here, it is the approach that Fred Hoyle would take.
I start by describing the problems originally encountered by Gamow and his
associates in trying to decide where the helium was made. This leads me to a
modern discussion of the origin of 2D, 3He, 4He and 7Li, originally described
by B2FH as due to the x-process. While it is generally argued, following Gamow,
Alpher, and Herman, that these isotopes were synthesized in a big bang I shall
show that it is equally likely that these isotopes were made in active galactic
nuclei, as was the cosmic microwave background (CMB), in a cyclic universe
model. The key piece of observational evidence is that the amount of energy
carried by the CMB, namely about 4.5 x 10-13 erg cm-3
Existence of metastable quarks of new generation can be embedded into phenomenology of heterotic string together with new long range interaction, which only this new generation possesses. We discuss primordial quark production in the early Universe, their successive cosmological evolution and astrophysical effects, as well as possible production in present or future accelerators. In case of a charge symmetry of 4th generation quarks in Universe, they can be stored in neutral mesons, doubly positively charged baryons, while all the doubly negatively charged "baryons" are combined with He-4 into neutral nucleus-size atom-like states. The existence of all these anomalous stable particles may escape present experimental limits, being close to present and future experimental test. Due to the nuclear binding with He-4 primordial lightest baryons of the 4th generation with charge +1 can also escape the experimental upper limits on anomalous isotopes of hydrogen, being compatible with upper limits on anomalous lithium. While 4th quark hadrons are rare, their presence may be nearly detectable in cosmic rays, muon and neutrino fluxes and cosmic electromagnetic spectra. In case of charge asymmetry, a nontrivial solution for the problem of dark matter (DM) can be provided by excessive (meta)stable anti-up quarks of 4th generation, bound with He-4 in specific nuclear-interacting form of dark matter. Such candidate to DM is surprisingly close to Warm Dark Matter by its role in large scale structure formation. It catalyzes primordial heavy element production in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and new types of nuclear transformations around us.
We study the effects of rotation on the neutrino emission from Population III (Pop III) stars by performing a series of two-dimensional rotational collapse simulations of Pop III stellar cores. Our results show that rotation enhances the neutrino luminosities and the average energies of emitted neutrinos. This is because the thermalized inner core, which is the dominant neutrino source from Pop III stars, can be enlarged, due to rotational flattening, enough to extend the inner core outside the neutrinospheres. This is in sharp contrast to the case of spherical collapse, in which the case of inner core shrinks deeper inside the neutrinospheres before black hole formation, which hinders the efficient neutrino emission. In the case of rotational core-collapse, the emitted neutrino energies are found to become larger in the vicinity near the pole than the ones near the equatorial plane. These factors make the emergent neutrino spectrum broader and harder than the spherical collapse case. By computing the overall neutrino signals produced by the ensemble of individual rotating Pop III stars, we find that the amplitudes of the relic neutrinos, depending on their star formation rates, can dominate over the contributions from ordinary core-collapse supernovae below a few MeV. A detection of this signal could be an important tool to probe star formation history in the early universe.
We provide a brief review of the physical processes behind the radiative driving of the winds of OB stars and the Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton capture and accretion of a fraction of the stellar wind by a compact object, typically a neutron star, in detached high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). In addition, we describe a program to develop global models of the radiatively-driven photoionized winds and accretion flows of HMXBs, with particular attention to the prototypical system Vela X-1. The models combine XSTAR photoionization calculations, HULLAC emission models appropriate to X-ray photoionized plasmas, improved models of the radiative driving of photoionized winds, FLASH time-dependent adaptive-mesh hydrodynamics calculations, and Monte Carlo radiation transport. We present two- and three-dimensional maps of the density, temperature, velocity, ionization parameter, and emissivity distributions of representative X-ray emission lines, as well as synthetic global Monte Carlo X-ray spectra. Such models help to better constrain the properties of the winds of HMXBs, which bear on such fundamental questions as the long-term evolution of these binaries and the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium.
The gravitational lens equation for the tilted Plummer family of models can be reduced to a one-dimensional non-linear equation. For certain values of the slope of the radial profile it can be reduced to a polynomial form. Both forms are advantageous to find the roots, i.e. the images for a given model. The critical curve equations can also be reduced to a non-linear or polynomial form, and therefore it is useful to find the caustics. This lens model family has ample use in gravitational lens theory, and can produce up to five images.
Here we examine the relationship between the virial and stellar mass for a range of old stellar systems, from GCs to giant ellipticals, and including such Intermediate Mass Objects (IMOs). Improvements on previous work in this area include the use of (i) near-infrared magnitudes from the 2MASS survey, (ii) aperture corrections to velocity dispersions, (iii) homogeneous half light radii and (iv) accounting for the effects of non-homology in galaxies. We find a virial-to-stellar mass relation that ranges from ~10$^4$ M_o systems (GCs) to ~10$^11$ M_o systems (elliptical galaxies). The lack of measured velocity dispersions for dwarf ellipticals with -16 > M_K > -18 (~10$^8$ M_o) currently inhibits our ability to determine how, or indeed if, these galaxies connect continuously with GCs in terms of their virial-to-stellar mass ratios. We find elliptical galaxies to have roughly equal fractions of dark and stellar matter; only in the most massive (greater than 10$^11$ M_o) ellipticals does dark matter dominate the virial mass. Although the IMOs reveal slightly higher virial-to-stellar mass ratios than lower mass GCs, this may simply reflect our limited understanding of their IMF (and hence their stellar mass-to-light ratios) or structural properties. We argue that most of these intermediate mass objects are a natural extension of the GC sequence to higher masses, i.e. IMOs are essentially massive star clusters. [Abridged].
High-resolution SiO observations of the NGC 1333 IRAS 4A star-forming region showed a highly collimated outflow with a substantial deflection. The deflection was suggested to be caused by the interactions of the outflow and a dense cloud core. To investigate the deflection process of protostellar outflows, we have carried out three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the collision of an outflow with a dense cloud. Assuming a power-law type density distribution of the obstructing cloud, the numerical experiments show that the deflection angle is mainly determined by the impact parameter and the density contrast between the outflow and the cloud. The deflection angle is, however, relatively insensitive to the velocity of the outflow. Using a numerical model with physical conditions that are particularly suitable for the IRAS 4A system, we produce a column-density image and a position-velocity diagram along the outflow, and they are consistent with the observations. Based on our numerical simulations, if we assume that the initial density and the velocity of the outflow are $\sim 10 \cm3$ and $\sim 100 \kms$, the densities of the dense core and ambient medium in the IRAS 4A system are most likely to be $\sim 10^5 \cm3$ and $\sim 10^2 \cm3$, respectively. We therefore demonstrate through numerical simulations that the directional variability of the IRAS 4A outflow can be explained reasonably well using the collision model.
Radiative and Auger decay data have been calculated for modelling the K lines in ions of the nickel isonuclear sequence, from Ni$^+$ up to Ni$^{27+}$. Level energies, transition wavelengths, radiative transition probabilities, and radiative and Auger widths have been determined using Cowan's Hartree--Fock with Relativistic corrections (HFR) method. Auger widths for the third-row ions (Ni$^+$--Ni$^{10+}$) have been computed using single-configuration average (SCA) compact formulae. Results are compared with data sets computed with the AUTOSTRUCTURE and MCDF atomic structure codes and with available experimental and theoretical values, mainly in highly ionized ions and in the solid state.
We perform a linear stability analysis for corrugations of a Newtonian shock, with particle pressure included, for an arbitrary diffusion coefficient. We study first the dispersion relation for homogeneous media, showing that, besides the conventional pressure waves and entropy/vorticity disturbances, two new perturbation modes exist, dominated by the particles' pressure and damped by diffusion. We show that, due to particle diffusion into the upstream region, the fluid will be perturbed also upstream: we treat these perturbation in the short wavelength (WKBJ) regime. We then show how to construct a corrugational mode for the shock itself, one, that is, where the shock executes free oscillations (possibly damped or growing) and sheds perturbations away from itself: this global mode requires the new modes. Then, using the perturbed Rankine-Hugoniot conditions, we show that this leads to the determination of the corrugational eigenfrequency. We solve numerically the equations for the eigenfrequency in the WKBJ regime for the models of Amato and Blasi (2005), showing that they are stable. We then discuss the differences between our treatment and previous work.
Relations connecting GRB quantities can be used to constrain cosmographic parameters of the Hubble law at medium-high redshifts. We consider a sample of 64 GRBs to construct the luminosity distance - redshift relation and derive the values of the parameters q_0$, j_0 and s_0. The results, calibrated by SNeIa data, agree with the $\Lambda$CDM model.
(Abridged) We present high-speed, three-colour photometry of seven short period (Porb <= 95 mins) eclipsing CVs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We determine the system parameters via a parametrized model of the eclipse fitted to the observed lightcurve by chi2 minimization. Three out of seven of the systems possess brown dwarf donor stars and are believed to have evolved past the orbital period minimum. This is in line with predictions that 40-70 per cent of CVs should have evolved past the orbital period minimum. Therefore, the main result of our study is that the missing population of post-period minimum CVs has finally been identified. The donor star masses and radii are, however, inconsistent with model predictions; the donor stars are approximately 10 per cent larger than expected across the mass range studied here. One explanation for the discrepancy is enhanced angular momentum loss (e.g. from circumbinary discs), however the mass-transfer rates, as deduced from white dwarf effective temperatures, are not consistent with enhanced angular momentum loss. We show it is possible to explain the large donor radii without invoking enhanced angular momentum loss by a combination of geometrical deformation and the effects of starspots due to strong rotation and expected magnetic activity. Choosing unambiguously between these different solutions will require independent estimates of the mass-transfer rates in short period CVs.
EGRET gamma-ray archival data used with GALPROP software show two ringlike structures in Milky Way Plane which roughly tally with distribution of stars ([1] & references therein). To understand fully the implications of this and similar results on detailed structure and rotation curve of especially Milky Way Disk as well as rotation curves of other galaxies as derived from spatially resolved spectroscopic data-cubes, a re-examination of the basis of the connection between mass density and rotation curve is warranted. Kenneth F. Nicholsons approach [2], which uses only Newtonian dynamics & gravity, is presented.
The Tully-Fisher relation is a correlation between the luminosity and the HI 21cm line width in spiral galaxies (LLW relation). It is used to derive galaxy distances in the interval 7 to 100 Mpc. Closer, the Cepheids, TRGB and Surface Brightness Fluctuation methods give a better accuracy. Further, the SNIa are luminous objects still available for distance measurement purposes, though with a dramatically lower density grid of measurements on the sky. Galaxies in clusters are all at the same distance from the observer. Thus the distance of the cluster derived from a large number of galaxies (N) has an error reduced according to the square root of N. However, not all galaxies in a cluster are suitable for the LLW measurement. The selection criteria we use are explained hereafter; the important point being to avoid Malmquist bias and to not introduce any systematics in the distance measurement.
GRID-launcher-1.0 was built within the VO-Tech framework, as a software interface between the UK-ASTROGRID and a generic GRID infrastructures in order to allow any ASTROGRID user to launch on the GRID computing intensive tasks from the ASTROGRID Workbench or Desktop. Even though of general application, so far the Grid-Launcher has been tested on a few selected softwares (VONeural-MLP, VONeural-SVM, Sextractor and SWARP) and on the SCOPE-GRID.
Based on CORSIKA and REAS2 simulations, we investigate the sensitivity of geosynchrotron radio emission from extensive air showers to the primary cosmic ray energy and mass. It is found that at a characteristic lateral distance, the amplitude of the bandpass-filtered radio signal is directly proportional to the energy deposited in the atmosphere by the electromagnetic cascade, with an RMS uncertainty due to shower-to-shower fluctuations of less than 3%. In addition, the ratio of this radio amplitude and that at a larger lateral distance is directly related to the atmospheric depth of the air shower maximum, with an RMS uncertainty of ~15-20 g cm^-2. Through the measurement of these quantities, geosynchrotron radio emission from cosmic ray air showers could thus be used to infer the primary particle energy and mass on a shower-to-shower basis.
In quasi-persistent neutron star transients, long outbursts cause the neutron star crust to be heated out of thermal equilibrium with the rest of the star. During quiescence, the crust then cools back down. Such crustal cooling has been observed in two of these quasi-persistent sources: KS 1731-260 and MXB 1659-29. In both of these sources, previous monitoring observations in quiescence suggested that the sources may have returned to thermal equilibrium. Here we present a recent additional Chandra observation of MXB 1659-29 in quiescence. This extends the baseline of monitoring by an extra 2.8 yr, with the latest observation occurring 6.6 yr after the end of the outburst. This new observation strongly suggests that the crust has returned to thermal equilibrium with the rest of the neutron star, with the temperature remaining consistent over 1000 days. We can distinguish between the temperature remaining constant and cooling continuing at the previous rate at more than the 4-sigma level. Fitting the cooling curve with an exponential plus constant model we determine an e-folding timescale of 240 +/- 8 days for the flux curve, and 472 +/- 24 days for the temperature curve (assuming D=10 kpc). We found that the crust cools to a constant surface temperature of 54 +/- 1 eV (assuming D=10 kpc). From this, we infer a core temperature in the range 3.5E7 - 8.3E7 K (assuming D=10 kpc), with the uncertainty due to the surface composition. This range is consistent with moderately enhanced neutrino emission from the core. Importantly, we tested two neutron star atmosphere models as well as a blackbody model, and found that the thermal relaxation time of the crust is independent of the chosen model and the assumed distance.
With this paper we want to investigate the highly variable afterglow light curve and environment of Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 060526 at z=3.221. We present one of the largest photometric datasets ever obtained for a GRB afterglow, consisting of multi-color photometric data from the optical to the NIR. The data set contains 218 data points in total to which we add additional data from the literature. Furthermore, we present low-resolution high signal-to-noise spectra of the afterglow. The afterglow light curve is modeled with both an analytical model using broken power-law fits and with a broadband numerical energy injection model. The absorption lines detected in the spectra are used to derive column densities using a multi-ion single-component curve-of-growth analysis from which we derive the metallicity of the host of GRB 060526. The overall light curve follows a broken power-law with a break at t = 2.401 +- 0.061 days. It shows deviations from the smooth power-law that can be explained by additional energy injections from the central engine. The broadband SED of the afterglow shows little extinction along the line of sight. The metallicity derived from S II and Fe II is relatively high for a galaxy at that redshift but comparable to the metallicity of other GRB hosts at similar redshifts. There is a candidate host galaxy at a relatively large offset of 7.7 kpc from the afterglow position with R =26.4 mag which would imply a rather luminous host.
Magnetic fields are proposed to play an important role in the formation and support of self-gravitating clouds and the formation and evolution of protostars in such clouds. We use R-band linear polarimetry collected for about 12000 stars in 46 fields with lines of sight toward the Pipe nebula to investigate the properties of the polarization across this dark cloud complex. Mean polarization vectors show that the magnetic field is locally perpendicular to the large filamentary structure of the Pipe nebula (the `stem'), indicating that the global collapse may have been driven by ambipolar diffusion. The polarization properties clearly change along the Pipe nebula. The northwestern end of the nebula (B59 region) is found to have a low degree of polarization and high dispersion in polarization position angle, while at the other extreme of the cloud (the `bowl') we found mean degrees of polarization as high as $\approx$15% and a low dispersion in polarization position angle. The plane of the sky magnetic field strength was estimated to vary from about 17 $\mu$G in the B59 region to about 65 $\mu$G in the bowl. We propose that three distinct regions exist, which may be related to different evolutionary states of the cloud; this idea is supported by both the polarization properties across the Pipe and the estimated mass-to-flux ratio that varies between approximately super-critical toward the B59 region and sub-critical inside the bowl. The three regions that we identify are: the B59 region, which is currently forming stars; the stem, which appears to be at an earlier stage of star formation where material has been through a collapsing phase but not yet given birth to stars; and the bowl, which represents the earliest stage of the cloud in which the collapsing phase and cloud fragmentation has already started.
In a previous paper \cite{Khlopov:2007ic}, we showed how the minimal walking technicolor model (WTC) can provide a composite dark matter candidate, by forming bound states between a -2 electrically charged techniparticle and a $^4He^{++}$. We studied the properties of these \emph{techni-O-helium} $tOHe$ ``atoms'', which behave as warmer dark matter rather than cold. In this paper we extend our work on several different aspects. We study the possibility of a mixed scenario where both $tOHe$ and bound states between +2 and -2 electrically charged techniparticles coexist in the dark matter density. We argue that these newly proposed bound states solely made of techniparticles, although they behave as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), due to their large elastic cross section with nuclei, can only account for a small percentage of the dark matter density. Therefore we conclude that within the minimal WTC, composite dark matter should be mostly composed of $tOHe$. Moreover in this paper, we put cosmological bounds in the masses of the techniparticles, if they compose the dark matter density. Finally we propose within this setup, a possible explanation of the discrepancy between the DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA findings and the negative results of CDMS and other direct dark matter searches that imply nuclear recoil measurement, which should accompany ionization.
The study of physical and chemical properties of massive protostars is critical to better understand the evolutionary sequence which leads to the formation of high-mass stars. IRAS 18151-1208 is a nearby massive region (d = 3kpc, L ~ 20000 Lsun) which splits into three cores: MM1, MM2 and MM3 (separated by 1'-2'). We aim at (1) studying the physical and chemical properties of the individual MM1, MM2 and MM3 cores; (2) deriving their evolutionary stages; (3) using these results to improve our view of the evolutionary sequence of massive cores. The region was observed in the CS, C34S, H2CO, HCO+, H13CO+, and N2H+ lines at mm wavelengths with the IRAM 30m and Mopra telescopes. We use 1D and 2D modeling of the dust continuum to derive the density and temperature distributions, which are then used in the RATRAN code to model the lines and constrain the abundances of the observed species. All the lines were detected in MM1 and MM2. MM3 shows weaker emission, or even is undetected in HCO+ and all isotopic species. MM2 is driving a newly discovered CO outflow and hosts a mid-IR-quiet massive protostar. The abundance of CS is significantly larger in MM1 than in MM2, but smaller than in a reference massive protostar such as AFGL2591. In contrast the N2H+ abundance decreases from MM2 to MM1, and is larger than in AFGL2591. Both MM1 and MM2 host an early phase massive protostar, but MM2 (and mid-IR-quiet sources in general) is younger and more dominated by the host protostar than MM1 (mid-IR-bright). The MM3 core is probably in a pre-stellar phase. We find that the N2H+/C34S ratio varies systematically with age in the massive protostars for which the data are available. It can be used to identify young massive protostars.
We present the discovery of the Vela-like radio pulsar J1856+0245 in the Arecibo PALFA survey. PSR J1856+0245 has a spin period of 81ms, a characteristic age of 21kyr, and a spin-down luminosity Edot = 4.6 x 10^36 ergs/s. It is positionally coincident with the TeV gamma-ray source HESS J1857+026, which has no other known counterparts. Young, energetic pulsars create wind nebulae, and more than a dozen pulsar wind nebulae have been associated with very-high-energy (100GeV-100TeV) gamma-ray sources discovered with the HESS telescope. The gamma-ray emission seen from HESS J1857+026 is potentially produced by a pulsar wind nebula powered by PSR J1856+0245; faint X-ray emission detected by ASCA at the pulsar's position supports this hypothesis. The inferred gamma-ray efficiency is epsilon_gamma = L_gamma/Edot = 3.1% (1-10TeV, for a distance of 9kpc), comparable to that observed in similar associations.
Nonlocal quantum corrections to gravity have been recently proposed as a possible solution to the cosmological fine tuning problems. We study the dynamics of a class of nonlocal actions defined by a function of the inverse d'Alembertian of the Ricci scalar. Power-law and expnential functions are considered in detail, but we also show a method to reconstruct a nonlocal correction that generates a given background expansion. We find that even the simplest terms can, while involving only Planck scale constants, drive the late time acceleration without changing early cosmology. This leads to a sudden future singularity, which however may be avoided by regularizing the d'Alembertian. We also consider the Einstein frame versions of these models.
A conservative upper bound on the total dark matter (DM) annihilation rate can be obtained by constraining the appearance rate of the annihilation products which are hardest to detect. The production of neutrinos, via the process $\chi \chi \to \bar\nu \nu $, has thus been used to set a strong general bound on the dark matter annihilation rate. However, Standard Model radiative corrections to this process will inevitably produce photons which may be easier to detect. We present an explicit calculation of the branching ratios for the electroweak bremsstrahlung processes $\chi \chi \to \bar\nu \nu Z$ and $\chi \chi \to \bar\nu e W$. These modes inevitably lead to electromagnetic showers and further constraints on the DM annihilation cross-section. In addition to annihilation, our calculations are also applicable to the case of dark matter decay.
We show that the factor ordering ambiguities associated with the loop quantisation of the gravitational part of the cosmological Hamiltonian constraint, disappear at the level of Wheeler-DeWitt equation only for a particular choice of lattice refinement model, which coincides with constraints imposed from phenomenological and consistency arguments.
In the context of modified gravity, we point out how the Palatini version of these theories is singled out as a very special case corresponding to the unique fixed point of a transformation involving a special conformal rescaling of the metric. This mathematical peculiarity signals deeply rooted problems which make the theory unphysical.
We find analytical solutions for the spherically symmetric stationary distribution of a test perfect fluid with an arbitrary equation of state in the Reissner-Nordstrom metric. These solutions describe the stationary accretion onto black hole and the static atmosphere of a fluid around the naked singularity. The electrically charged black hole evolves to a near extreme state by accretion of a phantom fluid with a threat of disappearance of the black hole event horizon and violation of the cosmic censorship. We argue, however, that back reaction of the accreting fluid onto the background metric prevents the transformation of the black hole into the naked singularity.
