The high energy activity in the inner few degrees of the Galactic center is traced by diffuse radio, X-ray and gamma-ray emission. The physical relationship between different components of diffuse gas emitting at multiple wavelengths is a focus of this work. We first present radio continuum observations using Green Bank Telescope and model the nonthermal spectrum in terms of a broken power-law distribution of GeV electrons emitting synchrotron radiation. We show that the emission detected by Fermi is primarily due to nonthermal bremsstrahlung produced by the population of synchrotron emitting electrons in the GeV energy range interacting with neutral gas. The extrapolation of the electron population measured from radio data to low and high energies can also explain the origin of FeI 6.4 keV line and diffuse TeV emission, as observed with Suzaku, XMM-Newton, Chandra and the H.E.S.S. observatories. The inferred physical quantities from modeling multi-wavelength emission in the context of bremsstrahlung emission from the inner 300x120 parsecs of the Galactic center are constrained to have the cosmic ray ionization rate 1-10x10^{-15} s^-1, molecular gas heating rate elevating the gas temperature to 75-200K, fractional ionization of molecular gas 10^{-6} to 10^{-5}, large scale magnetic field 10-20 micro Gauss, the density of diffuse and dense molecular gas 100 and 10^3 cm^{-3} over 300pc and 50pc pathlengths, and the variability of FeI Kalpha 6.4 keV line emission on yearly time scales. Important implications of our study are that GeV electrons emitting in radio can explain the GeV gamma-rays detected by Fermi and that the cosmic ray irradiation model, like the model of the X-ray irradiation triggered by past activity of Sgr A*, can also explain the origin of the variable 6.4 keV emission from Galactic center molecular clouds.
We present the X-ray point-source catalog produced from the Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS-I) observations of the combined \sim3.2 deg2 DEEP2 (XDEEP2) survey fields, which consist of four ~0.7-1.1 deg2 fields. The combined total exposures across all four XDEEP2 fields range from ~10ks-1.1Ms. We detect X-ray point-sources in both the individual ACIS-I observations and the overlapping regions in the merged (stacked) images. We find a total of 2976 unique X-ray sources within the survey area with an expected false-source contamination of ~30 sources (~1%). We present the combined logN-logS distribution of sources detected across the XDEEP2 survey fields and find good agreement with the Extended Chandra Deep Field and Chandra-COSMOS fields to f_{X,0.5-2keV}\sim2x10^{-16} erg/cm^2/s. Given the large survey area of XDEEP2, we additionally place relatively strong constraints on the logN-logS distribution at high fluxes (f_{X,0.5-2keV}\sim3x10^{-14} erg/cm^2/s), and find a small systematic offset (a factor ~1.5) towards lower source numbers in this regime, when compared to smaller area surveys. The number counts observed in XDEEP2 are in close agreement with those predicted by X-ray background synthesis models. Additionally, we present a Bayesian-style method for associating the X-ray sources with optical photometric counterparts in the DEEP2 catalog (complete to R_AB < 25.2) and find that 2126 (~71.4\pm2.8%) of the 2976 X-ray sources presented here have a secure optical counterpart with a <6% contamination fraction. We provide the DEEP2 optical source properties (e.g., magnitude, redshift) as part of the X-ray-optical counterpart catalog.
The 4MOST consortium is currently halfway through a Conceptual Design study for ESO with the aim to develop a wide-field (>3 square degree, goal >5 square degree), high-multiplex (>1500 fibres, goal 3000 fibres) spectroscopic survey facility for an ESO 4m-class telescope (VISTA). 4MOST will run permanently on the telescope to perform a 5 year public survey yielding more than 20 million spectra at resolution R~5000 ({\lambda}=390-1000 nm) and more than 2 million spectra at R~20,000 (395-456.5 nm & 587-673 nm). The 4MOST design is especially intended to complement three key all-sky, space-based observatories of prime European interest: Gaia, eROSITA and Euclid. Initial design and performance estimates for the wide-field corrector concepts are presented. We consider two fibre positioner concepts, a well-known Phi-Theta system and a new R-Theta concept with a large patrol area. The spectrographs are fixed configuration two-arm spectrographs, with dedicated spectrographs for the high- and low-resolution. A full facility simulator is being developed to guide trade-off decisions regarding the optimal field-of-view, number of fibres needed, and the relative fraction of high-to-low resolution fibres. Mock catalogues with template spectra from seven Design Reference Surveys are simulated to verify the science requirements of 4MOST. The 4MOST consortium aims to deliver the full 4MOST facility by the end of 2018 and start delivering high-level data products for both consortium and ESO community targets a year later with yearly increments.
We present new, full-orbit observations of the infrared phase variations of the canonical hot Jupiter HD 189733b obtained in the 3.6 and 4.5 micron bands using the Spitzer Space Telescope. When combined with previous phase curve observations at 8.0 and 24 micron, these data allow us to characterize the exoplanet's emission spectrum as a function of planetary longitude. We utilize improved methods for removing the effects of intrapixel sensitivity variations and accounting for the presence of time-correlated noise in our data. We measure a phase curve amplitude of 0.1242% +/- 0.0061% in the 3.6 micron band and 0.0982% +/- 0.0089% in the 4.5 micron band. We find that the times of minimum and maximum flux occur several hours earlier than predicted for an atmosphere in radiative equilibrium, consistent with the eastward advection of gas by an equatorial super-rotating jet. The locations of the flux minima in our new data differ from our previous observations at 8 micron, and we present new evidence indicating that the flux minimum observed in the 8 micron is likely caused by an over-shooting effect in the 8 micron array. We obtain improved estimates for HD 189733b's dayside planet-star flux ratio of 0.1466% +/- 0.0040% at 3.6 micron and 0.1787% +/- 0.0038% at 4.5 micron; these are the most accurate secondary eclipse depths obtained to date for an extrasolar planet. We compare our new dayside and nightside spectra for HD 189733b to the predictions of models from Burrows et al. (2008) and Showman et al. (2009). We find that HD 189733b's 4.5 micron nightside flux is 3.3 sigma smaller than predicted by the Showman et al. models, which assume that the chemistry is in local thermal equilibrium. We conclude that this discrepancy is best-explained by vertical mixing, which should lead to an excess of CO and correspondingly enhanced 4.5 micron absorption in this region. [abridged]
We analyze rest-frame optical morphologies and gas-phase kinematics as traced by rest-frame far-UV and optical spectra for a sample of 204 star forming galaxies in the redshift range z ~ 2-3 drawn from the Keck Baryonic Structure Survey (KBSS). We find that spectroscopic properties and gas-phase kinematics are closely linked to morphology: compact galaxies with semi-major axis radii r \lesssim 2 kpc are substantially more likely than their larger counterparts to exhibit LyA in emission. Although LyA emission strength varies widely within galaxies of a given morphological type, all twelve galaxies with LyA equivalent width W_LyA > 30 A have small semi-major axes. The velocity structure of absorption lines in the galactic continuum spectra also varies as a function of morphology. Galaxies of all morphological types drive similarly strong outflows (as traced by the blue wing of interstellar absorption line features), but the outflows of larger galaxies are less highly ionized and exhibit larger optical depth at the systemic redshift that may correspond to a decreasing efficiency of feedback in evacuating gas from the galaxy. This v ~ 0 km/s gas is responsible both for shifting the mean absorption line redshift and attenuating W_LyA (via a longer resonant scattering path) in galaxies with larger rest-optical half light radii. In contrast to galaxies at lower redshifts, there is no evidence for a correlation between outflow velocity and inclination, suggesting that outflows from these puffy and irregular systems may be poorly collimated. (Abbrev.)
We present a new method that simultaneously solves for cosmology and galaxy bias on non-linear scales. The method uses the halo model to analytically describe the (non-linear) matter distribution, and the conditional luminosity function (CLF) to specify the halo occupation statistics. For a given choice of cosmological parameters, this model can be used to predict the galaxy luminosity function, as well as the two-point correlation functions of galaxies, and the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal, both as function of scale and luminosity. In this paper, the first in a series, we present the detailed, analytical model, which we test against mock galaxy redshift surveys constructed from high-resolution numerical $N$-body simulations. We demonstrate that our model, which includes scale-dependence of the halo bias and a proper treatment of halo exclusion, reproduces the 3-dimensional galaxy-galaxy correlation and the galaxy-matter cross-correlation (which can be projected to predict the observables) with an accuracy better than 10 (in most cases 5) percent. Ignoring either of these effects, as is often done, results in systematic errors that easily exceed 40 percent on scales of $\sim 1 h^{-1}\Mpc$, where the data is typically most accurate. Finally, since the projected correlation functions of galaxies are never obtained by integrating the redshift space correlation function along the line-of-sight out to infinity, simply because the data only cover a finite volume, they are still affected by residual redshift space distortions (RRSDs). Ignoring these, as done in numerous studies in the past, results in systematic errors that easily exceed 20 perent on large scales ($r_\rmp \gta 10 h^{-1}\Mpc$). We show that it is fairly straightforward to correct for these RRSDs, to an accuracy better than $\sim 2$ percent, using a mildly modified version of the linear Kaiser formalism.
We calculate the polarization of synchrotron radiation produced at the relativistic reconfinement shocks, taking into account globally ordered magnetic field components, in particular toroidal and helical fields. In these shocks, toroidal fields produce high parallel polarization (electric vectors parallel to the projected jet axis), while chaotic fields generate moderate perpendicular polarization. Helical fields result in a non-axisymmetric distribution of the total and polarized brightness. For a diverging downstream velocity field, the Stokes parameter U does not vanish and the average polarization is neither strictly parallel nor perpendicular. A distance at which the downstream flow is changing from diverging to converging can be easily identified on polarization maps as the turning point, at which polarization vectors switch, e.g., from clockwise to counterclockwise.
The simple, yet profoundly far-reaching classification scheme based on extended radio morphologies of radio galaxies, the Fanaroff-Riley classification has been a cornerstone in our understanding of radio galaxies. Over the decades since the recognition that there are two basic types of radio galaxy morphologies there have been several findings in different wavebands that have reported properties on different scales. Although it is realized that there may be intrinsic as well external causes an overarching view of how we may understand the two morphological types is missing. With the radio power-absolute magnitude relation (the Owen-Ledlow diagram) as backdrop we review and develop an understanding of the two radio galaxy types in the light of what is known about them. We have for the first time included the dust properties of the two FR classes together with the relative orientations of dust, host major axis and the radio axis to present a qualitative framework within which to understand the conditions under which they form. (Abridged).
We present supernova rate measurements at redshift 0.1-1.0 from the Stockholm VIMOS Supernova Survey (SVISS). The sample contains 16 supernovae in total. The discovered supernovae have been classified as core collapse or type Ia supernovae (9 and 7, respectively) based on their light curves, colour evolution and host galaxy photometric redshift. The rates we find for the core collapse supernovae are 3.29 (-1.78,-1.45)(+3.08,+1.98) x 10^-4 yr^-1 Mpc^-3 h70^3 (with statistical and systematic errors respectively) at <z> =0.39 and 6.40 (-3.12,-2.11)(+5.30,+3.65) x 10^-4 yr^-1 Mpc^-3 h70^3 at <z>=0.73. For the type Ia supernovae we find a rate of 1.29 (-0.57,-0.28)(+0.88,+0.27) x 10^-4 yr^-1 Mpc^-3 h70^3 at <z>=0.62. All of these rate estimates have been corrected for host galaxy extinction, using a method that includes supernovae missed in infrared bright galaxies at high redshift. We use Monte Carlo simulations to make a thorough study of the systematic effects from assumptions made when calculating the rates and find that the most important errors come from misclassification, the assumed mix of faint and bright supernova types and uncertainties in the extinction correction. We compare our rates to other observations and to the predicted rates for core collapse and type Ia supernovae based on the star formation history and different models of the delay time distribution. Overall, our measurements, when taking the effects of extinction into account, agree quite well with the predictions and earlier results. Our results highlight the importance of understanding the role of systematic effects, and dust extinction in particular, when trying to estimate the rates of supernovae at moderate to high redshift.
The planet candidates discovered by the Kepler mission provide a rich sample to constrain the architectures and relative inclinations of planetary systems within approximately 0.5 AU of their host stars. We use the triple-transit systems from the Kepler 16-months data as templates for physical triple-planet systems and perform synthetic transit observations. We find that all the Kepler triple-transit and double-transit systems can be produced from the triple-planet templates, given a low mutual inclination of around five degrees. Our analysis shows that the Kepler data contains a population of planets larger than four Earth radii in single-transit systems that can not arise from the triple-planet templates. We explore the hypothesis that high-mass counterparts of the triple-transit systems underwent dynamical instability to produce a population of massive double-planet systems of moderately high mutual inclination. We perform N-body simulations of mass-boosted triple-planet systems and observe how the systems heat up and lose planets, most frequently by planet-planet collisions, yielding transits in agreement with the large planets in the Kepler single-transit systems. The resulting population of massive double-planet systems can nevertheless not explain the additional excess of low-mass planets among the observed single-transit systems and the lack of gas-giant planets in double-transit and triple-transit systems. While planetary instability of systems of triple gas-giant planets can be behind part of the dichotomy in the Kepler data between systems showing one transit and systems showing two or more transits, the main part of the dichotomy is more likely to have arisen already during planet formation when the formation, migration or scattering of a massive planet, triggered above a threshold metallicity, suppressed the formation of other planets in sub-AU orbits.
We present the first measurements of the near-infrared (NIR), specifically the J-band, sky background in the Canadian High Arctic. There has been considerable recent interest in the development of an astronomical observatory in Ellesmere Island; initial site testing has shown promise for a world-class site. Encouragement for our study came from sky background measurements on the high Antarctic glacial plateau in winter that showed markedly lower NIR emission when compared to good mid-latitude astronomical sites due to reduced emission from OH airglow lines. This is possibly a Polar effect and may also be present in the High Arctic. To test this hypothesis, we carried out an experiment which measured the the J-band sky brightness in the High Arctic during winter. We constructed a zenith-pointing, J-band photometer, and installed it at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) near Eureka, Nunavut (latitude: 80 degrees N). We present the design of our photometer and our results from our short PEARL observing campaign in February 2012. Taken over a period of four days, our measurements indicate that the J-band sky brightness varies between 15.5-15.9 mag arcsec^2, with a measurement uncertainty of 0.15 mag dominated entirely by systematic errors present in our radiometric calibration. On our best night, we measured a fairly consistent sky brightness of 15.8 +/- 0.15 mag arcsec^2. This is not corrected for atmospheric extinction, which is typically <0.1 mag in the J-band on a good night. The measured sky brightness is comparable to an excellent mid-latitude site, but is not as dark as claimed by the Antarctic measurements. We discuss possible explanations of why we do not see as dark skies as in the Antarctic. Future winter-long sky brightness measurements are anticipated to obtain the necessary statistics to make a proper comparison with the Antarctic measurements.
Since the middle of the 1940's scientists have used Monte Carlo (MC) simulations to obtain information about physical processes. This has proved a accurate and and reliable method to obtain this information. Through out resent years researchers has begone to use the slightly newer Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation. This differs from the ordinary MC by using the Markov Chain. MCMC originates from Bayesian statistics. This method has given researchers a completely new tool to learn something about physical systems. One of the fields where MCMC is a good new tool, is astrophysics. Today MCMC is widely used in simulating power spectra for asteroseismic data. Hereby providing the scientists with important new information of stellar interiors. From our results we see that MCMC delivers a robust and reliable result with good error estimation. We also learn that MCMC is a power full tool which can be applied to a large verity of problems.
Rapid variability in the radio flux density of the BL Lac object PKSB1144-379 has been observed at four frequencies, ranging from 1.5 to 15 GHz, with the VLA and the University of Tasmania's Ceduna antenna. Intrinsic and line of sight effects were examined as possible causes of this variability, with interstellar scintillation best explaining the frequency dependence of the variability timescales and modulation indices. This scintillation is consistent with a compact source 20-40 microarcseconds, or 0.15-0.3 pc in size. The inferred brightness temperature for PKSB1144-379 (assuming that the observed variations are due to scintillation) is 6.2e12 K at 4.9 GHz, with approximately 10 percent of the total flux in the scintillating component. We show that scintillation surveys aimed at identifying variability timescales of days to weeks are an effective way to identify the AGN with the highest brightness temperatures.
Here I will outline successes and challenges for finding spectral line sources in large data cubes that are dominated by noise. This is a 3D challenge as the sources we wish to catalog are spread over several spatial pixels and spectral channels. While 2D searches can be applied, e.g., channel by channel, optimal searches take into account the 3-dimensional nature of the sources. In this overview I will focus on HI 21-cm spectral line source detection in extragalactic surveys, in particular HIPASS, the "HI Parkes All-Sky Survey" and WALLABY, the "ASKAP HI All-Sky Survey". I use the original HIPASS data to highlight the diversity of spectral signatures of galaxies and gaseous clouds, both in emission and absorption. Among others, I report the discovery of a 680 km/s wide HI absorption trough in the megamaser galaxy NGC 5793. Issues such as source confusion and baseline ripples, typically encountered in single-dish HI surveys, are much reduced in interferometric HI surveys. Several large HI emission and absorption surveys are planned for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP): here we focus on WALLABY, the 21-cm survey of the sky (Dec < +30 degr; z < 0.26) which will take about one year of observing time with ASKAP. Novel phased array feeds ("radio cameras") will provide 30 square degrees instantaneous field-of-view. WALLABY is expected to detect more than 500 000 galaxies, unveil their large-scale structures and cosmological parameters, detect their extended, low-surface brightness disks as well as gas streams and filaments between galaxies. It is a precursor for future HI surveys with SKA Phase I and II, exploring galaxy formation and evolution. The compilation of highly reliable and complete source catalogs will require sophisticated source-finding algorithms as well as accurate source parametrisation.
We present a set of three unified equations of states (EoSs) based on the nuclear energy-density functional (EDF) theory.These EoSs are based on generalized Skyrme forces fitted to essentially all experimental atomic mass data and constrained to reproduce various properties of infinite nuclear matter as obtained from many-body calculations using realistic two- and three-body interactions. The structure of cold isolated neutron stars is discussed in connection with some astrophysical observations.
Simulations of galaxy evolution aim to capture our current understanding as well as to make predictions for testing by future experiments. Simulations and observations are often compared in an indirect fashion: physical quantities are estimated from the data and compared to models. However, many applications can benefit from a more direct approach, where the observing process is also simulated and the models are seen fully from the observer's perspective. To facilitate this, we have developed the Millennium Run Observatory (MRObs), a theoretical virtual observatory which uses virtual telescopes to `observe' semi-analytic galaxy formation models based on the suite of Millennium Run dark matter simulations. The MRObs produces data that can be processed and analyzed using the standard software packages developed for real observations. At present, we produce images in forty filters from the rest-frame UV to IR for two stellar population synthesis models, three different models of IGM absorption, and two cosmologies (WMAP1/7). Galaxy distributions for a large number of mock lightcones can be `observed' using models of major ground- and space-based telescopes. The data include lightcone catalogues linked to structural properties of galaxies, pre-observation model images, mock telescope images, and Source Extractor products that can all be traced back to the higher level dark matter, semi-analytic galaxy, and lightcone catalogues available in the Millennium database. Here, we describe our methods and announce a first public release of simulated observations for SDSS, CFHT-LS Wide/Deep, GOODS, ERS, CANDELS, and HUDF, and an online MRObs browser that facilitates exploration of these simulated data. We demonstrate the benefits of a direct approach through a number of example applications (deep galaxy counts, clusters, galaxy structures, and high-z dropouts).
Despite the absence of viscous drag, the neutron superfluid permeating the inner crust of a neutron star can still be strongly coupled to nuclei due to non-dissipative entrainment effects. Neutron superfluidity and entrainment have been systematically studied in all regions of the inner crust of a cold non-accreting neutron star in the framework of the band theory of solids. It is shown that in the intermediate layers of the inner crust a large fraction of "free" neutrons are actually entrained by the crust. The results suggest that a revision of the interpretation of many observable astrophysical phenomena might be necessary.
Known populations of QSOs appear to fall short of producing the ionizing flux required for re-ionizing the universe. The alternative, galaxies as sources of ionizing photons, suffers from the problem that known types of galaxies are almost completely opaque to ionizing photons. For reionization to happen, either large numbers of (largely undiscovered) sources are required, or the known populations of galaxies need to have had a much larger escape fraction for ionizing radiation in the past. We discuss recent discoveries of faint z~3 Lyman alpha emitters with asymmetric, extended Lyman alpha emission regions, which apparently are related to interacting galaxies. The unusually shaped line profiles and the underlying stellar populations of these objects suggest the presence of damaged gaseous halos, infall of gas, tidal or stripped stellar features and young populations of hot stars, that would all be conducive to the release of ionizing radiation. As galaxy interactions and mergers increase with redshift, these effects can only become more important at earlier times, and so these interacting z~3 objects may be late, lower redshift analogues of the sources of reionization.
We present radial velocities and chemical abundances for nine stars in the old, distant open clusters Be 18, Be 21, Be 22, Be 32, and PWM 4. For Be 18 and PWM 4, these are the first chemical abundance measurements. Combining our data with literature results produces a compilation of some 68 chemical abundance measurements in 49 unique clusters. For this combined sample, we study the chemical abundances of open clusters as a function of distance, age, and metallicity. We confirm that the metallicity gradient in the outer disk is flatter than the gradient in the vicinity of the solar neighborhood. We also confirm that the open clusters in the outer disk are metal-poor with enhancements in the ratios [alpha/Fe] and perhaps [Eu/Fe]. All elements show negligible or small trends between [X/Fe] and distance (< 0.02 dex/kpc), but for some elements, there is a hint that the local (RGC < 13 kpc) and distant (RGC > 13 kpc) samples may have different trends with distance. There is no evidence for significant abundance trends versus age (< 0.04 dex/Gyr). We measure the linear relation between [X/Fe] and metallicity, [Fe/H], and find that the scatter about the mean trend is comparable to the measurement uncertainties. Comparison with solar neighborhood field giants shows that the open clusters share similar abundance ratios [X/Fe] at a given metallicity. While the flattening of the metallicity gradient and enhanced [alpha/Fe] ratios in the outer disk suggest a different chemical enrichment history to the solar neighborhood, we echo the sentiments expressed by Friel et al. that definitive conclusions await homogeneous analyses of larger samples of stars in larger numbers of clusters. Arguably, our understanding of the evolution of the outer disk from open clusters is currently limited by systematic abundance differences between various studies.
The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) is one of three Square Kilometre Array Precursor telescopes and is located at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in the Murchison Shire of the mid-west of Western Australia, a location chosen for its extremely low levels of radio frequency interference. The MWA operates at low radio frequencies, 80-300 MHz, with a processed bandwidth of 30.72 MHz for both linear polarisations, and consists of 128 aperture arrays (known as tiles) distributed over a ~3 km diameter area. Novel hybrid hardware/software correlation and a real-time imaging and calibration systems comprise the MWA signal processing backend. In this paper the as-built MWA is described both at a system and sub-system level, the expected performance of the array is presented, and the science goals of the instrument are summarised.
Elliptical galaxies contain X-ray emitting gas that is subject to continuous ram pressure stripping over timescales comparable to cluster ages. The gas in these galaxies is not in perfect hydrostatic equilibrium. Supernova feedback, stellar winds, or active galactic nuclei (AGN) feedback can significantly perturb the interstellar medium (ISM). Using hydrodynamical simulations, we investigate the effect of subsonic turbulence in the hot ISM on the ram pressure stripping process in early-type galaxies. We find that galaxies with the stronger turbulent ISM produce longer, wider, and more smoothly distributed tails of the stripped ISM than those characterised by weaker ISM turbulence. Our main conclusion is that even very weak internal turbulence, at the level of <15% of the average ISM sound speed in a galaxy, can accelerate the gas removal from the galaxy via ram pressure stripping and remove a significant fraction (~50%) of the preexisting ISM in ~6 Gyr. The magnitude of this effect increases sharply with the strength of the turbulence. As most of the gas stripping takes place near the boundary between the ISM and the intraclustermedium (ICM), the boost in the ISM stripping rate is due to the "random walk" of the ISM from the central regions of the galactic potential well to larger distances, where the ram pressure is able to permanently remove the gas from the galaxy. The ICM can be temporarily trapped inside the galactic potential well due to the mixing of the turbulent ISM with the ICM. The galaxies with more turbulent ISM, yet still characterised by very weak turbulence, can hold larger amounts of the ICM. [Abridged]
We present deep photometry in the B,V and I filters from CTIO/MOSAIC for about 270.000 stars in the Fornax dwarf Spheroidal galaxy, out to a radius of r_ell\sim0.8 degrees. By combining the accurately calibrated photometry with the spectroscopic metallicity distributions of individual Red Giant Branch stars we obtain the detailed star formation and chemical evolution history of Fornax. Fornax is dominated by intermediate age (1-10 Gyr) stellar populations, but also includes ancient (10-14 Gyr), and young (<1 Gyr) stars. We show that Fornax displays a radial age gradient, with younger, more metal-rich populations dominating the central region. This confirms results from previous works. Within an elliptical radius of 0.8 degrees, or 1.9 kpc from the centre, a total mass in stars of 4.3x10^7 Msun was formed, from the earliest times until 250 Myr ago. Using the detailed star formation history, age estimates are determined for individual stars on the upper RGB, for which spectroscopic abundances are available, giving an age-metallicity relation of the Fornax dSph from individual stars. This shows that the average metallicity of Fornax went up rapidly from [Fe/H]<-2.5 dex to [Fe/H]=-1.5 dex between 8-12 Gyr ago, after which a more gradual enrichment resulted in a narrow, well-defined sequence which reaches [Fe/H]\sim-0.8 dex, \sim3 Gyr ago. These ages also allow us to measure the build-up of chemical elements as a function of time, and thus determine detailed timescales for the evolution of individual chemical elements. A rapid decrease in [Mg/Fe] is seen for the stars with [Fe/H]>-1.5 dex, with a clear trend in age.
Subluminous B stars (sdBs) form the extremely hot end of the horizontal branch and are therefore related to the blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars. While the rotational properties of BHB stars have been investigated extensively, studies of sdB stars have concentrated on close binaries that are influenced by tidal interactions between their components. Here we present a study of 105 sdB stars, which are either single stars or in wide binaries where tidal effects become negligible. The projected rotational velocities have been determined by measuring the broadening of metal lines using high-resolution optical spectra. All stars in our sample are slow rotators (${v_{\rm rot}\sin{i}}<10\,{\rm km\,s^{-1}}$). Furthermore, the $v_{\rm rot}\sin{i}$-distributions of single sdBs are similar to those of hot subdwarfs in wide binaries with main-sequence companions as well as close binary systems with unseen companions and periods exceeding $\simeq1.2\,{\rm d}$. We show that blue horizontal and extreme horizontal branch stars are also related in terms of surface rotation and angular momentum. Hot blue horizontal branch stars ($T_{\rm eff}>11\,500\,{\rm K}$) with diffusion-dominated atmospheres are slow rotators like the hot subdwarf stars located on the extreme horizontal branch, which lost more envelope and therefore angular momentum in the red-giant phase. The uniform rotation distributions of single and wide binary sdBs pose a challenge to our understanding of hot subdwarf formation. Especially the high fraction of helium white dwarf mergers predicted by theory seems to be inconsistent with the results presented here.
The connection between long GRBs and supernovae is now well established. I briefly review the evidence in favor of this connection and summarise where we are observationally. I also use a few events to exemplify what should be done and what type of data are needed. I also look at what we can learn from looking at SNe not associated with GRBs and see how GRBs fit into the broad picture of stellar explosions.
The low multipole anomalies of the Cosmic Microwave Background has received much attention during the last few years. It is still not ascertained whether these anomalies are indeed primordial or the result of systematics or foregrounds. An example of a foreground, which could generate some non-Gaussian and statistically anisotropic features at low multipole range, is the very symmetric Kuiper Belt in the outer solar system. In this paper, expanding upon the methods presented by Maris et al. (2011), we investigate the contributions from the Kuiper Belt objects (KBO) to the WMAP ILC 7 map, whereby we can minimize the contrast in power between even and odd multipoles in the CMB, discussed by Kim & Naselsky (2010). We submit our KBO de-correlated CMB signal to several tests, to analyze its validity, and find that incorporation of the KBO emission can resolve the quadrupole-octupole alignment and parity asymmetry problems, provided that the KBO signals has a non-cosmological dipole modulation, associated with the statistical anisotropy of the ILC 7 map. Additionally, we show that the amplitude of the dipole modulation, within a 2 sigma interval, is in agreement with the corresponding amplitudes, discussed by Lew (2008).
The project Massive Unseen Companions to Hot Faint Underluminous Stars from SDSS (MUCHFUSS) aims at finding hot subdwarf stars with massive compact companions (white dwarfs with masses $M>1.0 {\rm M_{\odot}}$, neutron stars or black holes). The existence of such systems is predicted by binary evolution calculations and some candidate systems have been found. We identified $\simeq1100$ hot subdwarf stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Stars with high velocities have been reobserved and individual SDSS spectra have been analysed. About 70 radial velocity variable subdwarfs have been selected as good candidates for follow-up time resolved spectroscopy to derive orbital parameters and photometric follow-up to search for features like eclipses in the light curves. Up to now we found nine close binary sdBs with short orbital periods ranging from $\simeq0.07 {\rm d}$ to $1.5 {\rm d}$. Two of them are eclipsing binaries with companions that are most likely of substellar nature.
