The Kepler Mission is searching for Earth-size planets orbiting solar-like stars by simultaneously observing >160,000 stars to detect sequences of transit events in the photometric light curves. The Combined Differential Photometric Precision (CDPP) is the metric that defines the ease with which these weak terrestrial transit signatures can be detected. An understanding of CDPP is invaluable for evaluating the completeness of the Kepler survey and inferring the underlying planet population. This paper describes how the Kepler CDPP is calculated, and introduces tables of rms CDPP on a per-target basis for 3-, 6-, and 12-hour transit durations, which are now available for all Kepler observations. Quarter 3 is the first typical set of observations at the nominal length and completeness for a quarter, from 2009 September 18 to 2009 December 16, and we examine the properties of the rms CDPP distribution for this data set. Finally, we describe how to employ CDPP to calculate target completeness, an important use case.
Characterization of the properties of young brown dwarfs are important to constraining the formation of objects at the extreme low-mass end of the IMF. While young brown dwarfs share many properties with solar-mass T Tauri stars, differences may be used as tests of how the physics of accretion/outflow and disk chemistry/dissipation depend on the mass of the central object. This article summarizes the presentations and discussions during the splinter session on 'Disks, accretion and outflows of brown dwarfs' held at the CoolStars17 conference in Barcelona in June 2012. Recent results in the field of brown dwarf disks and outflows include the determination of brown dwarf disk masses and geometries based on Herschel far-IR photometry (70-160 um), accretion properties based on X-Shooter spectra, and new outflow detections in the very low-mass regime.
This is the first in a series of papers in which we measure accurate weak-lensing masses for 51 of the most X-ray luminous galaxy clusters known at redshifts 0.15<z<0.7, in order to calibrate X-ray and other mass proxies for cosmological cluster experiments. The primary aim is to improve the absolute mass calibration of cluster observables, currently the dominant systematic uncertainty for cluster count experiments. Key elements of this work are the rigorous quantification of systematic uncertainties, high-quality data reduction and photometric calibration, and the "blind" nature of the analysis to avoid confirmation bias. Our target clusters are drawn from RASS X-ray catalogs, and provide a versatile calibration sample for many aspects of cluster cosmology. We have acquired wide-field, high-quality imaging using the Subaru and CFHT telescopes for all 51 clusters, in at least three bands per cluster. For a subset of 27 clusters, we have data in at least five bands, allowing accurate photo-z estimates of lensed galaxies. In this paper, we describe the cluster sample and observations, and detail the processing of the SuprimeCam data to yield high-quality images suitable for robust weak-lensing shape measurements and precision photometry. For each cluster, we present wide-field color optical images and maps of the weak-lensing mass distribution, the optical light distribution, and the X-ray emission, providing insights into the large-scale structure in which the clusters are embedded. We measure the offsets between X-ray centroids and Brightest Cluster Galaxies in the clusters, finding these to be small in general, with a median of 20kpc. For offsets <100kpc, weak-lensing mass measurements centered on the BCGs agree well with values determined relative to the X-ray centroids; miscentering is therefore not a significant source of systematic uncertainty for our mass measurements. [abridged]
Discovered in October 2010 by the LINEAR survey, P/2010 TO20 LINEAR-Grauer (LG) was initially classified as an inert Jupiter Trojan. Subsequent observations obtained in October 2011 revealed LG to be a Jupiter-family comet. LG has one of the largest perihelia (q=5.1 AU) and lowest eccentricities (e=0.09) of the known JFCs. We report on observations of LG taken on 29 October 2011 and numerical simulations of its orbital evolution. Analysis of our data reveals that LG has a small nucleus (<3 km in radius) with broadband colours (B-R=0.99\pm0.06 mag, V-R=0.47\pm0.06 mag) typical of JFCs. We find a model dependent mass-loss rate close to 100 kg/s, most likely powered by water-ice sublimation. Our numerical simulation indicate that the orbit of LG is unstable on very short (10 to 100 year) timescales and suggest this object has recently evolved into its current location from a more distant, Centaur-type orbit. The orbit, dynamics and activity of LG share similarities with the well known case of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1.
We present a Herschel far-infrared study towards the rich massive star- forming complex G305, utilising PACS 70, 160 {\mu}m and SPIRE 250, 350, and 500 {\mu}m observations from the Hi-GAL survey of the Galactic plane. The focus of this study is to identify the embedded massive star-forming population within G305, by combining far-infrared data with radio continuum, H2O maser, methanol maser, MIPS, and Red MSX Source survey data available from previous studies. By applying a frequentist technique we are able to identify a sample of the most likely associations within our multi-wavelength dataset, that can then be identified from the derived properties obtained from fitted spectral energy distributions (SEDs). By SED modelling using both a simple modified blackbody and fitting to a comprehensive grid of model SEDs, some 16 candidate associations are identified as embedded massive star-forming regions. We derive a two-selection colour criterion from this sample of log(F70/F500)\geq 1 and log(F160/F350)\geq 1.6 to identify an additional 31 embedded massive star candidates with no associated star-formation tracers. Using this result we can build a picture of the present day star-formation of the complex, and by extrapolating an initial mass function, suggest a current population of \approx 2 \times 10^4 young stellar objects (YSOs) present, corresponding to a star formation rate (SFR) of 0.01-0.02 M\odot yr^-1. Comparing this resolved star formation rate, to extragalactic star formation rate tracers (based on the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation), we find the star formation activity is underestimated by a factor of \geq 2 in comparison to the SFR derived from the YSO population.
We study the cosmology of Galileon modified gravity models in the linear perturbation regime. We derive the fully covariant and gauge invariant perturbed field equations using two different methods, which give consistent results, and solve them using a modified version of the {\tt CAMB} code. We find that, in addition to modifying the background expansion history and therefore shifting the positions of the acoustic peaks in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum, the Galileon field can cluster strongly from early times, and causes the Weyl gravitational potential to grow, rather than decay, at late times. This leaves clear signatures in the low-$l$ CMB power spectrum through the modified integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect, strongly enhances the linear growth of matter density perturbations and makes distinctive predictions for other cosmological signals such as weak lensing and the power spectrum of density fluctuations. The quasi-static approximation is shown to work quite well from small to the near-horizon scales. We demonstrate that Galileon models display a rich phenomenology due to the large parameter space and the sensitive dependence of the model predictions on the Galileon parameters. Our results show that some Galileon models are already ruled out by present data and that future higher significance galaxy clustering, ISW and lensing measurements will place strong constraints on Galileon gravity.
We present improved methods for using stars found in astronomical exposures to calibrate both star and galaxy colors as well as to adjust the instrument flat field. By developing a spectroscopic model for the SDSS stellar locus in color-color space, synthesizing an expected stellar locus, and simultaneously solving for all unknown zeropoints when fitting to the instrumental locus, we increase the calibration accuracy of stellar locus matching. We also use a new combined technique to estimate improved flat-field models for the Subaru SuprimeCam camera, forming `star flats' based on the magnitudes of stars observed in multiple positions or through comparison with available SDSS magnitudes. These techniques yield galaxy magnitudes with reliable color calibration (< 0.01 - 0.02 mag accuracy) that enable us to estimate photometric redshift probability distributions without spectroscopic training samples. We test the accuracy of our photometric redshifts using spectroscopic redshifts z_s for ~5000 galaxies in 27 cluster fields with at least five bands of photometry, as well as galaxies in the COSMOS field, finding {\sigma}((z_p - z_s)/(1 + z_s)) ~ 0.03 for the most probable redshift z_p. We show that the full posterior probability distributions for the redshifts of galaxies with five-band photometry exhibit good agreement with redshifts estimated from thirty-band photometry in the COSMOS field. The growth of shear with increasing distance behind each galaxy cluster shows the expected redshift-distance relation for a flat {\Lambda}-CDM cosmology. Photometric redshifts and calibrated colors are used in subsequent papers to measure the masses of 51 galaxy clusters from their weak gravitational shear. We make our Python code for stellar locus matching available at this http URL; the code requires only a catalog and filter functions.
We present a full Bayesian algorithm designed to perform automated searches of the parameter space of caustic-crossing binary-lens microlensing events. This builds on previous work implementing priors derived from Galactic models and geometrical considerations. The geometrical structure of the priors divides the parameter space into well-defined boxes that we explore with multiple Monte Carlo Markov Chains. We outline our Bayesian framework and test our automated search scheme using two data sets: a synthetic lightcurve, and the observations of OGLE-2007-BLG-472 that we analysed in previous work. For the synthetic data, we recover the input parameters. For OGLE-2007-BLG-472 we find that while \chi^2 is minimised for a planetary mass-ratio model with extremely long timescale, the introduction of priors and minimisation of BIC, rather than \chi^2, favours a more plausible lens model, a binary star with components of 0.78 and 0.11 M_Sun at a distance of 6.3 kpc, compared to our previous result of 1.50 and 0.12 M_Sun at a distance of 1 kpc.
We report weak-lensing masses for 51 of the most X-ray luminous galaxy clusters known. This cluster sample, introduced earlier in this series of papers, spans redshifts 0.15 < z_cl < 0.7, and is well suited to calibrate mass proxies for current cluster cosmology experiments. Cluster masses are measured with a standard `color-cut' lensing method from three-filter photometry of each field. Additionally, for 27 cluster fields with at least five-filter photometry, we measure high-accuracy masses using a new method that exploits all information available in the photometric redshift posterior probability distributions of individual galaxies. Using simulations based on the COSMOS-30 catalog, we demonstrate control of systematic biases in the mean mass of the sample with this method, from photometric redshift biases and associated uncertainties, to better than 3%. In contrast, we show that the use of single-point estimators in place of the full photometric redshift posterior distributions can lead to significant redshift-dependent biases on cluster masses. The performance of our new photometric redshift-based method allows us to calibrate `color-cut` masses for all 51 clusters in the present sample to a total systematic uncertainty of ~7% on the mean mass, a level sufficient to significantly improve current cosmology constraints from galaxy clusters. Our results bode well for future cosmological studies of clusters, potentially reducing the need for exhaustive spectroscopic calibration surveys as compared to other techniques, when deep, multi-filter optical and near-IR imaging surveys are coupled with robust photometric redshift methods.
The Canadian Cluster Comparison Project is a comprehensive multi-wavelength survey targeting 50 massive X-ray selected clusters of galaxies to examine baryonic tracers of cluster mass and to probe the cluster-to-cluster variation in the thermal properties of the hot intracluster medium. In this paper we present the weak lensing masses, based on the analysis of deep wide-field imaging data obtained using the Canada-France-Hawaii-Telescope. The final sample includes two additional clusters that were located in the field-of-view. We take these masses as our reference for the comparison of cluster properties at other wavelengths. In this paper we limit the comparison to published measurements of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. We find that this signal correlates well with the projected lensing mass, with an intrinsic scatter of 12\pm5% at ~r_2500, demonstrating it is an excellent proxy for cluster mass.
We present one of the most ultraviolet (UV) luminous Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) (J1432+3358) at z=2.78, discovered in the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey (NDWFS) Bootes field. The R-band magnitude of J1432+3358 is 22.29 AB, more than two magnitudes brighter than typical L* LBGs at this redshift. The deep z-band image reveals two components of J1432+3358 separated by 1.0" with flux ratio of 3:1. The high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) rest-frame UV spectrum shows Lya emission line and interstellar medium absorption lines. The absence of NV and CIV emission lines, the non-detection in X-ray and radio wavelengths and mid-infrared (MIR) colors indicate no or weak active galactic nuclei (AGN) (<10%) in this galaxy. The galaxy shows broader line profile with the full width half maximum (FWHM) of about 1000 km/s and larger outflow velocity (~500 km/s) than those of typical z~3 LBGs. The physical properties are derived by fitting the spectral energy distribution (SED) with stellar synthesis models. The dust extinction, E(B-V)=0.12, is similar to that in normal LBGs. The star formation rates (SFRs) derived from the SED fitting and the dust-corrected UV flux are consistent with each other, ~300 Msun/yr, and the stellar mass is 1.3e11 Msun. The SFR and stellar mass in J1432+3358 are about an order of magnitude higher than those in normal LBGs. The SED-fitting results support that J1432+3358 has a continuous star formation history with the star formation episode of 630 Myr. The morphology of J1432+3358 and its physical properties suggest that J1432+3358 is in an early phase of 3:1 merger process. The unique properties and the low space number density (~1e-7 Mpc^{-3})are consistent with the interpretation that such galaxies are either found in a short unobscured phase of the star formation or that small fraction of intensive star-forming galaxies are unobscured.
The prospects for accomplishing x-ray polarization measurements of astronomical sources have grown in recent years, after a hiatus of more than 37 years. Unfortunately, accompanying this long hiatus has been some confusion over the statistical uncertainties associated with x-ray polarization measurements of these sources. We have initiated a program to perform the detailed calculations that will offer insights into the uncertainties associated with x-ray polarization measurements. Here we describe a mathematical formalism for determining the 1- and 2-parameter errors in the magnitude and position angle of x-ray (linear) polarization in the presence of a (polarized or unpolarized) background. We further review relevant statistics-including clearly distinguishing between the Minimum Detectable Polarization (MDP) and the accuracy of a polarization measurement.
Over the past 13 years, the Chandra X-ray Observatory's ability to provide high resolution X-ray images and spectra have established it as one of the most versatile and powerful tools for astrophysical research in the 21st century. Chandra explores the hot, x-ray-emitting regions of the universe, observing sources with fluxes spanning more than 10 orders of magnitude, from the X-ray brightest, Sco X-1, to the faintest sources in the Chandra Deep Field South survey. Thanks to its continuing operational life, the Chandra mission now also provides a long observing baseline which, in and of itself, is opening new research opportunities. In addition, observations in the past few years have deepened our understanding of the co-evolution of supermassive black holes and galaxies, the details of black hole accretion, the nature of dark energy and dark matter, the details of supernovae and their progenitors, the interiors of neutron stars, the evolution of massive stars, and the high-energy environment of protoplanetary nebulae and even the interaction of an exo-planet with its star. Here we update the technical status, highlight some of the scientific results, and very briefly discuss future prospects. We fully expect that the Observatory will continue to provide outstanding scientific results for many years to come.
A catalog of common-proper-motion (CPM) companions to stars within 67 pc of the Sun is constructed based on the SUPERBLINK proper-motion survey. It contains 1392 CPM pairs with angular separations 30" < \rho < 1800", relative proper motion between the two components less than 25 mas/yr, magnitudes and colors of the secondaries consistent with those of dwarfs in the (M_V,V-J) diagram. In addition, we list 21 candidate white-dwarf CPM companions with separations under 300", about half of which should be physical. We estimate a 0.31 fraction of pairs with red-dwarf companions to be physical systems (about 425 objects), while the rest (mostly wide pairs) are chance alignments. For each candidate companion, the probability of a physical association is evaluated. The distribution of projected separations s of the physical pairs between 2 kAU and 64 kAU follows f(s) ~ s^{-1.5}, which decreases faster than \"Opik's law. We find that Solar-mass dwarfs have no less than 4.4% +/- 0.3% companions with separations larger than 2 kAU, or 3.8% +/- 0.3% per decade of orbital separation in the 2 to 16 kAU range. The distribution of mass ratio of those wide companions is approximately uniform in the 0.1<q<1.0 range, although we observe a dip at q=0.5 which, if confirmed, could be evidence of bimodal distribution of companion masses. New physical CPM companions to two exoplanet host stars are discovered.
