There is increasing evidence of a connection between AGN activity and galaxy evolution. To obtain further insight into this potentially important evolutionary phase, we analyse the properties of quasar host galaxies. In this paper, we present a population synthesis modeling technique for off-axis spectra, the results of which constrain host colour and the stellar ages of luminous quasars (M_V(nuc)<-23). Our technique is similar to well established quiescent-galaxy models, modified to accommodate scattered nuclear light (a combination of atmospheric, instrumental and host galaxy scattered light) observed off axis. In our model, subtraction of residual scattered quasar light is performed, while simultaneously modeling the constituent stellar populations of the host galaxy. The reliability of this technique is tested via a Monte-Carlo routine in which the correspondence between synthetic spectra with known parameters and the model output is determined. Application of this model to a preliminary sample of 10 objects is presented and compared to previous studies. Spectroscopic data was obtained via long-slit and integral-field unit observations on the Keck and WIYN telescopes. We confirm that elliptical quasar hosts are distinguishable (bluer) from inactive ellipticals in rest frame B-V colour. Additionally, we note a trend for radio luminous (L_5GHz > 10^40 erg s^-1) quasars to be located in redder host galaxies in comparison to their less luminous radio counterparts. While the host colour and age of our radio luminous sample is in close proximity to the green valley, our radio faint sample is consistent with quiescent star-forming galaxies. However, further observations are needed to confirm these results. Finally, we discuss future applications for our technique on a larger sample of objects being obtained via SALT and WIYN telescope observing campaigns.
[abridged] We derive photometric redshifts from 17-band optical to mid-IR photometry of 74 robust counterparts to 68 of the 126 submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) selected at 870um by LABOCA observations in the ECDFS. The median photometric redshift of identified SMGs is z=2.2\pm0.1, the interquartile range is z=1.8-2.7 and we identify 10 (~15%) high-redshift (z>3) SMGs. We derive a simple redshift estimator for SMGs based on the 3.6 and 8um fluxes, which is accurate to Delta_z~0.4 for SMGs at z<4. A statistical analysis of sources around unidentified SMGs identifies a population of likely counterparts with a redshift distribution peaking at z=2.5\pm0.3, which likely comprises ~60% of the unidentified SMGs. This confirms that the bulk of the undetected SMGs are coeval with those detected in the radio/mid-IR. We conclude that ~15% of all the SMGs are below the flux limits of our survey and lie at z>3 and hence ~30% of all SMGs have z>3. We estimate that the full S_870um>4mJy SMG population has a median redshift of 2.5\pm0.6. In contrast to previous suggestions we find no significant correlation between S_870um and redshift. The median stellar mass of the SMGs derived from SED fitting is (9.2\pm0.9)x10^10Msun and the interquartile range is (4.7-14)x10^10Msun, although we caution that uncertainty in the star-formation histories results in a factor of ~5 uncertainty in these stellar masses. The median characteristic dust temperature of SMGs is 35.9\pm1.4K and the interquartile range is 28.5-43.3K. The infrared luminosity function shows that SMGs at z=2-3 typically have higher far-IR luminosities and luminosity density than those at z=1-2. This is mirrored in the evolution of the star-formation rate density (SFRD) for SMGs which peaks at z~2. The maximum contribution of bright SMGs to the global SFRD (~5% for SMGs with S_870um>4mJy; ~50% for SMGs with S_870um>1mJy) also occurs at z~2.
We propose a new statistic that has been designed to be used in situations where the intrinsic dispersion of a data set is not well known: `The Crossing Statistic'. This statistic is in general less sensitive than `chi^2' to the intrinsic dispersion of the data, and hence allows us to make progress in distinguishing between different models using goodness of fit to the data even when the errors involved are poorly understood. The proposed statistic makes use of the shape and trends of a model's predictions in a quantifiable manner. It is applicable to a variety of circumstances, although we consider it to be especially well suited to the task of distinguishing between different cosmological models using type Ia supernovae. We show that this statistic can easily distinguish between different models in cases where the `chi^2' statistic fails. We also show that the last mode of Crossing Statistic is identical to `chi^2', so that one can consider it as a generalization of `chi^2'.
We present the AGN, star-forming, and morphological properties of a sample of 13 MIR-luminous (f(24) > 700uJy) IR-bright/optically-faint galaxies (IRBGs, f(24)/f(R) > 1000). While these z~2 sources were drawn from deep Chandra fields with >200 ks X-ray coverage, only 7 are formally detected in the X-ray and four lack X-ray emission at even the 2 sigma level. Spitzer IRS spectra, however, confirm that all of the sources are AGN-dominated in the mid-IR, although half have detectable PAH emission responsible for ~25% of their mid-infrared flux density. When combined with other samples, this indicates that at least 30-40% of luminous IRBGs have star-formation rates in the ULIRG range (~100-2000 Msun/yr). X-ray hardness ratios and MIR to X-ray luminosity ratios indicate that all members of the sample contain heavily X-ray obscured AGN, 80% of which are candidates to be Compton-thick. Furthermore, the mean X-ray luminosity of the sample, log L(2-10 keV)(ergs/s)=44.6, indicates that these IRBGs are Type 2 QSOs, at least from the X-ray perspective. While those sources most heavily obscured in the X-ray are also those most likely to display strong silicate absorption in the mid-IR, silicate absorption does not always accompany X-ray obscuration. Finally, ~70% of the IRBGs are merger candidates, a rate consistent with that of sub-mm galaxies (SMGs), although SMGs appear to be physically larger than IRBGs. These characteristics are consistent with the proposal that these objects represent a later, AGN-dominated, and more relaxed evolutionary stage following soon after the star-formation-dominated one represented by the SMGs.
A smooth inflaton potential is generally assumed when calculating the primordial power spectrum, implicitly assuming that a very small oscillation in the inflaton potential creates a negligible change in the predicted halo mass function. We show that this is not true. We find that a small oscillating perturbation in the inflaton potential in the slow-roll regime can alter significantly the predicted number of small halos. A class of models derived from supergravity theories gives rise to inflaton potentials with a large number of steps and many transplanckian effects may generate oscillations in the primordial power spectrum. The potentials we study are the simple quadratic (chaotic inflation) potential with superimposed small oscillations for small field values. Without leaving the slow-roll regime, we find that for a wide choice of parameters, the predicted number of halos change appreciably. For the oscillations beginning in the 10^7-10^8 solar masses range, for example, we find that only a 5% change in the amplitude of the chaotic potential causes a 50% suppression of the number of halos for masses between 10^7-10^8 solar masses and an increase in the number of halos for masses <10^6 solar masses by factors ~15-50. We suggest that this might be a solution to the problem of the lack of observed dwarf galaxies in the range 10^7-10^8 solar masses. This might also be a solution to the reionization problem where a very large number of Population III stars in low mass halos are required.