In the context of six-dimensional conical braneworlds we consider a simple and explicit model that incorporates long distance modification of gravity and regularization of codimension-2 singularities. To resolve the conical singularities we replace the codimension-2 branes with ring-like codimension-1 branes, filling in the interiors with regular caps. The six-dimensional Planck scale in the cap is assumed to be much greater than the bulk Planck scale, which gives rise to the effect analogous to brane-induced gravity. Weak gravity on the regularized brane is studied in the case of a sharp conical bulk. We show by a linear analysis that gravity at short distances is effectively described by the four-dimensional Brans-Dicke theory, while the higher dimensional nature of gravity emerges at long distances. The linear analysis breaks down at some intermediate scale, below which four-dimensional Einstein gravity is shown to be recovered thanks to the second-order effects of the brane bending.
We study the models with radiative neutrino mass generation and explore the relation between the neutrino masses and dark energy. In these models, the pseudo-Nambu-Goldston bosons (pNGBs) arise at two-loop level via the Majorana neutrino masses. In particular, we demonstrate that the potential energy of the pNGB can be the dark energy potential and the observed value of the equation of state (EoS) parameter of the universe, $i.e.$, $w\simeq -1$, can be realized.
We argue that the strong interaction between protons and neutrons in the asymmetric liquid (neutron star) distorts strongly proton Fermi surface. We use the Feynman diagram approach to calculate probability of triple (e-p-n) short range correlations in terms of the short range (p-n) correlations and ultrarelativistic Coulomb (p-e) interaction. We find that these correlations lead to holes in (e-p-n) Fermi seas and remove Pauli blocking of direct neutron decay. This results in the instability of the zero temperature neutron stars due to the radiation of neutrinos and antineutrinos. As a result, an isolated neutron star should collapse to a new phase with a lifetime ~10^{9} years for nuclear matter density. This lifetime due to beta-decay should decrease as proportional to \rho^{-3} for higher matter densities. The presence of the short-range p-n correlations leads to significant neutrino cooling of cold neutron stars at nonzero temperature and all values of p/n ratio though in the Landau Fermi liquid approach no direct neutron decay could occur for p/n<< 0.1. As a result, we predict the existence of almost invisible neutron stars. We also predict significantly shorter lifetime and faster neutrino cooling of hyperon stars.
We determine characteristic timescales for the viscous damping of r-mode oscillations in rapidly rotating compact stars that contain quark matter. We present results for the color-flavor-locked (CFL) phase of dense quark matter, in which the up, down and strange quarks are gapped, as well as the normal (ungapped) quark phase. While the ungapped quark phase supports a temperature window between 10^8 K and 5x10^9 K where the r-mode is damped even for rapid rotation, the r-mode in a rapidly rotating pure CFL star is not damped in the temperature range 10^10 K - 10^11 K. Rotating hybrid stars with quark matter cores display an instability window whose width is determined by the amount of quark matter present, and they can have large spin frequencies outside this window. Except at high temperatures T > 10^10 K, the presence of a quark phase allows for larger critical frequencies and smaller spin-periods compared to rotating neutron stars. If low-mass X-ray binaries contain a large amount of ungapped or CFL quark matter, then our estimates of the r-mode instability suggest that there should be a population of rapidly rotating binaries at frequencies greater than 1000 Hz which have not yet been observed.
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K-band spectra of young stellar candidates in four southern hemisphere clusters have been obtained with the near-infrared spectrograph GNIRS in Gemini South. The clusters are associated with IRAS sources that have colors characteristic of ultracompact HII regions: IRAS09149-4743, IRAS15408-5356, IRAS16132-5039 and IRAS16177-5018. Spectral types were obtained by comparison of the observed spectra with those of a NIR library; the results include the spectral classification of nine massive stars and seven objects confirmed as background late-type stars. One young stellar object (YSO) was found in each cluster, associated with either the main IRAS source or a nearby resolved MSX component. The distances to the stars were derived from their spectral types and previously determined JHK magnitudes; they agree well with previously determined kinematic distances, except in the case of IRAS15408-5356, for which the spectroscopic distance is about a factor two smaller than the kinematic value.
A new method of determining galaxy star-formation histories (SFHs) is presented. Using the method, the feasibility of recovering SFHs with multi-band photometry is investigated. The method divides a galaxy's history into discrete time intervals and reconstructs the average rate of star formation in each interval. This directly gives the total stellar mass. A simple linear inversion solves the problem of finding the most likely discretised SFH for a given set of galaxy parameters. It is shown how formulating the method within a Bayesian framework lets the data simultaneously select the optimal regularisation strength and the most appropriate number of discrete time intervals for the reconstructed SFH. The method is demonstrated by applying it to mono-metallic synthetic photometric catalogues created with different input SFHs, assessing how the accuracy of the recovered SFHs and stellar masses depend on the photometric passband set, signal-to-noise and redshift. The results show that reconstruction of SFHs using multi-band photometry is possible, being able to distinguish an early burst of star formation from a late one, provided an appropriate passband set is used. Although the resolution of the recovered SFHs is on average inferior compared to what can be achieved with spectroscopic data, the multi-band approach can process a significantly larger number of galaxies per unit exposure time.
We show here that a purely kinetic approach to the excitation of waves by cosmic rays in the vicinity of a shock front leads to predict the appearance of a non-alfv\'enic fastly growing mode which has the same dispersion relation as that previously found by \cite{bell04} by treating the plasma in the MHD approximation. The kinetic approach allows us to investigate the dependence of the dispersion relation of these waves on the microphysics of the current which compensates the cosmic ray flow. We also show that a resonant and a non-resonant mode may appear at the same time and one of the two may become dominant on the other depending on the conditions in the acceleration region. We discuss the role of the unstable modes for magnetic field amplification and particle acceleration in supernova remnants at different stages of the remnant evolution.
The Swift satellite early x-ray data shows a very steep decay in most of the Gamma-Ray Bursts light curves. This decay is either produced by the rapidly declining continuation of the central engine activity or by some left-over radiation starting right after the central engine shuts off. The latter scenario consists of the emission from an "ember" that cools via adiabatic expansion and, if the jet angle is larger than the inverse of the source Lorentz factor, the large angle emission. In this work, we calculate the temporal and spectral properties of the emission from such a cooling ember, providing a new treatment for the micro-physics of the adiabatic expansion. We compare the theoretical expectations of the adiabatic expansion (and the large angle emission) with the current observations of the early x-ray data and find that only about 20% of our sample of 107 bursts is potentially consistent with this model. This leads us to believe that, for most bursts, the central engine does not turn off completely during the steep decay of the x-ray light curve; therefore, this phase is produced by the continued rapidly declining activity of the central engine.
Two consecutive transits of planetary companion OGLE-TR-111b were observed in the I band. Combining these observations with data from the literature, we find that the timing of the transits cannot be explained by a constant period, and that the observed variations cannot be originated by the presence of a satellite. However, a perturbing planet with the mass of the Earth in an exterior orbit could explain the observations if the orbit of OGLE-TR-111b is eccentric. We also show that the eccentricity needed to explain the observations is not ruled out by the radial velocity data found in the literature.
We show that using either the method of Page & Carrera or the well-known $1/V_a$ method to construct the binned luminosity function (LF) of a flux limited sample of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) can produce an artificial flattening (or steepening in the case of negative evolution) of the binned LF for bins intersected by the flux cutoff of the sample. This effect is more pronounced for samples with steep and strongly evolving parent LFs but is still present even for non-evolving LFs. As a result of this distortion of the true LF, fitting a model LF to binned data may lead to errors in the estimation of the parameters and may even prompt the erroneous use of broken power law functions. We compute the expected positions of apparent breaks in the binned LF. We show that these spurious breaks in the binned LFs can be avoided if the binning is done in the flux--redshift plane instead of the typically used luminosity--redshift plane. Binning in the flux--redshift plane can be used in conjunction with the binning in the luminosity--redshift plane to test for real breaks in the binned LFs and to identify the features that are the result of binning biases. We illustrate this effect for most typical forms of luminosity dependence and redshift evolution and show how the proposed method helps address this problem. We also apply this method to the MOJAVE AGN sample and show that it eliminates an apparent break in the binned LF.
General Relativity (GR) is a phenomenologically successful theory that rests on firm foundations, but has not been tested on cosmological scales. The advent of dark energy (and possibly even the requirement of cold dark matter), has increased the need for testing modifications to GR, as the inference of such otherwise undetected fluids, depends crucially on the theory of gravity. In this work I outline a general scheme for constructing consistent and covariant modifications to the Einstein equations. This framework is such that there is a clear connection between the modification and the underlying field content that produces it. I conclude by a simple metric based modification of the fluctuation equations for which the background is exact Lambda-CDM and present its impact on observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
Ekpyrotic and cyclic cosmologies provide theories of the very early and of the very late universe. In these models, the big bang is described as a collision of branes - and thus the big bang is not the beginning of time. Before the big bang, there is an ekpyrotic phase with equation of state w=P/rho >> 1 (where P is the average pressure and rho the average energy density) during which the universe slowly contracts. This phase resolves the standard cosmological puzzles and generates a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of cosmological perturbations containing a significant non-gaussian component. At the same time it produces small-amplitude gravitational waves with a blue spectrum. The dark energy dominating the present-day cosmological evolution is reinterpreted as a small attractive force between our brane and a parallel one. This force eventually induces a new ekpyrotic phase and a new brane collision, leading to the idea of a cyclic universe. This review discusses the detailed properties of these models, their embedding in M-theory and their viability, with an emphasis on open issues and observational signatures.
We report X-ray imaging of the powerful FR-II radio galaxy 3C353 using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. 3C353's two 4"-wide and 2'-long jets allow us to study in detail the internal structure of the large-scale relativistic outflows at both radio and X-ray photon energies with the sub-arcsecond spatial resolution. In a 90 ks Chandra observation, we have detected X-ray emission from most radio structures in 3C353, including the nucleus, the jet and the counterjet, the terminal jet regions (hotspots), and one radio lobe. We show that the detection of the X-ray emission associated with the radio knots and counterknots puts several crucial constraints on the X-ray emission mechanisms in powerful large-scale jets of quasars and FR-II sources. In particular, we show that this detection is inconsistent with the inverse-Compton model proposed in the literature, and instead implies a synchrotron origin of the X-ray jet photons. We also find that the width of the X-ray counterjet is possibly narrower than that measured in radio bands, that the radio-to-X-ray flux ratio decreases systematically downstream along the jets, and that there are substantial (kpc-scale) offsets between the positions of the X-ray and radio intensity maxima within each knot, whose magnitudes increase away from the nucleus. We discuss all these findings in the wider context of the physics of extragalactic jets, proposing some particular though not definitive solutions or interpretations for each problem.
It has been recently argued that low-luminosity gamma-ray bursts (LL-GRBs) are likely a unique GRB population. Here, we present systematic analysis of the lightcurve characteristics from X-ray to gamma-ray energy bands for the two prototypical LL-GRBs 980425 and 060218. It is found that both the pulse width ($w$) and the ratio of the rising width to the decaying width ($r/d$) of theses two bursts are energy-dependent over a broad energy band. There exists a significant trend that the pulses tend to be narrower and more symmetry with respect to the higher energy bands for the two events. Both the X-rays and the gamma-rays follow the same $w - E$ and $r/d - E$ relations. These facts may indicate that the X-ray emission tracks the gamma-ray emission and both are likely to be originated from the same physical mechanism. Their light curves show significant spectral lags. We calculate the three types of lags with the pulse peaking time ($t_{peak}$), the pulse centroid time ($t_{cen}$), and the cross-correlation function (CCF). The derived $t_{peak}$ and $t_{cen}$ are a power-law function of energy. The lag calculated by CCF is strongly correlated with that derived from $t_{peak}$. But the lag derived from $t_{cen}$ is less correlated with that derived from $t_{peak}$ and CCF. The energy dependence of the lags is shallower at higher energy bands. These characteristics are well consistent with that observed in typical long-lag, wide-pulse GRBs, suggesting that GRBs 980425 and 060218 may share the similar radiation physics with them.
GRB 060124 is the first event that both prompt and afterglow emission were observed simultaneously by the three \emph{Swift} instruments. Its main peak also triggered Konus-Wind and HETE-II. Therefore, investigation on both the temporal and spectral properties of the prompt emission can be extended to X-ray bands. We perform a detailed analysis on the two well identified pulses of this burst, and find that the pulses are narrower at higher energies, and both X-rays and gamma-rays follow the same $w - E$ relation for an individual pulse. However, there is no a universal power-law index of the $w - E$ relation among pulses. We find also that the rise-to-decay ratio $r/d$ seems not to evolve with $E$ and the $r/d$ values are well consistent with that observed in typical GRBs. The broadband spectral energy distribution also suggest that the X-rays are consistent with the spectral behavior of the gamma-rays. These results indicates that the X-ray emission tracks the gamma-ray emission and the emissions in the two energy bands are likely to be originated from the same physical mechanism.
Lutz-Kelker bias corrected absolute magnitude calibrations for the detached binary systems with main-sequence components are presented. The absolute magnitudes of the calibrator stars were derived at intrinsic colours of Johnson-Cousins and 2MASS (Two Micron All Sky Survey) photometric systems. As for the calibrator stars, 44 detached binaries were selected from the Hipparcos catalogue, which have relative observed parallax errors smaller than 15% ($\sigma_{\pi}/\pi\leq0.15$). The calibration equations which provide the corrected absolute magnitude for optical and near-infrared pass bands are valid for wide ranges of colours and absolute magnitudes: $-0.18<(B-V)_{0}<0.91$, $-1.6<M_{V}<5.5$ and $-0.15<(J-H)_{0}<0.50$, $-0.02<(H-K_{s})_{0}<0.13$, $0<M_{J}<4$, respectively. The distances computed using the luminosity-colours (LCs) relation with optical (BV) and near-infrared ($JHK_{s}$) observations were compared to the distances found from various other methods. The results show that new absolute magnitude calibrations of this study can be used as a convenient statistical tool to estimate the true distances of detached binaries out of Hipparcos' distance limit.
In the last few years we have developed stellar model atmospheres which included effects of anomalous abundances and strong magnetic field. The full treatment of anomalous Zeeman splitting and polarized radiative transfer were introduced in the model atmosphere calculations for the first time. In this investigation we present results of modelling the atmosphere of one of the most extreme magnetic chemically peculiar stars, HD137509. This Bp SiCrFe star has the mean surface magnetic field modulus of about 29kG. We use the recent version of the line-by-line opacity sampling stellar model atmosphere code LLmodels, which incorporates the full treatment of Zeeman splitting of spectral lines, detailed polarized radiative transfer and arbitrary abundances. We compare model predictions with photometric and spectroscopic observations of the star, aiming to reach a self-consistency between the abundance pattern derived from high-resolution spectra and abundances used for model atmosphere calculation. Based on magnetic model atmospheres, we redetermined abundances and fundamental parameters of HD137509 using spectroscopic and photometric observations. This allowed us to obtain a better agreement between observed and theoretical parameters compared to non-magnetic models with individual or scaled-solar abundances. We confirm that the magnetic field effects should be taken into account in the stellar parameter determination and abundance analysis.
In this paper we outline equipotential and equidensity methods of constructing axisymmetric models for galaxies. The former method defines equipotentials, from which the corresponding densities of the galaxy models can be obtained using Poisson's equation; the latter defines the equidensity surfaces of the galaxy models directly.
In this paper we extend oblate and prolate Jaffe models into more general flattened Jaffe models. Since dynamical properties of oblate and prolate Jaffe Models have been studied by Jiang & Moss, they are not repeated here.
Recent Chandra and Newton observations indicate that there are two-temperature components ($T \sim$ 8 keV, 0.8 keV) of the diffuse x-rays emitted from deep inside the center of Milky Way. We show that this can be explained by the existence of sterile neutrinos, which decay to emit photons that can be bound-free absorbed by the isothermal hot gas particles in the center of Milky Way. This model can account for the two-temperature components naturally as well as the energy needed to maintain the $\sim$ 8 keV temperature in the hot gas. The predicted sterile neutrino mass is between 16-18 keV.
In a long-term observing project we have imaged a complete sample of FRII quasars and radio galaxies with z < 1.0 at high resolution and high sensitivity with the VLA and MERLIN. This sample of 98 sources includes 15 quasars, 11 broad line radio galaxies and 57 narrow line radio galaxies, allowing unification to be considered in terms of source morphological properties. Radio maps of all the targets have been presented in earlier papers. Here we carry out a systematic analysis of the properties of the jets, cores, lobes and hotspots of objects in the sample. The majority of the tests that we perform show that the data are consistent with a model in which quasars and broad-line radio galaxies are unified with narrow-line objects. Relativistic beaming is the main effect that determines the properties of kiloparsec-scale jets, and it may also have some effect on hotspots. However, some properties of the sample are difficult to account for in simple unified models.
An overview is given of the properties of the various kinds of quasi-periodic luminosity modulations observed in cataclysmic variables (CVs). The two principal types, known in the CV literature as dwarf nova oscillations and quasi-periodic oscillations, have similarities to the high and low frequency quasi-periodic oscillations in X-Ray binaries. There is a further well observed class known as longer period dwarf nova oscillations. In CVs the observed interrelations between these oscillations suggests a model of magnetically controlled accretion onto a rapidly rotating equatorial belt of accreted gas. Non-radial oscillations of the central white dwarf are observed in some systems.
We investigate the effects of the accretion of phantom energy with non-zero bulk viscosity onto a Morris-Thorne wormhole. We have found that if the bulk viscosity is large then the mass of wormhole increases rapidly as compared to small or zero bulk viscosity.
We have analyzed the evolution of mass of a stationary black hole in the standard FRW cosmological model. The evolution is determined specifically about the time of transition from the earlier matter to the later exotic dark energy dominated universe. It turns out that the accretion rate of matter on the black hole of mass $M$ was approximately $10^{54}M^{-1}$ higher than the accretion rate of exotic dark energy at the time of transition.
We discuss the phenomenology of the dark energy in first order perturbation theory, demonstrating that the dark energy cannot be fully constrained unless the dark matter is found, and that there are two functions that characterise the observational properties of the dark sector for cosmological probes. We argue that measuring these two functions should be an important goal for observational cosmology in the next decades.
The magnetic topology of the solar photosphere in its quietest regions is
hidden by the difficulties to disentangle magnetic flux through the resolution
element from the field strength of unresolved structures. The observation of
spectral lines with strong coupling with hyperfine structure, like the observed
MnI line at 553.7 nm, allows such differentiation.
The main aim is to analyse the distribution of field strengths in the network
and intranetwork of the solar photosphere through inversion of the MnI line at
553.7 nm.
An inversion code for the magnetic field using the Principal Component
Analysis (PCA) has been developed. Statistical tests are run on the code to
validate it. The code has to draw information from the small-amplitude spectral
feature oppearing in the core of the Stokes V profile of the observed line for
field strengths below a certain threshold, coinciding with lower limit of the
Paschen-Back effect in the fine structure of the involved atomic levels.
The inversion of the observed profiles, using the circular polarization (V)
and the intensity (I), shows the presence of magnetic fields strengths in a
range from 0 to 2 kG, with predominant weak strength values. Mixed regions with
mean strength field values of 1130 and 435 Gauss are found associated with the
network and intranetwork respectively.
The MnI line at 553 nm probes the field strength distribution in the quiet
sun and shows the predominance of weak, hectoGauss fields in the intranetwork,
and strong, kiloGauss fields in the network. It also shows that both network
and intranetwork are to be understood at our present spatial resolutions as
field distributions of which we hint the mean properties.
I represent results three-dimensional numerical simulation of solar surface convection on scales local supergranulation with realistic model physics. I study thermal structure of convective motions in photosphere, the range of convection cell sizes and the penetration depths of convection. A portion of the solar photosphere extending 100 x 100 Mm horizontally and from 0 Mm down to 20 Mm below the visible surface is considered. I take equation of state and opacities of stellar matter and distribution with radius of all physical variables from Solar Standard Model. The equations of fully compressible radiation hydrodynamics with dynamical viscosity and gravity are solved. The high order conservative PPML difference scheme for the hydrodynamics, the method of characteristic for the radiative transfer and dynamical viscosity from subgrid scale modeling are applied. The simulations are conducted on a uniform horizontal grid of 1000 x 1000, with 168 nonuniformly spaced vertical grid points, on 256 processors with distributed memory multiprocessors on supercomputer MVS5000 in Computational Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences.
We present results of new photoionization calculations for investigating gaseous regions that represent potentially expected stages of nuclear processing in the Crab Nebula supernova remnant. In addition to gas resulting from CNO-processing and oxygen-burning, as previously reported, a large component of the nebula appears to be carbon-rich. These results suggest that the precursor star had an initial mass of 9.5 solar masses or more.
Many experimental results around and above the energies where the solar modulation affects cosmic ion fluxes were quantified, conceptualized and debated using leaky box models. These models exploit the notion of equilibrium between creation and destruction processes of cosmic ions in an undifferentiated arbitrary volume representing the Galaxy, ignoring the galactic magnetic field, the size of the Galaxy, the position of the solar cavity, the spatial distribution of the sources, the space variation of the interstellar matter and other pertinent observations. Progress in the measurements of the quoted observational parameters rendes obsolete the use of the leaky box models. Specific examples substantiating the inadequacy of the leaky box models are analyzed such as the conversion of the boron-to-carbon flux ratio into grammage and the residence times of cosmic ions in the Galaxy. The unphysical and misleading nature of the leaky box models is ascertained and illustrated at very high energy.
We present time-series photometry of nine cataclysmic variables: EI UMa,
V844Her, V751 Cyg, V516 Cyg, GZ Cnc, TY Psc, V1315 Aql, ASAS J002511+1217.12,
V1315 Aql and LN UMa. The observations were conducted at various observatories,
covering 170 hours and comprising 7,850 data points in total.