The BICEP2 and Keck Array experiments are designed to measure the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on angular scales of 2-4 degrees (l=50-100). This is the region in which the B-mode signal, a signature prediction of cosmic inflation, is expected to peak. BICEP2 was deployed to the South Pole at the end of 2009 and is in the middle of its third year of observing with 500 polarization-sensitive detectors at 150 GHz. The Keck Array was deployed to the South Pole at the end of 2010, initially with three receivers--each similar to BICEP2. An additional two receivers have been added during the 2011-12 summer. We give an overview of the two experiments, report on substantial gains in the sensitivity of the two experiments after post-deployment optimization, and show preliminary maps of CMB polarization from BICEP2.
It is recently noted that solar eruptions can be associated with the contraction of coronal loops that are not involved in magnetic reconnection processes. In this paper, we investigate five coronal eruptions originating from four sigmoidal active regions, using high-cadence, high-resolution narrowband EUV images obtained by the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO}). The magnitudes of the flares associated with the eruptions range from the GOES-class B to X. Owing to the high-sensitivity and broad temperature coverage of the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard SDO, we are able to identify both the contracting and erupting components of the eruptions: the former is observed in cold AIA channels as the contracting coronal loops overlying the elbows of the sigmoid, and the latter is preferentially observed in warm/hot AIA channels as an expanding bubble originating from the center of the sigmoid. The initiation of eruption always precedes the contraction, and in the energetically mild events (B and C flares), it also precedes the increase in GOES soft X-ray fluxes. In the more energetic events, the eruption is simultaneous with the impulsive phase of the nonthermal hard X-ray emission. These observations confirm the loop contraction as an integrated process in eruptions with partially opened arcades. The consequence of contraction is a new equilibrium with reduced magnetic energy, as the contracting loops never regain their original positions. The contracting process is a direct consequence of flare energy release, as evidenced by the strong correlation of the maximal contracting speed, and strong anti-correlation of the time delay of contraction relative to expansion, with the peak soft X-ray flux. This is also implied by the relationship between contraction and expansion, i.e., their timing and speed.
Precise subtraction of foreground sources is crucial for detecting and estimating 21cm HI signals from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR). We quantify how imperfect point source subtraction due to limitations of the measurement dataset yields structured residual signal in the dataset. We use the Cramer-Rao lower bound, as a metric for quantifying the precision with which a parameter may be measured, to estimate the residual signal in a visibility dataset due to imperfect point source subtraction. We then propagate these residuals into two metrics of interest for 21cm EoR experiments - the angular and two-dimensional power spectrum - using a combination of full analytic covariant derivation, analytic variant derivation, and covariant Monte Carlo simulations. This methodology differs from previous work in two ways: (1) it uses information theory to set the point source position error, rather than assuming a global root-mean-square error, and (2) it describes a method for propagating the errors analytically, thereby obtaining the full correlation structure of the power spectra. The methods are applied to two upcoming low-frequency instruments: the Murchison Widefield Array and the Precision Array for Probing the Epoch of Reionization. In addition to the actual antenna configurations, we apply the methods to minimally-redundant and maximally-redundant configurations. We find that for peeling sources above 1 Jy, the amplitude of the residual signal, and its variance, will be smaller than the contribution from thermal noise for the observing parameters proposed for upcoming EoR experiments, and that optimal subtraction of bright point sources will not be a limiting factor for EoR parameter estimation. We then use the formalism to provide an ab initio analytic derivation motivating the 'wedge' feature in the two-dimensional power spectrum, complementing previous discussion in the literature.
A new type of solar neutron detector (FIB) was launched onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on July 16, 2009, and it began collecting data at the International Space Station (ISS) on August 25, 2009. This paper summarizes the observations obtained by the FIB until the end of July 2012. The FIB sensor can determine both the energy and arrival direction of neutrons. We measured the energy spectra of background neutrons over the SAA region and other regions, and found the typical trigger rates to be 1.7 Hz and 0.047 Hz, respectively. It is possible to identify solar neutrons under the level of 0.003 Hz, provided that directional information is applied. Solar neutrons were observed in association with the M-class solar flares that occurred on March 7 (M3.7) and June 7 (M2.5) of 2011. This marked the first time that neutrons were observed in M-class solar flares. Together with our data, many interesting reports were prepared on the same flares, including the precipitation of plasma bubbles, long-lasting gamma ray emissions, and observation of the start of a coronal mass ejection (CME). Such new data will certainly provide us with new aspects of solar physics. The FIB detector onboard the ISS had observed three more solar neutron events in association with the solar flare events on Sep. 24, 2011 (M3.0), Nov. 30, 2011 (X1.9), and Jan. 23, 2012 (M8.7).
We explore the generation of large-scale magnetic fields from inflation in teleparallelism, in which the gravitational theory is described by the torsion scalar instead of the scalar curvature in general relativity. In particular, we examine the case that the conformal invariance of the electromagnetic field during inflation is broken by a non-minimal gravitational coupling between the torsion scalar and the electromagnetic field. It is shown that for a power-law type coupling, the magnetic field on 1Mpc scale with its strength of $\sim 10^{-9}$G at the present time can be generated.
We present an analysis of the galaxy population of the intermediate X-ray luminosity galaxy cluster, Abell 1691, from SDSS and Galaxy Zoo data to elucidate the relationships between environment and galaxy stellar mass for a variety of observationally important cluster populations that include the Butcher-Oemler blue fraction, the active galactic nucleus (AGN) fraction and other spectroscopic classifications of galaxies. From 342 cluster members, we determine a cluster recession velocity of 21257+/-54 km/s and velocity dispersion of 1009^+40_-36 km/s and show that although the cluster is fed by multiple filaments of galaxies it does not possess significant sub-structure in its core. We identify the AGN population of the cluster from a BPT diagram and show that there is a mild increase in the AGN fraction with radius from the cluster centre that appears mainly driven by high mass galaxies (log(stellar mass)>10.8). Although the cluster blue fraction follows the same radial trend, it is caused primarily by lower mass galaxies (log(stellar mass)<10.8). Significantly, the galaxies that have undergone recent star-bursts or are presently star-bursting but dust-shrouded (spectroscopic e(a) class galaxies) are also nearly exclusively driven by low mass galaxies. We therefore suggest that the Butcher-Oemler effect may be a mass-dependant effect. We also examine red and passive spiral galaxies and show that the majority are massive galaxies, much like the rest of the red and spectroscopically passive cluster population. We further demonstrate that the velocity dispersion profiles of low and high mass cluster galaxies are different. Taken together, we infer that the duty cycle of high and low mass cluster galaxies are markedly different, with a significant departure in star formation and specific star formation rates observed beyond r_200 and we discuss these findings.
We attempt to achieve a better understanding of the gas distribution and velocity field around the deeply embedded Class 0 protostar SMM 3 in the Orion B9 star-forming region. Using the APEX 12-m telescope, we mapped the line emission from the J=2-1 rotational transition of two CO isotopologues, 13CO and C18O, over a 4' x 4' region around Orion B9/SMM 3. Both the 13CO and C18O lines exhibit two well separated velocity components at about 1.3 and 8.7 km/s. The emission of both CO isotopologues is more widely distributed than the submillimetre dust continuum emission as probed by LABOCA. The LABOCA 870-micron peak position of SMM 3 is devoid of strong CO isotopologue emission, which is consistent with our earlier detection of strong CO depletion in the source. No signatures of a large-scale outflow were found towards SMM 3. The 13CO and C18O emission seen at ~1.3 km/s is concentrated into a single clump-like feature at the eastern part of the map. The peak H2 column density towards a C18O maximum of the low-velocity component is estimated to be ~10^22 cm-2. A velocity gradient was found across both the 13CO and C18O maps. Interestingly, SMM 3 lies on the border of this velocity gradient. The 13CO and C18O emission at ~1.3 km/s is likely to originate from the "low-velocity part" of Orion B. Our analysis suggests that it contains high density gas, which conforms to our earlier detection of deuterated species at similarly low radial velocities. The sharp velocity gradient in the region might represent a shock front resulting from the feedback from the nearby expanding HII region NGC 2024. The formation of SMM 3, and possibly of the other members of Orion B9, might have been triggered by this feedback.
Observations of radio halos and relics in galaxy clusters indicate efficient electron acceleration. Protons should likewise be accelerated, suggesting that clusters may also be sources of very high-energy (VHE; E>100 GeV) gamma-ray emission. We report here on VHE gamma-ray observations of the Coma galaxy cluster with the VERITAS array of imaging Cherenkov telescopes, with complementing Fermi-LAT observations at GeV energies. No significant gamma-ray emission from the Coma cluster was detected. Integral flux upper limits at the 99% confidence level were measured to be on the order of (2-5)*10^-8\ ph. m^-2 s^-1 (VERITAS, >220 GeV} and ~2*10^-6 ph. m^-2 s^-1 (Fermi, 1-3 GeV), respectively. We use the gamma-ray upper limits to constrain CRs and magnetic fields in Coma. Using an analytical approach, the CR-to-thermal pressure ratio is constrained to be < 16% from VERITAS data and < 1.7% from Fermi data (averaged within the virial radius). These upper limits are starting to constrain the CR physics in self-consistent cosmological cluster simulations and cap the maximum CR acceleration efficiency at structure formation shocks to be <50%. Assuming that the radio-emitting electrons of the Coma halo result from hadronic CR interactions, the observations imply a lower limit on the central magnetic field in Coma of (2 - 5.5) muG, depending on the radial magnetic-field profile and on the gamma-ray spectral index. Since these values are below those inferred by Faraday rotation measurements in Coma (for most of the parameter space), this {renders} the hadronic model a very plausible explanation of the Coma radio halo. Finally, since galaxy clusters are dark-matter (DM) dominated, the VERITAS upper limits have been used to place constraints on the thermally-averaged product of the total self-annihilation cross section and the relative velocity of the DM particles, <\sigma v>. (abr.)
We present first results from follow-up of targets in the northern hemisphere Beta Pictoris and AB Doradus moving group candidate list of Schlieder, Lepine, and Simon (2012). We obtained high-resolution, near-infrared spectra of 27 candidate members to measure their radial velocities and confirm consistent group kinematics. We identify 15 candidates with consistent predicted and measured radial velocities, perform analyses of their 6-dimensional (U,V,W,X,Y,Z) Galactic kinematics, and compare to known group member distributions. Based on these analyses, we propose that 7 Beta Pic and 8 AB Dor candidates are likely new group members. Four of the likely new Beta Pic stars are binaries; one a double lined spectroscopic system. Three of the proposed AB Dor stars are binaries. Counting all binary components, we propose 22 likely members of these young, moving groups. The majority of the proposed members are M2 to M5 dwarfs, the earliest being of type K2. We also present preliminary parameters for the two new spectroscopic binaries identified in the data, the proposed Beta Pic member and a rejected Beta Pic candidate. Our candidate selection and follow-up has thus far identified more than 40 low-mass, likely members of these two moving groups. These stars provide a new sample of nearby, young targets for studies of local star formation, disks and exoplanets via direct imaging, and astrophysics in the low-mass regime.
Results of observations of the maser sources toward the W33C region (G12.8-0.2) carried out on the 22-m radio telescope of the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory in the 1.35-cm H2O line and on the Large radio telescope in Nancay (France) in the main (1665 and 1667 MHz) and satellite (1612 and 1720 MHz) OH lines are reported. Multiple, strongly variable short-lived H2O emission features were detected in a broad interval of radial velocities, from -7 to 55 km/s. OH maser emission in the 1667-MHz line was discovered in a velocity range of 35-41 km/s. Stokes parameters of maser emission in the main OH lines 1665 and 1667 MHz were measured. Zeeman splitting was detected in the 1665-MHz line at 33.4 and 39.4 km/s and in the 1667 MHz line only at 39.4 km/s. The magnetic field intensity was estimated. A appreciable variability of Zeeman splitting components was observed at 39 and 39.8 km/s in both main lines. The extended spectrum and fast variability of the H2O maser emission together with the variability of the Zeeman splitting components in the main OH lines can be due to the composite clumpy structure of the molecular cloud and to the presence in it of large-scale rotation and bipolar outflow as well as of turbulent motions of material.
We searched for isolated planetary-mass T-dwarfs in the 3Myr old Serpens Core cluster. We performed a deep imaging survey of the central part of this cluster using the WIRCam camera at the CFHT. Observations were performed through the narrow-band CH4_off and CH4_on filters, to identify young T-dwarfs from their 1.6micr methane absorption bands, and the broad-band JHK filters, to better characterize the selected candidates. We complemented our WIRCam photometry with optical imaging data from MegaCam at CFHT and Suprime-Cam at the Subaru telescope and mid-IR flux measurements from the Spitzer c2d Legacy Survey. We report four faint T-dwarf candidates in the direction of the Serpens Core with CH4_on-CH4_off above 0.2 mag, estimated visual extinction in the range 1-9 mag and spectral type in the range T1-T5 based on their dereddened CH4_on-CH4_off colors. Comparisons with T-dwarf spectral models and optical to mid-IR color-color and color-magnitude diagrams, indicate that two of our candidates (ID1 and 2) are background contaminants (most likely heavily reddened low-redshift quasars). The properties of the other two candidates (ID3 and 4) are consistent with them being young members of the Serpens Core cluster, although our analysis can not be considered conclusive. In particular, ID3 may also be a foreground T-dwarf. It is detected by the Spitzer c2d survey but only flux upper limits are available above 5.8 microns and, hence, we can not assess the presence of a possible disk around this object. However, it presents some similarities with other young T-dwarf candidates (SOri70 in the Sigma Ori cluster and CFHTJ0344+3206 in the direction of IC348). If ID3 and 4 belong to Serpens, they would have a mass of a few Jupiter masses and would be amongst the youngest, lowest mass objects detected in a star-forming region so far.