We study the environmental dependence of local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) found in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. The LIRG and ULIRG samples are constructed by cross-correlating spectroscopic catalogs of galaxies of the SDSS Data Release 7 and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite Faint Source Catalog. We examine the effects of the large-scale background density (Sigma_5), galaxy clusters, and the nearest neighbor galaxy on the properties of infrared galaxies (IRGs). We find that the fraction of LIRGs plus ULIRGs among IRGs (f_(U)LIRGs) and the infrared luminosity (L_IR) of IRGs strongly depend on the morphology of and the distance to the nearest neighbor galaxy: the probability for an IRG to be a (U)LIRG (f_(U)LIRGs) and its L_IR both increase as it approaches a late-type galaxy, but decrease as it approaches an early-type galaxy (within half the virial radius of its neighbor). We find no dependence of f_(U)LIRGs on the background density (surface galaxy number density) at fixed stellar mass of galaxies. The dependence of f_(U)LIRGs on the distance to galaxy clusters is also found to be very weak, but in highest-density regions such as the center of galaxy clusters, few (U)LIRGs are found. These environmental dependence of LIRGs and ULIRGs and the evolution of star formation rate (SFR)-environment relation from high redshifts to low redshifts seem to support the idea that galaxy-galaxy interactions/merging play a critical role in triggering the star formation activity of LIRGs and ULIRGs.
X-shaped radio galaxies are defined by their peculiar large-scale radio morphology. In addition to the classical double-lobed structure they have a pair of low-luminosity wings that straddles the nucleus at almost right angles to the active lobes, thus giving the impression of an 'X'. In this paper we study for the first time the optical spectral properties of this object class using a large sample (~50 sources). We find that the X-shaped radio population is composed roughly equally of sources with weak and strong emission line spectra, which makes them, in combination with the well-known fact that they preferentially have radio powers intermediate between those of Fanaroff-Riley type I (FR I) and type II (FR II) radio galaxies, the archetypal transition population. We do not find evidence in support of the proposition that the X-shape is the result of a recent merger: X-shaped radio sources do not have unusually broad emission lines, their nuclear environments are in general not dusty, and their host galaxies do not show signs of enhanced star formation. Instead, we observe that the nuclear regions of X-shaped radio sources have relatively high temperatures. This finding favours models, which propose that the X-shape is the result of an overpressured environment.
We report multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) study of the innermost jet of 3C 84. We carried out 14-epoch VLBI observations during 2006-2009 with the Japanese VLBI Network (JVN) and the VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry (VERA), immediately following the radio outburst that began in 2005. Comparison between VLBI lightcurve and single-dish lightcurve indicates that the outburst was associated with the central ~1 pc core. We found that this outburst accompanied the emergence of a new component, and the projected speed of this new component was 0:23c from 2007/297 (2007 October 24) to 2009/114 (2009 April 24). We argue the site of gamma-ray emission detected by Fermi/LAT and jet kinematics in connection with gamma-ray emission mechanism.
The general properties of luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs and ULIRGs) in the local universe are well known since large samples of these objects have been the subject of numerous spectroscopic works. There are, however, relatively few studies of large samples of LIRGs and ULIRGs using integral field spectroscopy (IFS). We analyze optical (3800-7200A) IFS data taken with the Potsdam Multi-Aperture Spectrophotometer (PMAS) of the central few kiloparsecs of 11 LIRGs. To study the stellar populations we fit the optical stellar continuum and the hydrogen recombination lines of selected regions. We analyze the excitation conditions of the gas using the spatially resolved properties of the brightest optical emission lines. The optical continua of the selected regions are well fitted with a combination of evolved (~0.7-10Gyr) and ionizing (1-20Myr) stellar populations. The latter is more obscured than the evolved population, and has visual extinctions in good agreement with those obtained from the Balmer decrement. Except for NGC 7771, there is no clear evidence for an important contribution to the optical light from an intermediate-aged population (~100-500Myr). Even after correcting for the presence of stellar absorption, a large fraction of spaxels with low observed equivalent widths of Halpha in emission still show enhanced [NII]/Halpha and [SII]/Halpha ratios. These ratios are likely to be produced by a combination of photoionization in HII regions and diffuse emission. These regions of enhanced ratios are generally coincident with low surface brightness HII regions and diffuse emission detected in the Halpha and Pa-alpha images. Using the PMAS line ratios and the NICMOS Pa-alpha photometry of HII regions we find that the fraction of diffuse emission in LIRGs varies from galaxy to galaxy, and it is generally less than 60% as found in other starburst galaxies. (Abridged)
In order to reconstruct the global SEDs of the Magellanic Clouds over eight decades in spectral range, we combined literature flux densities representing the entire LMC and SMC respectively, and complemented these with maps extracted from the WMAP and COBE databases covering the missing the 23--90 GHz (13--3.2 mm) and the poorly sampled 1.25--250 THz (240--1.25 micron). We have discovered a pronounced excess of emission from both Magellanic Clouds, but especially the SMC, at millimeter and sub-millimeter wavelengths. We also determined accurate thermal radio fluxes and very low global extinctions for both LMC and SMC. Possible explanations are briefly considered but as long as the nature of the excess emission is unknown, the total dust masses and gas-to-dust ratios of the Magellanic Clouds cannot reliably be determined.
Using analytical models and cosmological N-body simulations, we study the free-free radio emission from ionized gas in clusters and groups of galaxies. The results obtained with the simulations are compared with analytical predictions based on the mass function and scaling relations. Earlier works based on analytical models have shown that the averaged free-free signal from small haloes (galaxies or smaller) during and after the reionization time could be detected with future experiments as a distortion of the CMB spectrum at low frequencies (nu < 5 GHz). We focus on the period after the reionization time (from redshift z=0 up to z=7) and on haloes that are more massive than in previous works (groups and clusters). We show how the average signal from these massive haloes contributes significantly less than the signal from the more abundant and colder small haloes. However, the individual signal from the massive haloes could be detected with future experiments opening the door for a new window to study the intracluster medium.
The Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) has produced a high-quality, homogeneous sample of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) out to redshifts greater than z=1. In its first four years of full operation (to June 2007), the SNLS discovered more than 3000 transient candidates, 373 of which have been confirmed spectroscopically as SNe Ia. Use of these SNe Ia in precision cosmology critically depends on an analysis of the observational biases incurred in the SNLS survey due to the incomplete sampling of the underlying SN Ia population. This paper describes our real-time supernova detection and analysis procedures, and uses detailed Monte Carlo simulations to examine the effects of Malmquist bias and spectroscopic sampling. Such sampling effects are found to become apparent at z~0.6, with a significant shift in the average magnitude of the spectroscopically confirmed SN Ia sample towards brighter values for z>0.75. We describe our approach to correct for these selection biases in our three-year SNLS cosmological analysis (SNLS3), and present a breakdown of the systematic uncertainties involved.
[abridged] Massive, passively evolving galaxies at redshifts z>1 exhibit on the average physical sizes smaller by factors ~3 than local early type galaxies (ETGs) endowed with the same stellar mass. Small sizes are in fact expected on theoretical grounds, if dissipative collapse occurs. Recent results show that the size evolution at z<1 is limited to less than 40%, while most of the evolution occurs at z>1, where both compact and already extended galaxies are observed and the scatter in size is remarkably larger than locally. The presence at high z of a significant number of ETGs with the same size as their local counterparts as well as of ETGs with quite small size, points to a timescale to reach the new, expanded equilibrium configuration of less than the Hubble time. We demonstrate that the projected mass of compact, high-z galaxies and that of local ETGs within the *same physical radius*, the nominal half-luminosity radius of high-z ETGs, differ substantially, in that the high-z ETGs are on the average significantly denser. We propose that quasar activity, which peaks at z~2, can remove large amounts of gas from central galaxy regions on a timescale shorter than of the dynamical one, triggering a puffing up of the stellar component at constant stellar mass; in this case the size increase goes together with a decrease of the central mass. The size evolution is expected to parallel that of the quasars and the inverse hierarchy, or downsizing, seen in the quasar evolution is mirrored in the size evolution.
We develop a model of gravitational lensing in a non-uniform plasma. When a gravitating body is surrounded by a plasma, the lensing angle depends on the frequency of the electromagnetic wave, due to dispersion properties of plasma, in presence of a plasma inhomogeneity, and of a gravity. The second effect leads, even in a uniform plasma, to a difference of the gravitational photon deflection angle from the vacuum case, and to its dependence on the photon frequency. We take into account both effects, and derive the expression for the lensing angle in the case of a strongly nonuniform plasma in presence of the gravitation. Dependence of the lensing angle on the photon frequency in a homogeneous plasma resembles the properties of a refractive prism spectrometer, which strongest action is for very long radiowaves. We discuss the observational appearances of this effect for the gravitational lens with a Schwarzschild metric, surrounded by a uniform plasma. We obtain formulae for the lensing angle and the magnification factors in this case and discuss a possibility of observation of this effect by the planned VLBI space project Radioastron. We also consider models with a nonuniform plasma distribution. For different gravitational lens models we compare the corrections to the vacuum lensing due to the gravitational effect in plasma, and due to the plasma inhomogeneity. We have shown that the gravitational effect could be detected in the case of a hot gas in the gravitational field of a galaxy cluster.
We present a data analysis pipeline for CMB polarization experiments, running from multi-frequency maps to the power spectra. We focus mainly on component separation and, for the first time, we work out the covariance matrix accounting for errors associated to the separation itself. This allows us to propagate such errors and evaluate their contributions to the uncertainties on the final products.The pipeline is optimized for intermediate and small scales, but could be easily extended to lower multipoles. We exploit realistic simulations of the sky, tailored for the Planck mission. The component separation is achieved by exploiting the Correlated Component Analysis in the harmonic domain, that we demonstrate to be superior to the real-space application (Bonaldi et al. 2006). We present two techniques to estimate the uncertainties on the spectral parameters of the separated components. The component separation errors are then propagated by means of Monte Carlo simulations to obtain the corresponding contributions to uncertainties on the component maps and on the CMB power spectra. For the Planck polarization case they are found to be subdominant compared to noise.
(Abridged). The gamma-ray emission from galaxy clusters hosting active galaxies is a complex combination of diffuse and point-like emission with different spectral and spatial properties. We discuss the case of the Perseus cluster containing the radio-galaxy NGC 1275 that has been detected as a bright gamma-ray source by the Fermi-LAT experiment. We provide a detailed study of the gamma-ray emission coming from the core of Perseus by modeling the central AGN emission with a multiple plasma blob model, and the emission from the cluster atmosphere with both a Warming Ray (WR) model and Dark Matter (DM) neutralino annihilation models. We set constraints on both the central galaxy and cluster SED models by using multi-frequency data including the observations obtained by Fermi and MAGIC. We find that: i) in all the viable models for the cluster gamma-ray emission, the emission detected by Fermi from the Perseus core is dominated by the active galaxy NGC 1275, that is found in a high-emission state; ii) the diffuse gamma-ray emission of the cluster, in the WR model and in the DM models with the highest allowed normalization, could be detected by Fermi if the central emission from NGC1275 is in a low-emission state; iii) Fermi can have the possibility to resolve and detect the diffuse gamma-ray flux coming from the outer corona of the Perseus atmosphere at r> 800 kpc. Our results show that a simultaneous study of the various emission mechanisms that produce diffuse gamma-rays from galaxy clusters and those producing gamma-rays from active galaxies residing in the cluster atmospheres is crucial first to disentangle the spectral and spatial characteristics of the gamma-ray emission and secondly to assess the optimal observational strategy in the attempt to reveal the still elusive diffuse gamma-ray emission widely predicted for the atmospheres of large-scale structures.
