(Abridged) Highly unequal-mass ratio binaries are rare among field brown dwarfs, with the known census described by q^(4.9+/-0.7). However, such systems can test the joint accuracy of evolutionary and atmospheric models, under the constraint of coevality (the "isochrone test''). We carry out this test using two of the most extreme field substellar binaries currently known, the T1+T6 \eps Ind Bab binary and a newly discovered 0.14" T2.0+T7.5 binary, 2MASS 1209-10AB. Based on the locations of the components on the H-R diagram, models successfully indicate that the systems are coeval, with internal age differences of log(age) = 0.5{+0.4}{-0.3} and -0.8+/-1.3 dex, respectively. However, the total mass of \eps Ind Bab derived from the H-R diagram (~80 Mjup) is discrepant with the reported dynamical mass. This problem, which is independent of the assumed age of the system, can be explained by a ~50-100 K systematic error in the model atmosphere fitting; bringing the two mass determinations into consistency leads to an inferred age of ~6 Gyr for the \eps Ind system, older than previously assumed. Overall, the two T dwarf binaries studied here, along with recent results from T dwarfs in age and mass benchmark systems, yield evidence for small (~100 K) errors in the evolutionary models and/or model atmospheres, but not significantly larger. Finally, the binary nature of 2MASS 1209-10AB reduces its utility as the primary T3 near-IR spectral typing standard; we suggest SDSS 1206+28 as a replacement.
(Abridged) We present a systematic study of weak intervening CaII absorbers at low redshift (z<0.5), based on the analysis of archival high resolution (R>45,000) optical spectra of 304 quasars and active galactic nuclei observed with VLT/UVES. Along a total redshift path of Dz~90 we detected 23 intervening CaII absorbers in both the CaII H & K lines, with rest frame equivalent widths W_r,3934=15-799 mA and column densities log N(CaII)=11.25-13.04. We obtain a bias corrected number density of weak intervening CaII absorbers of dN/dz=0.117+-0.044 at z=0.35 for absorbers with log N(CaII)>11.65. This is ~2.6 times the value obtained for damped Lyman alpha absorbers (DLAs) at low redshift. From ionization modeling we conclude that intervening CaII absorption with log N(CaII)>11.5 arises in optically thick neutral gas in DLAs, sub-DLAs and Lyman limit systems (LLS) at HI column densities of log N(HI)>17.2. The relatively large cross section of these absorbers together with the frequent detection of CaII absorption in high velocity clouds (HVCs) in the halo of the Milky Way suggests that a considerable fraction of the intervening CaII systems trace dusty neutral gas structures in the halos and circumgalactic environment of galaxies (i.e., they are HVC analogs). Considering all galaxies with luminosities L>0.05L* we estimate that the characteristic radial extent of optically thick neutral gas around low redshift galaxies is R_HI~55 kpc.
We present the first systematic investigation into the metallicity gradients in galaxy close pairs. We determine the metallicity gradients for 8 galaxies in close pairs using HII region metallicities obtained with high signal-to-noise multi-slit observations with the Keck LRIS Spectrograph. We show that the metallicity gradients in close pairs are significantly shallower than gradients in isolated spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way, M83, and M101. These observations provide the first solid evidence that metallicity gradients in interacting galaxies are systematically different from metallicity gradients in isolated spiral galaxies. Our results suggest that there is a strong relationship between metallicity gradients and the gas dynamics in galaxy interactions and mergers.
Scientific data sets continue to increase in both size and complexity. In the past, dedicated graphics systems at supercomputing centers were required to visualize large data sets, but as the price of commodity graphics hardware has dropped and its capability has increased, it is now in principle possible to view large complex data sets on a single workstation. To do this in practice, an investigator will need software that is written to take advantage of the relevant graphics hardware. The viewpoints visualization package described herein is an example of such software. Viewpoints is an interactive tool for exploratory visual analysis of large, high-dimensional (multivariate) data. It leverages the capabilities of modern graphics boards (GPUs) to run on a single workstation or laptop. Viewpoints is minimalist: it attempts to do a small set of useful things very well (or at least very quickly) in comparison to similar packages today. Its basic feature set includes linked scatter plots with brushing, dynamic histograms, normalization and outlier detection/removal. Viewpoints was originally designed for astrophysicists, but it has since being used in a variety of fields that range from astronomy, quantum chemistry, fluid dynamics, machine learning, bioinformatics, and finance to IT server log mining. In this paper, we describe the viewpoints package and show examples of its usage.
We introduce a novel search technique that can identify trans-neptunian objects in three to five exposures of a pointing within a single Hubble Space Telescope orbit. The process is fast enough to allow the discovery of candidates soon after the data are available. This allows sufficient time to schedule follow up observations with HST within a month. We report the discovery of 14 slow-moving objects found within 5\circ of the ecliptic in archival data taken with the Wide Field Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys. The luminosity function of these objects is consistent with previous ground-based and space-based results. We show evidence that the size distribution of both high and low inclination populations is similar for objects smaller than 100 km, as expected from collisional evolution models, while their size distribution differ for brighter objects. We suggest the two populations formed in different parts of the protoplanetary disk and after being dynamically mixed have collisionally evolved together. Among the objects discovered there is an equal mass binary with an angular separation ~ 0."53.
Recent high precision proper motions from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) suggest that the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC, respectively) are either on their first passage or on an eccentric long period (>6 Gyr) orbit about the Milky Way (MW). This differs markedly from the canonical picture in which the Clouds travel on a quasi-periodic orbit about the MW (period of ~2 Gyr). Without a short period orbit about the MW, the origin of the Magellanic Stream, a young (1-2 Gyr old) coherent stream of HI gas that trails the Clouds ~150 degrees across the sky, can no longer be attributed to stripping by MW tides and/or ram pressure stripping by MW halo gas. We propose an alternative formation mechanism in which material is removed by LMC tides acting on the SMC before the system is accreted by the MW. We demonstrate the feasibility and generality of this scenario using an N-body/SPH simulation with cosmologically motivated initial conditions constrained by the observations. Under these conditions we demonstrate that it is possible to explain the origin of the Magellanic Stream in a first infall scenario. This picture is generically applicable to any gas-rich dwarf galaxy pair infalling towards a massive host or interacting in isolation.
The intensity of TeV atmospheric muons and neutrinos depends on the temperature in the stratosphere. We show that the energy-dependence in the 100 TeV range of the correlation with temperature is sensitive to the fraction of muons and neutrinos from decay of charmed hadrons. We discuss the prospects for using the temperature effect as observed in gigaton neutrino detectors to measure the charm contribution.
We investigate the detectability of Zeeman broadening in optical Stokes I spectra of slowly rotating sun-like stars. To this end, we apply the LTE spectral line inversion package SPINOR to very-high quality CES data and explore how fit quality depends on the average magnetic field, Bf . One-component (OC) and two-component (TC) models are adopted. In OC models, the entire surface is assumed to be magnetic. Under this assumption, we determine formal 3{\sigma} upper limits on the average magnetic field of 200 G for the Sun, and 150 G for 61 Vir (G6V). Evidence for an average magnetic field of ~ 500 G is found for 59 Vir (G0V), and of ~ 1000 G for HD 68456 (F6V). A distinction between magnetic and non-magnetic regions is made in TC models, while assuming a homogeneous distribution of both components. In our TC inversions of 59 Vir, we investigate three cases: both components have equal temperatures; warm magnetic regions; cool magnetic regions. Our TC model with equal temperatures does not yield significant improvement over OC inversions for 59 Vir. The resulting Bf values are consistent for both. Fit quality is significantly improved, however, by using two components of different temperatures. The inversions for 59 Vir that assume different temperatures for the two components yield results consistent with 0 - 450 G at the formal 3{\sigma} confidence level. We thus find a model dependence of our analysis and demonstrate that the influence of an additional temperature component can dominate over the Zeeman broadening signature, at least in optical data. Previous comparable analyses that neglected effects due to multiple temperature components may be prone to the same ambiguities.
We examine spectral properties of the SDSS quasar J093201.60+031858.7, in particular the presence of strong blue peaks in the Balmer emission lines offset from the narrow lines by approximately 4200 km s$^{-1}$. Asymmetry in the broad central component of the H$\beta$ line indicates the presence of a double-peaked emitter. However, the strength and sharpness of the blue H$\beta$ and blue H$\gamma$ peaks make this quasar spectrum unique amongst double-peaked emitters identified from SDSS spectra. We fit a disk model to the H$\beta$ line and compare this object with other unusual double-peaked quasar spectra, particularly candidate binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Under the binary SMBH scenario, we test the applicability of a model in which a second SMBH may produce the strong blue peak in the Balmer lines of a double-peaked emitter. If there were only one SMBH, a circular, Keplerian disk model fit would be insufficient, indicating some sort of asymmetry is required to produce the strength of the blue peak. In either case, understanding the nature of the complex line emission in this object will aid in further discrimination between a single SMBH with a complex accretion disk and the actual case of a binary SMBH.
Sgr A* exhibits flares in radio, millimeter and submm wavelengths with durations of ~ 1 hour. Using a structure function analysis, we investigate the variability of Sgr A* on time scales ranging from a few seconds to several hours, and find evidence for sub-minute time scale variability at radio wavelengths. These measurements suggest a strong case for continuous variability from sub-minute to hourly time scales. This short time scale variability constrains the size of the emitting region to be less than 0.1AU. Assuming that the minute time scale fluctuations of the emission at 7mm arise through the expansion of regions of optically thick synchrotron-emitting plasma, this suggests the presence of explosive, energetic expansion events at speeds close to $c$. The required rate of mass processing and energy loss of this component are estimated to be greater than 6x10^{-10} solar mass per yr and 400 solar luminosity, respectively. The inferred scale length corresponding to one-minute light travel time is comparable to the time averaged spatially resolved 0.1AU scale observed at 1.3mm emission of Sgr A*. This steady component from Sgr~A* is then interpreted mainly as an ensemble average of numerous weak and overlapping flares that are detected on short time scales. The nature of such short time scale variable emission or quiescent variability is not understood but could result from fluctuations in the accretion flow of Sgr~A* that feed the base of an outflow or jet.
We study the possibility of detecting a signature of particle dark matter in the spectrum of gamma-ray photons from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) resulting from the scattering of high-energy particles in the AGN jet off of dark matter particles. We consider particle dark matter models in the context of both supersymmetry and universal extra-dimensions (UED), and we present the complete lowest-order calculation for processes where a photon is emitted in dark matter-electron and/or dark matter-proton scattering, where electrons and protons belong to the AGN jet. We find that the process is dominated by a resonance whose energy is dictated by the particle spectrum in the dark matter sector (neutralino and selectron for the case of supersymmetry, Kaluza-Klein photon and electron for UED). The resulting gamma-ray spectrum exhibits a very characteristic spectral feature, consisting of a sharp break to a hard power-law behavior. Although the normalization of the gamma-ray flux depends strongly on assumptions on both the AGN jet geometry, composition and particle spectrum as well as on the particle dark matter model and density distribution, we show that for realistic parameters choices, and for two prominent nearby AGNs (Centaurus A and M87), the detection of this effect is in principle possible. Finally, we compare our predictions and results with recent gamma-ray observations from the Fermi, H.E.S.S. and VERITAS telescopes.
We present elemental abundances for 855 red giant branch (RGB) stars in the globular cluster Omega Centauri (w Cen) from spectra obtained with the Blanco 4m telescope and Hydra multifiber spectrograph. The sample includes nearly all RGB stars brighter than V=13.5, and span's w Cen's full metallicity range. The heavy alpha elements (Si, Ca, and Ti) are generally enhanced by ~+0.3 dex, and exhibit a metallicity dependent morphology that may be attributed to mass and metallicity dependent Type II supernova (SN) yields. The heavy alpha and Fe-peak abundances suggest minimal contributions from Type Ia SNe. The light elements (O, Na, and Al) exhibit >0.5 dex abundance dispersions at all metallicities, and a majority of stars with [Fe/H]>-1.6 have [O/Fe], [Na/Fe], and [Al/Fe] abundances similar to those in monometallic globular clusters, as well as O-Na, O-Al anticorrelations and the Na-Al correlation in all but the most metal-rich stars. A combination of pollution from intermediate mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and in situ mixing may explain the light element abundance patterns. A large fraction (27%) of w Cen stars are O-poor ([O/Fe]<0) and are preferentially located within 5-10' of the cluster center. The O-poor giants are spatially similar, located in the same metallicity range, and are present in nearly equal proportions to blue main sequence stars. This suggests the O-poor giants and blue main sequence stars may share a common origin. [La/Fe] increases sharply at [Fe/H]>-1.6, and the [La/Eu] ratios indicate the increase is due to almost pure s-process production.
Using a slitless spectroscopy method with the 8.2 m Subaru telescope and its FOCAS Cassegrain spectrograph, we have increased the number of planetary nebula (PN) detections and PN velocity measurements in the flattened elliptical galaxy NGC 821. A comparison with the detections reported previously by the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph (PN.S) group indicates that we have confirmed most of their detections. The velocities measured by the two groups, using different telescopes, spectrographs and slitless techniques, are in good agreement. We have built a combined sample of 167 PNs and have confirmed the keplerian decline of the line-of-sight velocity dispersion reported previously. We also confirm misaligned rotation from the combined sample. A dark matter halo may exist around this galaxy, but it is not needed to keep the PN velocities below the local escape velocity as calculated from the visible mass. We have measured the m(5007) magnitudes of 145 PNs and produced a statistically complete sample of 40 PNs in NGC 821. The resulting PN luminosity function (PNLF) was used to estimate a distance modulus of 31.4 mag, equivalent to 19 Mpc. We also estimated the PN formation rate. NGC 821 becomes the most distant galaxy with a PNLF distance determination. The PNLF distance modulus is smaller than the surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distance modulus by 0.4 mag. Our kinematic information permits to rule out the idea that a shorter PNLF distance could be produced by the contamination of the PNLF by background galaxies with emission lines redshifted into the on-band filter transmission curve.
We study the evolution of inhomogeneous spherical perturbations in the universe in a way that generalizes the spherical top hat collapse in a straightforward manner. For that purpose we derive a dynamical equation for the evolution of the density contrast in the context of a Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi metric and construct solutions with and without a cosmological constant for the evolution of a spherical perturbation with a given initial radial profile.
Fermi observations of GeV emission from GRBs have suggested that the Lorentz factor of some GRBs is around a thousand or even higher. At the same time the same Fermi observations have shown an extended GeV emission indicating that this higher energy emission might be a part of the afterglow and it does not come from the same region as the lower energy prompt emission. If this interpretation is correct than we should reconsider the opacity limits on the Loretnz factor of the emitting regions which are based on a one-zone model. We describe here a two-zone model in which the GeV photons are emitted in a larger radius than the MeV photons and we calculate the optical depth for pair creation of a GeV photon passing the lower energy photons shell. We find that, as expected, the new two-zone limits on the Lorentz factor are significantly lower. The corresponding limits for the Fermi bursts are lower by a factor of ?two to five compared to the one-zone model and it is possible that both the MeV and GeV regions have relatively modest Lorentz factors (~200 - 400).
We show from a simulations-based study of the TACTIC telescope that fractal and wavelet analysis of Cerenkov images, recorded in a single imaging Cerenkov telescope, enables almost complete segregation of isotropic gamma-ray initiated events from the overwhelming background of cosmic-ray hadron-initiated events. This presents a new method for measuring galactic and extragalactic gamma-ray background above 1 TeV energy. Preliminary results based on this method are reported here. Primary aim is to explore the possibility of using data recorded by a single imaging atmospheric Cerenkov telescope(IACT) for making accurate measurements of diffuse galactic and extragalactic gamma-ray flux above ~1 TeV energy. Using simulated data of atmospheric Cerenkov images recorded in an IACT, initiated both by cosmic ray protons and diffuse gamma-rays with energies above 4 TeV and 2 TeV respectively, we identify the most efficient fractal /wavelet parameters of the recorded images for primary identification. The method is based on the pattern recognition technique and employs fractal and wavelet analysis of the recorded Cerenkov images for gamma-hadron segregation. We show that the value of wavelet dimension parameter B6 can segregate Cerenkov images of hadronic origin from those of diffuse gamma-ray origin with almost 100% accuracy. We use the results to get a preliminary upper limit estimate of the diffuse galactic gamma-ray flux within galactic range of |b|\leq -50 and |l|\leq 2000 above 2TeV from a 36h data set recorded by the TACTIC telescope.
We present five epochs of VLBI water maser observations around the massive protostar Cepheus A HW2 with 0.4 mas (0.3 AU) resolution. The main goal of these observations was to follow the evolution of the remarkable water maser linear/arcuate structures found in earlier VLBI observations. Comparing the data of our new epochs of observation with those observed five years before, we find that at "large" scales of > 1" (700 AU) the main regions of maser emission persist, implying that both the surrounding medium and the exciting sources of the masers have been relatively stable during that time span. However, at smaller scales of < 0.1" (70 AU) we see large changes in the maser structures, particularly in the expanding arcuate structures R4 and R5. R4 traces a nearly elliptical patchy ring of ~ 70 mas size (50 AU) with expanding motions of ~ 5 mas/yr (15 km/s). This structure is probably driven by the wind of a still unidentified YSO located at the centre of the ring (~ 0.18" south of HW2). On the other hand, the R5 expanding bubble structure (driven by the wind of a previously identified YSO located ~ 0.6" south of HW2) is currently dissipating in the circumstellar medium and losing its previous degree of symmetry, indicating a very short-lived event. In addition, our results reveal, at scales of ~ 1" (700 AU), the simultaneous presence of a relatively slow (~ 10-70 km/s) wide-angle outflow (opening angle of ~ 102 deg, traced by the masers, and the fast (~ 500~km/s) highly collimated radio jet associated with HW2 (opening angle of ~ 18 deg, previously observed with the VLA. This simultaneous presence of a wide-angle outflow and a highly collimated jet associated with a massive protostar is similar to what is found in some low-mass YSOs. The implications of these results in the study of the formation of high-mass stars are discussed.
The light curves observed from X-ray pulsars and magnetars reflect the radiation emission pattern, the geometry of the magnetic field, and the neutron star compactness. We study the statistics of X-ray pulse profiles in order to constrain the neutron star compactness and the magnetic field geometry. We collect the data for 124 X-ray pulsars, which are mainly in high-mass X-ray binary systems, and classify their pulse profiles according to the number of observed peaks seen during one spin period, dividing them into two classes, single- and double-peaked. We find that the pulsars are distributed about equally between both groups. We also compute the probabilities predicted by the theoretical models of two antipodal point-like spots that emit radiation according to the pencil-like emission patterns. These are then compared to the observed fraction of pulsars in the two classes. Assuming a blackbody emission pattern, it is possible to constrain the neutron star compactness if the magnetic dipole has arbitrary inclinations to the pulsar rotational axis. More realistic pencil-beam patterns predict that 79% of the pulsars are double-peaked independently of their compactness. The theoretical predictions can be made consistent with the data if the magnetic dipole inclination to the rotational axis has an upper limit of 40+/-4 deg. We also discuss the effect of limited sensitivity of the X-ray instruments to detect weak pulses, which lowers the number of detected double-peaked profiles and makes the theoretical predictions to be consistent with the data even if the magnetic dipole does have random inclinations. This shows that the statistics of pulse profiles does not allow us to constrain the neutron star compactness. In contrast to the previous claims by Bulik et al. (2003), the data also do not require the magnetic inclination to be confined in a narrow interval.
A small but significant radial gradient in the mean periods of LMC RR Lyrae variables is established from the OGLEIII survey data. This is interpreted as a metallicity gradient but other possibilities are discussed. Data on the ratio of photometrically selected C- and M-type AGB stars in the LMC, kindly provided by M-R. L. Cioni, are reanalysed. Removing the effects of bias leads to conclusions strikingly different to the original ones. There is a slight gradient of the C/M ratio in the inner part of the LMC which might be due to a very small mean metallicity gradient. In the outer part of the LMC the C/M ratio drops dramatically. The most likely reason for this is that the proportion of older stars increases in the outer regions. The mean metallicity of the inner AGB star population estimated from the C/M ratio is lower than for intermediate age LMC clusters and suggest that this population is in the mean older than the clusters and has a mean age which falls in the LMC cluster age gap.
Although the rotation of some Saturn's satellites in spin-orbit has already been studied by several authors, this is not the case of the rotation of Phoebe, which has the particularity of being non resonant. The purpose of the paper is to determine for the first time and with precision its precession-nutation motion. We adopt an Hamiltonian formalism of the motion of rotation of rigid celestial body set up by Kinoshita (1977) based on Andoyer variables and canonical equations. First we calculate Phoebe's obliquity at J2000,0 from available astronomical data as well as the gravitational perturbation due to Saturn on Phoebe rotational motion. Then we carry out a numerical integration and we compare our results for the precession rate and the nutation coefficients with pure analytical model. Our results for Phoebe obliquity (23{\deg}95) and Phoebe precession rate (5580".65/cy) are very close to the respective values for the Earth. Moreover the amplitudes of the nutations (26" peak to peak for the nutaton in longitude and 8" for the nutation in obliquity) are of the same order as the respective amplitudes for the Earth. We give complete tables of nutation, obtained from a FFT analysis starting from the numerical signals. We show that a pure analytical model of the nutation is not accurate due to the fact that Phoebe orbital elements e, M and Ls are far from having a simple linear behaviour. The precession and nutation of Phoebe have been calculated for the first time in this paper. We should keep on the study in the future by studying the additional gravitational effects of the Sun, of the large satellites as Titan, as well as Saturn dynamical ellipticity.
These notes resulted from a series of lectures at the IAC winter school. They are designed to help students, especially those just starting in subject, to get hold of the fundamental tools used to study accretion powered sources. As such, the references give a place to start reading, rather than representing a complete survey of work done in the field. I outline Compton scattering and blackbody radiation as the two predominant radiation mechanisms for accreting black holes, producing the hard X-ray tail and disc spectral components, respectively. The interaction of this radiation with matter can result in photo-electric absorption and/or reflection. While the basic processes can be found in any textbook, here I focus on how these can be used as a toolkit to interpret the spectra and variability of black hole binaries (hereafter BHB) and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). I also discuss how to use these to physically interpret real data using the publicly available XSPEC spectral fitting package (Arnaud et al 1996), and how this has led to current models (and controversies) of the accretion flow in both BHB and AGN.
1.5D Vlasov-Maxwell simulations are employed to model electromagnetic emission generation in a fully self-consistent plasma kinetic model for the first time in the solar physics context. The simulations mimic the plasma emission mechanism and Larmor drift instability in a plasma thread that connects the Sun to Earth with the spatial scales compressed appropriately. The effects of spatial density gradients on the generation of electromagnetic radiation are investigated. It is shown that 1.5D inhomogeneous plasma with a uniform background magnetic field directed transverse to the density gradient is aperiodically unstable to Larmor-drift instability. The latter results in a novel effect of generation of electromagnetic emission at plasma frequency. When density gradient is removed (i.e. when plasma becomes stable to Larmor-drift instability) and a $low$ density, super-thermal, hot beam is injected along the domain, in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field, plasma emission mechanism generates non-escaping Langmuir type oscillations which in turn generate escaping electromagnetic radiation. It is found that in the spatial location where the beam is injected, the standing waves, oscillating at the plasma frequency, are excited. These can be used to interpret the horizontal strips observed in some dynamical spectra. Quasilinear theory predictions: (i) the electron free streaming and (ii) the beam long relaxation time, in accord with the analytic expressions, are corroborated via direct, fully-kinetic simulation. Finally, the interplay of Larmor-drift instability and plasma emission mechanism is studied by considering $dense$ electron beam in the Larmor-drift unstable (inhomogeneous) plasma. The latter case enables one to study the deviations from the quasilinear theory.
Context. Thanks to recent and ongoing large scale surveys, hundreds of brown dwarfs have been discovered in the last decade. The Canada-France Brown Dwarf Survey is a wide-field survey for cool brown dwarfs conducted with the MegaCam camera on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope telescope. Aims. Our objectives are to find ultracool brown dwarfs and to constrain the field brown-dwarf luminosity function and the mass function from a large and homogeneous sample of L and T dwarfs. Methods. We identify candidates in CFHT/MegaCam i' and z' images and follow them up with pointed near infrared (NIR) imaging on several telescopes. Halfway through our survey we found ~50 T dwarfs and ~170 L or ultra cool M dwarfs drawn from a larger sample of 1400 candidates with typical ultracool dwarfs i' - z' colours, found in 780 square degrees. Results. We have currently completed the NIR follow-up on a large part of the survey for all candidates from mid-L dwarfs down to the latest T dwarfs known with utracool dwarfs' colours. This allows us to draw on a complete and well defined sample of 102 ultracool dwarfs to investigate the luminosity function and space density of field dwarfs. Conclusions. We found the density of late L5 to T0 dwarfs to be 2.0pm0.8 x 10-3 objects pc-3, the density of T0.5 to T5.5 dwarfs to be 1.4pm0.3 x 10-3 objects pc-3, and the density of T6 to T8 dwarfs to be 5.3pm3.1 x 10-3 objects pc-3 . We found that these results agree better with a flat substellar mass function. Three latest dwarfs at the boundary between T and Y dwarfs give the high density 8.3p9.0m5.1 x 10-3 objects pc-3. Although the uncertainties are very large this suggests that many brown dwarfs should be found in this late spectral type range, as expected from the cooling of brown dwarfs, whatever their mass, down to very low temperature.
We present high-resolution Keck optical spectra of the very young substellar eclipsing binary 2MASS J05352184-0546085, obtained during eclipse of the lower-mass (secondary) brown dwarf. The observations yield the spectrum of the higher-mass (primary) brown dwarf alone, with negligible (~1.6%) contamination by the secondary. We perform a simultaneous fine-analysis of the TiO-epsilon band and the red lobe of the KI doublet, using state-of-the-art PHOENIX Dusty and Cond synthetic spectra. Comparing the effective temperature and surface gravity derived from these fits to the {\it empirically} determined surface gravity of the primary (logg=3.5) then allows us to test the model spectra as well as probe the prevailing photospheric conditions. We find that: (1) fits to TiO-epsilon alone imply Teff=2500 \pm 50K; (2) at this Teff, fits to KI imply logg=3.0, 0.5 dex lower than the true value; and (3) at the true logg, KI fits yield Teff=2650 \pm 50K, ~150K higher than from TiO-epsilon alone. On the one hand, these are the trends expected in the presence of cool spots covering a large fraction of the primary's surface (as theorized previously to explain the observed Teff reversal between the primary and secondary). Specifically, our results can be reproduced by an unspotted stellar photosphere with Teff=2700K and (empirical) logg=3.5, coupled with axisymmetric cool spots that are 15% cooler (2300K), have an effective logg=3.0 (0.5 dex lower than photospheric), and cover 70% of the surface. On the other hand, the trends in our analysis can also be reproduced by model opacity errors: there are lacks in the synthetic TiO-epsilon opacities, at least for higher-gravity field dwarfs. Stringently discriminating between the two possibilities requires combining the present results with an equivalent analysis of the secondary (predicted to be relatively unspotted compared to the primary).