We present a new measurement of the $\alpha$-spectroscopic factor ($S_\alpha$) and the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC) for the 6.356 MeV 1/2$^+$ subthreshold state of $^{17}$O through the $^{13}$C($^{11}$B, $^{7}$Li)$^{17}$O transfer reaction and we determine the $\alpha$-width of this state. This is believed to have a strong effect on the rate of the $^{13}$C($\alpha$, $n$)$^{16}$O reaction, the main neutron source for {\it slow} neutron captures (the $s$-process) in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Based on the new width we derive the astrophysical S-factor and the stellar rate of the $^{13}$C($\alpha$, $n$)$^{16}$O reaction. At a temperature of 100 MK our rate is roughly two times larger than that by \citet{cau88} and two times smaller than that recommended by the NACRE compilation. We use the new rate and different rates available in the literature as input in simulations of AGB stars to study their influence on the abundances of selected $s$-process elements and isotopic ratios. There are no changes in the final results using the different rates for the $^{13}$C($\alpha$, $n$)$^{16}$O reaction when the $^{13}$C burns completely in radiative conditions. When the $^{13}$C burns in convective conditions, as in stars of initial mass lower than $\sim$2 $M_\sun$ and in post-AGB stars, some changes are to be expected, e.g., of up to 25% for Pb in our models. These variations will have to be carefully analyzed when more accurate stellar mixing models and more precise observational constraints are available.
Using a Newtonian model of the Solar System with all 8 planets, we perform extensive tests on various symplectic integrators of high orders, searching for the best splitting scheme for long term studies in the Solar System. These comparisons are made in Jacobi and Heliocentric coordinates and the implementation of the algorithms is fully detailed for practical use. We conclude that high order integrators should be privileged, with a preference for the new $(10,6,4)$ method of (Blanes et al., 2012)
The clear characteristic timescale picked out by the low frequency
quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) seen in many black hole and neutron star
binaries has the potential to provide a very powerful diagnostic of the inner
regions of the accretion flow. However, this potential cannot be realised
without a quantitative model for the QPO. We have recently shown that the same
truncated disc/hot inner flow geometry which is used to interpret the spectral
transitions can also directly produce the QPO from Lense-Thirring (vertical)
precession of the hot inner flow. This correctly predicts both the frequency
and spectrum of the QPO, and the tight correlation of these properties with the
total spectrum of the source via a changing truncation radius between the disc
and hot flow. This model predicts a unique iron line signature as a vertically
tilted flow illuminates different azimuths of the disc as it precesses. The
iron line arising from this rotating illumination is blue shifted when the flow
irradiates the approaching region of the spinning disc and red shifted when the
flow irradiates the receding region of the disc. This gives rise to a
characteristic rocking of the iron line on the QPO frequency which is a
necessary (and probably sufficient) test of a Lense-Thirring origin. This is
also an independent test of disc truncation models for the low/hard state, as
vertical precession cannot occur if there is a disc in the midplane.
We show that it may be possible to observe this effect using archival data
from the Rossi X-ray timing explorer (RXTE) or XMM Newton. However, a clean
test requires a combination of moderate resolution and good statistics, such as
would be available from a long XMM-Newton observation or with data from the
proposed ESA mission LOFT.
A leading formation scenario for R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars invokes the merger of degenerate He and CO white dwarfs (WD) in a binary. The observed ratio of 16O/18O for RCB stars is in the range of 0.3-20 much smaller than the solar value of ~500. In this paper, we investigate whether such a low ratio can be obtained in simulations of the merger of a CO and a He white dwarf. We present the results of five 3-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the merger of a double white dwarf system where the total mass is 0.9 Mdot and the initial mass ratio (q) varies between 0.5 and 0.99. We identify in simulations with $q\lesssim0.7$ a feature around the merged stars where the temperatures and densities are suitable for forming 18O. However, more 16O is being dredged-up from the C- and O-rich accretor during the merger than the amount of 18O that is produced. Therefore, on a dynamical time scale over which our hydrodynamics simulation runs, a 16O/18O ratio of ~2000 in the "best" case is found. If the conditions found in the hydrodynamic simulations persist for 10^6 seconds the oxygen ratio drops to 16 in one case studied, while in a hundred years it drops to ~4 in another case studied, consistent with the observed values in RCB stars. Therefore, the merger of two white dwarfs remains a strong candidate for the formation of these enigmatic stars.
In continuation of their earlier measurements, the PAMELA group reported data on antiproton flux and $\bar{P}/P$ ratios in 2010 at much higher energies. In past we had dealt with these specific aspects of PAMELA data in great detail and each time we captured the contemporary data-trends quite successfully with the help of a multiple production model of secondary antiprotons with some non-standard ilk and with some other absolutely standard assumptions and approximations. In this work we aim at presenting a comprehensive and valid description of all the available data on antiproton flux and the nature of $\bar{P}/P$ ratios at the highest energies reported so far by the PAMELA experiment in 2010. The main physical implication of all this would, in the end, be highlighted.
During 2010-2011, the Medicina 32-m dish hosted the 7-feed 18-26.5 GHz receiver built for the Sardinia Radio Telescope, with the goal to perform its commissioning. This opportunity was exploited to carry out a pilot survey at 20 GHz over the area for {\delta} > + 72.3{\deg}. This paper describes all the phases of the observations, as they were performed using new hardware and software facilities. The map-making and source extraction procedures are illustrated. A customised data reduction tool was used during the follow-up phase, which produced a list of 73 confirmed sources down to a flux density of 115 mJy. The resulting catalogue, here presented, is complete above 200 mJy. Source counts are in agreement with those provided by the AT20G survey. This pilot activity paves the way to a larger project, the K-band Northern Wide Survey (KNoWS), whose final aim is to survey the whole Northern Hemisphere down to a flux limit of 50 mJy (5{\sigma}).
IRAS 20050+2720 is young star forming region at a distance of 700 pc without apparent high mass stars. We present results of our multiwavelength study of IRAS 20050+2720 which includes observations by Chandra and Spitzer, and 2MASS and UBVRI photometry. In total, about 300 YSOs in different evolutionary stages are found. We characterize the distribution of young stellar objects (YSOs) in this region using a minimum spanning tree (MST) analysis. We newly identify a second cluster core, which consists mostly of class II objects, about 10 arcmin from the center of the cloud. YSOs of earlier evolutionary stages are more clustered than more evolved objects. The X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of IRAS 20050+2720 is roughly lognormal, but steeper than the XLF of the more massive Orion nebula complex. IRAS 20050+2720 shows a lower N_H/A_K ratio compared with the diffuse ISM.
We have undertaken a new ground-based monitoring campaign on the BLRG 3C390.3 to improve the measurement of the size of the BLR and to estimate the black hole mass. Optical spectra and g-band images were observed in 2005 using the 2.4m telescope at MDM Observatory. Integrated emission-line flux variations were measured for Ha, Hb, Hg, and for HeII4686, as well as g-band fluxes and the optical AGN continuum at 5100A. The g-band fluxes and the AGN continuum vary simultaneously within the uncertainties, tau=(0.2+-1.1)days. We find that the emission-line variations are delayed with respect to the variable g-band continuum by tau(Ha)=56.3(+2.4-6.6)days, tau(Hb)=44.3(+3.0_-3.3)days, tau(Hg)=58.1(+4.3-6.1)days, and tau(HeII4686)=22.3(+6.5-3.8)days. The blue and red peak in the double peaked line profiles, as well as the blue and red outer profile wings, vary simultaneously within +-3 days. This provides strong support for gravitationally bound orbital motion of the dominant part of the line emitting gas. Combining the time delay of Ha and Hb and the separation of the blue and red peak in the broad double-peaked profiles in their rms spectra, we determine Mbh_vir=1.77(+0.29-0.31)x10^8Msol and using sigma_line of the rms spectra Mbh_vir=2.60(+0.23-0.31)x10^8Msol for the central black hole of 3C390.3, respectively. Using the inclination angle of the line emitting region the mass of the black hole amounts to Mbh=0.86(+0.19-0.18)x10^9 Msol (peak-separation) and Mbh=1.26(+0.21-0.16)x10^9 Msol (sigma_line), respectively. This result is consistent with the black hole masses indicated by simple accretion disk models to describe the observed double-peaked profiles, derived from the stellar dynamics of 3C390.3, and with the AGN radius-luminosity relation. Thus, 3C390.3 as a radio-loud AGN with a low Eddington ratio, Ledd/Lbol=0.02, follows the same AGN radius-luminosity relation as radio-quiet AGN.
The observed amount of lithium for low metallicity population II stars (known as the Spite plateau) is a factor of $\sim 3-5$ lower than the predictions of the standard cosmology. Since the observations are limited to the local Universe (halo stars, globular clusters and satellites of the Milky Way) it is possible that certain physical processes may have led to the spatial separation of lithium and local reduction of [Li/H]. We study the question of lithium diffusion after the cosmological recombination in sub-Jeans dark matter haloes, taking into account that more than 95% of lithium remains in the singly-ionized state at all times. Large scattering cross sections on the rest of the ionized gas leads to strong coupling of lithium to protons and its initial direction of diffusion coincides with that of H$^+$. In the rest frame of the neutral gas this leads to the diffusion of H$^+$ and Li$^+$ out of overdensities with the trend of reducing [Li/H] in the minima of gravitational wells relative to the primordial value. We quantify this process and argue that, with certain qualifications, it may have played a significant role in creating local lithium deficiency within the primordial dark matter haloes, comparable to those observed along the Spite plateau.
We construct models of universe with a generalized equation of state $p=(\alpha \rho+k\rho^{1+1/n})c^2$ having a linear component and a polytropic component. In this paper, we consider positive indices $n>0$. In that case, the polytropic component dominates in the early universe where the density is high. For $\alpha=1/3$, $n=1$ and $k=-4/(3\rho_P)$, we obtain a model of early universe describing the transition from a pre-radiation era to the radiation era. The universe exists at any time in the past and there is no singularity. However, for $t<0$, its size is less than the Planck length $l_P=1.62 10^{-35} m$. In this model, the universe undergoes an inflationary expansion with the Planck density $\rho_P=5.16 10^{99} g/m^3$ that brings it to a size $a_1=2.61 10^{-6} m$ at $t_1=1.25 10^{-42} s$ (about 20 Planck times $t_P$). For $\alpha=1/3$, $n=1$ and $k=4/(3\rho_P)$, we obtain a model of early universe with a new form of primordial singularity: The universe starts at t=0 with an infinite density and a finite radius $a=a_1$. Actually, this universe becomes physical at a time $t_i=8.32 10^{-45} s$ from which the velocity of sound is less than the speed of light. When $a\gg a_1$, the universe evolves like in the standard model. We describe the transition from the pre-radiation era to the radiation era by analogy with a second order phase transition where the Planck constant $\hbar$ plays the role of finite size effects (the standard Big Bang theory is recovered for $\hbar=0$).
We construct models of universe with a generalized equation of state $p=(\alpha \rho+k\rho^{1+1/n})c^2$ having a linear component and a polytropic component. In this paper, we consider negative indices $n<0$. In that case, the polytropic component dominates in the late universe where the density is low. For $\alpha=0$, $n=-1$ and $k=-\rho_{\Lambda}$, we obtain a model of late universe describing the transition from the matter era to the dark energy era. The universe exists eternally in the future and undergoes an inflationary expansion with the cosmological density $\rho_{\Lambda}=7.02 10^{-24} g/m^3$ on a timescale $t_{\Lambda}=1.46 10^{18} s$. For $\alpha=0$, $n=-1$ and $k=\rho_{\Lambda}$, we obtain a model of cyclic universe appearing and disappearing periodically. If we were living in this universe, it would disappear in about 2.38 billion years. We make the connection between the early and the late universe and propose a simple equation describing the whole evolution of the universe. This leads to a model of universe that is eternal in past and future without singularity (aioniotic universe). This model exhibits a nice "symmetry" between an early and late phase of inflation, the cosmological constant in the late universe playing the same role as the Planck constant in the early universe. The Planck density and the cosmological density represent fundamental upper and lower bounds differing by 122 orders of magnitude. The cosmological constant "problem" may be a false problem. We determine the potential of the scalar field (quintessence, tachyon field) corresponding to the generalized equation of state $p=(\alpha \rho+k\rho^{1+1/n})c^2$. We also propose a unification of pre-radiation, radiation and dark energy through the quadratic equation of state $p/c^2=-4\rho^2/3\rho_P+\rho/3-4\rho_{\Lambda}/3$.
We study statistical properties of stochastic variations in pulse arrival times, timing noise, in radio pulsars using a new analysis method applied in the time domain. The method proceeds in two steps. First, we subtract low-frequency wander using a high-pass filter. Second, we calculate the discrete correlation function of the filtered data. As a complementary method for measuring correlations, we introduce a statistic that measures the dispersion of the data with respect to the data translated in time. The analysis methods presented here are robust and of general usefulness for studying arrival time variations over timescales approaching the average sampling interval. We apply these methods to timing data for 32 pulsars. In two radio pulsars, PSRs B1133+16 and B1933+16, we find that fluctuations in arrival times are correlated over timescales of 10 - 20 d with the distinct signature of a relaxation process. Though this relaxation response could be magnetospheric in origin, we argue that damping between the neutron star crust and interior liquid is a more likely explanation. Under this interpretation, our results provide the first evidence independent from pulsar spin glitches of differential rotation in neutron stars. PSR B0950+08, shows evidence for quasi-periodic oscillations that could be related to mode switching.
The high-energy-peaked BL Lac H 2356-309 (z=0.165) was detected by HESS at very high energies (VHE, >100 GeV) with relatively high significance in the years 2004-2007, allowing a good determination of its gamma-ray spectrum. After correction for the interaction with the diffuse extragalactic background light (EBL), the VHE spectrum is flat (Gamma~1.9-2) over a decade in energy, locating the gamma-ray peak around or above 0.6-1 TeV. This is remarkably at odds with the interpretation and modeling provided by HESS, which do not correspond to the source properties and can be excluded with high confidence. The overall GeV-to-TeV characteristics of H 2356-309 seem intermediate between the "TeV-peaked" (Fermi-faint) and "100 GeV-peaked" (Fermi-bright) BL Lac objects, and difficult to reconcile with the shape of the synchrotron emission in a single-zone SSC scenario.
Fermi-LAT spectra at high energies (HE, 0.1-100 GeV) are often extrapolated to very high energies (VHE, >100 GeV) and considered either a good estimate or an upper limit for the blazars intrinsic VHE spectrum. This assumption seems not well justified, neither theoretically nor observationally. Besides being often softer, observations do indicate that spectra at VHE could be also harder than at HE, even when adopting the limit of Gamma=1.5. Results based on such straightforward GeV-TeV extrapolations are in general not reliable, and should be considered with caution.
GJ 581d is a potentially habitable super-Earth in the multiple system of
exoplanets orbiting a nearby M dwarf. We investigate this planet's long-term
dynamics, with an emphasis on its probable final rotation states acquired via
tidal interaction with the host.