For the majority of targets we confirm previously reported periodicities and
for some of them we give, for the first time, their spectroscopic orbital
periods. For those dwarf-nova systems which we observed during both quiescence
and outburst, the increase in brightness was followed by a decrease in the
amount of flickering. Quasi-periodic oscillations have either been discovered,
or were confirmed. For the eclipsing system V1315 Aql we have covered 9
eclipses, and obtained a refined orbital ephemeris. We find that, during its
long baseline of observations, no change in the orbital period of this system
has occurred. V1315 Aql also shows eclipses of variable depth.
A component of dark energy has been recently proposed to explain the current acceleration of the Universe. Unless some unknown symmetry in Nature prevents or suppresses it, such a field may interact with the pressureless component of dark matter, giving rise to the so-called models of coupled quintessence. In this paper we propose a new cosmological scenario where radiation and baryons are conserved, while the dark energy component is decaying into cold dark matter (CDM). The dilution of CDM particles, attenuated with respect to the usual $a^{-3}$ scaling due to the interacting process, is characterized by a positive parameter $\epsilon$, whereas the dark energy satisfies the equation of state $p_x=\omega \rho_x$ ($\omega < 0$). We carry out a joint statistical analysis involving recent observations from type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillation peak, and Cosmic Microwave Background shift parameter to check the observational viability of the coupled quintessence scenario here proposed.
Massive star clusters observed in galaxy mergers are often suggested to be progenitors of globular clusters. To study this hypothesis, we performed the highest resolution simulation of a gas-rich galaxy merger so far. The formation of massive star clusters of 10^5 to 10^7 Mo, triggered by the galaxy interaction, is directly resolved in this model. We show that these clusters are tightly bound structures with little net rotation, due to evolve into compact long-lived stellar systems. Massive clusters formed in galaxy mergers are thus robust candidates for progenitors of long-lived globular clusters. The simulated cluster mass spectrum is consistent with theory and observations. Tidal dwarf galaxies of 10^8-9 Mo can form at the same time, and appear to be part of a different class of objects, being more extended and rotating.
To investigate the effect of gravitational lensing of supernovae in large
ongoing surveys, we simulate the effect of gravitational lensing magnification
on individual supernovae using observational data input from two large
supernova surveys. To estimate the magnification due to matter in the
foreground, we simulate galaxy catalogs and compute the magnification along
individual lines of sight using the multiple lens plane algorithm. The dark
matter haloes of the galaxies are modelled as gravitational lenses using
singular isothermal sphere or Navarro-Frenk-White profiles. Scaling laws
between luminosity and mass, provided by Faber-Jackson and Tully-Fisher
relations, are used to estimate the masses of the haloes.
While our simulations show that the SDSSII supernova survey is marginally
affected by gravitational lensing, we find that the effect will be measurable
in the SNLS survey that probes higher redshifts. Our simulations show that the
probability to measure a significant (3 sigma) correlation between the Hubble
diagram residuals and the calculated lensing magnification is ~95% in the SNLS
data. Moreover, with this data it should be possible to constrain the
normalisation of the masses of the lensing galaxy haloes at the 1 sigma and 2
sigma confidence level with ~30% and ~60% accuracy, respectively.
In the recent literature there is circumstantial evidence that the viscosity of the intracluster medium may not be too far from the Spitzer value. In this letter, we present two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of ram pressure stripping of disc galaxies in a viscous intracluster medium. The values of viscosity explored range between 0.1 and 1.0 times the Spitzer value. We find that viscosity affects the appearance and the dimensions of the galactic wakes but has very little effect on the evolution of the gas mass of the galaxy.
At frequencies close to 1 GHz the sky diffuse radiation is a superposition of radiation of Galactic origin, the 3 K Relic or Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, and the signal produced by unresolved extragalactic sources. Because of their different origin and space distribution the relative importance of the three components varies with frequency and depends on the direction of observation. With the aim of disentangling the components we built TRIS, a system of three radiometers, and studied the temperature of the sky at $\nu =0.6$, $\nu = 0.82$ and $\nu = 2.5$ GHz using geometrically scaled antennas with identical beams (HPBW = $18^{\circ} \times 23^{\circ}$). Observations included drift scans along a circle at constant declination $\delta=+42^{\circ}$ which provided the dependence of the sky signal on the Right Ascension, and absolute measurement of the sky temperature at selected points along the same scan circle. TRIS was installed at Campo Imperatore (lat. = $42^{\circ}~26'$ N, long.= $13^{\circ}~33'$, elevation = 2000 m a.s.l.) in Central Italy, close to the Gran Sasso Laboratory.
Some observations suggest that solar spicules show small amplitude and high frequency oscillations of magneto-acoustic waves, which arise from photospheric granular forcing. We apply the method of MHD seismology to determine the period of kink waves. For this purposes, the oscillations of a magnetic cylinder embedded in a field-free environment is investigated. Finally, diagnostic diagrams displaying the oscillatory period in terms of some equilibrium parameters are provided to allow a comparison between theoretical results and those coming from observations.
We present a detailed optical study of the ultra-compact X-ray binary 4U0614+091. We have used 63 hrs of time-resolved optical photometry taken with three different telescopes (IAC80, NOT and SPM) to search for optical modulations. The power spectra of each dataset reveals sinusoidal modulations with different periods, which are not always present. The strongest modulation has a period of 51.3 mins, a semi-amplitude of 4.6 mmags, and is present in the IAC80 data. The SPM and NOT data show periods of 42 mins and 64 mins respectively, but with much weaker amplitudes, 2.6 mags and 1.3 mmags respectively. These modulations arise from either X-ray irradiation of the inner face of the secondary star and/or a superhump modulation from the accretion disc, or quasi-periodic modulations in the accretion disc. It is unclear whether these periods/quasi-periodic modulations are related to the orbital period, however, the strongest period of 51.3 mins is close to earlier tentative orbital periods. Further observations taken over a long base-line are encouraged.
Aims: In order to understand the first stages of planet formation, when tiny grains aggregate to form planetesimals, one needs to simultaneously model grain growth, vertical settling and radial migration of dust in protoplanetary disks. In this study, we implement an analytical prescription for grain growth into a 3D two-phase hydrodynamics code to understand its effects on the dust distribution in disks. Methods: Following the analytic derivation of Stepinski & Valageas (1997), which assumes that grains stick perfectly upon collision, we implement a convenient and fast method of following grain growth in our 3D, two-phase (gas+dust) SPH code. We then follow the evolution of the size and spatial distribution of a dust population in a classical T Tauri star disk. Results: We find that the grains go through various stages of growth due to the complex interplay between gas drag, dust dynamics, and growth. Grains initially grow rapidly as they settle to the mid-plane, then experience a fast radial migration with little growth through the bulk of the disk, and finally pile-up in the inner disk where they grow more efficiently. This results in a bimodal distribution of grain sizes. Using this simple prescription of grain growth, we find that grains reach decimetric sizes in 10^5 years in the inner disk and survive the fast migration phase.
An important question about Be stars is whether Be stars are born as Be stars or not. It is necessary to observe young clusters to answer this question. Observations of stars in NGC6611 and the star-formation region of Eagle Nebula have been carried out with the ESO-WFI in slitless spectroscopic mode and at the VLT-GIRAFFE. The targets for the GIRAFFE observations were pre-selected from the literature and our catalogue of emission-line stars (ELS) based on the WFI study. GIRAFFE observations allowed us to study accurately the population of the early-type stars with and without emission lines. For this study, we determined the fundamental parameters of OBA stars. We also studied the status of the objects (main sequence or pre-main sequence stars) by using IR data, membership probabilities, and location in HR diagrams. The nature of the early-type ELS in M16 is derived. The slitless observations with the WFI clearly indicate a small number of ELS in M16. We observed with GIRAFFE 101 OBA stars, among them 9 are ELS with circumstellar emission in Halpha. We found that: W080 could be a new He-strong star, like W601. W301 is a possible classical Be star, W503 is a mass-transfer eclipsing binary with an accretion disk, and the other ones are possible Herbig Ae/Be stars. We also found that the rotational velocities of main sequence B stars are 18% lower than those of pre-main sequence B stars, in good agreement with theory about the evolution of rotational velocities. Combining different indications and technics, we found that 27% of the B-type stars are binaries. We also redetermined the age of NGC6611 found equal to 1.2--1.8 Myears in good agreement with the most recent determinations.
Spectral analysis by means of Non-LTE model-atmosphere techniques has arrived at a high level of sophistication: fully line-blanketed model atmospheres which consider opacities of all elements from H to Ni allow the reliable determination of photospheric parameters of hot, compact stars. Such models provide a crucial test of stellar evolutionary theory: recent abundance determinations of trace elements like, e.g., F, Ne, Mg, P, S, Ar, Fe, and Ni are suited to investigate on AGB nucleosynthesis. E.g., the strong Fe depletion found in hydrogen-deficient post-AGB stars is a clear indication of an efficient s-process on the AGB where Fe is transformed into Ni or even heavier trans iron-group elements. We present results of recent spectral analyses based on high-resolution UV observations of hot stars.
We present the optical to near-infrared (IR) spectrum of the galaxy TSPS J1329-0957, a red and bright member of the class of extremely red objects (EROs) at z = 1.26. This galaxy was found in the course of the Tokyo-Stromlo Photometry Survey (TSPS) which we are conducting in the southern sky. The spectroscopic observations were carried out with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) and the Gemini Near Infra-Red Spectrograph (GNIRS) mounted on the Gemini-South telescope. The wide wavelength coverage of 0.6 - 2.3 um provides useful clues as to the nature of EROs while most published spectra are limited to a narrower spectral range which is dictated by the need for efficient redshift determination in a large survey. We compare our spectrum with several optical composite spectra obtained in recent large surveys, and with stellar population synthesis models. The effectiveness of using near-IR broad-band data, instead of the spectral data, in deriving the galaxy properties are also investigated. We find that TSPS J1329-0957 formed when the universe was 2 - 3 Gyr old, and subsequently evolved passively to become one of the most massive galaxies found in the z = 1 - 2 universe. Its early type and estimated stellar mass of M* = 10^{11.5} Msun clearly point to this galaxy being a direct ancestor of the brightest elliptical and spheroidal galaxies in the local universe.
We investigate the third-order density perturbation and the one-loop correction to the linear power spectrum in the dark energy cosmological model. Our main interest is to understand the dark energy effect on the baryon acoustic oscillation in quasi-nonlinear regime ($k \approx 0.1h$/Mpc). Analytical solutions and simple fitting formulae are presented. It turns out that the power spectrum coincides with the approximate result based on the EdS (Einstein de-Sitter) model within 1% for $k<0.4h/$Mpc at $z=0$, which suggests that the cosmological dependence is very small.
Aims. We measured radial metallicity profiles for a sample of ~50 hot,
intermediate redshift galaxy clusters, selected from the XMM-Newton archive.
Methods. As in our previous paper, we used background modeling rather than
background subtraction, and the Cash statistic rather than the chi square. This
method requires a careful characterization of all background components. We
also performed montecarlo simulations to assess systematic effects.
Results. The mean metallicity profile shows a peak in the center, and gently
declines out to 0.2 R_{180}. Beyond 0.2 R_{180} the metallicity is roughly 0.2
solar and, at variance with recently published expectations based on
simulations, consistent with being flat. We find no evidence of profile
evolution from z=0.1 to z=0.3. When comparing our mean profile to those
obtained by recent works with BeppoSAX and Chandra, we find remarkable
agreement over the entire radial range.
The observed properties of young star clusters, such as the core radius and luminosity profile, change rapidly during the early evolution of the clusters. Here we present observations of 6 young clusters in M51 where we derive their sizes using HST imaging and ages using deep Gemini-North spectroscopy. We find evidence for a rapid expansion of the cluster cores during the first 20 Myr of their evolution. We confirm this trend by including data from the literature of both Galactic and extra-galactic embedded and young clusters, and possible mechanisms (rapid gas removal, stellar evolutionary mass-loss, and internal dynamical heating) are discussed. We explore the implications of this result, focussing on the fact that clusters were more concentrated in the past, implying that their stellar densities were much higher and relaxation times correspondingly shorter. Thus, when estimating if a particular cluster is dynamically relaxed, (i.e. when determining if a cluster's mass segregation is due to primordial or dynamical processes), the current relaxation time is only an upper-limit, with the relaxation time likely being significantly shorter in the past.
The Ar XVII X-ray line group principally due to transitions 1s2 - 1s2l (l=s, p) near 4 Anstroms was observed in numerous flares by the RESIK bent crystal spectrometer aboard CORONAS-F between 2001 and 2003. The three line features include the Ar XVII w (resonance line), a blend of x and y (intercombination lines), and z (forbidden line), all of which are blended with Ar XVI dielectronic satellites. The ratio G, equal to [I(x+y) + I(z)]/I(w), varies with electron temperature Te mostly because of unresolved dielectronic satellites. With temperatures estimated from GOES X-ray emission, the observed G ratios agree fairly well with those calculated from CHIANTI and other data. With a two-component emission measure, better agreement is achieved. Some S XV and S XVI lines blend with the Ar lines, the effect of which occurs at temperatures greater than 8MK, allowing the S/Ar abundance ratio to be determined. This is found to agree with coronal values. A nonthermal contribution is indicated for some spectra in the repeating-pulse flare of 2003 February 6.
The origin of the dichotomy of radio loudness among quasars can be explained using recent findings that the mass of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) in extended radio-loud quasars is systematically a few times that of their counterparts in radio-quiet quasars. This sensitive dependence of radio jet ejection upon SMBH mass probably arises from the blockage of jets by the presence of substantial quantities of gas tidally stripped from stars by the central BH. This disruptive gas, however, will only be available around BHs with masses less than $M_c ~\gtrsim ~10^8\Msun$, for which the tidal disruption radius lies outside the SMBH's event horizon. Consequently, we find that AGN with $M_{BH} > M_c$ can successfully launch jets with a wide range of powers, thus producing radio-loud quasars. The great majority of jets launched by less massive BHs, however, will be truncated in the vicinity of the SMBH due to mass loading from this stellar debris. This scenario also can naturally explain the remarkable dearth of extended radio structures in quasars showing broad absorption line spectra.
We have searched for solar axions with a detector which consists of a 4T x 2.3m superconducting magnet, PIN-photodiode X-ray detectors, and an altazimuth mount to track the sun. The conversion region is filled with cold helium gas which modifies the axion mass at which coherent conversion occurs. In the past measurements, axion mass from 0 to 0.27eV have been scanned. Since no positive evidence was seen, an upper limit to the axion-photon coupling constant was set to be g < 6-10E-10/GeV (95%CL) depending on the axion masses. We are now actively preparing for a new stage of the experiment aiming at one to a few eV solar axions. In this mass region, our detector might be able to check parameter regions which are preferable to the axion models.
We report the discovery of a 7.7 Mjup exoplanet WASP-14b, one of the most massive transiting exoplanets observed to date. The planet orbits the tenth-magnitude F5V star USNO-B1 11118-0262485 with a period of 2.243756 days and orbital eccentricity e = 0.095. A simultaneous fit of the transit light curve and radial velocity measurements yields a planetary mass of 7.7(+0.4)(-0.7) Mjup and a radius of 1.26(+0.08)(-0.06) Rjup. This leads to a mean density of about 5.1 gcm^{-3} making it one of the densest transiting exoplanets yet found at an orbital period less than 3 days. We estimate this system to be at a distance of 160+/-20 pc. Spectral analysis of the host star reveals a temperature of 6475+/-100 K, log g = 4.33 cms$^{-2}$ and v sin i = 4.9+/-1.0 km s$^{-1}$, and also a high lithium abundance, log N(Li) = 2.84+/-0.05. The stellar density, effective temperature and rotation rate suggest an age for the system of about 0.5--1.0 Gyr.
We report the discovery of WASP-10b, a new transiting extrasolar planet (ESP) discovered by the WASP Consortium and confirmed using NOT FIES and SOPHIE radial velocity data. A 3.09 day period, 33 mmag transit depth, and 2.36 hour duration are derived for WASP-10b using WASP and high precision photometric observations. Simultaneous fitting to the photometric and radial velocity data using a Markov-chain Monte Carlo procedure leads to a planet radius of 1.29R_J, a mass of 3.06M_J and eccentricity of $\approx$0.06. WASP-10b is one of the more massive transiting ESPs, and we compare its characteristics to the current sample of transiting ESP, where there is currently little information for masses greater than ~2M_J and non-zero eccentricities. WASP-10's host star, GSC 2752-00114 (USNO-B1.0 1214-0586164) is among the fainter stars in the WASP sample, with V=12.7 and a spectral type of K5. This result shows promise for future late-type dwarf star surveys.
We applied the ATON code to the computation of detailed grids of standard (non--rotating) and rotating Pre--Main Sequence (PMS) models and computed their adiabatic oscillation spectra,with the aim of exploring the seismic properties of young stars. We adopt a method similar to the matching mode method by Guenther and Brown making use, when necessary, also of our rotating evolutionary code to compute the models for PMS stars. The method is described by a preliminary application to the frequency spectrum of two PMS stars (85 and 278) in the young open cluster NGC 6530. For the Star 85 we confirm, with self--consistent rotating models, previous interpretation of the data, attributing three close frequencies to the mode n=4, l=1 and m=0,+1,--1. For the Star 278 we find a different fit for the frequencies, corresponding to a model within the original error box of the star, and dispute the possibility thatthis star has an effective temperature much cooler that the red boundary of the radial instability strip.
We describe an approximate statistical model for the sample variance distribution of the non-linear matter power spectrum that can be calibrated from limited numbers of simulations. Our model retains the common assumption of a multivariate Normal distribution for the power spectrum band powers, but takes full account of the (parameter dependent) power spectrum covariance. The model is calibrated using an extension of the framework in Habib et al. (2007) to train Gaussian processes for the power spectrum mean and covariance given a set of simulation runs over a hypercube in parameter space. We demonstrate the performance of this machinery by estimating the parameters of a power-law model for the power spectrum. Within this framework, our calibrated sample variance distribution is robust to errors in the estimated covariance and shows rapid convergence of the posterior parameter constraints with the number of training simulations.
We present results obtained from a series of observations of the supernova remnant RX J1713.7-3946 by the Suzaku satellite. The observations cover about two-thirds of the remnant surface. We successfully detected hard X-rays up to ~ 40 keV from each pointing. The hard X-ray spectra are described by power-law functions with photon indices of ~ 3.0, which are larger than those in the energy region below 10 keV. Connection of the spatially-integrated XIS and HXD spectra clearly reveals a spectral cutoff in the 0.4--40 keV X-ray spectrum. This cutoff is interpreted to correspond to the maximum acceleration energy of electrons emitting synchrotron radiation. The wide-band coverage of Suzaku for the first time allows us to derive the parent electron spectrum in the cutoff region, which shows good agreement with theoretical predictions. The inferred cutoff energy in the spatially-integrated X-ray spectrum indicates that particle acceleration in the remnant is so efficient that it is almost at the theoretical limit, the so-called Bohm limit. Based on the Suzaku data, we present results of multi-wavelength studies from spectral and morphological points of view. The spectral energy distribution favors the hadronic scenario rather than the leptonic scenario. For the morphology studies, we compare the surface brightness maps from the Suzaku XIS and the H.E.S.S. telescope. We confirm the strong correlation between X-ray and TeV gamma-ray emission. In addition to the correlation, we found that in the bright western rim regions the X-ray emission is brighter than expected from the general X-ray to gamma-ray correlation.
In the present work the primordial Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) and neutralino dark matter are discussed in a certain class of modified gravitational theories, namely $f(R)$ gravity. We determine the conditions under which the theoretical predictions for $^{4}$He abundance and for the relic abundance of the neutralino dark matter are in agreement with the observations. Our results show that this class of gravitational models considered here is allowed to be only slightly different from Einstein's general relativity.
I present details of the variations of several hundred red giant stars on time scales of a few hours to a few days from Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations of a low-extinction galactic bulge sample from an intensive seven day campaign. Variations in the red giants are shown to be a strong function of position within the color-magnitude diagram (CMD) in accord with general expectations from theory. Amplitudes are greater for stars with larger radii, whether this results from higher luminosity at the same effective temperature or lower temperature at a fixed apparent magnitude. Likewise, characteristic time scales for the variations increase to the upper right in a CMD as does the ratio of amplitudes measured at 606 nm compared to 814 nm. Characteristic variation time scales are well matched by low-order radial pulsation modes. The effective sample discussed here extends from about two magnitudes above the bulge turnoff at which red giant radii are ~7 R/R_{\odot} at 5,000 K with typical amplitudes of ~0.5 mmag to ~40 R/R_{\odot} at 4,000 K with amplitudes of ~3.5 mmag. Variability characteristics are quite similar at any given position in the CMD, and at levels in the CMD where oscillations are easily detected nearly all red giants show such. If these variations represent oscillations with sufficient lifetimes to derive accurate mode frequencies more extensive observations, e.g. as should soon be provided by the Kepler Mission}, would provide a rich asteroseismic return.
It is shown that the DAMA data indicate two dark matter components, one that circulates around the galactic center (GC) and another that is emitted from the GC. From the location of the maximum yearly variation, one can compute the ratio of the two components.
We present source code for the computer algebra system Mathematica that analyzes the distribution of nearby Galaxies using SDSS data. Download instructions are given, thus within 10 minutes, the reader can verify that galaxies are distributed in an essentially non-homogeneous manner and cluster on 2-dimensional structures. The short code uses a simple method inspired by Minkowski functionals: the distances to the next neighbors are calculated and compared to random distributions in three and two dimensions. The observed distance distribution corresponds clearly to the latter case. The paper may also be helpful for nonexpert scientists to get started with SDSS data analysis.