GMOS optical long-slit spectroscopy at the Gemini-North telescope was used to classify targets from the Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) from July 2005 and May 2006 - May 2008. During this time, 95 objects were observed. Where possible the objects' redshifts (z) were measured from narrow emission or absorption features in the host galaxy spectrum, otherwise they were measured from the broader supernova features. We present spectra of 68 confirmed or probable SNe Ia from SNLS with redshifts in the range 0.17 \leq z \leq 1.02. In combination with earlier SNLS Gemini and VLT spectra, we used these new observations to measure pseudo-equivalent widths (EWs) of three spectral features - CaII H&K, SiII and MgII - in 144 objects and compared them to the EWs of low-redshift SNe Ia from a sample drawn from the literature. No signs of changes with z are seen for the CaII H&K and MgII features. Systematically lower EW SiII is seen at high redshift, but this can be explained by a change in demographics of the SNe Ia population within a two-component model combined with an observed correlation between EW SiII and photometric lightcurve stretch.
Numerical simulations predict a considerable fraction of the missing baryons at redshift z ~ 0 resting in the so called warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM). The filaments and sheets of the WHIM have high temperatures 10^5 - 10^7 K) and a high degree of ionization while having only low to intermediate densities. The particular physical conditions of the WHIM structures, e.g. density and temperature profiles, velocity fields, are expected to leave their special imprint on spectroscopic observations. In order to get further insight into these conditions, we perform hydrodynamical simulations of the WHIM. Instead of analyzing large simulations of cosmological structure formation, we simulate particular well-defined structures and study the impact of different physical processes as well as of the scale dependencies. We start with the comprehensive study of the one-dimensional collapse (pancake) and examine the influence of radiative cooling, heating due to an UV background, and thermal conduction. We investigate the effect of small scale perturbations given according to the initial cosmological power spectrum. If the initial perturbation length scale L exceeds ~ 2 Mpc the collapse leads to shock confined structures. As a result of radiative cooling and of heating due to an UV background a relatively cold and dense core forms in the one-dimensional case. The properties of the core (extension, density, and temperature) are correlated with L. For larger L the core sizes are more concentrated. Thermal conduction enhances this trend and may even result in an evaporation of the core. Our estimates predict that a core may start to evaporate for perturbation lengths larger than L ~ 30 Mpc. The obtained detailed profiles for density and temperature for prototype WHIM structures allow for the determination of possible spectral signatures by the WHIM.
Using a high resolution radio image, we successfully resolve the two fold image components B and C of the quasar lens system SDSS J1029+2623. The flux anomalies associated with these two components in the optical regime persist, albeit less strongly, in our radio observations, suggesting that the cluster must be modeled by something more than a single central potential. We argue that placing substructure close to one of the components can account for a flux anomaly with negligible changes in the component positions. Our best fit model has a substructure mass of ~10^8 solar masses up to the mass-sheet degeneracy, located roughly 0.1 arcsecs West and 0.1 arcsecs North of component B. We demonstrate that a positional offset between the centers of the source components can explain the differences between the optical and radio flux ratios.
M84 is a giant elliptical galaxy located in the Virgo cluster. Prior imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) revealed a small, highly inclined, nuclear ionized gas disk, the kinematics of which indicate the presence of a 0.4 -1.5 billion solar mass black hole. Two prominent radio jets emerge perpendicular to the nuclear ionized gas disk terminating in large radio lobes that extend beyond the visible galaxy. Plausible kinematic models are used to constrain the size of the broad line region (BLR) in M84 by modeling the shape of the broad H-alpha emission line profile. The analysis indicates that the emitting region is large with an outer radius between ~ 7 and 9 pc, depending on whether the kinematic model is represented by a spherically symmetric inflow or a Keplerian disk. The inferred size makes the BLR in M84 the largest yet to be measured. The fact that the BLR in M84 is so large may explain why the AGN is unable to sustain the ionization seen there. Thus, the BLR in M84 is not simply that of a scaled down quasar.
We present deep spectroscopic data for a 24-object subsample of our full 41-object z~0.5 radio galaxy sample in order to investigate the evolution of the Fundamental Plane of radio galaxies. We find that the low-luminosity, FRI-type, radio galaxies in our sample are consistent with the local Fundamental Plane of radio galaxies defined by Bettoni et al. when corrected for simple passive evolution of their stellar populations. However, we find that the higher luminosity, FRII-type radio galaxies are inconsistent with the local Fundamental Plane if only passive evolution is considered, and find evidence for a rotation in the Fundamental Plane at z~0.5 when compared with the local relation. We show that neither passive evolution, nor a mass-dependent evolution in the mass-to-light ratio, nor an evolution in the size of the host galaxies can, by themselves, plausibly explain the observed tilt. However, we suggest that some combination of all three effects, with size evolution as the dominant factor, may be sufficient to explain the difference between the planes. We also find evidence for a correlation between host galaxy velocity dispersion and radio luminosity at the 97% significance level within our sub-sample, although further observations are required in order to determine whether this is different for the FRI and FRII radio sources. Assuming that the M_BH - sigma relation still holds at z~0.5, this implies that radio luminosity scales with black hole mass, in agreement with previous studies.
We investigated the horizontal and the vertical component of the Evershed flow (EF). To this end, we computed average Stokes V profiles for various velocity classes in penumbrae at different heliocentric angles. Our results show that for blueshifted profiles an additional lobe with the same polarity as the spot is present in the blue side of the average Stokes V profile. The amplitude of the additional lobe grows with increasing blueshift and with increasing heliocentric angle. For small redshifts, the profiles show an additional lobe with the opposite polarity as the spot on the red side of the average Stokes V profile. Even at disk center, the original polarity of the average Stokes V profile is reversed for strong redshifts. The transition between the different types of Stokes V profiles is continuous and indicates that not only the vertical, but also the horizontal EF is a magnetized stream of plasma in a magnetic background field.
For transiting planets, the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect allows the measurement of the sky-projected angle beta between the stellar rotation axis and a planet's orbital axis. Using the HARPS spectrograph, we observed the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect for six transiting hot Jupiters found by the WASP consortium. We combine these with long term radial velocity measurements obtained with CORALIE. We found that three of our targets have a projected spin-orbit angle above 90 degrees: WASP-2b: beta = 153 (+11 -15), WASP-15b: beta = 139.6 (+5.2 -4.3) and WASP-17b: beta = 148.5 (+5.1 -4.2); the other three (WASP-4b, WASP-5b and WASP-18b) have angles compatible with 0 degrees. There is no dependence between the misaligned angle and planet mass nor with any other planetary parameter. All orbits are close to circular, with only one firm detection of eccentricity on WASP-18b with e = 0.00848 (+0.00085 -0.00095). No long term radial acceleration was detected for any of the targets. Combining all previous 20 measurements of beta and our six, we attempt to statistically determine the distribution of the real spin-orbit angle psi and find that between about 45 and 85 % of hot Jupiters have psi > 30 degrees. Observations and predictions using the Kozai mechanism match well. If these observational facts are confirmed in the future, we may then conclude that most hot Jupiters are formed from a dynamical and tidal origin without the necessity to use type I or II migration. At present, standard disc migration cannot explain the observations without invoking at least another additional process.
The evolutionary path followed by a galaxy shapes its internal structure, and, in particular, its internal colour variation. We present a study of the internal colour variation within galaxies from the Seventh Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS DR7). We statistically study the connection between the internal colour variation and global galactic properties, looking for hints of the galactic recent evolution. Considering only galaxies with good photometry and spectral measurements, we define four luminosity-threshold samples within the redshift range 0.01<z<0.17, each containing more than 48000 galaxies. Colour gradients are calculated for these galaxies from the surface brightness measurements provided by the SDSS DR7. Possible systematic effects in their determination have been analysed. We find that, on average, galaxies have redder cores than their external parts. We also find that it is more likely to find steep colour gradients among late-type galaxies. This result holds for a range of classifications based on both morphological and spectral characteristics. In fact, our results relate, on average, steep colour gradients to a higher presence of young stars within a galaxy. Our results also suggest that nuclear activity is a marginal driver for creating steep colour gradients in massive galaxies. We have selected pairs of interacting galaxies, with a separation of 5', in projected radius, and a difference in redshift of 100 km/s, finding that they present steeper gradients than the average population, skewed towards bluer cores. Despite the large dispersion in colour gradient values, this parameter can be useful for selecting galaxies that have suffered a recent (minor) burst of star formation.
We present the discovery of nonradial pulsations in a hot subdwarf B star based on 30.5 days of nearly continuous time-series photometry using the \emph{Kepler} spacecraft. KIC 010139564 is found to be a short-period pulsator of the V361 Hya (EC 14026) class with more than 10 independent pulsation modes whose periods range from 130 to 190 seconds. It also shows one periodicity at a period of 3165 seconds. If this periodicity is a high order g-mode, then this star may be the hottest member of the hybrid DW Lyn stars. In addition to the resolved pulsation frequencies, additional periodic variations in the light curve suggest that a significant number of additional pulsation frequencies may be present. The long duration of the run, the extremely high duty cycle, and the well-behaved noise properties allow us to explore the stability of the periodic variations, and to place strong constraints on how many of them are independent stellar oscillation modes. We find that most of the identified periodicities are indeed stable in phase and amplitude, suggesting a rotation period of 2-3 weeks for this star, but further observations are needed to confirm this suspicion.
Mode splittings produced by uniform rotation and a particular form of differential rotation are computed for two-dimensional rotating 10 Mo ZAMS stellar models. The change in the character of the mode splitting is traced as a function of uniform rotation rate, and it is found that only relatively slow rotation rates are required before the mode splitting becomes asymmetric about the azimuthally symmetric (m=0) mode. Increased rotation produces a progressively altered pattern of the individual modes with respect to each other. Large mode splittings begin to overlap with the mode splittings produced by different radial and latitudinal modes at relatively low rotation rates. The mode splitting pattern for the differentially rotating stars we model is different than that for uniformly rotating stars, making the mode splitting a possible discriminant of the internal angular momentum distribution if one assumes the formidable challenge of mode identification can be overcome.
Recent coordinated observations of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) and stereoscopic heliospheric imagers (HIs) are significant to continuously track the propagation and evolution of solar eruptions throughout interplanetary space. In order to obtain a better understanding of the observational signatures in these two remote-sensing techniques, the magnetohydrodynamics of the macro-scale interplanetary disturbance and the radio-wave scattering of the micro-scale electron-density fluctuation are coupled and investigated using a newly-constructed multi-scale numerical model. This model is then applied to a case of an interplanetary shock propagation within the ecliptic plane. The shock could be nearly invisible to an HI, once entering the Thomson-scattering sphere of the HI. The asymmetry in the optical images between the western and eastern HIs suggests the shock propagation off the Sun-Earth line. Meanwhile, an IPS signal, strongly dependent on the local electron density, is insensitive to the density cavity far downstream of the shock front. When this cavity (or the shock nose) is cut through by an IPS ray-path, a single speed component at the flank (or the nose) of the shock can be recorded; when an IPS ray-path penetrates the sheath between the shock nose and this cavity, two speed components at the sheath and flank can be detected. Moreover, once a shock front touches an IPS ray-path, the derived position and speed at the irregularity source of this IPS signal, together with an assumption of a radial and constant propagation of the shock, can be used to estimate the later appearance of the shock front in the elongation of the HI field of view. The results of synthetic measurements from forward modelling are helpful in inferring the in-situ properties of coronal mass ejection from real observational data via an inverse approach.
A general quantum dispersion equation for electron-positron(hole)-ion quantum plasmas is derived and studied for some interesting cases. In an electron-positron degenerate Fermi gas, with or without the Madelung term, a new type of zero sound waves are found. Whereas in an electron-hole plasmas a new longitudinal quantum waves are revealed, which have no analogies in quantum electron-ion plasmas. The excitation of these quantum waves by a low-density monoenergetic straight electron beam is examined. Furthermore, the KdV equation for novel quantum waves is derived and the contribution of the Madelung term in the formation of the KdV solitons is discussed.
In this paper we propose a Lagrangian method for solving Lane-Emden equation which is a nonlinear ordinary differential equation on semi-infinite interval. This approach is based on a Modified generalized Laguerre functions Lagrangian method. The method reduces the solution of this problem to the solution of a system of algebraic equations. We also present the comparison of this work with some well-known results and show that the present solution is acceptable.
We study tachyonic preheating associated with the spontaneous breaking of B-L, the difference of baryon and lepton number. Reheating occurs through the decays of heavy Majorana neutrinos which are produced during preheating and in decays of the Higgs particles of B-L breaking. Baryogenesis is an interplay of nonthermal and thermal leptogenesis, accompanied by thermally produced gravitino dark matter. The proposed mechanism simultaneously explains the generation of matter and dark matter, thereby relating the absolute neutrino mass scale to the gravitino mass.
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Observations show that star formation is an inefficient and slow process. This result can be attributed to the injection of energy and momentum by stars that prevents free-fall collapse of molecular clouds. The mechanism of this stellar feedback is debated theoretically: possible sources of pressure include the classical warm HII gas, the hot gas generated by shock-heating from stellar winds and supernovae, direct radiation of stars, and the dust-processed radiation field trapped inside the HII shell. In this paper, we measure observationally the pressures associated with each component listed above across the giant HII region 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We exploit high-resolution, multi-wavelengh images (radio, infrared, optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray) to map these pressures as a function of position. We find that radiation pressure dominates within 50 pc of the central star cluster, R136, while the HII gas pressure dominates at larger radii. By contrast, the dust-processed radiation pressure and hot gas pressure are generally weak and not dynamically important, although the hot gas pressure may have played a more significant role at early times. Based on the low X-ray gas pressures, we demonstrate that the hot gas is only partially confined and must be leaking out the HII shell. Additionally, we consider the implications of a dominant radiation pressure on the early dynamics of 30 Dor.
We present new limits on the ejection of metal-rich old-population hypervelocity stars from the Galactic center (GC) as probed by the SEGUE-2 survey. Our limits are a factor of 3-10 more stringent than previously reported, depending on stellar type. Compared to the known population of B-star ejectees, there can be no more than 30 times more metal-rich old-population F/G stars ejected from the GC. Because B stars comprise a tiny fraction of a normal stellar population, this places significant limits on a combination of the GC mass function and the ejection mechanism for hypervelocity stars. In the presence of a normal GC mass function, our results require an ejection mechanism that is about 5.5 times more efficient at ejecting B-stars compared to low-mass F/G stars.
We investigate the feasibility of extracting the gravitational nanolensing signal due to the presence of subsolar mass halos within galaxy-sized dark matter halos. We show that subsolar mass halos in a lensing galaxy can cause strong nanolensing events with shorter durations and smaller amplitudes than microlensing events caused by stars. We develop techniques that can be used in future surveys such as Pan-STARRS, LSST and OMEGA to search for the nanolensing signal from subsolar mass halos.
To investigate the penumbral plasma flow on a small scale, spectropolari- metric data of sunspots recorded by HINODE was used. Maps of Doppler velocities were created by evaluating the bisector in the line-wing, thereby visualizing the flow pattern in the low photosphere where the Evershed effect is most pronounced. In penumbrae close to the disk center, the vertical component of the Evershed flow dominates. The latter consists of a series of elongated up-flow patterns extending radially through the entire center-side penumbra at a constant azimuth. Along this structure, strong up-flows appear in concentrated patches separated by weaker up-flows or even down-flows. The strong up-flows appear at the bright heads and the umbral side of the dark-core of the filament, while the down-flows are rather located at the penumbral side of the filament. Projection effects lead to an overall red-shift of the limb- side penumbra, but the described pattern of up- and down-flows is still ascertainable.
A new method is introduced for making X-ray mass determinations of spherical clusters of galaxies. Treating the distribution of gravitating matter as piecewise constant and the cluster atmosphere as piecewise isothermal, X-ray spectra of a hydrostatic atmosphere are determined up to a single overall normalizing factor. In contrast to more conventional approaches, this method relies on the minimum of assumptions, apart from the conditions of hydrostatic equilibrium and spherical symmetry. The method has been implemented as an XSPEC mixing model called CLMASS, which was used to determine masses for a sample of nine relaxed X-ray clusters. Compared to conventional mass determinations, CLMASS provides weak constraints on values of M_500, reflecting the quality of current X-ray data for cluster regions beyond r_500. At smaller radii, where there are high quality X-ray spectra inside and outside the radius of interest to constrain the mass, CLMASS gives confidence ranges for M_2500 that are only moderately less restrictive than those from more familiar mass determination methods. The CLMASS model provides some advantages over other methods and should prove useful for mass determinations in regions where there are high quality X-ray data.
We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30 kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101 sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is present in the halo of Sombrero.
We present a new method for constructing three-dimensional mass maps from gravitational lensing shear data. We solve the lensing inversion problem using truncation of singular values (within the context of generalized least squares estimation) without a priori assumptions about the statistical nature of the signal. This singular value framework allows a quantitative comparison between different filtering methods: we evaluate our method beside the previously explored Wiener filter approaches. Our method yields near-optimal angular resolution of the lensing reconstruction and allows cluster sized halos to be de-blended robustly. It allows for mass reconstructions which are 2-3 orders-of-magnitude faster than the Wiener filter approach; in particular, we estimate that an all-sky reconstruction with arcminute resolution could be performed on a time-scale of hours. We find however that linear, non-parameteric reconstructions have a fundamental limitation in the resolution achieved in the redshift direction.
Since the discovery of the first double neutron star (DNS) system in 1975 by Hulse and Taylor, there are currently 8 confirmed DNS in our galaxy. For every system, the masses of both neutron stars, the orbital semi- major axis and eccentricity are measured, and proper motion is known for half of the systems. Using the orbital parameters and kinematic information, if available, as constraints for all system, we investigate the immediate progenitor mass of the second-born neutron star and the magnitude of the supernova kick it received at birth, with the primary goal to understand the core collapse mechanism leading to neutron star formation. Compared to earlier studies, we use a novel method to address the uncertainty related to the unknown radial velocity of the observed systems. For PSR B1534+12 and PSR B1913+16, the kick magnitudes are 150 - 270 km/s and 190 - 450 km/s (with 95% confidence) respectively, and the progenitor masses of the 2nd born neutron stars are 1.3 - 3.4 Msun and 1.4 - 5.0 Msun (95%), respectively. These suggest that the 2nd born neutron star was formed by an iron core collapse supernova in both systems. For PSR J0737-3039, on the other hand, the kick magnitude is only 5 - 120 km/s (95%), and the progenitor mass of the 2nd born neutron star is 1.3 - 1.9 Msun (95%). Because of the relatively low progenitor mass and kick magnitude, the formation of the 2nd born neutron star in PSR J0737-3039 is potentially connected to an electron capture supernova of a massive O - Ne - Mg white dwarf. For the remaining 5 Galactic DNS, the kick magnitude ranges from several tens to several hundreds of km/s, and the progenitor mass of the 2nd formed neutron star can be as low as ~1.5 Msun, or as high as ~8 Msun. Therefore in these systems, it is not clear which type of supernova is more likely to form the 2nd neutron star.
In this work, we present the mass and magnetic distributions found in a recent Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) MHD simulation of supersonic, \sa, self gravitating turbulence. Powerlaw tails are found in both volume density and magnetic field probability density functions, with $P(\rho) \propto \rho^{-1.67}$ and $P(B)\propto B^{-2.74}$. A power law is also found between magnetic field strength and density, with $B\propto \rho^{0.48}$, throughout the collapsing gas. The mass distribution of gravitationally bound cores is shown to be in excellent agreement with recent observation of prestellar cores. The mass to flux distribution of cores is also found to be in excellent agreement with recent Zeeman splitting measurements.
We investigate FeII emission in Broad Line Region (BLR) of AGNs by analyzing the FeII(UV), FeII(4570) and MgII emission lines in 884 quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar catalog in a redshift range of 0.727 < z < 0.804. FeII(4570)/FeII(UV) is used to infer the column density of FeII-emitting clouds and explore the excitation mechanism of FeII emission lines. As suggested before in various works, the classical photoionization models fail to account for FeII(4570)/FeII(UV) by a factor of 10, which may suggest anisotropy of UV FeII emission; otherwise, an alternative heating mechanism like shock is working. The column density distribution derived from FeII(4570)/FeII(UV) indicates that radiation pressure plays an important role in BLR gas dynamics. We find a positive correlation between FeII(4570)/FeII(UV) and the Eddington ratio. We also find that almost all FeII-emitting clouds are to be under super-Eddington conditions unless ionizing photon fraction is much smaller than that previously suggested. Finally we propose a physical interpretation of a striking set of correlations between various emission-line properties, known as ``Eigenvector 1''.
An identity that relates multipolar solutions of the Einstein equations to Newtonian potentials of bars with linear densities proportional to Legendre polynomials is used to construct analytical potential-density pairs of infinitesimally thin bars with a given linear density profile. By means of a suitable transformation, softened bars that are free of singularities are also obtained. As an application we study the equilibrium points and stability for the motion of test particles in the gravitational field for three models of rotating bars.
Understanding how disks dissipate is essential to studies of planet
formation. However, identifying exactly how dust and gas dissipates is
complicated due to difficulty in finding objects clearly in the transition of
losing their surrounding material. We use Spitzer IRS spectra to examine 35
photometrically-selected candidate cold disks (disks with large inner dust
holes). The infrared spectra are supplemented with optical spectra to determine
stellar and accretion properties and 1.3mm photometry to measure disk masses.
Based on detailed SED modeling, we identify 15 new cold disks. The remaining 20
objects have IRS spectra that are consistent with disks without holes, disks
that are observed close to edge-on, or stars with background emission. Based on
these results, we determine reliable criteria for identifying disks with inner
holes from Spitzer photometry and examine criteria already in the literature.
Applying these criteria to the c2d surveyed star-forming regions gives a
frequency of such objects of at least 4% and most likely of order 12% of the
YSO population identified by Spitzer.
We also examine the properties of these new cold disks in combination with
cold disks from the literature. Hole sizes in this sample are generally smaller
than for previously discovered disks and reflect a distribution in better
agreement with exoplanet orbit radii. We find correlations between hole size
and both disk and stellar masses. Silicate features, including crystalline
features, are present in the overwhelming majority of the sample although 10
micron feature strength above the continuum declines for holes with radii
larger than ~7 AU. In contrast, PAHs are only detected in 2 out of 15 sources.
Only a quarter of the cold disk sample shows no signs of accretion, making it
unlikely that photoevaporation is the dominant hole forming process in most
cases.
The most promising model for explaining the origin of solar magnetism is the flux transport dynamo model, in which the toroidal field is produced by differential rotation in the tachocline, the poloidal field is produced by the Babcock--Leighton mechanism at the solar surface and the meridional circulation plays a crucial role. After discussing how this model explains the regular periodic features of the solar cycle, we come to the questions of what causes irregularities of solar cycles and whether we can predict future cycles. Only if the diffusivity within the convection zone is sufficiently high, the polar field at the sunspot minimum is correlated with strength of the next cycle. This is in conformity with the limited available observational data.
We investigate the performance of some common machine learning techniques in identifying BHB stars from photometric data. To train the machine learning algorithms, we use previously published spectroscopic identifications of BHB stars from SDSS data. We investigate the performance of three different techniques, namely k nearest neighbour classification, kernel density estimation and a support vector machine (SVM). We discuss the performance of the methods in terms of both completeness and contamination. We discuss the prospect of trading off these values, achieving lower contamination at the expense of lower completeness, by adjusting probability thresholds for the classification. We also discuss the role of prior probabilities in the classification performance, and we assess via simulations the reliability of the dataset used for training. Overall it seems that no-prior gives the best completeness, but adopting a prior lowers the contamination. We find that the SVM generally delivers the lowest contamination for a given level of completeness, and so is our method of choice. Finally, we classify a large sample of SDSS DR7 photometry using the SVM trained on the spectroscopic sample. We identify 27,074 probable BHB stars out of a sample of 294,652 stars. We derive photometric parallaxes and demonstrate that our results are reasonable by comparing to known distances for a selection of globular clusters. We attach our classifications, including probabilities, as an electronic table, so that they can be used either directly as a BHB star catalogue, or as priors to a spectroscopic or other classification method. We also provide our final models so that they can be directly applied to new data.
The maximum amplitude (Rm) of a solar cycle, in the term of mean sunspot numbers, is well-known to be positively correlated with the preceding minimum (Rmin). So far as the long term trend is concerned, a low level of Rmin tends to be followed by a weak Rm, and vice versa. In this paper, we found that the evidence is insufficient to infer a very weak Cycle 24 from the very low Rmin in the preceding cycle. This is concluded by analyzing the correlation in the temporal variations of parameters for two successive cycles.
Magnetic field reconnection is invoked to explain electromagnetic energy conversion in planetary magnetospheres, stellar coronae, and other astrophysical objects. Because of the huge dynamic range of magnetic fields in these bodies, it is important to understand energy conversion as a function of magnetic field strength and related parameters. It is conjectured theoretically and shown experimentally that the energy conversion rate per unit area in reconnection scales as B0^3/n0^0.5, where B0 is the weighted strength of the reconnecting magnetic fields and n0 is the weighted plasma density. With this functional dependence, the importance of reconnection on the Sun and Mercury, and the apparent absence of reconnection on Jupiter and Saturn may be understood. This functional dependence also allows a possible understanding of the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays and energetic electrons. Electric fields at the perihelion of the Solar Probe Plus mission may be tens of volts/meter.