We report results from the Wyoming Survey for H-alpha (WySH), a comprehensive four-square degree survey to probe the evolution of star-forming galaxies over the latter half of the age of the Universe. We have supplemented the H-alpha data from WySH with infrared data from the Spitzer Wide-area Infrared Extragalactic (SWIRE) Survey and ultraviolet data from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) Deep Imaging Survey. This dataset provides a multi-wavelength look at the evolution of the attenuation by dust, and here we compare a traditional measure of dust attenuation (L(TIR)/L(FUV)) to a diagnostic based on a recently-developed robust star formation rate (SFR) indicator, [H-alpha_obs+24-micron]/H-alpha_obs. With such data over multiple epochs, the evolution in the attenuation by dust with redshift can be assessed. We present results from the ELAIS-N1 and Lockman Hole regions at z~0.16, 0.24, 0.32 and 0.40. While the ensemble averages of both diagnostics are relatively constant from epoch to epoch, each epoch individually exhibits a larger attenuation by dust for higher star formation rates. Hence, an epoch to epoch comparison at a fixed star formation rate suggests a mild decrease in dust attenuation with redshift.
In this paper we study the effect of biasing on the power spectrum at large scales. We show that even though non-linear biasing does introduce a white noise contribution on large scales, the $P(k)\propto k^n$ behavior of the matter power spectrum on large scales, may still be visible and above the white noise for about one decade. We show, that the Kaiser biasing scheme which leads to linear bias of the correlation function on large scales generates a linear bias of the power spectrum on small scales (large wave number). We also discuss the effect of biasing on the baryon acoustic oscillations.
Following the seminal result of An & Evans, known as the central density slope-anisotropy theorem, successive investigations unexpectedly revealed that the density slope-anisotropy inequality holds not only at the center, but at all radii in a very large class of spherical systems whenever the phase-space distribution function is positive. In this paper we derive a criterion that holds for all spherical systems in which the augmented density is a separable function of radius and potential: this new finding allows to unify all the previous results in a very elegant way, and opens the way for more general investigations. As a first application, we prove that the global density slope-anisotropy inequality is also satisfied by all the explored additional families of multi-component stellar systems. The present results, and the absence of known counter-examples, lead us to conjecture that the global density slope-anisotropy inequality could actually be a universal property of spherical systems with positive distribution function.
We consider extensions of Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) spacetimes to the dissipative case. For doing that we previously carry out a systematic study on LTB. This study is based on two different aspects of LTB. On the one hand, a symmetry property of LTB will be presented. On the other hand, the description of LTB in terms of some fundamental scalar functions (structure scalars) appearing in the orthogonal splitting of Riemann tensor will be provided. We shall consider as "natural" generalizations of LTB (hereafter referred to as GLTB) either those metrics admitting some similar kind of symmetry as LTB, or those sharing structure scalars with similar dependence on the metric.
We study various probability measures for eternal inflation by applying their regularization prescriptions to models where inflation is not eternal. For simplicity we work with a toy model describing inflation that can interpolate between eternal and non-eternal inflation by continuous variation of a parameter. We investigate whether the predictions of four different measures (proper time, scale factor cutoff, stationary and causal {diamond}) change continuously with the change of this parameter. We will show that {only} for the stationary measure the predictions change continuously. For the proper-time and the scale factor cutoff, the predictions are strongly discontinuous. For the causal diamond measure, the predictions are continuous only if the stage of the slow-roll inflation is sufficiently long.
The origin of grain size distribution in the interstellar medium is one of the most fundamental problems in the interstellar physics. In the Milky Way, smaller grains are more abundant in number, but their origins are not necessarily specified and quantified. One of the most efficient drivers of small grain production is interstellar turbulence, in which dust grains can acquire relative velocities large enough to be shattered. Applying the framework of shattering developed in previous papers, we show that small ($a\la 0.01~\micron$) grains reach the abundance level observed in the Milky Way in $\sim 10^8$ yr (i.e. within the grain lifetime) by shattering in warm neutral medium. We also show that if part of grains experience additional shattering in warm ionized medium, carbonaceous grains with $a\sim 0.01~\micron$ are redistributed into smaller sizes. This could explain the relative enhancement of very small carbonaceous grains with $a\sim 3$--100 \AA. Our theory also explains the ubiquitous association between large grains and very small grains naturally. Some tests for our theory are proposed in terms of the metallicity dependence.
We have considered a cosmological model of holographic dark energy interacting with dark matter and another unknown component of dark energy of the universe. We have assumed two interaction terms $Q$ and $Q'$ in order to include the scenario in which the mutual interaction between the two principal components (i.e., holographic dark energy and dark matter) of the universe leads to some loss in other forms of cosmic constituents. Our model is valid for any sign of $Q$ and $Q'$. If $Q<Q'$, then part of the dark energy density decays into dark matter and the rest in the other unknown energy density component. But if $Q>Q'$, then dark matter energy receives from dark energy and from the unknown component of dark energy. Observation suggests that dark energy decays into dark matter. Here we have presented a general prescription of a cosmological model of dark energy which imposes mutual interaction between holographic dark energy, dark matter and another fluid. We have obtained the equation of state for the holographic dark energy density which is interacting with dark matter and other unknown component of dark energy. Using first law of thermodynamics, we have obtained the entropies for holographic dark energy, dark matter and other component of dark energy, when holographic dark energy interacting with two fluids (i.e., dark matter and other component of dark energy). Also we have found the entropy at the horizon when the radius ($L$) of the event horizon measured on the sphere of the horizon. We have investigated the GSL of thermodynamics at the present time for the universe enveloped by this horizon. Finally, it has been obtained validity of GSL which implies some bounds on deceleration parameter $q$.
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We present the results of an exploratory study of broad line region (BLR) metallicity in 34 2.2 < z < 4.6 quasars with far-infrared (FIR) luminosities (L_FIR) from 10^13.4 to 10^12.1 L_\odot . Quasar samples sorted by L_FIR might represent an evolutionary sequence if the star formation rates (SFRs) in quasar hosts generally diminish across quasar lifetimes. We use rest-frame ultraviolet spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to construct three composite spectra sorted by L_FIR, corresponding to average SFRs of 4980, 2130 and 340 M_\odot yr^-1 after correcting for a nominal quasar FIR contribution. The measured N V {\lambda} 1240/C IV {\lambda} 1550 and Si IV {\lambda} 1397+O IV] {\lambda} 1402/C IV {\lambda} 1550 emission line ratios indicate super-solar BLR metallicities in all three composites, with no evidence for a trend with the star formation rate. The formal derived metallicities, Z ~ 5-9 Z_\odot , are similar to those derived for the BLRs of other quasars at similar redshifts and luminosities. These results suggest that the ongoing star formation in the host is not responsible for the metal enrichment of the BLR gas. Instead, the BLR gas must have been enriched before the visible quasar phase. These results for high quasar metallicities, regardless of L_FIR, are consistent with evolution scenarios wherein visibly bright quasars appear after the main episode(s) of star formation and metal enrichment in the host galaxies. Finally, young quasars, those more closely associated with a recent merger or a blowout of gas and dust, may exhibit tracers of these events, such as redder continuum slopes and higher incidence of narrow absorption lines. With the caveat of small sample sizes, we find no relation between L_FIR and the reddening or the incidence of absorption lines.