Using an example of the galaxy, an attempt is made to explain the flat rotational curves of galaxies by means of the Ampere force. This is the first attempt of fitting the rotational curve without both non-baryonic dark matter and modifications to gravity. Using acceptable models for the galactic magnetic field and plausible physical parameters, we find that the flat rotational curves can be obtained based purely on the observed baryonic (visible) matter distribution and the ampere force term in the static MHD equation of motion. We also study effects of strength of the magnetic field, its pitch angle and length scale on the rotational curves.
We have surveyed a 6.5' x 6.5' field centered on the globular cluster M56 (NGC 6779) in search for variable stars. We have detected seven variables, among which two objects are new identifications. One of the new variables is an RR Lyrae star, the third such star in M56. Comparison of the new observations and old photometric data for an RV Tauri variable V6 indicates a likely period change in the star. Its slow and negative rate of -0.005+/-0.003 d/yr would disagree with post-AGB evolution, however this could be a result of blue-loop evolution and/or random fluctuations of the period.
We examine a physical process that leads to the efficient formation of gas giant planets around intermediate mass stars. In the gaseous protoplanetary disks surrounding rapidly-accreting intermediate-mass stars we show that the midplane temperature (heated primarily by turbulent dissipation) can reach > 1000 K out to 1 AU. Thermal ionization of this hot gas couples the disk to the magnetic field, allowing the magneto-rotational instability (MRI) to generate turbulence and transport angular momentum. Further from the central star the ionization fraction decreases, decoupling the disk from the magnetic field and reducing the efficiency of angular momentum transport. As the disk evolves towards a quasi-steady state, a local maximum in the surface density and in the midplane pressure both develop at the inner edge of the MRI-dead zone, trapping inwardly migrating solid bodies. Small particles accumulate and coagulate into planetesimals which grow rapidly until they reach isolation mass. In contrast to the situation around solar type stars, we show that the isolation mass for cores at this critical radius around the more massive stars is large enough to promote the accretion of significant amounts of gas prior to disk depletion. Through this process, we anticipate a prolific production of gas giants at ~1 AU around intermediate-mass stars.
We improve the estimate of the axion CDM energy density by considering the new values of current quark masses, the QCD phase transition effect and a possible anharmonic effect.
Nuclear physics can be applied in various ways to the study of neutron stars. This thesis reports on one such application, where the relativistic mean-field approximation has been employed to calculate the equations of state of matter in the neutron star interior. In particular the equations of state of nuclear and neutron star matter of the NL3, PK1 and FSUGold parameter sets were derived. A survey of available literature on neutron stars is presented and we use the derived equations of state to reproduce the properties of saturated nuclear matter as well as the mass-radius relationship of a static, spherical symmetric neutron star. Results are compared to published values of the properties of saturated nuclear matter and to available observational data of the mass-radius relationship of neutron stars.
A method to derive stationary solutions of the relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system is explored. In the non-relativistic case, a method using the Hermite polynomial series to describe the deviation from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution is found to be successful in deriving a few stationary solutions including two dimensional one. Instead of the Hermite polynomial series, two special orthogonal polynomial series, which are appropriate to expand the deviation from the Maxwell-J\"uttner distribution, are introduced in this paper. By applying this method, a new two-dimensional equilibrium is derived, which may provide an initial setup for investigations of three-dimensional relativistic collisionless reconnection of magnetic fields.
The effects on WMAP's sky maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) due to WMAP's spin about its axis at 0.464 revolutions per minute are considered in detail. The modulation of WMAP's Doppler shift due to its orbit about the sun by its spin does not seem to have been taken into account in previous analyses. This "spin Doppler signal" was calculated, assuming a perfect black body spectrum with the same temperature for all points in the sky, for each of the 740 million points in the time order data. It was then reconstructed (also referred to as map making) using the reconstruction algorithm used in the official WMAP analysis. The resulting sky map had anisotropies similar in amplitude to those reported by the official WMAP analysis but with less structure. The complicated spectrum of the galactic band would yield more a complicated spin Doppler signal and thus lead to a more complicated sky map. Thus, part, or perhaps all, of the anisotropies reported by the WMAP mission are likely reconstruction artefacts due to the modulation of the Doppler shift due to WMAP's orbit about the sun by WMAP's spin about its axis. The soon-to-be-launched Planck satellite will provide definitive measurements of the reported anisotropies as it will allow direct measurements, thus avoiding the use of image reconstruction.
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We present new results characterizing cosmological shocks within adaptive mesh refinement N-Body/hydrodynamic simulations that are used to predict non-thermal components of large-scale structure. This represents the first study of shocks using adaptive mesh refinement. We propose a modified algorithm for finding shocks from those used on unigrid simulations that reduces the shock frequency of low Mach number shocks by a factor of ~3. We then apply our new technique to a large, (512 Mpc/h)^3, cosmological volume and study the shock Mach number (M) distribution as a function of pre-shock temperature, density, and redshift. Because of the large volume of the simulation, we have superb statistics that results from having thousands of galaxy clusters. We find that the Mach number evolution can be interpreted as a method to visualize large-scale structure formation. Shocks with Mach<5 typically trace mergers and complex flows, while 5<Mach<20 and Mach>20 generally follow accretion onto filaments and galaxy clusters, respectively. By applying results from nonlinear diffusive shock acceleration models using the first-order Fermi process, we calculate the amount of kinetic energy that is converted into cosmic ray protons. The acceleration of cosmic ray protons is large enough that in order to use galaxy clusters as cosmological probes, the dynamic response of the gas to the cosmic rays must be included in future numerical simulations.
The detection of outgassing water vapor from Enceladus is one of the great breakthroughs of the Cassini mission. The fate of this water once ionized has been widely studied; here we investigate the effects of purely neutral-neutral interactions within the Enceladus torus. We find that, thanks in part to the polar nature of the water molecule, a cold (~180 K) neutral torus would undergo rapid viscous heating and spread to the extent of the observed hydroxyl cloud, before plasma effects become important. We investigate the physics behind the spreading of the torus, paying particular attention to the competition between heating and rotational line cooling. A steady-state torus model is constructed, and it is demonstrated that the torus will be observable in the millimeter band with the upcoming Herschel satellite. The relative strength of rotational lines could be used to distinguish between physical models for the neutral cloud.
We use a set of semi-numerical simulations based on Zel'dovich approximation, friends-of-friends algorithm and excursion set formalism to generate reionization maps of high dynamic range with a range of assumptions regarding the distribution and luminosity of ionizing sources and the spatial distribution of sinks for the ionizing radiation. We find that ignoring the inhomogeneous spatial distribution of regions of high gas density where recombinations are important -- as is often done in studies of this kind -- can lead to misleading conclusions regarding the topology of reionization, especially if reionization occurs in the photon-starved regime suggested by Lya forest data. The inhomogeneous spatial distribution of recombinations significantly reduces the mean free path of ionizing photons and the typical size of coherently ionized regions. Reionization proceeds then much more as an outside-in process. Low-density regions far from ionizing sources become ionized before regions of high gas density not hosting sources of ionizing radiation. The spatial distribution of sinks of ionization radiation also significantly affects shape and amplitude the power spectrum of fluctuations of 21cm emission. The slope of the 21cm power spectrum as measured by upcoming 21cm experiments should be able to distinguish to what extent the topology of reionization proceeds outside-in or inside-out while the evolution of the amplitude of the power spectrum with increasing ionized mass fraction should be sensitive to the spatial distribution and the luminosity of ionizing sources.
We study the probability distribution function (PDF) of the mass density in simulations of supersonic turbulence with properties appropriate for molecular clouds. For this study we use Athena, a new higher-order Godunov code. We find there are surprisingly similar relationships between the mean of the time-averaged PDF and the turbulent Mach number for driven hydrodynamic and strong-field MHD turbulence. There is, however, a large scatter about these relations, indicating a high level of temporal and spatial variability in the PDF. Thus, the PDF of the mass density is unlikely to be a good measure of magnetic field strength. We also find the PDF of decaying MHD turbulence deviates from the mean-Mach relation found in the driven case. This implies that the instantaneous Mach number alone is not enough to determine the statistical properties of turbulence that is out of equilibrium. The scatter about the mean-Mach relation for driven turbulence, along with the large departure of decaying turbulence PDFs from those of driven turbulence, may illuminate one factor contributing to the large observed cloud-to-cloud variation in the star formation rate per solar mass.
NGC604 is the largest HII-region in M33, second only within the Local Group to 30 Dor, and is important as a laboratory for understanding how massive young stellar clusters interact with the surrounding interstellar medium. Here, we present deep (300ks) X-ray imagery of NGC604 obtained as part of the Chandra ACIS Survey of M33 (ChASeM33), which show highly structured X-ray emission covering ~70% of the full Halpha extent of NGC604. The main bubbles and cavities in NGC604 are filled with hot (kT=0.5keV) X-ray emitting gas and X-ray spectra extracted from these regions indicate that the gas is thermal. For the western part of NGC604 we derive an X-ray gas mass of ~4300M_sol and an unabsorbed (0.35-2.5keV) X-ray luminosity of L_X = 9.3E35 erg/s. These values are onsistent with a stellar mass loss bubble entirely powered by about 200 OB-stars. This result is remarkable because the standard bubble model tends to underpredict the luminosity of X-ray bright bubbles and usually requires additional heating from SNRs. Given a cluster age of ~3Myr it is likely that the massive stars have not yet evolved into SNe. We detect two discrete spots of enhanced and harder X-ray emission, which we consider to be fingerprints from a reverse shock produced by a supersonic wind after it collided with the shell wall. In the eastern part of NGC604 the X-ray gas mass amounts to ~1750M_sol. However, mass loss from young stars cannot account for the unabsorbed X-ray luminosity of L_X = 4.8E35 erg/s. Off-center SNRs could produce the additional luminosity. The bubbles in the east seem to be much older and were most likely formed and powered by stars and SNe in the past.
We present 1420 MHz polarization images of a 2.5 X 2.5 degree region around the planetary nebula (PN) Sh 2-216. The images are taken from the Canadian Galactic Plane Survey (CGPS). An arc of low polarized intensity appears prominently in the north-east portion of the visible disk of Sh 2-216, coincident with the optically identified interaction region between the PN and the interstellar medium (ISM). The arc contains structural variations down to the ~1 arcminute resolution limit in both polarized intensity and polarization angle. Several polarization-angle "knots" appear along the arc. By comparison of the polarization angles at the centers of the knots and the mean polarization angle outside Sh 2-216, we estimate the rotation measure (RM) through the knots to be -43 +/- 10 rad/m^2. Using this estimate for the RM and an estimate of the electron density in the shell of Sh 2-216, we derive a line-of-sight magnetic field in the interaction region of 5.0 +/- 2.0 microG. We believe it more likely the observed magnetic field is interstellar than stellar, though we cannot completely dismiss the latter possibility. We interpret our observations via a simple model which describes the ISM magnetic field around Sh 2-216, and comment on the potential use of old PNe as probes of the magnetized ISM.
Red quasars are a population, characterized by significant extinction in UV, which could be explained by absorption of dusty gas on a scale of a few kpc. We show that the enhanced radiation-pressure drives the dusty gas to supersonically expand and produces shocks. The shocks energize electrons to be relativistic via the first Fermi acceleration. As a balance of shock acceleration and synchrotron emission and inverse Compton scattering, the maximum Lorentz factor of the electrons reaches as $\sim 10^6$. The shocked interstellar medium appears as extended multiwavelength fuzz, in which synchrotron emission from the electrons peaks at near infrared or UV bands and inverse Compton scattering around 1.0GeV$-$0.1TeV. Future multiwavelength images of the fuzz would provide new clues to study the details of radiative feedback if red quasars could be a certain phase in evolutionary chains of galaxies.
Neutron stars and black holes are the astrophysical systems with the strongest gravitational fields in the universe. In this article, I review the prospect of probing with observations of such compact objects some of the most intriguing General Relativistic predictions in the strong-field regime: the absence of stable circular orbits near a compact object and the presence of event horizons around black-hole singularities. I discuss the need for a theoretical framework within which future experiments will provide detailed, quantitative tests of gravity theories. Finally, I summarize the constraints imposed by current observations of neutron stars on potential deviations from General Relativity.
Stretching solar dynamos from differential rotation in a Riemannian manifold setting is presented. The spherical model follows closely a twisted magnetic flux tube Riemannian geometrical model or flux rope in solar physics, presented previously by Ricca [Solar Physics (1997)]. The spherical model presented here present new and interesting feature concerning its connection with spherical steady solar dynamos. One of this new feature is represented by the fact that the by considering poloidal magnetic field component much weaker than its toroidal counterpart, one obtains a stretch dynamo action where the Riemannian solar spherical line element is proportional to differential rotation. This result is obtained also by using the Vainshtein-Zeldovich stretch, twist and fold (STF) method to generate dynamos. One notes that for high magnetic Reynolds of $R{m}=O({10^{7}})$ the dynamo action is present for a corresponding small stretching factor of $K^{2}=1.6$ where $K^{2}=1$ represents the unstretched dynamo. The constant stretched dynamos considered here are shown to be Riemann-flat, where the Riemann curvature tensor vanishes. Solar cycle dynamos are therefore compatible with the Riemann-flat stretching dynamo model from solar differential rotation presented here.
We are showing in this paper that it is possible to attain very high, {\it including observable}, values for the level of non-gaussianity f_{NL} associated to the bispectrum B_\zeta of the primordial curvature perturbation \zeta, in a subclass of small-field {\it slow-roll} models of inflation with canonical kinetic terms. Such a result is obtained by taking care of loop corrections both in the spectrum P_\zeta and the bispectrum B_\zeta. Sizeable values for f_{NL} arise even if \zeta is generated during inflation. Five issues are in consideration when constraining the available parameter space: 1. we must ensure that we are in a perturbative regime so that the \zeta series expansion, and its truncation, are valid. 2. we must apply the correct condition about the (possible) loop dominance in B_\zeta and/or P_\zeta. 3. we must satisfy the spectrum normalisation condition. 4. we must satisfy the spectral tilt constraint. 5. we must have enough inflation to solve the horizon problem.
A proxy for horizontal electric currents in the solar photosphere was suggested. For a set of evolving active regions (ARs) observed with {\it Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)} Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) in the high resolution mode, the dissipation spectrum, $k^2E(k)$, and the spatial structure of dissipation, i.e., the Stokes dissipation function $\epsilon(x,y)$, were calculated from the observed $B_z$ component of the magnetic field. These functions allowed us to calculate (a part of) the horizontal electric current density in the photosphere. It was shown that as an active region emerges, large-scale horizontal electric currents are gradually generated and determine a bulk of dissipation. When an active region decays, the large-scale horizontal currents decay faster than the small-scale ones. The density of horizontal currents in active regions is in the range of $<j_h > \sim (0.008 - 0.028)$ A/m$^2$, that is compatible with the density of vertical currents in active regions. We suggest two possible mechanisms for generation of such horizontal currents in the photosphere. One of them is the drift motions of charged particles in the medium of varying plasma pressure gradient in a horizontal plane at the periphery of a sunspot. Such a drift can produce quasi-circular closed horizontal currents around sunspots. Another possibility could be an existence of horizontal axial current inside a highly twisted horizontal magnetic structure laying in the photosphere along the magnetic neutral line. The horizontal currents may contribute significantly to the dynamics of the photosphere/corona coupling, as well as the estimation of non-potentiality of ARs.
We report the results of our third survey for formaldehyde (H2CO) 6cm maser emission in the Galaxy. Using the Very Large Array, we detected two new H2CO maser sources (G23.01-0.41 and G25.83-0.18), thus increasing the sample of known H2CO maser regions in the Galaxy to seven. We review the characteristics of the G23.01-0.41 and G25.83-0.18 star forming regions. The H2CO masers in G23.01-0.41 and G25.83-0.18 share several properties with the other known H2CO masers, in particular, emission from rich maser environments and close proximity to very young massive stellar objects.
In a previous paper the spectrum of positrons produced by matter initially at rest falling onto a massive compact object was calculated. In this paper this calculation is generalized to obtain both the spectrum of in-flight positron annihilation and pi0 decay gamma rays produced when protons with a cosmic ray-like spectrum hit the surface. The resulting pi0 decay gamma ray spectrum reflects the high energy proton energy spectrum, and is largely independent of the mass of the compact object. One notable prediction for all compact objects is a dip in the spectrum below 70 MeV. As applied to the 10^6 solar mass massive compact object near to the center of our galaxy, our theory shows promise for explaining the gamma rays coming from the galactic center as observed by both the Compton satellite and HESS ground based array.
Results of a multi-color study of the variability of the magnetic cataclysmic variable BY Cam are presented. The observations were obtained at the Korean 1.8m and Ukrainian 2.6m, 1.2m and 38-cm telescopes in 2003-2005, 56 observational runs cover 189 hours. The variations of the mean brightness in different colors are correlated with a slope dR/dV=1.29(4), where the number in brackets denotes the error estimates in the last digits. For individual runs, this slope is much smaller ranging from 0.98(3) to 1.24(3), with a mean value of 1.11(1). Near the maximum, the slope becomes smaller for some nights, indicating more blue spectral energy distribution, whereas the night-to-night variability has an infrared character. For the simultaneous UBVRI photometry, the slopes increase with wavelength from dU/dR=0.23(1) to dI/dR=1.18(1). Such wavelength dependence is opposite to that observed in non-magnetic cataclysmic variables, in an agreement to the model of cyclotron emission. The principal component analysis shows two (with a third at the limit of detection) components of variablitity with different spectral energy distribution, which possibly correspond to different regions of emission. The scalegram analysis shows a highest peak corresponding to the 200-min spin variability, its quarter and to the 30-min and 8-min QPOs. The amplitudes of all these components are dependent on wavelength and luminosity state. The light curves were fitted by a statistically optimal trigonometrical polynomial (up to 4-th order) to take into account a 4-hump structure. The dependences of these parameters on the phase of the beat period and on mean brightness are discussed. The amplitude of spin variations increases with an increasing wavelength and with decreasing brightness
We present the X-ray properties of a massive cluster of galaxies (RXCJ2228.6+2036 at $z=0.421$) using {\it XMM-Newton} data. The X-ray mass modeling is based on the temperature and density distributions of the intracluster medium derived using a deprojection method. We found that RXCJ2228.6+2036 is a hot cluster ($T_{500}=8.92^{+1.78}_{-1.32}$ keV) showing a cooling flow rate of $12.0^{+56.0}_{-12.0}$ M$_{\odot}$yr$^{-1}$ based on spectral fitting within the cooling flow radius ($r_{cool}=147\pm10$ kpc). The total cluster mass is $M_{500}=(1.19\pm0.35)\times10^{15}$ M$_{\odot}$ and the mean gas mass fraction is $f_{gas}=0.165\pm0.045$ at $r_{500}=1.61\pm0.16$ Mpc. We discussed the PSF-correction effect on the spectral analysis and found that for the annular width we chose the PSF-corrected temperatures are consistent with those without PSF-correction. We observed a remarkable agreement between X-ray and SZ results, which is of prime importance for the future SZ survey. RXCJ2228.6+2036 obeys the empirical scaling relations found in general massive galaxy clusters (e.g. $S$--$T$, $M$--$T$, $L$--$T$ and $M$--$Y$) after accounting for self-similar evolution.
We present optical spectropolarimetric observations of Type Ic supernova (SN) 2007gr with Subaru telescope at 21 days after the maximum brightness (~ 37 days after the explosion). Non-zero polarization as high as ~ 3% is observed at the absorption feature of Ca II IR triplet. The polarization of the continuum light is ~ 0.5% if we assume an interstellar polarization (ISP) with which SN photosphere has a single polarization angle. It suggests that the axis ratio of the SN photosphere projected to the sky is different from unity by ~ 10%. The polarization angle at the Ca II absorption is almost aligned to that of the continuum light. These features may be understood by the model where a bipolar explosion with an oblate photosphere is viewed from the slightly off-axis direction and explosively synthesized Ca near the polar region obscures the light originated around the minor axis of the SN photosphere. Given the uncertainty of the ISP, however, the polarization data could also be interpreted by the model with an almost spherically symmetric photosphere and a clumpy Ca II distribution.
We study optical radiation of aspherical supernovae (SNe) and present an approach to verify the asphericity of SNe with optical observations of extragalactic SNe. For this purpose, we have developed a multi-dimensional Monte-Carlo radiative transfer code, SAMURAI (SupernovA MUlti-dimensional RAdIative transfer code). The code can compute the optical light curve and spectra both at early phases (<~ 40 days after the explosion) and late phases (~ 1 year after the explosion), based on hydrodynamic and nucleosynthetic models. We show that all the optical observations of SN 1998bw (associated with GRB 980425) are consistent with polar-viewed radiation of the aspherical explosion model with kinetic energy 20 x 10^{51} ergs. Properties of off-axis hypernovae are also discussed briefly.
We study the dependence of turbulent transport coefficients, such as $\alpha$ effect and turbulent magnetic diffusivity, on shear and magnetic Reynolds number in the presence of helical forcing. We use three-dimensional direct numerical simulations with periodic boundary conditions and measure turbulent transport coefficients using the kinematic test field method. In all cases the magnetic Prandtl number is unity. We obtain numerical evidence for quenching of the diagonal components of $\alpha$ tensor with increasing shear. We also calculate the diffusivity tensor and find that the diagonal components of the turbulent diffusivity tensor increases with shear. We further study the behaviour of the off-diagonal components of the turbulent diffusivity tensor and find evidence of a sign change at high magnetic Reynolds number and shear in a way that may be suggestive of a shear--current effect.