We present a new primary transit observation of the hot-jupiter HD189733b, obtained at 3.6 microns with the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope. Previous measurements at 3.6 microns suffered from strong systematics and conclusions could hardly be obtained with confidence on the water detection by comparison of the 3.6 and 5.8 microns observations. We use a high S/N Spitzer photometric transit light curve to improve the precision of the near infrared radius of the planet at 3.6 microns. The observation has been performed using high-cadence time series integrated in the subarray mode. We are able to derive accurate system parameters, including planet-to-star radius ratio, impact parameter, scale of the system, and central time of the transit from the fits of the transit light curve. We compare the results with transmission spectroscopic models and with results from previous observations at the same wavelength. We obtained the following system parameters: R_p/R_\star=0.15566+0.00011-0.00024, b=0.661+0.0053-0.0050, and a/R_\star=8.925+0.0490-0.0523 at 3.6 microns. These measurements are three times more accurate than previous studies at this wavelength because they benefit from greater observational efficiency and less statistic and systematic errors. Nonetheless, we find that the radius ratio has to be corrected for stellar activity and present a method to do so using ground-based long-duration photometric follow-up in the V-band. The resulting planet-to-star radius ratio corrected for the stellar variability is in agreement with the previous measurement obtained in the same bandpass (Desert et al. 2009). We also discuss that water vapour could not be evidenced by comparison of the planetary radius measured at 3.6 and 5.8 microns, because the radius measured at 3.6 microns is affected by absorption by other species, possibly Rayleigh scattering by haze.
Orbital evolution of an interplanetary dust particle under action of an
interstellar gas flow is investigated. Secular time derivatives of the particle
orbital elements, for arbitrary orbit orientation, are presented. An important
result concerns secular evolution of semi-major axis. Secular semi-major axis
of the particle on a bound orbit decreases under the action of fast
interstellar gas flow. Possible types of evolution of other Keplerian orbital
elements are discussed. The paper compares influences of the Poynting-Robertson
effect, the radial solar wind and the interstellar gas flow on dynamics of the
dust particle in outer planetary region of the Solar System and beyond it, up
to 100 AU.
Evolution of putative dust ring in the zone of the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt is
studied. Also non-radial solar wind and gravitational effect of major planets
may play an important role. Low inclination orbits of micron-sized dust
particles in the belt are not stable due to fast increase of eccentricity
caused by the interstellar gas flow and subsequent planetary perturbations -
the increase of eccentricity leads to planet crossing orbits of the particles.
Gravitational and non-gravitational effects are treated in a way which fully
respects physics. As a consequence, some of the published results turned out to
be incorrect. Moreover, the paper treats the problem in a more general way than
it has been presented up to now.
The influence of the fast interstellar neutral gas flow might not be ignored
in modeling of evolution of dust particles beyond planets.
Observations of galaxy luminosity function at high redshifts typically focus on fields of view of limited sizes preferentially containing bright sources. These regions possibly are overdense and hence biased with respect to the globally averaged regions. Using a semi-analytic model based on Choudhury \& Ferrara (2006) which is calibrated to match a wide range of observations, we study the reionization and thermal history of the universe in overdense regions. The main results of our calculation are: (i) Reionization and thermal histories in the biased regions are markedly different from the average ones because of enhanced number of sources and higher radiative feedback. (ii) The galaxy luminosity function for biased regions is markedly different from those corresponding to average ones. In particular, the effect of radiative feedback arising from cosmic reionization is visible at much brighter luminosities. (iii) Because of the enhanced radiative feedback within overdense locations, the luminosity function in such regions is more sensitive to reionization history than in average regions. The effect of feedback is visible for absolute AB magnitude $M_{AB} \gtrsim -17$ at $z=8$, almost within the reach of present day observations and surely to be probed by JWST. This could possibly serve as an additional probe of radiative feedback and hence reionization at high redshifts.
We present first quantitative results of the surface magnetic field measurements in selected M-dwarfs based on detailed spectra synthesis conducted simultaneously in atomic and molecular lines of the FeH Wing-Ford $F^4\,\Delta-X^4\,\Delta$ transitions. A modified version of the Molecular Zeeman Library (MZL) was used to compute Land\'e g-factors for FeH lines in different Hund's cases. Magnetic spectra synthesis was performed with the Synmast code. We show that the implementation of different Hund's case for FeH states depending on their quantum numbers allows us to achieve a good fit to the majority of lines in a sunspot spectrum in an automatic regime. Strong magnetic fields are confirmed via the modelling of atomic and FeH lines for three M-dwarfs YZ~CMi, EV~Lac, and AD~Leo, but their mean intensities are found to be systematically lower than previously reported. A much weaker field ($1.7-2$~kG against $2.7$~kG) is required to fit FeH lines in the spectra of GJ~1224. Our method allows us to measure average magnetic fields in very low-mass stars from polarized radiative transfer. The obtained results indicate that the fields reported in earlier works were probably overestimated by about $15-30$\%. Higher quality observations are needed for more definite results.
In contrast with numerous studies on the physical and chemical structure of low- and high-mass protostars, much less is known about their intermediate-mass counterparts, a class of objects that could help to elucidate the mechanisms of star formation on both ends of the mass range. We present the first results from a rich HIFI spectral dataset on an intermediate-mass protostar, OMC2-FIR4, obtained in the CHESS (Chemical HErschel SurveyS of star forming regions) key programme. The more than 100 methanol lines detected between 554 and 961 GHz cover a range in upper level energy of 40 to 540 K. Our physical interpretation focusses on the hot core, but likely the cold envelope and shocked regions also play a role in reality, because an analysis of the line profiles suggests the presence of multiple emission components. An upper limit of 10^-6 is placed on the methanol abundance in the hot core, using a population diagram, large-scale source model and other considerations. This value is consistent with abundances previously seen in low-mass hot cores. Furthermore, the highest energy lines at the highest frequencies display asymmetric profiles, which may arise from infall around the hot core.
Three-dimensional numerical simulations have been used to study the scattering of a surface-gravity wave packet by vertical magnetic flux tubes, with radii from 200 km to 3 Mm, embedded in stratified polytropic atmosphere. The scattered wave was found to consist primarily of m=0 (axisymmetric) and m=1 modes. It was found that the ratio of the amplitude of these two modes is strongly dependant on the radius of the flux tube: The kink mode is the dominant mode excited in tubes with a small radius while the sausage mode is dominant for large tubes. Simulations of this type provide a simple, efficient and robust way to start understanding the seismic signature of flux tubes, which have recently began to be observed.
We propose the rest-frame 2-10 keV photon index, \ga, acting as an indicator
of the bolometric correction, \lb/$L_{\rm 2-10keV}$ (where \lb~ is the
bolometric luminosity and $L_{\rm 2-10keV}$ is the rest-frame 2-10 keV
luminosty), in radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Correlations between
$\Gamma_{\rm 2-10keV}$ and both bolometric correction and Eddington ratio are
presented, based on simultaneous X-ray, UV and optical observations of
reverberation mapped AGNs. These correlations can be compared with those for
high-redshift AGNs to check for any evolutionary effect. Assuming no
evolutionary effect in AGNs' spectral properties, together with the independent
estimates of $L_{\rm 2-10keV}$, the bolometric correction, Eddington ratio and
black hole mass can all be estimated from these correlations for high-redshift
AGNs, with the mean uncertainty of a factor of 2-3. If there are independent
estimates of black hole masses, \ga~ for high-redshift AGNs can be used to
determine their true \lb~ and $L_{\rm 2-10keV}$, and in conjunction with the
redshift, be potentially used to place constraints on cosmology by comparison
with the rest-frame 2-10 keV flux. We find that the true $L_{\rm 2-10keV}$
estimated from \ga~ for the brightest Type I AGNs with $z<1$ in the Lockman
Hole is generally in agreement with the observed $L_{\rm 2-10keV}$.
However, there are still many uncertainties, such as the accurate
determination of the intrinsic \ga~ for distant AGNs and the large uncertainty
in the luminosities obtained, which call for significant further study before
`AGN cosmology' can be considered a viable technique.
Eta Carinae is the colliding wind binary with the largest mass loss rate in our Galaxy and the only one in which hard X-ray emission has been detected. Eta Carinae is therefore a primary candidate to search for particle acceleration by probing its gamma-ray emission. We used the first 21 months of Fermi/LAT data to extract gamma-ray (0.2-100 GeV) images, spectra and light-curves, then combined them with multi-wavelength observations to model the non-thermal spectral energy distribution. A bright gamma-ray source is detected at the position of eta Carinae. Its flux at a few 100 MeV corresponds very well to the extrapolation of the hard X-ray spectrum towards higher energies. The spectral energy distribution features two distinct components. The first one extends over the keV to GeV energy range, and features an exponential cutoff at ~ 1 GeV. It can be understood as inverse Compton scattering of ultraviolet photons by electrons accelerated up to gamma~1E4 in the colliding wind region. The expected synchrotron emission is compatible with the existing upper limit on the non-thermal radio emission. The second component is a hard gamma-ray tail detected above 20 GeV. It could be explained by pi0-decay of accelerated hadrons interacting with the dense stellar wind. The ratio between the fluxes of the pi0 and inverse Compton components is roughly as predicted by simulations of colliding wind binaries. This hard gamma-ray tail can only be understood if emitted close to the wind collision region. The energy transferred to the accelerated particles (~5% of the collision mechanical energy) is comparable to that of the thermal X-ray emission. We have measured the electron spectrum responsible for the keV to GeV emission and detected an evidence of hadronic acceleration in eta Carinae. These observations are thus in good agreement with the colliding wind scenario suggested for eta Carinae.
2 years worth of archival FERMI-LAT data was used to search for the gamma-ray emission from the Andromeda galaxy. The data show no noticeable elliptical image. Subsequent on-off source aperture photometry analysis using a CO image template show a 7 sigma excess in the number of on-source apertures in comparison to the off-source apertures, yielding a flux of (4.95+/-0.71)x10-8 photons cm-2 s-1 for E>100 MeV.
{Abrigded} Results are presented for a Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys high-resolution imaging campaign of 90 white dwarfs with known or suspected low mass stellar and substellar companions. Of the 72 targets which remain candidate and confirmed white dwarfs with near-infrared excess, 43 are spatially resolved into two or more components, and a total of 12 systems are potentially triples. There is a possible, slight deficit of earlier spectral types (bluer colors) among the spatially unresolved companions, exactly the opposite of expectations if significant mass is transferred to the companion during the common envelope phase. Using the best available distance estimates, the low mass companions to white dwarfs exhibit a bimodal distribution in projected separation. This result supports the hypothesis that during the giant phases of the white dwarf progenitor, any unevolved companions either migrate inward to short periods of hours to days, or outward to periods of hundreds to thousands of years. No intermediate projected separations of a few to several AU are found among these pairs. However, a few double M dwarfs (within triples) are spatially resolved in this range, empirically demonstrating that such separations were readily detectable among the binaries with white dwarfs. A straightforward and testable prediction emerges: all spatially unresolved, low mass stellar and substellar companions to white dwarfs should be in short period orbits. This result has implications for substellar companion and planetary orbital evolution during the post-main sequence lifetime of their stellar hosts.
It is shown that the excellent Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory site allows the Murchison Widefield Array to employ a simple RFI blanking scheme and still calibrate visibilities and form images in the FM radio band. The techniques described are running autonomously in our calibration and imaging software, which is currently being used to process an FM-band survey of the entire southern sky.
We obtained a second Chandra timing measurement of the 3.82 s pulsar CXOU J171405.7-381031 in the supernova remnant (SNR) CTB 37B, which shows that it is spinning down rapidly. The average period derivative of (5.88+/-0.08)E-11 over the 1 year time span corresponds to a dipole magnetic field strength B = 4.8E14 G, well into the magnetar range. The spin-down power E-dot = 4.2E34 erg/s is among the largest for magnetars, and the corresponding characteristic age Tau = P/2P-dot = 1030 years is comparable to estimates of the age of the SNR. The period derivative enables us to recover probable pulsations in an ASCA observation taken in 1996, which yields a mean characteristic age of 860 years over the longer 13 year time span. The source is well detected up to 10 keV, and its composite spectrum is typical of a magnetar. CTB 37B hosts HESS J1713-381, the first TeV source that is coincident with a magnetar. While the TeV emission has been attributed to the SNR shell, it is possibly centrally peaked, and we hypothesize that this particularly young, energetic magnetar may contribute to the HESS source. We also searched for pulsations from another source in a HESS SNR, XMMU J173203.3-344518 in HESS J1731-347/G353.6-0.7 but could not confirm pulsations or long-term flux variability, making it more likely that this source is a weakly magnetized central compact object.
Upcoming imaging surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will repeatedly scan large areas of sky and have the potential to yield million-supernova catalogs. Type Ia supernovae are excellent standard candles and will provide distance measures that suffice to detect mean pairwise velocities of their host galaxies. We show that when combining these distance measures with photometric redshifts for either the supernovae or their host galaxies, the mean pairwise velocities of the host galaxies will provide a dark energy probe which is competitive with other widely discussed methods. Adding information from this test to type Ia supernova photometric luminosity distances from the same experiment, plus the cosmic microwave background power spectrum from the Planck satellite, improves the Dark Energy Task Force Figure of Merit by a factor of 2.2. Pairwise velocity measurements require no additional observational effort beyond that required to perform the traditional supernova luminosity distance test, but may provide complementary constraints on dark energy parameters and the nature of gravity. Incorporating additional spectroscopic redshift follow-up observations could provide important dark energy constraints from pairwise velocities alone. Mean pairwise velocities are less sensitive to systematic redshift errors than the luminosity distance test or weak lensing techniques, and also are only mildly affected by systematic evolution of supernova luminosity.
abbreviated:
Massive gravitons are features of some alternatives to general relativity.
This has motivated experiments and observations that, so far, have been
consistent with the zero mass graviton of general relativity, but further tests
will be valuable. A basis for new tests may be the high sensitivity
gravitational wave experiments that are now being performed, and the higher
sensitivity experiments that are being planned. In these experiments it should
be feasible to detect low levels of dispersion due to nonzero graviton mass.
One of the most promising techniques for such a detection may be the pulsar
timing program that is sensitive to nano-Hertz gravitational waves.
Here we present some details of such a detection scheme. The pulsar timing
response to a gravitational wave background with the massive graviton is
calculated, and the algorithm to detect the massive graviton is presented. We
conclude that, with $90\%$ probability, massles gravitons can be distinguished
from gravitons heavier than $3\times 10^{-22}$\,eV (Compton wave length
$\lambda_{\rm g}=4.1 \times 10^{12}$ km), if biweekly observation of 60 pulsars
are performed for 5 years with pulsar RMS timing accuracy of 100\,ns. If 60
pulsars are observed for 10 years with the same accuracy, the detectable
graviton mass is reduced to $5\times 10^{-23}$\,eV ($\lambda_{\rm g}=2.5 \times
10^{13}$ km); for 5-year observations of 100 or 300 pulsars, the sensitivity is
respectively $2.5\times 10^{-22}$ ($\lambda_{\rm g}=5.0\times 10^{12}$ km) and
$10^{-22}$ eV ($\lambda_{\rm g}=1.2\times 10^{13}$ km). Finally, a 10-year
observation of 300 pulsars with 100\,ns timing accuracy would probe graviton
masses down to $3\times 10^{-23}$\,eV ($\lambda_{\rm g}=4.1\times 10^{13}$ km).
The origin of the shallow decay segment in gamma-ray burst's (GRB) early light curves remains a mystery, especially those cases with a long-lived plateau followed by an abrupt falloff. In this paper, we propose a mechanism to understand the origin of the abrupt falloff after plateau by considering solidification of newborn quark stars with latent heat released as energy injection to GRB afterglow. We estimate the total latent heat released during the phase transition of quark stars from liquid to solid states, to be order of ~ 10^{51}ergs, which is comparable to the emission energy in the shallow decay segment. We also estimate the time scale of radiating the latent heat through thermal photon emission, and find that the time scale agrees with observations. Based on our estimation, we analyze the process of energy injection to GRB afterglow. We show that the steady latent heat of quark star phase transition would continuously inject into GRB afterglow in a form similar to that of a Poyntingflux- dominated outflow and naturally produce the shallow decay phase and the abrupt falloff after plateau. We conclude that the latent heat of quark star phase transition would be an important contribution to the shallow decay radiation in GRB afterglow, and would explain the general features of GRB light curves (including the plateau), if pulsar-like stars are really (solid) quark stars.
This paper presents a detailed study of the scattering polarization profiles formed under partial frequency redistribution (PRD) in two thermal models of the solar atmosphere. Particular attention is given to understanding the influence of several atmospheric parameters on the emergent fractional linear polarization profiles. The shapes of these $Q/I$ profiles are interpreted in terms of the anisotropy of the radiation field, which in turn depends on the source function gradient that sets the angular variation of the specific intensity. We define a suitable frequency integrated anisotropy factor for PRD that can be directly related to the emergent linear polarization. We show that complete frequency redistribution is a good approximation to model weak resonance lines. We also show that the emergent linear polarization profiles can be very sensitive to the thermal structure of the solar atmosphere and, in particular, to spatial variations of the damping parameter.
Lorentz Invariance Violation (LIV) manifesting itself by energy dependent modification of standard relativistic dispersion relation has recently attracted a considerable attention. Ellis et al. previously investigated the energy dependent time offsets in different energy bands on a sample of gamma ray bursts and, assuming standard cosmological model, they found a weak indication for redshift dependence of time delays suggestive of LIV. Going beyond the $\Lambda$CDM cosmology we extend this analysis considering also four alternative models of dark energy (quintessence with constant and variable equation of state, Chaplygin gas and brane-world cosmology). It turns out that the effect noticed by Ellis et al. is also present in those models and is the strongest for quintessence with variable equation of state.
In a recent paper (Van Rensbergen et al. 2010, A&A) we calculated the liberal evolution of binaries with a B-type primary at birth where mass transfer starts during core hydrogen burning of the donor. In this paper we include the cases where mass transfer starts during hydrogen shell burning. Our calculations reveal the amount of time that an Algol binary lives with a well defined value of mass ratio and orbital period. We use these data to simulate the distribution of mass ratios and orbital periods of Algols. Conservative binary evolution predicts only ~12 % of Algols with a mass ratio q above 0.4. This value is raised up to ~17 % using our scenario of liberal evolution, which is still far below the ~45 % that is observed. The observed distribution of orbital periods is however very well reproduced with our liberal scenario.
We present new measurements of the temperature of the intergalactic medium (IGM) derived from the Lyman-alpha forest over 2.0 < z < 4.8. The small-scale structure in the forest of 61 high-resolution QSO spectra is quantified using a new statistic, the curvature, and the conversion to temperature calibrated using a suite of hydrodynamic simulations. At each redshift we focus on obtaining the temperature at an optimal overdensity probed by the Lyman-alpha forest, T(Delta), where the temperature is nearly a one-to-one function of the curvature regardless of the slope of the temperature-density relation. The median 2-sigma statistical uncertainty in these measurements is 8 per cent, though there may be comparable systematic errors due to the unknown amount of Jeans smoothing in the IGM. We use our T(Delta) results to infer the temperature at the mean density, T0. Even for a maximally steep temperature-density relation, T0 must increase from ~8000 K at z ~ 4.4 to >~12000 K at z ~ 2.8. This increase is not consistent with the monotonic decline in T0 expected in the absence of He II reionization. We therefore interpret the observed rise in temperature as evidence of He II reionization beginning at z >~ 4.4. The evolution of T0 is consistent with an end to He II reionization at z ~ 3, as suggested by opacity measurements of the He II Lyman-alpha forest, although the redshift at which T0 peaks will depend somewhat on the evolution of the temperature-density relation. These new temperature measurements suggest that the heat input due to the reionization of He II dominates the thermal balance of the IGM over an extended period with Delta_z >~ 1.
Useful information from the inner layers of stellar pulsators may be derived from the study of their oscillations. In this paper we analyse three diagnostic tools suggested in the literature built from the oscillation frequencies computed for a set of main sequence models with masses between $1.0\, {\rm M}_{\odot}$ and $1.6\, {\rm M}_{\odot}$, to check what information they may hold about stellar cores. For the models with convective cores ($M \geq 1.2\,{\rm M}_{\odot}$) we find a relation between the frequency slopes of the diagnostic tools and the size of the jump in the sound speed at the edge of the core. We show that this relation is independent of the mass of the models. In practice, since the size of the jump in the sound speed is related to the age of the star, using these seismic tools we may, in principle, infer the star's evolutionary state. We also show that when combining two of the three diagnostic tools studied, we are able to distinguish models with convective cores from models without a convective core but with strong sound-speed gradients in the inner layers.
We derive the spectral index of $f_{NL}$ and its running from isocurvature single field and investigate the curvaton models with a negative spectral index of $f_{NL}$ in detail. In particular, a numerical study of the axion-type curvaton model is illustrated, and we find that the spectral index of $f_{NL}$ is negative and its absolute value is maximized around $\sigma_*=\pi f/2$ for the potential $V(\sigma)=m^2f^2(1-\cos{\sigma\over f})$. The spectral index of $f_{NL}$ can be ${\cal O}(-0.1)$ for the axion-type curvaton model. A convincing detection of a positive $n_{f_{NL}}$ will rule out the axion-type curvaton model. In addition, we also give a general discussion about the detectable parameter space for the curvaton model with a polynomial potential.
With an average eccentricity of about 0.29, the eccentricity distribution of extrasolar planets is markedly different from the solar system. Among other scenarios considered, it has been proposed that eccentricity may grow through planet-disc interaction. Recently, it has been noticed that the thermodynamical state of the disc can significantly influence the migration properties of growing protoplanets. However, the evolution of planetary eccentricity in radiative discs has not been considered yet. In this paper we study the evolution of planets on eccentric orbits that are embedded in a three-dimensional viscous disc and analyse the disc's effect on the orbital evolution of the planet. We use the three-dimensional hydrodynamical code NIRVANA that includes full tensor viscosity and implicit radiation transport in the flux-limited diffusion approximation. The code uses the FARGO-algorithm to speed up the simulations. First we measure the torque and power exerted on the planet by the disc for fixed orbits, and then we let the planet start with initial eccentricity and evolve it in the disc. For locally isothermal we confirm previous results and find eccentricity damping and inward migration for planetary cores. In the case of radiative discs, the planets experience an inward migration as long as its eccentricity lies above a certain threshold. After the damping of eccentricity cores with masses below 33 Earthmasses begin to migrate outward in radiative discs, while higher mass cores always migrate inward. For all planetary masses studied (up to 200 Earthmasses) we find eccentricity damping. In viscous discs the orbital eccentricity of embedded planets is damped during the evolution independent of the mass. Hence, planet-disc interaction does not seem to be a viable mechanism to explain the observed high eccentricity of exoplanets.
Recently evidence has emerged for enormous features in the gamma-ray sky observed by the Fermi- LAT instrument: bilateral 'bubbles' of emission centered on the core of the Galaxy and extending to around +/- 10 kpc above and below the Galactic plane. These structures are coincident with a non- thermal microwave 'haze' found in WMAP data and an extended region of X-ray emission detected by ROSAT. The bubbles' gamma-ray emission is characterised by a hard spectrum, relatively uniform intensity, and an overall luminosity >10^37 erg/s, roughly similar to their microwave luminosity (while their X-ray emission is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher). Here we show that the bubbles are naturally explained as due to a population of relic cosmic rays protons and heavier ions injected by processes associated with extremely long timescale ( > 5 Gyr) and high areal density star-formation in the Galactic center.
The physical mechanism behind the TeV gamma-ray source observed at the centre of the Galaxy is still unknown. One intriguing possibility is that the accretion flow onto the central supermassive black hole is responsible for accelerating protons to TeV energies which then diffuse outward to interact with molecular gas at distances of ~1 pc. Here, we build on our earlier detailed calculations of the proton transport to consider the time and energy dependence of the TeV signal following a burst of particle acceleration at Sgr A*. We find that, due to the strong energy dependence of the proton diffusion, any variability in the particle acceleration rate will only be visible in the TeV signal after a delay of ~ 10 yrs, and only at energies >~ 10 TeV. If the accelerator is long-lived it must have been running for at least 10^4 yrs and have a hard proton injection spectrum of \alpha=0.7 (where dn/dE_inj \propto E^{-\alpha}) in order to produce the correct amount of high energy gamma-ray flux. This rapid diffusion of high energy protons also rules out the possibility that the observed TeV source is directly related to the period of increased activity of Sgr A* that ended ~ 100 yrs ago. However, a good fit to the observed H.E.S.S. data was found with \alpha=2.7 for the scenario of a brief (~few year long) burst of particle acceleration that occurred ~ 10 yrs ago. If such bursts are common then they will keep the TeV source energised and will likely produce spectral variability at >~ 10 TeV on <~ 5 yr timescales. This model also implies that particle acceleration may be an important mechanism in reducing the radiative efficiency of weakly accreting black holes.
Recent searches by unbiased, wide-field surveys have uncovered a group of extremely luminous optical transients. The initial discoveries of SN 2005ap by the Texas Supernova Search and SCP-06F6 in a deep Hubble pencil beam survey were followed by the Palomar Transient Factory confirmation of host redshifts for three similar transients. The transients share the common properties of high optical luminosities (peak magnitudes ~ -21 to -23), blue colors, and a lack of H or He spectral features. The physical mechanism that produces the luminosity is uncertain, with suggestions ranging from jet-driven explosion to pulsational pair-instability. Here we report the most detailed photometric and spectral coverage of an ultra-bright transient (SN 2010gx) detected in the Pan-STARRS1 sky survey. In common with other transients in this family, the early-time spectra show a blue continuum, and prominent broad absorption lines of O II. However, about 25d after discovery, the spectra developed type Ic supernova features, showing the characteristic broad Fe II and Si II absorption lines. Detailed, post-maximum follow-up may show that all SN 2005ap and SCP-06F6 type transients are linked to supernovae Ic. This poses problems in understanding the physics of the explosions: there is no indication from late-time photometry that the luminosity is powered by 56Ni, the broad lightcurves suggest very large ejected masses, and the slow spectral evolution is quite different from typical Ic timescales. The nature of the progenitor stars and the origin of the luminosity are intriguing and open questions.
We present deep GMOS-S/Gemini optical broad-band images for a complete sample of 46 southern 2Jy radio galaxies at intermediate redshifts (0.05<z<0.7). The high-quality observations show for the first time that the overall majority of PRGs at intermediate redshifts (78-85%) show peculiarities in their optical morphologies at relatively high levels of surface brightness ($\mu$v=23.6 and {\Delta}$\mu$v~[21,26] mag arcsec-2) including tails, fans, bridges, shells, dust lanes, irregular features, amorphous haloes, and multiple nuclei. While the results for many of the galaxies are consistent with them being observed at, or after, the time of coalescence of the nuclei in a galaxy merger, we find that more than 1/3 of the sample are observed in a pre-coalescence phase of the merger, or following a close encounter between galaxies. By dividing the sample into Weak-Line Radio Galaxies (WLRGs; 11 objects) and Strong-Line Radio Galaxies (SLRGs; 35 objects) we find that only 27% of the former show clear evidence for interactions in their optical morphologies, in contrast to the SLRGs, of which at least 94% appear interacting. This is consistent with the idea that many WLRGs are fuelled/triggered by Bondi accretion of hot gas. Of the 28% of the sample that display evidence for significant starburst activity, we find that 92% present disturbed morphologies, following the same general trend as the total and SLRG samples. By comparing our PRGs with various samples of quiescent ellipticals from the literature, we conclude that the percentage of morphological disturbance that we find here exceeds that found for quiescent ellipticals when similar surface brightnesses are considered. Overall, our study indicates that galaxy interactions are likely to play a key role in the triggering of AGN/jet activity.