The published radial velocities for the star are re-analysed with a benchmark
planet detection algorithm, to confirm that there is no evidence for the
recently proposed two additional planets (f and g). Limiting the scope to the
four originally detected planets, we assess the dynamical stability of the
system and find bounded chaos in the orbital motion. For the planet d, the
characteristic Lyapunov time is 38 yr. Long-term numerical integration reveals
that the system of four planets is stable, with the eccentricity of the planet
d changing quasi-periodically in a tight range around 0.27, and with its
semimajor axis varying only a little.
The spin-orbit interaction of GJ 581d with its host star is dominated by the
tides exerted by the star on the planet. We model this interaction, assuming a
terrestrial composition of the mantle. Besides the customarily included secular
parts of the triaxiality-caused and tidal torques, we also include these
torques' oscillating components. It turns out that, dependent on the mantle
temperature, the planet gets trapped into the 2:1 or an even higher spin-orbit
resonance. It is very improbable that the planet could have reached the 1:1
resonance. This enhances the possibility of the planet being suitable for
sustained life.
There are thousands of confirmed detections of star forming galaxies at high redshift (z > 4). These observations rely primarily on the detection of the spectral Lyman Break and the Lyman-alpha emission line. Theoretical modelling of these sources helps to interpret the observations in the framework of the standard cosmological paradigm. We present results from the High-z MareNostrum Project, aimed at constructing a panchromatic picture of the high redshift galaxy evolution that will improve our understanding of young star forming galaxies. Our simulation successfully reproduces the observational constraints from Lyman Break Galaxies and Lyman-alpha emitters at 5 < z < 7 . Based on this model we make predictions on the expected Far Infrared (FIR) emission that should be observed for LAEs. These predictions will help to settle down the question on the dust content of massive high-z galaxies, an issue that will be feasible to probe observationally with the Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA).
\mu\ Columbae is a prototypical weak-wind O-star for which we have obtained a high-resolution X-ray spectrum with the Chandra LETG/ACIS-S instrument and a low resolution spectrum with Suzaku. This allows us, for the first time, to investigate the role of X-rays on the wind structure in a bona fide weak-wind system and to determine whether there actually is a massive, hot wind. The X-ray emission measure indicates that the outflow is an order of magnitude greater than that derived from UV lines and is commensurate with the nominal wind-luminosity relationship for O-stars. Therefore, the ``weak-wind problem''---identified from cool wind UV/optical spectra---is largely resolved by accounting for the hot wind seen in X-rays. From X-ray line profiles, Doppler shifts, and relative strengths, we find that this weak-wind star is typical of other late O dwarfs. The X-ray spectra do not suggest a magnetically confined plasma---the spectrum is soft and lines are broadened; Suzaku spectra confirm the lack of emission above 2 keV. Nor do the relative line shifts and widths suggest any wind decoupling by ions. The He-like triplets indicate that the bulk of the X-ray emission is formed rather close to the star, within 5 stellar radii. Our results challenge the idea that some OB stars are ``weak-wind'' stars that deviate from the standard wind-luminosity relationship. The wind is not weak, but it is hot and its bulk is only detectable in X-rays.
Shadows of multi-black holes have structures distinct from the mere superposition of the shadow of a single black hole: the eyebrow-like structures outside the main shadows and the deformation of the shadows. We present analytic estimates of these structures using the static multi-black hole solution (Majumdar-Papapetrou solution). We show that the width of the eyebrow is related with the distance between the black holes and that the shadows are deformed into ellipses due to the presence of the second black holes. These results are helpful to understand qualitatively the features of the shadows of colliding black holes. We also present the shadows of colliding/coalescing black holes in the Kastor-Traschen solution.
We present new splitting methods designed for the numerical integration of near-integrable Hamiltonian systems, and in particular for planetary N-body problems, when one is interested in very accurate results over a large time span. We derive in a systematic way an independent set of necessary and sufficient conditions to be satisfied by the coefficients of splitting methods to achieve a prescribed order of accuracy. Splitting methods satisfying such (generalized) order conditions are appropriate in particular for the numerical simulation of the Solar System described in Jacobi coordinates. We show that, when using Poincar\'e Heliocentric coordinates, the same order of accuracy may be obtained by imposing an additional polynomial equation on the coefficients of the splitting method. We construct several splitting methods for each of the two sets of coordinates by solving the corresponding systems of polynomial equations and finding the optimal solutions. The experiments reported here indicate that the efficiency of our new schemes in both sets of canonical coordinates is similar, and clearly superior to previous integrators when high accuracy is required.
Recently we have studied the Lorentzian version of the IIB matrix model as a nonperturbative formulation of superstring theory. By Monte Carlo simulation, we have shown that the notion of time ---as well as space---emerges dynamically from this model, and that we can uniquely extract the real-time dynamics, which turned out to be rather surprising: after some "critical time", the SO(9) rotational symmetry of the nine-dimensional space is spontaneously broken down to SO(3) and the three-dimensional space starts to expand rapidly. In this paper, we study the same model based on the classical equations of motion, which are expected to be valid at later times. After providing a general prescription to solve the equations, we examine a class of solutions, which correspond to manifestly commutative space. In particular, we find a solution with an expanding behavior that naturally solves the cosmological constant problem.
Under the standard model extension (SME) framework, Lorentz invariance is tested in five binary pulsars: PSR J0737-3039, PSR B1534+12, PSR J1756-2251, PSR B1913+16 and PSR B2127+11C. By analyzing the advance of periastron, we obtain the constraints on a dimensionless combination of SME parameters that is sensitive to timing observations. The results imply no evidence for the break of Lorentz invariance at $10^{-10}$ level, one order of magnitude larger than previous estimation.
It was recently demonstrated that, when coupled to N=1 supergravity, the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) action constructed from a single chiral superfield has the property that when the higher-derivative terms become important, the potential becomes negative. Thus, DBI inflation cannot occur in its most interesting, relativistic regime. In this paper, it is shown how to overcome this problem by coupling the model to one or more additional chiral supermultiplets. In this way, one obtains effective single real scalar field DBI models with arbitrary positive potentials, as well as multiple real scalar field DBI inflation models with hybrid potentials.
The claim of a neutrino velocity different from the speed of the light, made in September 2001 by the Opera experiment, suggested the study of the time delays between TeV underground muons in the Gran Sasso laboratory using the old data of the MACRO experiment, ended in 2000. This study can give also hints on new physics in the particle cascade produced by the interaction of a cosmic ray with the atmosphere.
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Detailed studies of resolved young massive star clusters are necessary to determine their dynamical state and evaluate the importance of gas expulsion and early cluster evolution. In an effort to gain insight into the dynamical state of the young massive cluster R136 and obtain the first measurement of its velocity dispersion, we analyse multi-epoch spectroscopic data of the inner regions of 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) obtained as part of the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. Following a quantitative assessment of the variability, we use the radial velocities of non-variable sources to place an upper limit of 6 km/s on the line-of-sight velocity dispersion of stars within a projected distance of 5 pc from the centre of the cluster. After accounting for the contributions of undetected binaries and measurement errors through Monte Carlo simulations, we conclude that the true velocity dispersion is likely between 4 and 5 km/s given a range of standard assumptions about the binary distribution. This result is consistent with what is expected if the cluster is in virial equilibrium, suggesting that gas expulsion has not altered its dynamics. We find that the velocity dispersion would be ~25 km/s if binaries were not identified and rejected, confirming the importance of the multi-epoch strategy and the risk of interpreting velocity dispersion measurements of unresolved extragalactic young massive clusters.
[abridged] Among the most remarkable features of the stellar population of R136, the central, young, massive star cluster in the 30 Doradus complex of the Large Magellanic Cloud, are the single stars whose masses substantially exceed the canonical stellar upper mass limit of 150 M_sun. A recent study by us, viz., that of Banerjee, Kroupa & Oh (2012; Paper I), which involves realistic N-body computations of star clusters mimicking R136, indicates that such "super-canonical" (SC) stars can be formed out of a dense stellar population with a canonical initial mass function (IMF) through dynamically induced mergers of the most massive binaries. Here we study the formation of SC stars in the R136 models of Paper I in detail. To avoid forming extraneous SC stars from initially highly eccentric primordial binaries as in Paper I, we compute additional models with only initially circular primordial binaries. We also take into account the mass-evolution of the SC stars using detailed stellar evolutionary models that incorporate updated treatments of stellar winds. We find that SC stars begin to form via dynamical mergers of massive binaries from approx. 1 Myr cluster age. We obtain SC stars with initial masses up to approx. 250 M_sun from these computations. Multiple SC stars are found to remain bound to the cluster simultaneously within a SC-lifetime. These properties of the dynamically formed SC stars are consistent with those observed in R136. In fact, the stellar evolutionary models of SC stars imply that had they formed primordially along with the rest of the R136 cluster, i.e., violating the canonical upper limit, they would have evolved below the canonical 150 M_sun limit by approx. 3 Myr, the likely age of R136, and would not have been observable as SC stars at the present time in R136. This strongly supports the dynamical formation scenario of the observed SC stars in R136.
Dark matter particles captured by the Sun through scattering may annihilate and produce neutrinos, which escape. Current searches are for the few high-energy neutrinos produced in the prompt decays of some final states. We show that interactions in the solar medium lead to a large number of pions for nearly all final states. Positive pions and muons decay at rest, producing low-energy neutrinos with known spectra, including nuebar through neutrino mixing. We demonstrate that Super-Kamiokande can thereby provide a new probe of the spin-dependent WIMP-proton cross section. Compared to other methods, the sensitivity is competitive and the uncertainties are complementary.
Very recently, it was pointed out that there exists a population of gamma-ray sources without associations at other wavelengths which exhibit spectral features consistent with mono-energetic lines at energies of approximately 111 and 129 GeV. Given recent evidence of similar gamma-ray lines from the Inner Galaxy, it is tempting to interpret these unassociated sources as nearby dark matter subhalos, powered by ongoing annihilations. In this paper, we study the spectrum, luminosity, and angular distribution of these sources, with the intention of testing the hypothesis that they are, in fact, dark matter subhalos. We find that of the 12 sources containing at least one prospective line photon, only 2 exhibit an overall gamma-ray spectrum which is consistent with that predicted from dark matter annihilations (2FGL J2351.6-7558 and 2FGL J0555.9-4348). After discounting the 10 clearly non-dark matter sources, the statistical significance of the remaining two prospective line photons is negligible. That being said, we cannot rule out the possibility that either or both of these sources are dark matter subhalos; their overall luminosity and galactic latitude distribution are not inconsistent with a dark matter origin.
We present measurements of how multimode fiber focal-ratio degradation (FRD) and throughput vary with levels of fiber surface polish from 60 to 0.5 micron grit. Measurements used full-beam and laser injection methods at wavelengths between 0.4 and 0.8 microns on 17 meter lengths of Polymicro FBP 300 and 400 micron core fiber. Full-beam injection probed input focal-ratios between f/3 and f/13.5, while laser injection allowed us to isolate FRD at discrete injection angles up to 17 degrees (f/1.6 marginal ray). We find (1) FRD effects decrease as grit size decreases, with the largest gains in beam quality occurring at grit sizes above 5 microns; (2) total throughput increases as grit size decreases, reaching 90% at 790 nm with the finest polishing levels; (3) total throughput is higher at redder wavelengths for coarser polishing grit, indicating surface-scattering as the primary source of loss. We also quantify the angular dependence of FRD as a function of polishing level. Our results indicate that a commonly adopted micro-bending model for FRD is a poor descriptor of the observed phenomenon.
Ground-based telescopes equipped with adaptive-optics (AO) systems and specialized science cameras are now capable of directly detecting extrasolar planets. We present the expected scientific capabilities of CHARIS, the Coronagraphic High Angular Resolution Imaging Spectrograph, which is being built for the Subaru 8.2 m telescope of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. CHARIS will be implemented behind the new extreme adaptive optics system at Subaru, SCExAO, and the existing 188-actuator system AO188. CHARIS will offer three observing modes over near-infrared wavelengths from 0.9 to 2.4 microns (the y-, J-, H-, and K-bands), including a low-spectral-resolution mode covering this entire wavelength range and a high-resolution mode within a single band. With these capabilities, CHARIS will offer exceptional sensitivity for discovering giant exoplanets, and will enable detailed characterization of their atmospheres. CHARIS, the only planned high-contrast integral field spectrograph on an 8m-class telescope in the Northern Hemisphere, will complement the similar instruments such as Project 1640 at Palomar, and GPI and SPHERE in Chile.
We present a new and innovative near-infrared multi-band ultraprecise
spectroimager (NIMBUS) for SOFIA. This design is capable of characterizing a
large sample of extrasolar planet atmospheres by measuring elemental and
molecular abundances during primary transit and occultation. This wide-field
spectroimager would also provide new insights into Trans-Neptunian Objects
(TNO), Solar System occultations, brown dwarf atmospheres, carbon chemistry in
globular clusters, chemical gradients in nearby galaxies, and galaxy
photometric redshifts. NIMBUS would be the premier ultraprecise spectroimager
by taking advantage of the SOFIA observatory and state of the art infrared
technologies.
This optical design splits the beam into eight separate spectral bandpasses,
centered around key molecular bands from 1 to 4 microns. Each spectral channel
has a wide field of view for simultaneous observations of a reference star that
can decorrelate time-variable atmospheric and optical assembly effects,
allowing the instrument to achieve ultraprecise calibration for imaging and
photometry for a wide variety of astrophysical sources. NIMBUS produces the
same data products as a low-resolution integral field spectrograph over a large
spectral bandpass, but this design obviates many of the problems that preclude
high-precision measurements with traditional slit and integral field
spectrographs. This instrument concept is currently not funded for development.
Galaxies at z>~6 represent an important evolutionary link between the first galaxies and their modern counterparts. Modeling both the global and internal properties of these recently discovered objects can lead us to understand how they relate to even earlier systems. I show how the balance of cold inflows and momentum-driven super-winds can explain the evolution of the UV mass-to-light ratio from z~6--10. I then describe a model for maintaining hydrostatic equilibrium and marginal Toomre-instability by radiation pressure in dust-free galactic disks. Applying this framework to z~6--8 systems, I show how the internal ISM physics can be constrained by X-rays observations with Chandra.
We present 21 examples of C IV Broad Absorption Line (BAL) trough disappearance in 19 quasars selected from systematic multi-epoch observations of 582 bright BAL quasars (1.9 < z < 4.5) by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-I/II (SDSS-I/II) and SDSS-III. The observations span 1.1-3.9 yr rest-frame timescales, longer than have been sampled in many previous BAL variability studies. On these timescales, ~2.3% of C IV BAL troughs disappear and ~3.3% of BAL quasars show a disappearing trough. These observed frequencies suggest that many C IV BAL absorbers spend on average at most a century along our line of sight to their quasar. Ten of the 19 BAL quasars showing C IV BAL disappearance have apparently transformed from BAL to non-BAL quasars; these are the first reported examples of such transformations. The BAL troughs that disappear tend to be those with small-to-moderate equivalent widths, relatively shallow depths, and high outflow velocities. Other non-disappearing C IV BALs in those nine objects having multiple troughs tend to weaken when one of them disappears, indicating a connection between the disappearing and non-disappearing troughs, even for velocity separations as large as 10000-15000 km/s. We discuss possible origins of this connection including disk-wind rotation and changes in shielding gas.