The ability to resolve all processes which drive galaxy formation is one of the most fundamental goals in extragalactic astronomy. While star formation rates and the merger history are now being measured with increasingly high certainty, the role of gas accretion from the intergalactic medium in triggering star formation still remains largely unknown. We present in this paper indirect evidence for the accretion of gas into massive galaxies with M_* > 10^{11} M_0 at redshifts 1.5 < z < 3 using results from the GOODS NICMOS Survey (GNS). Our method utilises the observed star formation rates of these massive galaxies based on UV and far-infrared observations, and the amount of stellar and gas mass added due to observed major and minor mergers to calculate the evolution of stellar mass in these systems. We show that the measured gas mass fractions are inconsistent with the observed star formation history for the same galaxy population. We further demonstrate that this additional gas mass cannot be accounted for by cold gas delivered through minor and major mergers. We argue that to sustain star formation at the observed rates there must be additional methods for increasing the cold gas mass, and that the likeliest method for establishing this supply of gas is by accretion from the intergalactic medium. We calculate that the average gas mass accretion rate into these massive galaxies, which is later turned into stars between 1.5 < z < 3.0, is = 83+/-36 M_0/yr. This is similar to what is predicted in detailed simulations of galaxy formation. We show that during this epoch, and for these very massive galaxies, 61+/-21% of stellar assembly is a result of gas accretion, while the remaining ~39% is put into place through mergers. This reveals that for the most massive galaxies at 1.5 < z < 3 gas accretion is the dominant method for instigating galaxy formation.
We discuss the current status of the sample of Lithium abundances in extremely metal poor (EMP) turn-off (TO) stars collected by our group, and compare it with the available literature results. In the last years, evidences have accumulated of a progressive disruption of the Spite plateau in stars of extremely low metallicity. What appears to be a flat, thin plateau above [Fe/H]\sim-2.8 turns, at lower metallicities, into a broader distribution for which the plateau level constitutes the upper limit, but more and more stars show lower Li abundances. The sample we have collected currently counts abundances or upper limits for 44 EMP TO stars between [Fe/H]=-2.5 and -3.5, plus the ultra-metal poor star SDSS J102915+172927 at [Fe/H]=-4.9. The "meltdown" of the Spite plateau is quite evident and, at the current status of the sample, does not appear to be restricted to the cool end of the effective temperature distribution. SDSS J102915+172927 displays an extreme Li depletion that contrasts with its otherwise quite ordinary set of [X/Fe] ratios.
We present the results of the first spectroscopic follow-up of 132 optically blue UV-excess sources selected from the UV-excess survey of the Northern Galactic Plane (UVEX). The UV-excess spectra are classified into different populations and grids of model spectra are fit to determine spectral types, temperatures, surface gravities and reddening. From this initial spectroscopic follow-up 95% of the UV-excess candidates turn out to be genuine UV-excess sources such as white dwarfs, white dwarf binaries, subdwarfs type O and B, emission line stars and QSOs. The remaining sources are classified as slightly reddened main-sequence stars with spectral types later than A0V. The fraction of DA white dwarfs is 47% with reddening smaller than E(B-V)<0.7 mag. Relations between the different populations and their UVEX photometry, Galac- tic latitude and reddening are shown. A larger fraction of UVEX white dwarfs is found at magnitudes fainter than g>17 and Galactic latitude smaller than |b|<4 compared to main-sequence stars, blue horizontal branch stars and subdwarfs.
We present a study of Broad Absorption Line (BAL) quasar outflows that show S IV ?1063 and S IV* ?1073 troughs. The fractional abundance of S IV and C IV peak at similar value of the ionization parameter, implying that they arise from the same physical component of the outflow. Detection of the S IV* troughs will allow us to determine the distance to this gas with higher resolution and higher signal-to-noise spectra, therefore providing the distance and energetics of the ubiquitous C IV BAL outflows. In our bright sample of 156 SDSS quasars 14% show C IV and 1.9% S IV troughs, which is consistent with a fainter magnitude sample with twice as many objects. One object in the fainter sample shows evidence of a broad S IV trough without any significant trough present from the excited state line, which implies that this outflow could be at a distance of several kpc. Given the fractions of C IV and S IV, we establish firm limits on the global covering factor on S IV that ranges from 2.8% to 21% (allowing for the k-correction). Comparison of the expected optical depth for these ions with their detected percentage suggests that these species arise from common outflows with a covering factor closer to the latter.
A survey toward 674 Planck cold clumps of the Early Cold Core Catalogue (ECC) in the J=1-0 transitions of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO and C$^{18}$O has been carried out using the PMO 13.7 m telescope. 673 clumps were detected with the $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO, and 68% of the samples have C$^{18}$O emission. Additional velocity components were also identified.A close consistency of the three line peak velocities was revealed for the first time. Kinematic distances are given out for all the velocity components and half of the clumps are located within 0.5 and 1.5 kpc. Excitation temperatures range from 4 to 27 K, slightly larger than those of $T_d$. Line width analysis shows that the majority of ECC clumps are low mass clumps. Column densities N$_{H_{2}}$ span from 10$^{20}$ to 4.5$\times10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ with an average value of (4.4$\pm$3.6)$\times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$. N$_{H_{2}}$ cumulative fraction distribution deviates from the lognormal distribution, which is attributed to optical depth. The average abundance ratio of the $^{13}$CO to C$^{18}$O in these clumps is 7.0$\pm$3.8, higher than the terrestrial value. Dust and gas are well coupled in 95% of the clumps. Blue profile, red profile and line asymmetry in total was found in less than 10% of the clumps, generally indicating star formation is not developed yet. Ten clumps were mapped. Twelve velocity components and 22 cores were obtained. Their morphologies include extended diffuse, dense isolated, cometary and filament, of which the last is the majority. 20 cores are starless.Only 7 cores seem to be in gravitationally bound state. Planck cold clumps are the most quiescent among the samples of weak-red IRAS, infrared dark clouds, UC H{\sc ii} region candidates, EGOs and methanol maser sources, suggesting that Planck cold clumps have expanded the horizon of cold Astronomy.
Hydrogen recombination lines are one of the major diagnostics of H II region physical properties and kinematics. In the near future, the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) will allow observers to study recombination lines in the radio and sub-mm regime in unprecedented detail. In this paper, we study the properties of recombination lines, in particular at ALMA wavelengths. We find that such lines will lie in almost every wideband ALMA setup and that the line emission will be equally detectable in all bands. Furthermore, we present our implementation of hydrogen recombination lines in the adaptive-mesh radiative transfer code RADMC-3D. We particularly emphasize the importance of non-LTE (local thermodynamical equilibrium) modeling since non-LTE effects can drastically affect the line shapes and produce asymmetric line profiles from radially symmetric H II regions. We demonstrate how these non-LTE effects can be used as a probe of systematic motions (infall & outflow) in the gas. We use RADMC-3D to produce synthetic observations of model H II regions and study the necessary conditions for observing such asymmetric line profiles with ALMA and EVLA.
The explanation of the accelerated expansion of the Universe poses one of the most fundamental questions in physics and cosmology today. If the acceleration is driven by some form of dark energy, one can try to constrain the parameters using a cosmographic approach. Our high-redshift analysis allows us to put constraints on the cosmographic expansion up to the fifth order. It is based on the Union2 Type Ia Supernovae (SNIa) data set, the Hubble diagram constructed from some Gamma Ray Bursts luminosity distance indicators, and gaussian priors on the distance from the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and the Hubble constant h (these priors have been included in order to help break the degeneracies among model parameters). To perform our statistical analysis and to explore the probability distributions of the cosmographic parameters we use the Markov Chain Monte Carlo Method (MCMC). We finally investigate implications of our results for the dark energy, in particular, we focus on the parametrization of the dark energy equation of state (EOS). Actually, a possibility to investigate the nature of dark energy lies in measuring the dark energy equation of state, w, and its time (or redshift) dependence at high accuracy. However, since w(z) is not directly accessible to measurement, reconstruction methods are needed to extract it reliably from observations. Here we investigate different models of dark energy, described through several parametrizations of the equation of state, by comparing the cosmographic and the EOS series.
The Haumea family is currently the only identified collisional family in the Kuiper belt. We numerically simulate the long-term dynamical evolution of the family to estimate a lower limit of the family's age and to assess how the population of the family and its dynamical clustering are preserved over Gyr timescales. We find that the family is not younger than 100 Myr, and its age is at least 1 Gyr with 95% confidence. We find that for initial velocity dispersions of 50-400 m/s, approximately 20-45% of the family members are lost to close encounters with Neptune after 3.5 Gyr of orbital evolution. We apply these loss rates to two proposed models for the formation of the Haumea family, a graze-and-merge type collision between two similarly sized, differentiated KBOs or the collisional disruption of a satellite orbiting Haumea. For the graze-and-merge collision model, we calculate that >85% of the expected mass in surviving family members within 150 m/s of the collision has been identified, but that one to two times the mass of the known family members remains to be identified at larger velocities. For the satellite-break-up model, we estimate that the currently identified family members account for ~50% of the expected mass of the family. Taking observational incompleteness into account, the observed number of Haumea family members is consistent with either formation scenario at the 1 sigma level, however both models predict more objects at larger relative velocities (>150 m/s) than have been identified.
We estimate the average radio-AGN (mechanical) power deposited into the hot atmospheres of galaxy clusters over more than three quarters of the age of the Universe. Our sample was drawn from eight major X-ray cluster surveys, and includes 685 clusters in the redshift range 0.1<z<0.6 that overlap the area covered by the NVSS. The radio-AGN mechanical power was estimated by scaling the radio luminosity of central NVSS radio sources using the relation between the radio synchrotron luminosities and X-ray cavity power measurements of Cavagnolo et al. (2010). We find only a weak correlation between radio luminosity and cluster X-ray luminosity across the sample. This trend is driven primarily by the most distant clusters, where the detection fraction and average radio powers are higher in the most luminous X-ray clusters at redshifts at or above z=0.3. The average AGN mechanical power of $3\times10^{44}$ erg/s exceeds the X-ray luminosity of 44% of the clusters in our sample, indicating that the accumulation of radio-AGN energy is significant in these clusters. Integrating the AGN mechanical power to redshift z = 2.0, using simple models for its evolution and disregarding the hierarchical growth of clusters, we find that the AGN energy accumulated per particle in low luminosity X-ray clusters exceeds 1.0 keV per particle. This conservative estimate is comparable to the level of energy needed to "preheat" clusters, indicating that continual outbursts from radio-AGN are a significant source of gas energy in hot atmospheres. Our result implies that the supermassive black holes in brightest cluster galaxies that generated this energy did so by accreting an average of 10^9 M_sun over time, which is comparable to the rapid level of growth expected during the quasar era.
The chemical composition of ultra high energy cosmic rays is still uncertain. The latest results obtained by the Pierre Auger Observatory and the HiRes Collaboration, concerning the measurement of the mean value and the fluctuations of the atmospheric depth at which the showers reach the maximum development, Xmax, are inconsistent. From comparison with air shower simulations it can be seen that, while the Auger data may be interpreted as a gradual transition to heavy nuclei for energies larger than ~ 2-3x10^18 eV, the HiRes data are consistent with a composition dominated by protons. In Ref. [1] it is suggested that a possible explanation of the observed deviation of the mean value of Xmax from the proton expectation, observed by Auger, could originate in a statistical bias arising from the approximated exponential shape of the Xmax distribution, combined with the decrease of the number of events as a function of primary energy. In this paper we consider a better description of the Xmax distribution and show that the possible bias in the Auger data is at least one order of magnitude smaller than the one obtained when assuming an exponential distribution. Therefore, we conclude that the deviation of the Auger data from the proton expectation is unlikely explained by such statistical effect.
Observations of chondritic meteorites and their ancestors, dust grains in protoplanetary disks, reveal the existence of strong, frequent heating events. One possible energy source for the heating that melts chondrules and anneals dust grains is the magnetic field that mediates the accretion flow, feeding off the vast reservoir of gravitational potential energy. In the absence of extremely spatially intermittent magnetic reconnection however, it has seemed unlikely that the dissipation of magnetic fields into heat in current sheets could reach the temperatures required to melt chondrules, T~1800K. In this paper, we show that there is hitherto unexplored dramatic behavior in protoplanetary disk current sheets triggered by the strong, positive relation between the temperature and the conductivity that can be understood as an electrical short. This is in opposition to the more commonly assumed resistivity increase in a magnetic reconnection region. The effect acts to focus the current sheets into even narrower, higher current and temperature regions. We lay out the basic principles of this behavior in this paper.
The low frequency radio emission of starburst galaxies is informative, but it can be absorbed in several ways. Most importantly, starburst galaxies are home to many H II regions, whose free-free absorption can obscure low frequency radio waves. These H II regions are discrete objects, but most multiwavelength models of starbursts assume a uniform medium of ionized gas, if they include the absorption at all. I calculate the effective absorption coefficient of H II regions in starbursts, which is ultimately a cross section times the density of H II regions. The cross section can be easily calculated by assuming that H II regions are Str\"omgren spheres. The coefficient asymptotes to a constant value at low frequencies, because H II regions partially cover the starburst, and are buried part way into the starburst's synchrotron emitting material. Considering Str\"omgren spheres around both O stars and Super Star Clusters, I apply the calculations to the low frequency radio spectrum of M82. Far from being opaque at low frequencies, I find that M82 mostly transmits its radio flux. I also find that starbursts are transparent down to a few MHz to other possible absorption processes, such as free-free absorption from the diffuse superwind phase, synchrotron self-absorption, and the Razin effect. Hence, starburst galaxies should be observable with new low frequency radio telescopes.
We present an approach to spectropolarimetry which requires neither moving parts nor time dependent modulation, and which offers the prospect of achieving high sensitivity. The technique applies equally well, in principle, in the optical, UV or IR. The concept, which is one of those generically known as channeled polarimetry, is to encode the polarization information at each wavelength along the spatial dimension of a 2D data array using static, robust optical components. A single two-dimensional data frame contains the full polarization information and can be configured to measure either two or all of the Stokes polarization parameters. By acquiring full polarimetric information in a single observation, we simplify polarimetry of transient sources and in situations where the instrument and target are in relative motion. The robustness and simplicity of the approach, coupled to its potential for high sensitivity, and applicability over a wide wavelength range, is likely to prove useful for applications in challenging environments such as space.
Recent observational surveys have uncovered the existence of super-luminous supernovae (SLSNe). While several possible explanations have been put forth, a consensus description for SLSNe has yet to be found. In this work we study the light curves of eight SLSNe in the context of dual-shock quark novae. We find that progenitor stars in the range of 25-35 $M_{\sun}$ provide ample energy to power each light curve. An examination into the effects of varying the physical properties of a dual-shock quark nova on light curve composition is undertaken. We conclude that the wide variety of SLSN light curve morphologies can be explained predominantly by variations in the length of time between supernova and quark nova. Our analysis shows that a singular H$\alpha$ spectral profile found in three SLSNe can be naturally described in the dual-shock quark nova scenario. Predictions of spectral signatures unique to the dual-shock quark nova are presented.
Several M dwarfs are targets of systematical monitoring in searches for Doppler signals caused by low mass exoplanet companions. As a result, an emergent population of high multiplicity planetary systems around low mass stars starts to show up as well. We optimize classic data analysis methods and develop new ones to enhance the sensitivity towards lower amplitude planets in high multiplicity systems. We re-derive Doppler measurements from public HARPS spectra of GJ 676A using the recently developed template matching method (HARPS-TERRA software). We use refined versions of periodograms to assess the presence of additional low mass companions. We also analyse the same dataset using Bayesian statistics tools and compare the performance of both methods. We confirm the known massive gas giant candidate and the presence of a trend in the RVs. In addition to that, we find very secure evidence in favor of two new candidates in close-in orbits and masses in the super-Earth mass regime. Also, the increased time-span of the observations allows the detection of curvature in the ltrend suggesting the presence of a massive outer companion whose nature is still unclear. Even though the increased sensitivity of our new periodogram tools, we find that Bayesian methods are significantly more sensitive and reliable in the early detection of candidate signals but more works is needed to properly quantify their robustness against false positives. These new planetary system holds the record of minimum mass range (from 4.5Me to 5 Mjup) and period range (from 3.6 days to more than 10 years), being the first exoplanetary system with a general architecture similar to our Solar System. GJ 676A can be happily added to the family of high multiplicity planetary systems around M dwarfs.
We use the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7-year data (WMAP7) to further probe point source detection technique in the sky maps of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. The method by Tegmark et al. for foreground reduced maps and the Kolmogorov parameter as the descriptor are adopted for the analysis of WMAP satellite CMB temperature data. Part of the detected points coincide with point sources already revealed by other methods. However, we have also found 2 source candidates for which still no counterparts are known, and identified 7 point sources listed in Planck Early Release Compact Source Catalogue as high reliability sources.
With the advent of the recent measurements in neutrino physics, we investigate the role of high-energy neutrino flux ratios at neutrino telescopes for the possibility of determining the leptonic CP-violating phase \delta and the underlying pattern of the leptonic mixing matrix. We find that, even considering the current uncertainties on the neutrino mixing parameters, the flux ratios show a dependence of O(10 %) on the CP-violating phase, and for optimistic uncertainties on the flux ratios less than 10 %, they can be used to distinguish between CP-conserving and CP-violating values of the phase at 2\sigma in a non-vanishing interval around the maximal value |\delta|=\pi/2. We also show that the correlations existing among the flux ratios can be useful to discriminate different classes of models based on tri-bi-maximal and bi-maximal mixing patterns.
We present the results of full new calculation of radiocarbon 14C production in the Earth atmosphere, using a numerical Monte-Carlo model. We provide, for the first time, a tabulated 14C yield function for the energy of primary cosmic ray particles ranging from 0.1 to 1000 GeV/nucleon. We have calculated the global production rate of 14C, which is 1.64 and 1.88 atoms/cm2/s for the modern time and for the pre-industrial epoch, respectively. This is close to the values obtained from the carbon cycle reservoir inventory. We argue that earlier models overestimated the global 14C production rate because of outdated spectra of cosmic ray heavier nuclei. The mean contribution of solar energetic particles to the global 14C is calculated as about 0.25% for the modern epoch. Our model provides a new tool to calculate the 14C production in the Earth's atmosphere, which can be applied, e.g., to reconstructions of solar activity in the past.
We generalize the consistency condition for the three-point function in single field inflation to the case of dissipative, multi-field, single-clock models. We use the recently introduced extension of the effective field theory of inflation that accounts for dissipative effects, to provide an explicit proof to leading (non-trivial) order in the generalized slow roll parameters and mixing with gravity scales. Our results illustrate the conditions necessary for the validity of the consistency relation in situations with many degrees of freedom relevant during inflation, namely that there is a preferred clock. Departures from this condition in forthcoming experiments would rule out not only single field but also a large class of multi-field models.
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We present an optical group catalog between 0.1 < z < 1 based on 16,500 high-quality spectroscopic redshifts in the completed zCOSMOS-bright survey. The catalog published herein contains 1498 groups in total and 192 groups with more than five observed members. The catalog includes both group properties and the identification of the member galaxies. Based on mock catalogs, the completeness and purity of groups with three and more members should be both about 83% with respect to all groups that should have been detectable within the survey, and more than 75% of the groups should exhibit a one-to-one correspondence to the "real" groups. Particularly at high redshift, there are apparently more galaxies in groups in the COSMOS field than expected from mock catalogs. We detect clear evidence for the growth of cosmic structure over the last seven billion years in the sense that the fraction of galaxies that are found in groups (in volume-limited samples) increases significantly with cosmic time. In the second part of the paper, we develop a method for associating galaxies that only have photo-z to our spectroscopically identified groups. We show that this leads to improved definition of group centers, improved identification of the most massive galaxies in the groups, and improved identification of central and satellite galaxies, where we define the former to be galaxies at the minimum of the gravitational potential wells. Subsamples of centrals and satellites in the groups can be defined with purities up to 80%, while a straight binary classification of all group and non-group galaxies into centrals and satellites achieves purities of 85% and 75%, respectively, for the spectroscopic sample.
We quantify the accuracy with which the cosmological parameters characterizing the energy density of matter (\Omega_m), the amplitude of the power spectrum of matter fluctuations (\sigma_8), the energy density of neutrinos (\Omega_{\nu}) and the dark energy equation of state (w_0) can be constrained using data from large galaxy redshift surveys. We advocate a joint analysis of the abundance of galaxies, galaxy clustering, and the galaxy-galaxy weak lensing signal in order to simultaneously constrain the halo occupation statistics (i.e., galaxy bias) and the cosmological parameters of interest. We parameterize the halo occupation distribution of galaxies in terms of the conditional luminosity function and use the analytical framework of the halo model described in our companion paper (van den Bosch et al. 2012), to predict the relevant observables. By performing a Fisher matrix analysis, we show that a joint analysis of these observables, even with the precision with which they are currently measured from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, can be used to obtain tight constraints on the cosmological parameters, fully marginalized over uncertainties in galaxy bias. We demonstrate that the cosmological constraints from such an analysis are nearly uncorrelated with the halo occupation distribution constraints, thus, minimizing the systematic impact of any imperfections in modeling the halo occupation statistics on the cosmological constraints. In fact, we demonstrate that the constraints from such an analysis are both complementary to and competitive with existing constraints on these parameters from a number of other techniques, such as cluster abundances, cosmic shear and/or baryon acoustic oscillations, thus paving the way to test the concordance cosmological model.
We present a group-galaxy cross-correlation analysis using a group catalog produced from the 16,500 spectra from the optical zCOSMOS galaxy survey. Our aim is to perform a consistency test in the redshift range 0.2 \leq z \leq 0.8 between the clustering strength of the groups and mass estimates that are based on the richness of the groups. We measure the linear bias of the groups by means of a group-galaxy cross-correlation analysis and convert it into mass using the bias-mass relation for a given cosmology, checking the systematic errors using realistic group and galaxy mock catalogs. The measured bias for the zCOSMOS groups increases with group richness as expected by the theory of cosmic structure formation and yields masses that are reasonably consistent with the masses estimated from the richness directly, considering the scatter that is obtained from the 24 mock catalogs. An exception are the richest groups at high redshift (estimated to be more massive than 10^13.5 M\odot), for which the measured bias is significantly larger than for any of the 24 mock catalogs (corresponding to a 3{\sigma} effect), which is attributed to the extremely large structure that is present in the COSMOS field at z \sim 0.7. Our results are in general agreement with previous studies that reported unusually strong clustering in the COSMOS field.
Using high resolution cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way-massed disk galaxies, we demonstrate that supernovae feedback and tidal stripping lower the central masses of bright (-14 < M_V < -8) satellite galaxies. These simulations resolve high density regions, comparable to giant molecular clouds, where stars form. This resolution allows us to adopt a prescription for H_2 formation and destruction that ties star formation to the presence of shielded, molecular gas. Before infall, supernova feedback from the clumpy, bursty star formation captured by this physically motivated model leads to reduced dark matter (DM) densities and shallower inner density profiles in the massive satellite progenitors (Mvir > 10^9 Msun, Mstar > 10^7 Msun) compared to DM-only simulations. The progenitors of the lower mass satellites are unable to maintain bursty star formation histories, due to both heating at reionization and gas loss from initial star forming events, preserving the steep inner density profile predicted by DM-only simulations. After infall, tidal stripping acts to further reduce the central densities of the luminous satellites, particularly those that enter with cored dark matter halos, increasing the discrepancy in the central masses predicted by baryon+DM and DM-only simulations. We show that DM-only simulations, which neglect the baryonic effects described in this work, produce denser satellites with larger central velocities. We provide a simple correction to the central DM mass predicted for satellites by DM-only simulations. We conclude that DM-only simulations should be used with great caution when interpreting kinematic observations of the Milky Way's dwarf satellites.
We present optical spectroscopic measurements of the eclipsing High Mass X-ray Binary XMMU J013236.7+303228 in M33. Based on spectra taken at multiple epochs of the 1.73d binary orbital period we determine physical as well as orbital parameters for the donor star. We find the donor to be a B1.5IV sub-giant with effective temperature T=22,000-23,000 K. From the luminosity, temperature and known distance to M33 we derive a radius of R = 8.9 \pm 0.5 R_sun. From the radial--velocity measurements, we determine a velocity semi-amplitude of K_opt = 63 \pm 12 km/sec. Using the physical properties of the B-star determined from the optical spectrum, we estimate the star's mass to be M_opt = 11 \pm 1 M_sun. Based on the X-ray spectrum, the compact companion is likely a neutron star, although no pulsations have yet been detected. Using the spectroscopically derived B-star mass we find the neutron star companion mass to be M_X = 2.0 \pm 0.4 M_sun, consistent with the neutron star mass in the HMXB Vela X-1, but heavier than the canonical value of 1.4 M_sun found for many millisecond pulsars. We attempt to use as an additional constraint that the B star radius inferred from temperature, flux, and distance, should equate the Roche radius, since the system accretes by Roche lobe overflow. This leads to substantially larger masses, but from trying to apply the technique to known systems, we find that the masses are consistently overestimated. Attempting to account for that in our uncertainties, we derive M_X = 2.2^{+0.8}_{-0.6} M_sun and M_opt =13 \pm 4 M_sun. We conclude that precise constraints require detailed modeling of the shape of the Roche surface.
We develop a method to analyze the effect of an asymmetric supernova on hierarchical multiple star systems and we present analytical formulas to calculate orbital parameters for surviving binaries or hierarchical triples and runaway velocities for their dissociating equivalents. The effect of an asymmetric supernova on the orbital parameters of a binary system has been studied to great extent (e.g. Hills 1983; Kalogera 1996; Tauris & Takens 1998), but this effect on higher multiplicity hierarchical systems has not been explored before. With our method, the supernova effect can be computed by reducing the hierarchical multiple to an effective binary by means of recursively replacing the inner binary by an effective star at the center of mass of that binary. We apply our method to a hierarchical triple system similar to the progenitor of PSR J1903+0327 suggested by Portegies Zwart et al. (2011). We confirm their earlier finding that PSR J1903+0327 could have evolved from a hierarchical triple that became unstable and ejected the secondary star of the inner binary. Furthermore, if such as system did evolve via this mechanism the most probable configuration would be a small supernova kick velocity, an inner binary with a large semi-major axis, and the fraction of mass accreted onto the neutron star to the mass lost by the secondary would most likely be between 0.35 and 0.5
We discuss the acceleration and escape of secondary particles, especially positrons produced by hadronic interactions in a supernova remnant (SNR) shock. During the shock acceleration, protons would interact with ambient gas and produce charged secondary particles, which would also be accelerated in a SNR and injected into the interstellar medium as cosmic-rays (CRs). Some previous studies proposed that the positron excess observed by PAMELA can be explained with this process. We calculate the energy spectra of CR protons and secondary CR positrons escaping a SNR into the interstellar medium in a time-dependent manner. We show that, on the contrary to the results presented previously, the observed spectra of secondary CR particles generated in SNRs would be softer than those of primary CR particles. This is because protons with higher energy would be trapped around the shock only for a shorter time compared to those with lower energy when the maximum CR energy is escape-limited, which results in a smaller number of secondary CR particles with higher energy.
The emergence of several large-scale anomalies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) has pointed to possible deficiencies in the standard model, or perhaps new physics driving the origin of density fluctuations in the early Universe and their evolution into the large-scale structure we see today. In this paper, we focus our attention on the observed absence of angular correlation of the CMB anisotropies at angles larger than ~60 degrees, and consider whether this feature may be understood in the context of the R_h=ct Universe. We find that the significant disparity between the predictions of LCDM and the WMAP sky (at a confidence level of greater than 99.9 percent) may be directly traced to inflation. The classic horizon problem does not exist in the R_h=ct Universe, so a period of exponential growth was not necessary in this cosmology in order to account for the general uniformity of the CMB (save for the aforementioned tiny fluctuations of 1 part in 100,000 in the WMAP relic signal). We show that the R_h=ct Universe without inflation is a significantly better fit to the CMB angular correlation function than LCDM, providing additional motivation for pursuing this cosmology as a viable description of nature.