In this contribution we outline plans for identifying and characterising numerous young, low-mass stars within 150 pc of the Sun using the new SkyMapper telescope and Southern Sky Survey. We aim to learn more about the star formation history of the solar neighbourhood over the past 5-50 Myr, the dispersal processes involved, as well as testing pre-main sequence evolutionary models and the universality of the stellar Inital Mass Function. Searching for the dispersed halo of low-mass objects predicted to surround the Eta Chamaeleontis cluster will be one of the first goals of the project.
We use deep multi-colour (UBVRIJK) images mostly taken in the framework of the ESO Deep Public Survey (DPS) to optically identify and derive photometric redshifts for a complete sample of 131 radio sources with S>0.4 mJy, observed at both 1.4 and 5 GHz as part of the ATESP radio survey. The availability of multi-wavelength radio and optical information is exploited to infer the physical properties of the faint radio population. In particular we find that, considering both early-type galaxies and quasars as sources with an active nucleus, AGNs largely dominate our sample sub-mJy sample (78%). Further radio/optical analysis of such AGN component has revealed a somewhat unexpected class of flat/inverted-spectrum sources with low radio-to-optical ratios (R<100), which are preferentially identified with early-type galaxies. Such sources are quite compact (d<10-30 kpc), suggesting core-dominated radio emission triggered by low luminosity AGNs. This intriguing class of objects deserves further analysis, and new higher resolution radio observations are currently under way. In parallel we are developing radio source models, for both the AGN and the star-forming components of the sub-mJy radio pupulation. Here we discuss the first results.
We discuss penumbral fine structure in a small part of a pore, observed with the CRISP imaging spectropolarimeter at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST), close to its diffraction limit of 0.16 arcsec. Milne-Eddington inversions applied to these Stokes data reveal large variations of field strength and inclination angle over dark-cored penumbral intrusions and a dark-cored light bridge. The mid-outer part of this penumbra structure shows 0.3 arcsec wide spines, separated by 1.6 arcsec (1200 km) and associated with 30 deg inclination variations. Between these spines, there are no small-scale magnetic structures that easily can be be identified with individual flux tubes. A structure with nearly 10 deg more vertical and weaker magnetic field is seen midways between two spines. This structure is co-spatial with the brightest penumbral filament, possibly indicating the location of a convective upflow from below.
We describe a subgrid model for including galaxies into hydrodynamical cosmological simulations of galaxy cluster evolution. Each galaxy construct- or galcon- is modeled as a physically extended object within which star formation, galactic winds, and ram pressure stripping of gas are modeled analytically. Galcons are initialized at high redshift ($z \sim 3$) after galaxy dark matter halos have formed but before the cluster has virialized. Each galcon moves self-consistently within the evolving cluster potential and injects mass, metals, and energy into intracluster (IC) gas through a well-resolved spherical interface layer. We have implemented galcons into the Enzo adaptive mesh refinement code and carried out a simulation of cluster formation in a LambdaCDM universe. With our approach, we are able to economically follow the impact of a large number of galaxies on IC gas. We compare the results of the galcon simulation with a second, more standard simulation where star formation and feedback are treated using a popular heuristic prescription. One advantage of the galcon approach is explicit control over the star formation history of cluster galaxies. Using a galactic SFR derived from the cosmic star formation density, we find the galcon simulation produces a lower stellar fraction, a larger gas core radius, a more isothermal temperature profile, and a flatter metallicity gradient than the standard simulation, in better agreement with observations.
The formation of planetesimals in protoplanetary disks due to collisional sticking of smaller dust aggregates has to face at least two severe obstacles, namely the rapid loss of material due to radial inward drift and particle fragmentation due to destructive collisions. In this Letter we present a scenario to circumvent these two hurdles. Our dust evolution model involves two main mechanisms. First, we consider a disk with a dead zone. In a nearly laminar region around the midplane, relative turbulent particle velocities are comparatively small decreasing the probability for destructive particle collisions. Second, turbulence is not the only source for violent relative particle velocities, because high radial drift speeds can also lead to boulder fragmentation. For this reason, we additionally focus on the snow line. Evaporation fronts can be associated with gas pressure maxima in which radial drift basically vanishes. This means that particle fragmentation becomes even less likely. Our simulation results suggest that particles can overcome the fragmentation barrier. We find that boulders of several 100 m can form within only a few thousand years.
Evidence for a spectral flattening of the supernova remnant (SNR) HB3 (G132.7+1.3) was claimed based on previously published total flux density data, and that flattening was further interpreted as the discovery of thermal bremsstrahlung emission in the shell of HB3. A spectral flattening has never been observed from any SNR before. Reliable observations of HB3 at frequencies above 3000 MHz are crucial to confirm such a spectral behaviour. We extracted 4800 MHz total intensity and polarisation data of HB3 from the Sino-German 6 cm polarisation survey of the Galactic plane made with the Urumqi 25 m telescope, and analysed the spectrum of HB3 together with Effelsberg data at 1408 MHz and 2695 MHz. We found an overall spectral index of HB3 of alpha=-0.61+-0.06 between 1408 MHz and 4800 MHz, similar to that at lower frequencies. There is no spectral flattening at high frequencies. We detected strong polarised emission from HB3 at 4800 MHz. Our 4800 MHz data show a tangential field orientation in the HB3 shell.
Strong observational evidence indicates that all extragalactic jets associated with AGNs move at relativistic speed up to 100 pc - 1 kpc scales from the nucleus. At larger distances, reflecting the Fanaroff-Riley radio source classification, we observe an abrupt deceleration in FR-I jets while relativistic motions persist up to Mpc scale in FR-II. Moreover, VLBI observations of some object like B2 1144+35, Mrk501 and M87 show limb brightening of the jet radio emission at the parsec scale. This effect is interpreted kinematically as due to the presence of a deboosted central spine at high Lorentz factor and of a weakly relativistic external layer. In this paper we investigate whether these effects can be interpreted by a breaking of the collimated flow by external medium entrainment favored by shear instabilities, namely Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. We examine in details the physical conditions under which significant deceleration of a relativistic flow is produced. We investigate the phenomenon by means of high-resolution three-dimensional relativistic hydrodynamic simulations using the PLUTO code for computational astrophysics. We find that the parameter of utmost importance in determining the instability evolution and the entrainment properties is the ambient/jet density contrast. We show that lighter jets suffer stronger slowing down in the external layer than in the central part and conserve a central spine at high Lorentz factor. Our model is verified by constructing synthetic emission maps from the numerical simulations that compare reasonably well with VLBI observations of the inner part of FR-I sources.
Simulations of the formation of Population III (Pop III) stars suggest that they were much more massive than the Pop II and Pop I stars observed today. This is due to the collapse dynamics of metal-free gas, which is regulated by the radiative cooling of molecular hydrogen. We study how the collapse of gas clouds is altered by the addition of metals to the star-forming environment by performing a series of simulations of pre-enriched star formation at various metallicities. For metallicities below the critical metallicity, Z_cr, collapse proceeds similarly to the metal-free case, and only massive objects form. For metallicities well above Z_cr, efficient cooling rapidly lowers the gas temperature to the temperature of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The gas is unable to radiatively cool below the CMB temperature, and becomes thermally stable. For high metallicities, Z>=10^-2.5 Z_sun, this occurs early in the evolution of the gas cloud, when the density is still relatively low. The resulting cloud-cores show no fragmentation, forming only massive stars. If the metallicity is not vastly above Z_cr, the cloud cools efficiently but does not reach the CMB temperature, and fragmentation into multiple objects occurs. We conclude that there were three distinct modes of star formation at high redshift: a `primordial' mode, producing massive stars (10s to 100s M_sun) at very low metallicities (Z<=10^-3.75 Z_sun); a CMB-regulated mode, producing moderate mass (10s of M_sun) stars at high metallicites (Z>=10^-2.5 Z_sun at redshift z~15-20); and a low-mass (a few M_sun) mode existing between those two metallicities. As the universe ages and the CMB temperature decreases, the range of the low mass mode extends to higher metallicities, eventually becoming the only mode of star formation.
We report extensive photometry of the frequently outbursting dwarf nova RZ Leo Minoris. During two seasons of observations we detected 12 superoutbursts and 7 normal outbursts. The V magnitude of the star varied in range from 16.5 to 13.9 mag. The superoutbursts occur quite regularly flashing every 19.07(4) days and lasting slightly over 10 days. The average interval between two successive normal outbursts is 4.027(3) days. The mean superhump period observed during the superoutbursts is 0.059396(4) days (85.530(6) min). The period of the superhumps was constant except for one superoutburst when it increased with a rate of $\dot P/P_{\rm sh} = 7.6(1.9)\cdot 10^{-5}$. Our observations indicate that RZ LMi goes into long intervals of showing permanent superhumps which are observed both in superoutbursts and quiescence. This may indicate that decoupling of thermal and tidal instabilities play important role in ER UMa systems. No periodic light variations which can be connected with orbital period of the binary were seen, thus the mass ratio and evolutionary status of RZ LMi are still unknown.
The dependence of flattening of galaxies on the density of galaxies in subclusters selected around galaxies NGC4889, NGC4874 and NGC4839 in the Coma cluster has been studied. The mean values of observed ratios of galaxy diameters and histograms of their distributions indicate that in the central, dense regions of subclusters E and S0 type galaxies are close to spheroidals. Spiral galaxies in subcllusters are found with a hydrogen deficit that about 5 times exceeds the hydrogen deficit in spirals within the halo of the Coma cluster. Most of spirals with a hydrogen deficit in the subcluster around NGC 4874 according to their 3-D coordinates are located closer to the south-east edge of this subcluster near an extended gas filament in the x-ray region. This may indicate over the move of this subcluster toward the central condensation of faint galaxies in the Coma cluster for a possible merge with it.
XPOL, the first correlation polarimeter at a large millimeter telescope, uses a flexible digital correlator to measure all four Stokes parameters simultaneously, i.e. the total power I, the linear polarization components Q and U, and the circular polarization V. The versatility of the backend provides adequate bandwidth for efficient continuum observations as well as sufficient spectral resolution (40 kHz) for observations of narrow lines. We demonstrate that the polarimetry specific calibrations are handled with sufficient precision, in particular the relative phase between the Observatory's two orthogonally linearly polarized receivers. The many facets of instrumental polarization are studied at 3mm wavelength in all Stokes parameters: on-axis with point sources and off-axis with beam maps. Stokes Q which is measured as the power difference between the receivers is affected by instrumental polarization at the 1.5% level. Stokes U and V which are measured as cross correlations are very little affected (maximum sidelobes 0.6% (U) and 0.3% (V)). These levels critically depend on the precision of the receiver alignment. They reach these minimum levels set by small ellipticities of the feed horns when alignment is optimum (<~ 0.3"). A second critical prerequisite for low polarization sidelobes turned out to be the correct orientation of the polarization splitter grid. Its cross polarization properties are modeled in detail. XPOL observations are therefore limited only by receiver noise in Stokes U and V even for extended sources. Systematic effects set in at the 1.5% level in observations of Stokes Q. With proper precautions, this limitation can be overcome for point sources. Stokes Q observations of extended sources are the most difficult with XPOL.
The Arecibo Legacy Fast ALFA (ALFALFA) survey is a program aimed at obtaining a census of HI-bearing objects over a cosmologically significant volume of the local universe. When complete in ~3-4 years, it will cover 7000 square degrees of high latitude sky using the 305m telescope and the seven-beam Arecibo L-band feed array (ALFA). As of May 1, 2008, almost 60% of the required observations are complete and a catalog exists in preliminary form for 25% of the final sky area. ALFALFA is detecting about twice as many HI sources as predicted based on previously published HI mass functions and should deliver a final catalog of >25000 extragalactic HI sources. ALFALFA will detect hundreds of galaxies with HI masses less than 10**7.5 solar masses and similarly large numbers greater than 10**10.3 Msun. Its centroiding accuracy allows for the immediate identification of highly probably optical counterparts to each HI detection. Fewer than 3% of all extragalactic HI sources, and < 1% of ones with HI masses > 10**9.5 Msun cannot be identified with a stellar counterpart. The hundreds of HI sources with observed line widths of 20-30 km/s include a population of optically faint dwarf galaxies. The objects with highest HI masses exhibit a range of morphologies, optical colors and surface brightnesses, but most appear to be massive disk systems. The latter represent the population likely to dominate future studies of HI at high redshift.
The atomic hydrogen (HI) 21cm line measures the gas content within and around galaxies, traces the dark matter potential and probes volumes and objects that other surveys do not. Over the next decade, 21cm line science will exploit new technologies, especially focal plane and aperture arrays, and will see the deployment of Epoch of Reionization/Dark Age detection experiments and Square Kilometer Array (SKA) precursor instruments. Several experiments designed to detect and eventually to characterize the reionization history of the intergalactic medium should deliver first results within two-three years time. Although "precision cosmology" surveys of HI in galaxies at z ~ 1 to 3 require the full collecting area of the SKA, a coherent program of HI line science making use of the unique capabilities of both the existing facilities and the novel ones demonstrated by the SKA precursors will teach us how many gas rich galaxies there really are and where they reside and will yield fundamental insight into how galaxies accrete gas, form stars and interact with their environment.
We constrain the possible time variation of the Higgs vacuum expectation
value ($v$) by recent results on the primordial $^4$He abundance ($Y_P$). For
that, we improve the analytic models of the key-processes in our previous
analytic calculation of the primordial $^4$He abundance. Furthermore, the
latest results on the neutron decay, the baryon to photon ratio based on 5-year
WMAP observations and a new dependence of the deuteron binding energy on $v$
are incorporated.
Finally, we approximate the weak freeze-out, the cross section of
photo-disintegration of the deuteron, the mean lifetime of the free neutron,
the mass difference of neutron and proton, the Fermi coupling constant, the
mass of the electron and the binding energy of the deuteron by terms of $v$, to
constrain its possible time variation by recent results on the primordial
$^4$He abundance: $|\frac{\Delta v}{v}| ~ \leq 1.5 \cdot 10^{-4}$.
We investigate the dynamical response, in terms of disc size and rotation velocity, to mass loss by supernovae in the evolution of spiral galaxies. A thin baryonic disc having the Kuzmin density profile embedded in a spherical dark matter halo having a density profile proposed by Navarro, Frenk & White is considered. For a purpose of comparison, we also consider the homogeneous and $r^{-1}$ profiles for dark matter in a truncated spherical halo. Assuming for simplicity that the dark matter distribution is not affected by mass loss from discs and the change of baryonic disc matter distribution is homologous, we evaluate the effects of dynamical response in the resulting discs. We found that the dynamical response only for an adiabatic approximation of mass loss can simultaneously account for the rotation velocity and disc size as observed particularly in dwarf spiral galaxies, thus reproducing the Tully-Fisher relation and the size versus magnitude relation over the full range of magnitude. Furthermore, we found that the mean specific angular momentum in discs after the mass loss becomes larger than that before the mass loss, suggesting that the mass loss would occur most likely from the central disc region where the specific angular momentum is low.
Remnant planetesimals might have played an important role in reducing the orbital eccentricities of the terrestrial planets after their formation via giant impacts. However, the population and the size distribution of remnant planetesimals during and after the giant impact stage are unknown, because simulations of planetary accretion in the runaway growth and giant impact stages have been conducted independently. Here we report results of direct N-body simulations of the formation of terrestrial planets beginning with a compact planetesimal disk. The initial planetesimal disk has a total mass and angular momentum as observed for the terrestrial planets, and we vary the width (0.3 and 0.5AU) and the number of planetesimals (1000-5000). This initial configuration generally gives rise to three final planets of similar size, and sometimes a fourth small planet forms near the location of Mars. Since a sufficient number of planetesimals remains, even after the giant impact phase, the final orbital eccentricities are as small as those of the Earth and Venus.
An increase in the central density of a neutron star may trigger a phase transition from hadronic matter to deconfined quark matter in the core, causing it to collapse to a more compact hybrid-star configuration. We present a study of this, building on previous work by Lin et al. (2006). We follow them in considering a supersonic phase transition and using a simplified equation of state, but our calculations are general relativistic (using 2D simulations in the conformally flat approximation) as compared with their 3D Newtonian treatment. We also improved the treatment of the initial phase transformation, avoiding the introduction of artificial convection. As before, we find that the emitted gravitational-wave spectrum is dominated by the fundamental quasi-radial and quadrupolar pulsation modes but the strain amplitudes are much smaller than suggested previously, which is disappointing for the detection prospects. However, we see significantly smaller damping and observe a nonlinear mode resonance which substantially enhances the emission in some cases. We explain the damping mechanisms operating, giving a different view from the previous work. Finally, we discuss the detectability of the gravitational waves, showing that the signal-to-noise ratio for current or second generation interferometers could be high enough to detect such events in our Galaxy, although third generation detectors would be needed to observe them out to the Virgo cluster, which would be necessary for having a reasonable event rate.
Context: The common flare scenario comprises an acceleration site in the corona and particle transport to the chromosphere. Using satellites available to date it has become possible to distinguish between the two processes of acceleration and transport, and study the particle propagation in flare loops in detail, as well as complete comparisons with theoretical predictions. Aims: We complete a quantitative comparison between flare hard X-ray spectra observed by RHESSI and theoretical predictions. This enables acceleration to be distinguished from transport and the nature of transport effects to be explored. Methods: Data acquired by the RHESSI satellite were analyzed using full sun spectroscopy as well as imaging spectroscopy methods. Coronal source and footpoint spectra of well observed limb events were analyzed and quantitatively compared to theoretical predictions. New concepts are introduced to existing models to resolve discrepancies between observations and predictions. Results: The standard thin-thick target solar flare model cannot explain the observations of all events. In the events presented here, propagation effects in the form of non-collisional energy loss are of importance to explain the observations. We demonstrate that those energy losses can be interpreted in terms of an electric field in the flare loop. One event seems consistent with particle propagation or acceleration in lower than average density in the coronal source. Conclusions: We find observational evidence for an electric field in flare loops caused by return currents.
Extragalactic HI astronomy is half a century old. Its maturity dramatically increased in the 1970s, with the commissioning of new powerful facilities. Its contributions to Cosmology are important, from the observation of galaxy rotation curves that showed the presence of dark matter in galaxies, to the measurement of cosmological parameters and the mapping of the large scale structure of the Universe. The Arecibo telecope has played a key role in these developments. It is also currently engaged in a number of experiments that utilize its L-band feed array to map thousands of square degrees of the sky and obtain the most sensitive large-scale view of the low z HI Universe.
Starting in the 1970s, the Arecibo 305m telescope has made seminal contributions in the field of extragalactic spectroscopy. With the Gregorian upgrade completed in the late 1990s, the telescope acquired a field of view. Population of that field of view with a seven-feed array at L-band (ALFA) increased by nearly one order of magnitude its survey speed. As a result, much of the extragalactic astronomy time of the telescope is now allocated to survey projects, which are briefly discussed. The next technical development stage for the 305m telescope is foreseen as that of a 40 beam system that would take advantage of phased array technology: AO40. This would further speed up the survey performance of the telescope. It is shown how the figure of merit for survey speed of AO40 would be comparable with that of SKA-precursor facilities, planned for operation in the next decade. A number of scientifically desirable new surveys that would become possible with AO40 are briefly discussed.
IceCube is a cubic kilometer neutrino telescope under construction at the South Pole. The primary goal is to discover astrophysical sources of high energy neutrinos. We describe the detector and present results on atmospheric muon neutrinos from 2006 data collected with nine detector strings.
We characterize the problem of artificial polarization for the Submillimeter High Angular Resolution Polarimeter (SHARP) through the use of simulated data and observations made at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). These erroneous, artificial polarization signals are introduced into the data through misalignments in the bolometer sub-arrays plus pointing drifts present during the data-taking procedure. An algorithm is outlined here to address this problem and correct for it, provided that one can measure the degree of the sub-array misalignments and telescope pointing drifts. Tests involving simulated sources of Gaussian intensity profile indicate that the level of introduced artificial polarization is highly dependent upon the angular size of the source. Despite this, the correction algorithm is effective at removing up to 60% of the artificial polarization during these tests. The analysis of Jupiter data taken in January 2006 and February 2007 indicates a mean polarization of 1.44%+/-0.04% and 0.95%+/-0.09%, respectively. The application of the correction algorithm yields mean reductions in the polarization of approximately 0.15% and 0.03% for the 2006 and 2007 data sets, respectively.
We present new spectroscopic and photometric observations of the HAT-P-1 planetary system. Spectra obtained during three transits exhibit the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect, allowing us to measure the angle between the sky projections of the stellar spin axis and orbit normal, \lambda = 3.7 +/- 2.1 degrees. The small value of \lambda for this and other systems suggests that the dominant planet migration mechanism preserves spin-orbit alignment. Using two new transit light curves, we refine the transit ephemeris and reduce the uncertainty in the orbital period by an order of magnitude. We find a upper limit on the orbital eccentricity of 0.067, with 99% confidence, by combining our new radial-velocity measurements with those obtained previously.
We investigate an important question of Hawking-like radiation as seen by an infalling observer during gravitational collapse. Using the functional Schrodinger formalism we are able to probe the time dependent regime which is out of the reach of the standard approximations like the Bogolyubov method. We calculate the occupation number of particles registered by an infalling observer and demonstrate that the distribution is not quite thermal, though it becomes thermal once the black hole is formed in his frame. We approximately fit the temperature and find that the local temperature increases as the horizon is approached. This is in agreement with what is generically expected in the absence of backreaction.
A general sketch of how the problem of space dimensionality depends on Anthropic arguments is presented. A new argument in favor of a stable scenario for space dimensionality for a time scale longer than that required for the existence of human or another kind of highly-evolved life on Earth is proposed.