We study the evolution of density perturbations for a class of $f(R)$ models which closely mimic $\Lambda$CDM background cosmology. Using the quasi-static approximation, and the fact that these models are equivalent to scalar-tensor gravity, we write the modified Friedmann and cosmological perturbation equations in terms of the mass $M$ of the scalar field. Using the perturbation equations, we then derive an analytic expression for the growth parameter $\gamma$ in terms of $M$, and use our result to reconstruct the linear matter power spectrum. We find that the power spectrum at $z \sim 0$ is characterized by a tilt relative to its General Relativistic form, with increased power on small scales. We discuss how one has to modify the standard, constant $\gamma$ prescription in order to study structure formation for this class of models. Since $\gamma$ is now scale and time dependent, both the amplitude and transfer function associated with the linear matter power spectrum will be modified. We suggest a simple parameterization for the mass of the scalar field, which allows us to calculate the matter power spectrum for a broad class of $f(R)$ models.
We present a quantitative analysis of the constraints on the total equation of state parameter that can be obtained from measuring the red shift evolution of the cosmic shear. We compare the constraints that can be obtained from measurements of the spin two angular multipole moments of the cosmic shear to those resulting from the two dimensional and three dimensional power spectra of the cosmic shear. We find that if the multipole moments of the cosmic shear are measured accurately enough for a few red shifts the constraints on the dark energy equation of state parameter improve significantly compared to those that can be obtained from other measurements.
Spectroscopic observations with the EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on Hinode have revealed large areas of high speed outflows at the periphery of many solar active regions. These outflows are of interest because they may connect to the heliosphere and contribute to the solar wind. In this Letter we use slit rasters from EIS in combination with narrow band slot imaging to study the temperature dependence of an active region outflow and show that it is more complicated than previously thought. Outflows are observed primarily in emission lines from Fe XI - Fe XV. Observations at lower temperatures (Si VII), in contrast, show bright fan-like structures that are dominated by downflows. The morphology of the outflows is also different than that of the fans. This suggests that the fan loops, which often show apparent outflows in imaging data, are contained on closed field lines and are not directly related to the active region outflows.
G54.1+0.3 is a Crab-like pulsar wind nebula (PWN) with the highest $\gamma$-ray to X-ray luminosity ratio among all the nebulae driven by young rotation-powered pulsars. We model the spectral evolution of the PWN and find it difficult to match the observed multi-band data with leptons alone using reasonable model parameters. In lepton-hadron hybrid model instead, TeV photons come mainly from $\pi^0$ decay in proton-proton interaction and the observed photon spectrum can be well reproduced. The newly discovered infrared loop and molecular cloud in or closely around the PWN can work as the target for the bombardment of the PWN protons.
Double-double radio galaxies (DDRGs) offer a unique opportunity for us to study multiple episodes of jet activity in large-scale radio sources. We use radio data from the Very Large Array and the literature to model two DDRGs, B1450+333 and B1834+620, in terms of their dynamical evolution. We find that the standard Fanaroff-Riley II model is able to explain the properties of the two outer lobes of each source, whereby the lobes are formed by ram-pressure balance of a shock at the end of the jet with the surrounding medium. The inner pairs of lobes, however, are not well-described by the standard model. Instead we interpret the inner lobes as arising from the emission of relativistic electrons within the outer lobes, which are compressed and re-accelerated by the bow-shock in front of the restarted jets and within the outer lobes. The predicted rapid progression of the inner lobes through the outer lobes requires the eventual development of a hotspot at the edge of the outer lobe, causing the DDRG ultimately to resemble a standard Fanaroff-Riley II radio galaxy. This may suggest that DDRGs are a brief, yet normal, phase of the evolution of large-scale radio galaxies.
We perform phase-resolved spectroscopy of the accreting millisecond pulsar, SAX J1808.4-3658, during the slow-decay phase of the 2002 outburst. Simple phenomenological fits to RXTE PCA data reveal a pulsation in the iron line at the spin frequency of the star. However, fitting more complex spectral models reveals a degeneracy between iron-line pulsations and changes in the underlying hotspot blackbody temperature with phase. By comparing with the variations in reflection continuum, which are much weaker than the iron line variations, we infer that the iron-line is not pulsed. The observed spectral variations can be explained by variations in blackbody temperature associated with rotational Doppler shifts at the neutron star surface. By allowing blackbody temperature to vary in this way, we also find a larger phase-shift between the pulsations in the Comptonised and blackbody components than has been seen in previous work. The phase-shift between the pulsation in the blackbody temperature and normalisation is consistent with a simple model where the Doppler shift is maximised at the limb of the star, ~90 degrees prior to maximisation of the hot-spot projected area.
This paper briefly reviews some of the exciting studies of the local Universe that will be enabled with the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). As illustrative examples, it summarizes a few of the scientific goals that have been set for this instrument for studies of young starburst clusters, evolved stars, the Galactic centre, Galactic structure, nucleo-chronometry, the interpretation of the "Spite Plateau," and the properties of resolved stellar populations in external galaxies. It finishes on a note of warning that we really need to be even more innovative and adventurous if we are to justify the cost of the E-ELT.
The INTEGRAL satellite has revealed a major population of supergiant High Mass X-ray Binaries in our Galaxy, revolutionizing our understanding of binary systems and their evolution. This population, constituted of a compact object orbiting around a massive and luminous supergiant star, exhibits unusual properties, either being extremely absorbed, or showing very short and intense flares. An intensive set of multi-wavelength observations has led us to reveal their nature, and to show that these systems are wind-fed accretors, closely related to massive star-forming regions. In this paper I describe the characteristics of these sources, showing that this newly revealed population is closely linked to the evolution of active and massive OB stars with a compact companion. The last section emphasizes the formation and evolution of such High Mass X-ray Binaries hosting a supergiant star.
We present Spitzer photometric data for a complete sample of 19 low redshift (z<0.1) 3CRR radio galaxies as part of our efforts to understand the origin of the prodigious mid- to far-infrared (MFIR) emission from radio-loud AGN. Our results show a correlation between AGN power (indicated by [OIII] 5007 emission line luminosity) and 24 micron luminosity. This result is consistent with the 24 micron thermal emission originating from warm dust heated directly by AGN illumination. Applying the same correlation test for 70 micron luminosity against [OIII] luminosity we find this relation to suffer from increased scatter compared to that of 24 micron. In line with our results for the higher-radio-frequency-selected 2Jy sample, we are able to show that much of this increased scatter is due to heating by starbursts which boost the far-infrared emission at 70 micron in a minority of objects (17-35%). Overall this study supports previous work indicating AGN illumination as the dominant heating mechanism for MFIR emitting dust in the majority of low to intermediate redshift radio galaxies (0.03<z<0.7), with the advantage of strong statistical evidence. However, we find evidence that the low redshift broad-line objects (z<0.1) are distinct in terms of their positions on the MFIR vs. [OIII] correlations.
We study slow-roll inflation with the Gauss-Bonnet and Chern-Simons corrections. We obtain general formulas for the observables: spectral indices, tensor-to-scalar ratio and circular polarization of gravitational waves. The Gauss-Bonnet term violates the consistency relation r = -8n_T. Particularly, blue spectrum n_T > 0 and scale invariant spectrum |8n_T|/r << 1 of tensor modes are possible. These cases require the Gauss-Bonnet coupling function of \xi _{,\phi } \sim 10^8/M_{Pl}. We use examples to show new-inflation-type potential with 10M_{Pl} symmetry breaking scale and potential with flat region in \phi \gtrsim 10M_{Pl} lead to observationally consistent blue and scale invariant spectra, respectively. Hence, these interesting cases can actually be realized. The Chern-Simons term produce circularly polarized tensor modes. We show an observation of these signals supports existence of the Chern-Simons coupling function of \omega _{,\phi } \sim 10^8/M_{Pl}. Thus, with future observations, we can fix or constrain the value of these coupling functions, at the CMB scale.
We present Spitzer Space Telescope observations of 11 regions SE of the Bright Bar in the Orion Nebula, along a radial from the exciting star theta1OriC, extending from 2.6 to 12.1'. Our Cycle 5 programme obtained deep spectra with matching IRS short-high (SH) and long-high (LH) aperture grid patterns. Most previous IR missions observed only the inner few arcmin. Orion is the benchmark for studies of the ISM particularly for elemental abundances. Spitzer observations provide a unique perspective on the Ne and S abundances by virtue of observing the dominant ionization states of Ne (Ne+, Ne++) and S (S++, S3+) in Orion and H II regions in general. The Ne/H abundance ratio is especially well determined, with a value of (1.01+/-0.08)E-4. We obtained corresponding new ground-based spectra at CTIO. These optical data are used to estimate the electron temperature, electron density, optical extinction, and the S+/S++ ratio at each of our Spitzer positions. That permits an adjustment for the total gas-phase S abundance because no S+ line is observed by Spitzer. The gas-phase S/H abundance ratio is (7.68+/-0.30)E-6. The Ne/S abundance ratio may be determined even when the weaker hydrogen line, H(7-6) here, is not measured. The mean value, adjusted for the optical S+/S++ ratio, is Ne/S = 13.0+/-0.6. We derive the electron density versus distance from theta1OriC for [S III] and [S II]. Both distributions are for the most part decreasing with increasing distance. A dramatic find is the presence of high-ionization Ne++ all the way to the outer optical boundary ~12' from theta1OriC. This IR result is robust, whereas the optical evidence from observations of high-ionization species (e.g. O++) at the outer optical boundary suffers uncertainty because of scattering of emission from the much brighter inner Huygens Region.
The rate of internally-driven evolution of galaxy discs is strongly affected by the lifetimes of the spiral patterns they support. Evolution is much faster if the spiral patterns are recurrent short-lived transients rather than long-lived, quasi-steady features. As rival theories are still advocated based on these two distinct hypotheses, I review the evidence that bears on the question of the lifetimes of spiral patterns in galaxies. Observational evidence from external galaxies is frustratingly inconclusive, but the velocity distribution in the solar neighbourhood is more consistent with the transient picture. I present simulations of galaxy models that have been proposed to support quasi-steady, two-arm spiral modes that in fact evolve quickly due to multi-arm instabilities. I also show that all simulations to date manifest short-lived patterns, despite claims to the contrary. Thus the transient hypothesis is favoured by both numerical results and the velocity distribution in the solar neighbourhood.
Chondrules are important early Solar System materials that can provide a wealth of information on conditions in the solar nebula, if their formation mechanism can be understood. The theory most consistent with observational constraints, especially thermal histories, is the so-called "shock model", in which chondrules were melted in solar nebula shocks. However, several problems have been identified with previous shock models. These problems all pertained to the treatment of the radiation field, namely the input boundary condition to the radiation field, the proper treatment of the opacity of solids, and the proper treatment of molecular line cooling. In this paper, we present the results of our updated shock model, which corrects for the problems listed above. Our new hydrodynamic shock code includes a complete treatment of molecular line cooling due to H2O. Previously, shock models including line cooling predicted chondrule cooling rates exceeding 100,000 K/hr. Contrary to these expectations, we have found that the effect of line cooling is minimal; after the inclusion of line cooling, the cooling rates of chondrules are 10-1000 K/hr. The reduction in the otherwise rapid cooling rates attributable to line cooling is due to a combination of factors, including buffering due to hydrogen recombination/dissociation, high column densities of water, and backwarming. Our model demonstrates that the shock model for chondrule formation remains consistent with observational constraints.
Cosmic structures at small non-linear scales $k>L\sim 0.2 h $ Mpc$^{-1}$ have an impact on the longer (quasi-)linear wavelengths with $k<L$ via non-linear UV-IR mode coupling. We evaluate this effect for a $\Lambda$CDM universe applying the effective fluid method of Baumann, Nicolis, Senatore and Zaldarriaga. For $k<L$ the $\Lambda$CDM growth function for the density contrast is found to receive a scale dependent correction and an effective anisotropic stress sources a shift between the two gravitational potentials, setting $\phi$ - $\psi \neq 0$. Since such a situation is generically considered as a signature of modified gravity and/or dark energy, these effects should be taken into account before any conclusions on the dark sector are drawn from the interpretation of future observations.
We show that colliders can impose strong constraints on models of dark matter, in particular when the dark matter is light. We analyze models where the dark matter is a fermion or scalar interacting with quarks and/or gluons through an effective theory containing higher dimensional operators which represent heavier states that have been integrated out of the effective field theory. We determine bounds from existing Tevatron searches for monojets as well as expected LHC reaches for a discovery. We find that colliders can provide information which is complementary or in some cases even superior to experiments searching for direct detection of dark matter through its scattering with nuclei. In particular, both the Tevatron and the LHC can outperform spin dependent searches by an order of magnitude or better over much of parameter space, and if the dark matter couples mainly to gluons, the LHC can place bounds superior to any spin independent search.
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We survey the properties of all orbit families in the rotating frame of a family of realistic triaxial potentials with central supermassive black holes. In such galaxies, most regular box orbits (vital for maintaining triaxiality) are associated with resonances which occupy two dimensional surfaces in configuration space. For slow figure rotation all orbit families are largely stable. At intermediate pattern speeds a significant fraction of the resonant box orbits as well as inner long-axis tubes are destabilized by the "envelope doubling" that arises from the coriolis forces, and are driven into the destabilizing center. Thus for pattern rotation periods .2 Gyr < Tp < 5 Gyr, the two orbit families that are most important for maintaining triaxiality are highly chaotic. As pattern speed increases there is also a sharp decrease in the overall fraction of prograde short-axis tubes and a corresponding increase in the retrograde variety. At the highest pattern speeds (close to that of triaxial bars) boxlike orbits undergo a sudden transition to a new family of stable retrograde looplike orbits, which resemble orbits in 3-D bars, and circulate about the short axis. Our analysis implies that stable triaxial galaxies and dark matter halos (with central cusps and supermassive black holes) could either be slowly rotating or very rapidly rotating like fast bars, but equilibrium triaxial elliptical galaxies and dark matter halos with intermediate pattern speeds are unlikely to exist due to the high levels of stochasticity in both the box and inner long-axis tube orbit families.
A recent analysis of supernova (SN) 2002bj revealed that it was an apparently unique type Ib SN. It showed a high peak luminosity, with absolute magnitude M_R ~ -18.5, but an extremely fast-evolving light curve. It had a rise time shorter than 7 days followed by a decline of 0.25 mag per day in B-band, and showed evidence for very low mass of ejecta (<0.15 MSun). Here we discuss two additional historical events, SN 1885A and SN 1939B, showing similarly fast light curves and low ejected masses. We discuss the low mass of ejecta inferred from our analysis of the SN 1885A remnant in M31, and present for the first time the spectrum of SN 1939B. The old environments of both SN 1885A (in the bulge of M31) and SN 1939B (in an elliptical galaxy with no traces of star formation activity), strongly support old white dwarf progenitors for these SNe. We do not find evidence for helium in the spectrum of SN 1939B, as might be expected from a helium-shell detonation on a white dwarf, suggested to be the origin of SN 2002bj. Finally, the discovery of all the observed fast-evolving SNe in nearby galaxies suggests that the rate of these peculiar SNe is non-negligible, likely 1-2 % of all SNe.
We present new measurements of the centers for 65 Milky Way globular clusters. Centers were determined by fitting ellipses to the density distribution within the inner $2\arcmin$ of the cluster center, and averaging the centers of these ellipses. The symmetry of clusters was also analyzed by comparing cumulative radial distributions on opposite sides of the cluster across a grid of trial centers. All of the determinations were done with stellar positions derived from a combination of two single-orbit ACS images of the core of the cluster in $F606W$ and $F814W$. We find that the ellipse-fitting method provides remarkable accuracy over a wide range of core sizes and density distributions, while the symmetry method is difficult to use on clusters with very large cores, or low density. The symmetry method requires a larger field, or a very sharply peaked density distribution.
Observational and theoretical studies of extragalactic radio sources have suggested that an inhomogeneous environment may be responsible for observed arm length asymmetries of jets and the properties of extended emission line regions in high redshift radio galaxies. We perform 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the interaction of a powerful extragalactic bipolar jet with a disc-shaped clumpy interstellar medium of log-normal density distribution and analyze the asymmetry. Furthermore, we compute the relation between jet asymmetry and the ISM properties by means of Monte Carlo simulations based on a 1D propagation model for the jet through the dense medium. We find that the properties of the ISM can be related to a probability distribution of jet arm length asymmetries: Disc density and height are found to have the largest effect on the asymmetry for realistic parameter ranges, while the Fourier energy spectrum of the ISM and turbulent Mach number only have a smaller effect. The hydrodynamic simulations show that asymmetries generally may be even larger than expected from the 1D model due to the complex interaction of the jet and its bow shock with gaseous clumps, which goes much beyond simple energy disposal. From our results, observed asymmetries of medium-sized local radio galaxies may be explained by gas masses of 10^9 to 10^10 solar masses in massive elliptical galaxies. Furthermore, the simulations provide a theoretical basis for the observed correlation that emission line nebulae are generally found to be brighter on the side of the shorter lobe in high redshift radio galaxies (McCarthy et al. 1991). This interaction of jets with the cold gas phase suggests that star formation in evolving high redshift galaxies may be affected considerably by jet activity.
We use extensive measurements of the cluster A1689 to assess the expected similarity in the dynamics of galaxies and dark matter (DM) in their motion as collisionless `particles' in the cluster gravitational potential. To do so we derive the radial profile of the specific kinetic energy of the cluster galaxies from the Jeans equation and observational data. Assuming that the specific kinetic energies of galaxies and DM are roughly equal, we obtain the mean value of the DM velocity anisotropy parameter, and the DM density profile. Since this deduced profile has a scale radius that is higher than inferred from lensing observations, we tested the validity of the assumption by repeating the analysis using results of simulations for the profile of the DM velocity anisotropy. Results of both analyses indicate a significant difference between the kinematics of galaxies and DM within $r \lesssim 0.3r_{\rm vir}$. This finding is reflected also in the shape of the galaxy number density profile, which flattens markedly with respect to the steadily rising DM profile at small radii. Thus, $r \sim 0.3r_{\rm vir}$ seems to be a transition region interior to which collisional effects significantly modify the dynamical properties of the galaxy population with respect to those of DM in A1689
Using 21cm HI observations from the Parkes Radio Telescope's Galactic All-Sky Survey, we measure 255 HI clouds in the lower Galactic halo that are located near the tangent points at 16.9 < l < 35.3 degrees and |b| < 20 degrees. The clouds have a median mass of 700 Msun and a median distance from the Galactic plane of 660 pc. This first Galactic quadrant (QI) region is symmetric to a region of the fourth quadrant (QIV) studied previously using the same data set and measurement criteria. The properties of the individual clouds in the two quadrants are quite similar suggesting that they belong to the same population, and both populations have a line of sight cloud-cloud velocity dispersion of sigma_cc ~ 16 km/s. However, there are three times as many disk-halo clouds at the QI tangent points and their scale height, at h=800 pc, is twice as large as in QIV. Thus the observed line of sight random cloud motions are not connected to the cloud scale height or its variation around the Galaxy. The surface density of clouds is nearly constant over the QI tangent point region but is peaked near R~4 kpc in QIV. We ascribe all of these differences to the coincidental location of the QI region at the tip of the Milky Way's bar, where it merges with a major spiral arm. The QIV tangent point region, in contrast, covers only a segment of a minor spiral arm. The disk-halo HI cloud population is thus likely tied to and driven by large-scale star formation processes, possibly through the mechanism of supershells and feedback.
We argue that most strong intervening metal absorption line systems, where the rest equivalent width of the MgII 2796A line is >0.5A, are interstellar material in, and outflowing from, star-forming disks. We show that a version of the Kennicutt-Schmidt law is readily obtained if the MgII equivalent widths are interpreted as kinematic broadening from absorbing gas in outflowing winds originating from star-forming galaxies. Taking a phenomenological approach and using a set of observational constraints available for star-forming galaxies, we are able to account for the density distribution of strong MgII absorbers over cosmic time. The association of intervening material with star-forming disks naturally explains the metallicity and dust content of strong MgII systems as well as their high HI column densities, and does not require the advection of metals from compact star-forming regions into the galaxy halos to account for the observations. We find that galaxies with a broad range of luminosities can give rise to absorption of a given rest-equivalent width, and discuss possible observational strategies to better quantify true galaxy-absorber associations and further test our model. We show that the redshift evolution in the density of absorbers closely tracks the star formation history of the universe and that strong intervening systems can be used to directly probe the physics of both bright and faint galaxies over a broad redshift range. By identifying strong intervening systems with galaxy disks and quantifying a version of the Kennicutt-Schmidt law that applies to them, a new probe of the interstellar medium is found which provides complementary information to that obtained through emission studies of galaxies. Implications of our results for galaxy feedback and enrichment of the intergalactic medium are discussed. [abridged]
Surface brightness profiles of globular clusters with shallow central cusps (Sigma ~ R^v with -0.3<~ v <~ -0.05) have been associated by several recent studies with the presence of a central intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). Such shallow slopes are observed in several globular clusters thanks to the high angular resolution of Hubble Space Telescope imaging. In this Letter we evaluate whether shallow cusps are a unique signature of a central IMBH by analyzing a sample of direct N-body simulations of star clusters with and without a central IMBH. We ``observe'' the simulations as if they were HST images. Shallow cusps are common in our simulation sample: star clusters without an IMBH have v >~ -0.3 in the pre-core-collapse and core-collapse phases. Post-core-collapse clusters without an IMBH transition to steeper cusps, -0.7<~ v <~ -0.4, only if the primordial binary fraction is very small, f_{bin}< 3 per cent, and if there are few stellar-mass black holes remaining. Otherwise v values overlap the range usually ascribed to the presence of an IMBH throughout the entire duration of the simulations. In addition, measuring v is intrinsically prone to significant uncertainty, therefore typical measurement errors may lead to v > -0.3 even when <v> <~ -0.4. Overall our analysis shows that a shallow cusp is not an unequivocal signature of a central IMBH and casts serious doubts on the usefulness of measuring v in the context of the hunt for IMBHs in globular clusters.
We show that systematic differences between surface Doppler and magnetic element tracking measures of solar meridional flow can be explained by the effects of surface turbulent magnetic diffusion. Feature-tracking speeds are lower than plasma speeds in low and mid-latitudes, because magnetic diffusion opposes poleward plasma flow in low-latitudes whereas it adds to plasma flow at high latitudes. Flux transport dynamo models must input plasma flow; the model-outputs yield estimates of the surface magnetic feature tracking speed. We demonstrate that the differences between plasma speed and magnetic pattern speed in a flux-transport dynamo are consistent with the observed difference between these speeds.
We investigate radio-mode AGN activity among post-starburst galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to determine whether AGN feedback may be responsible for the cessation of star formation. Based on radio morphology and radio-loudness from the FIRST and NVSS data, we separate objects with radio activity due to an AGN from ongoing residual star formation. Of 513 SDSS galaxies with strong A-star spectra, 12 objects have 21-cm flux density above 1 mJy. These galaxies do not show optical AGN emission lines. Considering that the lifetime of radio emission is much shorter than the typical time-scale of the spectroscopic features of post-starburst galaxies, we conclude that the radio-emitting AGN activity in these objects was triggered after the end of the recent starburst, and thus cannot be an important feedback process to explain the post-starburst phase. The radio luminosities show a positive correlation with total galaxy stellar mass, but not with the mass of recently formed stars. Thus the mechanical power of AGN feedback derived from the radio luminosity is related to old stellar populations dominating the stellar mass, which in turn are related to the masses of central supermassive black holes.
Understanding the nature of distant Ly-alpha nebulae ("blobs") and connecting them to their present-day descendants requires constraining their number density, clustering, and large-scale environment. To measure these basic quantities, we conduct a deep narrowband imaging survey in four different fields, Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS), Chandra Deep Field North, and two COSMOS subfields, for a total survey area of 1.2deg^2. We discover 25 blobs at z=2.3 with Ly-alpha luminosities of 0.7-8x10^43 erg/s and isophotal areas of Aiso = 10-60 arcsec^2. The transition from compact Ly-alpha emitters (Aiso ~ a few arcsec^2) to extended blobs (Aiso > 10 arcsec^2) is continuous, suggesting a single family perhaps governed by similar emission mechanisms. Surprisingly, most blobs (16/25) are in one survey field, the CDFS. The six brightest, largest blobs with L > 1.5x10^43 erg/s and Aiso > 16 arcsec^2 lie only in the CDFS. These large, bright blobs have a field-to-field variance of sigma_v >~ 1.5 (150%) about their number density n ~ 1.0x10^-5 Mpc^-3. This variance is large, significantly higher than that of unresolved LAEs (sigma_v ~ 0.3 or 30%), and can adversely affect comparisons of blob number densities and luminosity functions among different surveys. We compare the statistics of our blobs with dark matter halos in a 1 Gpc/h cosmological N-body simulation. At z=2.3, the number density (n) implies that each bright, large blob could occupy a halo of M_halo > 10^13 Msun if most halos have detectable blobs. The predicted variance in n is consistent with that observed and corresponds to a bias of ~7. Blob halos lie at the high end of the halo mass distribution at z=2.3 and are likely to evolve into the ~10^14 Msun halos typical of galaxy clusters today. On larger scales of ~10 co-moving Mpc, blobs cluster where compact LAEs do, indicating that blobs lie in coherent, highly overdense structures.
We present further observations of the Lockman Hole field, made with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at 610 MHz with a resolution of 6 x 5 arcsec^2. These complement our earlier observations of the central approx 5 deg^2 by covering a further approx 8 deg^2, with an r.m.s. noise down to ~80 microJy beam^-1. A catalogue of 4934 radio sources is presented.
A debris ring around the star HD 207129 (G0V; d = 16.0 pc) has been imaged in scattered visible light with the ACS coronagraph on the Hubble Space Telescope and in thermal emission using MIPS on the Spitzer Space Telescope at 70 microns (resolved) and 160 microns (unresolved). Spitzer IRS (7-35 microns) and MIPS (55-90 microns) spectrographs measured disk emission at >28 microns. In the HST image the disk appears as a ~30 AU wide ring with a mean radius of ~163 AU and is inclined by 60 degrees from pole-on. At 70 microns it appears partially resolved and is elongated in the same direction and with nearly the same size as seen with HST in scattered light. At 0.6 microns the ring shows no significant brightness asymmetry, implying little or no forward scattering by its constituent dust. With a mean surface brightness of V=23.7 mag per square arcsec, it is the faintest disk imaged to date in scattered light.