A coronal mass ejection (CME) associated with a type II burst and originating close to the center of the solar disk typically results in a shock at Earth in 2-3 days and hence can be used to predict shock arrival at Earth. However, a significant fraction (about 28%) of such CMEs producing type II bursts were not associated with shocks at Earth. We examined a set of 21 type II bursts observed by the Wind/WAVES experiment at decameter-hectometric (DH) wavelengths that had CME sources very close to the disk center (within a central meridian distance of 30 degrees), but did not have a shock at Earth. We find that the near-Sun speeds of these CMEs average to ~644 km/s, only slightly higher than the average speed of CMEs associated with radio-quiet shocks. However, the fraction of halo CMEs is only ~30%, compared to 54% for the radio-quiet shocks and 91% for all radio-loud shocks. We conclude that the disk-center radio-loud CMEs with no shocks at 1 AU are generally of lower energy and they drive shocks only close to the Sun and dissipate before arriving at Earth. There is also evidence for other possible processes that lead to the lack of shock at 1 AU: (i) overtaking CME shocks merge and one observes a single shock at Earth, and (ii) deflection by nearby coronal holes can push the shocks away from the Sun-Earth line, such that Earth misses these shocks. The probability of observing a shock at 1 AU increases rapidly above 60% when the CME speed exceeds 1000 km/s and when the type II bursts propagate to frequencies below 1 MHz.
Comparison of stellar catalogues with position and proper motion components using a decomposition on a set of orthogonal vector spherical harmonics. We show the theoretical and practical advantages of this technique as a result of invariance properties and the independence of the decomposition from a prior model. We describe the mathematical principles used to perform the spectral decomposition, evaluate the level of significance of the multipolar components and examine the transformation properties under space rotation. The principles are illustrated with a characterisation of the systematic effects in the FK5 catalogue compared to Hipparcos and with an application to the extraction of the rotation and dipole acceleration in the astrometric solution of QSOs expected from Gaia.
Spatial extension is an important characteristic for correctly associating gamma-ray-emitting sources with their counterparts at other wavelengths and for obtaining an unbiased model of their spectra. We present a new method for quantifying the spatial extension of sources detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT), the primary science instrument on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (Fermi). We perform a series of Monte Carlo simulations to validate this tool and calculate the LAT threshold for detecting the spatial extension of sources. We then test all sources in the second Fermi-LAT catalog (2FGL) for extension. We report the detection of seven new spatially extended sources.
The post-main sequence eclipsing binary NN Serpentis was recently announced as the potential host of at least two massive planetary companions. In that work, the authors put forward two potential architectures that fit the observations of the eclipsing binary with almost identical precision. In this work, we present the results of a dynamical investigation of the orbital stability of both proposed system architectures, finding that they are only stable for scenarios in which the planets are locked in mutual mean motion resonance. In the discovery work, the authors artificially fixed the orbital eccentricity of the more massive planet, NN Ser(AB) c, at 0. Here, we reanalyse the observational data on NN Serpentis without this artificial constraint, and derive a new orbital solution for the two proposed planets. We detail the results of further dynamical simulations investigating the stability of our new orbital solution, and find that allowing a small non-zero eccentricity for the outer planet renders the system unstable. We conclude that, although the original orbits proposed for the NN Serpentis planetary system prove dynamically feasible, further observations of the system are vital in order to better constrain the system's true architecture.
We have obtained spectra of the J=2-1 and J=10-9 transitions of cyanoacetylene (\hc3n) toward a collection of positions in the most prominent filament, B213, in the Taurus molecular cloud. The analysis of the excitation conditions of these transitions reveals an average gas H$_2$ volume density of $(1.8\pm 0.7) \times10^{4} $ \cc. Based on column density derived from 2MASS and this volume density, the line of sight dimension of the high density portion of B213 is found to be $\simeq$ 0.12 pc, which is comparable to the smaller projected dimension and much smaller than the elongated dimension of B213 ($\sim$2.4 pc). B213 is thus likely a true cylinder--like filament rather than a sheet seen edge-on. The line width and velocity gradient seen in \hc3n are also consistent with Taurus B213 being a self-gravitating filament in the early stage of either fragmentation and/or collape.
We study the fluence distributions of over 3040 bursts from SGR 1806-20 and over 1963 bursts from SGR 1900+14 using the complete set of observations available from the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer/Proportional Counter Array through March 2011. Cumulative event distributions are presented for both sources and are fitted with single and broken power laws as well as an exponential cutoff. The distributions are best fit by a broken power law with exponential cutoff, however the statistical significance of the cutoff is not high and the upper portion of the broken power law can be explained as the expected number of false bursts due to random noise fluctuations. Event distributions are also examined in high and low burst rate regimes and power law indices are found to be consistent, independent of the burst rate. The contribution function of the event fluence is calculated. This distribution shows that the energy released in the SGR bursts is dominated by the most powerful events for both sources. The power law nature of these distributions combined with the dominant energy dissipation of the system occurring in the large, less frequent bursts is indicative of a self-organized critical system (SOC), as suggested by Go\u{g}us, et al. in 1999.
Galaxies are not distributed randomly in the cosmic web but are instead
arranged in filaments and sheets surrounding cosmic voids. Observationally
there is still no con- vincing evidence of a link between the properties of
galaxies and their host structures. However, by the tidal torque theory (our
understanding of the origin of galaxy angular momentum), such a link should
exist. Using the presently largest spectroscopic galaxy redshift survey (SDSS)
we study the connection between the spin axes of galaxies and the orientation
of their host filaments.
We use a three dimensional field of orientations to describe cosmic
filaments. To restore the inclination angles of galaxies, we use a 3D
photometric model of galaxies that gives these angles more accurately than
traditional 2D models.
We found evidence that the spin axes of bright spiral galaxies have a weak
tendency to be aligned parallel to filaments. For elliptical/S0 galaxies, we
have a statistically significant result that the spin axes of ellipticals are
aligned preferentially perpendic- ular to the host filaments; we show that this
signal practically does not depend on the accuracy of the estimated inclination
angles for elliptical galaxies.
We show how the existence of a relation between the star formation rate and the gas density, i.e. the Kennicutt-Schmidt law, implies a continuous accretion of fresh gas from the environment into the discs of spiral galaxies. We present a method to derive the gas infall rate in a galaxy disc as a function of time and radius, and we apply it to the disc of the Milky Way and 21 galaxies from the THINGS sample. For the Milky Way, we found that the ratio between the past and current star formation rates is about 2-3, averaged over the disc, but it varies substantially with radius. In the other disc galaxies there is a clear dependency of this ratio with galaxy stellar mass and Hubble type, with more constant star formation histories for small galaxies of later type. The gas accretion rate follows very closely the SFR for every galaxy and it dominates the evolution of these systems. The Milky Way has formed two thirds of its stars after z=1, whilst the mass of cold gas in the disc has remained fairly constant with time. In general, all discs have accreted a significant fraction of their gas after z=1. Accretion moves from the inner regions of the disc to the outer parts, and as a consequence star formation moves inside-out as well. At z=0 the peak of gas accretion in the Galaxy is at about 6-7 kpc from the centre.
The spin down behaviors of SGR 0418+5729 are investigated. The pulsar spin down model of Contopoulos & Spitkovsky (2006) is applied to SGR 0418+5729. It is shown that SGR 0418+5729 lies below the pulsar death line and its rotation-powered magnetospheric activities may therefore have stopped. The compact star is now spun down by the magnetic dipole moment perpendicular to its rotation axis. Our calculations show that SGR 0418+5729 may be a low magnetic field magnetar. However, it may also have a strong dipole magnetic field, if there is a small magnetic inclination angle. This result is obtained under the general assumption that its braking mechanism is similar to that of rotation-powered pulsars. Its dipole magnetic field may be much higher than the characteristic magnetic field. Therefore, SGR 0418+5729 may be a normal magnetar instead of a low magnetic field magnetar.
The planet Kepler-16b is known to follow a circumbinary orbit around a double system of two main-sequence stars. We construct stability diagrams in the "pericentric distance - eccentricity" plane, which show that Kepler-16b is in a hazardous vicinity to the chaos domain - just between the instability "teeth" in the space of orbital parameters. Kepler-16b survives, because it is close to the half-integer 11/2 orbital resonance with the central binary. The neighbouring resonance cells are vacant, because they are "purged" by Kepler-16b, due to overlap of first-order resonances with the planet.
We report on the fabrication and characterization of composite multimode waveguide structures that consist of a stack of single-mode waveguides fabricated by ultrafast laser inscription. We explore 2 types of composite structures; those that consist of overlapping single-mode waveguides which offer the maximum effective index contrast and non overlapped structures which support multiple modes via strong evanescent coupling. We demonstrate that both types of waveguides have negligible propagation losses (to within experimental uncertainty) for light injected with focal ratios >8, which corresponds to the cutoff of the waveguides. We also show that right below cutoff, there is a narrow region where the injected focal ratio is preserved (to within experimental uncertainty) at the output. Finally, we outline the major application of these highly efficient waveguides; in a device that is used to reformat the light in the focal plane of a telescope to a slit, in order to feed a diffraction-limited spectrograph.
Over the past few decades, various conjectures were advanced that Saturn's rings are Cantor-like sets, although no convincing fractal analysis of actual images has ever appeared. We focus on the images sent by the Cassini spacecraft mission: slide #42 "Mapping Clumps in Saturn's Rings" and slide #54 "Scattered Sunshine". Using the box-counting method, we determine the fractal dimension of rings seen here (and in several other images from the same source) to be consistently about 1.6~1.7. This supports many conjectures put forth over several decades that Saturn's rings are indeed fractal.
We consider holographic cosmological models of dark energy in which the infrared cutoff is set by the Hubble's radius. We show that any interacting dark energy model with a matter like term able to alleviate the coincidence problem (i.e., with a positive interaction term, regardless of its detailed form) can be recast as a noninteracting model in which the holographic parameter evolves slowly with time. Two specific cases are analyzed. First, the interacting model presented in [1] is considered, and its corresponding noninteracting version found. Then, a new noninteracting model, with a specific expression of the time-dependent holographic parameter, is proposed and analyzed along with its corresponding interacting version. We constrain the parameters of both models using observational data, and show that they can be told apart at the perturbative level.
We propose to describe the variety of galaxies from SDSS by using only one affine parameter. To this aim, we build the Principal Curve (P-curve) passing through the spine of the data point cloud, considering the eigenspace derived from Principal Component Analysis of morphological, physical and photometric galaxy properties. Thus, galaxies can be labeled, ranked and classified by a single arc length value of the curve, measured at the unique closest projection of the data points on the P-curve. We find that the P-curve has a "W" letter shape with 3 turning points, defining 4 branches that represent distinct galaxy populations. This behavior is controlled mainly by 2 properties, namely u-r and SFR. We further present the variations of several galaxy properties as a function of arc length. Luminosity functions variate from steep Schechter fits at low arc length, to double power law and ending in Log-normal fits at high arc length. Galaxy clustering shows increasing autocorrelation power at large scales as arc length increases. PCA analysis allowed to find peculiar galaxy populations located apart from the main cloud of data points, such as small red galaxies dominated by a disk, of relatively high stellar mass-to-light ratio and surface mass density. The P-curve allows not only dimensionality reduction, but also provides supporting evidence for relevant physical models and scenarios in extragalactic astronomy: 1) Evidence for the hierarchical merging scenario in the formation of a selected group of red massive galaxies. These galaxies present a log-normal r-band luminosity function, which might arise from multiplicative processes involved in this scenario. 2) Connection between the onset of AGN activity and star formation quenching, which appears in green galaxies when transitioning from blue to red populations. (Full abstract in downloadable version)
Activity studies of solar-type stars, especially with reference to the status of our current Sun among them, have exposed the importance of (1) homogeneously selecting the sample stars and (2) reliably evaluating their activities down to a considerably low level. Motivated by these requirements, we conducted an extensive study on the activities of 118 solar-analog stars (of sufficiently similar properties to each other) by measuring the emission strength at the core of Ca II 3933.663 line (K line) on the high-dispersion spectrogram obtained by Subaru/HDS, where special attention was paid to correctly detecting the chromospheric emission by removing the wing-fitted photospheric profile calculated from the classical solar model atmosphere. This enabled us to detect low-level activities down to log R' ~ -5.4 (R' is the ratio of the chromospheric core emission flux to the total bolometric flux), by which we could detect subtle activity differences which were indiscernible in previous studies. Regarding the Sun, we found log R'sun = -5.33 near to the low end of the distribution, which means that it belongs to the distinctly low activity group among solar analogs. This excludes the once-suggested possibility for the high frequency of Maunder-minimum stars showing appreciably lower activities than the minimum-Sun.
With an aim to examine whether the predicted solar gravitational redshift can be observationally confirmed under the influence of the convective Doppler shift due to granular motions, we attempted measuring the absolute spectral line-shifts on a large number of points over the solar disk based on an extensive set of 5188-5212A region spectra taken through an iodine-cell with the Solar Domeless Telescope at Hida Observatory. The resulting heliocentric line shifts at the meridian line (where no rotational shift exists), which were derived by finding the best-fit parameterized model spectrum with the observed spectrum and corrected for the earth's motion, turned out to be weakly position-dependent as ~ +400 m/s near the disk center and increasing toward the limb up to ~ +600 m/s (both with a standard deviation of sigma ~ 100 m/s). Interestingly, this trend tends to disappear when the convectiveshift due to granular motions (~-300 m/s at the disk center and increasing toward the limb; simulated based on the two-component model along with the empirical center-to-limb variation) is subtracted, finally resulting in the averaged shift of 698 m/s (sigma = 113 m/s). Considering the ambiguities involved in the absolute wavelength calibration or in the correction due to convective Doppler shifts (at least several tens m/s, or more likely up to <~100 m/s), we may regard that this value is well consistent with the expected gravitational redshift of 633 m/s.
In this paper, we present standard Johnson UBV photometry of the eclipsing binary BD+36 3317 which is known as a member of Delta Lyrae (Stephenson 1) cluster. We determined colors and brightness of the system, calculated E(B - V) color excess. We discovered that the system shows total eclipse in secondary minimum. Using this advantage, we found that the primary component of the system has B9 - A0 spectral type. Although there is no published orbital solution, we tried to estimate the physical properties of the system from simultaneous analysis of UBV light curves with 2003 version of Wilson-Devinney code. Then we considered photometric solution results together with evolutionary models and estimated the masses of the components as M1 = 2.5 Msun and M2 = 1.6 Msun. Those estimations gave the distance of the system as 353 pc. Considering the uncertainties in distance estimation, resulting distance is in agreement with the distance of Delta Lyrae cluster.
The identifications of quasars at intermediate redshifts ($2.2<z<3.5$) are inefficient in previous quasar surveys as their optical colors are similar as those of stars.The near-IR K-band excess technique has been suggested to overcome this difficulty. Our recent study also proposed to use the optical/near-IR colors for selecting z$<$4 quasars. To verify the effectiveness of this method, we selected a list of unidentified bright targets with $i\leq18.5$ from the quasar candidates of SDSS DR6 with both SDSS $ugriz$ optical and UKIDSS YJHK near-IR photometric data, which satisfy our proposed Y-K/g-z criterion and have photometric redshifts between 2.2 and 3.5 estimated from the 9-band SDSS-UKIDSS data. 43 of them were observed with the BFOSC instrument on the 2.16m optical telescope at Xinglong station of NAOC in the spring of 2012. 35 of them were spectroscopically identified as quasars with redshifts between 2.1 and 3.4. The high success rate of discovering these missing quasars in the SDSS spectroscopic surveyed area further demonstrates the robustness of both the Y-K/g-z selection criterion and the photometric redshift estimation technique. We also used the above criterion to investigate the possible star contamination rate to the quasar candidates of SDSS DR6, and found that it is much higher in selecting $3<z<3.5$ quasar candidates than the lower redshift ones. The significant improvement in the photometric redshift estimation by using the 9-band SDSS-UKIDSS data than using the 5-band SDSS data is demonstrated and a catalog of 7727 unidentified quasar candidates in SDSS DR6 selected with the optical/near-IR colors and with photometric redshifts between 2.2 and 3.5 is provided. We discuss the implications of our results to the ongoing and upcoming large optical and near-IR sky surveys.
Using the multi-fluid approach, we investigate streaming and thermal instabilities of the electron-ion plasma with homogeneous cold cosmic rays drifting perpendicular to the background magnetic field. Perturbations across the magnetic field are considered. The back-reaction of cosmic rays resulting in the streaming instability is taken into account. The thermal instability is shown not to be subject to the action of cosmic rays in the model under consideration. The dispersion relation for the thermal instability has been derived which includes sound velocities of plasma and cosmic rays, Alfv\'{e}n and cosmic ray drift velocities. The relation between these parameters determines the kind of thermal instability from Parker's to Field's type instability. The results obtained can be useful for a more detailed the investigation of electron-ion astrophysical objects such as galaxy clusters including the dynamics of streaming cosmic rays.
The magnetic field of galaxies is believed to be produced by internal dynamo action, but can be affected by motion of the galaxy through the surrounding medium. Observations of polarized radio emission of galaxies located in galaxy clusters have revealed noticeable features of large-scale magnetic configurations, including displacements of the magnetic structures from the optical images and tails, which are possible imprints of ram pressure effects arising from motion of the galaxies through the intracluster medium. We present a quantitative dynamo model which attempts to describe the above effects. In contrast to the traditional problem of a wind affecting a body with a prescribed magnetic field, we investigate how a non-magnetized wind flow affects a magnetic field that is being self-excited by galactic dynamo action. In order to isolate the leading physical effects we exploit a simple dynamo model that can describe relevant effects. In particular, we use what is known as the 'no-z' approximation for the mean-field dynamo equations. In a suitable parametric range we obtain displacements of the large-scale magnetic field, as well as magnetic tails. However, the specific details of their locations are quite counterintuitive. The direction of displacement is perpendicular to, rather than parallel to, the wind direction. The point at which the tail emerges from the galaxy depends on details of the model. The tail is eventually directed downstream. In the simplest case the magnetic tail begins in the region where the wind decreases the total gas velocity. Any wind that penetrates the galaxy modifies the intrinsic dynamo action. These features are different from those found in ram-pressure models. Any determination of galactic motion through the cluster medium from observational data needs to take the effects of dynamo action into account.
Recently, in [1] we developed a parametric reconstruction method to a homogeneous, isotropic and spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmological model filled of a fluid of dark energy (DE) with constant equation of state (EOS) parameter interacting with dark matter (DM). The reconstruction method is based on expansions of the general interaction term and the relevant cosmological variables in terms of Chebyshev polynomials which form a complete set orthonormal functions. In this article, we reconstruct the interaction function expanding it in terms of only the first four Chebyshev polynomials and obtain the best estimation for the coefficients of the expansion assuming three models: (a) a DE equation of the state parameter w=-1 (an interacting cosmological Lambda), (b) a DE equation of the state parameter w = constant with a dark matter density parameter fixed, (c) a DE equation of the state parameter w = constant with a free constant dark matter density parameter to be estimated. In all the cases, the preliminary reconstruction shows that in the best scenario there exist the possibility of a crossing of the noninteracting line Q=0 in the recent past within the 1-sigma and 2-sigma errors from positive values at early times to negative values at late times. This means that, in this reconstruction, there is an energy transfer from DE to DM at early times and an energy transfer from DM to DE at late times. We conclude that this fact is an indication of the possible existence of a crossing behavior in a general interaction coupling between dark components. Finally, we conclude that in this scenario, the observations put strong constraints on the strength of the interaction so that its magnitude can not solve the coincidence problem or at least alleviate significantly.
Ultra High Cosmic Rays) made by He-like lightest nuclei might solve the AUGER extragalactic clustering along Cen A. Moreover He like UHECR nuclei cannot arrive from Virgo because the light nuclei fragility and opacity above a few Mpc, explaining the Virgo UHECR absence. UHECR signals are spreading along Cen-A as observed because horizontal galactic arms magnetic fields, bending them on vertical angles. Cen A events by He-like nuclei are deflected as much as the observed clustered ones; proton will be more collimated while heavy (iron) nuclei are too much dispersed. Such a light nuclei UHECR component coexist with the other Auger heavy nuclei and with the Hires nucleon composition. Remaining UHECR spread group may hint for correlations with other gamma (MeV-Al^{26} radioactive) maps, mainly due to galactic SNR sources as Vela pulsar, the brightest, nearest GeV source. Other nearest galactic gamma sources show links with UHECR via TeV correlated maps. We suggest that UHECR are also heavy radioactive galactic nuclei as Ni^{56}, Ni^{57} and Co^{60} widely bent by galactic fields. UHECR radioactivity (in $\beta$ and $\gamma$ channels) and decay in flight at hundreds keV is boosted (by huge Lorentz factor (nearly a billion) leading to PeVs electrons and consequent synchrotron TeVs gamma offering UHECR-TeV correlated sky anisotropy. Moreover also rarest and non-atmospheric electron and tau neutrinos secondaries at PeVs, as the first two rarest shower just discovered in ICECUBE, maybe the first signature of such expected radioactive secondary tail.
We present ATCA results of a 3 and 7 mm continuum survey of 20 T Tauri stars in the Chamaeleon and Lupus star forming regions. This survey aims to identify protoplanetary discs with signs of grain growth. We detected 90% of the sources at 3 and 7 mm, and determined the spectral slopes, dust opacity indices and dust disc masses. We also present temporal monitoring results of a small sub-set of sources at 7, 15 mm and 3+6 cm to investigate grain growth to cm sizes and constrain emission mechanisms in these sources. Additionally, we investigated the potential correlation between grain growth signatures in the infrared (10 \mu m silicate feature) and millimetre (1-3 mm spectral slope, {\alpha}). Eleven sources at 3 and 7 mm have dominant thermal dust emission up to 7 mm, with 7 of these having a 1-3 mm dust opacity index less than unity, suggesting grain growth up to at least mm sizes. The Chamaeleon sources observed at 15 mm and beyond show the presence of excess emission from an ionised wind and/or chromo- spheric emission. Long-timescale monitoring at 7 mm indicated that cm-sized pebbles are present in at least four sources. Short-timescale monitoring at 15 mm suggests the excess emission is from thermal free-free emission. Finally, a weak correlation was found between the strength of the 10 \mum feature and {\alpha}, suggesting simultaneous dust evolution of the inner and outer parts of the disc. This survey shows that grain growth up to cm-sized pebbles and the presence of excess emission at 15 mm and beyond are common in these systems, and that temporal monitoring is required to disentangle these emission mechanisms.
In 1988 Bardeen has suggested a pragmatic formulation of cosmological perturbation theory which is powerful in practice to employ various fundamental gauge conditions easily depending on the character of the problem. The perturbation equations are presented without fixing the temporal gauge condition and are arranged so that one can easily impose fundamental gauge conditions by simply setting one of the perturbation variables in the equations equal to zero. In this way one can use the gauge degrees of freedom as an advantage in handling problems. Except for the synchronous gauge condition, all the other fundamental gauge conditions completely fix the gauge mode, and consequently, each variable in such a gauge has a unique gauge invariant counterpart, so that we can identify the variable as the gauge-invariant one. Here, we extend Bardeen's linear formulation to fully nonlinear order in perturbations, with the gauge advantage kept intact. Derived equations are exact, and from these we can easily expand to higher order perturbations in a gauge-ready form. We consider scalar- and vector-type perturbations of an ideal fluid in a flat background; we also present the multiple components of ideal fluid case. As applications we present fully nonlinear density and velocity perturbation equations in Einstein's gravity in the zero-pressure medium, vorticity generation from pure scalar-type perturbation, and fluid formulation of a minimally coupled scalar field, all in the comoving gauge. We also present the equation of gravitational waves generated from pure scalar- and vector-type perturbations.
In the WISE all-sky source catalogue there are 76 million mid-infrared (MIR) point sources that were detected at the first three WISE bands and have association with only one 2MASS near-IR source within 3 arcsec. We search for their identifications in the SIMBAD database and find 3.2 million identified sources. Based on these known sources, we establish three criteria for selecting candidate AGB stars in the Galaxy, which are three defined occupation zones in a color-color diagram, Galactic latitude |gb|< 20 deg, and "corrected" WISE third-band W3c < 11. Applying these criteria to the WISE+2MASS sources, 1.37 million of them are selected. We analyze the WISE third-band W3 distribution of the selected sources, and further establish that W3 < 8 is required in order to exclude a large fraction of normal stars in them. We therefore find 0.47 million candidate AGB stars in our Galaxy from the WISE source catalogue. Using W3c, we estimate their distances and derive their Galactic distributions. The candidates are generally located around the Galactic center uniformly, with 68% (1-sigma) of them within approximately 8 kpc. We discuss that optical spectroscopy can be used to verify the C-rich AGB stars in our candidates, and they will be good targets for the LAMOST survey that is planned to start from fall of 2012.
We calculate the observable signature of a black hole accretion disk with a gap or hole created by a secondary black hole embedded in the disk. We find that for an interesting range of parameters of black hole masses (~10^6 to 10^9 Msun), orbital separation (~1 AU to ~1 pc), and gap width (10--180 disk scale heights), the missing thermal emission from a gap manifests itself in an observable decrement in the spectral energy distribution. We present observational diagnostics in terms of powerlaw forms that can be fit to line-free regions in AGN spectra or in fluxes from sequences of broad filters. Most interestingly, the change in slope in the broken powerlaw is almost entirely dependent on the width of gap in the accretion disk, which in turn is uniquely determined by mass ratio of the black holes, such that it scales roughly as $q^{5/4}$. Thus one can use spectral observations of the continuum of bright active galactic nuclei to infer not only the presence of a closely separated black hole binary but also the mass ratio. When the black hole merger opens a hole in the inner disk, the broad band SED of the AGN or quasar may serve as a diagnostic. Such sources should be especially luminous in optical bands but intrinsically faint in X-rays (i.e., not merely obscured). We briefly note that viable candidates may have already been identified.
A northern subsample of 89 Spitzer GLIMPSE extended green objects (EGOs), the candidate massive young stellar objects, are surveyed for molecular lines in two 1-GHz ranges: 251.5- 252.5 and 260.188-261.188 GHz. A comprehensive catalog of observed molecular line data and spectral plots are presented. Eight molecular species are undoubtedly detected: H13CO+, SiO, SO, CH3OH, CH3OCH3, CH3CH2CN, HCOOCH3, and HN13C. H13CO+ 3-2 line is detected in 70 EGOs among which 37 ones also show SiO 6-5 line, demonstrating their association to dense gas and supporting the outflow interpretation of the extended 4.5 um excess emission. Our major dense gas and outflow tracers (H13CO+, SiO, SO and CH3OH) are combined with our previous survey of 13CO, 12CO and C18O 1-0 toward the same sample of EGOs for a multi-line multi- cloud analysis of line width and luminosity correlations. Good log-linear correlations are found among all considered line luminosities, which requires a universal similarity of density and thermal structures and probably of shock properties among all EGO clouds to explain. It also requires that the shocks should be produced within the natal clouds of the EGOs. Diverse degrees of correlation are found among the line widths. However, both the line width and luminosity correlations tend to progressively worsen across larger cloud subcomponent size-scales, depicting the increase of randomness across cloud subcomponent sizes. Moreover, the line width correlations among the three isotopic CO 1-0 lines show data scatter as linear functions of the line width itself, indicating that the velocity randomness also increases with whole-cloud sizes and has some regularity behind.
BA-type supergiants show a high potential as versatile indicators for modern astronomy. The focus here is on the determination of accurate and precise atmospheric parameters for a sample of 35 Galactic BA-type supergiants. Some first applications include a recalibration of functional relationships between spectral-type, intrinsic colours, bolometric corrections and effective temperature, and an exploration of the reddening-free Johnson Q and Str\"omgren [c_1] and beta-indices as photometric indicators for effective temperatures and gravities of BA-type supergiants. An extensive grid of theoretical spectra is computed based on a hybrid non-LTE approach. The atmospheric parameters are derived spectroscopically by line-profile fits to high-resolution and high-S/N spectra obtained at various observatories. Ionization equilibria of multiple metals and the Stark-broadened H and the neutral He lines constitute our primary indicators for the parameter determination, supplemented by (spectro-)photometry. Data on Teff, logg, helium abundances, microturbulence, macroturbulence and rotational velocities are presented. The interstellar reddening and the ratio of total-to-selective extinction towards the stars are determined. Our empirical spectral-type-Teff scale is steeper than reference relations, the stars are significantly bluer, and bolometric corrections differ significantly from established literature values. Photometric Teff-determinations based on the reddening-free Q-index are found to be of limited use for studies of BA-type supergiants because of large errors of typically +-5%+-3% (1sigma statistical, 1sigma systematic), compared to a spectroscopically achieved precision of 1-2%. The reddening-free [c_1]-index and beta on the other hand are found to provide useful starting values for further analyses, with uncertainties of +-1%+-2.5% in Teff, and +-0.04+-0.13dex in log g. [abriged]
We study multifield contributions to the scalar power spectrum in an ensemble of six-field inflationary models obtained in string theory. We identify examples in which inflation occurs by chance, near an approximate inflection point, and we compute the primordial perturbations numerically, both exactly and using an array of truncated models. The scalar mass spectrum and the number of fluctuating fields are accurately described by a simple random matrix model. During the approach to the inflection point, bending trajectories and violations of slow roll are commonplace, and 'many-field' effects, in which three or more fields influence the perturbations, are often important. However, in a large fraction of models consistent with constraints on the tilt the signatures of multifield evolution occur on unobservably large scales. Our scenario is a concrete microphysical realization of quasi-single-field inflation, with scalar masses of order $H$, but the cubic and quartic couplings are typically too small to produce detectable non-Gaussianity. We argue that our results are characteristic of a broader class of models arising from multifield potentials that are natural in the Wilsonian sense.