Complimenting recent work on the effective field theory of cosmological large scale structures, here we present detailed approximate analytical results and further pedagogical understanding of the method. We start from the collisionless Boltzmann equation and integrate out short modes of a dark matter/dark energy dominated universe (LambdaCDM) whose matter is comprised of massive particles as used in cosmological simulations. This establishes a long distance effective fluid, valid for length scales larger than the non-linear scale ~ 10 Mpc, and provides the complete description of large scale structure formation. Extracting the time dependence, we derive recursion relations that encode the perturbative solution. This is exact for the matter dominated era and quite accurate in LambdaCDM also. The effective fluid is characterized by physical parameters, including sound speed and viscosity. These two fluid parameters play a degenerate role with each other and lead to a relative correction from standard perturbation theory of the form ~ 10^{-6}c^2k^2/H^2. Starting from the linear theory, we calculate corrections to cosmological observables, such as the baryon-acoustic-oscillation peak, which we compute semi-analytically at one-loop order. Due to the non-zero fluid parameters, the predictions of the effective field theory agree with observation much more accurately than standard perturbation theory and we explain why. We also discuss corrections from treating dark matter as interacting or wave-like and other issues.
The Keck Array (SPUD) is a set of microwave polarimeters that observes from the South Pole at degree angular scales in search of a signature of Inflation imprinted as B-mode polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The first three Keck Array receivers were deployed during the 2010-2011 Austral summer, followed by two new receivers in the 2011-2012 summer season, completing the full five-receiver array. All five receivers are currently observing at 150 GHz. The Keck Array employs the field-proven BICEP/BICEP2 strategy of using small, cold, on-axis refractive optics, providing excellent control of systematics while maintaining a large field of view. This design allows for full characterization of far-field optical performance using microwave sources on the ground. We describe our efforts to characterize the main beam shape and beam shape mismatch between co-located orthogonally-polarized detector pairs, and discuss the implications of measured differential beam parameters on temperature to polarization leakage in CMB analysis.
X-ray grating spectra provide the confirmation of continued mass loss from
novae in the super-soft source (SSS) phase of the outburst. In this work
expanding nova atmosphere models are developed and used to study the effect of
mass loss on the SSS spectra. The very high temperatures combined with high
expansion velocities and large radial extension make nova in the SSS phase very
interesting but also difficult objects to model.
The radiation transport code PHOENIX was applied to SSS novae before, but
careful analysis of the old results has revealed a number of problems which
lead to new methods and improvements to the code: 1) an improved NLTE module (a
new opacity formalism, rate matrix solver, global iteration scheme, and
temperature correction method); 2) a new hybrid hydrostatic-dynamic nova
atmosphere setup; 3) the models are treated in pure NLTE (no LTE approximation
for any opacity).
With the new framework a modest amount of models (limited by computation
time) are calculated. These show: 1) systematic behaviour for various
atmospheric conditions, 2) the effect of expansion on the model spectrum is
significant, and 3) the spectra are sensitive to the details of the atmospheric
structure. The models are compared to the ten well-exposed grating spectra
presently available: 5x V4743 Sgr, 3x RS Oph, and 2x V2491 Cyg. Although the
models are on a coarse grid they do match the observations surprisingly well.
Also, hydrostatic models are computed. The reproduction of the data is
clearly inferior to the expanding models and, more importantly, their
interpretation with hydrostatic models leads to conclusions opposite to those
from expanding models.
The models enable the derivation of accurate constraints on the physical
conditions deep in the nova atmosphere that are revealed only in the SSS phase.
We investigate guide-field magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in relativistic pair plasmas with three-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of a kinetic-scale current sheet in a periodic geometry at low magnetizations. The tearing instability is the dominant mode in the current sheet for all guide field strengths, while the linear kink mode is less important even without guide field. Oblique modes seem to be suppressed entirely. In its nonlinear evolution, the reconnection layer develops a network of interconnected and interacting magnetic flux ropes. As smaller flux ropes merge into larger ones, the reconnection layer evolves toward a three-dimensional, disordered state in which the resulting flux rope segments contain magnetic substructure on plasma skin depth scales. Embedded in the flux ropes, we detect spatially and temporally intermittent sites of dissipation reflected in peaks in the parallel electric field. Magnetic dissipation and particle acceleration persist until the end of the simulations, with simulations with higher magnetization and lower guide field strength exhibiting greater and faster energy conversion and particle energization. At the end of our largest simulation, the particle energy spectrum attains a tail extending to high Lorentz factors that is best modeled with a combination of two additional thermal components. We confirm that the primary energization mechanism is acceleration by the electric field in the X-line region. We discuss the implications of our results for macroscopic reconnection sites, and which of our results may be expected to hold in systems with higher magnetizations.
The Keck Array (SPUD) began observing the cosmic microwave background's polarization in the winter of 2011 at the South Pole. The Keck Array follows the success of the predecessor experiments Bicep and Bicep2, using five on-axis refracting telescopes. These have a combined imaging array of 2500 antenna-coupled TES bolometers read with a SQUID-based time domain multiplexing system. We will discuss the detector noise and the optimization of the readout. The achieved sensitivity of the Keck Array is 11.5 {\mu}K_(CMB)*sqrt{s} in the 2012 configuration.
There are insufficient super soft (~ 0.1 keV) X-ray sources in either spiral or elliptical galaxies to account for the rate of explosion of Type Ia supernovae in either the single degenerate or the double degenerate scenarios. We quantify the amount of circumstellar matter that would be required to suppress the soft X-ray flux by yielding a column density in excess of 10^{23} cm^{-2}. We summarize evidence that appropriate quantities of matter are extant in SN Ia and in recurrent novae that may be supernova precursors. The obscuring matter is likely to have a large, but not complete, covering factor and to be substantially non-spherically symmetric. Assuming that much of the absorbed X-ray flux is re-radiated as black-body radiation in the UV, we estimate that fewer than 100 sources might be detectable in the GALEX all sky survey.
PreCam, a precursor observational campaign supporting the Dark Energy Survey (DES), is designed to produce a photometric and astrometric catalog of nearly a hundred thousand standard stars within the DES footprint, while the PreCam instrument also serves as a prototype testbed for the Dark Energy Camera (DECam)'s hardware and software. This catalog represents a potential 100-fold increase in Southern Hemisphere photometric standard stars, and therefore will be an important component in the calibration of the Dark Energy Survey. We provide details on the PreCam instrument's design, construction and testing, as well as results from a subset of the 51 nights of PreCam survey observations on the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy's Curtis-Schmidt telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. We briefly describe the preliminary data processing pipeline that has been developed for PreCam data and the preliminary results of the instrument performance, as well as astrometry and photometry of a sample of stars previously included in other southern sky surveys.
Spatially extended emission regions of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) respond to continuum variations, if such emission regions are powered by energy reprocessing of the continuum. The response from different parts of the reverberating region arrives at different times lagging behind the continuum variation. The lags can be used to map the geometry and kinematics of the emission region (i.e., reverberation mapping, RM). If the extended emission region is not spherically symmetric in configuration and velocity space, reverberation may produce astrometric offsets in the emission region photocenter as a function of time delay and velocity, detectable with future micro-arcsec to tens of micro-arcsec astrometry. Such astrometric responses provide independent constraints on the geometric and kinematic structure of the extended emission region, complementary to traditional reverberation mapping. In addition, astrometric RM is more sensitive to infer the inclination of a flattened geometry and the rotation angle of the extended emission region.
Even though the solar wind is highly supersonic, intense ultra-low frequency (ULF) wave activity has been detected in regions just upstream of the bow shocks of magnetized planets. This feature was first observed ahead of the Earth's bow shock, and the corresponding region was called the ULF wave foreshock, which is embedded within the planet's foreshock. The properties as well as the spatial distribution of ULF waves within the Earth's foreshock have been extensively studied over the last three decades and have been explained as a result of plasma instabilities triggered by solar wind ions backstreaming from the bow shock. Since July 2004, the Cassini spacecraft has characterized the Saturnian plasma environment including its upstream region. Since Cassini's Saturn orbit insertion (SOI) in June 2004 through August 2005, we conducted a detailed survey and analysis of observations made by the Vector Helium Magnetometer (VHM). The purpose of the present study is to characterize the properties of waves observed in Saturn's ULF wave foreshock and identify its boundary using single spacecraft techniques. The amplitude of these waves is usually comparable to the mean magnetic field intensity, while their frequencies in the spacecraft frame yields two clearly differentiated types of waves: one with frequencies below the local proton cyclotron frequency (\Omega H+) and another with frequencies above \Omega H+. All the wave crossings described here, clearly show that these waves are associated to Saturn's foreshock. In particular, the presence of waves is associated with the change in \theta Bn to quasi-parallel geometries. Our results show the existence of a clear boundary for Saturn's ULF wave foreshock, compatible with \theta Bn = 45{\deg} surfaces.
We compare calculated intensities of lines of CII, NI, NII, OI and OII with a published deep spectroscopic survey of planetary nebula IC 418. Our calculations use a self-consistent nebular model and a synthetic spectrum of the central star atmosphere to take into account line excitation by continuum fluorescence and electron recombination. We found that the NII spectrum of s, p and most d states is excited by fluorescence due to the low excitation conditions of the nebula. Many CII and OII lines have significant amounts of excitation by fluorescence. Recombination excites all the lines from f and g states and most OII lines. In the neutral-ionized boundary the NI quartet and OI triplet dipole allowed lines are excited by fluorescence, while the quintet OI lines are excited by recombination. Electron excitation produces the forbidden optical lines of OI, and continuum fluorescence enhances the NI forbidden line intensities. Lines excited by fluorescence of light below the Lyman limit thus suggest a new diagnostic to explore the inner boundary of the photodissociation region of the nebula.
We aim to investigate the relation between the long-term flux density and the position angle (PA) evolution of inner-jet in blazars. We have carried out the elliptic Gaussian model-fit to the `core' of 50 blazars from 15 GHz VLBA data, and analyzed the variability properties of three blazars from the model-fit results. Diverse correlations between the long-term peak flux density and the PA evolution of the major axis of the `core' have been found in $\sim$ 20% of the 50 sources. Of them, three typical blazars have been analyzed, which also show quasi-periodic flux variations of a few years (T). The correlation between the peak flux density and the PA of inner-jet is positive for S5~0716+714, and negative for S4~1807+698. The two sources cannot be explained with the ballistic jet models, the non-ballistic models have been analyzed to explain the two sub-luminal blazars. A correlation between the peak flux density and the PA (with a T/4 time lag) of inner-jet is found in [HB89]~1823+568, this correlation can be explained with a ballistic precession jet model. All the explanations are based mainly on the geometric beaming effect; physical flux density variations from the jet base would be considered for more complicated situations in future, which could account for the no or less significance of the correlation between the peak flux density and the PA of inner-jet in the majority blazars of our sample.
Two multifrequency campaigns were carried out on OJ287 in 2005: in April when it was in its pre-outburst state, and in November, during the main 12 yr cycle outburst. The wavelength coverage was from radio to X-rays. In the optical-to-UV range the differential spectrum between the observations has a bremsstrahlung spectral shape, consistent with gas at $3 \times 10^{5}K$ temperature. Our result supports the hydrogen column density of the OJ287 host galaxy of $\sim9.3\times 10^{20} cm^{-2}$, the average value found by Gosh & Soundararajaperumal. The $3 \times 10^{5}K$ bremsstrahlung radiation was predicted in the binary black hole model of OJ287, and it arises from a hot bubble of gas which is torn off the accretion disc by the impact of the secondary. As this radiation is not Doppler boosted, the brightness of the outburst provides an estimate for the mass of the secondary black hole, $\sim1.4\times10^{8}$ solar mass. In order to estimate the mass of the primary black hole, we ask what is the minimum mass ratio in a binary system which allows the stability of the accretion disc. By using particle simulations, we find that the ratio is $\sim1.3\times10^{2}$. This makes the minimum mass of the primary $\sim1.8\times10^{10}$ solar mass, in agreement with the mass determined from the orbit solution, $1.84 \times 10^{10}$ solar mass. With this mass value and the measured K-magnitude of the bulge of the host galaxy of OJ287, the system lies almost exactly on the previously established correlation in the black hole mass vs. K-magnitude diagramme. It supports the extension of this correlation to brighter magnitudes and to more massive black holes than has been done previously.
We report the results of Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations of H{\sc i} absorption towards the FRII radio galaxy 3C321 (J1531+2404), which is associated with an active galaxy interacting with a companion. The absorption profile towards the radio core is well resolved and consists three components, of which the two prominent ones are red-shifted by 186 and 235 km s$^{-1}$ relative to the optical systemic velocity. The neutral hydrogen column density towards the core is estimated to be $N$(H{\sci})=9.23$\times10^{21}$(${T}_{\rm s}$/100)($f_{c}$/1.0) cm$^{-2}$, where ${T}_{\rm s}$ and $f_c$ are the spin temperature and covering factor of the background source respectively. We also present radio continuum observations of the source with both the GMRT and the Very Large Array (VLA) in order to understand the properties of a plume of emission at an angle of $\sim30^\circ$ to the source axis. This feature appears to have a steep high-frequency spectrum. The current hotspots and jet are active and seen in X-ray emission. The spectral ages of the lobes are $\lapp$26 Myr. We discuss the possibility that the plume could be relic emission due to an earlier cycle of activity.
It is a well established fact that some YSO jets (e.g. RW Aur) display different propagation speeds between their blue and red shifted parts, a feature possibly associated with the central engine or the environment in which the jet propagates. In order to understand the origin of asymmetric YSO jet velocities, we investigate the efficiency of two candidate mechanisms, one based on the intrinsic properties of the system and one based on the role of the external medium. In particular, a parallel or anti-parallel configuration between the protostellar magnetosphere and the disk magnetic field is considered and the resulting dynamics are examined both in an ideal and a resistive magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) regime. Moreover, we explore the effects of a potential difference in the pressure of the environment, as a consequence of the non-uniform density distribution of molecular clouds. Ideal and resistive axisymmetric numerical simulations are carried out for a variety of models, all of which are based on a combination of two analytical solutions, a disk wind and a stellar outflow. We find that jet velocity asymmetries can indeed occur both when multipolar magnetic moments are present in the star-disk system as well as when non-uniform environments are considered. The latter case is an external mechanism that can easily explain the large time scale of the phenomenon, whereas the former one naturally relates it to the YSO intrinsic properties. [abridged]
We revisit the calculation of the Ohmic dissipation in a hot Jupiter presented in Laine et al. (2008) by considering more realistic interior structures, stellar obliquity, and the resulting orbital evolution. In this simplified approach, the young hot Jupiter of one Jupiter mass is modelled as a diamagnetic sphere with a finite resistivity, orbiting across tilted stellar magnetic dipole fields in vacuum. Since the induced Ohmic dissipation occurs mostly near the planet's surface, we find that the dissipation is unable to significantly expand the young hot Jupiter. Nevertheless, the planet inside a small co-rotation orbital radius can undergo orbital decay by the dissipation torque and finally overfill its Roche lobe during the T Tauri star phase. The stellar obliquity can evolve significantly if the magnetic dipole is parallel/anti-parallel to the stellar spin. Our results are validated by the general torque-dissipation relation in the presence of the stellar obliquity. We also run the fiducial model in Laine et al. (2008) and find that the planet's radius is sustained at a nearly constant value by the Ohmic heating, rather than being thermally expanded to the Roche radius as suggested by the authors.