Using a homotopic family of boundary eigenvalue problems for the mean-field $\alpha^2$-dynamo with helical turbulence parameter $\alpha(r)=\alpha_0+\gamma\Delta\alpha(r)$ and homotopy parameter $\beta \in [0,1]$, we show that the underlying network of diabolical points for Dirichlet (idealized, $\beta=0$) boundary conditions substantially determines the choreography of eigenvalues and thus the character of the dynamo instability for Robin (physically realistic, $\beta=1$) boundary conditions. In the $(\alpha_0,\beta,\gamma)-$space the Arnold tongues of oscillatory solutions at $\beta=1$ end up at the diabolical points for $\beta=0$. In the vicinity of the diabolical points the space orientation of the 3D tongues, which are cones in first-order approximation, is determined by the Krein signature of the modes involved in the diabolical crossings at the apexes of the cones. The Krein space induced geometry of the resonance zones explains the subtleties in finding $\alpha$-profiles leading to spectral exceptional points, which are important ingredients in recent theories of polarity reversals of the geomagnetic field.
We study the perturbative behaviour of topological black holes. We calculate both analytically and numerically the quasi-normal modes of scalar perturbations. In the case of small black holes we find discontinuities of the quasi-normal modes spectrum at the critical temperature and we argue that this is evidence of a second-order phase transition.
We study the performance of achromatic half-wave plates (AHWP) as a function of their construction parameters, the detection bandwidth of a power detector operating in the millimeter wave band, and the spectral shape of the incident radiation. We focus particular attention on the extraction of the degree of incident polarization and its orientation angle from the intensity measured as a function of AHWP rotation angle, which we call the IVA (intensity versus angle). We quantify the phase offset of the IVA and point to potential systematic errors in the extraction of this offset in cases where the incident spectrum is not sufficiently well known. We show how the phase offset and modulation efficiency of the AHWP depend on the relative angles between the plates in the stack and find that high modulation efficiency can be achieved with alignment accuracy of few degrees.
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Precision data from cosmology suggest neutrinos stream freely and hence interact very weakly around the epoch of recombination. We study this issue in a simple framework where neutrinos recouple instantaneously and stop streaming freely at a redshift z_i. The latest cosmological data imply z_i < 1500, the exact constraint depending somewhat on the assumed prior on z_i. This bound translates into a limit on the coupling strength between neutrinos and majoron-like particles phi, implying tau > 1 x 10^10 s (m_2/50 meV)^3 for the decay nu_2 -> nu_1+phi.
We develop a physical model for how galactic disks survive and/or are destroyed in interactions. Based on dynamical arguments, we show gas primarily loses angular momentum to internal torques in a merger. Gas within some characteristic radius (a function of the orbital parameters, mass ratio, and gas fraction of the merging galaxies), will quickly lose angular momentum to the stars sharing the perturbed disk, fall to the center and be consumed in a starburst. A similar analysis predicts where violent relaxation of the stellar disks is efficient. Our model allows us to predict the stellar and gas content that will survive to re-form a disk in the remnant, versus being violently relaxed or contributing to a starburst. We test this in hydrodynamic simulations and find good agreement as a function of mass ratio, orbital parameters, and gas fraction, in simulations spanning a wide range in these properties and others, including different prescriptions for gas physics and feedback. In an immediate sense, the amount of disk that re-forms can be understood in terms of well-understood gravitational physics, independent of details of ISM gas physics or feedback. This allows us to explicitly quantify the requirements for such feedback to (indirectly) enable disk survival, by changing the pre-merger gas content and distribution. The efficiency of disk destruction is a strong function of gas content: we show how and why sufficiently gas-rich major mergers can, under general conditions, yield systems with small bulges (B/T<0.2). We provide prescriptions for inclusion of our results in semi-analytic models.
Using analytic arguments and numerical simulations, we examine whether chondrule formation and the FU Orionis phenomenon can be caused by the burst-like onset of gravitational instabilities (GIs) in dead zones. At least two scenarios for bursting dead zones can work, in principle. If the disk is on the verge of fragmention, GI activation near $r\sim4$ to 5 AU can produce chondrule-forming shocks, at least under extreme conditions. Mass fluxes are also high enough during the onset of GIs to suggest that the outburst is related to an FU Orionis phenomenon. This situation is demonstrated by numerical simulations. In contrast, as supported by analytic arguments, if the burst takes place close to $r\sim1$ AU, then even low pitch angle spiral waves can create chondrule-producing shocks and outbursts. We also study the stability of the massive disks in our simulations against fragmentation and find that although disk evolution is sensitive to changes in opacity, the disks we study do not fragment, even at high resolution and even for extreme assumptions.
The faint radio point sources that are unresolved in cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy maps are likely to be a biased tracer of the large-scale structure dark matter distribution. While the shot-noise contribution to the angular power spectrum of unresolved radio point sources is included either when optimally constructing the CMB angular power spectrum, as with WMAP data, or when extracting cosmological parameters, we suggest that clustering part of the point source power spectrum should also be included. This is especially necessary at high frequencies above 150 GHz, where the clustering of far-IR sources is expected to dominate the shot-noise level of the angular power spectrum at tens of arcminute angular scales of both radio and sub-mm sources. We make an estimate of source clustering of unresolved radio sources in both WMAP and ACBAR, and marginalize over the amplitude of source clustering in each CMB data set when model fitting for cosmological parameters. For the combination of WMAP 5-year data and ACBAR, we find that the spectral index changes from the value of $0.963 \pm 0.014$ to $0.959 \pm 0.014$ (at 68% c.l.) when the clustering power spectrum of point sources is included in model fits. While we find that the differences are marginal with and without source clustering in current data, it may be necessary to account for source clustering with future datasets such as Planck, especially to properly model fit anisotropies at arcminute angular scales. If clustering is not accounted and point sources are modeled with a shot-noise only out to $l \sim 2000$, the spectral index will be biased by about 1.5$\sigma$.
Optical, Infrared, X-ray, and radio wavelength studies of quasars are beginning to define the luminous quasar structure from techniques of reverberation and microlensing. An important result is that the inner quasar structure of the first identified gravitational lens, Q0957+561 A,B seems not to show the kind of structure expected for a supermassive black hole, but instead show a clean-swept interior region as due to the action of a magnetic propeller, just as expected for a MECO (Magnetic Eternally Collapsing Object) structure. Given the present state of the observations, the strongest model discriminant seems to be the existence of a thin luminous band around the inner edge of the accretion disc, at a distant radius ~ 70 R_g from the ~ 4 x 10^9 Mo central object. Since the existence of a clean magnetic propeller swept inner region ~70 R_g surrounded by a sharp ~ 1 R_g disc edge are the low-hard state spectral properties associated with a highly redshifted central MECO object, we are led to the conclusion that these observations imply that the Q0957 quasar contains a central supermassive MECO instead of a black hole. In this report we review the details of the observations which have compelled us to reach this conclusion.
We present a search for all embedded protostars with internal luminosities < 1 solar luminosity in the sample of nearby, low-mass star-forming regions surveyed by the Spitzer Space Telescope c2d Legacy Project. The internal luminosity (Lint) of a source is the luminosity of the central source and excludes luminosity arising from external heating. On average, the c2d data are sensitive to embedded protostars with Lint > 4E-3 (d/140 pc)^2 solar luminosities, a factor of 25 better than the sensitivity of IRAS to such objects. We present selection criteria used to identify candidates from the Spitzer data and examine complementary data to decide whether each candidate is truly an embedded protostar. We find a tight correlation between the 70 micron flux and internal luminosity of a protostar, an empirical result based on observations and two-dimensional radiative transfer models of protostars. We identify 50 embedded protostars with Lint < 1 solar luminosities; 15 have Lint < 0.1 solar luminosities. The intrinsic distribution of source luminosities increases to lower luminosities. While we find sources down to the above sensitivity limit, indicating that the distribution may extend to luminosities lower than probed by these observations, we are able to rule out a continued rise in the distribution below 0.1 solar luminosities. Between 75-85% of cores classified as starless prior to being observed by Spitzer remain starless to our luminosity sensitivity; the remaining 15-25% harbor low-luminosity, embedded protostars. We compile complete Spectral Energy Distributions for all 50 objects and calculate standard evolutionary signatures, and argue that these objects are inconsistent with the simplest picture of star formation wherein mass accretes from the core onto the protostar at a constant rate.
We present a preliminary calibration and flight performance of the Long-Slit Imaging Dual Order Spectrograph (LIDOS), a rocket-borne instrument with a large dynamic range in the 900 - 1700A bandpass. The instrument observes UV-bright objects with a CCD channel and fainter nebulosity with an MCP detector. The image quality and the detector quantum efficiencies were determined using the calibration and test equipment at the Johns Hopkins University, and further monitored using an on-board electron-impact calibration lamp. We review results from each of the three flights of the instrument.
The Australian National University's SkyMapper telescope is amongst the first of a new generation of dedicated wide-field survey telescopes. Featuring a 5.7 square deg field-of-view Cassegrain imager and 268 Mega-pixel CCD array, its primary goal will be to undertake the Southern Sky Survey: a six color (uvgriz), six-epoch digital record of the entire southern sky. The survey will provide photometry for objects between 8th and 23rd magnitude with a global photometric accuracy of 0.03 magnitudes and astrometry to 50 mas. In this contribution we introduce the SkyMapper facility, the survey data products and outline a variety of case-studies in stellar astrophysics for which SkyMapper will have high impact.
We analyze the orbital and mass evolution of planets that undergo run-away gas accretion by means of 2D and 3D hydrodynamic simulations. The disk torque distribution per unit disk mass as a function of radius provides an important diagnostic for the nature of the disk-planet interactions. We first consider torque distributions for nonmigrating planets of fixed mass and show that there is general agreement with the expectations of resonance theory. We then present results of simulations for mass-gaining, migrating planets. For planets with an initial mass of 5 Earth masses, which are embedded in disks with standard parameters and which undergo run-away gas accretion to one Jupiter mass (Mjup), the torque distributions per unit disk mass are largely unaffected by migration and accretion for a given planet mass. The migration rates for these planets are in agreement with the predictions of the standard theory for planet migration (Type I and Type II migration). The planet mass growth occurs through gas capture within the planet's Bondi radius at lower planet masses, the Hill radius at intermediate planet masses, and through reduced accretion at higher planet masses due to gap formation. During run-away mass growth, a planet migrates inwards by only about 20% in radius before achieving a mass of ~1 Mjup. For the above models, we find no evidence of fast migration driven by coorbital torques, known as Type III migration. We do find evidence of Type III migration for a fixed mass planet of Saturn's mass that is immersed in a cold and massive disk. In this case the planet migration is assumed to begin before gap formation completes. The migration is understood through a model in which the torque is due to an asymmetry in density between trapped gas on the leading side of the planet and ambient gas on the trailing side of the planet.
This chapter describes how the Cosmic Gravitational Wave Background induces a specific type of CMB polarization and describes the first experiment dedicated to testing this most-promising signature of inflation. This experiment, the Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization (BICEP) project, has recently embarked on its third observing season. We show preliminary data from the BICEP's first season obtained with a novel polarization modulation mechanism called the "Faraday Rotation Modulator". Our discussion ends with a description of exciting new technology with the potential to probe inflation down to the GUT-scale.
Using a large sample of 26623 quasars with redshifts in the range $1.5 \le z\le 5.1$ with \civ $\lambda$1549 \AA emission line in Fifth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we investigate the cosmological evolution of the Baldwin Effect, i.e. the relation between the equivalent width (EW) of the \civ emission line and continuum luminosity. We confirm the earlier result that there exists a strong correlation between the \civ EW and the continuum luminosity, and we find that, up to $z\approx 5$, the slope of the Baldwin Effect seems to have no effect of cosmological evolution. A sub-sample of 13960 quasars with broad \civ $\lambda$1549 \AA emission line from SDSS is used to explore the origin of the Baldwin Effect. We find that \civ EW have a strong correlation with the mass of supermassive black hole (SMBH), and a weak correlation with the Eddington ratio, $\lb/\ledd$. This suggests that the SMBH mass is probably the primary drive for the Baldwin Effect.
The conversion of neutron star to strange star is argued to be a two step process. The first process involves the deconfinement of nuclear to two-flavour quark matter. The GR results shows that the propagating front breaks up into fragments which propagate with different velocities along different directions. The time taken for this conversion to happen is of the order of few $ms$. This calculation indicates the inadequacy of non-relativistic (NR) or even Special Relativistic (SR) treatments for these cases.
Aims: Archival observations of the infrared fine-structure lines from the
young Galactic supernova remnant Cassiopeia A allow to test existing models and
to determine the physical parameters of various regions of the fast-moving
knots (FMKs) - metal-dominated clouds of the material ejected in the supernova
explosion.
Methods: The fluxes of the far-infrared [O i] and [O iii] lines are extracted
from the previously unpublished archival ISO data. The archival Spitzer data
are used to determine the fluxes of the O, Ne, Si, S, Ar and Fe ion
fine-structure lines originating in the fast-moving knots. The ratios of these
line fluxes are used for the plasma diagnostics. We also determine the infrared
line flux ratios to the optical [O iii] 5007 A line in the knots having
previously measured reddening.
Results: We show that the infrared oxygen line flux predictions of all
existing theoretical models are correct only to within a factor of several.
Comparison of the model predictions shows that to reproduce the observations it
is essential to include the electron conductivity and effects of the dust.
Detailed analysis of the diagnostic line flux ratios of various ions allows us
to qualitatively confirm the general model of the FMK emission and to determine
observationally the physical conditions in the photoionized region after the
shock front for the first time. We infer from the [O iii] line flux ratios that
the pre-shock cloud densities are higher than assumed in the existing
theoretical models and most probably constitute several hundred particles per
cm^3. We determine also the Cas A luminosities in the infrared continuum and
lines.
Taking into account the helium and metal diffusion, we explore the possible evolutionary status and perform seismic analysis of MOST target: the star $\epsilon$ Eridani. We adopt the different input parameters to construct the models by fitting the available observational constraints: e.g., $T_{eff}$, $L$, $R$, $[Fe/H]$. From computation, we obtain the average large spacings of $\epsilon$ Eridani about $194\pm 1 \mu$Hz. The age of the diffused models has been found to be about 1 Gyr, which is younger than one determined previously by models without diffusion. We found that the effect of pure helium diffusion on the internal structure of the young low-mass star is slight, but the metal diffusion influence is obvious. The metal diffusion leads the models to have much higher temperature in the radiation interior, correspondingly the higher sound speed in the interior of the model, thereby the larger frequency and spacings.
In this letter we present a morphological comparison between giant radio halos and radio mini-halos in galaxy clusters based on radio--X-ray luminosity, P_{1.4}-L_X, and radio luminosity-size, P_{1.4}-R_H, correlations. We report evidence that P_{1.4}-L_X and P_{1.4}-R_H trends may also exist for mini--halos: mini--halo clusters share the same region of giant halo clusters in the (P_{1.4},L_X) plane, whereas they are clearly separated in the (P_{1.4},R_H) plane. The synchrotron emissivity of mini-halos is found to be more than 50 times larger than that of giant halos, implying a very efficient process for their origins. By assuming a scenario of sporadical turbulent particle re-acceleration for both giant and mini halos, we discuss basic physical differences between these sources. Regardless of the origin of the turbulence, a more efficient source of injection of particles, which eventually takes part in the re-acceleration process, is required in mini-halos, and this may result from the central radio galaxy or from proton-proton collisions in the dense cool core regions.
We present new polarisation observations at 13 cm, acquired using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT), of 65 sources, from the B3-VLA sample of Compact Steep-Spectrum sources. These new data are combined with our VLA polarisation data, at 3.6, 6 and, 21 cm, presented in a previous paper. Due to the multi-channel frequency capabilities of the WSRT, these new 13 cm observations enable a more reliable determination of integrated Rotation Measures, and of depolarisation behaviour with wavelength. The new data are inconsistent with the depolarisation models that we used earlier, and we propose an alternative model which seems to work properly. We also revise our previous model for the external Faraday screen, and its dependence on the source redshift.
Recent research has shown that distinct physical regions in the Venusian induced magnetosphere are recognizable from the variations of strength and of wave/fluctuation activity of the magnetic field. In this paper the statistical properties of magnetic fluctuations are investigated in the Venusian magnetosheath, terminator, and wake regions. The latter two regions were not visited by previous missions. We found 1/f fluctuations in the magnetosheath, large-scale structures near the terminator and more developed turbulence further downstream in the wake. Location independent short-tailed non-Gaussian statistics was observed.
We have performed new laboratory experiments which gave us the possibility to obtain an estimate of the amount of carbon chain oxides (namely C3O2, C2O, and C3O) formed after irradiation (with 200 keV protons) of pure CO ice, at 16 K. The analysis of laboratory data indicates that in dense molecular clouds, when high CO depletion occurs, an amount of carbon chain oxides as high as 2-3x10^-3 with respect to gas phase carbon monoxide can be formed after ion irradiation of icy grain mantles. Then we have searched for gas phase C2O and C3O towards ten low-mass young stellar objects. Among these we have detected the C3O line at 38486.891 MHz towards the low-mass protostar Elias 18. On the basis of the laboratory results we suggest that in dense molecular clouds gas phase carbon chain oxides are formed in the solid phase after cosmic ion irradiation of CO-rich icy mantles and released to the gas phase after desorption of icy mantles. We expect that the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), thanks to its high sensitivity and resolution, will increase the number of carbon chain oxides detected in dense molecular clouds.
In this paper we study the sensitivity of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) project to the determination of cosmological parameters, employing the Monte Carlo Markov Chains (MCMC) method. For comparison, we first analyze the constraints on cosmological parameters from current observational data, including WMAP, SDSS and SN Ia. We then simulate the 3D matter power spectrum data expected from LAMOST, together with the simulated CMB data for PLANCK and the SN Ia from 5-year Supernovae Legacy Survey (SNLS). With the simulated data, we investigate the future improvement on cosmological parameter constraints, emphasizing the role of LAMOST. Our results show the potential of LAMOST in probing for the cosmological parameters, especially in constraining the equation-of-state (EoS) of the dark energy and the neutrino mass.
We present the results of a series of optical, UV, X-ray and gamma-ray observations of the BL Lac object S50716+714 carried out by the Swift and AGILE satellites in late 2007 when this blazar was flaring close to its historical maximum at optical frequencies. We have found that the optical through soft X-ray emission, likely due to Synchrotron radiation, was highly variable and displayed a different behavior in the optical UV and soft X-ray bands. The 4-10 keV flux, most probably dominated by the inverse Compton component, remained instead constant. The counting statistics in the relatively short AGILE GRID observation was low and consistent with a constant gamma-ray flux at a level similar to the maximum observed by EGRET. An estimate of the gamma-ray spectral slope gives a value of the photon index that is close to 2 suggesting that the peak of the inverse Compton component in the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) is within the AGILE energy band. The different variability behavior observed in different parts of the SED exclude interpretations predicting highly correlated flux variability like changes of the beaming factor or of the magnetic field in simple SSC scenarios. The observed SED changes may instead be interpreted as due to the sum of two SSC components, one of which is constant while the other is variable and with a systematically higher synchrotron peak energy.
We discuss the generation of large-scale magnetic fields due to the breaking of the conformal invariance in the electromagnetic field through the $CPT$-even dimension-six Chern-Simons-like effective interaction with a fermion current in inflationary cosmology. It is shown that the magnetic fields on 1Mpc scale with the field strength of $\sim 10^{-9}$G at the present time can be generated even for the scale of the effective interaction being the Planck scale.
The MAGIC collaboration has recently reported the discovery of gamma-ray emission from the binary system LS I +61 303 in the TeV energy region. Here we present new observational results on this source in the energy range between 300 GeV and 3 TeV. In total 112 hours of data were taken between September and December 2006 covering 4 orbital cycles of this object. This large amount of data allowed us to produce an integral flux light curve covering for the first time all orbital phases of LS I +61 303. In addition, we also obtained a differential energy spectrum for two orbital phase bins covering the phase range 0.5<phi<0.6 and 0.6<phi<0.7. The photon index in the two phase bins is consistent within the errors with an average index Gamma=2.6+-0.2_{stat}+-0.2_{sys}. LS I +61 303 was found to be variable at TeV energies on timescales of days. These new MAGIC measurements allowed us to search for intra-night variability of the VHE emission; however, no evidence for flux variability on timescales down to 30 minutes was found. To test for possible periodic structures in the light curve, we apply the formalism developed by Lomb and Scargle to the LS I +61 303 data taken in 2005 and 2006. We found the LS I +61 303 data set to be periodic with a period of (26.8+-0.2) days (with a post-trial chance probability of 10^{-7}), close to the orbital period.
Stimulated by the recent debate on the physical relevance and on the predictivity of q-Gaussian formalism, we present specific analytical expressions for the parameters characterizing non-Gaussian distributions, such as the nonextensive parameter q, expressions that we have proposed for different physical systems, an important example being plasmas in the stellar cores. keywords: Exact results, Rigorous results in statistical mechanics.
We generalize to non-flat geometries the formalism of Simon et al. (2005) to reconstruct the dark energy potential. This formalism makes use of quantities similar to the Horizon-flow parameters in inflation, can, in principle, be made non-parametric and is general enough to be applied outside the simple, single scalar field quintessence. Since presently available and forthcoming data do not allow a non-parametric and exact reconstruction of the potential, we consider a general parametric description in term of Chebyshev polynomials. We then consider present and future measurements of H(z), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations surveys and Supernovae type 1A surveys, and investigate their constraints on the dark energy potential. We find that, relaxing the flatness assumption increases the errors on the reconstructed dark energy evolution but does not open up significant degeneracies, provided that a modest prior on geometry is imposed. Direct measurements of H(z), such as those provided by BAO surveys, are crucially important to constrain the evolution of the dark energy potential and the dark energy equation of state, especially for non-trivial deviations from the standard LambdaCDM model.