Several extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of Axion-Like Particles (ALPs), very light spin-zero bosons with a two-photon coupling. ALPs can give rise to observable effects in very-high-energy astrophysics. Above roughly 100 GeV the horizon of the observable Universe progressively shrinks as the energy increases, due to scattering of beam photons off background photons in the optical and infrared bands, which produces e+e- pairs. In the presence of large-scale magnetic fields photons emitted by a blazar can oscillate into ALPs on the way to us and back into photons before reaching the Earth. Since ALPs do not interact with background photons, the effective mean free path of beam photons increases, enhancing the photon survival probability. While the absorption probability increases with energy, photon-ALP oscillations are energy-independent, and so the survival probability increases with energy compared to standard expectations. We have performed a systematic analysis of this effect, interpreting the present data on very-high-energy photons from blazars. Our predictions can be tested with presently operating Cherenkov Telescopes like H.E.S.S., MAGIC, VERITAS and CANGAROO III as well as with detectors like ARGO-YBJ and MILAGRO and with the planned Cherenkov Telescope Array and the HAWC-ray observatory. ALPs with the right properties to produce the above effects can possibly be discovered by the GammeV experiment at FERMILAB and surely by the planned photon regeneration experiment ALPS at DESY.
We study the evolution of galactic bars and the link with disk and spheroid formation in a sample of zoom-in cosmological simulations. Our simulation sample focuses on galaxies with present-day stellar masses in the 10^10-10^11 Msun range, in field and loose group environments, with a broad variety of mass growth histories. In our models, bars are almost absent from the progenitors of present-day spirals at z>1.5, and they remain rare and generally too weak to be observable down to z~1. After this characteristic epoch, the fractions of observable and strong bars raise rapidly, bars being present in 80% of spiral galaxies and easily observable in two thirds of these at z<0.5. This is quantitatively consistent with the redshift evolution of the observed bar fraction. Our models predict that the decrease in the bar fraction with increasing redshift should continue with a fraction of observable bars <10-15% in disk galaxies at z>1. Our models also predict later bar formation in lower-mass galaxies, in agreement with existing data. We find that the characteristic epoch of bar formation, namely redshift z~0.8-1, corresponds to the epoch at which today's spirals acquire their disk-dominated morphology. At higher redshift, disks tend to be rapidly destroyed by mergers and gravitational instabilities and rarely develop significant bars. The bar formation epoch corresponds to the transition between an early "violent" phase of spiral galaxy formation at z>1 and a late "secular" phase at z<0.8. In the secular phase, the presence of bars substantially contributes to the growth of the bulge, but the bulge mass budget remains statistically dominated by the contribution of mergers, interactions and disk instabilities at high redshift. Early bars at z>1 are often short-lived, while most of the bars formed at z<1 persist down to z=0, late cosmological gas infall being necessary to maintain some of them.
The LOw FRequency ARray - LOFAR is a new radio telescope that is moving the science of radio pulsars and transients into a new phase. Its design places emphasis on digital hardware and flexible software instead of mechanical solutions. LOFAR observes at radio frequencies between 10 and 240 MHz where radio pulsars and many transients are expected to be brightest. Radio frequency signals emitted from these objects allow us to study the intrinsic pulsar emission and phenomena such as propagation effects through the interstellar medium. The design of LOFAR allows independent use of its stations to conduct observations of known bright objects, or wide field monitoring of transient events. One such combined software/hardware solution is called the Advanced Radio Transient Event Monitor and Identification System (ARTEMIS). It is a backend for both targeted observations and real-time searches for millisecond radio transients which uses Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) technology to remove interstellar dispersion and detect millisecond radio bursts from astronomical sources in real-time using a single LOFAR station.
We surveyed the circumnuclear disk of the Seyfert galaxy NGC1068 between the frequencies 86.2 GHz and 115.6 GHz, and identified 17 different molecules. Using a time and depth dependent chemical model we reproduced the observational results, and show that the column densities of most of the species are better reproduced if the molecular gas is heavily pervaded by a high cosmic ray ionization rate of about 1000 times that of the Milky Way. We discuss how molecules in the NGC1068 nucleus may be influenced by this external radiation, as well as by UV radiation fields.
Using the RAVE survey, we recently brought to light a gradient in the mean galactocentric radial velocity of stars in the extended solar neighbourhood. This gradient likely originates from non-axisymmetric perturbations of the potential, among which a perturbation by spiral arms is a possible explanation. Here, we apply the traditional density wave theory and analytically model the radial component of the two-dimensional velocity field. Provided that the radial velocity gradient is caused by relatively long-lived spiral arms that can affect stars substantially above the plane, this analytic model provides new independent estimates for the parameters of the Milky Way spiral structure. Our analysis favours a two-armed perturbation with the Sun close to the inner ultra-harmonic 4:1 resonance, with a pattern speed \Omega_p=18.6^{+0.3}_{-0.2} km/s/kpc and a small amplitude A=0.55 \pm 0.02% of the background potential (14% of the background density). This model can serve as a basis for numerical simulations in three dimensions, additionally including a possible influence of the galactic bar and/or other non-axisymmetric modes.
Aims: We study the influence of rotation and disc lifetime on lithium depletion of pre-main sequence (PMS) solar-type stars. Methods: The impact of rotational mixing and of the hydrostatic effects of rotation on lithium abundances are investigated by computing non-rotating and rotating PMS models that include a comprehensive treatment of shellular rotation. The influence of the disc lifetime is then studied by comparing the lithium content of PMS rotating models experiencing different durations of the disc-locking phase between 3 and 9 Myr. Results: The surface lithium abundance at the end of the PMS is decreased when rotational effects are included. During the beginning of the lithium depletion phase, only hydrostatic effects of rotation are at work. This results in a decrease in the lithium depletion rate for rotating models compared to non-rotating ones. When the convective envelope recedes from the stellar centre, rotational mixing begins to play an important role due to differential rotation near the bottom of the convective envelope. This mixing results in a decrease in the surface lithium abundance with a limited contribution from hydrostatic effects of rotation, which favours lithium depletion during the second part of the PMS evolution. The impact of rotation on PMS lithium depletion is also found to be sensitive to the duration of the disc-locking phase. When the disc lifetime increases, the PMS lithium abundance of a solar-type star decreases owing to the higher efficiency of rotational mixing in the radiative zone. A relationship between the surface rotation and lithium abundance at the end of the PMS is then obtained: slow rotators on the zero-age main sequence are predicted to be more lithium-depleted than fast rotators due to the increase in the disc lifetime.
This paper presents an overview of some recent observational and theoretical results on solar flares, with an emphasis on flare impulsive-phase chromospheric properties, including: electron diagnostics, optical and UV emission, and discoveries made by the Hinode mission, especially in the EUV. A brief perspective on future observations and theoretical requirements is also given
Recent theoretical investigations have pointed out that the cores of the Ly-alpha lines of H I and He II should show measurable scattering polarization signals when observing the solar disk, and that the magnetic sensitivity, through the Hanle effect, of such linear polarization signals is suitable for exploring the magnetism of the solar transition region. Such investigations were carried out in the limit of complete frequency redistribution (CRD) and neglecting quantum interference between the two upper J-levels of each line. Here we relax both approximations and show that the joint action of partial frequency redistribution (PRD) and J-state interference produces much more complex fractional linear polarization (Q/I) profiles, with large amplitudes in their wings. Such wing polarization signals turn out to be very sensitive to the temperature structure of the atmospheric model, so that they can be exploited for constraining the thermal properties of the solar chromosphere. Finally, we show that the approximation of CRD without J-state interference is however suitable for estimating the amplitude of the linear polarization signals in the core of the lines, where the Hanle effect operates.
We present optical and NIR spectroscopic observations of U Sco 2010 outburst.
From the analysis of lines profiles we identify a broad and a narrow component
and show that the latter originates from the reforming accretion disk. We show
that the accretion resumes shortly after the outburst, on day +8, roughly when
the super-soft (SSS) X-ray phase starts. Consequently U Sco SSS phase is fueled
(in part or fully) by accretion and should not be used to estimate
$m_{\mathrm{rem}}$, the mass of accreted material which has not been ejected
during the outburst. In addition, most of the He emission lines, and the HeII
lies in particular, form in the accretion flow/disk within the binary and are
optically thick, thus preventing an accurate abundance determination.
A late spectrum taken in quiescence and during eclipse shows CaII H&K, the
G-band and MgI b absorption from the secondary star. However, no other
significant secondary star features have been observed at longer wavelengths
and in the NIR band.
The evidence of a line-like spectral feature at 130 GeV recently reported from some parts of the galactic plane poses serious challenges for any interpretation of this surprise discovery. It is generally believed that the unusually narrow profile of the spectral line cannot be explained by conventional processes in astrophysical objects, and, if real, is likely to be associated with Dark Matter. In this paper we argue that cold ultrarelativistic pulsar winds can be alternative sources of very narrow gamma-ray lines. We demonstrate that Comptonization of a cold ultrarelativistic electron-positron pulsar wind in the deep Klein-Nishina regime can readily provide very narrow distinct gamma-ray line features. To verify this prediction, we produced photon count maps based on the Fermi LAT data in the energy interval 100 to 140 GeV. We confirm earlier reports of the presence of marginal gamma-ray line-like signals from three regions of the galactic plane. Although the maps show some structure inside these regions, unfortunately the limited photon statistics do not allow any firm conclusion in this regard. The confirmation of 130 GeV line emission by low-energy threshold atmospheric Cherenkov telescope systems, in particular by the new 27 m diameter dish of the H.E.S.S. array, would be crucial for resolving the spatial structure of the reported hotspots, and thus for distinguishing between the Dark Matter and Pulsar origins of the `Fermi Lines'.
This paper corrects and completes a previous study of the shape of the extinction curve in the visible and the value of Rv. A continuous visible/infrared extinction law proportional to 1/{\lambda}^p with p close to 1 ({\pm}0.4) is indistinguishable from a perfectly linear law (p = 1) in the visible within observational precision, but the shape of the curve in the infrared can be substantially modified. Values of p slightly larger than 1 would account for the increase of extinction (compared to the p = 1 law) reported for {\lambda} > 1{\mu}m and deeply affect the value of Rv. In the absence of gray extinction Rv must be 4.04 if p = 1. It becomes 3.14 for p = 1.25, 3.00 for p = 1.30, and 2.76 for p = 1.40. Values of p near 1.3 are also attributed to extinction by atmospheric aerosols, which indicates that both phenomena may be governed by similar particle size distributions. A power extinction law may harmonize visible and infrared data into a single, continuous, and universal, interstellar extinction law.
We investigate some of the asymmetries reported in the CMB temperature angular distribution considering the {\Lambda}CDM model in the 3, 5 and 7 year WMAP data. We aim to analyze the 4 quadrants of the ILC CMB maps using 3 Galactic cuts: the WMAP KQ85 mask, a |b|<10 degrees and the WMAP KQ85 mask +|b|<10 degrees Galactic cuts. We used the two-point angular correlation function in the WMAP maps for each of their quadrants. The same procedure was done for 1000 Monte Carlo simulations that were produced using the WMAP team {\Lambda}CDM best-fit power spectrum. We also changed the quadrupole and octopole amplitudes to fit their observable WMAP values in the {\Lambda}CDM model, hereafter M{\Lambda}CDM. Our analysis showed asymmetries between the southeastern quadrant (SEQ) and the other quadrants (southwestern quadrant (SWQ), northeastern quadrant (NEQ) and northwestern quadrant (NWQ)). Over all WMAP maps, the probability for the occurrence of the SEQ-NEQ, SEQ-SWQ and SEQ-NWQ asymmetries varies from 0.1% (SEQ-NEQ) to 8.5% (SEQ-SWQ) using the KQ85 mask and the KQ85 mask + |b|<10 degrees Galactic cut, respectively. We also calculated the probabilities for the M{\Lambda}CDM, finding no significant differences in the results. Moreover, the cold spot region was covered with masks of 5,10 and 15 degrees radius and again the results remained unchanged. This analysis was also repeated for random regions in the SEQ quadrant with a 15-degree mask and the SEQ quadrant still remained asymmetric with respect to the other quadrants of the CMB map. We found an excess of power in the TPCF at scales >100 degrees in the SEQ with respect to the other quadrants that is independent of the Galactic cut used, and found no evidence for its possible relation with the cold spot signal. We could not find any specific region within the SEQ that might be considered responsible for the quadrant asymmetry.
We present the discovery of planet-mass companions to two giant stars by the ongoing Penn State- Toru\'n Planet Search (PTPS) conducted with the 9.2 m Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The less massive of these stars, K5-giant BD+20 274, has a 4.2 MJ minimum mass planet orbiting the star at a 578-day period and a more distant, likely stellar-mass companion. The best currently available model of the planet orbiting the K0-giant HD 219415 points to a Jupiter-mass companion in a 5.7-year, eccentric orbit around the star, making it the longest period planet yet detected by our survey. This planet has an amplitude of \sim18 m/s, comparable to the median radial velocity (RV) "jitter", typical of giant stars.
We derive the decoupling limit of Massive Gravity on de Sitter in an arbitrary number of space-time dimensions d. By embedding d-dimensional de Sitter into d+1-dimensional Minkowski, we extract the physical helicity-1 and helicity-0 polarizations of the graviton. The resulting decoupling theory is similar to that obtained around Minkowski. We take great care at exploring the partially massless limit and define the unique fully non-linear candidate theory that is free of the helicity-0 mode in the decoupling limit, and which therefore propagates only four degrees of freedom in four dimensions. In the latter situation, we show that a new Vainshtein mechanism is at work in the limit m^2\to 2 H^2 which decouples the helicity-0 mode when the parameters are different from that of partially massless gravity. As a result, there is no discontinuity between massive gravity and its partially massless limit, just in the same way as there is no discontinuity in the massless limit of massive gravity. The usual bounds on the graviton mass could therefore equivalently well be interpreted as bounds on m^2-2H^2. When dealing with the exact partially massless parameters, on the other hand, the symmetry at m^2=2H^2 imposes a specific constraint on matter. As a result the helicity-0 mode decouples without even the need of any Vainshtein mechanism.
Inspiraling supermassive black hole binary systems with high orbital eccentricity are important sources for space-based gravitational wave (GW) observatories like the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Eccentricity adds orbital harmonics to the Fourier-transform of the GW signal and relativistic pericenter precession leads to a three-way splitting of each harmonic peak. We study the parameter estimation accuracy for such waveforms with different initial eccentricity using the Fisher matrix method and a Monte Carlo sampling of the initial binary orientation. The eccentricity improves the parameter estimation by breaking degeneracies between different parameters. In particular, we find that the source localization precision improves significantly for higher mass binaries due to eccentricity. The typical sky position errors are $\sim1 $deg for a nonspinning, $10^7\,M_{\odot}$ equal mass binary at redshift $z=1$, if the initial eccentricity one year before merger is $e_0\sim 0.6$. Pericenter precession does not affect the source localization accuracy significantly, but it does further improve the mass and eccentricity estimation accuracy systematically by a factor of 3--10 for masses between $10^6$ and $10^7\,M_{\odot}$ for $e_0 \sim 0.3$.
We present algorithms for nonparametric regression in settings where the data are obtained sequentially. While traditional estimators select bandwidths that depend upon the sample size, for sequential data the effective sample size is dynamically changing. We propose a linear time algorithm that adjusts the bandwidth for each new data point, and show that the estimator achieves the optimal minimax rate of convergence. We also propose the use of online expert mixing algorithms to adapt to unknown smoothness of the regression function. We provide simulations that confirm the theoretical results, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the methods.
For the last decade, the gravitational lensing in the strong gravitational field has been studied eagerly. It is well known that, for the lensing by a black hole, infinite number of Einstein rings are formed by the light rays which wind around the black hole nearly on the photon sphere, which are called relativistic Einstein rings. This is also the case for the lensing by a wormhole. In this letter, we study the Einstein ring and relativistic Einstein rings for the Schwarzschild black hole and the Ellis wormhole, the latter of which is an example of traversable wormholes of the Morris-Thorne class. Given the configuration of the gravitational lensing and the radii of the Einstein ring and relativistic Einstein rings, we can distinguish between a black hole and a wormhole in the galactic centers because the radius of the relativistic Einstein rings for a wormhole lensing can be observed with the most powerful modern instruments, e.g. the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI), which have the resolution of $10^{-3}$ arcsecond. We may test some hypotheses of astrophysical wormholes by using the Einstein ring and relativistic Einstein rings in the future.
Cosmology is a field of physics in which the use of General Relativity theory is indispensable. However, a cosmology based on Newtonian gravity theory for gravity is possible in certain circumstances. The applicability of Newtonian theory can be substantially extended if it is modified in such way that pressure has a more active role as source of the gravitational field. This was done in the neo-Newtonian cosmology. The limitation on the construction of a Newtonian cosmology, and the need for a relativistic theory in cosmology are reviewed. The neo-Newtonian proposal is presented, and its consequences for cosmology are discussed.
We study the contribution of spectator massive scalar fields to the inflationary density perturbations through the universal gravitational coupling. We find that such contribution has several remarkable properties: it does not decrease as the mass of the spectator field increases; it has a significant size and cannot be turned off by any adjustable parameters; and it applies to all massive scalars existed during inflation, making the overall effect unexpectedly large. As a result, the primordial density perturbations are anomalously sensitive to the high energy physics.
We find a matter-wave solution of Bose-Einstein condensates trapped in a harmonic-oscillator potential and subjected to a homogeneous gravitational field, by means of the extended tanhfunction method. This solution has as special cases the bright and dark solitons. We investigate the dynamics and the kinematics of these solutions, and the role of gravity is sketched. It is shown that these solutions can be generated and manipulated by controlling the s-wave scattering length, without changing the strengths of the magnetic and gravitational fields.
The no-boundary wave function of quantum gravity tends to assign only very small probability to long periods of inflation. This leads to tension with observations. We study the no-boundary proposal in the context of multi-field inflation to see whether the number of fields changes the situation. For a simple model, we find that indeed the no-boundary wave function can give higher probability for sufficient inflation, but the number of fields involved has to be very high.
We have performed an extensive numerical study of coalescing black-hole binaries to understand the gravitational-wave spectrum of quasi-normal modes excited in the merged black hole. Remarkably, we find that the masses and spins of the progenitor are clearly encoded in the mode spectrum of the ringdown signal. Some of the mode amplitudes carry the signature of the binary's mass ratio, while others depend critically on the spins. Simulations of precessing binaries suggest that our results carry over to generic systems. Using Bayesian inference, we demonstrate that it is possible to accurately measure the mass ratio and individual spins of the progenitor even when the binary itself is invisible to a detector. Our results could have tremendous implications for gravitational astronomy by facilitating novel tests of general relativity using merging black holes.
In generic particle physics models, the inflaton field is coupled to other bosonic and fermionic fields that acquire large masses during inflation and may decay into light degrees of freedom. This leads to dissipative effects that modify the inflationary dynamics and generate a nearly-thermal radiation bath, such that inflation occurs in a warm rather than supercooled environment. In this work, we perform a numerical computation and obtain expressions for the associated dissipation coefficient, focusing on the regime where the radiation temperature is below the heavy mass threshold, while allowing for generic couplings and field multiplicities. We also discuss radiative corrections to particle masses and decay widths and how they may significantly increase the effects of dissipation.
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We present a study using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array of 12CO J=1-0 emission in three strongly lensed submillimetre-selected galaxies (SMMJ16359, SMMJ14009 and SMMJ02399) at z=2.5-2.9. These galaxies span L(IR) = 10^11 - 10^13 Lsun, offering an opportunity to compare the interstellar medium of LIRGs and ULIRGs at high redshift. We estimate molecular gas masses in the range (2-40) x 10^9 Msun using a method that assumes canonical underlying brightness temperature ratios for star-forming and non-star-forming gas phases and a maximal star-formation efficiency. A more simplistic method using X(CO) = 0.8 yields gas masses twice as high. The observed CO(3-2)/CO(1-0) brightness temperature ratio for SMMJ14009, r(3-2)/(1-0) = (0.95 \pm 0.12), is indicative of warm star-forming gas, possibly influenced by the central AGN. We search for 12CO(1-0) emission in the Lyman-break galaxy, A2218 #384, located at z=2.517 in the same field as SMMJ16359, and assign a 3-sigma gas mass limit of <6 x 10^8 Msun. We use rest-frame 115-GHz free-free flux densities in SMMJ14009 and SMMJ02399 - measurements tied directly to the photionisation rate of massive stars and made possible by JVLA's bandwidth - to estimate star-formation rates of 400-600 Msun/yr and to estimate the fraction of L(IR) due to the AGN.
We propose that the Pipe Nebula is an HII region shell swept up by the B2 IV beta Cephei star theta Ophiuchi. After reviewing the morphological evidence by recent observations, we perform a series of analytical calculations. We use realistic HII region parameters derived with the radiative transfer code Cloudy from observed stellar parameters. We are able to show that the current size, mass and pressure of the region can be explained in this scenario. We investigate the configuration today and come to the conclusion that the Pipe Nebula can be best described by a three phase medium in pressure equilibrium. The pressure support is provided by the ionized gas and mediated by an atomic component to confine the cores at the observed current pressure. In the future, star formation in these cores is likely to be either triggered by feedback of the most massive, gravitationally bound cores as soon as they collapse or by the supernova explosion of theta Ophiuchi itself.
Recent work on increasing the effective number of neutrino species (Neff) in the early universe has focussed on introducing extra relativistic species (`dark radiation'). We draw attention to another possibility: a new particle of mass less than 10 MeV that remains in thermal equilibrium with neutrinos until it becomes non-relativistic increases the neutrino temperature relative to the photons. We demonstrate that this leads to a value of Neff that is greater than three and that Neff at CMB formation is larger than at BBN. We investigate the constraints on such particles from the primordial abundance of helium and deuterium created during BBN and from the CMB power spectrum measured by ACT and SPT and find that they are presently relatively unconstrained. We forecast the sensitivity of the Planck satellite to this scenario: in addition to dramatically improving constraints on the particle mass, in some regions of parameter space it can discriminate between the new particle being a real or complex scalar.
We derive atmospheric parameters and lithium abundances for 671 stars and include our measurements in a literature compilation of 1381 dwarf and subgiant stars. First, a "lithium desert" in the effective temperature (Teff) versus lithium abundance (A_Li) plane is observed such that no stars with Teff~6075 K and A_Li~1.8 are found. We speculate that most of the stars on the low A_Li side of the desert have experienced a short-lived period of severe surface lithium destruction as main-sequence or subgiant stars. Next, we search for differences in the lithium content of thin-disk and thick-disk stars, but we find that internal processes have erased from the stellar photospheres their possibly different histories of lithium enrichment. Nevertheless, we note that the maximum lithium abundance of thick-disk stars is nearly constant from [Fe/H]=-1.0 to -0.1, at a value that is similar to that measured in very metal-poor halo stars (A_Li~2.2). Finally, differences in the lithium abundance distribution of known planet-host stars relative to otherwise ordinary stars appear when restricting the samples to narrow ranges of Teff or mass, but they are fully explained by age and metallicity biases. We confirm the lack of a connection between low lithium abundance and planets. However, we find that no low A_Li planet-hosts are found in the desert Teff window. Provided that subtle sample biases are not responsible for this observation, this suggests that the presence of gas giant planets inhibit the mechanism responsible for the lithium desert.
We use Luminous Red Galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II to test the cosmological structure growth in two alternatives to the standard LCDM+GR cosmological model. We compare observed three-dimensional clustering in SDSS DR7 with theoretical predictions for the standard vanilla LCDM+GR model, Unified Dark Matter cosmologies and the normal branch DGP. In computing the expected correlations in UDM cosmologies, we derive a parameterized formula for the growth factor in these models. For our analysis we apply the methodology tested in Raccanelli et al. 2010 and use the measurements of Samushia et al. 2011, that account for survey geometry, non-linear and wide-angle effects and the distribution of pair orientation. We show that the estimate of the growth rate is potentially degenerate with wide-angle effects, meaning that extremely accurate measurements of the growth rate on large scales will need to take such effects into account. We use measurements of the zeroth and second order moments of the correlation function from SDSS DR7 data and the Large Suite of Dark Matter Simulations, and perform a likelihood analysis to constrain the parameters of the models. Using information on the clustering up to r_max = 120 Mpc/h, and after marginalizing over the bias, we find, for UDM models, a speed of sound < 6.1e-4, and, for the nDGP model, a cross-over scale r_c > 340 Mpc, at 95% confidence level.
The Fermi-LAT collaboration has recently reported the detection of angular power above the photon noise level in the diffuse gamma-ray background between 1 and 50 GeV. Such signal can be used to constrain a possible contribution from Dark-Matter-induced photons. We estimate the intensity and features of the angular power spectrum (APS) of this potential Dark Matter (DM) signal, for both decaying and annihilating DM candidates, by constructing template all-sky gamma-ray maps for the emission produced in the galactic halo and its substructures, as well as in extragalactic (sub)halos. The DM distribution is given by state-of-the-art N-body simulations of cosmic structure formation, namely Millennium-II for extragalactic (sub)halos, and Aquarius for the galactic halo and its subhalos. We use a hybrid method of extrapolation to account for (sub)structures that are below the resolution limit of the simulations, allowing us to estimate the total emission all the way down to the minimal self-bound halo mass. We describe in detail the features appearing in the APS of our template maps and we estimate the effect of various uncertainties such as the value of the minimal halo mass, the fraction of substructures hosted in a halo and the shape of the DM density profile. Our results indicate that the fluctuation APS of the DM-induced emission is of the same order as the Fermi-LAT APS, suggesting that one can constrain this hypothetical emission from the comparison with the measured anisotropy. We also quantify the uncertainties affecting our results, finding "theoretical error bands" spanning more than two orders of magnitude and dominated (for a given particle physics model) by our lack of knowledge of the abundance of low-mass (sub)halos.
We simultaneously constrain cosmology and galaxy bias using measurements of galaxy abundances, galaxy clustering and galaxy-galaxy lensing taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We use the conditional luminosity function (which describes the halo occupation statistics as function of galaxy luminosity) combined with the halo model (which describes the non-linear matter field in terms of its halo building blocks) to describe the galaxy-dark matter connection. We explicitly account for residual redshift space distortions in the projected galaxy-galaxy correlation functions, and marginalize over uncertainties in the scale dependence of the halo bias and the detailed structure of dark matter haloes. Under the assumption of a spatially flat, vanilla {\Lambda}CDM cosmology, we focus on constraining the matter density, {\Omega}m, and the normalization of the matter power spectrum, {\sigma}8, and we adopt WMAP7 priors for the spectral index, the Hubble parameter, and the baryon density. We obtain that \Omegam = 0.278_{-0.026}^{+0.023} and {\sigma}8 = 0.763_{-0.049}^{+0.064} (95% CL). These results are robust to uncertainties in the radial number density distribution of satellite galaxies, while allowing for non-Poisson satellite occupation distributions results in a slightly lower value for {\sigma}8 (0.744_{-0.047}^{+0.056}). These constraints are in excellent agreement (at the 1{\sigma} level) with the cosmic microwave background constraints from WMAP. This demonstrates that the use of a realistic and accurate model for galaxy bias, down to the smallest non-linear scales currently observed in galaxy surveys, leads to results perfectly consistent with the vanilla {\Lambda}CDM cosmology.
There is sufficient amount of internal evidence in the nature of gravitational theories to indicate that gravity is an emergent phenomenon like, e.g, elasticity. Such an emergent nature is most apparent in the structure of gravitational dynamics. It is, however, possible to go beyond the field equations and study the space itself as emergent in a well-defined manner in (and possibly only in) the context of cosmology. In the first part of this review, I describe various pieces of evidence which show that gravitational field equations are emergent. In the second part, I describe a novel way of studying cosmology in which I interpret the expansion of the universe as equivalent to the emergence of space itself. In such an approach, the dynamics evolves towards a state of holographic equipartition, characterized by the equality of number of bulk and surface degrees of freedom in a region bounded by the Hubble radius. This principle correctly reproduces the standard evolution of a Friedmann universe. Further, (a) it demands the existence of an early inflationary phase as well as late time acceleration for its successful implementation and (b) allows us to link the value of late time cosmological constant to the e-folding factor during inflation.