We consider the key problems related to measuring the mass of stellar disks and dark halos in galaxies and to explaining the observed properties of disks formed in massive dark halos.
An analysis based on new OGLE observations reaffirms Ferrarese et al.2007 discovery of 5 Type II Cepheids in NGC 5128. The distance to that comparatively unreddened population is d=3.8+-0.4(se)+-0.8(sd) Mpc. The classical Cepheids in NGC 5128 are the most obscured in the extragalactic sample (n=30) surveyed, whereas groups of Cepheids tied to several SNe host galaxies feature negative reddenings. Adopting an anomalous extinction law for Cepheids in NGC 5128 owing to observations of SN 1986G (Rv~2.4) is not favoured, granted SNe Ia may follow small Rv. The distances to classical Cepheids in NGC 5128 exhibit a dependence on colour and CCD chip, which may arise in part from photometric contamination. The mean for the entire sample is d~3.1 Mpc, while applying a colour cut yields d~3.5 Mpc. The distance was established via the latest VI Galactic Wesenheit functions that include the 10 HST calibrators, and which imply a shorter distance scale than Sandage et al.2004 by 15% at P~25 d. HST monitored classical Cepheids in NGC 5128, and the SNe hosts NGC 3021 & NGC 1309, follow a shallower VI Wesenheit slope than ground-based calibrations of the Milky Way, LMC, NGC 6822, SMC, and IC 1613. The discrepancy is unrelated to metallicity since the latter group share a common slope over a sizeable abundance baseline (a=-3.34+-0.08, d[Fe/H]~1). A negligible distance offset between OGLE Cepheids and RR Lyrae var. in the LMC, SMC, and IC 1613 bolsters assertions that VI-based Wesenheit functions are relatively insensitive to chemical abundance. In sum, a metallicity effect (VI) is not the chief source of uncertainty associated with the Cepheid distance to NGC 5128 or the establishment of H0, but rather it is the admittedly challenging task of obtaining precise, commonly standardized, multiepoch, multiband, comparatively uncontaminated extragalactic Cepheid photometry.
We analyse the KSB method to estimate gravitational shear from surface-brightness moments of small and noisy galaxy images. We identify three potentially problematic assumptions. These are: (1) While gravitational shear must be estimated from averaged galaxy images, KSB derives a shear estimate from each individual image and then takes the average. Since the two operations do not commute, KSB gives biased results. (2) KSB implicitly assumes that galaxy ellipticities are small, while weak gravitational lensing assures only that the change in ellipticity due to the shear is small. (3) KSB does not invert the convolution with the point-spread function, but gives an approximate PSF correction which - even for a circular PSF - holds only in the limit of circular sources. The effects of assumptions (2) and (3) partially counter-act in a way dependent on the width of the weight function and of the PSF. We quantitatively demonstrate the biases due to all assumptions, extend the KSB approach consistently to third order in the shear and ellipticity and show that this extension lowers the biases substantially. The issue of proper PSF deconvolution will be addressed in a forthcoming paper.
We report the detection and analysis of the red giant branch luminosity function bump in a sample of isolated dwarf galaxies in the Local Group. We have designed a new analysis approach comparing the observed color-magnitude diagrams with theoretical best-fit color-magnitude diagrams derived from precise estimates of the star formation histories of each galaxy. This analysis is based on studying the difference between the V-magnitude of the RGB bump and the horizontal branch at the level of the RR Lyrae instability strip (Delta_vhbb) and we discuss here a technique for reliably measuring this quantity in complex stellar systems. By using this approach, we find that the difference between the observed and predicted values of Delta_vhbb is +0.13 +/- 0.14 mag. This is smaller, by about a factor of two, than the well-known discrepancy between theory and observation at low metallicity commonly derived for Galactic globular clusters. This result is confirmed by a comparison between the adopted theoretical framework and empirical estimates of the Delta_vhbb parameter for both a large database of Galactic globular clusters and for four other dSph galaxies for which this estimate is available in the literature. We also investigate the strength of the red giant branch bump feature (R_bump), and find very good agreement between the observed and theoretically predicted R_bump values. This agreement supports the reliability of the evolutionary lifetimes predicted by theoretical models of the evolution of low-mass stars.
The periodogram is a popular tool that tests whether a signal consists only of noise or if it also includes other components. The main issue of this method is to define a critical detection threshold that allows identification of a component other than noise, when a peak in the periodogram exceeds it. In the case of signals sampled on a regular time grid, determination of such a threshold is relatively simple. When the sampling is uneven, however, things are more complicated. The most popular solution in this case is to use the "Lomb-Scargle" periodogram, but this method can be used only when the noise is the realization of a zero-mean, white (i.e. flat-spectrum) random process. In this paper, we present a general formalism based on matrix algebra, which permits analysis of the statistical properties of a periodogram independently of the characteristics of noise (e.g. colored and/or non-stationary), as well as the characteristics of sampling.
We discuss the problem of ultra high energy nuclei propagation in extragalactic background radiations. The present paper is the continuation of the accompanying paper I where we have presented three new analytic methods to calculate the fluxes and spectra of Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) nuclei, both primary and secondary, and secondary protons. The computation scheme in this paper is based on the analytic solution of coupled kinetic equations, which takes into account the continuous energy losses due to the expansion of the universe and pair-production, together with photo-disintegration of the nuclei. This method includes in the most natural way the production of secondary nuclei in the process of photo-disintegration of the primary nuclei during their propagation through extragalactic background radiations. In paper I, in order to present the suggested analytical schemes of calculations, we have considered only the case of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, in the present paper we generalize this computation to all relevant background radiations, including infra-red (IR) and visible/ultra-violet radiations, collectively referred to as Extragalactic Background Light (EBL). The analytic solutions allow transparent physical interpretation of the obtained spectra. EBL plays an important role at intermediate energies of UHECR nuclei. The most noticeable effect of the EBL is the low-energy tail in the spectrum of secondary nuclei.