We present a detection of a broad Ly-alpha absorber (BLA) with a matching O VI line in the nearby universe. The BLA is detected at z = 0.01028 in the high S/N spectrum of Mrk 290 obtained using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. The Ly-alpha absorption has two components, with b(HI) = 55 +/- 1 km/s and b(HI) = 33 +/- 1 km/s, separated in velocity by v ~ 115 km/s. The O VI, detected by FUSE at z = 0.01027, has a b(OVI) = 29 +/- 3 km/s and is kinematically well aligned with the broader HI component. The different line widths of the BLA and OVI suggest a temperature of T = 1.4 x 10^5 K in the absorber. The observed line strength ratios and line widths favor an ionization scenario in which both ion-electron collisions and UV photons contribute to the ionization in the gas. Such a model requires a low-metallicity of -1.7 dex, ionization parameter of log U ~ -1.4, a large total hydrogen column density of N(H) ~ 4 x 10^19 cm^-2, and a path length of 400 kpc. The line of sight to Mrk 290 intercepts at the redshift of the absorber, a megaparsec scale filamentary structure extending over 20 deg in the sky, with several luminous galaxies distributed within 1.5 Mpc projected distance from the absorber. The collisionally ionized gas in this absorber is likely tracing a shock-heated gaseous structure, consistent with a few different scenarios for the origin, including an over-dense region of the WHIM in the galaxy filament or highly ionized gas in the extended halo of one of the galaxies in the filament. In general, BLAs with metals provide an efficient means to study T ~ 10^5 - 10^6 K gas in galaxy halos and in the intergalactic medium. A substantial fraction of the baryons "missing" from the present universe is predicted to be in such environments in the form of highly ionized plasma.
Performing high-resolution, high-fidelity, three-dimensional simulations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) requires not only algorithms that accurately represent the correct physics, but also codes that effectively harness the resources of the most powerful supercomputers. We are developing a suite of codes that provide the capability to perform end-to-end simulations of SNe Ia, from the early convective phase leading up to ignition to the explosion phase in which deflagration/detonation waves explode the star to the computation of the light curves resulting from the explosion. In this paper we discuss these codes with an emphasis on the techniques needed to scale them to petascale architectures. We also demonstrate our ability to map data from a low Mach number formulation to a compressible solver.
This paper uses the Schwarzschild metric to derive an effective refractive index and acceleration vector that account for relativistic deflection of light rays, in an otherwise classical kinematic framework. The new refractive index and the known path equation are integrated to give accurate results for travel time and deflection angle, respectively. A new formula for coordinate acceleration is derived which describes the path of a massless test particle in the vicinity of a spherically symmetric mass density distribution. A standard ray-shooting technique is used to compare the deflection angle and time delay predicted by this new formula with the previously calculated values, and with standard first order approximations. Finally, the ray shooting method is used in theoretical examples of strong and weak lensing, reproducing known observer-plane caustic patterns for multiple masses.
After a long quiescence of three decades, the transient X-ray pulsar 4U 1901+03 became highly active in 2003 February. From the analysis of a large number of Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer/ Proportional Counter Array (RXTE/PCA) observations of this source, we report here the detection of X-ray flares, a broadening of the pulse frequency peak and Quasi Periodic Oscillations (QPOs). The X-ray flares showed spectral changes, had a duration of 100 s - 300 s, and were more frequent and stronger during the peak of the outburst. In most of the observations during the outburst we also detected a broadening of the pulse frequency peak. We have also found intensity dependent changes in the pulse profile at very short timescales. This reveals a coupling between the periodic and the low frequency aperiodic variabilities. In addition, near the end of the outburst we have detected a strong QPO feature centered at ~ 0.135 Hz. The QPO feature is broad with a quality factor of 3.3 and with an rms value of 18.5+/-3.1%. Using the QPO frequency and the X-ray luminosity during the QPO detection period we estimated the magnetic field strength of the neutron star as 0.31*10^12 G which is consistent with the value inferred earlier under the assumption of spin equilibrium.
Hubble Space Telescope studies of the resolved stellar population of elliptical galaxies have shown that the galaxies form by steady accretion of gas which is all the while forming stars and evolving chemically to a metallicity distribution that is as high as solar composition in the most massive objects that have been analyzed, and much lower for low mass ellipticals. In this paper we study for the first time the stellar content of an early type spiral galaxy, the massive disk galaxy, the Sombrero, NGC 4594. We consider whether the metallicity distribution function (MDF) in the observed field matches that of elliptical galaxies of some luminosity, and what these data imply for the accretion and enrichment model that can be fitted to the MDF. The MDF of NGC 4594 is similar to that of the elliptical galaxy of similar luminosity, NGC 5128. The field we are probing is a combination of the galaxy's bulge and halo.
We study the effects of the cluster environment on galactic morphology by defining a dimensionless angular momentum parameter $\lambda_{d}$, to obtain a quantitative and objective measure of galaxy type. The use of this physical parameter allows us to take the study of morphological transformations in clusters beyond the measurements of merely qualitative parameters, e.g. S/E ratios, to a more physical footing. To this end, we employ an extensive Sloan Digital Sky Survey sample, with galaxies associated with Abell galaxy clusters. The sample contains 93 relaxed Abell clusters and over 34,000 individual galaxies, which guarantees a thorough statistical coverage over a wide range of physical parameters. We find that the median $\lambda_{d}$ value tends to decrease as we approach the cluster center, with different dependences according to the mass of the galaxies and the hosting cluster; low and intermediate mass galaxies showing a strong dependence, while massive galaxies seems to show, at all radii, low $\lambda_{d}$ values. By analysing trends in $\lambda_{d}$ as functions of the nearest galactic neighbour environment, clustercentric radius and velocity dispersion of clusters, we can identify clearly the leading physical processes at work. We find that in massive clusters ($\sigma>700$ km/s), the interaction with the cluster central region dominates, whilst in smaller clusters galaxy-galaxy interactions are chiefly responsible for driving galactic morphological transformations.
We investigate the run-up of a shock wave from inside to the surface of a perfect fluid star in equilibrium and bounded by vacuum. Near the surface we approximate the fluid motion as plane-symmetric and the gravitational field as constant. We consider the polytropic equation of state $P=K_0\rho^\Gamma$ and the related ideal gas equation of state $P=(\Gamma-1)\rho e$. We find numerically that the evolution of generic initial data approaches universal similarity solutions sufficiently near the surface, and we construct these similarity solutions explicitly. The two equations of state show very different behaviour, because shock heating becomes the dominant effect in the ideal gas case. In the polytropic case, the fluid velocity behind the shock approaches a constant value, while the density behind the shock approaches a power law. In the ideal gas case, the density jumps by a constant factor through the shock, while the sound speed and fluid velocity behind the shock diverge in a whiplash effect. We tabulate the similarity exponents as a function of $\Gamma$ and the stratification index $n_*$.
Westerlund 1 is a young, massive Galactic starburst cluster that contains a rich coeval population of Wolf-Rayet stars, hot- and cool-phase transitional supergiants, and a magnetar. We use spectroscopic and photometric observations of the eclipsing double-lined binary W13 to derive dynamical masses for the two components, in order to determine limits for the progenitor masses of the magnetar CXOU J164710.2-455216 and the population of evolved stars in Wd1. W13 has an orbital period of 9.2709+/-0.0015 days and near-contact configuration. The shallow photometric eclipse rules out an inclination greater than 65 degrees, leading to lower limits for the masses of the emission-line optical primary and supergiant optical secondary of 21.4+/-2.6Msun and 32.8+/-4.0Msun respectively, rising to 23.2 +3.3/-3.0Msun and 35.4 +5.0/-4.6 Msun for our best-fit inclination 62 +3/-4 degrees. Comparison with theoretical models of Wolf-Rayet binary evolution suggest the emission-line object had an initial mass in excess of 35Msun, with the most likely model featuring highly non-conservative late-Case-A/Case-B mass transfer and an initial mass in excess of 40Msun. This confirms the high magnetar progenitor mass inferred from its membership in Wd1, and represents the first dynamical constraint on the progenitor mass of any magnetar. The red supergiants in Wd1 must have similar progenitor masses to W13 and are therefore amongst the most massive stars to undergo a red supergiant phase, representing a challenge for population models that suggest stars in this mass range end their redwards evolution as yellow hypergiants. [ABRIDGED]
We present a model of chemical and spectrophotometric evolution of disk galaxies based on a stochastic self-propagating star formation scenario. The model incorporates galaxy formation through the process of accretion, chemical and photometric evolution treatment, based on simple stellar populations (SSP), and parameterized gas dynamics inside the model. The model reproduces observational data of a late-type spiral galaxy M33 reasonably well. Promising test results prove the applicability of the model and the adequate accuracy for the interpretation of disk galaxy properties.
We present early spectroscopy of the recurrent nova U~Sco during the outburst in 2010. We successfully obtained time-series spectra at $t_{\rm d}=$0.37--0.44~d, where $t_{\rm d}$ denotes the time from the discovery of the present outburst. This is the first time-resolved spectroscopy on the first night of U Sco outbursts. At $t_{\rm d}\sim 0.4$~d the H$\alpha$ line consists of a blue-shifted ($-5000$ km s$^{-1}$) narrow absorption component and a wide emission component having triple peaks, a blue ($\sim -3000$ km s$^{-1}$), a central ($\sim 0$ km s$^{-1}$) and a red ($\sim +3000$ km s$^{-1}$) ones. The blue and red peaks developed more rapidly than the central one during the first night. This rapid variation would be caused by the growth of aspherical wind produced during the earliest stage of the outburst. At $t_{\rm d}=1.4$~d the H$\alpha$ line has a nearly flat-topped profile with weak blue and red peaks at $\sim \pm 3000$ km s$^{-1}$. This profile can be attributed to a nearly spherical shell, while the asphericity growing on the first night still remains. The wind asphericity is less significant after $t_{\rm d}=9$ d.
(Abridged) We present new deep VLT/FORS optical spectra with intermediate resolution and large wavelength coverage of the GPS radio source and ULIRG PKS1345+12 (4C12.50; z=0.122), taken with the aim of investigating the impact of the nuclear activity on the circumnuclear ISM. PKS1345+12 is a powerful quasar and is also the best studied case of an emission line outflow in a ULIRG. Using the density sensitive transauroral emission lines [S II]4068,4076 and [O II]7318,7319,7330,7331, we pilot a new technique to accurately model the electron density for cases in which it is not possible to use the traditional diagnostic [S II]6716/6731, namely sources with highly broadened complex emission line profiles and/or high (Ne > 10^4 cm^-3) electron densities. We measure electron densities of Ne=2.94x10^3 cm^-3, Ne=1.47x10^4 cm^-3 and Ne=3.16x10^5 cm^-3 for the regions emitting the narrow, broad and very broad components respectively. We calculate a total mass outflow rate of 8 M_sun yr^-1. We estimate the total mass in the warm gas outflow is 8x10^5 M_sun. The total kinetic power in the warm outflow is 3.4x10^42 erg s^-1. We find that only a small fraction (0.13% of Lbol) of the available accretion power is driving the warm outflow, significantly less than currently required by the majority of quasar feedback models (~5-10\% of Lbol), but similar to recent findings by Hopkins et al. (2010) for a two-stage feedback model. The models also predict that AGN outflows will eventually remove the gas from the bulge of the host galaxy. The visible warm outflow in PKS1345+12 is not currently capable of doing so. However, it is entirely possible that much of the outflow is either obscured by a dense and dusty natal cocoon and/or in cooler or hotter phases of the ISM. This result is important not just for studies of young (GPS/CSS) radio sources, but for AGN in general.
Strong gradients in plasma flows play a major role in space and astrophysical plasmas. A typical situation is that a static plasma equilibrium is surrounded by a plasma flow, which can lead to strong plasma flow gradients at the separatrices between field lines with different magnetic topologies, e.g., planetary magnetospheres, helmet streamers in the solar corona, or at the boundary between the heliosphere and interstellar medium. Within this work we make a first step to understand the influence of these flows towards the occurrence of current sheets in a stationary state situation. We concentrate here on incompressible plasma flows and 2D equilibria, which allow us to find analytic solutions of the stationary magnetohydrodynamics equations (SMHD). First we solve the magnetohydrostatic (MHS) equations with the help of a Grad-Shafranov equation and then we transform these static equilibria into a stationary state with plasma flow. We are in particular interested to study SMHD-equilibria with strong plasma flow gradients perpendicular to separatrices. We find that induced thin current sheets occur naturally in such situations. The strength of the induced currents depend on the Alfv\'en Mach number and its gradient, and on the magnetic field.
We investigate the evolution of sub-horizon cold dark matter perturbation in the dark energy dominated era of the Universe. By generalising the Meszaros equation to be valid for an arbitrary equation of state parameter, we derive the $w$-Meszaros equation. Its solutions determine the evolution of the cold dark matter perturbation by neglecting dark energy perturbations. Our analytical results provide a qualitative understanding of this evolution.
The fundamental parameters of reddening, metallicity, age, and distance are presented for the poorly studied open clusters Be~89, Ru~135, and Be~10, derived from their CCD UBVRI photometry. By fitting the appropriate isochrones to the observed sequences of the clusters in five different color--magnitude diagrams, the weighted averages of distance moduli and heliocentric distances ($(V_0$--$M_{V}), d$(kpc)) are $(11\fm90\pm 0\fm06, 2.4\pm 0.06$) for Be~89, $(9\fm58\pm 0\fm07, 0.81\pm 0.03$) for Ru~135, and $(11\fm16\pm 0\fm06, 1.7 \pm 0.05$) for Be~10, and the weighted averages of the ages $(\log(A), A$(Gyr)) are $(9.58\pm 0.06, 3.8\pm 0.6)$ for Be~89, $(9.58\pm 0.06, 3.8\pm 0.7)$ for Ru~135, and $(9.06\pm 0.05, 1.08\pm 0.08)$ for Be~10.
The SKA at mid and low frequencies will be constructed in two distinct phases, the first being a subset of the second. This document defines the main scientific goals and baseline technical concept for the SKA Phase 1 (SKA_1). The major science goals for SKA_1 will be to study the history and role of neutral Hydrogen in the Universe from the dark ages to the present-day, and to employ pulsars as probes of fundamental physics. The baseline technical concept of SKA_1 will include a sparse aperture array operating at frequencies up to 450 MHz, and an array of dishes, initially operating at frequencies up to 3 GHz but capable of 10 GHz in terms of antenna surface accuracy. An associated Advanced Instrumentation Program (AIP) allows further development of new technologies currently under investigation. Construction will take place in 2016-2019 at a total capital cost of 350M\texteuro, including an element for contingency. The cost estimates of the SKA_1 telescope are now the subject of a more detailed and thorough costing exercise led by the SKA Project Development Office (SPDO). The 350 M\texteuro total for SKA_1 is a cost-constrained cap; an additional contingency is to reduce the overall scope of the project. The design of the SKA_1 is expected to evolve as the major cost estimates are refined, in particular the infrastructure costs at the two sites. The SKA_1 facility will represent a major step forward in terms of sensitivity, survey speed, image fidelity, temporal resolution and field-of-view. It will open up new areas of discovery space and demonstrate the science and technology underpinning the SKA Phase 2 (SKA_2).
Dust emission at submm to cm wavelengths is often simply the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of dust particles at thermal equilibrium and is used as a cold mass tracer in various environments including nearby galaxies. However, well-sampled spectral energy distributions of the nearby, star-forming Magellanic Clouds have a pronounced (sub-)millimeter excess (Israel et al., 2010). This study attempts to confirm the existence of such a millimeter excess above expected dust, free-free and synchrotron emission and to explore different possibilities for its origin. We model NIR to radio spectral energy distributions of the Magellanic Clouds with dust, free-free and synchrotron emission. A millimeter excess emission is confirmed above these components and its spectral shape and intensity are analysed in light of different scenarios: very cold dust, Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) fluctuations, a change of the dust spectral index and spinning dust emission. We show that very cold dust or CMB fluctuations are very unlikely explanations for the observed excess in these two galaxies. The excess in the LMC can be satisfactorily explained either by a change of the spectral index due to intrinsic properties of amorphous grains, or by spinning dust emission. In the SMC however, due to the importance of the excess, the dust grain model including TLS/DCD effects cannot reproduce the observed emission in a simple way. A possible solution was achieved with spinning dust emission, but many assumptions on the physical state of the interstellar medium had to be made. Further studies, using higher resolution data from Planck and Herschel, are needed to probe the origin of this observed submm-cm excess more definitely. Our study shows that the different possible origins will be best distinguished where the excess is the highest, as is the case in the SMC.
X-ray emission is a common feature of all varieties of isolated neutron stars (INS) and, thanks to the advent of sensitive instruments with good spectroscopic, timing, and imaging capabilities, X-ray observations have become an essential tool in the study of these objects. Non-thermal X-rays from young, energetic radio pulsars have been detected since the beginning of X-ray astronomy, and the long-sought thermal emission from cooling neutron star's surfaces can now be studied in detail in many pulsars spanning different ages, magnetic fields, and, possibly, surface compositions. In addition, other different manifestations of INS have been discovered with X-ray observations. These new classes of high-energy sources, comprising the nearby X-ray Dim Isolated Neutron Stars, the Central Compact Objects in supernova remnants, the Anomalous X-ray Pulsars, and the Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters, now add up to several tens of confirmed members, plus many candidates, and allow us to study a variety of phenomena unobservable in "standard'' radio pulsars.
We study correlations of the heating and acceleration of alpha particles with the power of transverse waves that have frequencies between $0.01$ and $1$ normalized to the proton gyrofrequency in the solar wind frame. It is found that the normalized differential speed, $V_{\alpha p}/V_A$ (where $V_A$ is the Alfv\'en speed), increases when the relative wave power is growing. Furthermore, if this speed stays below 0.5, then the alpha-particle temperature anisotropy, $T_{\perp \alpha}/T_{\parallel \alpha}$, and normalized thermal speed, $V_{th \alpha}/V_A$, correlate positively with the relative power of the transverse waves, i.e., both grow with increasing wave intensity. However, if $V_{\alpha p}/V_A$ is larger than 0.6, then the alpha-particle temperature anisotropy tends to decrease towards values below unity, despite the presence of transverse waves with relatively large amplitudes. For small relative wave amplitude, it is found that alpha particles can even be heated more strongly than protons when the alpha-to-electron density ratio, $N_\alpha/N_e$, is nearly or below 0.01. Our findings are in good agreement with predictions of kinetic theory for the resonant interaction of ions with Alfv\'en-cyclotron waves and for the resulting wave dissipation.
We discuss CXOU~1229410+075744, a new black hole candidate in a globular cluster in the elliptical galaxy NGC~4472. By comparing two Chandra observations of the galaxy, we find a source that varies by at least a factor of 4, and has a peak luminosity of at least $2\times10^{39}$ ergs/sec. As such, the source varies by significantly more than the Eddington luminosity for a single neutron star, and is a strong candidate for being a globular cluster black hole. The source's X-ray spectrum also evolves in a manner consistent with what would be expected from a single accreting stellar mass black hole. We consider the properties of the host cluster of this source and the six other strong black hole X-ray binary candidates, and find that there is suggestive evidence that black hole X-ray binary formation is favored in bright and metal rich clusters, just as is the case for bright X-ray sources in general.
With the ever increasing resolution of N-body simulations, accurate subhalo detection is becoming essential in the study of the formation of structure, the production of merger trees and the seeding of semi-analytic models. To investigate the state of halo finders, we compare two different approaches to detecting subhaloes; the first based on overdensities in a halo and the second being adaptive mesh refinement. A set of stable mock NFW dark matter haloes were produced and a subhalo was placed at different radii within a larger halo. SUBFIND (a Friends-of-Friends based finder) and AHF (an adaptive mesh based finder) were employed to recover the subhalo. As expected, we found that the mass of the subhalo recovered by SUBFIND has a strong dependence on the radial position and that neither halo finder can accurately recover the subhalo when it is very near the centre of the halo. This radial dependence is shown to be related to the subhalo being truncated by the background density of the halo and originates due to the subhalo being defined as an overdensity. If the subhalo size is instead determined using the peak of the circular velocity profile, a much more stable value is recovered. The downside to this is that the maximum circular velocity is a poor measure of stripping and is affected by resolution. For future halo finders to recover all the particles in a subhalo, a search of phase space will need to be introduced.
We propose an analytic treatment for computing the relic abundance of non-relativistic particles whose annihilation rate at chemical decoupling is increased by Sommerfeld enhancement. We find an approximate rational function that closely fits the thermal average of Sommerfeld-enhanced s-wave cross sections in the massless limit of force carriers. We demonstrate that, with the approximate thermally-averaged cross section implemented, the standard analytic method for the final relic abundance provides accuracy to within 1% even for the case of Sommerfeld enhancement.
Close binary systems undergoing mass transfer or common envelope interactions can account for the morphological properties of some planetary nebulae. The search for close binary companions in planetary nebulae is hindered by the difficulty of detecting cool, late-type, main sequence companions in binary systems with hot pre-white dwarf primaries. However, models of binary PN progenitor systems predict that mass accretion or tidal interactions can induce rapid rotation in the companion, leading to X-ray-emitting coronae. To test such models, we have searched for, and detected, X-ray emission from three binary central stars within planetary nebulae: the post-common envelope close binaries in HFG 1 and DS 1 consisting of O-type subdwarfs with late-type, main sequence companions, and the binary system in LoTr 5 consisting of O-type subdwarf and rapidly rotating, late-type giant companion. The X-ray emission in each case is best characterized by spectral models consisting of two optically-thin thermal plasma components with characteristic temperatures of about 10 MK and 15-40 MK, and total X-ray luminosities about 10^30 erg/s. We consider the possible origin of the X-ray emission from these binary systems and conclude that the most likely origin is, in each case, a corona around the late-type companion, as predicted by models of interacting binaries.
This paper examines the ultraviolet and X-ray photons generated by hot gas in the Galactic thick disk or halo in the Draco region of the northern hemisphere. Our analysis uses the intensities from four ions, C IV, O VI, O VII, and O VIII, sampling temperatures of ~100,000 to ~3,000,000 K. We measured the O VI, O VII and O VIII intensities from FUSE and XMM-Newton data and subtracted off the local contributions in order to deduce the thick disk/halo contributions. These were supplemented with published C IV intensity and O VI column density measurements. Our estimate of the thermal pressure in the O VI-rich thick disk/halo gas, p_{th}/k = 6500^{+2500}_{-2600} K cm^{-3}, suggests that the thick disk/halo is more highly pressurized than would be expected from theoretical analyses. The ratios of C IV to O VI to O VII to O VIII, intensities were compared with those predicted by theoretical models. Gas which was heated to 3,000,000 K then allowed to cool radiatively cannot produce enough C IV or O VI-generated photons per O VII or O VIII-generated photon. Producing enough C IV and O VI emission requires heating additional gas to 100,000 < T < 1,000,000 K. However, shock heating, which provides heating across this temperature range, overproduces O VI relative to the others. Obtaining the observed mix may require a combination of several processes, including some amount of shock heating, heat conduction, and mixing, as well as radiative cooling of very hot gas.
We present results based on new Chandra and multi-frequency radio observations of the disturbed cool core cluster Abell 133. The diffuse gas has a complex bird-like morphology, with a plume of emission extending from two symmetric wing-like features, and capped with a filamentary radio relic. X-ray observations indicate the presence of either high temperature gas or non-thermal emission in the region of the relic. We find evidence for a weak elliptical X-ray surface brightness edge surrounding the core, consistent with a sloshing cold front. The plume is consistent with having formed due to uplift by a buoyantly rising radio bubble, now seen as the radio relic. Our results are inconsistent with the previous suggestion that the X-ray wings formed due to the passage of a weak shock through the cool core. We instead conclude that the wings are due to X-ray cavities formed by gas displacement by the radio relic. The central cD galaxy contains two small-scale cold gas clumps that are slightly offset from their optical and UV counterparts, suggestive of a galaxy-galaxy merger event. On larger scales, there is evidence for cluster substructure in both optical observations and the X-ray temperature map. We suggest that Abell 133 has recently undergone a merger event with an interloping subgroup, initiating gas sloshing in the core. We show that the additional buoyant force from a passing subcluster can have a significant effect on the rise trajectories of buoyant bubbles, although this effect alone cannot fully explain the morphology of Abell 133. The radio observations reveal a previously unreported background giant radio galaxy at z = 0.293, the northern lobe of which overlies the radio relic in the core of Abell 133. A rough estimate indicates that the contribution of this background lobe to the total radio emission in the region of the relic is modest (< 13%). (Abridged)
We discuss two aspects of the Waldmeier Effect, namely (1) the rise times of sunspot cycles are anti-correlated to their strengths (WE1) and (2) the rates of rise of the cycles are correlated to their strengths (WE2). From analysis of four different data sets we conclude that both WE1 and WE2 exist in all the data sets. We study these effects theoretically by introducing suitable stochastic fluctuations in our regular solar dynamo model.
We present Spitzer 7-38um spectra for a 24um flux limited sample of galaxies at z~0.7 in the COSMOS field. The detailed high-quality spectra allow us to cleanly separate star formation (SF) and active galactic nucleus (AGN) in individual galaxies. We first decompose mid-infrared Luminosity Functions (LFs). We find that the SF 8um and 15um LFs are well described by Schechter functions. AGNs dominate the space density at high luminosities, which leads to the shallow bright-end slope of the overall mid-infrared LFs. The total infrared (8-1000um) LF from 70um selected galaxies shows a shallower bright-end slope than the bolometrically corrected SF 15um LF, owing to the intrinsic dispersion in the mid-to-far-infrared spectral energy distributions. We then study the contemporary growth of galaxies and their supermassive black holes (BHs). Seven of the 31 Luminous Infrared Galaxies with Spitzer spectra host luminous AGNs, implying an AGN duty cycle of 23+/-9%. The time-averaged ratio of BH accretion rate and SF rate matches the local M_BH-M_bulge relation and the M_BH-M_host relation at z ~ 1. These results favor co-evolution scenarios in which BH growth and intense SF happen in the same event but the former spans a shorter lifetime than the latter. Finally, we compare our mid-infrared spectroscopic selection with other AGN identification methods and discuss candidate Compton-thick AGNs in the sample. While only half of the mid-infrared spectroscopically selected AGNs are detected in X-ray, ~90% of them can be identified with their near-infrared spectral indices.