The search for diffuse non-thermal, inverse Compton (IC) emission from galaxy clusters at hard X-ray energies has been underway for many years, with most detections being either of low significance or controversial. In this work, we investigate 14-195 keV spectra from the Swift Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) all-sky survey for evidence of non-thermal excess emission above the exponentially decreasing tail of thermal emission in the flux-limited HIFLUGCS sample. To account for the thermal contribution at BAT energies, XMM-Newton EPIC spectra are extracted from coincident spatial regions so that both thermal and non-thermal spectral components can be determined simultaneously. We find marginally significant IC components in six clusters, though after closer inspection and consideration of systematic errors we are unable to claim a clear detection in any of them. The spectra of all clusters are also summed to enhance a cumulative non-thermal signal not quite detectable in individual clusters. After constructing a model based on single-temperature fits to the XMM-Newton data alone, we see no significant excess emission above that predicted by the thermal model determined at soft energies. This result also holds for the summed spectra of various subgroups, except for the subsample of clusters with diffuse radio emission. For clusters hosting a diffuse radio halo, a relic, or a mini-halo, non-thermal emission is initially detected at the \sim5-sigma confidence level - driven by clusters with mini-halos - but modeling and systematic uncertainties ultimately degrade this significance. In individual clusters, the non-thermal pressure of relativistic electrons is limited to \sim10% of the thermal electron pressure, with stricter limits for the more massive clusters, indicating that these electrons are likely not dynamically important in the central regions of clusters.
The measurement and characterization of the lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a key goal of the current and next generation of CMB experiments. We perform a case study of a three-channel balloon-borne CMB experiment observing the sky at (l,b)=(250deg,-38deg) and attaining a sensitivity of 5.25 muK-arcmin with 8' angular resolution at 150 GHz, in order to assess whether the effect of polarized Galactic dust is expected to be a significant contaminant to the lensing signal reconstructed using the EB quadratic estimator. We find that for our assumed dust model, polarization fractions as low as a few percent may lead to a significant dust bias to the lensing convergence power spectrum. We investigate a parametric component separation method, proposed by Stompor et al. (2009), for mitigating the effect of this dust bias, based on a `profile likelihood' technique for estimating the dust spectral index. We find a dust contrast regime in which the accuracy of the profile likelihood spectral index estimate breaks down, and in which external information on the dust frequency scaling is needed. We propose a criterion for putting a requirement on the accuracy with which the dust spectral index must be estimated or constrained, and demonstrate that if this requirement is met, then the dust bias can be removed.
Deep, high resolution spectroscopic observations have been obtained for six compact, strongly star-forming galaxies at redshift z~0.1-0.3, most of them also known as Green Peas. Remarkably, these galaxies show complex emission-line profiles in the spectral region including H\alpha, [NII]$\lambda\lambda 6548, 6584$ and [SII]$\lambda\lambda 6717, 6731$, consisting of the superposition of different kinematical components on a spatial extent of few kpc: a very broad line emission underlying more than one narrower component. For at least two of the observed galaxies some of these multiple components are resolved spatially in their 2D-spectra, whereas for another one a faint detached H\alpha\ blob lacking stellar continuum is detected at the same recessional velocity ~7 kpc away from the galaxy. The individual narrower H\alpha\ components show high intrinsic velocity dispersion (\sigma ~30-80 km s$^{-1}$), suggesting together with unsharped masking HST images that star formation proceeds in an ensemble of several compact and turbulent clumps, with relative velocities of up to ~500 km s$^{-1}$. The broad underlying H\alpha\ components indicate in all cases large expansion velocities (full width zero intensity FWZI $\ge$ 1000 km s$^{-1}$) and very high luminosities (up to ~10$^{42}$ erg s$^{-1}$), probably showing the imprint of energetic outflows from SNe. These intriguing results underline the importance of Green Peas for studying the assembly of low-mass galaxies near and far.
The merger of two white dwarfs (WDs) creates a differentially rotating remnant which is unstable to magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. These instabilities can lead to viscous evolution on a time-scale short compared to the thermal evolution of the remnant. We present multi-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of the evolution of WD merger remnants under the action of an $\alpha$-viscosity. We initialize our calculations using the output of eight WD merger simulations from Dan et al. (2011), which span a range of mass ratios and total masses. We generically find that the merger remnants evolve towards spherical states on time-scales of hours, even though a significant fraction of the mass is initially rotationally supported. The viscous evolution unbinds only a very small amount of mass $(< 10^{-5} M_\odot)$. Viscous heating causes some of the systems we study with He WD secondaries to reach conditions of nearly dynamical burning. It is thus possible that the post-merger viscous phase triggers detonation of the He envelope in some WD mergers, potentially producing a Type Ia supernova via a double detonation scenario. Our calculations provide the proper initial conditions for studying the long-term thermal evolution of WD merger remnants. This is important for understanding WD mergers as progenitors of Type Ia supernovae, neutron stars, R Coronae Borealis stars and other phenomena.
The dynamically cold component of the Kuiper Belt is host to a population of very widely separated, near-equal mass binary systems. Such binaries, representing the tail of the separation distribution of the more common, more tightly-bound systems, are known to have on-sky separations up to ~4". Their wide separations make them highly valuable due to their delicacy and sensitivity to perturbation, and also makes them relatively easy targets to characterize from the ground. Parker et al. (2011) present a ground-based characterization of seven such systems with separations at discovery ranging from 0."5-4", and we will adopt these systems as the prototypes for the ultra-wide binaries of the Kuiper Belt. Here we present the prospects for using future large-scale ground-based optical surveys (with LSST as our baseline survey) to measure the orbital properties of a large sample of these widely separated Trans-Neptunian Binaries (TNBs).
We study the effect of Majorana transition magnetic moments on the flavor evolution of neutrinos and antineutrinos inside the core of Type-II supernova explosions. We find non-trivial collective oscillation effects relating neutrinos and antineutrinos of different flavors, even if one restricts the discussion to Majorana transition electromagnetic moment values that are not much larger than those expected from standard model interactions and nonzero neutrino Majorana masses. This appears to be, to the best of our knowledge, the only potentially observable phenomenon sensitive to such small values of Majorana transition magnetic moments. We briefly comment on the effect of Dirac transition magnetic moments and on the consequences of our results for future observations of the flux of neutrinos of different flavors from a nearby supernova explosion.
The elements germanium (Ge, Z=32), arsenic (As, Z=33), and selenium (Se, Z=34) span the transition from charged-particle or explosive synthesis of the iron-group elements to neutron-capture synthesis of heavier elements. Among these three elements, only the chemical evolution of germanium has been studied previously. Here we use archive observations made with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope and observations from several ground-based facilities to study the chemical enrichment histories of seven stars with metallicities -2.6 < [Fe/H] < -0.4. We perform a standard abundance analysis of germanium, arsenic, selenium, and several other elements produced by neutron-capture reactions. When combined with previous derivations of germanium abundances in metal-poor stars, our sample reveals an increase in the [Ge/Fe] ratios at higher metallicities. This could mark the onset of the weak s-process contribution to germanium. In contrast, the [As/Fe] and [Se/Fe] ratios remain roughly constant. These data do not directly indicate the origin of germanium, arsenic, and selenium at low metallicity, but they suggest that the weak and main components of the s-process are not likely sources.
We describe a search for infra-red excess emission from dusty circumstellar material around 180,000 stars observed by the Kepler and WISE missions. This study is motivated by i) the potential to find bright warm disks around planet host stars, ii) a need to characterise the distribution of rare warm disks, and iii) the possible identification of candidates for discovering transiting dust concentrations. We find about 8,000 stars that have excess emission, mostly at 12um. The positions of these stars correlate with the 100um background level so most of the flux measurements associated with these excesses are spurious. We identify 271 stars with plausible excesses by making a 5MJy/sr cut in the IRAS 100um emission. The number counts of these excesses, at both 12 and 22um, have the same distribution as extra-Galactic number counts. Thus, although some excesses may be circumstellar, most can be explained as chance alignments with background galaxies. The one exception is a 22um excess associated with a relatively nearby A-type star that we were able to confirm because the disk occurrence rate is independent of stellar distance. Despite our low detection rate, these results place valuable upper limits on the distribution of large mid-infrared excesses; e.g. fewer than 1:1000 stars have 12um excesses (F_ obs/F_star) larger than a factor of five. In contrast to previous studies, we find no evidence for disks around 1790 stars with candidate planets (we attribute one significant 12um excess to a background galaxy), and no evidence that the disk distribution around planet hosts is different to the bulk population. Higher resolution imaging of stars with excesses is the best way to rule out galaxy confusion and identify more reliable disk candidates among Kepler stars. A similar survey to ours that focusses on nearby stars would be well suited to finding the distribution of rare warm disks.
Making use of HI 21 cm line measurements from the ALFALFA survey (alpha.40) and photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and GALEX, we investigate the global scaling relations and fundamental planes linking stars and gas for a sample of 9417 common galaxies: the alpha.40-SDSS-GALEX sample. In addition to their HI properties derived from the ALFALFA dataset, stellar masses (M_*) and star formation rates (SFRs) are derived from fitting the UV-optical spectral energy distributions. 96% of the alpha.40-SDSS-GALEX galaxies belong to the blue cloud, with the average gas fraction f_HI = M_HI/M_* ~ 1.5. A transition in SF properties is found whereby below M_* ~ 10^9.5 M_sun, the slope of the star forming sequence changes, the dispersion in the specific star formation rate (SSFR) distribution increases and the star formation efficiency (SFE) mildly increases with M_*. The evolutionary track in the SSFR-M_* diagram, as well as that in the color magnitude diagram are linked to the HI content; below this transition mass, the star formation is regulated strongly by the HI. Comparison of HI- and optically-selected samples over the same restricted volume shows that the HI-selected population is less evolved and has overall higher SFR and SSFR at a given stellar mass, but lower SFE and extinction, suggesting either that a bottleneck exists in the HI to H_2 conversion, or that the process of SF in the very HI-dominated galaxies obeys an unusual, low efficiency star formation law. A trend is found that, for a given stellar mass, high gas fraction galaxies reside preferentially in dark matter halos with high spin parameters. Because it represents a full census of HI-bearing galaxies at z~0, the scaling relations and fundamental planes derived for the ALFALFA population can be used to assess the HI detection rate by future blind HI surveys and intensity mapping experiments at higher redshift.
We present a comprehensive statistical analysis of Swift X-ray light-curves of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), with more than 650 GRBs. Two questions drive this effort: (1) Does the X-ray emission retain any kind of memory of the prompt phase? (2) Where is the dividing line between long and short GRBs? We show that short GRBs decay faster, are less luminous and less energetic than long GRBs, but are interestingly characterized by very similar intrinsic absorption. Our analysis reveal the existence of a number of relations that link the X-ray to prompt parameters in long GRBs; short GRBs are outliers of the majority of these 2-parameter relations. Here we concentrate on a 3-parameter (E_pk-Egamma,iso-E_X,iso) scaling that is shared by the GRB class as a whole (short GRBs, long GRBs and X-ray Flashes -XRFs): interpreted in terms of emission efficiency, this scaling may imply that GRBs with high $E_{\rm{pk}}$ are more efficient during their prompt emission.
Hydrogen fluoride has been established to be an excellent tracer of molecular hydrogen in diffuse clouds. In denser environments, however, the HF abundance has been shown to be approximately two orders of magnitude lower. We present Herschel/HIFI observations of HF J=1-0 toward two high-mass star formation sites, NGC6334 I and AFGL 2591. In NGC6334 I the HF line is seen in absorption in foreground clouds and the source itself, while in AFGL 2591 HF is partially in emission. We find an HF abundance with respect to H2 of 1.5e-8 in the diffuse foreground clouds, whereas in the denser parts of NGC6334 I, we derive a lower limit on the HF abundance of 5e-10. Lower HF abundances in dense clouds are most likely caused by freeze out of HF molecules onto dust grains in high-density gas. In AFGL 2591, the view of the hot core is obstructed by absorption in the massive outflow, in which HF is also very abundant 3.6e-8) due to the desorption by sputtering. These observations provide further evidence that the chemistry of interstellar fluorine is controlled by freeze out onto gas grains.
We investigated gravitational microlensing of AGN dusty tori in the case of lensed quasars in the infrared domain. The dusty torus is modeled as a clumpy two-phase medium. To obtain spectral energy distributions and images of tori at different wavelengths, we used the 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer code SKIRT. A ray-shooting technique has been used to calculate microlensing magnification maps. We simulated microlensing by the stars in the lens galaxy for different configurations of the lensed system and different values of the torus parameters, in order to estimate (a) amplitudes and timescales of high magnification events, and (b) the influence of geometrical and physical properties of dusty tori on light curves in the infrared domain. We found that, despite their large size, dusty tori could be significantly affected by microlensing in some cases, especially in the near-infrared domain (rest-frame). The very long timescales of such events, in the range from several decades to hundreds of years, are limiting the practical use of this method to study the dusty tori properties. However, our results indicate that, when studying flux ratios between the images in different wavebands of lensed quasars, one should not disregard the possibility that the near and mid-infrared flux ratios could be under the influence of microlensing.
We report a periodicity of ~1 day in the highly elevated X-ray emission from the protostar V1647 Ori during its two recent multiple-year outbursts of mass accretion. This periodicity is indicative of protostellar rotation at near-breakup speed. Modeling of the phased X-ray light curve indicates the high-temperature (~50 MK), X-ray-emitting plasma, which is most likely heated by accretion-induced magnetic reconnection, resides in dense (>~5e10 cm-3), pancake-shaped magnetic footprints where the accretion stream feeds the newborn star. The sustained X-ray periodicity of V1647 Ori demonstrates that such protostellar magnetospheric accretion configurations can be stable over timescales of years.
We describe the latest release of AtomDB, version 2.0.2, a database of atomic data and a plasma modeling code with a focus on X-ray astronomy. This release includes several major updates to the fundamental atomic structure and process data held within AtomDB, incorporating new ionization balance data, state-selective recombination data, and updated collisional excitation data for many ions, including the iron L-shell ions from Fe$^{+16}$ to Fe$^{+23}$ and all of the hydrogen- and helium-like sequences. We also describe some of the effects that these changes have on calculated emission and diagnostic line ratios, such as changes in the temperature implied by the He-like G-ratios of up to a factor of 2.
We compute the full bispectra, including cross bispectra, of primordial curvature and tensor perturbations in the most general single-field inflation model whose scalar and gravitational equations of motion are of second order. The formulae in the limits of k-inflation and potential-driven inflation are also given. These expressions are useful for estimating the full bispectra of temperature and polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
The length of the asteroseismic timeseries obtained from the Kepler satellite analysed here span 19 months. Kepler provides the longest continuous timeseries currently available, which calls for a study of the influence of the increased timespan on the accuracy and precision of the obtained results. We find that in general a minimum of the order of 400 day long timeseries are necessary to obtain reliable results for the global oscillation parameters in more than 95% of the stars, but this does depend on <dnu>. In a statistical sense the quoted uncertainties seem to provide a reasonable indication of the precision of the obtained results in short (50-day) runs, they do however seem to be overestimated for results of longer runs. Furthermore, the different definitions of the global parameters used in the different methods have non-negligible effects on the obtained values. Additionally, we show that there is a correlation between nu_max and the flux variance. We conclude that longer timeseries improve the likelihood to detect oscillations with automated codes (from ~60% in 50 day runs to > 95% in 400 day runs with a slight method dependence) and the precision of the obtained global oscillation parameters. The trends suggest that the improvement will continue for even longer timeseries than the 600 days considered here, with a reduction in the median absolute deviation of more than a factor of 10 for an increase in timespan from 50 to 2000 days (the currently foreseen length of the mission). This work shows that global parameters determined with high precision - thus from long datasets - using different definitions can be used to identify the evolutionary state of the stars. (abstract truncated)
We report on the gamma-ray observations of giant molecular clouds Orion A and B with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on-board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The gamma-ray emission in the energy band between \sim100 MeV and \sim100 GeV is predicted to trace the gas mass distribution in the clouds through nuclear interactions between the Galactic cosmic rays (CRs) and interstellar gas. The gamma-ray production cross-section for the nuclear interaction is known to \sim10% precision which makes the LAT a powerful tool to measure the gas mass column density distribution of molecular clouds for a known CR intensity. We present here such distributions for Orion A and B, and correlate them with those of the velocity integrated CO intensity (WCO) at a 1{\deg} \times1{\deg} pixel level. The correlation is found to be linear over a WCO range of ~10 fold when divided in 3 regions, suggesting penetration of nuclear CRs to most of the cloud volumes. The Wco-to-mass conversion factor, Xco, is found to be \sim2.3\times10^20 cm-2(K km s-1)-1 for the high-longitude part of Orion A (l > 212{\deg}), \sim1.7 times higher than \sim1.3 \times 10^20 found for the rest of Orion A and B. We interpret the apparent high Xco in the high-longitude region of Orion A in the light of recent works proposing a non-linear relation between H2 and CO densities in the diffuse molecular gas. Wco decreases faster than the H2 column density in the region making the gas "darker" to Wco.
Pulsar glitches are traditionally viewed as a manifestation of vortex dynamics associated with a neutron superfluid reservoir confined to the inner crust of the star. In this Letter we show that the non-dissipative entrainment coupling between the neutron superfluid and the nuclear lattice leads to a less mobile crust superfluid, effectively reducing the moment of inertia associated with the angular momentum reservoir. Combining the latest observational data for prolific glitching pulsars with theoretical results for the crust entrainment we find that the required superfluid reservoir exceeds that available in the crust. This challenges our understanding of the glitch phenomenon, and we discuss possible resolutions to the problem.
Stellar shells observed in many giant elliptical and lenticular as well as a few spiral and dwarf galaxies, presumably result from galaxy mergers. Line-of-sight velocity distributions of the shells could, in principle, if measured with a sufficiently high S/N, constitute one of methods to constrain the gravitational potential of the host galaxy. Merrifield & Kuijken (1998) predicted a double-peaked line profile for stationary shells resulting from a nearly radial minor merger. In this paper, we aim at extending their analysis to a more realistic case of expanding shells, inherent to the merging process, in the same type of merger and the same orbital geometry. We use analytical approach as well as test particle simulations to predict the line-of-sight velocity profile across the shell structure. Simulated line profiles are convolved with spectral PSFs to estimate the peak detectability. The resulting line-of-sight velocity distributions are more complex than previously predicted due to non-zero phase velocity of the shells. In principle, each of the Merrifield & Kuijken (1998) peaks splits into two, giving a quadruple-peaked line profile, which allows more precise determination of the potential of the host galaxy and, moreover, contains additional information. We find simple analytical expressions that connect the positions of the four peaks of the line profile and the mass distribution of the galaxy, namely the circular velocity at the given shell radius and the propagation velocity of the shell. The analytical expressions were applied to a test-particle simulation of a radial minor merger and the potential of the simulated host galaxy was successfully recovered. The shell kinematics can thus become an independent tool to determine the content and distribution of the dark matter in shell galaxies, up to ~100 kpc from the center of the host galaxy.
Context. 65 UMa belongs to rather small group of stellar systems of higher multiplicity, whose inner and outer orbits are well-known. Methods: Photometric, spectroscopic, and interferometric data were analyzed, revealing the basic physical properties of the system 65 UMa. A disentangling technique is used to perform the spectra decomposition. This combined approach allows us to study the long-term period changes in the system, identifying the period variation due to the motion on the visual orbit, in addition to a short-term modulation. Results: We find that the system contains one more component, hence 65 UMa is a sextuple hierarchical system. The most inner pair of components consists of an eclipsing binary orbiting around a barycenter on a circular orbit, both components being almost identical of spectral type about A7. This pair orbits on an eccentric orbit around a barycenter, and the third component orbits with a period of about 640 days. This motion is reflected in the period variation in the minima times of the eclipsing pair, as well as in the radial velocities of the primary, secondary, and tertiary components. Moreover, this system orbits around a barycenter with the distant component resolved interferometrically, whose period is of about 118 years. Two more distant components (4" and 63") are also probably gravitationally bound to the system. The nodal period of the eclipsing-pair orbit is on the order of only a few centuries, which makes this system even more interesting for a future prospective detection of changing the depths of minima. Conclusions: We identify a unique solution of the system 65 UMa, decomposing the individual components and even shifting the system to higher multiplicity. The study of this kind of multiple can help us to understand the origin of stellar systems. Besides 65 UMa, only another 11 sextuple systems have been studied.
The low-mass star formation evolutionary sequence is relatively well-defined both from observations and theoretical considerations. The first hydrostatic core is the first protostellar equilibrium object that is formed during the star formation process. Using state-of-the-art radiation-magneto-hydrodynamic 3D adaptive mesh refinement calculations, we aim to provide predictions for the dust continuum emission from first hydrostatic cores. We investigate the collapse and the fragmentation of magnetized one solar mass prestellar dense cores and the formation and evolution of first hydrostatic cores using the RAMSES code. We use three different magnetization levels for the initial conditions, which cover a large variety of early evolutionary morphology, e.g., the formation of a disk or a pseudo-disk, outflow launching, and fragmentation. We post-process the dynamical calculations using the 3D radiative transfer code RADMC-3D. We compute spectral energy distributions and usual evolutionary stage indicators such as bolometric luminosity and temperature. We find that the first hydrostatic core lifetimes depend strongly on the initial magnetization level of the parent dense core. We derive, for the first time, spectral energy distribution evolutionary sequences from high-resolution radiation-magneto-hydrodynamic calculations. We show that under certain conditions, first hydrostatic cores can be identified from dust continuum emission at 24 microns and 70 microns. We also show that single spectral energy distributions cannot help to distinguish between the formation scenarios of the first hydrostatic core, i.e., between the magnetized and non-magnetized models. Spectral energy distributions are a first useful and direct way to target first hydrostatic core candidates but high-resolution interferometry is definitively needed to determine the evolutionary stage of the observed sources.
The XMM-Newton spectrum of the black hole candidate XTE J1652-453 shows a broad and strong Fe K-alpha emission line, generally believed to originate from reflection of the inner accretion disc. These data have been analysed by Hiemstra et al. (2011) using a variety of phenomenological models. We re-examine the spectrum with a self-consistent relativistic reflection model. A narrow absorption line near 7.2 keV may be present, which if real is likely the Fe XXVI absorption line arising from highly ionised, rapidly outflowing disc wind. The blue shift of this feature corresponds to a velocity of about 11100 km/s, which is much larger than the typical values seen in stellar-mass black holes. Given that we also find the source to have a low inclination (i < 32 degrees; close to face-on), we would therefore be seeing through the very base of outflow. This could be a possible explanation for the unusually high velocity. We use a reflection model combined with a relativistic convolution kernel which allows for both prograde and retrograde black hole spin, and treat the potential absorption feature with a physical model for a photo-ionised plasma. In this manner, assuming the disc is not truncated, we could only constrain the spin of the black hole in XTE J1652-453 to be less than ~ 0.5 Jc/GM^{2} at the 90% confidence limit.
The large number of observed exoplanets ($\gtrsim $ 700) provides fundamental constraints on their origin that can be deduced by plotting the mass and orbital periods of planets in a single diagram. In this mass-period diagram, the most surprising features are 1) the (apparent) pile up of gas giants at a period of $\sim 500$ days ($\sim1$ AU) and 2) the so-called mass-period relation which indicates that planetary mass is an increasing function of orbital period. We show that inhomogeneities in protoplanetary disks play the central role in establishing such planetary system architectures. Disk inhomogeneities give rise to multiple (up to 3) trapping sites, known as planet traps, for rapid (type I) planetary migration of cores of gas giants. The viscous evolution of disks induces the movement of these traps. We compute the evolutionary tracks of accreting planetary cores as they move with their traps. We find that the formation of cores and subsequent slow gas accretion onto their envelopes take place mainly at the planet traps. The movement of planet traps slowly transports the planetary cores from large to small orbital radii. Towards the onset of the final runaway gas accretion onto the cores, protoplanets become massive enough to "drop-out" from the movement of the planet traps and now evolve by opening a gap in the disks and undergoing slow (type II) migration. Photoevaporation arising from far ultra violet (FUV) radiation from the central star totally disperses gas in the remaining disk at the end stage of disk evolution and terminates type II migration of gas giants and their radial movement in the mass-period diagram. Following these simultaneous growth and movement of protoplanets in evolving disks, we show how the mass-period relation eventually arises.
This paper investigates the distribution of linear polarization signals in the quiet Sun internetwork using ultra-deep spectropolarimetric data. We reduce the noise of the observations as much as is feasible by adding single-slit measurements of the Zeeman-sensitive Fe I 630 nm lines taken by the Hinode spectropolarimeter. The integrated Stokes spectra are employed to determine the fraction of the field of view covered by linear polarization signals. We find that up to 69% of the quiet solar surface at disk center shows Stokes Q or U signals with amplitudes of at least 0.032% (4.5 times the noise level of 7 x 10^{-5} reached by the longer integrations). The mere presence of linear polarization in most of the quiet Sun implies that the weak internetwork fields must be highly inclined, but we quantify this by inverting those pixels with Stokes Q or U signals well above the noise. This allows for a precise determination of the field inclination, field strength, and field azimuth because the information carried by all four Stokes spectra is used simultaneously. The inversion is performed for 53% of the observed field of view at a noise level of 1.3 x 10^{-4}. The derived magnetic distributions are thus representative of more than half of the quiet Sun internetwork. Our results confirm the conclusions drawn from previous analyses using mainly Stokes I and V: internetwork fields are very inclined, but except in azimuth they do not seem to be isotropically distributed.
PHL 1092 is a z~0.4 high-luminosity counterpart of the class of Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies. In 2008, PHL 1092 was found to be in a remarkably low X-ray flux state during an XMM-Newton observation. Its 2 keV flux density had dropped by a factor of ~260 with respect to a previous observation performed 4.5 yr earlier. The UV flux remained almost constant, resulting in a significant steepening of the optical-to-X-ray slope alpha_ox from -1.57 to -2.51, making PHL 1092 one of the most extreme X-ray weak quasars with no observed broad absorption lines (BALs) in the UV. We have monitored the source since 2008 with three further XMM-Newton observations, producing a simultaneous UV and X-ray database spanning almost 10 yr in total in the activity of the source. Our monitoring program demonstrates that the alpha_ox variability in PHL 1092 is entirely driven by long-term X-ray flux changes. We apply a series of physically-motivated models with the goal of explaining the UV-to-X-ray spectral energy distribution (SED) and the extreme X-ray and alpha_ox variability. We consider three possible models: i) A "breathing corona" scenario in which the size of the X-ray emitting corona is correlated with the X-ray flux. In this case, the lowest X-ray flux states of PHL 1092 are associated with an almost complete collapse of the X-ray corona down to the marginal stable orbit; ii) An absorption scenario in which the X-ray flux variability is entirely due to intervening absorption. If so, PHL 1092 is a quasar with standard X-ray output for its optical luminosity, appearing as X-ray weak at times due to absorption; iii) A disc-reflection-dominated scenario in which the X-ray emitting corona is confined within a few gravitational radii from the black hole at all times. In this case, the intrinsic variability of PHL 1092 only needs to be a factor of ~10 rather than the observed factor of ~260.
A 2.29 GHz VLBI all-sky survey of ultra-compact radio sources has formed the basis of a number of cosmological investigations, which examine the relationship between angular-size and redshift. Here I use a sample of 468 such sources with 0.5<z<=3.787, to investigate the isotropy of the Universe. The sample is divided into hemispherical sub-samples, over an all-sky 5 degree x 5 degree array, each of which is allowed to determine a value of Omega_m, assuming that we are living in a spatially flat homogeneous isotropic LambdaCDM model. If we regard the latter as a null hypothesis, then it fails the test -- the results show significant anisotropy, the smallest value of Omega_m being towards (l,b)=(253.9,24.1) degrees, the largest in the opposite direction. This is close to the CMB dipole axis, but in the obverse sense. This is interpreted as meaning that the Universe is not spatially homogeneous on the largest scales, and is better represented at late times by a spherically symmetric model with a density enhancement at its centre.
Cygnus A harbours the nearest powerful radio jet of an Fanaroff-Riley (FR) class II radio galaxy in a galaxy cluster where the interaction of the jet with the intracluster medium (ICM) can be studied in detail. We use a large set of Chandra archival data, VLA and new LOFAR observations to shed new light on the interaction of the jets with the ICM. We identify an X-ray cavity in the distribution of the X-ray emitting plasma in the region south of the Cyg A nucleus which has lower pressure than the surrounding medium. The LOFAR and VLA radio observations show that the cavity is filled with synchrotron emitting plasma. The spectral age and the buoyancy time of the cavity indicates an age at least as large as the current Cyg A jets and not much larger than twice this time. We suggest that this cavity was created in a previous active phase of Cyg A when the energy output of the Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) was about two orders of magnitude less than today.
Close-in exoplanets with highly eccentric orbits are subject to large variations in incoming stellar flux between periapse and apoapse. These variations may lead to large swings in atmospheric temperature, which in turn may cause changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere from higher CO abundances at periapse to higher CH4 abundances at apoapse. Here we examine chemical timescales for CO\rightleftarrowsCH4 interconversion compared to orbital timescales and vertical mixing timescales for the highly eccentric exoplanets HAT-P-2b and CoRoT-10b. As exoplanet atmospheres cool, the chemical timescales for CO\rightleftarrowsCH4 tend to exceed orbital and/or vertical mixing timescales, leading to quenching. The relative roles of orbit-induced thermal quenching and vertical quenching depends upon mixing timescales relative to orbital timescales. For both HAT-P-2b and CoRoT-10b, vertical quenching will determine disequilibrium CO\rightleftarrowsCH4 chemistry at faster vertical mixing rates (Kzz > 10^7 cm^2 s^-1), whereas orbit-induced thermal quenching may play a significant role at slower mixing rates (Kzz < 10^7 cm^2 s^-1). The general abundance and chemical timescale results - calculated as a function of pressure, temperature, and metallicity - can be applied for different atmospheric profiles in order to estimate the quench level and disequilibrium abundances of CO and CH4 on hydrogen-dominated exoplanets. Observations of CO and CH4 on highly eccentric exoplanets may yield important clues to the chemical and dynamical properties of their atmospheres.