We discuss the signature of a cosmic string wake in 21cm redshift surveys. Since 21cm surveys probe higher redshifts than optical large-scale structure surveys, the signatures of cosmic strings are more manifest in 21cm maps than they are in optical galaxy surveys. We find that, provided the tension of the cosmic string exceeds a critical value (which depends on both the redshift when the string wake is created and the redshift of observation), a cosmic string wake will generate an emission signal with a brightness temperature which approaches a limiting value which at a redshift of $z + 1 = 30$ is close to 400 mK in the limit of large string tension. The signal will have a specific signature in position space: the excess 21cm radiation will be confined to a wedge-shaped region whose tip corresponds to the position of the string, whose planar dimensions are set by the planar dimensions of the string wake, and whose thickness (in redshift direction) depends on the string tension. For wakes created at $z_i + 1 = 10^3$, then at a redshift of $z + 1 = 30$ the critical value of the string tension $\mu$ is $G \mu = 6 \times 10^{-7}$, and it decreases linearly with redshift (for wakes created at the time of equal matter and radiation, the critical value is a factor of two lower at the same redshift). For smaller tensions, cosmic strings lead to an observable absorption signal with the same wedge geometry.
Most extragalactic jets in radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei are bright and variable gamma-ray sources, which are continuously monitored with Fermi/LAT. We present the gamma-ray properties of the MOJAVE and TANAMI AGN samples of radio-loud AGN. Both programs provide properties of the parsec-scale radio jets using Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) techniques. This information is important to understand the broad-band emission mechanism of these sources. In this work we compare the radio and gamma -ray properties of the two samples and present upper limits on the gamma-ray flux of the radio-brightest jet sources not yet detected by Fermi/LAT.
We report new near-IR integral field spectroscopy of the central starburst region of the barred spiral galaxy M83 obtained with CIRPASS on Gemini-S, which we analyse in conjunction with GHaFaS Fabry-Perot data, an AAT IRIS2 Ks-band image, and near- and mid-IR imaging from the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes. The bulk of the current star formation activity is hidden from optical view by dust extinction, but is seen in the near- and mid-IR to the north of the nucleus. This region is being fed by inflow of gas through the bar of M83, traced by the prominent dust lane entering into the circumnuclear region from the north. An analysis of stellar ages confirms that the youngest stars are indeed in the northwest. A gradual age gradient, with older stars further to the south, characterises the well-known star-forming arc in the central region of M83. Detailed analyses of the Pa beta ionised gas kinematics and near-IR imaging confirm that the kinematic centre coincides with the photometric centre of M83, and that these are offset significantly, by about 3 arcsec or 60 pc, from the visible nucleus of the galaxy. We discuss two possible options, the first of which postulates that the kinematic and photometric centre traces a galaxy nucleus hidden by a substantial amount of dust extinction, in the range A_V=3-10 mag. By combining this information with kinematic results and using arguments from the literature, we conclude that such a scenario is, however, unlikely, as is the existence of other "hidden" nuclei in M83. We thus concur with recent authors and favour a second option, in which the nucleus of the galaxy is offset from its kinematic and photometric centre. This is presumably a result of some past interaction, possibly related to the event which lies at the origin of the disturbance of the outer disk of the galaxy. (Abridged)
We present results from 4.8 GHz VLA and Global-VLBI observations of the northern half of the moderate FIR luminosity (median L_IR = 10^11.01 L_Sol) COLA sample of star-forming galaxies. VLBI sources are detected in a high fraction (20/90) of the galaxies observed. The radio luminosities of these cores (~10^21 W/Hz) are too large to be explained by radio supernovae or supernova remnants and we argue that they are instead powered by AGN. These sub-parsec scale radio cores are preferentially detected toward galaxies whose VLA maps show bright 100-500 parsec scale nuclear radio components. Since these latter structures tightly follow the FIR to radio-continuum correlation for star-formation we conclude that the AGN powered VLBI sources are associated with compact nuclear starburst environments. The implications for possible starburst-AGN connections are discussed. The detected VLBI sources have a relatively narrow range of radio luminosity consistent with models in which intense compact Eddington-limited starbursts regulate the gas supply onto a central super-massive black hole. The high incidence of AGN radio cores in compact starbursts suggests little or no delay between the starburst phase and the onset of AGN activity.
[Abridged]
Simulations and observations of the microwave sky are of great importance for
understanding the Universe that we reside in. Specifically, knowledge of the
CMB and its foregrounds - including the SZ effect from clusters of galaxies and
radio point sources - tell us about the Universe on its very largest scales,
and also what the Universe is made of.
We describe the creation of software to carry out large numbers of virtual
sky simulations. The simulations include the CMB, SZ effect and point sources,
and are designed to examine the effects of point sources and the SZ effect on
present and recent observations of the CMB. Utilizing sets of 1,000
simulations, we find that the power spectrum resulting from the SZ effect is
expected to have a larger standard deviation by a factor of 3 than would be
expected from purely Gaussian realizations, and is significantly skewed towards
increased values for the power spectrum. The effects of the clustering of
galaxy clusters, residual point sources and uncertainties in the gas physics
are also investigated, as are the implications for the excess power measured in
the CMB power spectrum by the CBI and BIMA.
We carry out end-to-end simulations for OCRA-p observations of point sources.
The introduction of simulated 1/ f noise significantly reduces the predicted
ability of the instruments to observe weak sources by measuring the sources for
long periods of time.
The OCRA-p receiver has been used to observe point sources in the VSA fields
so that they can be subtracted from observations of the CMB power spectrum. We
find that these point sources are split between steep and flat spectrum
sources. We have also observed 550 CRATES flat spectrum radio sources, which
will be useful for comparison to Planck satellite observations. Finally, the
assembly and commissioning of the OCRA-F receiver is outlined.