Since the original work of Hansen and Tisserand in the XIXth century, there have been many variations in the analytical expansion of the three-body disturbing function in series of the semi-major axis ratio. With the increasing number of planetary systems of large eccentricity, these expansions are even more interesting as they allow us to obtain for the secular systems finite expressions that are valid for all eccentricities and inclinations. We revisited the derivation of the disturbing function in Legendre polynomial, with a special focus on the secular system. We provide here expressions of the disturbing function for the planar and spatial case at any order with respect to the ratio of the semi-major axes. Moreover, for orders in the ratio of semi-major axis up to ten in the planar case and five in the spatial case, we provide explicit expansions of the secular system, and simple algorithms with minimal computation to extend this to higher order, as well as the algorithms for the computation of non secular terms.
We employ detailed photoionization models to infer the physical conditions of intrinsic narrow absorption line systems found in high resolution spectra of three quasars at z=2.6-3.0. We focus on a family of intrinsic absorbers characterized by N V lines that are strong relative to the Ly-alpha lines. The inferred physical conditions are similar for the three intrinsic N V absorbers, with metallicities greater than 10 times the solar value (assuming a solar abundance pattern), and with high ionization parameters (log U ~ 0). Thus, we conclude that the unusual strength of the N V lines results from a combination of partial coverage, a high ionization state, and high metallicity. We consider whether dilution of the absorption lines by flux from the broad-emission line region can lead us to overestimate the metallicities and we find that this is an unlikely possibility. The high abundances that we infer are not surprising in the context of scenarios in which metal enrichment takes place very early on in massive galaxies. We estimate that the mass outflow rate in the absorbing gas (which is likely to have a filamentary structure) is less than a few solar masses per year under the most optimistic assumptions, although it may be embedded in a much hotter, more massive outflow.
A neutral Dirac fermion is supplied as a singlet within the context of the standard model (SM) and is considered as a dark matter (DM) candidate near electroweak scale (10-1000 GeV) with nonzero magnetic dipole moment. The Dirac particles have four different types of electromagnetic couplings (four form factors) in general. We predict that the candidate mainly interacts with SM particles through magnetic dipole moment (MDM), since MDM conserves the discrete symmetries like parity (P), time reversal (T), and charge conjugation (C) or its combination CP. The magnetic dipole moment constrained by the relic density may be as large as 10^(-18)-10^(-17)e cm. We show that the elastic scattering is due to a spin-spin interaction for the direct detection, and the candidate with mass near electroweak scale is under experimental limits of the current direct detectors, XENON10 and CDMS II. We also consider the possibility of WIMP detection in near future.
The direct limit of electric dipole moment (EDM) and direct search for dark matter by EDM interaction are considered as including the electromagnetic nuclear form factor, in case that the dark matter candidate is a Dirac particle. The WIMP electric dipole moment constrained by direct searches must be lower than 7*10^(-22)e cm for WIMP mass of 100 GeV to satisfy the current experimental exclusion limits at XENON10 and CDMS II. We also consider the CP violation of EDM and the WIMP discovery by EDM intereaction in the future.
Many extensions of the Standard Model predict super-weakly interacting particles, which typically have to decay before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). The entropy produced in the decays may help to reconcile thermal leptogenesis and BBN in scenarios with gravitino dark matter, which is usually difficult due to late decays of the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) spoiling the predictions of BBN. We study this possibility for a general neutralino NLSP. We elaborate general properties of the scenario and strong constraints on the entropy-producing particle. As an example, we consider the saxion from the axion multiplet and show that, while enabling a solution of the strong CP problem, it can also produce a suitable amount of entropy.
Present and future ultra-high-energy-cosmic-ray facilities (e.g., the Pierre Auger Observatory, South and North components) and TeV-gamma-ray telescope arrays (e.g., HESS and CTA) have the potential to set stringent bounds on the nine Lorentz-violating parameters of nonbirefringent modified-Maxwell theory minimally coupled to standard Dirac theory. A concrete example is given how two-sided bounds on the eight anisotropic parameters at the 10^{-20} level and an upper (lower) bound on the single isotropic parameter at the 10^{-20} (-10^{-16}) level can be obtained. Comparison is made with existing and potential bounds from direct laboratory experiments.
We construct and evolve non-rotating vacuum initial data with a ring singularity, based on a simple extension of the standard Brill-Lindquist multiple black-hole initial data, and search for event horizon with spatial slices that are topologically tori. We find, that it is not possible to produce a finite-sized toroidal horizon, which only occurs in a singular limit where the horizon width has zero size, indicating the presence of a naked singularity.
We present supersymmetric scenarios with gravitino LSP and stau NLSP in the case of a non-standard model of cosmology with the addition of a dark component in the pre-BBN era. In the context of the standard model of cosmology, gravitino LSP has drawn quite some attention as it is a good candidate for dark matter. It is produced in scattering processes during reheating after inflation and from the decay of the stau. With a long lifetime (above $10^2 \unit{sec}$), the stau decays during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. It is strongly constrained by the abundance of light elements but can however address the known "BBN lithium problem". It requires fairly massive staus $\mstau \gtrsim 1 \unit{TeV}$ and puts an upper bound on the reheating temperature $T_R \simeq 10^7\unit{GeV}$ which does not satisfy the requirements for thermal leptogenesis. For the non-standard cosmological scenario, the reheating temperature bound can be strongly relaxed $T_R\gg 10^9 \unit{GeV}$ and the lithium problem solved with a lighter stau $\mstau \sim 300 \unit{GeV}$ enabling production and detection at the LHC.
We present a method which tests whether or not two datasets (one of which could be Monte Carlo generated) might come from the same distribution. Our method works in arbitrarily high dimensions.
We identify a particularly simple class of supergravity models describing superconformal coupling of matter to supergravity. In these models, which we call the canonical superconformal supergravity (CSS) models, the kinetic terms in the Jordan frame are canonical, and the scalar potential is the same as in the global theory. The pure supergravity part of the total action has a local Poincare supersymmetry, whereas the chiral and vector multiplets coupled to supergravity have a larger local superconformal symmetry. The scale-free globally supersymmetric theories, such as the NMSSM with a scale-invariant superpotential, can be naturally embedded into this class of theories. After the supergravity embedding, the Jordan frame scalar potential of such theories remains scale free; it is quartic, it contains no mass terms, no nonrenormalizable terms, no cosmological constant. The local superconformal symmetry can be broken by additional terms, which, in the small field limit, are suppressed by the gravitational coupling. This can be achieved by introducing the nonminimal scalar-curvature coupling, and by taking into account interactions with a hidden sector. In this approach, the smallness of the mass parameters in the NMSSM may be traced back to the original superconformal invariance. This allows to address the mu-problem and the cosmological domain wall problem in this model, and to implement chaotic inflation in the NMSSM.
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We report ultraviolet spectra of the high-redshift (z_em = 2.9) quasar, HE 2347-4342, taken by the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Spectra in the G130M (medium-resolution, 1135-1440 A) and G140L (low-resolution, 1030-2000 A) gratings exhibit patchy Gunn-Peterson absorption in the 303.78 A (Ly-alpha) line of He II between z = 2.39-2.87 (G140L) and z = 2.74-2.90 (G130M). With COS, we obtain better spectral resolution, higher-S/N, and better determined backgrounds than previous studies, with sensitivity to abundance fractions x_HeII = 0.01 in filaments of the cosmic web. The He II optical depths from COS are higher than those with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) and range from tau_HeII < 0.02 to tau_HeII > 5, with a slow recovery in mean optical depth, tau < 2 at z < 2.7. The He II/H I optical-depth ratio varies (eta = 10-100 for 2.4 < z < 2.73 and eta = 5-500 for 2.75 < z < 2.89) on scales Delta z < 0.01 (10.8 Mpc in comoving radial distance at z = 2.8), with numerous flux-transmission windows between 1135-1186 A. The He II absorption extends to 1186.26 A (z = 2.905), including associated absorbers with z_abs ~ z_QSO and minimal "proximity effect" of flux transmission at the He II edge. We propose a QSO systemic redshift z_QSO = 2.904 +/- 0.002, some Delta z = 0.019 higher than that derived from O I (1302 A) emission. Three long troughs (4-10 A or 25-60 Mpc comoving distance) of strong He II absorption between z = 2.75-2.90 are uncharacteristic of the intergalactic medium if He II reionized at z_r ~ 3. Contrary to recent indirect estimates (z_r = 3.2 +/- 0.2) from H I optical depths, the epoch of HeII reionization may extend to z ~ 2.7.
The large number of stars for which uninterrupted high-precision photometric timeseries data are being collected with \textit{Kepler} and CoRoT initiated the development of automated methods to analyse the stochastically excited oscillations in main-sequence, subgiant and red-giant stars. Aims: We investigate the differences in results for global oscillation parameters of G and K red-giant stars due to different methods and definitions. We also investigate uncertainties originating from the stochastic nature of the oscillations. Methods: For this investigation we use Kepler data obtained during the first four months of operation. These data have been analysed by different groups using already published methods and the results are compared. We also performed simulations to investigate the uncertainty on the resulting parameters due to different realizations of the stochastic signal. Results: We obtain results for the frequency of maximum oscillation power (nu_max) and the mean large separation (<delta nu>) from different methods for over one thousand red-giant stars. The results for these parameters agree within a few percent and seem therefore robust to the different analysis methods and definitions used here. The uncertainties for nu_max and <delta nu> due to differences in realization noise are not negligible and should be taken into account when using these results for stellar modelling.
We present the discovery of the first T dwarf + white dwarf binary system LSPM 1459+0857AB, confirmed through common proper motion and spectroscopy. The white dwarf is a high proper motion object from the LSPM catalogue that we confirm spectroscopically to be a relatively cool (Teff=5535+\-45K) and magnetic (B~2MG) hydrogen-rich white dwarf, with an age of at least 4.8Gyrs. The T dwarf is a recent discovery from the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (ULAS 1459+0857), and has a spectral type of T4.5+\-0.5 and a distance in the range 43-69pc. With an age constraint (inferred from the white dwarf) of >4.8Gyrs we estimate Teff=1200-1500K and logg=5.4-5.5 for ULAS 1459+0857, making it a benchmark T dwarf with well constrained surface gravity. We also compare the T dwarf spectra with the latest LYON group atmospheric model predictions, which despite some shortcomings are in general agreement with the observed properties of ULAS 1459+0857. The separation of the binary components (16,500-26,500AU, or 365 arcseconds on the sky) is consistent with an evolved version of the more common brown dwarf + main-sequence binary systems now known, and although the system has a wide separation, it is shown to be statistically robust as a non spurious association. The observed colours of the T dwarf show that it is relatively bright in the z band compared to other T dwarfs of similar type, and further investigation is warranted to explore the possibility that this could be a more generic indicator of older T dwarfs. Future observations of this binary system will provide even stronger constraints on the T dwarf properties, and additional systems will combine to give a more comprehensively robust test of the model atmospheres in this temperature regime.
The dynamical evolution of a single globular cluster and also of the entire Galactic globular cluster system has been studied theoretically in detail. In particular, simulations show how the 'lost' stars are distributed in tidal tails emerging from the clusters. We investigate the distribution of Galactic globular cluster stars on the sky to identify such features like tidal tails. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey provides consistent photometry of a large part of the sky to study the projected two dimensional structure of the 17 globular clusters in its survey area. We use a color-magnitude weighted counting algorithm to map (potential) cluster member stars on the sky. We recover the already known tidal tails of Pal 5 and NGC 5466. For NGC 4147 we have found a two arm morphology. Possible indications of tidal tails are also seen around NGC 5053 and NGC 7078, supporting earlier suggestions. Moreover, we find potential tails around NGC 5904 and Pal 14. Especially for the Palomar clusters than Pal 5, deeper data are needed in order to confirm or to rule out the existence of tails. For many of the remaining clusters in our sample we observe a pronounced extratidal halo, which is particularly large for NGC 7006 and Pal 1. In some cases, the extratidal halos may be associated with the stream of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy (e.g.,NGC 4147, NGC 5024, NGC 5053).
Using new, highly accurate photometric redshifts from the MUSYC medium-band survey in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDF-S), we fit synthetic stellar population models to compare AGN host galaxies to inactive galaxies at 0.8 < z < 1.2. We find that AGN host galaxies are predominantly massive galaxies on the red sequence and in the green valley of the color-mass diagram. Because both passive and dusty galaxies can appear red in optical colors, we use rest-frame near-infrared colors to separate passively evolving stellar populations from galaxies that are reddened by dust. As with the overall galaxy population, ~25% of the `red' AGN host galaxies and ~75% of the `green' AGN host galaxies have colors consistent with young stellar populations reddened by dust. The dust-corrected rest-frame optical colors are the blue colors of star-forming galaxies, which implies that these AGN hosts are not passively aging to the red sequence. At z~1, AGN activity is roughly evenly split between two modes of black hole growth: the first in passively evolving host galaxies, which may be heating up the galaxy's gas and preventing future episodes of star formation, and the second in dust-reddened young galaxies, which may be ionizing the galaxy's interstellar medium and shutting down star formation.
Our Sun, like all stars, formed within a cold molecular cloud. Astronomical observations and theory provide considerable detail into this process. Yet cosmochemical observations of short lived radionuclides in primitive meteorites, in particular 60Fe, provide unequivocal evidence that the early solar system inherited fresh nucleosynthetic material from the core of a hot, massive star, almost certainly ejected in a supernova explosion. I give a short introduction to the fields of star formation and meteoritics and discuss how the reconciliation of their disparate clues to our origin places strong constraints on the environment of the Solar birthplace. Direct injection of supernova ejecta into a protoplanetary disk or a dense molecular core is unlikely since their small sizes require placement unusually close to the massive star. Lower density molecular cloud clumps can capture more ejecta but the radionuclides decay during the slow gravitational collapse. The most likely scenario is on the largest scales via the formation of enriched molecular clouds at the intersection of colliding supernova bubbles in spiral arms.
We present deep optical 18-medium-band photometry from the Subaru telescope over the ~30' x 30' Extended Chandra Deep Field-South (ECDF-S), as part of the Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile (MUSYC). This field has a wealth of ground- and space-based ancillary data, and contains the GOODS-South field and the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. We combine the Subaru imaging with existing UBVRIzJHK and Spitzer IRAC images to create a uniform catalog. Detecting sources in the MUSYC BVR image we find ~40,000 galaxies with R_AB<25.3, the median 5 sigma limit of the 18 medium bands. Photometric redshifts are determined using the EAZY code and compared to ~2000 spectroscopic redshifts in this field. The medium band filters provide very accurate redshifts for the (bright) subset of galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts, particularly at 0.1 < z < 1.2 and at z > 3.5. For 0.1 < z < 1.2, we find a 1 sigma scatter in \Delta z/(1+z) of 0.007, similar to results obtained with a similar filter set in the COSMOS field. As a demonstration of the data quality, we show that the red sequence and blue cloud can be cleanly identified in rest-frame color-magnitude diagrams at 0.1 < z < 1.2. We find that ~20% of the red-sequence-galaxies show evidence of dust-emission at longer rest-frame wavelengths. The reduced images, photometric catalog, and photometric redshifts are provided through the public MUSYC website.
Photometrically distinct nuclear star clusters (NSCs) are common in late-type-disk and spheroidal galaxies. The formation of NSCs is inevitable in the context of normal star formation in which a majority of stars form in clusters. A young, mass-losing cluster embedded in an isolated star-forming galaxy remains gravitationally bound over a period determined by its initial mass and the galactic tidal field. The cluster migrates radially toward the center of the galaxy and becomes integrated in the NSC if it reaches the center. The rate at which the NSC grows by accreting young clusters can be estimated from empirical cluster formation rates and dissolution times. We model cluster migration and dissolution and find that the NSCs in late-type disks and in spheroidals could have assembled from migrating clusters. The resulting stellar nucleus contains a small fraction of the stellar mass of the galaxy; this fraction is sensitive to the high-mass truncation of the initial cluster mass function (ICMF). The resulting NSC masses are consistent with the observed values, but generically, the final NSCs are surrounded by a spatially more extended excess over the inward-extrapolated exponential (or Sersic) law of the outer galaxy. We suggest that the excess can be related to the pseudobulge phenomenon in disks, though not all of the pseudobulge mass assembles this way. Comparison with observed NSC masses can be used to constrain the truncation mass scale of the ICMF and the fraction of clusters suffering prompt dissolution. We infer truncation mass scales of <~ 10^5 M_sun (>~ 10^5 M_sun) without (with 90%) prompt dissolution.
M31 globular cluster B379 is the first extragalactic cluster, the age of which was determined by main-sequence photometry. In this method, the age of a cluster is obtained by fitting its CMD with stellar evolutionary models. However, different stellar evolutionary models use different parameters of stellar evolution, such as range of stellar masses, different opacities and equations of state, and different recipes, and so on. So, it is interesting to check whether different stellar evolutionary models can give consistent results for the same cluster. Brown et al. (2004a) constrained the age of B379 by comparing its CMD with isochrones of the 2006 VandenBerg models. Using SSP models of BC03 and its multi-photometry, Ma et al. (2007) independently determined the age of B379, which is in good agreement with the determination of Brown et al. (2004a). The BC03 models are calculated based on the Padova evolutionary tracks. It is necessary to check whether the age of B379 which, being determined based on the Padova evolutionary tracks, is in agreement with the determination of Brown et al. (2004a). So, in this paper, we re-determine its age using isochrones of the Padova stellar evolutionary models. In addition, the metal abundance, the distance modulus, and the reddening value for B379 are also determined in this paper. The results obtained in this paper are consistent with the previous determinations, which including the age obtained by Brown et al. (2004a). So, this paper confirms the consistence of the age scale of B379 between the Padova isochrones and the 2006 VandenBerg isochrones, i.e. the results' comparison between Brown et al. (2004a) and Ma et al. (2007) is meaningful. The results obtained in this paper are: the metallicity [M/H]=-0.325, the age $\tau=11.0\pm1.5$ Gyr, the reddening value E(B-V)=0.08, and the distance modulus $(m-M)_{0}=24.44\pm0.10$.
The CCD photometric observations of the eclipsing binary PS Persei (PS Per) were obtained on two consecutive days in 2009. The 2003 version Wilson-Devinney code was used to analyze the first complete light curves in $V$ and $R$ bands. It is found that PS Per is a short-period Algol-type binary with the less massive component accurately filling its inner critical Roche lobe. The mass ratio of $q=0.518$ and the orbital inclination of $i=89.^{\circ}86$ are obtained. On the other hand, based on all available times of primary light minimum including two new ones, the orbital period has been improved.
In previous papers, we have shown that, as the rotation of a neutron star slows down, it will be internally heated as a consequence of the progressively changing mix of particles (rotochemical heating). In previously studied cases non-superfluid neutron stars or superfluid stars with only modified Urca reactions), this leads to a quasi-steady state in which the star radiates thermal photons for a long time, possibly accounting for the ultraviolet radiation observed from the millisecond pulsar J0437-4715. For the first time, we explore the phenomenology of rotochemical heating with direct Urca reactions and uniform and isotropic superfluid energy gaps of different sizes. We first do exploratory work by integrating the thermal and chemical evolution equations numerically for different energy gaps, which suggests a rich phenomenology of stable and unstable solutions. In order to understand these, we do a stability analysis around the quasi-steady state, identifying the characteristic times of growing, decaying, and oscillating solutions. For small gaps, the phenomenology is similar to the previously studied cases, in the sense that the solutions quickly converge to a quasi-steady state. For large gaps ($\gtrsim 0.05$ MeV), these solutions become unstable, leading to a limit-cycle behavior with periodicity $\sim 10^{6-7}$ yr, in which the star is hot ($T_s\gtrsim 10^5$ K) for a small fraction of the cycle ($\sim 5- 20 \%$ ), and cold for a longer time.
The general-relativistic Ohm's law for a two-component plasma which includes the gravitomagnetic force terms even in the case of quasi-neutrality has been derived. The equations that describe the electromagnetic processes in a plasma surrounding a neutron star are obtained by using the general relativistic form of Maxwell equations in a geometry of slow rotating gravitational object. In addition to the general-relativistic effect first discussed by Khanna \& Camenzind (1996) we predict a mechanism of the generation of azimuthal current under the general relativistic effect of dragging of inertial frames on radial current in a plasma around neutron star. The azimuthal current being proportional to the angular velocity $\omega$ of the dragging of inertial frames can give valuable contribution on the evolution of the stellar magnetic field if $\omega$ exceeds $2.7\times 10^{17} (n/\sigma) \textrm{s}^{-1}$ ($n$ is the number density of the charged particles, $\sigma$ is the conductivity of plasma). Thus in general relativity a rotating neutron star, embedded in plasma, can in principle generate axial-symmetric magnetic fields even in axisymmetry. However, classical Cowling's antidynamo theorem, according to which a stationary axial-symmetric magnetic field can not be sustained against ohmic diffusion, has to be hold in the general-relativistic case for the typical plasma being responsible for the rotating neutron star.
CoRoT-3b is a 22 Jupiter-mass massive-planet/brown-dwarf object, orbiting an F3-star with a period of 4.3 days. We analyzed the out-of-transit CoRoT-3 red-channel lightcurve obtained by the CoRoT mission and detected the ellipsoidal modulation, with half the orbital period and amplitude of 59+/-9 ppm (parts per million) and the relativistic beaming effect, with the orbital period and an amplitude of 27+/-9 ppm. Phases and amplitudes of both modulations were consistent with our theoretical approximation.
We have detected, for the first time, Cepheid variables in the Sculptor Group spiral galaxy NGC 7793. From wide-field images obtained in the optical V and I bands on 56 nights in 2003-2005, we have discovered 17 long-period (24-62 days) Cepheids whose periods and mean magnitudes define tight period-luminosity relations. We use the (V-I) Wesenheit index to determine a reddening-free true distance modulus to NGC 7793 of 27.68 +- 0.05 mag (internal error) +- 0.08 mag (systematic error). The comparison of the reddened distance moduli in V and I with the one derived from the Wesenheit magnitude indicates that the Cepheids in NGC 7793 are affected by an average total reddening of E(B-V)=0.08 mag, 0.06 of which is produced inside the host galaxy. As in the earlier Cepheid studies of the Araucaria Project, the reported distance is tied to an assumed LMC distance modulus of 18.50. The quoted systematic uncertainty takes into account effects like blending and possible inhomogeneous filling of the Cepheid instability strip on the derived distance. The reported distance value does not depend on the (unknown) metallicity of the Cepheids according to recent theoretical and empirical results. Our Cepheid distance is shorter, but within the errors consistent with the distance to NGC 7793 determined earlier with the TRGB and Tully-Fisher methods. The NGC 7793 distance of 3.4 Mpc is almost identical to the one our project had found from Cepheid variables for NGC 247, another spiral member of the Sculptor Group located close to NGC 7793 on the sky. Two other conspicuous spiral galaxies in the Sculptor Group, NGC 55 and NGC 300, are much nearer (1.9 Mpc), confirming the picture of a very elongated structure of the Sculptor Group in the line of sight put forward by Jerjen et al. and others.
We introduce a simple model to explore the star formation histories of disk galaxies. We assume that the disk origins and grows by continuous gas infall. The gas infall rate is parametrized by the Gaussian formula with one free parameter: infall-peak time $t_p$. The Kennicutt star formation law is adopted to describe how much cold gas turns into stars. The gas outflow process is also considered in our model. We find that, at given galactic stellar mass $M_*$, model adopting late infall-peak time $t_p$ results in blue colors, low metallicity, high specific star formation rate and high gas fraction, while gas outflow rate mainly influences the gas-phase metallicity and star formation efficiency mainly influences the gas fraction. Motivated by the local observed scaling relations, we construct a mass-dependent model by assuming low mass galaxy has later infall-peak time $t_p$ and larger gas outflow rate than massive systems. It is shown that this model can be in agreement with not only the local observations, but also the observed correlations between specific star formation rate and galactic stellar mass $SFR/M_* \sim M_*$ at intermediate redshift $z<1$. Comparison between the Gaussian-infall model and exponential-infall model is also presented. It shows that the exponential-infall model predicts higher star formation rate at early stage and lower star formation rate later than that of Gaussian-infall. Our results suggest that the Gaussian infall rate may be more reasonable to describe the gas cooling process than the exponential infall rate, especially for low-mass systems.
With a spectral type of T10, UGPS J072227.51-054031.2 is one of the coolest objects known to date in the solar neighborhood. Multiple systems are relatively common among early and mid-T dwarfs. We search for faint and close companions around UGPSJ072227.51-054031.2. We have obtained high spatial resolution images in the H and Ks bands using adaptive optics at the Very Large Telescope. With a Strehl ratio in the range 10-15%, the final images allow us to rule out the presence of a companion brighter than H<19.4mag at separation larger than 50mas, and H<21.4mag at separation larger than 0.1".
We review theoretical models of Population III.1 star formation, focusing on the protostellar feedback processes that are expected to terminate accretion and thus set the mass of these stars. We discuss how dark matter annihilation may modify this standard feedback scenario. Then, under the assumption that dark matter annihilation is unimportant, we predict the mass of stars forming in 12 cosmological minihalos produced in independent numerical simulations. This allows us to make a simple estimate of the Pop III.1 initial mass function and how it may evolve with redshift.
We describe Monte Carlo models for the dynamical evolution of the massive globular cluster 47 Tuc (NGC 104). The code includes treatments of two-body relaxation, most kinds of three- and four-body interactions involving primordial binaries and those formed dynamically, the Galactic tide, and the internal evolution of both single and binary stars. We arrive at a set of initial parameters for the cluster which, after 12Gyr of evolution, gives a model with a fairly satisfactory match to surface brightness and density profiles, the velocity dispersion profile, the luminosity function in two fields, and the acceleration of pulsars. Our models appear to require a relatively steep initial mass function for stars above about turnoff, with an index of about 2.8 (where the Salpeter mass function has an index of 2.35), and a relatively flat initial mass function (index about 0.4) for the lower main sequence. According to the model, the current mass is estimated at 0.9 million solar masses, of which about 34% consists of remnants. We find that primordial binaries are gradually taking over from mass loss by stellar evolution as the main dynamical driver of the core. Despite the high concentration of the cluster, core collapse will take at least another 20Gyr.