We present a relativistic model for the stationary axisymmetric accretion flow of a rotating cloud of non-interacting particles falling onto a Kerr black hole. Based on a ballistic approximation, streamlines are described analytically in terms of timelike geodesics, while a simple numerical scheme is introduced for calculating the density field. A novel approach is presented for describing all of the possible types of orbit by means of a single analytic expression. This model is a useful tool for highlighting purely relativistic signatures in the accretion flow dynamics coming from a strong gravitational field with frame-dragging. In particular, we explore the coupling due to this between the spin of the black hole and the angular momentum of the infalling matter. Moreover, we demonstrate how this analytic solution may be used for benchmarking general relativistic numerical hydrodynamics codes by comparing it against results of smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations for a collapsar-like setup. These simulations are performed first for a ballistic flow (with zero pressure) and then for a hydrodynamical one where we measure the effects of pressure gradients on the infall, thus exploring the extent of applicability of the ballistic approximation.
An analysis of the full cosmic microwave background (CMB) sky by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has revealed that the two lowest cosmologically interesting multipoles, the quadrupole (l=2) and the octopole (l=3) moments of the temperature variations, are unexpectedly aligned with each other. In this paper, we demonstrate that, whereas this alignment constitutes a statistically significant anomaly in the standard model, it is statistically insignificant within the context of the R_h=ct Universe. The key physical ingredient responsible for this difference is the existence in the latter of a maximum fluctuation size at the time of recombination, which is absent in LCDM because of inflation.
We propose to evaluate the contribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules that carry side groups to the mid-infrared emission spectra. Within this framework, the IR absorption spectra of 2- and 9-vinylanthracene were measured in Ar matrices at 12 K and in CsI and polyethylene pellets at room temperature. The laboratory spectra were analyzed with the support of simulations based on the density functional theory. For each PAH molecule, eight IR spectra were computed by combining the B3LYP functional with as many different basis sets, namely 4-31G, 4-31G(d), 6-31G, 6-311G, 6-31G(d), 6-31G(d,p), 6-31+G(d,p), and 6-31++G(d,p). The comparison of the theoretical spectra with the laboratory data allowed us to determine the most suitable combinations for modeling the IR spectra of neutral PAH molecules that carry a vinyl side group. It was concluded from the examples of 2- and 9-VA that the optimum basis set is 6-31G unless a steric interaction has to be taken into account, in which case the optimum basis set is 6-31G(d). Thus, in the presence of such an interaction, the use of d-type polarization functions is recommended. We discuss the possibility for neutral vinyl-substituted PAHs to contribute to the mid-infrared emission spectra and find that their specific features do not match with the mid-infrared aromatic emission bands.
We study the evolution of QCD phase transition-generated magnetic fields in freely decaying MHD turbulence of the expanding Universe. We consider a magnetic field generation model that starts from basic non-perturbative QCD theory and predicts stochastic magnetic fields with an amplitude of the order of 0.02 $\mu$G and small magnetic helicity. We employ direct numerical simulations to model the MHD turbulence decay and identify two different regimes: "weakly helical" turbulence regime, when magnetic helicity increases during decay, and "fully helical" turbulence, when maximal magnetic helicity is reached and an inverse cascade develops. The results of our analysis show that in the most optimistic scenario the magnetic correlation length in the comoving frame can reach 10 kpc with the amplitude of the effective magnetic field being 0.007 nG. We demonstrate that the considered model of magneto-genesis can provide the seed magnetic field for galaxies and clusters.
We presented the first particle based, Lagrangian code that can follow the collisional/accretional/dynamical evolution of a large number of km-sized planetesimals through the entire growth process to become planets. We refer to it as the 'Lagrangian Integrator for Planetary Accretion and Dynamics' or LIPAD. LIPAD is built on top of SyMBA, which is a symplectic $N$-body integrator. In order to handle the very large number of planetesimals required by planet formation simulations, we introduce the concept of a `tracer' particle. Each tracer is intended to represent a large number of disk particles on roughly the same orbit and size as one another, and is characterized by three numbers: the physical radius, the bulk density, and the total mass of the disk particles represented by the tracer. We developed statistical algorithms that follow the dynamical and collisional evolution of the tracers due to the presence of one another. The tracers mainly dynamically interact with the larger objects (`planetary embryos') in the normal N-body way. LIPAD's greatest strength is that it can accurately model the wholesale redistribution of planetesimals due to gravitational interaction with the embryos, which has recently been shown to significantly affect the growth rate of planetary embryos . We verify the code via a comprehensive set of tests which compare our results with those of Eulerian and/or direct N-body codes.
Almost 30 Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs) of different flavours have been identified at optical, ultraviolet, or infrared (UVOIR) wavelengths. Here, I present a short review of the historical background and describe the scientific impact of INS observations in the UVOIR. Then, I focus on UVOIR observations of rotation-powered pulsars, so far the most numerous class of INSs identified at these wavelengths, and their observational properties. Finally, I present the results of new UVOIR observations and an update of the follow-ups of gamma-ray pulsars detected by Fermi.
We present abundances for 20 elements for stars in two stellar streams identified by Arifyanto & Fuchs (2006, A&A, 449, 533): 18 stars from the Arcturus stream and 26 from a new stream, which we call AF06 stream, both from the Galactic thick disk. Results show both streams are metal-poor and very old (10$-$14 Gyrs) with kinematics and abundances overlapping with the properties of local field thick disk stars. Both streams exhibit a range in metallicity but with relative elemental abundances that are identical to those of thick disk stars of the same metallicity. These results show that neither stream can result from dissolution of an open cluster. It is highly unlikely that either stream represents tidal debris from an accreted satellite galaxy. Both streams most probably owe their origin to dynamical perturbations within the Galaxy.
The EAGLE and EVE Phase A studies for instruments for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) originated from related top-level scientific questions, but employed different (yet complementary) methods to deliver the required observations. We re-examine the motivations for a multi-object spectrograph (MOS) on the E-ELT and present a unified set of requirements for a versatile instrument. Such a MOS would exploit the excellent spatial resolution in the near-infrared envisaged for EAGLE, combined with aspects of the spectral coverage and large multiplex of EVE. We briefly discuss the top-level systems which could satisfy these requirements in a single instrument at one of the Nasmyth foci of the E-ELT.
The Suzaku X-ray satellite observed the young stellar object V1647 Ori on 2008 October 8 during the new mass accretion outburst reported in August 2008. During the 87 ksec observation with a net exposure of 40 ks, V1647 Ori showed a high level of X-ray emission with a gradual decrease in flux by a factor of 5 and then displayed an abrupt flux increase by an order of magnitude. Such enhanced X-ray variability was also seen in XMM-Newton observations in 2004 and 2005 during the 2003-2005 outburst, but has rarely been observed for other young stellar objects. The spectrum clearly displays emission from Helium-like iron, which is a signature of hot plasma (kT ~5 keV). It also shows a fluorescent iron Kalpha line with a remarkably large equivalent width of ~600 eV. Such a large equivalent width suggests that a part of the incident X-ray emission that irradiates the circumstellar material and/or the stellar surface is hidden from our line of sight. XMM-Newton spectra during the 2003-2005 outburst did not show a strong fluorescent iron Kalpha line, so that the structure of the circumstellar gas very close to the stellar core that absorbs and re-emits X-ray emission from the central object may have changed in between 2005 and 2008. This phenomenon may be related to changes in the infrared morphology of McNeil's nebula between 2004 and 2008.
A fraction of AGN producing VHE \gamma-rays are located in galaxy clusters. The magnetic field present in the intra-cluster medium would lead to conversions of VHE photons into axion-like particles (ALPs), which are a generic prediction of several extensions of the Standard Model. ALPs produced in this way would traverse cosmological distances unaffected by the extragalactic background light at variance with VHE photons which undergo a substantial absorption. Eventually, a nontrivial fraction of ALPs would re-convert into VHE photons in the magnetic field of the Milky Way. This mechanism produces a significant hardening of the VHE spectrum of AGN in galaxy clusters. As a specific example we consider the energy spectra of two observed VHE \gamma-ray sources located in galaxy clusters, namely 1ES 0414+009 at redshift z=0.287 and Mkn 501 at z=0.034. We find that the hardening in the observed spectra becomes relevant at E > 1 TeV. The detection of this signature would allow to indirectly probe the existence of ultra-light ALPs with mass m_a < 10^{-8} eV and photon-ALP coupling g_{a\gamma} < 10^{-10} GeV^{-1} with the presently operating Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes like H.E.S.S., MAGIC, VERITAS and CANGAROO-III and even more likely with the planned detectors like CTA, HAWC and HiSCORE. An independent laboratory check of ultra-light ALPs invoked in this mechanism can be performed with the planned upgrade of the photon regeneration experiment ALPS at DESY and with the next generation solar axion detector IAXO.
Hydrodynamic stability has been a longstanding issue for the cloud model of the broad line region in active galactic nuclei. We argue that the clouds may be gravitationally bound to the supermassive black hole. If true, stabilisation by thermal pressure alone becomes even more difficult. We further argue that if magnetic fields should be present in such clouds at a level that could affect the stability properties, they need to be strong enough to compete with the radiation pressure on the cloud. This would imply magnetic field values of a few Gauss for a sample of Active Galactic Nuclei we draw from the literature. We then investigate the effect of several magnetic configurations on cloud stability in axi-symmetric magnetohydrodynamic simulations. For a purely azimuthal magnetic field which provides the dominant pressure support, the cloud first gets compressed by the opposing radiative and gravitational forces. The pressure inside the cloud then increases, and it expands vertically. Kelvin-Helmholtz and column density instability lead to a filamentary fragmentation of the cloud. This radiative dispersion continues until the cloud is shredded down to the resolution level. For a helical magnetic field configuration, a much more stable cloud core survives with a stationary density histogram which takes the form of a power law. Our simulated clouds develop sub-Alfvenic internal motions on the level of a few hundred km/s.
We present and analyze epsilon Aurig\ae\ data concerning the evolution of the H{\alpha} line on the occasion of the 2009 International observation campaign launched to cover the eclipse of this object. We visually inspect the dynamical spectrum constructed from the data and analyze the evolution with time of the EW (Equivalent Width) and of the radial velocity. The spectroscopic data reveal many details which confirm the complexity of the Aurig\ae\ system. The object is far from being understood. In particular, according to our measurements, the eclipse duration has been underestimated. A complete analysis of details revealed by our data would require much time and effort. Observers are encouraged to continue monitoring the H{\alpha} line out of eclipse in the hope that it will provide further important information.
Can the standard cosmological model be questioned on the basis of a single observed extreme galaxy cluster? Usually, the word extreme refers directly to cluster mass, which is not a direct observable and thus subject to substantial uncertainty. Hence, it is desirable to extend studies of extreme clusters to direct observables such as the Einstein radius (ER). We aim to evaluate the occurrence probability of the large observed ER of MACS J0717.5 within the standard LCDM cosmology. In particular, we want to model the distribution function of the single largest ER in a given cosmological volume and to study which underlying assumptions and effects have the strongest impact on the results. We obtain this distribution by a Monte Carlo approach, based on the semi-analytic modelling of the halo population on the past lightcone. After sampling the distribution, we fit the results with the general extreme value (GEV) distribution which we use for the subsequent analysis. We find that the distribution of the maximum ER is particularly sensitive to the precise choice of the halo mass function, lens triaxiality, the inner slope of the halo density profile and the mass-concentration relation. Using the distributions so obtained,we study the occurrence probability of the large ER of MACS J0717.5, finding that this system is not in tension with LCDM. We also find that the GEV distribution can be used to fit very accurately the sampled distributions and that all of them can be described by a Frechet distribution. With a multitude of effects that strongly influence the distribution of the single largest ER, it is more than doubtful that the standard LCDM cosmology can be ruled out on the basis of a single observation. If, despite the large uncertainties in the underlying assumptions, one wanted to do so, a much larger ER (> 100 arcsec) than that of MACS J0717.5 would have to be observed.
Recently reported tentative evidence for a gamma-ray line in the Fermi-LAT data is of great potential interest for identifying the nature of dark matter. We compare the implications for decaying and annihilating dark matter taking the constraints from continuum gamma-rays, antiproton flux and morphology of the excess into account. We find that higgsino and wino dark matter are excluded, also for nonthermal production. Generically, the continuum gamma-ray flux severely constrains annihilating dark matter. Consistency of decaying dark matter with the spatial distribution of the Fermi-LAT excess would require an enhancement of the dark matter density near the Galactic center.
In four-dimensional spacetime, moons around black holes generate low-amplitude tides, and the energy extracted from the hole's rotation is always smaller than the gravitational radiation lost to infinity. Thus, moons orbiting a black hole inspiral and eventually merge. However, it has been conjectured that in higher-dimensional spacetimes orbiting bodies generate much stronger tides, which backreact by tidally accelerating the body outwards. This effect, analogous to the tidal acceleration experienced by the Earth-Moon system, would determine the evolution of the binary. Here, we put this conjecture to the test, by studying matter coupled to a massless scalar field in orbit around a singly-spinning rotating black hole in higher dimensions. We show that in dimensions larger than five the energy extracted from the black hole through superradiance is larger than the energy carried out to infinity. Our numerical results are in excellent agreement with analytic approximations and lend strong support to the conjecture that tidal acceleration is the rule, rather than the exception, in higher dimensions. Superradiance dominates the energy budget and moons "outspiral"; for some particular orbital frequency, the energy extracted at the horizon equals the energy emitted to infinity and "floating orbits" generically occur. We give an interpretation of this phenomenon in terms of the membrane paradigm and of tidal acceleration due to energy dissipation across the horizon.
We investigate the equation of state (EoS) of the scalar-torsion mode in Poincar\'{e} gauge theory of gravity. We concentrate on two cases with the constant curvature solution and positive kinetic energy, respectively. In the former, we find that the torsion EoS has different values in the various stages of the universe. In particular, it behaves like the radiation (matter) EoS of $w_r=1/3$ ($w_m=0$) in the radiation (matter) dominant epoch, while in the late time the torsion density is supportive for the accelerating universe. In the latter, our numerical analysis shows that in general the EoS has an asymptotic behavior in the high redshift regime, while it could cross the phantom divide line in the low redshift regime.
The pseudoscalar-photon mixing in presence of large scale magnetic field induces polarization in light from distant cosmological sources. We study the effect of these pseudoscalars or axion like particles (ALPs) on Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) and constrain the product of mixing strength $g_{\phi}$ times background magnetic field $B$. The background magnetic field has been assumed to be primordial and we assume large scale correlations with the correlation length of 1Mpc. We use WMAP seven year foreground reduced polarization and temperature data to constrain pseudoscalar-photon mixing parameter. We look for different mass limits of the pseudoscalars and find $g_{\phi}B\le 1.6\times10^{-13} GeV^{-1} nG$ with ALPs of mass $10^{-10} eV$ and $g_{\phi}B\le3.4\times10^{-15} GeV^{-1} nG$ for ultra light ALPs of mass $10^{-15} eV$.
In this paper we conjecture the existence of a new "ground" state in quantum gravity, supplying a wave function for the inflationary Universe. We present its explicit perturbative expression in the connection representation, exhibiting the associated inner product. The state is chiral, dependent on the Immirzi parameter, and is the vacuum of a second quantized theory of graviton particles. We identify the physical and unphysical Hilbert sub-spaces. We then contrast this state with the perturbed Kodama state and explain why the latter can never describe gravitons in a de Sitter background. Instead, it describes self-dual excitations, which are composites of the positive frequencies of the right-handed graviton and the negative frequencies of the left-handed graviton. These excitations are shown to be unphysical under the inner product we have identified. Our rejection of the Kodama state has a moral tale to it: the semi-classical limit of quantum gravity can be the wrong path for making contact with reality (which may sometimes be perturbative but nonetheless fully quantum). Our results point towards a non-perturbative extension, and we present some conjectures on the nature of this hypothetical state.
Horava-Lifshitz gravity models contain higher order operators suppressed by a characteristic scale, which is required to be parametrically smaller than the Planck scale. We show that recomputed synchrotron radiation constraints from the Crab nebula suffice to exclude the possibility that this scale is of the same order of magnitude as the Lorentz breaking scale in the matter sector. This highlights the need for a mechanism that suppresses the percolation of Lorentz violation in the matter sector and is effective for higher order operators as well.
We analytically work out several effects which a violation of the Strong Equivalence Principle (SEP) induces on the orbital motion of a binary system constituted of self-gravitating bodies immersed in a constant and uniform external field. Whenever possible, we do not restrict to the small eccentricity limit. Moreover, we do not select any specific spatial orientation of the external polarizing field. We explicitly calculate the SEP-induced mean rates of change of all the osculating Keplerian orbital elements of the binary, the perturbation of the projection of the binary orbit onto the line-of-sight, the shift of the radial velocity, and the range and range-rate signatures and as well. We find that the ratio of the SEP precessions of the node and the inclination of the binary depends only on and the pericenter of the binary itself, being independent on both the magnitude and the orientation of the polarizing field, and on the semimajor axis, the eccentricity and the node of the binary. Our results, which do not depend on any particular SEP-violating theoretical scheme, can be applied to quite general astronomical and astrophysical scenarios. They can be used to better interpret present and future SEP experiments, especially when several theoretical SEP mechanisms may be involved, and to suitably design new dedicated tests.
There is evidence for a 130 GeV gamma-ray line at the Galactic Center in the Fermi Large Area Telescope data. Dark matter candidates that explain this feature should also annihilate to Standard Model particles, resulting in a continuous spectrum of photons. To study this continuum, we analyze the Fermi data down to 5 GeV, restricted to the inner 3 degrees of the Galaxy. We place a strong bound on the ratio of continuum photons to monochromatic line photons that is independent of uncertainties in the dark matter density profile. Neutralino dark matter is excluded by the derived constraints.
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Using kilometric arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes, intensity interferometry may increase the spatial resolution in optical astronomy by an order of magnitude, enabling images of rapidly rotating stars with structures in their circumstellar disks and winds, or mapping out patterns of nonradial pulsations across stellar surfaces. Intensity interferometry (pioneered by Hanbury Brown and Twiss) connects telescopes only electronically, and is practically insensitive to atmospheric turbulence and optical imperfections, permitting observations over long baselines and through large airmasses, also at short optical wavelengths. The required large telescopes with very fast detectors are becoming available as arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes, distributed over a few square km. Digital signal handling enables very many baselines to be synthesized, while stars are tracked with electronic time delays, thus synthesizing an optical interferometer in software. Simulated observations indicate limiting magnitudes around m(v)=8, reaching resolutions ~30 microarcsec in the violet. The signal-to-noise ratio favors high-temperature sources and emission-line structures, and is independent of the optical passband, be it a single spectral line or the broad spectral continuum. Intensity interferometry provides the modulus (but not phase) of any spatial frequency component of the source image; for this reason image reconstruction requires phase retrieval techniques, feasible if sufficient coverage of the interferometric (u,v)-plane is available. Experiments are in progress; test telescopes have been erected, and trials in connecting large Cherenkov telescopes have been carried out. This paper reviews this interferometric method in view of the new possibilities offered by arrays of air Cherenkov telescopes, and outlines observational programs that should become realistic already in the rather near future.
It is a firm prediction of the concordance Cold Dark Matter (CDM) cosmological model that galaxy clusters live at the intersection of large-scale structure filaments. The thread-like structure of this "cosmic web" has been traced by galaxy redshift surveys for decades. More recently the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM) residing in low redshift filaments has been observed in emission and absorption. However, a reliable direct detection of the underlying Dark Matter skeleton, which should contain more than half of all matter, remained elusive, as earlier candidates for such detections were either falsified or suffered from low signal-to-noise ratios and unphysical misalignements of dark and luminous matter. Here we report the detection of a dark matter filament connecting the two main components of the Abell 222/223 supercluster system from its weak gravitational lensing signal, both in a non-parametric mass reconstruction and in parametric model fits. This filament is coincident with an overdensity of galaxies and diffuse, soft X-ray emission and contributes mass comparable to that of an additional galaxy cluster to the total mass of the supercluster. Combined with X-ray observations, we place an upper limit of 0.09 on the hot gas fraction, the mass of X-ray emitting gas divided by the total mass, in the filament.
Massive black hole binaries at sub-parsec separations may display in their spectra anomalously small flux ratios between the MgII and CIV broad emission lines, i.e. F_MgII/F_CIV <~ 0.1, due to the erosion of the broad line region around the active, secondary black hole, by the tidal field of the primary. In Paper I by Montuori et al. (2011), we focussed on broad lines emitted by gas bound to the lighter accreting member of a binary when the binary is at the center of a hollow density region (the gap) inside a circum-binary disc. The main aim of this new study is at exploring the potential contribution to the broad line emission by the circum-binary disc and by gaseous streams flowing toward the black hole through the gap. We carry out a post-process analysis of data extracted from a SPH simulation of a circum-binary disc around a black hole binary. Our main result is that the MgII to CIV flux ratio can be reduced to ~ 0.1 within an interval of sub-pc binary separations of the order of a ~ (0.01-0.2)(f_Edd/0.1)^(1/2) pc corresponding to orbital periods of ~ (20-200) (f_Edd/0.1)^(3/4) years for a secondary BH mass in the range M_2 ~ 10^7-10^9 M_sun and a binary mass ratio of 0.3. At even closer separations this ratio returns to increase to values that are indistinguishable from the case of a single AGN (typically F_MgII/F_CIV ~ 0.3-0.4) because of the contribution to the MgII line from gas in the circum-binary disc.
A dark matter halo is commonly defined as a spherical overdensity of matter with respect to a reference density, such as the critical density or the mean matter density of the Universe. We show that such definitions lead to a spurious evolution in the halo's mass even if its physical density profile remains constant over time. This pseudo-evolution in mass is caused by the evolution of the reference density with redshift, and has little connection with the actual physical accretion of mass. We compute the pseudo-evolution of halos identified in a large N-body simulation from z=1 to 0, and show that it increases halo masses significantly across a wide range of halo masses and overdensities. Pseudo-evolution accounts for almost the entire mass evolution of halos with M200 smaller or equal 1E12 solar masses, while for larger halos it still accounts for about 50 percent of their overall mass evolution. We estimate the magnitude of the pseudo-evolution assuming that halo density profiles remain static in physical coordinates, and show that this simple model predicts the pseudo-evolution of simulated halos to a few percent accuracy. We discuss the impact of pseudo-evolution on the evolution of the halo mass function. We show that the non-evolution of the low-mass end of the halo mass function is the result of a fortuitous cancellation between pseudo-evolution and the absorption of small halos into larger hosts. We also show that the evolution of the low-mass end of the concentration-mass relation observed in simulations is almost entirely due to the pseudo-evolution of mass. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for the interpretation of the evolution of various scaling relations between the observable properties of galaxies and galaxy clusters, and their halo masses.
We characterize the near-IR sky background from 308 observations with the FIRE spectrograph at Magellan. A subset of 105 observations selected to minimize lunar and thermal effects gives a continuous, median spectrum from 0.83 to 2.5 microns which we present in electronic form. The data are used to characterize the broadband continuum emission between atmospheric OH features and correlate its properties with observing conditions such as lunar angle and time of night. We find that the moon contributes significantly to the inter-line continuum in the Y and J bands whereas the observed H band continuum is dominated by the blended Lorentzian wings of multiple OH line profiles even at R=6000. Lunar effects may be mitigated in Y and J through careful scheduling of observations, but the most ambitious near-IR programs will benefit from allocation during dark observing time if those observations are not limited by read noise. In Y and J our measured continuum exceeds space-based average estimates of the Zodiacal light, but it is not readily identified with known terrestrial foregrounds. If further measurements confirm such a fundamental background, it would impact requirements for OH-suppressed instruments operating in this regime.
We present the discovery of two giant planets orbiting stars in Praesepe (also known as the Beehive Cluster), the first known hot Jupiters in an open cluster. Pr0201b orbits a V=10.52 late F dwarf with a period of 4.4264 +/- 0.0070 days and has a minimum mass of 0.540 +/- 0.039 Mjup, and Pr0211b orbits a V=12.06 late G dwarf with a period of 2.1451 +/- 0.0012 days and has a minimum mass of 1.844 +/- 0.064 Mjup. Because they reside in a cluster, the ages of these planets are amongst the best-determined of any planet outside our own solar system. As we endeavor to learn more about the frequency and characteristics of planets, the environment in which most stars form -- open clusters like Praesepe -- may provide essential clues to this end. This discovery will allow, for the first time, a direct estimate of the short-period giant planet frequency in open clusters.
We study the formation of photospheric emission lines in O stars and show that the rectangular profiles, sometimes double peaked, that are observed for some stars are a direct consequence of rotation, and it is unnecessary to invoke an enhanced density structure in the equatorial regions. Emission lines, such as N IV 4058 and the N III 4634-4640-4642 multiplet, exhibit non-standard "limb darkening" laws. The lines can be in absorption for rays striking the center of the star and in emission for rays near the limb. Weak features in the flux spectrum do not necessarily indicate an intrinsically weak feature -- instead the feature can be weak because of cancellation between absorption in "core" rays and emission from rays near the limb. Rotation also modifies line profiles of wind diagnostics such as He II 4686 and Halpha and should not be neglected when inferring the actual stratification, level and nature of wind structures.
We report on a detailed study of the Fe K emission/absorption complex in the nearby, bright Seyfert 1 galaxy Mrk 509. The study is part of an extensive XMM-Newton monitoring consisting of 10 pointings (~60 ks each) about once every four days, and includes also a reanalysis of previous XMM-Newton and Chandra observations. Mrk 509 shows a clear (EW=58 eV) neutral Fe Kalpha emission line that can be decomposed into a narrow (sigma=0.027 keV) component (found in the Chandra HETG data) plus a resolved (sigma=0.22 keV) component. We find the first successful measurement of a linear correlation between the intensity of the resolved line component and the 3-10 keV flux variations on time-scales of years down to a few days. The Fe Kalpha reverberates the hard X-ray continuum without any measurable lag, suggesting that the region producing the resolved Fe Kalpha component is located within a few light days-week (r<~10^3 rg) from the Black Hole (BH). The lack of a redshifted wing in the line poses a lower limit of >40 rg for its distance from the BH. The Fe Kalpha could thus be emitted from the inner regions of the BLR, i.e. within the ~80 light days indicated by the Hbeta line measurements. In addition to these two neutral Fe Kalpha components, we confirm the detection of weak (EW~8-20 eV) ionised Fe K emission. This ionised line can be modeled with either a blend of two narrow FeXXV and FeXXVI emission lines or with a single relativistic line produced, in an ionised disc, down to a few rg from the BH. Finally, we observe a weakening/disappearing of the medium and high velocity high ionisation Fe K wind features found in previous XMM-Newton observations. This campaign has made possible the first reverberation measurement of the resolved component of the Fe Kalpha line, from which we can infer a location for the bulk of its emission at a distance of r~40-1000 rg from the BH.
We report on our search for genetically related asteroids amongst the near-Earth object (NEO) population - families of NEOs akin to the well known main belt asteroid families. We used the technique proposed by Fu et al. (2005) supplemented with a detailed analysis of the statistical significance of the detected clusters. Their significance was assessed by comparison to identical searches performed on 1,000 'fuzzy-real' NEO orbit distribution models that we developed for this purpose. The family-free 'fuzzy-real' NEO models maintain both the micro and macro distribution of 5 orbital elements (ignoring the mean anomaly). Three clusters were identified that contain four or more NEOs but none of them are statistically significant at \geq 3{\sigma}. The most statistically significant cluster at the \sim 2{\sigma} level contains 4 objects with H < 20 and all members have long observational arcs and concomitant good orbital elements. Despite the low statistical significance we performed several other tests on the cluster to determine if it is likely a genetic family. The tests included examining the cluster's taxonomy, size-frequency distribution, consistency with a family-forming event during tidal disruption in a close approach to Mars, and whether it is detectable in a proper element cluster search. None of these tests exclude the possibility that the cluster is a family but neither do they confirm the hypothesis. We conclude that we have not identified any NEO families.