[Abridged]
We study the topology of the Megaparsec Cosmic Web on the basis of the Alpha Shapes of the galaxy distribution. The simplicial complexes of the alpha shapes are used to determine the set of Betti numbers ($\beta_{\rm k},k=1,...,D$), which represent a complete characterization of the topology of a manifold. This forms a useful extension of the geometry and topology of the galaxy distribution by Minkowski functionals, of which three specify the geometrical structure of surfaces and one, the Euler characteristic, represents a key aspect of its topology. In order to develop an intuitive understanding for the relation between Betti numbers and the running $\alpha$ parameter of the alpha shapes, and thus in how far they may discriminate between different topologies, we study them within the context of simple heuristic Voronoi clustering models. These may be tuned to consist of a few or even only one specific morphological element of the Cosmic Web, ie. clusters, filaments or sheets.
We consider the presence of oscillations in the primordial bispectrum, inspired by three different cosmological models; features in the primordial potential, resonant type non-Gaussianities and deviation from the standard Bunch Davies vacuum. In order to put constraints on their bispectra, a logical first step is to put these into factorized form which can be achieved via the recently proposed method of polynomial basis expansion on the tetrahedral domain. We investigate the viability of such an expansion for the oscillatory bispectra and find that one needs an increasing number of orthonormal mode functions to achieve significant correlation between the expansion and the original spectrum as a function of their frequency. To reduce the number of modes required, we propose a basis consisting of Fourier functions orthonormalized on the tetrahedral domain. We show that the use of Fourier mode functions instead of polynomial mode functions can lead to the necessary factorizability with the use of significantly less modes for the feature, resonant and several toy-model bispectra. Moreover, from an observational perspective, the expansion has unique signatures depending on the orientation of the oscillation due to a resonance effect between the mode functions and the original spectrum. This effect enables the possibility to extract information about both the frequency of the bispectrum as well as its shape while considering only a limited number of modes. The resonance effect is independent of the phase of the reconstructed bispectrum suggesting Fourier mode extraction could be an efficient way to detect oscillatory bispectra in the data.
Certain scalar-tensor theories exhibit the so-called chameleon mechanism, whereby observational signatures of scalar fields are hidden by a combination of self-interactions and interactions with ambient matter. Not all scalar-tensor theories exhibit such a chameleon mechanism, which has been originally found in models with inverse power run-away potentials and field independent couplings to matter. In this paper we investigate field-theories with field-dependent couplings and a power-law potential for the scalar field. We show that the theory indeed is a chameleon field theory. We find the thin-shell solution for a spherical body and investigate the consequences for E\"ot-Wash experiments, fifth-force searches and Casimir force experiments. Requiring that the scalar-field evades gravitational tests, we find that the coupling is sensitive to a mass-scale which is of order of the Hubble scale today.
We present a systematic study of different methods for analytic calculations of diffuse spectra of ultra-high energy cosmic rays nuclei. Nuclei propagating in the intergalactic space are photo-disintegrated and decrease their Lorentz factor due to the interaction with Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Extragalactic Background Light (EBL). We calculate the evolution trajectories in the backward time, that describe how atomic mass number $A$ and the Lorentz factor $\Gamma$ change with redshift $z$. Three methods of spectra calculations are investigated and compared: {\it (i)} trajectory method, {\it(ii)} kinetic equation combined with trajectory calculations and {\it (iii)} coupled kinetic equations. We believe that these three methods exhaust at least the principal possibilities for any analytic solution of the problem. An important element of the calculations for all methods is the systematic use of Lorentz factor instead of energy. We consider here the interaction of nuclei only with CMB, this case is particularly suitable for understanding of the physical results. In paper (II) of this series the EBL will be also included. Estimating the uncertainties of all methods discussed above, we conclude that the method of coupled kinetic equations gives the most reliable results.
We study the stellar population far into the halo of one of the two brightest galaxies in the Coma cluster, NGC 4889, based on deep medium resolution spectroscopy with FOCAS at the Subaru 8.2m telescope. We fit single stellar population models to the measured line-strength (Lick) indices (Hbeta, Mgb, [MgFe]' and <Fe>). Combining with literature data, we construct radial profiles of metallicity, [alpha/Fe] element abundance ratio and age for NGC 4889, from the center out to ~60 kpc (~4Re). We find evidence for different chemical and star formation histories for stars inside and outside 1.2Re = 18 kpc radius. The inner regions are characterized by a steep [Z/H] gradient and high [alpha/Fe] at ~2.5 times solar value. In the halo, between 18 and 60 kpc, the [Z/H] is near-solar with a shallow gradient, while [alpha/Fe] shows a strong negative gradient, reaching solar values at ~60 kpc. We interpret these data in terms of different formation histories for both components. The data for the inner galaxy are consistent with a rapid, quasi-monolithic, dissipative merger origin at early redshifts, followed by one or at most a few dry mergers. Those for the halo argue for later accretion of stars from old systems with more extended star formation histories. The half-light radius of the inner component alone is estimated as ~6 kpc, suggesting a significantly smaller size of this galaxy in the past. This may be the local stellar population signature of the size evolution found for early-type galaxies from high-redshift observations.
Compton scattering plays an important role in various astrophysical objects such as accreting black holes and neutron stars, pulsars, and relativistic jets, clusters of galaxies as well as the early Universe. In most of the calculations it is assumed that the electrons have isotropic angular distribution in some frame. However, there are situations where the anisotropy may be significant due to the bulk motions, or anisotropic cooling by synchrotron radiation, or anisotropic source of seed soft photons. We develop here an analytical theory of Compton scattering by anisotropic distribution of electrons that can simplify significantly the calculations. Assuming that the electron angular distribution can be represented by a second order polynomial over cosine of some angle (dipole and quadrupole anisotropy), we integrate the exact Klein-Nishina cross-section over the angles. Exact analytical and approximate formulae valid for any photon and electron energies are derived for the redistribution functions describing Compton scattering of photons with arbitrary angular distribution by anisotropic electrons. The analytical expressions for the corresponding photon scattering cross-section on such electrons as well as the mean energy of scattered photons, its dispersion and radiation pressure force are also derived. We applied the developed formalism to the accurate calculations of the thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effects for arbitrary electron distributions.