The Kepler Mission is monitoring the brightness of ~150,000 stars searching for evidence of planetary transits. As part of the "Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler" (HEK) project, we report a planetary system with two confirmed planets and one candidate planet discovered using the publicly available data for KOI-872. Planet b transits the host star with a period P_b=33.6d and exhibits large transit timing variations indicative of a perturber. Dynamical modeling uniquely detects an outer nontransiting planet c near the 5:3 resonance (P_c=57.0d) of mass 0.37 times that of Jupiter. Transits of a third planetary candidate are also found: a 1.7-Earth radius super-Earth with a 6.8d period. Our analysis indicates a system with nearly coplanar and circular orbits, reminiscent of the orderly arrangement within the solar system.
Using detailed Monte Carlo simulations we have characterized the features of the radio emission of inclined air showers in the Ultra-High Frequency band (300 MHz - 3 GHz). The Fourier-spectrum of the radiation is shown to have a sizable intensity well into the GHz frequency range. The emission is mainly due to transverse currents induced by the geomagnetic field and to the excess charge produced by the Askaryan effect. At these frequencies only a significantly reduced volume of the shower around the axis contributes coherently to the signal observed on the ground. The size of the coherently emitting volume depends on frequency, shower geometry and observer position, and is interpreted in terms of the relative time delays. At ground level, the maximum emission at high frequencies is concentrated in an elliptical ring-like region around the intersection of a Cherenkov cone with its vertex at shower maximum and the ground. The frequency spectrum of inclined showers when observed at positions that view shower maximum in the Cherenkov direction, is shown to be in broad agreement with the pulses detected by the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) experiment, making the interpretation that they are due to Ultra-High Energy Cosmic Ray atmospheric showers consistent with our simulations. These results are also of great importance for experiments aiming to detect molecular bremsstrahlung radiation in the GHz range as they present an important background for its detection.
We calculate the expected number of type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) in the core-degenerate (CD) scenario and find it to match observations within the uncertainties of the code. In the CD scenario the super-Chandrasekhar mass white dwarf (WD) is formed at the termination of the common envelope phase from a merger of a WD companion with the hot core of a massive asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. We use a simple population synthesis code that avoids the large uncertainties involved in estimating the final orbital separation of the common envelope evolution. Instead, we assume that systems where the core of the secondary AGB star is more massive than the WD remnant of the primary star merge at the termination of the common envelope phase. We also use a simple prescription to count systems that have strong interaction during the AGB phase, but not during the earlier red giant branch (RGB) phase. That a very simple population synthesis code that uses the basics of stellar evolution ingredients can match the observed rate of SN Ia might suggest that the CD-scenario plays a major role in forming SN Ia.
While the importance of dusty asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars to galactic chemical enrichment is widely recognised, a sophisticated understanding of the dust formation and wind-driving mechanisms has proven elusive due in part to the difficulty in spatially-resolving the dust formation regions themselves. We have observed twenty dust-enshrouded AGB stars as part of the Keck Aperture Masking Experiment, resolving all of them in multiple near-infrared bands between 1.5 microns and 3.1 microns. We find 45% of the targets to show measurable elongations that, when correcting for the greater distances of the targets, would correspond to significantly asymmetric dust shells on par with the well-known cases of IRC+10216 or CIT6. Using radiative transfer models, we find the sublimation temperature of 1130 +- 90 K and 1170 +- 60 K for silicates and amorphous carbon respectively, both somewhat lower than expected from laboratory measurements and vastly below temperatures inferred from the inner edge of YSO disks. The fact that O-rich and C-rich dust types showed the same sublimation temperature was surprising as well. For the most optically-thick shells (tau > 2 at 2.2 microns), the temperature profile of the inner dust shell is observed to change substantially, an effect we suggest could arise when individual dust clumps become optically-thick at the highest mass-loss rates.
We analyze line-of-sight atomic hydrogen (HI) line profiles of 31 nearby, low-mass galaxies selected from the Very Large Array - ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury (VLA-ANGST) and The HI Nearby Galaxy Survey (THINGS) to trace regions containing cold (T $\lesssim$ 1400 K) HI from observations with a uniform linear scale of 200 pc/beam. Our galaxy sample spans four orders of magnitude in total HI mass and nine magnitudes in M_B. We fit single and multiple component functions to each spectrum to isolate the cold, neutral medium given by a low dispersion (<6 km/s) component of the spectrum. Most HI spectra are adequately fit by a single Gaussian with a dispersion of 8-12 km/s. Cold HI is found in 23 of 27 (~85%) galaxies after a reduction of the sample size due to quality control cuts. The cold HI contributes ~20% of the total line-of-sight flux when found with warm HI. Spectra best fit by a single Gaussian, but dominated by cold HI emission (i.e., have velocity dispersions <6 km/s) are found primarily beyond the optical radius of the host galaxy. The cold HI is typically found in localized regions and is generally not coincident with the very highest surface density peaks of the global HI distribution (which are usually areas of recent star formation). We find a lower limit for the mass fraction of cold-to-total HI gas of only a few percent in each galaxy.
The process of particle acceleration by left-hand, circularly polarised inertial Alfven waves (IAW) in a transversely inhomogeneous plasma is studied using 3D particle-in-cell simulation. A cylindrical tube with, transverse to the background magnetic field, inhomogeneity scale of the order of ion inertial length is considered on which IAWs with frequency $0.3 \omega_{ci}$ are launched that are allowed to develop three wavelength. As a result time-varying parallel electric fields are generated in the density gradient regions which accelerate electrons in the parallel to magnetic field direction. Driven perpendicular electric field of IAWs also heats ions in the transverse direction. Such numerical setup is relevant for solar flaring loops and earth auroral zone. This first, 3D, fully-kinetic simulation demonstrates electron acceleration efficiency in the density inhomogeneity regions, along the magnetic field, of the order of 45% and ion heating, in the transverse to the magnetic field direction, of 75%. The latter is a factor of two times higher than the previous 2.5D analogous study and is in accordance with solar flare particle acceleration observations. We find that the generated parallel electric field is localised in the density inhomogeneity region and rotates in the same direction and with the same angular frequency as the initially launched IAW. Our numerical simulations seem also to suggest that the "knee" often found in the solar flare electron spectra can alternatively be interpreted as the Landau damping (Cerenkov resonance effect) of IAWs due to the wave-particle interactions.
We study slow-roll inflation on a three-brane in a five-dimensional bulk where the effects of energy loss from the brane due to graviton emission is included in a self-consistent manner. We explicitly derive the form of the energy loss term due to inflaton-to-graviton scattering and thus determine the precise dynamics of the two resulting inflationary solutions. What is also remarkable is that nonconservation of energy on the brane causes the curvature perturbation to not be conserved on superhorizon scales even for the purely adiabatic perturbations produced in single-field inflation. Thus the standard method of calculating the power spectrum of inflaton fluctuations at Hubble exit and equating it to the power spectrum at horizon reentry no longer holds. The superhorizon evolution of the perturbations must be tracked from horizon exit through to when the modes reenter the horizon for the late time power spectrum to be calculated. We develop the methodology to do this in this paper as well.
Supermassive black holes (SMBHs; $M\gtrsim10^5\msun$) are known to exist at the centre of most galaxies with sufficient stellar mass. In the local Universe, it is possible to infer their properties from the surrounding stars or gas. However, at high redshifts we require active, continuous accretion to infer the presence of the SMBHs, often coming in the form of long-term accretion in active galactic nuclei. SMBHs can also capture and tidally disrupt stars orbiting nearby, resulting in bright flares from otherwise quiescent black holes. Here, we report on a $\sim200$-s X-ray quasi-periodicity around a previously dormant SMBH located in the centre of a galaxy at redshift $z=0.3534$. This result may open the possibility of probing general relativity beyond our local Universe.
A precise and accurate determination of the Hubble constant based on Cepheid
variables requires proper characterization of many sources of systematic error.
One of these is stellar blending, which biases the measured fluxes of Cepheids
and the resulting distance estimates. We study the blending of 149 Cepheid
variables in M33 by matching archival Hubble Space Telescope data with images
obtained at the WIYN 3.5-m telescope, which differ by a factor of 10 in angular
resolution.
We find that 55+-4% of the Cepheids have no detectable nearby companions that
could bias the WIYN V-band photometry, while the fraction of Cepheids affected
below the 10% level is 73+-4%. The corresponding values for the I band are
60+-4% and 72+-4%, respectively. We find no statistically significant
difference in blending statistics as a function of period or surface
brightness. Additionally, we report all the detected companions within 2
arcseconds of the Cepheids (equivalent to 9 pc at the distance of M33) which
may be used to derive empirical blending corrections for Cepheids at larger
distances.
We report on the first application of the Alcock-Paczynski test to stacked voids in spectroscopic galaxy redshift surveys.We use voids from the Sutter et al. (2012) void catalog, which was derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 main sample and luminous red galaxy catalogs. The construction of that void catalog removes potential shape measurement bias by using a modified version of the ZOBOV algorithm and by removing voids near survey boundaries and masks. We apply the shape-fitting procedure presented in Lavaux & Wandelt (2012) to ten void stacks out to redshift z=0.36. Combining these measurements, we determine the mean cosmologically induced "stretch" of voids in three redshift bins, with 1-sigma errors of 5-15%. The mean stretch is consistent with unity, providing no indication of a distortion induced by peculiar velocities. While the statistical errors are too large to detect the Alcock-Paczynski effect over our limited redshift range, this proof-of-concept analysis defines procedures that can be applied to larger spectroscopic galaxy surveys at higher redshifts to constrain dark energy using the expected statistical isotropy of structures that are minimally affected by uncertainties in galaxy velocity bias.
We have conducted VI CCD photometry of the two open clusters NGC 1245 and NGC 2506 using the CFH12K CCD camera. Our photometry covers a sky area of 84'X82' and 42'X81' for the two clusters, respectively, and reaches down to V = 23. We derived the physical parameters using detailed theoretical isochrone fittings using 2 minimization. The derived cluster parameters are E(B-V) = 0.24+/-0.05 and 0.03+/-0.04, (V-M_V)_0 = 12.25+/-0.12 and 12.47+/-0.08, age(Gyr) = 1.08+/-0.09 and 2.31+/-0.16, and [Fe/H]= -0.08+/-0.06 and -0.24+/-0.06, respectively for NGC 1245 and NGC 2506, We present the luminosity functions (LFs) of the two clusters, which reach down to M_V = 10, and derive mass functions (MFs) with slopes of Gamma = -1.29 for NGC 1245 and Gamma = -1.26 for NGC 2506. The slopes are slightly shallower than that of the solar neighbourhood, implying the existence of dynamical evolution that drives the evaporation of the low-mass stars in the clusters.
Chiral effective field theory (EFT) provides a systematic expansion for the coupling of WIMPs to nucleons at the momentum transfers relevant to direct cold dark matter detection. We derive the currents for spin-dependent WIMP scattering off nuclei at the one-body level and include the leading long-range two-body currents, which are predicted in chiral EFT. As an application, we calculate the structure factor for spin-dependent WIMP scattering off 129,131Xe nuclei, using nuclear interactions that have been developed to study nuclear structure and double-beta decays in this region. We provide theoretical error bands due to the nuclear uncertainties of WIMP currents in nuclei.
We report one of several homologous non-radial eruptions from NOAA active region (AR) 11158 that are strongly modulated by the local magnetic field as observed with the Solar Dynamic Observatory (SDO). A small bipole emerged in the sunspot complex and subsequently created a quadrupolar flux system. Non-linear force-free field (NLFFF) extrapolation from vector magnetograms reveals its energetic nature: the fast-shearing bipole accumulated ~2e31 erg free energy (10% of AR total) over just one day despite its relatively small magnetic flux (5% of AR total). During the eruption, the ejected plasma followed a highly inclined trajectory, over 60 degrees with respect to the radial direction, forming a jet-like, inverted-Y shaped structure in its wake. Field extrapolation suggests complicated magnetic connectivity with a coronal null point, which is favorable of reconnection between different flux components in the quadrupolar system. Indeed, multiple pairs of flare ribbons brightened simultaneously, and coronal reconnection signatures appeared near the inferred null. Part of the magnetic setting resembles that of a blowout-type jet; the observed inverted-Y structure likely outlines the open field lines along the separatrix surface. Owing to the asymmetrical photospheric flux distribution, the confining magnetic pressure decreases much faster horizontally than upward. This special field geometry likely guided the non-radial eruption during its initial stage.
The past 10 years have witnessed a change of perspective in the way astrophysicists think about massive black holes (MBHs), which are now considered to have a major role in the evolution of galaxies. This appreciation was driven by the realization that black holes of millions solar masses and above reside in the center of most galaxies, including the Milky Way. MBHs also powered active galactic nuclei known to exist just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. Here, I summarize the current ideas on the evolution of MBHs through cosmic history, from their formation about 13 billion years ago to their growth within their host galaxies.
The correlation between infrared-to-ultraviolet luminosity ratio and ultraviolet color, i.e. the IRX-UV relation, was regarded as a prevalent recipe for correcting extragalactic dust attenuation. Considerable dispersion in this relation discovered for normal galaxies, however, complicates its usability. In order to investigate the cause of the dispersion, in this paper, we select five spiral nearby galaxies, and perform spatially resolved studies on each individual of the galaxies, with combination of ultraviolet and infrared imaging data. We measure all positions within each galaxy and divide the extracted regions into young and evolved stellar populations. By means of this approach, we attempt to discover separate effects of dust attenuation and stellar population age on the IRX-UV relation for individual galaxies. In this work, in addition to dust attenuation, stellar population age is interpreted to be another parameter in the IRX-UV function, and the diversity of star formation histories is suggested to disperse the age effects. In the meanwhile, strong evidence shows the necessity of more parameters in the interpretation of observational data, such as variations in attenuation/extinction law. Fractional contributions of different components in galaxies to integrated luminosities of the galaxies suggest that the integrated measurements of galaxies which compound different populations would weaken the effect of the age parameter on IRX-UV diagrams. The dependance of the IRX-UV relation on luminosity and radial distance in galaxies presents weak trends, hich offers an implication of selective effects. The two-dimensional maps of the UV color and the infrared-to-ultraviolet ratio are displayed and show a disparity in the spatial distributions between the two parameters in galaxies, which offers a spatial interpretation of the scatter in the IRX-UV relation.