We develop a perturbative approach to redshift space distortions (RSD) using the phase space distribution function approach and apply it to the dark matter redshift space power spectrum and its moments. RSD can be written as a sum over density weighted velocity moments correlators, with the lowest order being density, momentum density and stress energy density. We use standard and extended perturbation theory (PT) to determine their auto and cross correlators, comparing them to N-body simulations. We show which of the terms can be modeled well with the standard PT and which need additional terms that include higher order corrections which cannot be modeled in PT. Most of these additional terms are related to the small scale velocity dispersion effects, the so called finger of god (FoG) effects, which affect some, but not all, of the terms in this expansion, and which can be approximately modeled using a simple physically motivated ansatz such as the halo model. We point out that there are several velocity dispersions that enter into the detailed RSD analysis with very different amplitudes, which can be approximately predicted by the halo model. In contrast to previous models our approach systematically includes all of the terms at a given order in PT and provides a physical interpretation for the small scale dispersion values. We investigate RSD power spectrum as a function of \mu, the cosine of the angle between the Fourier mode and line of sight, focusing on the lowest order powers of \mu and multipole moments which dominate the observable RSD power spectrum. Overall we find considerable success in modeling many, but not all, of the terms in this expansion.
If the radio background is coming from cosmological sources, there should be some amount of clustering due to the large scale structure in the universe. Simple models for the expected clustering combined with the recent measurement by ARCADE-2 of the mean extragalactic temperature lead to predicted clustering levels that are substantially above upper limits from searches for anisotropy on arcminute scales using ATCA and the VLA. The rms temperature variations in the cosmic radio background appear to be more than a factor of 10 smaller (in temperature) than the fluctuations in the cosmic infrared background. It is therefore extremely unlikely that this background comes from galaxies, galaxy clusters, or any sources that trace dark matter halos at z<5, unless typical sources are smooth on arcminute scales, requiring typical sizes of several Mpc.
Through a series of observations with the Australia Telescope Compact Array we have monitored the variability of ground-state hydroxyl maser emission from G12.889+0.489 in all four Stokes polarisation products. These observations were motivated by the known periodicity in the associated 6.7-GHz methanol maser emission. A total of 27 epochs of observations were made over 16 months. No emission was seen from either the 1612 or 1720 MHz satellite line transitions (to a typical five sigma upper limit of 0.2 Jy). The peak flux densities of the 1665 and 1667 MHz emission were observed to vary at a level of ~20% (with the exception of one epoch which dropped by <40%). There was no distinct flaring activity at any epoch, but there was a weak indication of periodic variability, with a period and phase of minimum emission similar to that of methanol. There is no significant variation in the polarised properties of the hydroxyl, with Stokes Q and U flux densities varying in accord with the Stokes I intensity (linear polarisation, P, varying by <20%) and the right and left circularly polarised components varying by <33% at 1665-MHz and <38% at 1667-MHz. These observations are the first monitoring observations of the hydroxyl maser emission from G12.889+0.489.
In this paper we study the feathering substructures along spiral arms by considering the perturbational gas response to a spiral shock. Feathers are density fluctuations that jut out from the spiral arm to the inter-arm region at pitch angles given by the quantum numbers of the doubly-periodic structure. In a localized asymptotic approximation, related to the shearing sheet except that the inhomogeneities occur in space rather than in time, we derive the linearized perturbation equations for a razor-thin disk with turbulent interstellar gas, frozen-in magnetic field, and gaseous self-gravity. Apart from the modal quantum numbers, the individual normal modes of the system depend on seven dimensionless quantities that characterize the underlying time-independent axisymmetric state plus its steady, nonlinear, two-armed spiral-shock (TASS) response to a hypothesized background density-wave supported by the disk stars of the galaxy. We show that some of these normal modes have positive growth rates. Their over-density contours in the post-shock region are very reminiscent of observed feathering substructures in full magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The feathering substructures are parasitic instabilities intrinsic to the system; thus, their study not only provides potential diagnostics for important parameters that characterize the interstellar medium of external galaxies, but also yields a deeper understanding of the basic mechanism that drives the formation of the giant molecular clouds (GMCs) and the OB stars that outline observed grand-design spirals.
A mapping survey towards 51 Planck cold clumps projected on Orion complex was performed with J=1-0 lines of $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO at the 13.7 m telescope of Purple Mountain Observatory. The mean column densities of the Planck gas clumps range from 0.5 to 9.5$\times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$, with an average value of (2.9$\pm$1.9)$\times10^{21}$ cm$^{-2}$. While the mean excitation temperatures of these clumps range from 7.4 to 21.1 K, with an average value of 12.1$\pm$3.0 K. The averaged three-dimensional velocity dispersion $\sigma_{3D}$ in these molecular clumps is 0.66$\pm$0.24 km s$^{-1}$. Most of the clumps have $\sigma_{NT}$ larger than or comparable with $\sigma_{Therm}$. The H$_{2}$ column density of the molecular clumps calculated from molecular lines correlates with the aperture flux at 857 GHz of the dust emission. Through analyzing the distributions of the physical parameters, we suggest turbulent flows can shape the clump structure and dominate their density distribution in large scale, but not affect in small scale due to the local fluctuations. Eighty two dense cores are identified in the molecular clumps. The dense cores have an averaged radius and LTE mass of 0.34$\pm$0.14 pc and 38$_{-30}^{+5}$ M$_{\sun}$, respectively. And structures of low column density cores are more affected by turbulence, while those of high column density cores are more concerned by other factors, especially by gravity. The correlation of the velocity dispersion versus core size is very weak for the dense cores. The dense cores are found most likely gravitationally bounded rather than pressure confined. The relationship between $M_{vir}$ and $M_{LTE}$ can be well fitted with a power law. The core mass function here is much more flatten than the stellar initial mass function. The lognormal behavior of the core mass distribution is most likely determined by the internal turbulence.
Near the minor axis of the Galactic bulge, at latitudes b < -5 degrees, the red giant clump stars are split into two components along the line of sight. We investigate this split using the three fields from the ARGOS survey that lie on the minor axis at (l,b) = (0,-5), (0,-7.5), (0,-10) degrees. The separation is evident for stars with [Fe/H] > -0.5 in the two higher-latitude fields, but not in the field at b = -5 degrees. Stars with [Fe/H] < -0.5 do not show the split. We compare the spatial distribution and kinematics of the clump stars with predictions from an evolutionary N-body model of a bulge that grew from a disk via bar-related instabilities. The density distribution of the peanut-shaped model is depressed near its minor axis. This produces a bimodal distribution of stars along the line of sight through the bulge near its minor axis, very much as seen in our observations. The observed and modelled kinematics of the two groups of stars are also similar. We conclude that the split red clump of the bulge is probably a generic feature of boxy/peanut bulges that grew from disks, and that the disk from which the bulge grew had relatively few stars with [Fe/H] < -0.5
A survey of the Milky Way disk and the Magellanic System at the wavelengths of the 21-cm atomic hydrogen (HI) line and three 18-cm lines of the OH molecule will be carried out with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. The survey will study the distribution of HI emission and absorption with unprecedented angular and velocity resolution, as well as molecular line thermal emission, absorption, and maser lines. The area to be covered includes the Galactic plane (|b|< 10deg) at all declinations south of delta = +40deg, spanning longitudes 167deg through 360deg to 79deg at b=0deg, plus the entire area of the Magellanic Stream and Clouds, a total of 13,020 square degrees. The brightness temperature sensitivity will be very good, typically sigma_T ~ 1 K at resolution 30arcsec and 1 km/s. The survey has a wide spectrum of scientific goals, from studies of galaxy evolution to star formation, with particular contributions to understanding stellar wind kinematics, the thermal phases of the interstellar medium, the interaction between gas in the disk and halo, and the dynamical and thermal states of gas at various positions along the Magellanic Stream.
We develop a numerical statistical method to study linear cosmological fluctuations in inflationary scenarios with multiple fields, and apply it to an ensemble of six-field inflection point models in string theory. The latter are concrete microphysical realizations of quasi-single-field inflation, in which scalar masses are of order the Hubble parameter and an adiabatic limit is reached before the end of inflation. We find that slow-roll violations, bending trajectories and 'many-field' effects are commonplace in realizations yielding more than 60 e-folds of inflation, although models in which these effects are substantial are in tension with observational constraints on the tilt of the scalar power spectrum.
Two models of anomalous diffusion of cosmic ray in the leaky-box approximation are compared: one of them is based on the decoupled time-space L\'evy flights and the other on fractional walks with a finite free motion velocity. Distributions of first passage time and paths are computed and evolution of diffusion packets to equilibrium state is shown. Calculations demonstrate essential difference between the two models: the coupled scheme gives more realistic results.
Since the discovery by Hale in the early 1900s that sunspots harbor strong magnetic field, magnetism has become increasingly important in our understanding of processes on the Sun and in the Heliosphere. Many current and planned instruments are capable of diagnosing magnetic field in the solar atmosphere. Photospheric magnetometry is now well-established. However, many challenges remain. For instance, the diagnosis of magnetic field in the chromosphere and corona is difficult, and interpretation of measurements is harder still. As a result only very few measurements have been made so far, yet it is clear that if we are to understand the outer solar atmosphere we must study the magnetic field. I will review the history of solar magnetic field measurements, describe and discuss the three types of magnetometry, and close with an outlook on the future.
We demonstrate that the space formed by the star-formation rate (SFR), gas-phase metallicity (Z), and stellar mass (M), can be reduced to a plane, as first proposed by Lara-Lopez et al. We study three different approaches to find the best representation of this 3D space, using a principal component analysis, a regression fit, and binning of the data. The PCA shows that this 3D space can be adequately represented in only 2 dimensions, i.e., a plane. We find that the plane that minimises the chi^2 for all variables, and hence provides the best representation of the data, corresponds to a regression fit to the stellar mass as a function of SFR and $Z$, M=f(Z,SFR). We find that the distribution resulting from the median values in bins for our data gives the highest chi^2. We also show that the empirical calibrations to the oxygen abundance used to derive the Fundamental Metallicity Relation (Nagao et al.) have important limitations, which contribute to the apparent inconsistencies. The main problem is that these empirical calibrations do not consider the ionization degree of the gas. Furthermore, the use of the N2 index to estimate oxygen abundances cannot be applied for ~8.8 because of the saturation of the [NII]6584 line in the high-metallicity regime. Finally we provide an update of the Fundamental Plane derived by Lara-Lopez et al.
The Chromosphere and Prominence Magnetometer (ChroMag) is conceived with the goal of quantifying the intertwined dynamics and magnetism of the solar chromosphere and in prominences through imaging spectro-polarimetry of the full solar disk. The picture of chromospheric magnetism and dynamics is rapidly developing, and a pressing need exists for breakthrough observations of chromospheric vector magnetic field measurements at the true lower boundary of the heliospheric system. ChroMag will provide measurements that will enable scientists to study and better understand the energetics of the solar atmosphere, how prominences are formed, how energy is stored in the magnetic field structure of the atmosphere and how it is released during space weather events like flares and coronal mass ejections. An integral part of the ChroMag program is a commitment to develop and provide community access to the "inversion" tools necessary for the difficult interpretation of the measurements and derive the magneto-hydrodynamic parameters of the plasma. Measurements of an instrument like ChroMag provide critical physical context for the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) as well as ground-based observatories such as the future Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST).
We present a deep [OII] emission line survey of faint galaxies (22.5<KAB<24) in the Chandra Deep Field South and the FIRES field. With these data we measure the star formation rate (SFR) in galaxies in the stellar mass range 8.85 < log(M*/Msun) < 9.5 at 0.62<z<0.885, to a limit of SFR = 0.1Msun/yr. The presence of a massive cluster (MS1054-03) in the FIRES field, and of significant large scale structure in the CDFS field, allows us to study the environmental dependence of SFRs amongst this population of low-mass galaxies. Comparing our results with more massive galaxies at this epoch, with our previous survey (ROLES) at the higher redshift z=1, and with SDSS Stripe 82 data, we find no significant evolution of the stellar mass function of star-forming galaxies between z=0 and z=1, and no evidence that its shape depends on environment. The correlation between specific star formation rate (sSFR) and stellar mass at z=0.75 has a power-law slope of beta=-0.2, with evidence for a steeper relation at the lowest masses. The normalization of this correlation lies as expected between that corresponding to z=1 and the present day. The global SFR density is consistent with an evolution of the form (1+z)^2 over 0<z<1, with no evidence for a dependence on stellar mass. The sSFR of these star-forming galaxies at z=0.75 does not depend upon the density of their local environment. Considering just high-density environments, the low-mass end of the sSFR-M* relation in our data is steeper than that in Stripe 82 at z=0, and shallower than that measured by ROLES at z=1. Evolution of low-mass galaxies in dense environments appears to be more rapid than in the general field.
The Visible Spectro-Polarimeter (ViSP) is one of the first light instruments for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST). It is an echelle spectrograph designed to measure three different regions of the solar spectrum in three separate focal planes simultaneously between 380 and 900 nm. It will use the polarimetric capabilities of the ATST to measure the full Stokes parameters across the line profiles. By measuring the polarization in magnetically sensitive spectral lines the magnetic field vector as a function of height in the solar atmosphere can be obtained, along with the associated variation of the thermodynamic properties. The ViSP will have a spatial resolution of 0.04 arcsec over a 2 arcmin field of view (at 600 nm). The minimum spectral resolving power for all the focal planes is 180,000. The spectrograph supports up to 4 diffraction gratings and is fully automated to allow for rapid reconfiguration.
The COSMO K-Coronagraph is scheduled to replace the aging Mk4 K-Coronameter at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in 2013. We present briefly the science objectives and derived requirements, and the optical design. We single out two topics for more in-depth discussion: stray light, and performance of the camera and polarimeter.
The Adaptive Optics Lucky Imager (AOLI) is a new instrument under development to demonstrate near diffraction limited imaging in the visible on large ground-based telescopes. We present the adaptive optics system being designed for the instrument comprising a large stroke deformable mirror, fixed component non-linear curvature wavefront sensor and photon-counting EMCCD detectors. We describe the optical design of the wavefront sensor where two photoncounting CCDs provide a total of four reference images. Simulations of the optical characteristics of the system are discussed, with their relevance to low and high order AO systems. The development and optimisation of high-speed wavefront reconstruction algorithms are presented. Finally we discuss the results of simulations to demonstrate the sensitivity of the system.
We announce the discovery of a low-mass planet orbiting the super metal-rich K0V star HD77338 as part of our on-going Calan-Hertfordshire Extrasolar Planet Search. The best fit planet solution has an orbital period of 5.7361\pm0.0015 days and with a radial velocity semi-amplitude of only 5.96\pm1.74 m/s, we find a minimum mass of 15.9+4.7-5.3 Me. The best fit eccentricity from this solution is 0.09+0.25-0.09, and we find agreement for this data set using a Bayesian analysis and a periodogram analysis. We measure a metallicity for the star of +0.35\pm0.06 dex, whereas another recent work (Trevisan et al. 2011) finds +0.47\pm0.05 dex. Thus HD77338b is one of the most metal-rich planet host stars known and the most metal-rich star hosting a sub-Neptune mass planet. We searched for a transit signature of HD77338b but none was detected. We also highlight an emerging trend where metallicity and mass seem to correlate at very low masses, a discovery that would be in agreement with the core accretion model of planet formation. The trend appears to show that for Neptune-mass planets and below, higher masses are preferred when the host star is more metal-rich. Also a lower boundary is apparent in the super metal-rich regime where there are no very low-mass planets yet discovered in comparison to the sub-solar metallicity regime. A Monte Carlo analysis shows that this, low-mass planet desert, is statistically significant with the current sample of 36 planets at around the 4.5\sigma\ level. In addition, results from Kepler strengthen the claim for this paucity of the lowest-mass planets in super metal-rich systems. Finally, this discovery adds to the growing population of low-mass planets around low-mass and metal-rich stars and shows that very low-mass planets can now be discovered with a relatively small number of data points using stable instrumentation.
Context: Recent asteroseismic observations have led to the determination of rotational frequency splittings for l=1 mixed modes in red giants. Aims: We investigate how these observed splittings can constrain the modelling of the physical processes transporting angular momentum in stellar interiors. Methods: We first compare models including a comprehensive treatment of shellular rotation only, with the rotational splittings observed for the red giant KIC 8366239. We then study how these asteroseismic constraints can give us information about the efficiency of an additional mechanism for the internal transport of angular momentum. This is done by computing rotating models of KIC 8366239 that include a constant viscosity corresponding to this physical process, in addition to the treatment of shellular rotation. Results: We find that models of red giant stars including shellular rotation only predict steep rotation profiles, which are incompatible with the measurements of rotational splittings in the red giant KIC 8366239. Meridional circulation and shear mixing alone are found to produce an insufficient internal coupling so that an additional mechanism for the internal transport of angular momentum is needed during the post-main sequence evolution. We show that the viscosity nu_add corresponding to this mechanism is strongly constrained to be nu_add=3x10^4 cm^2 s^-1 thanks to the observed ratio of the splittings for modes in the wings to those at the centre of the dipole forests. Such a value of viscosity may suggest that the same unknown physical process is at work during the main sequence and the post-main sequence evolution.
Recent N-Body simulations are in favor of the presence of a co-rotating Dark Disk that might contribute significantly (10%-50%) to the local Dark Matter density. Such substructure could have dramatic effect on directional detection. Indeed, in the case of a null lag velocity, one expects an isotropic WIMP velocity distribution arising from the Dark Disk contribution, which might weaken the strong angular signature expected in directional detection. For a wide range of Dark Disk parameters, we evaluate in this Letter the effect of such dark component on the discovery potential of upcoming directional detectors. As a conclusion of our study, using only the angular distribution of nuclear recoils, we show that Dark Disk models as suggested by recent N-Body simulations will not affect significantly the Dark Matter reach of directional detection, even in extreme configurations.
Directional detection is a promising Dark Matter search strategy. Taking advantage on the rotation of the Solar system around the galactic center through the Dark Matter halo, it allows to show a direction dependence of WIMP events that may be a powerful tool to identify genuine WIMP events as such. Directional detection strategy requires the simultaneous measurement of the energy and the 3D track of low energy recoils, which is a common challenge for all current projects of directional detectors.
We consider the possibility that the primordial curvature perturbation was generated through the curvaton mechanism from a scalar field with an electric charge, or precisely the Standard Model U(1) weak hypercharge. This links the dynamics of the very early universe concretely to the Standard Model of particle physics, and because the coupling strength is known, it reduces the number of free parameters in the curvaton model. We show that the model is compatible with CMB observations for Hubble rate $H_* > 10^8 GeV$ and curvaton mass $m > 10^{-2}H_*$. Charge fluctuations generated during inflation are screened by electron-positron pairs, and therefore do not violate observational constraints. The interaction with the gauge field leads to interesting dynamics after inflation, including resonant preheating, with potentially highly non-trivial observational consequences, which should be studied more carefully using numerical field theory simulations.
Stationary solutions of spherically symmetric accretion processes have been subjected to a time-dependent radial perturbation, whose equation includes nonlinearity to any arbitrary order. Regardless of the order of nonlinearity, the equation of the perturbation bears a form that is remarkably similar to the metric equation of an analogue acoustic black hole. Casting the perturbation as a standing wave and maintaining nonlinearity in it up to the second order, brings out the time-dependence of the perturbation in the form of a Lienard system. A dynamical systems analysis of this Lienard system reveals a saddle point in real time, with the implication that instabilities will develop in the accreting system when the perturbation is extended into the nonlinear regime. The instability of initial subsonic states may also adversely affect the temporal evolution of the flow towards a final stable transonic state.
We investigate the potential to improve optical tracers of cluster mass by exploiting measurements of the magnitude gap, m12, defined as the difference between the r-band absolute magnitude of the two brightest cluster members. We find that in a mock sample of galaxy groups and clusters constructed from the Bolshoi simulation, the scatter about the mass-richness relation decreases by 15-20% when magnitude gap information is included. A similar trend is evident in a volume-limited, spectroscopic sample of galaxy groups observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We find that SDSS groups with small magnitude gaps are richer than large-gap groups at fixed values of the one-dimensional velocity dispersion among group members sigma_v, which we use as a mass proxy. We demonstrate explicitly that m12 contains information about cluster mass that supplements the information provided by group richness and the luminosity of the brightest cluster galaxy, L_bcg. In so doing, we show that the luminosities of the members of a group with richness N are inconsistent with the distribution of luminosities that results from N random draws from the global galaxy luminosity function. As the cosmological constraining power of galaxy clusters is limited by the precision in cluster mass determination, our findings suggest a new way to improve the cosmological constraints derived from galaxy clusters.
The functional form of the nuclear symmetry energy has only been determined in a very narrow range of densities. Uncertainties concern both the low as well as the high density behaviour of this function. In this work different shapes of the symmetry energy, consistent with the experimental data, were introduced and their consequences for the crustal properties of neutron stars are presented. The resulting models are in agreement with astrophysical observations.
In the framework of the recently proposed models of massive gravity, defined with respect to a de Sitter reference metric, we obtain new homogeneous and isotropic solutions for arbitrary cosmological matter and arbitrary spatial curvature. These solutions can be classified into three branches. In the first two, the massive gravity terms behave like a cosmological constant. In the third branch, the massive gravity effects can be described by a time evolving effective fluid with rather remarkable features, including the property to behave as a cosmological constant at late time.
We present a fast likelihood method for including event-level neutrino telescope data in parameter explorations of theories for new physics, and announce its public release as part of DarkSUSY 5.0.6. Our construction includes both angular and spectral information about neutrino events, as well as their total number. We also present a corresponding measure for simple model exclusion, which can be used for single models without reference to the rest of a parameter space. We perform a number of supersymmetric parameter scans with IceCube data to illustrate the utility of the method: example global fits and a signal recovery in the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model (CMSSM), and a model exclusion exercise in a 7-parameter phenomenological version of the MSSM. The final IceCube detector configuration will probe almost the entire focus-point region of the CMSSM, as well as a number of MSSM-7 models that will not otherwise be accessible to e.g. direct detection. Our method accurately recovers the mock signal, and provides tight constraints on model parameters and derived quantities. We show that the inclusion of spectral information significantly improves the accuracy of the recovery, providing motivation for its use in future IceCube analyses.
We construct a radiative inverse seesaw model with local B-L symmetry, and investigate the flavor structure of the lepton sector and the fermionic Dark Matter. Neutrino masses are radiatively generated through a kind of inverse seesaw framework. The PMNS matrix is derived from each mixing matrix of the neutrino and charged lepton sector with large Dirac CP phase. We show that the annihilation processes via the interactions with Higgses which are independent on the lepton flavor violation, have to be dominant in order to satisfy the observed relic abundance by WMAP. The new interactions with Higgses allow us to be consistent with the direct detection result reported by XENON100, and it is possible to verify the model by the exposure of XENON100 (2012).
The properties of the ergosphere and energy extraction by Penrose process in a rotating non-Kerr black hole are investigated. It is shown that the ergosphere is sensitive to the deformation parameter $\epsilon$ and the shape of the ergosphere becomes thick with increase of the parameter $\epsilon$. It is of interest to note that, comparing with the Kerr black hole, the deformation parameter $\epsilon$ can enhance the maximum efficiency of the energy extraction process greatly. Especially, for the case of $a>M$, the non-Kerr metric describes a superspinning compact object and the maximum efficiency can exceed 60%, while it is only 20.7% for the extremal Kerr black hole.
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We perform spherically-symmetric general-relativistic simulations of core collapse and the postbounce preexplosion phase in 32 presupernova stellar models of solar metallicity with zero-age-main-sequence masses of 12 M_{sun} to 120 M_{sun}. Using energy-dependent three-species neutrino transport in the two-moment approximation with an analytic closure, we show that the emitted neutrino luminosities and spectra follow very systematic trends that are correlated with the compactness (~M/R) of the progenitor star's inner regions via the accretion rate in the preexplosion phase. We find that these qualitative trends depend only weakly on the nuclear equation of state, but quantitative observational statements will require independent constraints on the equation of state and the rotation rate of the core as well as a more complete understanding of neutrino oscillations. We investigate the simulated response of water Cherenkov detectors to the electron antineutrino fluxes from our models and find that the large statistics of a galactic core collapse event may allow robust conclusions on the inner structure of the progenitor star.
Using multiple tracers of large-scale structure allows to evade the limitations imposed by sampling variance for some parameters of interest in cosmology. We demonstrate the optimal way of carrying out a multitracer analysis in a galaxy redshift survey by considering the principal components of the shot noise matrix from two-point clustering statistics. We show how to construct two tracers that maximize the benefits of sampling variance and shot noise cancellation using optimal weights. On the basis of high-resolution N-body simulations of dark matter halos we apply this technique to the analysis of redshift-space distortions and demonstrate how constraints on the growth rate of structure formation can be substantially improved. The primary limitation are nonlinear effects, which cause significant biases in the method already at scales of k<0.1h/Mpc, suggesting the need to develop nonlinear models of redshift-space distortions in order to extract the maximum information from future redshift surveys.
Cosmic microwave background polarization encodes information not only on the early universe but also dark energy, neutrino mass, and gravity in the late universe through CMB lensing. Ground based surveys such as ACTpol, PolarBear, SPTpol significantly complement cosmological constraints from the Planck satellite, strengthening the CMB dark energy figure of merit and neutrino mass constraints by factors of 3-4. This changes the dark energy probe landscape. We evaluate the state of knowledge in 2017 from ongoing experiments including dark energy surveys (supernovae, weak lensing, galaxy clustering), fitting for dynamical dark energy, neutrino mass, and a modified gravitational growth index. Adding a modest strong lensing time delay survey improves those dark energy constraints by a further 32%, and an enhanced low redshift supernova program improves them by 26%.
Z sources are bright neutron-star X-ray binaries, accreting at around the Eddington limit. We analyze the 68 RXTE observations (270 ks) of Sco-like Z source GX 17+2 made between 1999 October 3-12, covering a complete Z track. We create and fit color-resolved spectra with a model consisting of a thermal multicolor disk, a single-temperature-blackbody boundary layer and a weak Comptonized component. We find that, similar to what was observed for XTE J1701-462 in its Sco-like Z phase, the branches of GX 17+2 can be explained by three processes operating at a constant accretion rate Mdot into the disk: increase of Comptonization up the horizontal branch, transition from a standard thin disk to a slim disk up the normal branch, and temporary fast decrease of the inner disk radius up the flaring branch. We also model the Comptonization in an empirically self-consistent way, with its seed photons tied to the thermal disk component and corrected for to recover the pre-Comptonized thermal disk emission. This allows us to show a constant Mdot along the entire Z track based on the thermal disk component. We also measure the upper kHz QPO frequency and find it to depend on the apparent inner disk radius R_in (prior to Compton scattering) approximately as frequency \propto R_in^(-3/2), supporting the idenfitication of it as the Keplerian frequency at R_in. The horizontal branch oscillation is probably related to the dynamics in the inner disk as well, as both its frequency and R_in vary significantly on the horizontal branch but become relatively constant on the normal branch.
It is strongly believed that Andromeda's double nucleus signals a disk of stars revolving around its central super-massive black hole on eccentric Keplerian orbits with nearly aligned apsides. A self-consistent stellar dynamical origin for such apparently long-lived alignment has so far been lacking, with indications that cluster self-gravity is capable of sustaining such lopsided configurations if and when stimulated by external perturbations. Here, we present results of N-body simulations which show unstable counter-rotating stellar clusters around super-massive black holes saturating into uniformly precessing lopsided nuclei. The double nucleus in our featured experiment decomposes naturally into a thick eccentric disk of apo-apse aligned stars which is embedded in a lighter triaxial cluster. The eccentric disk reproduces key features of Keplerian disk models of Andromeda's double nucleus; the triaxial cluster has a distinctive kinematic signature which is evident in HST observations of Andromeda's double nucleus, and has been difficult to reproduce with Keplerian disks alone. Our simulations demonstrate how the combination of eccentric disk and triaxial cluster arises naturally when a star cluster accreted over a pre-existing and counter-rotating disk of stars, drives disk and cluster into a mutually destabilizing dance. Such accretion events are inherent to standard galaxy formation scenarios. They are here shown to double stellar black hole nuclei as they feed them.
Recent studies have shown that the cross-correlation coefficient between galaxies and dark matter is very close to unity on scales outside a few virial radii of galaxy halos, independent of the details of how galaxies populate dark matter halos. This finding makes it possible to determine the dark matter clustering from measurements of galaxy-galaxy weak lensing and galaxy clustering. We present new cosmological parameter constraints based on large-scale measurements of spectroscopic galaxy samples from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 (DR7). We generalise the approach of Baldauf et al. (2010) to remove small scale information (below 2 and 4 Mpc/h for lensing and clustering measurements, respectively), where the cross-correlation coefficient differs from unity. We derive constraints for three galaxy samples covering 7131 sq. deg., containing 69150, 62150, and 35088 galaxies with mean redshifts of 0.11, 0.28, and 0.40. We clearly detect scale-dependent galaxy bias for the more luminous galaxy samples, at a level consistent with theoretical expectations. When we vary both \sigma_8 and \Omega_m with other cosmological parameters fixed (and marginalise over non-linear galaxy bias), the best-constrained quantity is \sigma_8 (\Omega_m/0.25)^{0.57}=0.80 +/- 0.05 (1-sigma, stat. + sys.), where statistical and systematic errors have comparable contributions. These strong constraints on the dark matter clustering suggest that this method is competitive with cosmic shear in current data, while having very complementary and in some ways less serious systematics. We therefore expect that this method will play a prominent role in future weak lensing surveys. When we combine these data with WMAP7 CMB data, constraints on \sigma_8, \Omega_m, H_0, w_{de} and \sum m_{\nu} become 30--80 per cent tighter than with CMB data alone, since our data break several parameter degeneracies.