A primordial magnetic field in the early universe will cause Faraday rotation of the linear polarization of the cosmic microwave background generated via Compton scattering at the surface of last scattering. This rotation induces a non-zero parity-odd (B-mode) polarization component. The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) 5-year data puts an upper limit on the magnitude of the B-polarization power spectrum; this results in upper limits on the comoving amplitude of a primordial stochastic magnetic field ranging from 0.4 to 30 nG on a comoving length scale of 1 Mpc, depending on the power spectrum of the magnetic field. At a scale of 100 Mpc, the stochastic field amplitude must be smaller than 0.7 nG for any power spectrum. These are the strongest current direct limits on primordial magnetic fields.
We investigate the physical structure of the gas component of the disk around the pre-main-sequence star HD169142. The 13CO and C18O J=2-1 line emission is observed from the disk with 1.4'' resolution using the Submillimeter Array. We adopt the disk physical structure derived from a model which fits the spectral energy distribution of HD169142. We obtain the full three-dimensional information on the CO emission with the aid of a molecular excitation and radiative transfer code. This information is used for the analysis of our observations and previous 12CO J=2-1 and 1.3 mm continuum data. The disk is in Keplerian rotation and seen at an inclination close to 13 deg from face-on. We conclude that the regions traced by different CO isotopologues are distinct in terms of their vertical location within the disk, their temperature and their column densities. With the given disk structure, we find that freeze-out is not efficient enough to remove a significant amount of CO from gas phase. Both observed lines match the model prediction both in flux and in the spatial structure of the emission. Therefore we use our data to derive the 13CO and C18O mass and consequently the 12CO mass using standard isotopic ratios. We constrain the total disk gas mass to (0.6-3.0)x10(-2) Msun. Adopting a maximum dust opacity of 2 cm2 per gram of dust we derive a minimum dust mass of 2.16x10(-4) Msun from the fit to the 1.3 mm data. Comparison of the derived gas and dust mass shows that the gas to dust mass ratio of 100 is only possible under the assumption of a dust opacity of 2 cm2/g and 12CO abundance of 10(-4) with respect to H2. However, our data are also compatible with a gas to dust ratio of 25, with a dust opacity of 1 cm2/g and 12CO abundance of 2x10(-4).
We have studied the correlation between 2357 Chandra X-ray point sources in a 40 x 40 parsec field and ~20,000 infrared sources we observed in the corresponding subset of our 2 x 1.4 degree Spitzer/IRAC Galactic Center Survey at 3.6-8.0 um, using various spatial and X-ray hardness thresholds. The correlation was determined for source separations of less than 0.5", 1" or 2". Only the soft X-ray sources show any correlation with infrared point sources on these scales, and that correlation is very weak. The upper limit on hard X-ray sources that have infrared counterparts is <1.7% (3 sigma). However, because of the confusion limit of the IR catalog, we only detect IR sources with absolute magnitudes < ~1. As a result, a stronger correlation with fainter sources cannot be ruled out. Only one compact infrared source, IRS 13, coincides with any of the dozen prominent X-ray emission features in the 3 x 3 parsec region centered on Sgr A*, and the diffuse X-ray and infrared emission around Sgr A* seems to be anti-correlated on a few-arcsecond scale. We compare our results with previous identifications of near-infrared companions to Chandra X-ray sources.
(abridged) The Observatory for Multi-Epoch Gravitational Lens Astrophysics (OMEGA) is a mission concept for a 1.5-m near-UV through near-IR space observatory that will be dedicated to frequent imaging and spectroscopic monitoring of ~100 multiply-imaged active galactic nuclei over the whole sky. Using wavelength-tailored dichroics with extremely high transmittance, efficient imaging in six channels will be done simultaneously during each visit to each target. The separate spectroscopic mode, engaged through a flip-in mirror, uses an image slicer spectrograph. After a period of many visits to all targets, the resulting multidimensional movies can then be analyzed to a) measure the mass function of dark matter substructure; b) measure precise masses of the accreting black holes as well as the structure of their accretion disks and their environments over several decades of physical scale; and c) measure a combination of the local Hubble expansion and cosmological distances to unprecedented precision.
This is the third paper in a series analyzing X-ray emission from the hot interstellar medium in a sample of 54 normal elliptical galaxies observed by Chandra, focusing on 36 galaxies with sufficient signal to compute radial temperature profiles. We distinguish four qualitatively different types of profile: positive gradient (outwardly rising), negative gradients (falling), quasi-isothermal (flat) and hybrid (falling at small radii, then rising). We measure the mean logarithmic temperature gradients in two radial regions: from 0--2 $J$-band effective radii $R_J$ (excluding the central point source), and from 2--$4R_J$. We find the outer gradient to be uncorrelated with intrinsic host galaxy properties, but strongly influenced by the environment: galaxies in low-density environments tend to show negative outer gradients, while those in high-density environments show positive outer gradients, suggesting influence of circumgalactic hot gas. The inner temperature gradient is unaffected by the environment but strongly correlated with intrinsic host galaxy characteristics: negative inner gradients are more common for smaller, optically faint, low radio-luminosity galaxies, whereas positive gradients are found in bright galaxies with stronger radio sources. There is no evidence for bimodality in the distribution of inner or outer gradients. We propose three scenarios to explain the inner temperature gradients: (1) Weak AGN heat the ISM locally, higher-luminosity AGN heat the system globally through jets inflating cavities at larger radii; (2) The onset of negative inner gradients indicates a declining importance of AGN heating relative to other sources, such as compressional heating or supernovae; (3) The variety of temperature profiles are snapshots of different stages of a time-dependent flow.
The first optical spectrum of an isolated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon large enough to survive the photophysical conditions of the interstellar medium is reported. Vibronic bands of the first electronic transition of the all benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene were observed in the 4080-4530 Angstrom range by resonant 2-color 2-photon ionization spectroscopy. The strongest feature at 4261 Angstrom is estimated to have an oscillator strength of f=1.4x10^-3, placing an upper limit on the interstellar abundance of this polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon at 4x10^12 cm^-2, accounting for a maximum of ~0.02% of interstellar carbon. This study opens up the possibility to rigorously test neutral polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as carriers of the diffuse interstellar bands in the near future.
We investigate the possible existence of an extended halo of early-type stars around Cygnus OB2, which is hinted at by near-infrared color-color diagrams, and its relationship to Cygnus OB2 itself, as well as to the nearby association Cygnus OB9 and to the star forming regions in the Cygnus X North complex. A total of 96 early-type stars are identified in the targeted region, which amounts to nearly half of the observed sample. Most of them have featureless near-infrared spectra as expected from OB stars at the available resolution. Another 18 stars that display Brackett emission lines can be divided between evolved massive stars (most likely Be stars) and Herbig Ae/Be stars based on their infrared excesses. A component associated with Cygnus OB9/NGC 6910 is clearly identified, as well as an enhancement in the surface density of early-type stars at Cygnus X North. We also find a field population, consisting largely of early B giants and supergiants, which is probably the same as identified in recent studies of the inner 1-degree circle around Cygnus OB2. The age and large extension of this population discards a direct relationship with Cygnus OB2 or any other particular association. Earlier claims of the possible large extent of Cygnus OB2 beyond its central, very massive aggregate seem to be dismissed by our findings. The existence of a nearly ubiquitous population of evolved stars with massive precursors suggests a massive star formation history in Cygnus having started long before the formation of the currently observed OB associations in the region.
We determine an absolute calibration for the MIPS 24 microns band and recommend adjustments to the published calibrations for 2MASS, IRAC, and IRAS photometry to put them on the same scale. We show that consistent results are obtained by basing the calibration on either an average A0V star spectral energy distribution (SED), or by using the absolutely calibrated SED of the sun in comparison with solar-type stellar photometry (the solar analog method). After the rejection of a small number of stars with anomalous SEDs (or bad measurements), upper limits of ~ 1.5% (rms) are placed on the intrinsic infrared SED variations in both A dwarf and solar-type stars. These types of stars are therefore suitable as general-purpose standard stars in the infrared. We provide absolutely calibrated SEDs for a standard zero magnitude A star and for the sun to allow extending this work to any other infrared photometric system. They allow the recommended calibration to be applied from 1 to 25 microns with an accuracy of ~2 %, and with even higher accuracy at specific wavelengths such as 2.2, 10.6, and 24 microns, near which there are direct measurements. However, we confirm earlier indications that Vega does not behave as a typical A0V star between the visible and the infrared, making it problematic as the defining star for photometric systems. The integration of measurements of the sun with those of solar-type stars also provides an accurate estimate of the solar SED from 1 through 30 microns, which we show agrees with theoretical models.
We present measurements of the low-temperature thermal conductivity of a number of polymeric and composite materials from 0.3 to 4 K. The materials measured are Vespel SP-1, Vespel SP-22, unfilled PEEK, 30% carbon fiber-filled PEEK, 30% glass-filled PEEK, carbon fiber Graphlite composite rod, Torlon 4301, G-10/FR-4 fiberglass, pultruded fiberglass composite, Macor ceramic, and graphite rod. These materials have moderate to high elastic moduli making them useful for thermally-isolating structural supports.
We present an analysis of the energetics and particle content of the lobes of 24 radio galaxies at the cores of cooling clusters. The radio lobes in these systems have created visible cavities in the surrounding hot, X-ray-emitting gas, which allow direct measurement of the mechanical jet power of radio sources over six decades of radio luminosity, independently of the radio properties themselves. Using these measurements, we examine the ratio between radio power and total jet power (the radiative efficiency). We find that jet (cavity) power increases with radio synchrotron power approximately as P_jet ~ (L_radio)^beta, where 0.35 < beta < 0.70 depending on the bandpass of measurement and state of the source. However, the scatter about these relations caused by variations in radiative efficiency spans more than four orders of magnitude. After accounting for variations in synchrotron break frequency (age), the scatter is reduced by ~ 50%, yielding the most accurate scaling relation available between the lobe bolometric radio power and the jet (cavity) power. We place limits on the magnetic field strengths and particle content of the radio lobes using a variety of X-ray constraints. We find that the lobe magnetic field strengths vary between a few to several tens of microgauss depending on the age and dynamical state of the lobes. If the cavities are maintained in pressure balance with their surroundings and are supported by internal fields and particles in equipartition, the ratio of energy in electrons to heavy particles (k) must vary widely from approximately unity to 4000, consistent with heavy (hadronic) jets.
The origin of the rapid quasi-periodic variabilities observed in a number of accreting black hole X-ray binaries is not understood. It has been suggested that these variabilities are associated with diskoseismic oscillation modes of the black hole accretion disk. In particular, in a disk with no magnetic field, the so-called g-modes (inertial oscillations) can be self-trapped at the inner region of the disk due to general relativistic effects. Real accretion disks, however, are expected to be turbulent and contain appreciable magnetic fields. We show in this paper that even a weak magnetic field (with the magnetic energy much less than the thermal energy) can modify or "destroy" the self-trapping zone of disk g-modes, rendering their existence questionable in realistic black hole accretion disks. The so-called corrugation modes (c-modes) are also strongly affected when the poloidal field approaches equal-partition. On the other hand, acoustic oscillations (p-modes), which do not have vertical structure, are not affected qualitatively by the magnetic field, and therefore may survive in a turbulent, magnetic disk.
We forecast constraints on primordial non-Gaussianity achievable from forthcoming surveys by exploiting the scale-dependent halo bias introduced on large scales by non-Gaussian initial conditions. We explore the performance of exploiting both the shape of the galaxy power-spectrum on large scales and the cross-correlation of galaxies with Cosmic Microwave Background maps through the Integrated Sachs Wolfe effect. We find that future surveys can detect primordial non-Gaussianity of the local form with a non-Gaussianity parameter $|f_{\rm NL}|$ of order unity. This is particularly exciting because, while the simplest single-field slow-roll models of inflation predict a primordial $|f_{\rm NL}|\ll 1$, this signal sources extra contributions to the effective $f_{\rm NL}$ of large-scale structures that are expected to be above our predicted detection threshold.
Several rare coincidences of scales in standard particle physics are needed to explain (i) why neutrinos have mass, (ii) why the negative pressure of the cosmological dark energy (DE) coincides with the positive pressure of random motion of dark matter (DM) in bright galaxies, (iii) why Dark Matter in galaxies seems to have a finite phase-space density, and to follow the Tully-Fisher-Milgrom relation of galaxy rotation curves. The old idea of self-interacting DM is given a new spin: we propose that the neutrino spin-gravity coupling could lead to a cosmic neutrino dark fluid with a an internal energy density varying as function of the local acceleration of the neutrino fluid with respect the CMB background. We link the Tully-Fisher-Milgrom relation of spiral galaxies (or MOND) with the relativistic pressure of the neutrino dark fluid without modifying Einsteinian gravity.
Comments on arXiv:0712.1645v1.
Gravitational microlensing has been employed to identify massive halo objects by their amplification of distant sources; MACHO searches have studied event times $2 h \lesssim t_0 \lesssim 2 y$ corresponding masses in the range $10^{-6} M_{\odot} \lesssim M \lesssim 100 M_{\odot}$. We suggest that larger masses up to $10^6 M_{\odot}$ are also of considerable interest. It has not been excluded that there is a significant number of halo black holes with such masses as suggested by cosmological entropy considerations and potentially detectable by high longevity microlensing events.
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Massive objects sinking within galaxies or dark matter haloes via dynamical friction will exchange momentum with central particles, ejecting them from the cusp and reducing the density of the inner region. We explore parameter space using numerical simulations and give empirical relations for the size of the resulting core within structures that have different initial cusp slopes. We show that simple energetic arguments can be used to predict these scaling laws. As an application we consider the dwarf spheroidal galaxy VCC 128 which has a double nucleus separated by less than a hundred parsecs. If this galaxy has a surrounding cold dark matter halo with central density proportional to r^-1 then these objects should sink to the centre of the cusp and coalesce in a few million years. We show that the sinking nuclei naturally create a core equal to their current separation if the initial dark matter cusp is slightly shallower than a log slope of -0.75 at around 0.1% of the virial radius. The sinking objects naturally stall at this radius for many Gyrs. This may be indirect observational evidence for central dark matter cusps shallower than r^-1 at the very centers of dark matter haloes.
The radio source G1.9+0.3 has recently been identified as the youngest known Galactic supernova remnant, with a putative age of ~100 years. We present a radio light curve for G1.9+0.3 based on 25 epochs of observation with the Molonglo Observatory Synthesis Telescope, spanning 20 years from 1988 to 2007. These observations are all at the same frequency (843 MHz) and comparable resolutions (43" x 91" or 43" x 95") and cover one fifth of the estimated lifetime of the supernova remnant. We find that the flux density has increased at a rate of 1.22 +0.24/-0.16 per cent per year over the last two decades, suggesting that G1.9+0.3 is undergoing a period of magnetic field amplification.
We seek to compute the fraction of the volume of the Universe filled by expanding cocoons of the cosmological population of radio galaxies over the Hubble time as well as the magnetic field infused by them, in order to assess their importance in the cosmic evolution of the Universe. Using N-body $\Lambda$CDM simulations, radio galaxies distributed according to the observed radio luminosity function are allowed to evolve in a cosmological volume as using well defined prescriptions for their expansion. We find that the radio galaxies permeate $10 - 30%$ of the total volume with $\sim 10^{-8}$ G magnetic field by the present epoch.
AIMS. While weak lensing cannot resolve cluster cores and strong lensing is almost insensitive to density profiles outside the scale radius, combinations of both effects promise to constrain density profiles of galaxy clusters well, and thus to allow testing the CDM expectation on dark-matter halo density profiles. METHODS. We develop an algorithm further that we have recently proposed for this purpose. It recovers a lensing potential optimally reproducing observations of both strong and weak-lensing effects by combining high resolution in cluster cores with the larger-scale information in weak lensing. The main extensions concern the introduction of mild non-linearity in an inner iteration, the progressive increase in resolution in an outer iteration, and the introduction of a suitable regularisation term. The linearity of the method is essentially preserved. RESULTS. We demonstrate the success of the algorithm with both idealised and realistic simulated data, showing that the simulated lensing mass distribution and its density profile are well reproduced. We then apply it to weak and strong-lensing data of the cluster MS 2137 and obtain a parameter-free solution which is in good qualitative agreement with earlier parametric studies.
One of important questions concerning particles which compose the Dark Matter (DM) is their average speed. We consider the model of relativistic weakly interacting massive particles and try to impose an upper bound on their actual and past warmness through the analysis of density perturbations and comparison with the LSS data. It is assumed that the DM can be described by the recently invented model of reduced relativistic gas (RRG). The equation of state of the RRG model is closely reproducing the one of the Maxwell distribution, while being much simpler. This advantage of the RRG model makes our analysis very efficient. As a result we arrive at the rigid and model-independent bound for the DM warmness without using the standard (much more sophisticated) approach based on the Einstein-Boltzmann system of equations.
We have used the RXTE and INTEGRAL satellites simultaneously to observe the High Mass X-ray binary IGR J19140+0951. The spectra obtained in the 3--80 keV range have allowed us to perform a precise spectral analysis of the system along its binary orbit. The spectral evolution confirms the supergiant nature of the companion star and the neutron star nature of the compact object. Using a simple stellar wind model to describe the evolution of the photoelectric absorption, we were able to restrict the orbital inclination angle in the range 38--75 degrees. This analysis leads to a wind mass-loss rate from the companion star of ~5x 10e-8 Msun/year, consistent with an OB I spectral type. We have detected a soft excess in at least four observations, for the first time for this source. Such soft excesses have been reported in several HMXBs in the past. We discuss the possible origin of this excess, and suggest, based on its spectral properties and occurrences around the superior conjunction, that it may be explained as the reprocessing of the X-ray emission originating from the neutron star by the surrounding ionised gas.
We study the dynamical structure of a cooling dominated rotating accretion flow around a spinning black hole. We show that non-linear phenomena such as shock waves can be studied in terms of only three flow parameters, namely, the specific energy (${\cal E}$), the specific angular momentum ($\lambda$) and the accretion rate (${\dot m}$) of the flow. We present all possible accretion solutions. We find that a significant region of the parameter space in the ${\cal E}-\lambda$ plane allows global accretion shock solutions. The effective area of the parameter space for which the Rankine-Hugoniot shocks are possible is maximum when the flow is dissipation free. It decreases with the increase of cooling effects and finally disappears when the cooling is high enough. We show that shock forms further away when the black hole is rotating compared to the solution around a Schwarzschild black hole with identical flow parameters at a large distance. However, in a normalized sense, the flow parameters for which the shocks form around the rotating black holes are produced shocks closer to the hole. The location of the shock is also dictated by the cooling efficiency in that higher the accretion rate (${\dot m}$), the closer is the shock location. We believe that some of the high frequency quasi-periodic oscillations may be due to the flows with higher accretion rate around the rotating black holes.
We study the variability of the cataclysmic variable DO Dra, on time-scales
of between minutes and decades.
The characteristic decay time dt/dm=0.902(3) days/mag was estimated from our
3 nights of CCD R observations. The quiescent data show a photometric wave with
a cycle about 303(15)d. We analyzed the profile of the composite (or mean)
outburst. We discovered however, that a variety of different outburst heights
and durations had occurred, contrary to theoretical predictions. With
increasing maximum brightness, we find that the decay time also increases; this
is in contrast to the model predictions, which indicate that outbursts should
have a constant shape. This is interpreted as representing the presence of
outburst-to-outburst variability of the magnetospheric radius. A presence of a
number of missed weak narrow outbursts is predicted from this statistical
relationship. A new type of variability is detected, during 3 subsequent nights
in 2007: periodic (during one nightly run) oscillations with rapidly-decreasing
frequency from 86 to 47 cycles/day and a semi-amplitude increasing from 0.06 to
0. 10, during a monotonic brightness increase from 14. 27 to 14. 13. This
phenomenon was observed only during an unusually prolonged event of about 1 mag
brightening in 2007 (lasting till autumn), during which no (expected) outburst
was detected. We refer to this behaviour as to the transient periodic
oscillations (TPO). To study this new and interesting phenomenon, new regular
photometric and spectral (in a target of opportunity mode) observations are
required.
In this paper, we review the Billion Galaxy Survey that will be carried out at radio--optical wavelengths to micro--nanoJansky levels with the telescopes of the next decades. These are the Low-Frequency Array, the Square Kilometer Array and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope as survey telescopes, and the Thirty Meter class Telescopes for high spectral resolution+AO, and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for high spatial resolution near--mid IR follow-up. With these facilities, we will be addressing fundamental questions like how galaxies assemble with super-massive black-holes inside from the epoch of First Light until the present, how these objects started and finished the reionization of the universe, and how the processes of star-formation, stellar evolution, and metal enrichment of the IGM proceeded over cosmic time. We also summarize the high-resolution science that has been done thus far on high redshift galaxies with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Faint galaxies have steadily decreasing sizes at fainter fluxes and higher redshifts, reflecting the hierarchical formation of galaxies over cosmic time. HST has imaged this process in great structural detail to z<~6. We show that ultradeep radio-optical surveys may slowly approach the natural confusion limit, where objects start to unavoidably overlap because of their own sizes, which only SKA can remedy with HI redshifts for individual sub-clumps. Finally, we summarize how the 6.5 meter James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will measure first light, reionization, and galaxy assembly in the near--mid-IR.