In this work we analyze the spectroscopic properties of a large number of H ii regions, \sim2600, located in 38 galaxies. The sample of galaxies has been assembled from the face-on spirals in the PINGS survey and a sample described in M\'armol-Queralt\'o (2011, henceforth Paper I). All the galaxies were observed using Integral Field Spectroscopy with a similar setup, covering their optical extension up to \sim2.4 effective radii within a wavelength range from \sim3700 to \sim6900{\AA}. We develop a new automatic procedure to detect H ii regions, based on the contrast of the H{\alpha} intensity maps. Once detected, the procedure provides us with the integrated spectra of each individual segmented region. A well-tested automatic decoupling procedure has been applied to remove the underlying stellar population, deriving the main proper- ties of the strongest emission lines in the considered wavelength range (covering from [O ii] {\lambda}3727 to [S ii] {\lambda}6731). A final catalogue of the spectroscopic properties of these regions has been created for each galaxy. In the current study we focused on the understanding of the average properties of the H ii regions and their radial distributions. We find that the gas-phase oxygen abundance and the H{\alpha} equivalent width present negative and positive gradient, respectively. The distribution of slopes is statistically compatible with a random Gaussian distribution around the mean value, if the radial distances are measured in units of the respective effective radius. No difference in the slope is found for galaxies of different morphologies: barred/non-barred, grand-design/flocculent. Therefore, the effective radius is a universal scale length for gradients in the evolution of galaxies. Other properties have a larger variance across each object.
The super-massive 4 million solar mass black hole (SMBH) SgrA* shows variable emission from the millimeter to the X-ray domain. A detailed analysis of the infrared light curves allows us to address the accretion phenomenon in a statistical way. The analysis shows that the near-infrared flux density excursions are dominated by a single state power law, with the low states of SgrA* limited by confusion through the unresolved stellar background. We show that for 8-10m class telescopes blending effects along the line of sight will result in artificial compact star-like objects of 0.5-1 mJy that last for about 3-4 years. We discuss how the imaging capabilities of GRAVITY at the VLTI, LINC-NIRVANA at the LBT and METIS at the E-ELT will contribute to the investigation of the low variability states of SgrA*.
Current cc-SN models predict overproduction of 44Ti compared to observations. We present a model for an alternative channel where a cc-SN explosion is followed by a neutron star detonation (Quark Nova or QN), resulting in a spallation reaction of SN ejecta that produces 44Ti. We can achieve a 44Ti production of ~ 10^-4 Msun with our model under the right time delay between the QN and the SN. Our model also produces unique signals not found in standard, cc-SN nucleosynthesis models. Some of these unique signals include a significantly large production of 7Be and 22Na. We discuss some of these signals by analyzing the late time light curve and gamma spectroscopy of our model.
Based on Bremer et al. (2011) and Eckart et al. (2012) we report on simultaneous observations and modeling of the millimeter, near-infrared, and X-ray flare emission of the source Sagittarius A* (SgrA*) associated with the super-massive black hole at the Galactic Center. We study physical processes giving rise to the variable emission of SgrA* from the radio to the X-ray domain. To explain the statistics of the observed variability of the (sub-)mm spectrum of SgrA*, we use a sample of simultaneous NIR/X-ray flare peaks and model the flares using a synchrotron and SSC mechanism. The observations reveal flaring activity in all wavelength bands that can be modeled as the signal from adiabatically expanding synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) components. The model parameters suggest that either the adiabatically expanding source components have a bulk motion larger than v_exp or the expanding material contributes to a corona or disk, confined to the immediate surroundings of SgrA*. For the bulk of the synchrotron and SSC models, we find synchrotron turnover frequencies in the range 300-400 GHz. For the pure synchrotron models this results in densities of relativistic particles of the order of 10^6.5 cm^-3 and for the SSC models, the median densities are about one order of magnitude higher. However, to obtain a realistic description of the frequency-dependent variability amplitude of SgrA*, models with higher turnover frequencies and even higher densities are required. We discuss the results in the framework of possible deviations from equilibrium between particle and magnetic field energy. We also summarize alternative models to explain the broad-band variability of SgrA*.
We review the likely population, observational properties, and broad implications of stellar-mass black holes and ultraluminous x-ray sources. We focus on the clear empirical rules connecting accretion and outflow that have been established for stellar-mass black holes in binary systems in the past decade and a half. These patterns of behavior are probably the keys that will allow us to understand black hole feedback on the largest scales over cosmological time scales.
We construct full broadband models in an analysis of Suzaku observations of
nearby Seyfert 1 AGN (z<0.2) with exposures >50ks and with greater than 30000
counts in order to study their iron line profiles. This results in a sample of
46 objects and 84 observations. After a full modelling of the broadband Suzaku
and Swift-BAT data (0.6-100 keV) we find complex warm absorption is present in
59% of the objects in this sample which has a significant bearing upon the
derived Fe K region parameters. Meanwhile 35% of the 46 objects require some
degree of high column density partial coverer in order to fully model the hard
X-ray spectrum. We also find that a large number of the objects in the sample
(22%) require high velocity, high ionization outflows in the Fe K region
resulting from Fe XXV and Fe XXVI. A further four AGN feature highly ionized Fe
K absorbers consistent with zero outflow velocity, making a total of 14/46
(30%) AGN in this sample showing evidence for statistically significant
absorption in the Fe K region.
Narrow Fe K alpha emission from distant material at 6.4 keV is found to be
almost ubiquitous in these AGN. Examining the 6-7 keV Fe K region we note that
narrow emission lines originating from Fe XXV at 6.63-6.70 keV and from Fe XXVI
at 6.97 keV are present in 52% and 39% of objects respectively.
Our results suggest statistically significant relativistic Fe K alpha
emission is detected in 23 of 46 objects (50%) at >99.5% confidence, measuring
an average emissivity index of q=2.4\pm0.1 and equivalent width EW=96\pm10 eV
using the relline model. When parameterised with a Gaussian we find an average
line energy of 6.32\pm0.04 keV, sigma width=0.470\pm0.05 keV and EW=97\pm19 eV.
Where we can place constraints upon the black hole spin parameter a, we do not
require a maximally spinning black hole in all cases.
We present Swarm-NG, a C++ library for the efficient direct integration of
many n-body systems using highly-parallel Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), such
as NVIDIA's Tesla T10 and M2070 GPUs. While previous studies have demonstrated
the benefit of GPUs for n-body simulations with thousands to millions of
bodies, Swarm-NG focuses on many few-body systems, e.g., thousands of systems
with 3...15 bodies each, as is typical for the study of planetary systems.
Swarm-NG parallelizes the simulation, including both the numerical integration
of the equations of motion and the evaluation of forces using NVIDIA's "Compute
Unified Device Architecture" (CUDA) on the GPU. Swarm-NG includes optimized
implementations of 4th order time-symmetrized Hermite integration and mixed
variable symplectic integration, as well as several sample codes for other
algorithms to illustrate how non-CUDA-savvy users may themselves introduce
customized integrators into the Swarm-NG framework. To optimize performance, we
analyze the effect of GPU-specific parameters on performance under double
precision.
Applications of Swarm-NG include studying the late stages of planet
formation, testing the stability of planetary systems and evaluating the
goodness-of-fit between many planetary system models and observations of
extrasolar planet host stars (e.g., radial velocity, astrometry, transit
timing). While Swarm-NG focuses on the parallel integration of many planetary
systems,the underlying integrators could be applied to a wide variety of
problems that require repeatedly integrating a set of ordinary differential
equations many times using different initial conditions and/or parameter
values.
A survey of radio recombination lines in the Galactic plane with longitude $-32^o < l < +80^o$ and latitude $b<\pm3^o$ using Ooty Radio Telescope(ORT) at 328 MHz has been reported. ORT observations were made using a New Digital Backend(NDB) augmented to it recently. With NDB ORT had a beam of $2^o.3 \times 2^o.2 sec(\delta)$ and a passband of $\sim$1 MHz in the spectral line mode. The above mentioned Galactic region was divided into $\sim 2^o \times 2^o$ patches with the ORT beam pointed to the center. The ORT observations form a study of distribution of extended low-density warm-ionized medium(ELDWIM) in the inner Galaxy using H271$\alpha$ RL. By obtaining kinematical distances using $V_{LSR}$ of the H271$\alpha$ RLs the distribution of ELDWIM clouds within the inner Galaxy has been deduced for the region given above.
We present a review of atmospheric muon flux and energy spectrum measurements over almost six decades of muon momentum. Sea-level and underground/water/ice experiments are considered. Possible sources of systematic errors in the measurements are examinated. The characteristics of underground/water muons (muons in bundle, lateral distribution, energy spectrum) are discussed. The connection between the atmospheric muon and neutrino measurements are also reported.
We explore in the multi-fluid approach streaming instabilities of the electron-ion plasma with relativistic and ultra-relativistic cosmic rays in the background magnetic field. Cosmic rays can be both electrons and protons.The drift speed of cosmic rays is directed along the magnetic field. In equilibrium, the return current of the background plasma is taken into account. One-dimensional perturbations parallel to the magnetic field are considered. The dispersion relations are derived for transverse and longitudinal perturbations. It is shown that the back-reaction of magnetized cosmic rays generates a new instability with the growth rate much larger than that for the Bell instability, while for unmagnetized cosmic rays, the growth rate is analogous to the Bell's. Some difference between two models of the return current in equilibrium is demonstrated. For longitudinal perturbations, an instability is found in the case of ultra-relativistic cosmic rays. The results obtained can be applied for investigations of astrophysical objects such as supernova remnant shocks, galaxy clusters, intracluster medium, and so on.
We construct models of universe with a generalized equation of state $p=(\alpha \rho+k\rho^{1+1/n})c^2$ having a linear component and a polytropic component. The linear equation of state $p=\alpha\rho c^2$ with $-1\le \alpha\le 1$ describes radiation ($\alpha=1/3$), pressureless matter ($\alpha=0$), stiff matter ($\alpha=1$), and vacuum energy ($\alpha=-1$). The polytropic equation of state $p=k\rho^{1+1/n} c^2$ may be due to Bose-Einstein condensates with repulsive ($k>0$) or attractive ($k<0$) self-interaction, or have another origin. In this paper, we consider the case where the density increases as the universe expands. This corresponds to a "phantom universe" for which $w=p/\rho c^2<-1$ (this requires $k<0$). We complete previous investigations on this problem and analyze in detail the different possibilities. We describe the singularities using the classification of [S. Nojiri, S.D. Odintsov, S. Tsujikawa, Phys. Rev. D {\bf 71}, 063004 (2005)]. We show that for $\alpha>-1$ there is no Big Rip singularity although $w\le -1$. For $n=-1$, we provide an analytical model of phantom bouncing universe "disappearing" at $t=0$. We also determine the potential of the phantom scalar field and phantom tachyon field corresponding to the generalized equation of state $p=(\alpha \rho+k\rho^{1+1/n})c^2$.
Using the cosmological constants derived from WMAP, the standard big bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN) predicts the light elements primordial abundances for 4He, 3He, D, 6Li and 7Li. These predictions are in satisfactory agreement with the observations, except for lithium which displays in old warm dwarfs an abundance depleted by a factor of about 3. Depletions of this fragile element may be produced by several physical processes, in different stellar evolutionary phases, they will be briefly reviewed here, none of them seeming yet to reproduce the observed depletion pattern in a fully convincing way.
We present a specific prescription for the calculation of cosmological power spectra, exploited here at two-loop order in perturbation theory (PT), based on the multi-point propagator expansion. In this approach power spectra are constructed from the regularized expressions of the propagators that reproduce both the resummed behavior in the high-k limit and the standard PT results at low-k. With the help of N-body simulations, we show that such a construction gives robust and accurate predictions for both the density power spectrum and the correlation function at percent-level in the weakly non-linear regime. We then present an algorithm that allows accelerated evaluations of all the required diagrams by reducing the computational tasks to one-dimensional integrals. This is achieved by means of pre-computed kernel sets defined for appropriately chosen fiducial models. The computational time for two-loop results is then reduced from a few minutes, with the direct method, to a few seconds with the fast one. The robustness and applicability of this method are tested against the power spectrum cosmic emulator from which a wide variety of cosmological models can be explored. The fortran program with which direct and fast calculations of power spectra can be done, RegPT, is publicly released as part of this paper.
We construct a simple model of universe with a generalized equation of state $p=(\alpha +k\rho^{1/n})\rho c^2$ having a linear component $p=\alpha\rho c^2$ and a polytropic component $p=k\rho^{1+1/n}c^2$. For $\alpha=1/3$, $n=1$ and $k=-4/(3\rho_P)$, where $\rho_P=5.16 10^{99} g/m^3$ is the Planck density, this equation of state provides a model of the early universe without singularity describing the transition between the pre-radiation era and the radiation era. The universe starts from $t=-\infty$ but, when $t<0$, its size is less than the Planck length $l_P=1.62 10^{-35} m$. The universe undergoes an inflationary expansion that brings it to a size $a_1=2.61 10^{-6} m$ on a timescale of a few Planck times $t_P=5.39 10^{-44} s$. When $t\gg t_P$, the universe decelerates and enters in the radiation era. For $\alpha=0$, $n=-1$ and $k=-\rho_{\Lambda}$, where $\rho_{\Lambda}=7.02 10^{-24} g}/m^3$ is the cosmological density, this equation of state describes the transition from a decelerating universe dominated by baryonic and dark matter to an accelerating universe dominated by dark energy (second inflation). The transition takes place at a size $a_2=8.95 10^{25} m$ corresponding to a time of the order of the cosmological time $t_{\Lambda}=1.46 10^{18} s$. This polytropic model reveals a nice "symmetry" between the early and late evolution of the universe, the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ in the late universe playing a role similar to the Planck constant $\hbar$ in the early universe. We interpret the cosmological constant as a fundamental constant of nature describing the "cosmophysics" just like the Planck constant describes the microphysics. The Planck density and the cosmological density represent fundamental upper and lower bounds differing by ${122}$ orders of magnitude. The cosmological constant "problem" may be a false problem.