We examine a spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) universe filled with interacting dark matter and a modified holographic Ricci dark energy (MHRDE). The interaction term is selected as a significant rational function of the total energy density and its first derivative homogeneous of degree. We show that the effective one-fluid obeys the equation of state of a relaxed Chaplygin gas, then the universe turns to be dominated by pressureless dark matter at early times and undergoes an accelerated expansion in the far future driven by a strong negative pressure. Performing a $\chi^{2}$-statistical analysis with the observational Hubble data and the Union2 compilation of SNe Ia, we place some constraints on cosmological parameters analyzing the feasibleness of the modified holographic Ricci ansatz. It turned that MHRDE gets the accelerated expansion faster than the $\Lambda$CDM model. Finally, a new model with a component that does not exchange energy with the interacting dark sector is presented for studying bounds on the dark energy at early times.
The compression or expansion of a magnetic field that is initially potential is considered. It was recently suggested by Janse & Low [2009, ApJ, 690, 1089] that, following the volumetric deformation, the relevant lowest energy state for the magnetic field is another potential magnetic field that in general contains tangential discontinuities (current sheets). Here we examine this scenario directly using a numerical relaxation method that exactly preserves the topology of the magnetic field. It is found that of the magnetic fields discussed by Janse & Low, only those containing magnetic null points develop current singularities during an ideal relaxation, while the magnetic fields without null points relax toward smooth force-free equilibria with finite non-zero current.
We present Chandra ACIS-I X-ray observations of 0FGL J1311.9-3419 and 0FGL J1653.4-0200, the two brightest high Galactic latitude (|b|>10 deg) gamma-ray sources from the 3 month Fermi-LAT bright source list that are still unidentified. Both were also detected previously by EGRET, and despite dedicated multi-wavelength follow-up, they are still not associated with established classes of gamma-ray emitters like pulsars or radio-loud active galactic nuclei. X-ray sources found in the ACIS-I fields of view are catalogued, and their basic properties are determined. These are discussed as candidate counterparts to 0FGL J1311.9-3419 and 0FGL J1653.4-0200, with particular emphasis on the brightest of the 9 and 13 Chandra sources detected within their respective Fermi-LAT 95% confidence regions. Further follow-up studies, including optical photometric and spectroscopic observations are necessary to identify these X-ray candidate counterparts in order to ultimately reveal the nature of these enigmatic gamma-ray objects.
During an [O III] survey for planetary nebulae, we identified a region in Sagittarius containing several candidate Supernova Remnants and obtained deep optical narrow-band images and spectra to explore their nature. The images of the unstudied area have been obtained in the light of Halpha+[N II], [S II] and [O III]. The resulting mosaic covers an area of 1.4x1.0 deg^2 where filamentary and diffuse emission was discovered, suggesting the existence of more than one supernova remnants (SNRs) in the area. Deep long slit spectra were also taken of eight different regions. Both the flux calibrated images and the spectra show that the emission from the filamentary structures originates from shock-heated gas, while the photo-ionization mechanism is responsible for the diffuse emission. Part of the optical emission is found to be correlated with the radio at 4850 MHz suggesting their association, while the WISE infrared emission found in the area at 12 and 22 micron marginally correlates with the optical. The presence of the [O III] emission line in one of the candidate SNRs suggests shock velocities into the interstellar "clouds" between 120 and 200 km/s, while the absence in the other indicates slower shock velocities. For all candidate remnants the [S II] 6716/6731 ratio indicates electron densities below 240 cm^{-3}, while the Halpha emission has been measured to be between 0.6 to 41x10^{-17} erg/s/cm^2/arcsec^2. The existence of eight pulsars within 1.5deg away from the center of the candidate SNRs also supports the scenario of many SNRs in the area as well as that the detected optical emission could be part of a number of supernovae explosions.
Stars form with gaseous and dusty circumstellar envelopes, which rapidly settle into disks that eventually give rise to planetary systems. Understanding the process by which these disks evolve is paramount in developing an accurate theory of planet formation that can account for the variety of planetary systems discovered so far. The formation of Earth-like planets through collisional accumulation of rocky objects within a disk has mainly been explored in theoretical and computational work in which post-collision ejecta evolution is typically ignored, although recent work has considered the fate of such material. Here we report observations of a young, Sun-like star (TYC 8241 2652 1) where infrared flux from post-collisional ejecta has decreased drastically, by a factor of about 30, over a period of less than two years. The star seems to have gone from hosting substantial quantities of dusty ejecta, in a region analogous to where the rocky planets orbit in the Solar System, to retaining at most a meagre amount of cooler dust. Such a phase of rapid ejecta evolution has not been previously predicted or observed, and no currently available physical model satisfactorily explains the observations.
We investigate the properties of acoustic events (AEs), defined as spatially
concentrated and short duration energy flux, in the quiet sun using
observations of a 2D field of view (FOV) with high spatial and temporal
resolution provided by the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) onboard
\textit{Hinode}. Line profiles of Fe \textsc{i} 557.6 nm were recorded by the
Narrow band Filter Imager (NFI) on a $82" \times 82"$ FOV during 75 min with a
time step of 28.75 s and 0.08$"$ pixel size. Vertical velocities were computed
at three atmospheric levels (80, 130 and 180 km) using the bisector technique
allowing the determination of energy flux in the range 3-10 mHz using two
complementary methods (Hilbert transform and Fourier power spectra). Horizontal
velocities were computed using local correlation tracking (LCT) of continuum
intensities providing divergences.
The net energy flux is upward. In the range 3-10 mHz, a full FOV space and
time averaged flux of 2700 W m$^{-2}$ (lower layer 80-130 km) and 2000 W
m$^{-2}$ (upper layer 130-180 km) is concentrated in less than 1% of the solar
surface in the form of narrow (0.3$"$) AE. Their total duration (including rise
and decay) is of the order of $10^{3}$ s. Inside each AE, the mean flux is $1.6
10^{5}$ W m$^{-2}$ (lower layer) and $1.2 10^{5}$ W m$^{-2}$ (upper). Each
event carries an average energy (flux integrated over space and time) of $2.5
10^{19}$ J (lower layer) to $1.9 10^{19}$ J (upper). More than $10^{6}$ events
could exist permanently on the Sun, with a birth and decay rate of 3500
s$^{-1}$. Most events occur in intergranular lanes, downward velocity regions,
and areas of converging motions.
We present combined VLA and GBT images of \ammonia\ inversion transitions (1,1) and (2,2) toward OMC2 and OMC3. We focus on the relatively quiescent Orion cores, which are away from the Trapezium cluster and have no sign of massive protostars nor evolved star formation, such as IRAS source, water maser, and methanol maser. The 5\arcsec\ angular resolution and $0.6 \rm{}km s^{-1}$ velocity resolution of these data enable us to study the thermal and dynamic state of these cores at $\sim{}0.02 \rm{}pc$ scales, comparable to or smaller than those of the current dust continuum surveys. We measure temperatures for a total of 30 cores, with average masses and radii of $11 \Ms$ and $0.039 \rm{}pc$, respectively. Compared to other Gould Belt dense cores, the Orion cores have an unusually high gravitational-to-inetic energy ratio (virial mass ratio $R_{vir} > >1$), resembling results for other clouds forming high--mass stars. This results from Orion cores having velocity dispersions similar to those in, e.g., Perseus and Ophiuchus, but higher masses for given sizes. 12 out of 30 cores are associated with embedded YSOs, which are identified by Spitzer. These Prostellar cores have a mean mass of $16.5 \Ms$ versus $7.3 \Ms$ for that of the starless cores. 14 of starless massive Orion cores are supercritical (mass-to-critical-mass ratio R$_c > 1$). These massive Orion starless cores will likely collapse or fragment relatively quickly and can thus be considered direct precursors to protostars.
A new class of high mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) --- supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs) --- are discovered by INTEGRAL, which are associated with OB supergiants and present long spin periods. There are observational evidences indicating that some accreting neutron stars in HMXBs display accretion reversals. It has been suggested that the inverted torque can lead to a very slow rotator. According to three characteristic radii in wind-fed accretion, we develop a retrograde accretion scenario and divide the accretion phase into three regimes, in order to interpret the formation of the long spin period of SFXTs. The accretion regime in some SFXT systems can be determined by their spin and orbital periods.
We analyze non-Gaussianity (NG) due to primordial bispectrum and trispectrum using CMB temperature maps of WMAP 7-year data. We first apply the perturbative formulae of Minkowski functionals upto second-order NG derived by Matsubara (2010), which enable us to give limits on the cubic NG parameterized with tau_NL and g_NL as well as various types of quadratic NG parameterized with f_NL. We find no signature of primordial NG in WMAP data, but give constraints on the local-type, equilateral-type, orthogonal-type f_NL: f_NL(loc)=20+-42, f_NL(eq)=-121+-208, f_NL(ort)=-129+-171, and tau_NL/10^4=-7.6+-8.7, and g_NL/10^5=-1.9+-6.4. We also find that these constraints are consistent with the limits from skewness and kurtosis parameters which characterize the perturbative corrections of MFs.
Radio observations using the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) technique typically have fields of view of only a few arcseconds, due to the computational problems inherent in imaging larger fields. Furthermore, sensitivity limitations restrict observations to very compact and bright objects, which are few and far between on the sky. Thus, while most branches of observational astronomy can carry out sensitive, wide-field surveys, VLBI observations are limited to targeted observations of carefully selected objects. However, recent advances in technology have made it possible to carry out the computations required to target hundreds of sources simultaneously. Furthermore, sensitivity upgrades have dramatically increased the number of objects accessible to VLBI observations. The combination of these two developments have enhanced the survey capabilities of VLBI observations such that it is now possible to observe (almost) any point in the sky with milli-arcsecond resolution. In this talk I review the development of wide-field VLBI, which has made significant progress over the last three years.
We present the results of a search for red QSOs using a selection based on optical imaging from SDSS and near-infrared imaging from UKIDSS. For a sample of 58 candidates 46 (79%) are confirmed to be QSOs. The QSOs are predominantly dust-reddened except a handul at redshifts z>3.5. The dust is most likely located in the QSO host galaxies. 4 (7%) of the candidates turned out to be late-type stars, and another 4 (7%) are compact galaxies. The remaining 4 objects we could not identify. In terms of their optical spectra the QSOs are similar to the QSOs selected in the FIRST-2MASS red Quasar survey except they are on average fainter, more distant and only two are detected in the FIRST survey. We estimate the amount of extinction using the SDSS QSO template reddened by SMC-like dust. It is possible to get a good match to the observed (restframe ultraviolet) spectra, but for nearly all the reddened QSOs it is not possible to match the near-IR photometry from UKIDSS. The likely reasons are that the SDSS QSO template is too red at optical wavelengths due to contaminating host galaxy light and that the assumed SMC extinction curve is too shallow. Our survey has demonstrated that selection of QSOs based on near-IR photometry is an efficent way to select QSOs, including reddened QSOs, with only small contamination from late-type stars and compact galaxies. This will be useful with ongoing and future wide-field near-IR surveys such as the VISTA and EUCLID surveys. [Abridged]
Group galaxies very often show distinct signs of interaction with both companion galaxies and the intragroup medium. X-ray observations are particularly helpful because they provide information on the temperatures and the densities of the hot gas in galaxies and intergalactic space. This can put important constraints on the nature and timescales of these interactions. We use the XMM-Newton X-ray observations of NGC 3627 in the Leo Triplet galaxy group to explain peculiar features visible in the polarized radio maps. We analyzed soft X-ray (0.2-1 keV) emission from NGC 3627 to study the distribution of the hot gas and its temperature in different areas of the galaxy. Any change throughout the disk can reflect distortions visible in the radio polarized emission. We also studied two bright point sources that are probably tightly linked to the evolution of the galaxy. We find an increase in the temperature of the hot gas in the area of the polarized radio ridge in the western arm of the galaxy. In the eastern part of the disk we find two ultra-luminous X-ray sources. We note a large hot gas temperature difference (by a factor of 2) between the two bar ends. The polarized radio ridge in the western arm of NGC 3627 is most likely formed by ram-pressure effects caused by the movement of the galaxy through the intragroup medium. To explain the distortions visible in the eastern part of the disk in polarized radio maps, the asymmetry of the bar, and the distortion of the eastern arm, we propose a recent collision of NGC 3627 with a dwarf companion galaxy.
A nascent neutron star may be exposed to fallback accretion soon after the proto-neutron star stage. This high accretion episode can submerge the magnetic field deep in the crust. The diffusion of the magnetic field back to the surface will take hundreds to millions of years depending on the amount of mass accreted and the consequent depth the field is buried. Neutron stars with large kick velocities will accrete less amount of fallback material leading to shallower submergence of their fields and shorter time-scales for the growth of their fields. We confirm this predicted inverse relation between the measured transverse velocities and the field growth time-scales inferred from the measured braking indices.
It is not known whether brown dwarfs (stellar-like objects with masses less than the hydrogen-burning limit, 0.075 Msun) are formed in the same way as solar-type stars or by some other process. Here we report the clear-cut identification of a self-gravitating condensation of gas and dust with a mass in the brown-dwarf regime, made through millimeter interferometric observations. The level of thermal millimeter continuum emission detected from this object indicates a mass ~ 0.02-0.03 Msun, while the small radius < 460 AU and narrow spectral lines imply a dynamical mass of 0.015-0.02 Msun. The identification of such a pre-brown dwarf core supports models according to which brown dwarfs are formed in the same manner as hydrogen-burning stars.
KL Dra is a helium accreting AM CVn binary system with an orbital period close to 25 mins. Approximately every 60 days there is a 4 mag optical outburst lasting ~10 days. We present the most sensitive X-ray observations made of an AM CVn system during an outburst cycle. A series of eight observations were made using XMM-Newton which started shortly after the onset of an optical outburst. We find that X-rays are suppressed during the optical outburst. There is some evidence for a spectral evolution of the X-ray spectrum during the course of the outburst. A periodic modulation is seen in the UV data at three epochs -- this is a signature of the binary orbital or the super-hump period. The temperature of the X-ray emitting plasma is cooler compared to dwarf novae, which may suggest a wind is the origin of a significant fraction of the X-ray flux.
We present the results of an analysis of data covering 1.5 years of the dwarf nova V447 Lyr. We detect eclipses of the accretion disk by the mass donating secondary star every 3.74 hrs which is the binary orbital period. V447 Lyr is therefore the first dwarf nova in the Kepler field to show eclipses. We also detect five long outbursts and six short outbursts showing V447 Lyr is a U Gem type dwarf nova. We show that the orbital phase of the mid-eclipse occurs earlier during outbursts compared to quiescence and that the width of the eclipse is greater during outburst. This suggests that the bright spot is more prominent during quiescence and that the disk is larger during outburst than quiescence. This is consistent with an expansion of the outer disk radius due to the presence of high viscosity material associated with the outburst, followed by a contraction in quiescence due to the accretion of low angular momentum material. We note that the long outbursts appear to be triggered by a short outburst, which is also observed in the super-outbursts of SU UMa dwarf novae as observed using Kepler.
Collisions of mm-size dust aggregates play a crucial role in the early phases of planet formation. We developed a laboratory setup to observe collisions of dust aggregates levitating at mbar pressures and elevated temperatures of 800 K. We report on collisions between basalt dust aggregates of from 0.3 to 5 mm in size at velocities between 0.1 and 15 cm/s. Individual grains are smaller than 25 \mum in size. We find that for all impact energies in the studied range sticking occurs at a probability of 32.1 \pm 2.5% on average. In general, the sticking probability decreases with increasing impact parameter. The sticking probability increases with energy density (impact energy per contact area). We also observe collisions of aggregates that were formed by a previous sticking of two larger aggregates. Partners of these aggregates can be detached by a second collision with a probability of on average 19.8 \pm 4.0%. The measured accretion efficiencies are remarkably high compared to other experimental results. We attribute this to the rel. large dust grains used in our experiments, which make aggregates more susceptible to restructuring and energy dissipation. Collisional hardening by compaction might not occur as the aggregates are already very compact with only 54 \pm 1% porosity. The disassembly of previously grown aggregates in collisions might stall further aggregate growth. However, owing to the levitation technique and the limited data statistics, no conclusive statement about this aspect can yet be given. We find that the detachment efficiency decreases with increasing velocities and accretion dominates in the higher velocity range. For high accretion efficiencies, our experiments suggest that continued growth in the mm-range with larger constituent grains would be a viable way to produce larger aggregates, which might in turn form the seeds to proceed to growing planetesimals.
We report the extremely high magnification (A > 1000) binary microlensing event OGLE-2007-BLG-514. We obtained good coverage around the double peak structure in the light curve via follow-up observations from different observatories. The binary lens model that includes the effects of parallax (known orbital motion of the Earth) and orbital motion of the lens yields a binary lens mass ratio of q = 0.321 +/- 0.007 and a projected separation of s = 0.072 +/- 0.001$ in units of the Einstein radius. The parallax parameters allow us to determine the lens distance D_L = 3.11 +/- 0.39 kpc and total mass M_L=1.40 +/- 0.18 M_sun; this leads to the primary and secondary components having masses of M_1 = 1.06 +/- 0.13 M_sun and M_2 = 0.34 +/- 0.04 M_sun, respectively. The parallax model indicates that the binary lens system is likely constructed by the main sequence stars. On the other hand, we used a Bayesian analysis to estimate probability distributions by the model that includes the effects of xallarap (possible orbital motion of the source around a companion) and parallax (q = 0.270 +/- 0.005, s = 0.083 +/- 0.001). The primary component of the binary lens is relatively massive with M_1 = 0.9_{-0.3}^{+4.6} M_sun and it is at a distance of D_L = 2.6_{-0.9}^{+3.8} kpc. Given the secure mass ratio measurement, the companion mass is therefore M_2 = 0.2_{-0.1}^{+1.2} M_sun. The xallarap model implies that the primary lens is likely a stellar remnant, such as a white dwarf, a neutron star or a black hole.
Scalar modifications of gravity have an impact on the growth of structure. Baryon and Cold Dark Matter (CDM) perturbations grow anomalously for scales within the Compton wavelength of the scalar field. In the late time Universe when reionisation occurs, the spectrum of the 21cm brightness temperature is thus affected. We study this effect for chameleon-f(R) models, dilatons and symmetrons. Although the f(R) models are more tightly constrained by solar system bounds, and effects on dilaton models are negligible, we find that symmetrons where the phase transition occurs before z_* ~ 2 will be detectable for a scalar field range as low as 5 kpc. For all these models, the detection prospects of modified gravity effects are higher when considering modes parallel to the line of sight where very small scales can be probed. The study of the 21 cm spectrum thus offers a complementary approach to testing modified gravity with large scale structure surveys. Short scales, which would be highly non-linear in the very late time Universe when structure forms and where modified gravity effects are screened, appear in the linear spectrum of 21 cm physics, hence deviating from General Relativity in a maximal way.
We report on the plasma properties of small-scale transient events identified
in the quiet Sun, coronal holes and their boundaries.
We use spectroscopic co-observations from SUMER/SoHO and EIS/Hinode combined
with high cadence imaging data from XRT/Hinode. We measure Doppler shifts using
single and multiple Gauss fits of transition region and coronal lines as well
as electron densities and temperatures. We combine co-temporal imaging and
spectroscopy to separate brightening expansions from plasma flows. The
transient brightening events in coronal holes and their boundaries were found
to be very dynamical producing high density outflows at large speeds. Most of
these events represent X-ray jets from pre-existing or newly emerging coronal
bright points at X-ray temperatures. The average electron density of the jets
is logNe ~ 8.76 cm^-3 while in the flaring site it is logNe ~ 9.51 cm^-3. The
jet temperatures reach a maximum of 2.5 MK but in the majority of the cases the
temperatures do not exceed 1.6 MK. The footpoints of jets have temperatures of
a maximum of 2.5 MK though in a single event scanned a minute after the flaring
the measured temperature was 12 MK. The jets are produced by multiple
microflaring in the transition region and corona. Chromospheric emission was
only detected in their footpoints and was only associated with downflows. The
Doppler shift measurements in the quiet Sun transient brightenings confirmed
that these events do not produce jet-like phenomena. The plasma flows in these
phenomena remain trapped in closed loops.
The effect of a stochastic background of cosmological perturbations on the luminosity-redshift relation is computed to second order through a recently proposed covariant and gauge-invariant light-cone averaging procedure. The resulting expressions are free from both ultraviolet and infrared divergences, implying that such perturbations cannot mimic a sizable fraction of dark energy. Different averages are estimated and depend on the particular function of the luminosity distance being averaged. The energy flux, being minimally affected by perturbations at large z, is proposed as the best choice for precision estimates of dark-energy parameters. Nonetheless, its irreducible (stochastic) variance induces statistical errors on \Omega_{\Lambda}(z) typically lying in the few-percent range.
Taking advantage of the sensitivity and angular resolution of the Herschel Space Observatory at far-infrared and submm wavelengths, we aim to characterize the physical properties of cold dust within nearby galaxies and study the robustness of the parameters we derive using different modified blackbody models. For a pilot subsample of the KINGFISH program, we perform 2 temperature fits of the Spitzer and Herschel photometric data (24 to 500um), with a warm and a cold component, globally and in each resolution element.At global scales, we observe ranges of values for beta_c(0.8 to 2.5) and Tc(19.1 to 25.1K).We compute maps of our parameters with beta fixed or free to test the robustness of the temperature and dust surface density maps we deduce. When the emissivity is fixed, we observe temperature gradients as a function of radius.When the emissivity is fitted as a free parameter, barred galaxies tend to have uniform fitted emissivities.Gathering resolved elements in a Tc-beta_c diagram underlines an anti-correlation between the two parameters.It remains difficult to assess whether the dominant effect is the physics of dust grains, noise, or mixing along the line of sight and in the beam. We finally observe in both cases that the dust column density peaks in central regions of galaxies and bar ends (coinciding with molecular gas density enhancements usually found in these locations).We also quantify how the total dust mass varies with our assumptions about the emissivity index as well as the influence of the wavelength coverage used in the fits. We show that modified blackbody fits using a shallow emissivity (beta_c < 2.0) lead to significantly lower dust masses compared to the beta_c < 2.0 case, with dust masses lower by up to 50% if beta_c=1.5 for instance.The working resolution affects our total dust mass estimates: masses increase from global fits to spatially-resolved fits.
There is a consensus that Type-Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) arise from the thermonuclear explosion of white dwarf stars that accrete matter from a binary companion. However, direct observation of SN Ia progenitors is lacking, and the precise nature of the binary companion remains uncertain. A temporal series of high-resolution optical spectra of the SN Ia PTF 11kx reveals a complex circumstellar environment that provides an unprecedentedly detailed view of the progenitor system. Multiple shells of circumsteller are detected and the SN ejecta are seen to interact with circumstellar material (CSM) starting 59 days after the explosion. These features are best described by a symbiotic nova progenitor, similar to RS Ophiuchi.
In this paper, we continue to examine the fundamental basis for the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric and its application to cosmology, specifically addressing the question: What is the proper size of the visible universe? There are several ways of answering the question of size, though often with an incomplete understanding of how far light has actually traveled in reaching us today from the most remote sources. The difficulty usually arises from an inconsistent use of the coordinates, or an over-interpretation of the physical meaning of quantities such as the so-called proper distance R(t)=a(t)r, written in terms of the (unchanging) co-moving radius r and the universal expansion factor a(t). In this paper, we use the five non-trivial FRW metrics with constant spacetime curvature (i.e., the static FRW metrics, but excluding Minkowski) to prove that in static FRW spacetimes in which expansion began from an initial signularity, the visible universe today has a proper size equal to R_h(t_0/2), i.e., the gravitational horizon at half its current age. The exceptions are de Sitter and Lanczos, whose contents had pre-existing positions away from the origin.
Cosmic ray signals from dipole-interacting dark matter annihilation are considered in the positron, antiproton and photon channels. The predicted signals in the positron channel could nicely account for the excess of positron fraction from Fermi LAT, PAMELA, HEAT and AMS-01 experiments for dark matter mass larger than 100 GeV with a boost (enhancement) factor of 30-80. No excess of antiproton over proton ratio at the experiments also gives a severe restriction for this scenario. The predicted signals as monoenergetic gamma-ray lines (monochromatic photons) for the region close to the Galactic center are investigated, and we show that they are in the current observational experimental constraint. To the end, the gamma-ray excess of recent tentative analyses based on Fermi LAT data and the potential probe of the monochromatic lines at a planned experiment, AMS-02, are also considered.
The 4050\AA\ band of C$_3$ was observed with Keck/HIRES echelle spectrometer during the {\em Deep Impact} encounter. We perform a 2-dimensional analysis of the exposures in order to study the spatial, spectral, and temporal changes in the emission spectrum of C$_3$. The rotational population distribution changes after impact, beginning with an excitation temperature of $\sim$45\,K at impact and increasing for 2\,hr up to a maximum of 61$\pm$5\,K. From 2 to 4 hours after impact, the excitation temperature decreases to the pre-impact value. We measured the quiescent production rate of C$_3$ before the encounter to be 1.0 $\times 10^{23}$ s$^{-1}$, while 2 hours after impact we recorded a peak production rate of 1.7 $\times 10^{23}$ s$^{-1}$. Whereas the excitation temperature returned to the pre-impact value during the observations, the production rate remained elevated, decreasing slowly, until the end of the 4\,hr observations. These results are interpreted in terms of changing gas densities in the coma and short-term changes in the primary chemical production mechanism for C$_{3}$.
We consider the AQUAL theory - a theory of modified gravity capable of resolving the missing mass problem - and study its predictions for micro gravity tests at the gravitational saddle points of the Solar system. We report that the AQUAL model enhances the gravity at the sub-micrometer ranges around the gravitational saddle points in a way that so far had been unnoticed. This enhancement can be measured. We, therefore, call for implementing micrometer gravity tests within the Solar gravitational saddle points.
A generic feature of viable $F(R)$ gravity is investigated: It is demonstrated that during the matter dominated era the large frequency oscillations of the effective dark energy may influence the behavior of higher derivatives of the Hubble parameter with the risk to produce some singular unphysical solutions at high redshift. This behavior is explicitly analyzed for realistic $F(R)$ models, in particular, exponential gravity and a power form model. To stabilize such oscillations, we consider the additional modification of the models via a correction term which does not destroy the viability properties. A detailed analysis on the future evolution of the universe and the evolution history of the growth index of the matter density perturbations are performed. Furthermore, we explore two applications of exponential gravity to the inflationary scenario. We show how it is possible to obtain different numbers of $e$-folds during the early-time acceleration by making different choices of the model parameters in the presence of ultrarelativistic matter, which destabilizes inflation and eventually leads to the exit from the inflationary stage. We execute the numerical analysis of inflation in two viable exponential gravity models. It is proved that at the end of the inflation, the effective energy density and curvature of the universe decrease and thus a unified description between inflation and the $\Lambda$CDM-like dark energy dominated era can be realized.
In this paper, we consider a theory of gravity with a metric-dependent torsion namely the $F(R,T)$ gravity, where $R$ is the curvature scalar and $T$ is the torsion scalar. We study a geometric root of such theory. In particular we give the derivation of the model from the geometrical point of view. Then we present the more general form of $F(R,T)$ gravity with two arbitrary functions and give some of its particular cases. In particular, the usual $F(R)$ and $F(T)$ gravity theories are the particular cases of the $F(R,T)$ gravity. In the cosmological context, we find that our new gravitational theory can describes the accelerated expansion of the universe.
We review a molecular dynamics method for nucleon many-body systems called the quantum molecular dynamics (QMD) and our studies using this method. These studies address the structure and the dynamics of nuclear matter relevant to the neutron star crusts, supernova cores, and heavy-ion collisions. A key advantage of QMD is that we can study dynamical processes of nucleon many-body systems without any assumptions on the nuclear structure. First we focus on the inhomogeneous structures of low-density nuclear matter consisting not only of spherical nuclei but also of nuclear "pasta", i.e., rod-like and slab-like nuclei. We show that the pasta phases can appear in the ground and equilibrium states of nuclear matter without assuming nuclear shape. Next we show our simulation of compression of nuclear matter which corresponds to the collapsing stage of supernovae. With increase of density, a crystalline solid of spherical nuclei change to a triangular lattice of rods by connecting neighboring nuclei. Finally, we discuss the fragment formation in expanding nuclear matter. Our results suggest that a generally accepted scenario based on the liquid-gas phase transition is not plausible at lower temperatures.
Production of single neutrinos as well as neutrino-antineutrino pairs by photons interacting with pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons is studied within the Standard Model. The corresponding cross sections are found analytically. The energy loss due to neutrino emission in a thermal plasma of photons and pions (kaons) is calculated and some related implications for astrophysics are discussed. It is shown that the obtained neutrino emissivities may be significantly enhanced in dense matter due to in-medium modification of the total pion decay width.
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