The report of a significant deviation of the CMB temperature anisotropies distribution from Gaussianity (soon after the public release of the WMAP data in 2003) has become one of the most solid WMAP anomalies. This detection grounds on an excess of the kurtosis of the Spherical Mexican Hat Wavelet coefficients at scales of around 10 degrees. At these scales, a prominent feature --located in the southern Galactic hemisphere-- was highlighted from the rest of the SMHW coefficients: the Cold Spot. This article presents a comprehensive overview related to the study of the Cold Spot, paying attention to the non-Gaussianity detection methods, the morphological characteristics of the Cold Spot, and the possible sources studied in the literature to explain its nature. Special emphasis is made on the Cold Spot compatibility with a cosmic texture, commenting on future tests that would help to give support or discard this hypothesis.
The Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory project is proposed to study high energy gamma ray astronomy ( 40 GeV-1 PeV ) and cosmic ray physics ( 20 TeV-1 EeV ). The wide field of view Cherenkov telescope array, as a component of the LHAASO project, will be used to study energy spectrum and compositions of cosmic ray by measuring the total Cherenkov light generated by air showers and shower maximum depth. Two prototype telescopes have been in operation since 2008. The pointing accuracy of each telescope is crucial to the direction reconstruction of the primary particles. On the other hand the primary energy reconstruction relies on the shape of the Cherenkov image on the camera and the unrecorded photons due to the imperfect connections between photomultiplier tubes. UV bright stars are used as point-like objects to calibrate the pointing and to study the optical properties of the camera, the spot size and the fractions of unrecorded photons in the insensitive areas of the camera.
Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most violent explosions in the Universe. Long duration GRBs are associated with the collapse of massive stars, rivaling their host galaxies in luminosity. The discovery of the most distant spectroscopically confirmed object in the Universe, GRB090423, opened a new window on the high redshift Universe, making it possible to study the cosmic 're-ionization' epoch and the preceding dark ages, as well as the generation of the first stars (Population III) using GRBs. Obviously this enables a wealth of new studies using the near infrared (nIR) characteristics of GRB afterglows. Here we explore a different path, focusing on the next generation of X-ray missions with large area focusing telescopes and fast repointing capabilities. We found that X-ray data can complement nIR observations and for the brightest GRBs can provide an accurate and independent redshift determination. Metallicity studies can also be carried out profitably once the redshift is known. Finally we discuss observational signatures of GRBs arising from Population III stars in the X-ray band.
We analyze the RXTE observations of the 2009 outburst of H~1743-322, as well as the observations of the previous five outbursts for comparison. The hardness-intensity diagram (HID) shows a complete counter-clockwise q-track for the 2009 outburst and, interestingly, the track falls in} between a huge one in 2003, with a complete transition to high/soft state, and that of} the failed outburst in 2008. It leaves the low/hard state but does not reach the leftmost edge of the overall HID. While the lowest hardness (6--19 keV/3--6 keV) values} in the HID is about 0.3--0.4 for the 2009 outburst, similar to the ``failed state transition" seen in the persistent black hole XRB Cyg X-1, the timing analysis shows that a transition to the high soft state occurred. During the low/hard state of the 2009 outburst, the inner radius of the accretion disk is found to be closer to the central black hole and have an anti-correlation with the disk temperature. These results may be understood as the reprocessing} of the hot corona on the disk's} soft X-rays, which can lead to an underestimation of the inner radius of the accretion disk. In the luminosity diagram of the corona versus the disk, the tracks of the outbursts} in 2003 and 2009 cross the line which represents a roughly equal contribution to the entire emission from the thermal and the non-thermal components;} the track of the 2008 outburst has the turn-over falling} on this line. This may be indicative of an emission balance between the corona and the disk, which prevents the state transition from going further than the low/hard state.
We search for signs of rotation in the subsystems of the Milky Way and M31 that are defined by their satellite galaxies, their globular cluster populations, and their BHB stars. A set of simple distribution functions are introduced to describe anisotropic and rotating stellar populations embedded in dark haloes of approximate Navarro-Frenk-White form. The BHB stars in the Milky Way halo exhibit a dichotomy between a prograde rotating, comparatively metal-rich component ([Fe/H] > -2) and a retrograde rotating, comparatively metal-poor ([Fe/H] < -2) component. The prograde metal-rich population may be associated with the accretion of a massive satellite (~ 10^9 solar masses). The metal-poor population may characterise the primordial stellar halo and the net retrograde rotation could then reflect an underestimate in our adopted local standard of rest circular velocity Theta_0. If Theta_0 is ~ 240 km/s then the metal-poor component has no rotation and there is a net prograde rotation signal of ~45 km/s in the metal-rich component. There is reasonable evidence that the Milky Way globular cluster and satellite galaxy systems are rotating with <v_phi> ~50 km/s and <v_phi> ~ 40 km/s respectively. Furthermore, a stronger signal is found for the satellite galaxies when the angular momentum vector of the satellites is inclined with respect to the normal of the disc. The dwarf spheroidal satellites of M31 exhibit prograde rotation relative to the M31 disc with <v_phi> ~ 40 km/s. We postulate that this group of dwarf spheroidals may share a common origin. We also find strong evidence for systemic rotation in the globular clusters of M31 particularly for the most metal-rich.
Nulling interferometry is still a promising method to characterize spectra of exoplanets. One of the main issues is to cophase at a nanometric level each arm despite satellite disturbances. The bench PERSEE aims to prove the feasibility of that technique for spaceborne missions. After a short description of PERSEE, we will first present the results obtained in a simplified configuration: we have cophased down to 0.22 nm rms in optical path difference (OPD) and 60 mas rms in tip/tilt, and have obtained a monochromatic null of 3E-5 stabilized at 3E-6. The goal of 1 nm with additional typical satellite disturbances requires the use of an optimal control law; that is why we elaborated a dedicated Kalman filter. Simulations and experiments show a good rejection of disturbances. Performance of the bench should be enhanced by using a Kalman control law, and we should be able to reach the desired nanometric stability. Following, we will present the first results of the final polychromatic configuration, which includes an achromatic phase shifter, perturbators and optical delay lines. As a conclusion, we give the first more general lessons we have already learned from this experiment, both at system and component levels for a future space mission.
OJ287 is a BL Lac object at redshift z=0.306 that has shown double-peaked bursts at regular intervals of ~12 yr during the last ~ 40 yr. Due to this behavior, it has been suggested that OJ287 might host a close supermassive binary black hole. We present optical photopolarimetric monitoring data from 2005-2009, during which the latest double-peaked outburst occurred. We find a stable component in the optical jet: the optical polarization core. The optical polarization indicates that the magnetic field is oriented parallel to the jet. Using historical optical polarization data, we trace the evolution of the optical polarization core and find that it has showed a swing in the Stokes plane indicating a reorientation of the jet magnetic field. We also find that changes in the optical jet magnetic field seem tightly related to the double-peaked bursts. We use our findings as a new constraint on possible binary black hole models. Combining all available observations, we find that none of the proposed binary black bole models is able to fully explain the observations. We suggest a new approach to understanding OJ287 that is based on the assumption that changes in the jet magnetic field drive the regular outbursts.
We investigate the magnetic dichotomy between Ap/Bp and other A-type stars by carrying out a deep spectropolarimetric study of Am and HgMn stars. Using the NARVAL spectropolarimeter at the Telescope Bernard Lyot (Observatoire du Pic du Midi, France), we obtained high-resolution circular polarisation spectroscopy of 12 Am stars and 3 HgMn stars. Using Least Squares Deconvolution (LSD), no magnetic field is detected in any of the 15 observed stars. Uncertaintiies as low as 0.3 G (respectively 1 G) have been reached for surface-averaged longitudinal magnetic field measurements for Am (respectively HgMn) stars. Associated with the results obtained previously for Ap/Bp stars, our study confirms the existence of a magnetic dichotomy among A-type stars. Our data demonstrate that there is at least one order of magnitude difference in field strength between Zeeman detected stars (Ap/Bp stars) and non Zeeman detected stars (Am and HgMn stars). This result confirms that the spectroscopically-defined Ap/Bp stars are the only A-type stars harbouring detectable large-scale surface magnetic fields.
Galaxy clusters are considered as excellent probes for cosmology. For that purpose, their mass needs to be measured and their structural properties needs to be understood. We propose a method for galaxy cluster mass reconstruction which combines information from strong lensing, weak lensing shear and flexion. We extend the weak lensing analysis to the inner parts of the cluster and, in particular, improve the resolution of substructure. We use simulations to show that the method recovers the mass density profiles of the cluster. We find that the weak lensing flexion is sensitive to substructure. After combining the flexion data into the joint weak and strong lensing analysis, we can resolve the cluster properties with substructures.
We report on the discovery of WASP-37b, a transiting hot Jupiter orbiting a mv = 12.7 G2-type dwarf, with a period of 3.577471 +/- 0.00001 d, transit epoch T0 = 2455338.6189 +/- 0.0006 (HJD), and a transit duration 0.1307 +/- 0.0019 d. The planetary companion has a mass Mp = 1.696(+0.123)(-0.128) MJ and radius Rp = 1.136(+0.060){-0.051} RJ, yielding a mean density of 1.169(+0.119)(-0.152) times that of Jupiter. From a spectral analysis and comparisons with stellar models, we find the host star has M* = 0.849(+0.067)(-0.040) Msun, R* = 0.977(+0.045)(-0.042) Rsun, Teff = 5800 +/- 150 K and [Fe/H] = -0.40 +/- 0.12. WASP-37 is therefore one of the lowest metallicity stars to host a transiting planet.
The physics of the coolest phases in the hot Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM) of clusters of galaxies is yet to be fully unveiled. X-ray cavities blown by the central Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) contain enough energy to heat the surrounding gas and stop cooling, but locally blobs or filaments of gas appear to be able to cool to low temperatures of 10^4 K. In X-rays, however, gas with temperatures lower than 0.5 keV is not observed. Using a deep XMM-Newton observation of the cluster of galaxies Abell 2052, we derive 2D maps of the temperature, entropy, and iron abundance in the core region. About 130 kpc South-West of the central galaxy, we discover a discontinuity in the surface brightness of the hot gas which is consistent with a cold front. Interestingly, the iron abundance jumps from ~0.75 to ~0.5 across the front. In a smaller region to the North-West of the central galaxy we find a relatively high contribution of cool 0.5 keV gas, but no X-ray emitting gas is detected below that temperature. However, the region appears to be associated with much cooler H-alpha filaments in the optical waveband. The elliptical shape of the cold front in the SW of the cluster suggests that the front is caused by sloshing of the hot gas in the clusters gravitational potential. This effect is probably an important mechanism to transport metals from the core region to the outer parts of the cluster. The smooth temperature profile across the sharp jump in the metalicity indicates the presence of heat conduction and the lack of mixing across the discontinuity. The cool blob of gas NW of the central galaxy was probably pushed away from the core and squeezed by the adjacent bubble, where it can cool efficiently and relatively undisturbed by the AGN. Shock induced mixing between the two phases may cause the 0.5 keV gas to cool non-radiatively and explain our non-detection of gas below 0.5 keV.
Using strong lensing data Milgrom's MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) or its covariant TeVeS (Tensor-Vector-Scalar Theory) is being examined here as an alternative to the conventional $\Lambda$CDM paradigm. We examine 10 double-image gravitational lensing systems, in which the lens masses have been estimated by stellar population synthesis models. While mild deviations exist, we do not find out that strong cases for outliers to the TeVeS theory.
The element abundance distributions in the ejecta of Type Ia supernova (SN) is studied by modelling a time series of optical spectra of SN 2003du until ~1 year after the explosion. Since SN 2003du is a very normal Type Ia SN both photometrically and spectroscopically, the abundance distribution derived for it can be considered as representative of normal Type Ia SNe. We find that the innermost layers are dominated by stable Fe-group elements, with a total mass of ~ 0.2 Msun, which are synthesized through electron capture. Above the core of stable elements there are thick 56Ni-rich layers. The total mass of 56Ni is 0.65 Msun. The Si- and S-rich layers are located above the 56Ni-rich layers. The dominant element in the outermost layers (M_r > 1.1 Msun, v > 13000 km/s) is O, with a small amount of Si. Little unburned C remains, with an upper limit of 0.016 Msun. The element distributions in the ejecta are moderately mixed, but not fully mixed as seen in three-dimensional deflagration models.
We present a novel method for the optimal selection of quasars using time-series observations in a single photometric bandpass. Utilizing the damped random walk model of Kelly et al. (2009), we parameterize the ensemble quasar structure function in Sloan Stripe 82 as a function of observed brightness. The ensemble model fit can then be evaluated rigorously for and calibrated with individual light curves with no parameter fitting. This yields a classification in two statistics --- one describing the fit confidence and one describing the probability of a false alarm --- which can be tuned, a priori, to achieve high quasar detection fractions (99% efficiency with default cuts), given an acceptable rate of false alarms. We establish the typical rate of false alarms due to known variable stars as <3% (high purity). Applying the classification, we increase the sample of potential quasars relative to those known in Stripe 82 by about 25%, and by nearly a factor of two in the redshift range 2.5<z<3, where selection by color is extremeley inefficient. This represents 1875 new quasars in a 290 deg^2 field. The observed rates of both quasars and stars agree well with the model predictions, with >99% of quasars exhibiting the expected variability profile. We discus the utility of the method at high-redshift and in the regime of noisy and sparse data. Our time series selection complements well independent selection based on quasar colors and has strong potential for identifying high redshift quasars for BAO and other cosmology studies in the LSST era.
Recent observations have shown that in many exoplanetary systems the spin axis of the parent star is misaligned with the planet's orbital axis. These have been used to argue against the widely adopted scenario that short-period planets migrated to their present-day locations due to tidal interactions with their natal discs. However, this interpretation is based on the assumption that the spins of young stars are parallel to the rotation axes of protostellar discs around them. We show that the interaction between a magnetic star and its circumstellar disc can have the effect of pushing the stellar spin axis away from the disc angular momentum axis toward the perpendicular state and even the retrograde state. Planets formed in the disc may therefore have their orbital axes misaligned with the stellar spin axis, even without any additional planet-planet scatterings or Kozai interactions. In general, magnetosphere--disc interactions lead to a broad distribution of the spin--orbit angles, with some systems aligned and other systems misaligned.
The Red MSX Source (RMS) survey has identified a large sample of massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) and ultra compact (UC) HII regions from a sample of ~2000 MSX and 2MASS colour selected sources. Using a recent catalogue of molecular clouds derived from the Boston University-Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory Galactic Ring Survey (GRS), and by applying a Galactic scaleheight cut off of 120 pc, we solve the distance ambiguity for RMS sources located within 18\degr < |l| > 54\degr. These two steps yield kinematic distances to 291 sources out of a possible 326 located within the GRS longitude range. Combining distances and integrated fluxes derived from spectral energy distributions, we estimate luminosities to these sources and find that > 90% are indicative of the presence of a massive star. We find the completeness limit of our sample is ~10^4 Lsun, which corresponds to a zero age main sequence (ZAMS) star with a mass of ~12 Msun. Selecting only these sources, we construct a complete sample of 196 sources. Comparing the properties of the sample of young massive stars with the general population, we find the RMS-clouds are generally larger, more massive, and more turbulent. We examine the distribution of this sub-sample with respect to the location of the spiral arms and the Galactic bar and find them to be spatially correlated. We identify three significant peaks in the source surface density at Galactocentric radii of approximately 4, 6 and 8 kpc, which correspond to the proposed positions of the Scutum, Sagittarius and Perseus spiral arms, respectively. Fitting a scale height to the data we obtain an average value of ~29+-0.5 pc, which agrees well with other reported values in the literature, however, we note a dependence of the scale height on galactocentric radius with it increases from 30 pc to 45 pc between 2.5 and 8.5 kpc.
Radio transients are sporadic signals and their detection requires that the backends of radio telescopes be equipped with the appropriate hardware and software to undertake this. Observational programs to detect transients can be dedicated or they can piggy-back on observations made by other programs. It is the single-dish single-transient (non-periodical) mode which is considered in this paper. Because neither the width of a transient nor the time of its arrival is known, a sequential analysis in the form of a cumulative sum (cusum) algorithm is proposed here. Computer simulations and real observation data processing are included to demonstrate the performance of the cusum. The use of the Hough transform is here proposed for the purpose of non-coherent de-dispersion. It is possible that the detected transients could be radio frequency interferences (RFI) and a procedure is proposed here which can distinguish between celestial signals and man-made RFI. This procedure is based on an analysis of the statistical properties of the signals.
The hypothesis of a companion object (Nemesis) orbiting the Sun was motivated by the claim of a terrestrial extinction periodicity, thought to be mediated by comet showers. The orbit of a distant companion to the Sun is expected to be perturbed by the Galactic tidal field and encounters with passing stars, which will induce variation in the period. We examine the evidence for the previously proposed periodicity, using two modern, greatly improved paleontological datasets of fossil biodiversity. We find that there is a narrow peak at 27 My in the cross-spectrum of extinction intensity time series between these independent datasets. This periodicity extends over a time period nearly twice that for which it was originally noted. An excess of extinction events are associated with this periodicity at 99% confidence. In this sense we confirm the originally noted feature in the time series for extinction. However, we find that it displays extremely regular timing for about 0.5 Gy. The regularity of the timing compared with earlier calculations of orbital perturbation would seem to exclude the Nemesis hypothesis as a causal factor.
In the framework of the study of the Galactic metallicity gradient and its time evolution, we present new high-resolution spectroscopic observations obtained with FLAMES and the fiber link to UVES at VLT of three open clusters (OCs) located within $\sim$7~kpc from the Galactic Center (GC): NGC~6192, NGC~6404, NGC~6583. We also present new orbit determination for all OCs with Galactocentric distances (R$_{\rm{GC}}) \leq$8~kpc and metallicity from high-resolution spectroscopy. We aim to investigate the slope of the inner disk metallicity gradient as traced by OCs and at discussing its implication on the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. We have derived memberships of a group of evolved stars for each clusters, obtaining a sample of 4, 4, and 2 member stars in NGC~6192, NGC~6404, and NGC~6583, respectively. Using standard LTE analysis we derived stellar parameters and abundance ratios for the iron-peak elements Fe, Ni, Cr, and for the $\alpha$-elements Al, Mg, Si, Ti, Ca. We calculated the orbits of the OCs currently located within 8~kpc from the GC, and discuss their implication on the present-time radial location. {The average metallicities of the three clusters are all oversolar: [Fe/H]= $+0.12\pm0.04$ (NGC~6192), $+0.11\pm0.04$ (NGC 6404), $+0.37\pm0.03$ (NGC 6583). They are in qualitative agreement with their Galactocentric distances, being all internal OCs, and thus expected to be metal richer than the solar neighborhood. The abundance ratios of the other elements over iron [X/Fe] are consistent with solar values. The clusters we have analysed, together with other OC and Cepheid data, confirm a steep gradient in the inner disk, a signature of an evolutionary rate different than in the outer disk.
We present a novel mechanism for generating both the baryon and dark matter densities of the Universe. A new Dirac fermion X carrying a conserved baryon number charge couples to the Standard Model quarks as well as a GeV-scale hidden sector. CP-violating out-of-equilibrium decays of X, produced in low-temperature reheating, sequester antibaryon number in the hidden sector, thereby leaving a baryon excess in the visible sector. The antibaryonic hidden states are stable dark matter. A spectacular signature of this mechanism is the baryon-destroying inelastic scattering of dark matter that can annihilate baryons at appreciable rates relevant for nucleon decay searches.
We study a recently proposed running kinetic inflation model in which the inflaton potential becomes flat due to rapid growth of the kinetic term at large inflaton field values. The power of the potential generically increases after inflation, and in most cases the inflaton is massless at the potential minimum in the supersymmetric limit, which leads to many interesting phenomena. First, the light inflaton mass greatly relaxes severe thermal and non-thermal gravitino problems. Secondly, the kination epoch is naturally present after inflation, which may enhance the gravity waves. Thirdly, since the inflaton is light, it is likely coupled to the Higgs sector for successful reheating. The inflaton and its superpartner, inflatino, may be produced at the LHC. Interestingly, the inflatino can be dark matter, if it is the lightest supersymmetric particle.
We study motion of a charged particle in the vicinity of a weakly magnetized Schwarzschild black hole and focus on its bounded trajectories lying in the black hole equatorial plane. If the Lorentz force, acting on the particle, is directed outward from the black hole, there exist two qualitatively different types of trajectories, one is a curly motion and another one is a trajectory without curls. We calculated the critical value of the magnetic field for the transition between these two types. If the magnetic field is greater than the critical one, for fixed values of the particle energy and angular momentum, the bounded trajectory has curls. The curls appear as a result of the gravitational drift. The greater the value of the magnetic field, the larger is the number of curls. We constructed an approximate analytical solution for a bounded trajectory and found the gravitational drift velocity of its guiding center.
On the basis of the Carter-Israel conjecture, today we believe that some compact and massive objects in the Galaxy and in the Universe are Kerr black holes. However, this idea cannot yet be confirmed by observations. We can currently obtain reliable estimates of the masses of these objects, but we do not know if the space-time around them is described by the Kerr metric and if they have an event horizon. A fundamental limit for a Kerr black hole is the Kerr bound $|a_*| \le 1$. Here I discuss some astrophysical implications associated with the violation of this bound, which can thus be used to test the Carter-Israel conjecture.
Nuclear effective interactions are useful tools in astrophysical applications especially if one can guide the extrapolations to the extremes regions of isospin and density that are required to simulate dense, neutron-rich systems. Isospin extrapolations may be constrained in the laboratory by measuring the neutron skin thickness of a heavy nucleus, such as 208Pb. Similarly, future observations of massive neutron stars will constrain the extrapolations to the high-density domain. In this contribution we introduce a new relativistic effective interaction that is simultaneously constrained by the properties of finite nuclei, their collective excitations, and neutron-star properties. By adjusting two of the empirical parameters of the theory, one can efficiently tune the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb and the maximum neutron star mass. We illustrate this procedure in response to the recent interpretation of X-ray observations by Steiner, Lattimer, and Brown that suggests that the FSUGold effective interaction predicts neutron star radii that are too large and a maximum stellar mass that is too small. The new effective interaction is fitted to a neutron skin thickness in 208Pb of only R_n - R_p = 0.16 fm and a moderately large maximum neutron star mass of 1.94 Msun.
In this work, we have investigated the nature of the electroweak phase transition (EWPT) in the U(1) extended Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (UMSSM) without introducing any exotic filds. The effective potential has been estimated exactly at finite temperature taking into account the whole particle spectrum. For reasonable values of the lightest Higgs and neutralino, we found that the EWPT could be strongly first order due to: 1) the interactions of the singlet with the doublets in the effective potential, and 2) the evolution of the wrong vacuum, that delays the transition.
We study spin-flavor oscillations of Dirac neutrinos in matter and magnetic field using the method of relativistic quantum mechanics. We start from the exact solution of the wave equation for a massive neutrino, taking into account external fields. Then we derive an effective Hamiltonian governing neutrino spin-flavor oscillations. We demonstrate the consistency of our approach with the commonly used quantum mechanical method. Our correction to the usual effective Hamiltonian results in the appearance of a new resonance in neutrino oscillations. We discuss applications to spin-flavor neutrino oscillations in the expanding envelope of a supernova. In particular, transitions between right-handed electron neutrinos and sterile neutrinos are studied for a realistic background matter and magnetic field distributions. We also analyze the influence of other factors such as a longitudinal magnetic field, matter polarization, and the non-standard contributions to the neutrino effective potential.
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It has recently been proposed that inflationary perturbation theory can be reformulated in terms of a probability transport equation, whose moments determine the correlation properties of the primordial curvature perturbation. In this paper we generalize this formulation to an arbitrary number of fields. We deduce ordinary differential equations for the evolution of the moments of zeta on superhorizon scales, which can be used to obtain an evolution equation for the dimensionless bispectrum, fNL. Our equations are covariant in field space and allow identification of the source terms responsible for evolution of fNL. In a model with M scalar fields, the number of numerical integrations required to obtain solutions of these equations scales like O(M^3). This compares favourably with the most well-developed alternative method, the delta N formula, in which the number of numerical integrations scales exponentially, like O(M c^M) where c is a small integer depending on the details of the algorithm. The performance of the moment transport algorithm makes numerical calculations with M >> 1 fields practical. We illustrate this performance with a numerical calculation of fNL in models containing M ~ 10^2 fields, finding agreement with existing analytic calculations. We comment briefly on extensions of the method beyond the slow-roll approximation, or to calculate higher order parameters such as gNL.
Optical nebular emission lines are commonly used to estimate the star formation rate of galaxies and the black hole accretion rate of their central active nucleus. The accuracy of the conversion from line strengths to physical properties depends upon the accuracy to which the lines can be corrected for dust attenuation. For studies of single galaxies with normal amounts of dust, most dust corrections result in the same derived properties within the errors. However, for statistical studies of populations of galaxies, or for studies of galaxies with higher dust contents such as might be found in some classes of "transition" galaxies, significant uncertainty arises from the dust attenuation correction. We compare the strength of the predominantly unobscured mid-IR [NeII]15.5um + [NeIII]12.8um emission lines to the optical H alpha emission lines in four samples of galaxies: (i) ordinary star forming galaxies, (ii) optically selected dusty galaxies, (iii) ULIRGs, (iv) Seyfert 2 galaxies. We show that a single dust attenuation curve applied to all samples can correct H alpha emission for dust attenuation to a factor better than 2. Similarly, we compare mid-IR [OIV] and optical [OIII] luminosities to find that [OIII] can be corrected to a factor better than 3. This shows that the total dust attenuation suffered by the AGN narrow line region is not significantly different to that suffered by the starforming HII regions in the galaxy. We provide explicit dust attenuation corrections, together with errors, for [OII], [OIII] and H alpha. The best-fit average attenuation curve is slightly greyer than the Milky-Way extinction law, indicating either that external galaxies have slightly different typical dust properties to the Milky Way, or that there is a significant contribution from scattering. Finally, we uncover an intriguing correlation between Silicate absorption and Balmer decrement.
Recent studies have shown that the elemental abundances in the Sun are anomalous when compared to most (about 85%) nearby solar twin stars. Compared to its twins, the Sun exhibits a deficiency of refractory elements (those with condensation temperatures Tc>900K) relative to volatiles (Tc<900K). This finding is speculated to be a signature of the planet formation that occurred more efficiently around the Sun compared with the majority of solar twins. Furthermore, within this scenario, it seems more likely that the abundance patterns found are specifically related to the formation of terrestrial planets. In this work we analyze abundance results from six large independent stellar abundance surveys to determine whether they confirm or reject this observational finding. We show that the elemental abundances derived for solar analogs in these six studies are consistent with the Tc trend suggested as a planet formation signature. The same conclusion is reached when those results are averaged heterogeneously. We also investigate the dependency of the abundances with first ionization potential (FIP), which correlates well with Tc. A trend with FIP would suggest a different origin for the abundance patterns found, but we show that the correlation with Tc is statistically more significant. We encourage similar investigations of metal-rich solar analogs and late F-type dwarf stars, for which the hypothesis of a planet formation signature in the elemental abundances makes very specific predictions. Finally, we examine a recent paper that claims that the abundance patterns of two stars hosting super-Earth like planets contradict the planet formation signature hypothesis. Instead, we find that the chemical compositions of these two stars are fully compatible with our hypothesis.