The zonal winds on the surfaces of giant planets vary with latitude. Jupiter and Saturn, for example, have several bands of alternating eastward (prograde) and westward (retrograde) jets relative to the angular velocity of their global magnetic fields. These surface wind profiles are likely manifestations of the variations in depth and latitude of angular velocity deep within the liquid interiors of these planets. Two decades ago it was proposed that this differential rotation could be maintained by vortex stretching of convective fluid columns that span the interiors of these planets from the northern hemisphere surface to the southern hemisphere surface. This now classic mechanism explains the differential rotation seen in laboratory experiments and in computer simulations of, at best, weakly turbulent convection in rotating constant-density fluid spheres. However, these experiments and simulations are poor approximations for the density-stratified strongly-turbulent interiors of giant planets. The long thin global convective columns predicted by the classic geostrophic theory for these planets would likely not develop. Here we propose a much more robust mechanism for maintaining differential rotation in radius based on the local generation of vorticity as rising plumes expand and sinking plumes contract. Our high-resolution two-dimensional computer simulations demonstrate how this mechanism could maintain either prograde or retrograde surface winds in the equatorial region of a giant planet depending on how the density scale height varies with depth.
The temporal coincidence between the prompt $\gamma$-ray and optical emissions of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 080319B suggests that they may originate from a same emitting region or two regions sharing the same dynamical behavior. Meanwhile, the significant excess of the optical flux over the extrapolation of the $\gamma$-ray spectrum to the optical band indicates two different emission components. We here consider the popular internal shock model where a forward and a reverse shock are generated simultaneously during a collision of two relativistic shells. In the case that the Lorentz factors of these two shocks are very different, the synchrotron emission driven by them could peak at two different energy bands. We show that such a two-component synchrotron scenario can account for the prompt optical and $\gamma$-ray emissions of GRB 080319B under some unique conditions. In addition, the luminosity of an inverse-Compton sub-GeV or GeV component predicted in this scenario is not higher than that of synchrotron MeV gamma-rays, which could be tested by the {\em Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope} (GLAST).
The "Karlsruhe Astrophysical Database of Nucleosynthesis in Stars" (KADoNiS) project is an online database for experimental cross sections relevant to the $s$ process and $p$ process. It is available under \this http URL and consists of two parts. Part 1 is an updated sequel to the well-known Bao et al. compilations from 1987 and 2000, which is online since April 2005. An extension of this $s$-process database to $(n,p)$ and $(n,\alpha)$ cross sections at $kT$= 30 keV, as in the first version of the Bao compilation, is planned. The second part of KADoNiS is a $p$-process library, which includes all available experimental data from $(p,\gamma)$, $(p,n)$, $(\alpha,\gamma)$, $(\alpha,n)$, $(\alpha,\alpha)$, $(n,\alpha)$ and $(\gamma,n)$ reactions in or close to the respective Gamow window. Despite the great number of reactions required for a $p$-process reaction network, experimental data is still scarce and up to now restricted to stable targets. Given here is a short overview about the present status of the KADoNiS database.
If a primordial magnetic field (PMF) is present during photon decoupling and afterward, a finite neutrino mass can affect all modes of the CMB. In this work, we expand on earlier studies of the scalar mode effects by constructing the vector and tensor mode equations in the presence of massive neutrinos and a PMF. We compute the power spectrum of the various modes in an illustrative example and find that the neutrino mass can significantly affect the vector and tensor modes when a PMF exists, while the effects are negligible for no PMF. The most prominent result of the present analysis is the behavior of the EE component of the tensor mode at low multipoles. For massive neutrinos the EE mode can become comparable to the observed primary anisotropy. Therefore, if and when the EE mode power spectrum is measured at low multipoles the possibility exists to place a strong constraint on the sum of the neutrino masses.
We analyzed the eclipse light curve of the nova-like star RW Tri in its low luminosity state. During approximately 150 days, RW Tri was about one magnitude fainter than in its usual state. Our eclipse map shows that the brightness temperature in the disc ranges from 19000 K near the white dwarf to 8700 at the disc edge. For the inner parts of accretion disc, the radial temperature distribution is flatter than that predicted from the steady state models, and for the outer parts, it is close to the R^(-3/4) law. Fitting of the temperature distribution with one for the steady state disc model gives a mean accretion rate of (3.85+-0.19) 10^{-9} M year^(-1). The hotspot in the disc is placed at a distance of 0.17a from the white dwarf, where a is the orbital separation.
Very high dynamical range coronagraphs targeting direct exo-planet detection (10^9 - 10^10 contrast) at small angular separation (few lambda/D units) usually require an input wavefront quality on the order of ten thousandths of wavelength RMS. We propose a novel method based on a pre-optics setup that behaves partly as a low-efficiency coronagraph, and partly as a high-sensitivity wavefront aberration compensator (phase and amplitude). The combination of the two effects results in a highly accurate corrected wavefront. First, an (intensity-) unbalanced nulling interferometer (UNI) performs a rejection of part of the wavefront electric field. Then the recombined output wavefront has its input aberrations magnified. Because of the unbalanced recombination scheme, aberrations can be free of phase singular points (zeros) and can therefore be compensated by a downstream phase and amplitude correction (PAC) adaptive optics system, using two deformable mirrors. In the image plane, the central star's peak intensity and the noise level of its speckled halo are reduced by the UNI-PAC combination: the output-corrected wavefront aberrations can be interpreted as an improved compensation of the initial (eventually already corrected) incident wavefront aberrations. The important conclusion is that not all the elements in the optical setup using UNI-PAC need to reach the lambda/10000 rms surface error quality.
We compare the results from a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation with spectro-photometric observations of distant galaxy clusters observed in the range 0.8< z< 1.3. We investigate the properties of their red sequence (RS) galaxies and compare them with those of the field at the same redshift. In our model we find that i) a well-defined, narrow RS is obtained already by z= 1.2; this is found to be more populated than the field RS, analogously to what observed and predicted at z=0; ii) the predicted U-V rest-frame colors and scatter of the cluster RS at z=1.2 have average values of 1 and 0.15 respectively, with a cluster-to-cluster variance of 0.2 and 0.06, respectively. The scatter of the RS of cluster galaxies is around 5 times smaller than the corresponding field value; iii) when the RS galaxies are considered, the mass growth histories of field and cluster galaxies at z=1.2 are similar, with 90 % of the stellar mass of RS galaxies at z=1.2 already formed at cosmic times t=2.5 Gyr, and 50 % at t=1 Gyr; v) the predicted distribution of stellar ages of RS galaxies at z=1.2 peaks at 3.7 Gyr for both cluster and field populations; however, for the latter the distribution is significantly skewed toward lower ages. When compared with observations, the above findings show an overall consistency, although the average value 0.07 of the observed cluster RS scatter (U-V colors) at z=1.2 is smaller than the corresponding model central value. We discuss the physical origin and the significance of the above results in the framework of cosmological galaxy formation.
We present measurements of the transmission of radio/microwave pulses through salt in the Cote Blanche salt mine operated by the North American Salt Company in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. These results are from data taken in the southwestern region of the 1500 ft. (457 m) deep level of the mine on our third and most recent visit to the mine. We transmitted and received a fast, high-power, broadband pulse from within three vertical boreholes that were drilled to depths of 100 ft. (30 m) and 200 ft. below the 1500 ft. level using three different pairs of dipole antennas whose bandwidths span 125 to 900 MHz. By measuring the relative strength of the received pulses between boreholes with separations of 50 m and 169 m, we deduce the attenuation of the signal attributed to the salt medium. We fit the frequency dependence of the attenuation to a power law and find the best fit field attenuation lengths to be 93 \pm 7 m at 150 MHz, 63 \pm 3 m at 300 MHz, and 36 \pm 2 m at 800 MHz. This is the most precise measurement of radio attenuation in a natural salt formation to date. We assess the implications of this measurement for a future neutrino detector in salt.
We show that with GLAST there will be the possibility to detect, within the UHECR skimming at atmosphere edges, the showers generated by very high energy upward and horizontal Tau. The effective area, thanks to the large area covered by the showers at 550 Km, is less than that of AUGER, but its efficiency is comparable because the lower detection threshold and the consequent event rate may lead to a few EeV and-or few Glashow resonant signals within a decade.
From our radio continuum and polarization observations of a sample of spiral galaxies with different morphological types, inclinations, and star formation rates (SFR) we found that galaxies with low SFR have higher thermal fractions/ smaller synchrotron fractions than those with normal or high SFR. Adopting an equipartition model, we concluded from our observations that the nonthermal radio emission and the total magnetic field strength grow nonlinearly with SFR. We also studied the magnetic field structure and disk thicknesses in highly inclined (edge-on) galaxies. We found in five galaxies that - despite their different radio appearance - the vertical scale heights for both, the thin and thick disk/halo, are about equal (0.3/1.8kpc), independently of their different SFR. They also show a similar large-scale magnetic field configuration, parallel to the midplane and X-shaped further away from the disk plane, independent of Hubble type and SFR in the disk. Hence we conclude that the amplification and formation of the large-scale magnetic field structure is independent of SFR.
The main observational results from radio continuum and polarization observations about the magnetic field strength and large-scale pattern for face-on and edge-on spiral galaxies are summarized and compared within our sample of galaxies of different morphological types, inclinations, and star formation rates (SFR). We found that galaxies with low SFR have higher thermal fractions/smaller synchrotron fractions than those with normal or high SFR. Adopting an equipartition model, we conclude that the nonthermal radio emission and the \emph{total magnetic field} strength grow nonlinearly with SFR, while the regular magnetic field strength does not seem to depend on SFR. We also studied the magnetic field structure and disk thicknesses in highly inclined (edge-on) galaxies. We found in four galaxies that - despite their different radio appearance - the vertical scale heights for both, the thin and thick disk/halo, are about equal (0.3/1.8 kpc at 4.75 GHz), independently of their different SFR. This implies that all these galaxies host a galactic wind, in which the bulk velocity of the cosmic rays (CR) is determined by the total field strength within the galactic disk. The galaxies in our sample also show a similar large-scale magnetic field configuration, parallel to the midplane and X-shaped further away from the disk plane, independent of Hubble type and SFR in the disk. Hence we conclude that also the large-scale magnetic field pattern does not depend on the amount of SFR.
Although $^{79}$Se represents an important branching in the weak s process, the stellar neutron capture cross sections to this isotope have not yet been measured experimentally. In this case, experimental data is essential for evaluating the important branching in the s-process reaction path at $^{79}$Se. The total cross section of $^{78}$Se at a stellar energy of kT = 25 keV has been investigated with a combination of the activation technique and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), since offline decay counting is prohibitive due to the long terrestrial half life of $^{79}$Se (2.80$\pm$0.36 $\times10^5$ y) as well as the absence of suitable $\gamma$-ray transitions. The preliminary result for the total Maxwellian averaged cross section is $<\sigma>_{30 keV}$= 60.1$\pm$9.6 mbarn, significantly lower than the previous recommended value. In a second measurement, also the partial cross section to the 3.92 min-isomer was determined via $\gamma$-spectroscopy and yielded $<\sigma>_{30 keV}$(part.)= 42.0$\pm$2.0 mbarn.
Some recent efforts in compiling data for astrophysical purposes are introduced, which were discussed during a JINA-CARINA Collaboration meeting on "Nuclear Physics Data Compilation for Nucleosynthesis Modeling" held at the ECT* in Trento/ Italy from May 29th- June 3rd, 2007. The main goal of this collaboration is to develop an updated and unified nuclear reaction database for modeling a wide variety of stellar nucleosynthesis scenarios. Presently a large number of different reaction libraries (REACLIB) are used by the astrophysics community. The "JINA Reaclib Database" on this http URL aims to merge and fit the latest experimental stellar cross sections and reaction rate data of various compilations, e.g. NACRE and its extension for Big Bang nucleosynthesis, Caughlan and Fowler, Iliadis et al., and KADoNiS. The KADoNiS (Karlsruhe Astrophysical Database of Nucleosynthesis in Stars, this http URL) project is an online database for neutron capture cross sections relevant to the s process. The present version v0.2 is already included in a REACLIB file from Basel university (this http URL). The present status of experimental stellar $(n,\gamma)$ cross sections in KADoNiS is shown. A "high priority list" for measurements and evaluations for light charged-particle reactions set up by the JINA-CARINA collaboration is presented. The central web access point to submit and evaluate new data is provided by the Oak Ridge group via the this http URL homepage. "Workflow tools" aim to make the evaluation process transparent and allow users to follow the progress.
The time scale for cooling of the gravitationally bound gaseous intracluster medium (ICM) is not determined by radiative processes alone. If the ICM is in quasi-hydrostatic equilibrium in the fixed gravitational field of the dark matter halo then energy losses incurred by the gravitational potential energy of the gas should also be taken into account. Here, the virial theorem is applied to gas in quasi-hydrostatic equilibrium in an external gravitational field, neglecting the gravity of the gas. For a standard NFW form of halo profiles and for a finite gas density, the response of the gas temperature to changes in the total energy is significantly delayed. The effective cooling time could be prolonged by more than an order of magnitude inside the scale radius ($\rs$) of the halo. Gas lying at a distance twice the scale radius, has negative heat capacity so that the temperature increases as a result of energy losses. Although external heating (e.g. by AGN activity) is still required to explain the lack of cool ICM near the center, the analysis here circumvents the need for heating in farther out regions where the effective cooling time could be prolonged to become larger than the cluster age and also explains the increase of temperature with radius in these regions. The results may be relevant for large elliptical galaxies.
Since April 2005 a regularly updated stellar neutron cross section compilation is available online at this http URL This online-database is called the "Karlsruhe Astrophysical Database of Nucleosynthesis in Stars" project and is based on the previous Bao et al. compilation from the year 2000. The present version \textsc{KADoNiS} v0.2 (January 2007) includes recommended cross sections for 280 isotopes between $^{1}$H and $^{210}$Po and 75 semi-empirical estimates for isotopes without experimental information. Concerning stellar $(n,\gamma)$ cross sections of the 32 stable, proton-rich isotopes produced by the $p$ process experimental information is only available for 20 isotopes, but 9 of them have rather large uncertainties of $\geq$9%. The first part of a systematic study of stellar $(n,\gamma)$ cross sections of the $p$-process isotopes $^{74}$Se, $^{84}$Sr, $^{102}$Pd, $^{120}$Te, $^{130}$Ba, $^{132}$Ba, $^{156}$Dy, and $^{174}$Hf is presented. In another application \textsc{KADoNiS} v0.2 was used for an modification of a reaction library of Basel university. With this modified library $p$-process network calculations were carried out and compared to previous results.
We show that the dragging of axis directions of local inertial frames by a weighted average of the energy currents in the universe (Mach's principle) is exact for all linear perturbations of all Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universes and for all types of matter.
The rotational spectra of singly substituted $^{13}$C and $^{15}$N isotopic species of vinyl cyanide have been studied in natural abundances between 64 and 351 GHz. In combination with previous results, greatly improved spectroscopic parameters have been obtained which in turn helped to identify transitions of the $^{13}$C species for the first time in space through a molecular line survey of the extremely line-rich interstellar source Sagittarius B2(N) in the 3 mm region with some additional observations at 2 mm. The $^{13}$C species are detected in two compact ($\sim 2.3''$), hot (170 K) cores with a column density of $\sim 3.8 \times 10^{16}$ and $1.1 \times 10^{16}$ cm$^{-2}$, respectively. In the main source, the so-called ``Large Molecule Heimat'', we derive an abundance of $2.9 \times 10^{-9}$ for each $^{13}$C species relative to H$_2$. An isotopic ratio $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C of 21 has been measured. Based on a comparison to the column densities measured for the $^{13}$C species of ethyl cyanide also detected in this survey, it is suggested that the two hot cores of Sgr B2(N) are in different evolutionary stages. Supplementary laboratory data for the main isotopic species recorded between 92 and 342 GHz permitted an improvement of its spectroscopic parameters as well.
The coincidence problem of late cosmic acceleration constitutes a serious riddle with regard to our understanding of the evolution of the Universe. Here we argue that this problem may someday be solved -or better understood- by expressing the Hubble expansion rate as a function of the ratio of densities (dark matter/dark energy) and observationally determining the said rate in terms of the redshift.
The detection of Earth-skimming tau neutrinos has turned into a very promising strategy for the observation of ultra-high energy cosmic neutrinos. The sensitivity of this channel crucially depends on the parameters of the propagation of the tau neutrinos through the terrestrial crust, which governs the flux of emerging tau leptons that can be detected. One of the characteristics of this propagation is the possibility of regeneration through multiple $\nu_\tau \leftrightarrow \tau$ conversions, which are often neglected in the standard picture. In this paper, we solve the transport equations governing the $\nu_\tau$ propagation and compare the flux of emerging tau leptons obtained allowing regeneration or not. We discuss the validity of the approximation of neglecting the $\nu_\tau$ regeneration using different scenarios for the neutrino-nucleon cross-sections and the tau energy losses.
We report an upper limit on the flux of relativistic monopoles based on the non-observation of in-ice showers by the Radio Ice Cherenkov Experiment (RICE) at the South Pole. We obtain a 95% C.L. limit of order 10^{-18}/(cm^2-s-sr) for intermediate mass monopoles of 10^7<gamma<10^{12} at the anticipated energy E~10^{16} GeV. This bound is over an order of magnitude stronger than all previously published experimental limits for this range of boost parameters gamma, and exceeds two orders of magnitude improvement over most of the range. We review the physics of radio detection, describe a Monte Carlo simulation including continuous and stochastic energy losses, and compare to previous experimental limits.
Semi-analytic treatments of the evolution of orbits of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in the solar system suggest that the WIMPs bound to the solar system may enhance the direct detection rate relative to that of the unbound population by up to a factor of order unity, and boost the flux of neutrinos from WIMP annihilation in the Earth by up to two orders of magnitude. To test these important but uncertain results, we perform a suite of numerical orbit integrations (10^5-10^6 particles for up to 4.5 Gyr) to explore the properties of the bound WIMP population as a function of the WIMP mass and the scattering cross section with baryonic matter. For regions of WIMP parameter space presently allowed by experiments, we find that (i) the bound WIMP population enhances the direct detection rate by at most ~1% relative to the rate from unbound halo WIMPs; (ii) it is unlikely that planned km^3-scale neutrino telescopes will detect neutrinos from WIMP annihilation in the Earth; (iii) the event rate from neutrinos produced by WIMP annihilation in the Sun may be much smaller than implied by the usual calculations, which assume that WIMPs scattered onto bound orbits are rapidly thermalized in the Sun.
This work provides analytical solutions describing the post-shock structure of radiative shocks growing in astrophysics and in laboratory. The equations including a cooling function $\Lambda \propto \rho^{\epsilon} P^{\zeta} x^{\theta}$ are solved for any values of the exponents $\epsilon$, $\zeta$ and $\theta$. This modeling is appropriate to astrophysics as the observed radiative shocks arise in optically thin media. In contrast, in laboratory, radiative shocks performed using high-power lasers present a radiative precursor because the plasma is more or less optically thick. We study the post-shock region in the laboratory case and compare with astrophysical shock structure. In addition, we attempt to use the same equations to describe the radiative precursor, but the cooling function is slightly modified. In future experiments we will probe the PSR using X-ray diagnostics. These new experimental results will allow to validate our astrophysical numerical codes.
Strong magnetization makes the disks surrounding young stellar objects rotate at rates that are too sub-Keplerian to enable the thermal launching of disk winds from their surfaces unless the rate of gas diffusion across field lines is dynamically fast. This under-appreciated implication of disk magnetization poses a considerable challenge for disk-wind theory.
We have combined data from the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey in Bootes and the Spitzer Space Telescope to determine basic properties for sixteen optically "invisible" MIPS 24um (OIMS) and thirty-five optically "invisible" radio (OIRS) soruces, including their spectral energy distributions (SED) and luminosities. Most OIMSs possess steep power-law SEDs over lambda(rest) = 1-10 um, indicating the presence of obscured AGN in agreement with Spitzer spectroscopy. These objects are extremely luminous at rest-frame near and mid-IR (nu L_nu(5um) ~ 10^{38}-10^{39} W), consistent with accretion near the Eddington limit and further implying that they host buried QSOs. The majority of the IRAC detected OIRSs have flat 3.6 to 24um SEDs, implying comparable emission from stellar photospheres and hot AGN illuminated dust. This may reflect relatively small amounts of dust close to the central engine or current low mass accretion rates. A small subset of OIRSs appear to be starburst dominated with photometric redshifts from 1.0 to 4.5. The OIMSs and OIRSs with significant starburst components have similar L_K and stellar masses (M* ~ 10^{11} M_solar) assuming minimal AGN contribution. Roughly half of the OIRSs are not detected by Spitzer's IRAC or MIPS. These are most likely z > 2 radio galaxies. The IRAC detected OIRSs are more likely than OIMSs to appear non point-like in the 3.6um and 4.5um images, suggesting that interactions play a role in triggering their activity. The AGN powered OIMSs may represent sub-millimeter galaxies making the transition from starburst to accretion dominance in their evolution to current epoch massive ellipticals.
We study matter at high density and temperature using a chiral lagrangian in which the breaking of scale invariance is regulated by the value of a scalar field, called dilaton \cite{Heide:1993yz,Carter:1995zi,Carter:1996rf,Carter:1997fn}. We provide a phase diagram describing the restoration of chiral and scale symmetries in the baryon density vs. energy density plane. We show that scale invariance is more easily restored at low rather than large baryon densities. The masses of vector mesons scale with the value of the dilaton and their values initially slightly decrease with the density but then they increase again for densities larger than $\sim 3 \rho_0$. The pion mass increases continuously with the density and at $\rho_0$ is $\sim$ 30 MeV larger than in the vacuum, with a small dependence on the isospin. We show that the model is compatible with the bounds stemming from astrophysics, as e.g. the one associated with the maximum mass of a neutron star. The most striking feature of the model is a very significant softening at large densities, which also manifests as a strong reduction of the adiabatic index. While the softening has probably no consequence for Supernova explosion via the direct mechanism, it could modify the signal in gravitational waves associated with the merging of two neutron stars.
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