The compact radio source Sgr A* is coincident with a 4 million solar mass black hole at the dynamical center of the Galaxy and is surrounded by dense orbiting ionized and molecular gas. We present high resolution radio continuum images of the central 3' and report a faint continuous linear structure centered on Sgr A* with a PA~60 degrees. The extension of this feature appears to be terminated symmetrically by two linearly polarized structures at 8.4 GHz, ~75" from Sgr A*. A number of weak blobs of radio emission with X-ray counterparts are detected along the axis of the linear structure. The linear structure is best characterized by a mildly relativistic jet from Sgr A* with an outflow rate 10^-6 solar mass per year. The near and far-sides of the jet are interacting with orbiting ionized and molecular gas over the last 1-3 hundred years and are responsible for a 2" hole, the "minicavity", characterized by disturbed kinematics, enhanced FeII/III line emission, and diffuse X-ray gas. The estimated kinetic luminosity of the outflow is ~1.2x10^{41} erg/s, so the interaction with the bar may be responsible for the Galactic center X-ray flash inferred to be responsible for much of the fluorescent Fe Kalpha line emission from the inner 100pc of the Galaxy.
The problem of steady-state accretion to nonrotating black holes is examined. Advection is included and generalized formulas for the radiation pressure in both the optically thick and thin cases are used. Special attention is devoted to models with a high accretion rate. Global solutions for accretion disks are studied which describe a continuous transition between an optically thick outer region and an optically thin inner region. It is shown that there is a maximum disk temperature for the model with a viscosity parameter {\alpha} = 0.5. For the model with {\alpha} = 0.1, no optically thin regions are found to exist for any accretion rate.
Much uncertainty surrounds the origin of super-luminous supernovae (SNe). Motivated by the discovery of the Type Ic SN2007bi, we study its proposed association with a pair-instability SN (PISN). We compute stellar-evolution models for primordial ~200Msun stars, simulating the implosion/explosion due to the pair-production instability, and use them as inputs for detailed non-LTE time-dependent radiative-transfer simulations that include non-local energy deposition and non-thermal processes. We retrieve the basic morphology of PISN light curves from red-supergiant, blue-supergiant, and Wolf-Rayet (WR) star progenitors. Although we confirm that a progenitor 100Msun helium core (PISN model He100) fits well the SN2007bi light curve, the low ratios of its kinetic energy and 56Ni mass to the ejecta mass, similar to standard core-collapse SNe, conspire to produce cool photospheres, red spectra subject to strong line blanketing, and narrow line profiles, all conflicting with SN2007bi observations. He-core models of increasing 56Ni-to-ejecta mass ratio have bluer spectra, but still too red to match SN2007bi, even for model He125 -- the effect of 56Ni heating is offset by the associated increase in blanketing. In contrast, the delayed injection of energy by a magnetar represents a more attractive alternative to reproduce the blue, weakly-blanketed, and broad-lined spectra of super-luminous SNe. The extra heat source is free of blanketing and is not explicitly tied to the ejecta. Experimenting with a ~9Msun WR-star progenitor, initially exploded to yield a ~1.6B SN Ib/c ejecta but later influenced by tunable magnetar-like radiation, we produce a diversity of blue spectral morphologies reminiscent of SN2007bi, the peculiar Type Ib SN2005bf, and super-luminous SN2005ap-like events.
We discuss the problem of the formation of a large-scale magnetic field in the accretion disks around black holes, taking into account the non-uniform vertical structure of the disk. The high electrical conductivity of the outer layers of the disk prevents the outward diffusion of the magnetic field. This implies a stationary state with a strong magnetic field in the inner parts of the accretion disk close to the black hole, and zero radial velocity at the surface of the disk. Structure of advective accretion disks is investigated, and conditions for formation of optically thin regions in central parts of the accretion disk are found. The problem of jet collimation by magneto-torsion oscillations is considered.
A recent analysis of the Fermi Large Area Telescope data provided evidence for a high-intensity emission of high-energy gamma rays with a E^-2 spectrum from two large areas, spanning 50{\deg} above and below the Galactic centre (the "Fermi bubbles"). A hadronic mechanism was proposed for this gamma-ray emission making the Fermi bubbles promising source candidates of high-energy neutrino emission. In this work Monte Carlo simulations regarding the detectability of high-energy neutrinos from the Fermi bubbles with the future multi-km^3 neutrino telescope KM3NeT in the Mediterranean Sea are presented. Under the hypothesis that the gamma-ray emission is completely due to hadronic processes, the results indicate that neutrinos from the bubbles could be discovered in about one year of operation, for a neutrino spectrum with a cutoff at 100 TeV and a detector with about 6 km^3 of instrumented volume. The effect of a possible lower cutoff is also considered.
We present two millisecond pulsar discoveries from the PALFA survey of the Galactic plane with the Arecibo telescope. PSR J1955+2527 is an isolated pulsar with a period of 4.87 ms, and PSR J1949+3106 has a period of 13.14 ms and is in a 1.9-day binary system with a massive companion. Their timing solutions, based on 4 years of timing measurements with the Arecibo, Green Bank, Nan\c{c}ay and Jodrell Bank telescopes, allow precise determination of spin and astrometric parameters, including precise determinations of their proper motions. For PSR J1949+3106, we can clearly detect the Shapiro delay. From this we measure the pulsar mass to be 1.47(+0.43/-0.31) solar masses, the companion mass to be 0.85(+0.14/-0.11) solar masses and the orbital inclination to be i = 79.9(+1.6/-1.9) degrees, where uncertainties correspond to +/- 1-\sigma\ confidence levels. With continued timing, we expect to also be able to detect the advance of periastron for the J1949+3106 system. This effect, combined with the Shapiro delay, will eventually provide very precise mass measurements for this system and a test of general relativity.
Between the BICEP2 and Keck Array experiments, we have deployed over 1500 dual polarized antenna coupled bolometers to map the Cosmic Microwave Background's polarization. We have been able to rapidly deploy these detectors because they are completely planar with an integrated phased-array antenna. Through our experience in these experiments, we have learned of several challenges with this technology- specifically the beam synthesis in the antenna- and in this paper we report on how we have modified our designs to mitigate these challenges. In particular, we discus differential steering errors between the polarization pairs' beam centroids due to microstrip cross talk and gradients of penetration depth in the niobium thin films of our millimeter wave circuits. We also discuss how we have suppressed side lobe response with a Gaussian taper of our antenna illumination pattern. These improvements will be used in Spider, Polar-1, and this season's retrofit of Keck Array.
In a recent paper arXiv:1107.5048, we discussed the correlation between the elastic neutralino-nucleon scattering cross section, constrained by dark matter direct detection experiments, and fine-tuning in the electroweak symmetry breaking sector of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). Here, we show that the correlation persists in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM), and its variant, lambda-SUSY. Both models are strongly motivated by the recent discovery of a 125 GeV Higgs-like particle. We also discuss the implications of the recently published bound on the direct detection cross section from 225 live days of XENON100 experiment. In both the MSSM and the NMSSM, most of the parameter space with fine-tuning less than 10% is inconsistent with the XENON100 bound. In lambda-SUSY, on the other hand, large regions of completely natural electroweak symmetry breaking are still allowed, primarily due to a parametric suppression of fine-tuning with large \lambda. The upcoming XENON1T experiment will be able to probe most of the parameter space with less than 1% fine-tuning in all three models.
We demonstrate single-photon counting at 1550 nm with titanium-nitride (TiN) microwave kinetic inductance detectors. Energy resolution of 0.4 eV and arrival-time resolution of 1.2 microseconds are achieved. 0-, 1-, 2-photon events are resolved and shown to follow Poisson statistics. We find that the temperature-dependent frequency shift deviates from the Mattis-Bardeen theory, and the dissipation response shows a shorter decay time than the frequency response at low temperatures. We suggest that the observed anomalous electrodynamics may be related to quasiparticle traps or subgap states in the disordered TiN films. Finally, the electron density-of-states is derived from the pulse response.
The most natural region of cosmologically compatible dark matter relic density in terms of low fine-tuning in a minimal supersymmetric standard model with nonuniversal gaugino masses is the so called bulk annihilation region. We study this region in a simple and predictive SUSY-GUT model of nonuniversal gaugino masses, where the latter transform as a combination of singlet plus a nonsinglet representation of the GUT group SU(5). The model prediction for the direct dark matter detection rates is well below the present CDMS and XENON100 limits, but within the reach of a future 1Ton XENON experiment. The most interesting and robust model prediction is an indirect detection signal of hard positron events, which resembles closely the shape of the observed positron spectrum from the PAMELA experiment.
A 2D linear theory of the instability of Sweet-Parker (SP) current sheets is developed in the framework of Reduced MHD. A local analysis is performed taking into account the dependence of a generic equilibrium profile on the outflow coordinate. The plasmoid instability [Loureiro et al, Phys. Plasmas {\bf 14}, 100703 (2007)] is recovered, i.e., current sheets are unstable to the formation of a large-wave-number chain of plasmoids ($k_{\rm max}\Lsheet \sim S^{3/8}$, where $k_{\rm max}$ is the wave-number of fastest growing mode, $S=\Lsheet V_A/\eta$ is the Lundquist number, $\Lsheet$ is the length of the sheet, $V_A$ is the Alfv\'en speed and $\eta$ is the plasma resistivity), which grows super-Alfv\'enically fast ($\gmax\tau_A\sim S^{1/4}$, where $\gmax$ is the maximum growth rate, and $\tau_A=\Lsheet/V_A$). For typical background profiles, the growth rate and the wave-number are found to {\it increase} in the outflow direction. This is due to the presence of another mode, the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability, which is triggered at the periphery of the layer, where the outflow velocity exceeds the Alfv\'en speed associated with the upstream magnetic field. The KH instability grows even faster than the plasmoid instability, $\gmax \tau_A \sim k_{\rm max} \Lsheet\sim S^{1/2}$. The effect of viscosity ($\nu$) on the plasmoid instability is also addressed. In the limit of large magnetic Prandtl numbers, $Pm=\nu/\eta$, it is found that $\gmax\sim S^{1/4}Pm^{-5/8}$ and $k_{\rm max} \Lsheet\sim S^{3/8}Pm^{-3/16}$, leading to the prediction that the critical Lundquist number for plasmoid instability in the $Pm\gg1$ regime is $\Scrit\sim 10^4Pm^{1/2}$. These results are verified via direct numerical simulation of the linearized equations, using a new, analytical 2D SP equilibrium solution.
The nonrelativistic annihilation of Majorana dark matter in the Sun to a pair of light fermions is chirality-suppressed. Annihilation to 3-body final states $\ell^+f^-V$, where $V=W,Z,\gamma$, and $\ell$ and $f$ are light fermions (that may be the same), becomes dominant since bremsstrahlung relaxes the chirality suppression. We evaluate the neutrino spectra at the source, including spin and helicity dependent effects, and assess the detectability of each significant bremsstrahlung channel at IceCube/DeepCore. We also show how to combine the sensitivities to the dark matter-nucleon scattering cross section in individual channels, since typically several channels contribute in models.
We study the strong gravitational lensing on the equatorial plane of a quasi-Kerr compact object with arbitrary quadrupole moments which can be used to model the super-massive central object of the galaxy. We find that, when the quadrupolar correction parameter $\xi$ takes the positive (negative) value, the photon-sphere radius $r_{ps}$, the minimum impact parameter $u_{ps}$, the coefficient $\bar{b}$, the relative magnitudes $r_m$ and the angular position of the relativistic images $\theta_{\infty}$ are larger (smaller) than the results obtained in the Kerr black hole, but the coefficient $\bar{a}$, the deflection angle $\alpha(\theta)$ and the angular separation $s$ are smaller (larger) than that in the Kerr black hole. These features may offer a way to probe special properties for some rotating compact objects by the astronomical instruments in the future.
Precise understanding of non-linear evolution of cosmological perturbations during inflation is necessary for the correct interpretation of measurements of non-Gaussian correlations in the cosmic microwave background and the large-scale structure of the universe. The "{\delta}N formalism" is a popular and powerful technique for computing non-linear evolution of cosmological perturbations on large scales. In particular, it enables us to compute the curvature perturbation, {\zeta}, on large scales without actually solving perturbed field equations. However, people often wonder why this is the case. In order for this approach to be valid, the perturbed Hamiltonian constraint and matter-field equations on large scales must, with a suitable choice of coordinates, take on the same forms as the corresponding unperturbed equations. We find that this is possible when (1) the unperturbed metric is given by a homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker metric; and (2) on large scales and with a suitable choice of coordinates, one can ignore the shift vector (g0i) as well as time-dependence of tensor perturbations to gij/a2(t) of the perturbed metric. While the first condition has to be assumed a priori, the second condition can be met when (3) the anisotropic stress becomes negligible on large scales. However, in order to explicitly show that the second condition follows from the third condition, one has to use gravitational field equations, and thus this statement may depend on the details of theory of gravitation. Finally, as the {\delta}N formalism uses only the Hamiltonian constraint and matter-field equations, it does not a priori respect the momentum constraint. We show that the violation of the momentum constraint only yields a decaying mode solution for {\zeta}, and the violation vanishes when the slow-roll conditions are satisfied.
We study non-linear massive gravity in the spherically symmetric context. Our main motivation is to investigate the effect of helicity-0 mode which remains elusive after analysis of cosmological perturbation around an open Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) universe. The non-linear form of the effective energy-momentum tensor stemming from the mass term is derived for the spherically symmetric case. Only in the special case where the area of the two sphere is not deviated away from the FLRW universe, the effective energy momentum tensor becomes completely the same as that of cosmological constant. This opens a window for discriminating the non-linear massive gravity from general relativity (GR). Indeed, by further solving these spherically symmetric gravitational equations of motion in vacuum to the linear order, we obtain a solution which has an arbitrary time-dependent parameter. In GR, this parameter is a constant and corresponds to the mass of a star. Our result means that Birkhoff's theorem no longer holds in the non-linear massive gravity and suggests that energy can probably be emitted superluminously (with infinite speed) on the self-accelerating background by the helicity-0 mode, which could be a potential plague of this theory.
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We study the collimation of relativistic magnetohydrodynamic jets by the pressure of an ambient medium, in the limit where the jet interior loses causal contact with its surroundings. This follows up a hydrodynamic study in a previous paper, adding the effects of a toroidal magnetic field threading the jet. As the ultrarelativistic jet encounters an ambient medium with a pressure profile with a radial scaling of p ~ r^-eta where 2<eta<4, it loses causal contact with its surroundings and forms a boundary layer with a large pressure gradient. By constructing self-similar solutions to the fluid equations within this boundary layer, we examine the structure of this layer as a function of the external pressure profile. We show that the boundary layer always becomes magnetically dominated far from the source, and that in the magnetic limit, physical self-similar solutions are admitted in which the total pressure within the layer decreases linearly with distance from the contact discontinuity inward. These solutions suggest a `hollow cone' behavior of the jet, with the boundary layer thickness prescribed by the value of eta. In contrast to the hydrodynamical case, however, the boundary layer contains an asymptotically vanishing fraction of the jet energy flux.