We show that a string of HI clouds that form part of the high-velocity cloud complex known as GCN is a probable gaseous stream extending over more than 50 deg in the Galactic halo. The radial velocity gradient along the stream is used to deduce transverse velocities as a function of distance, enabling a family of orbits to be computed. We find that a direction of motion towards the Galactic disk coupled with a mid-stream distance of ~20 kpc provides a good match to the observed sky positions and radial velocities of the HI clouds comprising the stream. With an estimated mass of 10^5 Msun, its progenitor is likely to be a dwarf galaxy. However, no stellar counterpart has been found amongst the currently known Galactic dwarf spheroidal galaxies or stellar streams and the exact origin of the stream is therefore currently unknown.
We present a joint gravitational lensing and stellar-dynamical analysis of 11 early-type galaxies (median deflector redshift $\zd=0.5$) from Strong Lenses in the Legacy Survey (SL2S). Using newly measured redshifts and stellar velocity dispersions from Keck spectroscopy with lens models from Paper I, we derive the total mass density slope inside the Einstein radius for each of the 11 lenses. The average total density slope is found to be $\langle\gamma'\rangle = 2.16^{+0.09}_{-0.09}$ ($\rho_{\rm tot}\propto r^{-\gamma'}$), with an intrinsic scatter of $0.25^{+0.10}_{-0.07}$. We also determine the dark matter fraction for each lens within half the effective radius, and find the average projected dark matter mass fraction to be $0.42^{+0.08}_{-0.08}$ with a scatter of $0.20^{+0.09}_{-0.07}$ for a Salpeter IMF. By combining the SL2S results with those from the Sloan Lens ACS Survey (median $\zd=0.2$) and the Lenses Structure and Dynamics survey (median $\zd=0.8$), we investigate cosmic evolution of $\gamma'$ and find a mild trend $\partial\langle\gamma'\rangle/\partial\zd = -0.25^{+0.10}_{-0.12}$. This suggests that the total density profile of massive galaxies has become slightly steeper over cosmic time. If this result is confirmed by larger samples, it would indicate that dissipative processes played some role in the growth of massive galaxies since $z\sim1$.
In this proceeding we present the results from a study of very high-redshift galaxies with the newly commissioned Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. With the deepest near-infrared data ever taken, we discovered 31 galaxies at 6.3 < z < 8.6. The rest-frame ultraviolet (UV) colors of these galaxies are extremely blue, showing significant (> 4 sigma) evolution from z ~ 3, over only 1 Gyr of cosmic time. While we cannot yet diagnose the exact cause of the bluer colors, it appears a low dust content is the primary factor. The stellar masses of these galaxies are less than comparably selected galaxies at 3 < z < 6, highlighting evolution in the stellar mass of characteristic (L*) galaxies with redshift. Lastly, the measured rest-UV luminosity density of galaxies in our sample seems sufficient to sustain reionization at z ~ 7 when we account for the likely contribution from galaxies below our magnitude limit.
We discuss a method for detecting the emission from high redshift galaxies by cross correlating flux fluctuations from multiple spectral lines. If one can fit and subtract away the continuum emission with a smooth function of frequency, the remaining signal contains fluctuations of flux with frequency and angle from line emitting galaxies. Over a particular small range of observed frequencies, these fluctuations will originate from sources corresponding to a series of different redshifts, one for each emission line. It is possible to statistically isolate the fluctuations at a particular redshift by cross correlating emission originating from the same redshift, but in different emission lines. This technique will allow detection of clustering fluctuations from the faintest galaxies which individually cannot be detected, but which contribute substantially to the total signal due to their large numbers. We describe these fluctuations quantitatively through the line cross power spectrum. As an example of a particular application of this technique, we calculate the signal-to-noise ratio for a measurement of the cross power spectrum of the OI(63 micron) and OIII(52 micron) fine structure lines with the proposed Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics (SPICA). We find that the cross power spectrum can be measured beyond a redshift of z=8. Such observations could constrain the evolution of the metallicity, bias, and duty cycle of faint galaxies at high redshifts and may also be sensitive to the reionization history through its effect on the minimum mass of galaxies.
We present an analysis of the molecular and atomic gas emission in the rest-frame far-infrared and sub-millimetre, from the lensed z=2.3 sub-millimetre galaxy SMM J2135-0102. We obtain very high signal-to-noise detections of 11 transitions from 3 species and limits on a further 20 transitions from 9 species. We use the 12CO, [CI] and HCN line strengths to investigate the gas mass, kinematic structure and interstellar medium (ISM) chemistry, and find strong evidence for a two-phase medium comprising a hot, dense, luminous component and an underlying extended cool, low-excitation massive component. Employing photo-dissociation region models we show that on average the molecular gas is exposed to a UV radiation field that is ~1000 x more intense than the Milky Way, with star-forming regions having a characteristic density of n~10^4 /cm^3. These conditions are similar to those found in local ULIRGs and in the central regions of typical starburst galaxies, even though the star formation rate is far higher in this system. The 12CO spectral line energy distribution and line profiles give strong evidence that the system comprises multiple kinematic components with different conditions, including temperature, and line ratios suggestive of high cosmic ray flux within clouds. We show that, when integrated over the galaxy, the gas and star-formation surface densities appear to follow the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, although when compared to high-resolution sub-mm imaging, our data suggest that this relation breaks down on scales of <100pc. By virtue of the lens amplification, these observations uncover a wealth of information on the star formation and ISM at z~2.3 at a level of detail that has only recently become possible at z<0.1, and show the potential physical properties that will be studied in unlensed galaxies when ALMA is in full operation. (Abridged).
The Galactic Arecibo L-band Feed Array HI (GALFA-HI) survey is mapping the entire Arecibo sky at 21-cm, over a velocity range of -700 to +700 km/s (LSR), at a velocity resolution of 0.18 km/s and an angular resolution of 3.5 arcmin. The unprecedented resolution and sensitivity of the GALFA-HI survey have resulted in the detection of many isolated, very compact HI clouds at low Galactic velocities which are distinctly separated from the HI disk emission. In the limited area of ~4600 deg$^2$ searched so far, we have detected 96 such compact clouds. The detected clouds are cold with kinetic temperature less than 300 K. Moreover, they are quite compact and faint, with median values of 5 arcmin in angular size, 0.75 K in peak brightness temperature, and $5\times10^{18}$ cm$^{-2}$ in HI column density. From the modeling of spatial and velocity distributions of the whole compact cloud population, we find that the bulk of clouds are related to the Galactic disk, and are within a few kpc distance. We present properties of the compact clouds sample and discuss various possible scenarios for the origin of this clouds population and its role in the Galactic interstellar medium studies.
In the present work we analyze and compare the information coming from different observational data sets in the context of a sort of f(T) theories. We perform a joint analysis with measurements of the most recent type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO), Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB), Gamma-Ray Bursts data (GRBs) and Hubble parameter observations (OHD) to constraint the only new parameter these theories have. It is shown that when the new combined BAO/CMB parameter is used to put constraints, the result is different from previous works. We also show that when we include observational Hubble data (OHD) the simpler LambdaCDM model is excluded to one sigma level, leading the effective equation of state of these theories to be of phantom type. During this analysis we eliminate the tension between SNe Ia and the other observational sets, obtaining the consistent data sets to be used in order to constraint these theories.
We report on the detection of Ne VIII in the HST/Cosmic Origins Spectrograph spectrum of the intervening absorption system at z = 0.495096 towards PKS 0405-123. The high S/N COS spectrum also covers absorption from H I, C III, O III, O IV and O VI associated with this multiphase system. The Ne VIII is detected with high significance in both lines of the doublet, with integrated column densities of log Na(Ne VIII 770) = 13.96 +/- 0.06 dex and log Na(Ne VIII 780) = 14.08 +/- 0.07 dex. We find the origin of Ne VIII consistent with collisionally ionized gas at T ~ 5 x 10^5 K with a large baryonic column density of N(H) ~ 10^{19} - 10^{20} cm^-2. The metallicity in the Ne VIII gas phase is estimated to be [Ne/H] ~ -0.6 +/- 0.3 dex. The intermediate ions such as C III, O III, O IV and H I are consistent with photoionization in lower ionization gas at T ~ 10,000 K. The O V and O VI in this absorber can have contributions from both the photoionized and collisionally ionized gas phases. The absorber is at 180 km/s systematic velocity and 110 kpc projected separation from a M_R = -19.6 galaxy of extended morphology. The collisionally ionized gas at T ~ 5 x 10^5 K points to an origin in multiphase gas embedded in the hot halo of the galaxy, or in a nearby WHIM structure. The high sensitivity UV spectroscopy afforded by COS has opened up new opportunities for discovering large reservoirs of "missing baryons" in the low-z universe through the detection of Ne VIII systems.
Two-field slow-roll inflation is the most conservative modification of the single-field model. The main motivations to study it are its entropic mode and non-Gaussianity. Several years ago, for a two-field model with additive separable potentials, Vernizzi and Wands invented an analytic method to estimate its non-Gaussianities. Later on, Choi et al. applied this method to the model with multiplicative separable potentials. In this note, we design a larger class of models whose non-Gaussianity can be estimated by the same method. Under some simplistic assumptions, generally these models is unlikely able to generate a large non-Gaussianity. But for some specific models of this class, after scanning the full parameter space, we dig out large non-Gaussianities, whose signature could be positive or negative. These models and scanning techniques would be useful for future model hunt if observational evidence shows up for two-field inflation.
The Large Area Telescope (LAT) onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a gamma-ray source that is spatially consistent with the location of Eta Carinae. This source has been persistently bright since the beginning of the LAT survey observations (from 2008 August to 2009 July, the time interval considered here). The gamma-ray signal is detected significantly throughout the LAT energy band (i.e., up to ~100 GeV). The 0.1-100 GeV energy spectrum is well represented by a combination of a cutoff power-law model (< 10 GeV) and a hard power-law component (> 10 GeV). The total flux (> 100 MeV) is $3.7^{+0.3}_{-0.1} \times 10^{-7}$ photons s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$, with additional systematic uncertainties of 10%, and consistent with the average flux measured by AGILE (Tavani et al. 2009). The light curve obtained by Fermi is consistent with steady emission. Our observations do not confirm the presence of a gamma-ray flare in 2008 October as reported by Tavani et al. (2009), although we cannot exclude that a flare lasting only a few hours escaped detection by the Fermi LAT. We also do not find any evidence for gamma-ray variability that correlates with the large X-ray variability of Eta Carinae observed during 2008 December and 2009 January. We are thus not able to establish an unambiguous identification of the LAT source with Eta Carinae.
We present the first non-LTE time-dependent radiative-transfer simulations of supernovae (SNe) II-Plateau (II-P) covering both the photospheric and nebular phases, from ~10 to >~1000d after the explosion, and based on 1.2B piston-driven ejecta produced from a 15Msun and a 25Msun non-rotating solar-metallicity star. The radial expansion of the gradually cooling photosphere gives rise to a near-constant luminosity up to >~100d after explosion. The photosphere remains in the outer 0.5Msun of the ejecta for up to ~50d after explosion. As the photosphere reaches the edge of the helium core, the SN luminosity drops by an amount mitigated by the progenitor radius and the 56Ni mass. Synthetic light-curves exhibit a bell-shape morphology, evolving faster for more compact progenitors, and with an earlier peak and narrower width in bluer filters. UV and U-band fluxes are very sensitive to line-blanketing, the metallicity, and the adopted model atoms. During the recombination epoch synthetic spectra are dominated by HI and metal lines, and are largely insensitive to the differing H/He/C/N/O composition of our two progenitor stars. In contrast, synthetic nebular-phase spectra reveal a broader/stronger OI doublet line in the higher-mass progenitor model, reflecting the larger masses of oxygen and nickel that are ejected. Our simulations overestimate the typical luminosity and the visual rise time of standard SNe II-P, likely a consequence of our progenitor stars being too big and/or too hydrogen rich. Comparison of our simulations with photospheric-phase observations of SN1999em of the same color are satisfactory. Our neglect of non-thermal processes leads to a fast disappearance of continuum radiation and Balmer-line emission at the end of the plateau phase. With the exception of HI lines, our nebular spectra show a striking similarity to contemporaneous observations of SN1999em.
We present the first far-ultraviolet (FUV) emission-line morphologies of the whole region of the supernova remnant (SNR) G65.3+5.7 using the FIMS/SPEAR data. The morphologies of the C IV {\lambda}{\lambda}1548, 1551, He II {\lambda}1640, and O III] {\lambda}{\lambda}1661, 1666 lines appear to be closely related to the optical and/or soft X-ray images obtained in previous studies. Dramatic differences between the C IV morphology and the optical [O III] {\lambda}5007 image provide clues to a large resonant-scattering region and a foreground dust cloud. The FUV morphologies also reveal the overall distribution of various shocks in different evolutionary phases and an evolutionary asymmetry between the east and the southwest sides in terms of Galactic coordinates, possibly due to a Galactic density gradient in the global scale. The relative X-ray luminosity of G65.3+5.7 to C IV luminosity is considerably lower than those of the Cygnus Loop and the Vela SNRs. This implies that G65.3+5.7 has almost evolved into the radiative stage in the global sense and supports the previous proposal that G65.3+5.7 has lost its bright X-ray shell and become a member of mixed-morphology SNRs as it has evolved beyond the adiabatic stage.
The standing quasi-modes of the ideal MHD in a zero-$\beta$ cylindrical magnetic flux tube that undergoes a longitudinal density stratification and radial density structuring is considered. The radial structuring is assumed to be a linearly varying density profile. Using the relevant connection formulae of the resonant absorption, the dispersion relation for the fast MHD body waves is derived and solved numerically to obtain both the frequencies and damping rates of the fundamental and first-overtone, $k=1,2$ modes of both the kink ($m=1$), and fluting ($m=2$) waves. Where $k$ and $m$ are the longitudinal and azimuthal mode numbers, respectively.
We present an analysis of observations of the doubly-lensed double hotspot in the giant radio galaxy J0816+5003 from MERLIN, MDM, WIYN, WHT, UKIRT and the VLA. The images of the two hotspot components span a factor of two in radius on one side of the lensing galaxy at impact parameters of less than 500pc. Hence we measure the slope of the lensing potential over a large range in radius, made possible by significant improvement in the accuracy of registration of the radio and optical frame and higher resolution imaging data than previously available. We also infer the lens and source redshifts to be 0.332 and > 1 respectively. Purely on the basis of lens modelling, and independently of stellar velocity dispersion measurements, we find the potential to be very close to isothermal.
With the Swift detection of GRB090423 at z = 8.2, it was confirmed that GRBs are now detectable at (significantly) larger redshifts than AGN, and so can indeed be used as probes of the Early Universe. The proposed Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) mission has been designed to detect and promptly measure redshifts and both soft X-ray (0.1 - 10 keV) and simultaneous nUV-nIR (0.3 - 2.3microns) imaging and spectra for GRBs out to redshifts z ~18, which encompasses (or even exceeds) current estimates for Pop III stars that are expected to be massive and possibly GRB sources. Scaling from Swift for the ~10X greater sensitivity of EXIST, more than 100 GRBs at z >=8 may be detected and would provide direct constraints on the formation and evolution of the first stars and galaxies. For GRBs at redshifts z >= 8, with Lyman breaks at greater than 1.12microns, spectra at resolution R = 30 or R = 3000 for afterglows with AB magnitudes brighter than 24 or 20 (respectively) within ~3000sec of trigger will directly probe the Epoch of Reionization, formation of galaxies, and cosmic star formation rate. The proposed EXIST mission can probe these questions, and many others, given its unparalleled combination of sensitivity and spatial-spectral-temporal coverage and resolution. Here we provide an overview of the key science objectives for GRBs as probes of the early Universe and of extreme physics, and the mission plan and technical readiness to bring this to EXIST.
The lateral distribution function (LDF) for coherent electromagnetic radiation from air showers initiated by ultra-high-energy cosmic rays is calculated using a macroscopic description. A new expression is derived to calculate the coherent radio pulse at small distances from the observer. It is shown that for small distances to the shower axis the shape of the electric pulse is determined by the `pancake' function, describing the longitudinal distribution of charged particles within the shower front, while for large distances the pulse is determined by the shower profile. This reflects in a different scaling of the LDF at small and at large distances. As a first application we calculate the LDF for proton- and iron-induced showers and we show that this offers a very sensitive measure to discriminate between these two. We show that due to interference between the geo-magnetic and the charge-excess contributions the intensity pattern of the radiation is not circular symmetric.
We study the evolution of gravitationally recoiled supermassive black holes (BHs) in massive gas-rich galaxies by means of high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations. We find that the presence of a massive gaseous disc allows recoiled BHs to return to the centre on a much shorter timescale than for purely stellar discs. Also, BH accretion and feedback can strongly modify the orbit of recoiled BHs and hence their return timescale, besides affecting the distribution of gas and stars in the galactic centre. However, the dynamical interaction of kicked BHs with the surrounding medium is in general complex and can facilitate both a fast return to the centre as well as a significant delay. The Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton accretion rates of the recoiling BHs in our simulated galaxies are favourably high for the detection of off-centred AGN if kicked within gas-rich discs -- up to a few per cent of the Eddington accretion rate -- and are highly variable on timescales of a few 10^7 yrs. In major merger simulations of gas-rich galaxies, we find that gravitational recoils increase the scatter in the BH mass -- host galaxy relationships compared to simulations without kicks, with the BH mass being more sensitive to recoil kicks than the bulge mass. A generic result of our numerical models is that the clumpy massive discs suggested by recent high-redshift observations, as well as the remnants of gas-rich mergers, exhibit a gravitational potential that falls steeply in the central regions, due to the dissipative concentration of baryons. As a result, supermassive BHs should only rarely be able to escape from massive galaxies at high redshifts, which is the epoch where the bulk of BH recoils is expected to occur.[Abridged]
A conceptual model of resistive magnetic reconnection via a stochastic plasmoid chain is proposed. The global reconnection rate is shown to be independent of the Lundquist number. The distribution of fluxes in the plasmoids is shown to be an inverse square law. It is argued that there is a finite probability of emergence of abnormally large plasmoids, which can disrupt the chain (and may be responsible for observable large abrupt events in solar flares and sawtooth crashes). A criterion for the transition from magnetohydrodynamic to collisionless regime is provided.
We report a set of numerical experiments aimed at addressing the applicability of competitive accretion to explain the high-mass end of the stellar initial mass function in a sheet geometry with shallow gravitational potential, in contrast to most previous simulations which have assumed formation in a cluster gravitational potential. Our flat cloud geometry is motivated by models of molecular cloud formation due to large-scale flows in the interstellar medium. The experiments consisted of SPH simulations of gas accretion onto sink particles formed rapidly from Jeans-unstable dense clumps placed randomly in the finite sheet. These simplifications allow us to study accretion with a minimum of free parameters, and to develop better statistics on the resulting mass spectra. We considered both clumps of equal mass and gaussian distributions of masses, and either uniform or spatially-varying gas densities. In all cases, the sink mass function develops a power law tail at high masses, with $dN/dlog M \propto M^{-\Gamma}$. The accretion rates of individual sinks follow $\dot{M} \propto M^2$ at high masses; this results in a continual flattening of the slope of the mass function towards an asymptotic form $\Gamma \sim 1$ (where the Salpeter slope is $\Gamma = 1.35$). The asymptotic limit is most rapidly reached when starting from a relatively broad distribution of initial sink masses. In general the resulting upper mass slope is correlated with the maximum sink mass; higher sink masses are found in simulations with flatter upper mass slopes. Although these simulations are of a highly idealized situation, the results suggest that competitive accretion may be relevant in a wider variety of environments than previously considered, and in particular that the upper mass distribution may generally evolve towards a limiting value of $\Gamma \sim 1$.
We present X-ray and optical data on the Be/X-ray binary (BeXRB) pulsar IGR J01054-7253 = SXP11.5 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) observations of this source in a large X-ray outburst reveal an 11.483 +/- 0.002s pulse period and show both the accretion driven spin-up of the neutron star and the motion of the neutron star around the companion through Doppler shifting of the spin period. Model fits to these data suggest an orbital period of 36.3 +/- 0.4d and Pdot of (4.7 +/- 0.3) x 10^{-10} ss^{-1}. We present an orbital solution for this system, making it one of the best described BeXRB systems in the SMC. The observed pulse period, spin-up and X-ray luminosity of SXP11.5 in this outburst are found to agree with the predictions of neutron star accretion theory. Timing analysis of the long-term optical light curve reveals a periodicity of 36.70 +/- 0.03d, in agreement with the orbital period found from the model fit to the X-ray data. Using blue-end spectroscopic observations we determine the spectral type of the counterpart to be O9.5-B0 IV-V. This luminosity class is supported by the observed V-band magnitude. Using optical and near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy, we study the circumstellar environment of the counterpart in the months after the X-ray outburst.
Eddington outflows probably regulate the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBH) in AGN. I show that effect of the Rayleigh--Taylor instability on these outflows means that SMBH masses are likely to be a factor of a few below the $M - \sigma$ relation in AGN. This agrees with the suggestion by Batcheldor (2010) that the $M - \sigma$ relation defines an upper limit to the black hole mass. I further argue that observed AGN black holes must spend much of their lives accreting at the Eddington rate. This is already suggested by the low observed AGN fraction amongst all galaxies despite the need to grow to the masses required by the Soltan relation, and is reinforced by the suggested low SMBH masses. Most importantly, this is the simplest explanation of the recent discovery by Tombesi et al (2010a, b) of the widespread incidence of massive ultrafast X--ray outflows in a large sample of AGN.
Flux dependent non-linearity (reciprocity failure) in HgCdTe NIR detectors with 1.7 micron cut-off was investigated. A dedicated test station was designed and built to measure reciprocity failure over the full dynamic range of near infrared detectors. For flux levels between 1 and 100,000 photons/sec a limiting sensitivity to reciprocity failure of 0.3%/decade was achieved. First measurements on several engineering grade 1.7 micron cut-off HgCdTe detectors show a wide range of reciprocity failure, from less than 0.5%/decade to about 10%/decade. For at least two of the tested detectors, significant spatial variation in the effect was observed. No indication for wavelength dependency was found. The origin of reciprocity failure is currently not well understood. In this paper we present details of our experimental set-up and show the results of measurements for several detectors.
We report on the findings of a 364 ksec observation of the BL LAC object Mrk 421 with the X-ray observatory Suzaku. The analysis in this paper uses fluxes and hardness ratios in the broad energy range from 0.5 keV to 30 keV. During the course of the observation, the 0.5 keV - 30 keV flux decreased by a factor of $\sim$2 and was accompanied by several large flares occurring on timescales of a few hours. We find that fitting a broken power model to spectra from isolated epochs during the observation describes the data well. Different flares exhibit different spectral and hardness ratio evolutions. The cumulative observational evidence indicates that the particle acceleration mechanism in the Mrk 421 jet produces electron energy distributions with a modest range of spectral indices and maximum energies. We argue that the short-timescale X-ray spectral variability in the flares can be attributed mostly to intrinsic changes in the acceleration process, dominating other influences such as fluctuations in the Doppler beaming factor, or radiative cooling in or outside the acceleration zone.
In this paper, we explore the parameter space of hilltop supernatural inflation model and show the regime within which there is no gravitino problem even if we consider both thermal and nonthermal production mechanisms. We make plots for the allowed reheating temperature as a function of gravitino mass by constraints from big-bang nucleosynthesis. We also plot the constraint when gravitino is assumed to be stable and plays the role of dark matter.
We continue to introduce bi-galileon theory, the generalisation of the single galileon model introduced by Nicolis et al. The theory contains two coupled scalar fields and is described by a Lagrangian that is invariant under Galilean shifts in those fields. This paper is the second of two, and focuses on the phenomenology of the theory. We are particularly interesting in models that admit solutions that are asymptotically self accelerating or asymptotically self tuning. In contrast to the single galileon theories, we find examples of self accelerating models that are simultaneously free from ghosts, tachyons and tadpoles, able to pass solar system constraints through Vainshtein screening, and do not suffer from problems with superluminality, Cerenkov emission or strong coupling. We also find self tuning models and discuss how Weinberg's no go theorem is evaded by breaking Poincar\'e invariance in the scalar sector. Whereas the galileon description is valid all the way down to solar system scales for the self-accelerating models, unfortunately the same cannot be said for self tuning models owing to the scalars backreacting strongly on to the geometry.
An axisymmetric collapse of non-rotating gravitational waves is numerically investigated in the subcritical regime where no black holes form but where curvature attains a maximum and decreases, following the dispersion of the initial wave packet. We find that near the threshold for black hole formation a curvature invariant with dimensions of length, scales as a power-law with the approximate exponent 0.38. In addition, the variation of the curvature in the critical limit is accompanied by increasing amount of echos, with nearly equal temporal and spatial periods. The scaling and the echoing patterns, and the corresponding constants are independent of the initial data and coordinate choices.
An electron-impact ion source based on photoelectron emission was developed for ionization of gases at pressures below 1e-4 mbar in an axial magnetic field in the order of 5 T. The ion source applies only DC fields, which makes it suitable for use in the presence of RF-sensitive equipment. The ion source was succesfully tested under varying conditions regarding pressure, magnetic field and magnetic-field gradient, and the results were studied with the help of simulations. The processes in the ion source are well understood and possibilities for further optimization of generated ion currents are clarified.
We describe simple models of chaotic inflation which appear in the context of the superconformal approach to supergravity. One of these models describes a field minimally coupled to gravity, with the standard symmetry breaking potential \lambda^2 (\phi^2-v^2)^2. Depending on the value of v and on initial conditions for inflation, the spectral index n_s may take any value from 0.97 to 0.93, and the tensor-to-scalar ratio r may span the interval form 0.3 to 0.01. Another model has a quadratic potential m^2\phi^2/2. The mechanism of moduli stabilization used in these models allows to improve and generalize several previously considered models of chaotic inflation in supergravity. We further generalize these models by adding a nonminimal coupling of the inflaton field to gravity.
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