The abundance patterns of the most metal-poor stars in the Galactic halo and small dwarf galaxies provide us with a wealth of information about the early Universe. In particular, these old survivors allow us to study the nature of the first stars and supernovae, the relevant nucleosynthesis processes responsible for the formation and evolution of the elements, early star- and galaxy formation processes, as well as the assembly process of the stellar halo from dwarf galaxies a long time ago. This review presents the current state of the field of "stellar archaeology" -- the diverse use of metal-poor stars to explore the high-redshift Universe and its constituents. In particular, the conditions for early star formation are discussed, how these ultimately led to a chemical evolution, and what the role of the most iron-poor stars is for learning about Population III supernovae yields. Rapid neutron-capture signatures found in metal-poor stars can be used to obtain stellar ages, but also to constrain this complex nucleosynthesis process with observational measurements. Moreover, chemical abundances of extremely metal-poor stars in different types of dwarf galaxies can be used to infer details on the formation scenario of the halo. and the role of dwarf galaxies as Galactic building blocks. I conclude with an outlook as to where this field may be heading within the next decade. A table of ~1000 metal-poor stars and their abundances as collected from the literature is provided in electronic format.
Nuclear double beta decay, an extremely rare radioactive decay process, is - in one of its variants - one of the most exciting means of research into particle physics beyond the standard model. The large progress in sensitivity of experiments searching for neutrinoless double beta decay in the last two decades - based largely on the use of large amounts of enriched source material in "active source experiments" - has lead to the observation of the occurrence of this process in nature (on a 6.4 sigma level), with the largest half-life ever observed for a nuclear decay process (2.2 x 10^{25} y). This has fundamental consequences for particle physics - violation of lepton number, Majorana nature of the neutrino. These results are independent of any information on nuclear matrix elements (NME)*. It further leads to sharp restrictions for SUSY theories, sneutrino mass, right-handed W-boson mass, superheavy neutrino masses, compositeness, leptoquarks, violation of Lorentz invariance and equivalence principle in the neutrino sector. The masses of light-neutrinos are found to be degenerate, and to be at least 0.22 +- 0.02 eV. This fixes the contribution of neutrinos as hot dark matter to >=4.7% of the total observed dark matter. The neutrino mass determined might solve also the dark energy puzzle. *{It is briefly discussed how important NME for 0nubb decay really are.}
Dark matter is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in cosmology at the present time. About 80% of the universe's gravitating matter is non-luminous, and its nature and distribution are for the most part unknown. In this paper, we will outline the history, astrophysical evidence, candidates, and detection methods of dark matter, with the goal to give the reader an accessible but rigorous introduction to the puzzle of dark matter. This review targets advanced students and researchers new to the field of dark matter, and includes an extensive list of references for further study.
In this work, we have investigated the validity of GSL of thermodynamics in a universe (open, closed and flat) governed by Ho$\check{\text r}$ava-Lifshitz gravity. If the universe contains barotropic fluid the corresponding solutions have been obtained. The validity of GSL have been examined by two approaches: (i) robust approach and (ii) effective approach. In robust approach, we have considered the universe contains only matter fluid and the effect of the gravitational sector of HL gravity was incorporated through the modified black hole entropy on the horizon. Effective approach is that all extra information of HL gravity into an effective dark energy fluid and so we consider the universe contains matter fluid plus this effective fluid. This approach is essentially same as the Einstein's gravity theory. The general prescription for validity of GSL have been discussed. Graphically we have shown that the GSL may be satisfied for open, closed and flat universe on the different horizons with different conditions.
In this work, we have described the Brans-Dicke theory of gravity and given a particular solution by choosing a power law form of scalar field $\phi$ and constant $\omega$. If we assume first law and entropy formula on apparent horizon then we recover Friedmann equations. Next, assuming first law of thermodynamics, the validity conditions of GSL on event horizon are presented. Also without use first law, if we impose the entropy relation on the horizon, then we also obtain the condition of validity of GSL on event horizon. The validity of GSL completely depends on the model of BD scalar field solutions. We have justified that on the apparent horizon the two process are equivalent, but on the event horizon they are not equivalent. If first law is valid on the event horizon then GSL may be satisfied in BD solution, but if first law is not satisfied then GSL is not satisfied in BD solution. So first law always favours GSL on event horizon. In our effective approach, the first law and GSL is always satisfied in apparent horizon, which do not depend on BD theory of gravity.
We study the dynamics of isotropic and homogeneous universes in the generalized Ho\v{r}ava-Lifshitz gravity, and classify all possible evolutions of vacuum spacetime. In the case without the detailed balance condition, we find a variety of phase structures of vacuum spacetimes depending on the coupling constants as well as the spatial curvature $K$ and a cosmological constant $\Lambda$. A bounce universe solution is obtained for $\Lambda> 0, K=\pm 1$ or $\Lambda= 0, K=- 1$, while an oscillation spacetime is found for $\Lambda\geq 0, K=1$, or $\Lambda< 0, K=\pm 1$. We also propose a quantum tunneling scenario from an oscillating spacetime to an inflationary universe, resulting in a macroscopic cyclic universe.
We propose a class of inflation models in which the coefficient of the inflaton kinetic term rapidly changes with energy scale. This may occur especially if the inflaton runs over a long distance during inflation as in the case of large-scale inflation. The peculiar behavior of the kinetic term opens up a new way to construct an inflation model. As a concrete example we construct a linear inflation model in supergravity. It is straightforward to build a chaotic inflation model with a fractional power along the same line. Interestingly, the potential takes a different form after inflation because of the running kinetic term.
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The Smithsonian Hectospec Lensing Survey (SHELS) is a magnitude limited spectroscopically complete survey for R<=21.0 covering 4 square degrees. SHELS provides a large sample (15,513) of flux calibrated spectra. The wavelength range covered by the spectra allows empirical determination of k-corrections for the g- and r-band from z=0 to ~0.68 and 0.33, respectively, based on large samples of spectra. We approximate the k-corrections using only two parameters in a standard way: Dn4000 and redshift. We use Dn4000 rather than the standard observed galaxy color because Dn4000 is a redshift independent tracer of the stellar population of the galaxy. Our approximations for the k-corrections using Dn4000 are as good as (or better than) those based on observed galaxy color (g-r) (sigma of the scatter is ~0.08 mag). The approximations for the k-corrections are available in an on-line calculator. Our results agree with previously determined analytical approximations from single stellar population (SSP) models fitted to multi-band optical and near-infrared photometry for galaxies with a known redshift. Galaxies with the smallest Dn4000-the galaxies with the youngest stellar populations-are always attenuated and/or contain contributions from older stellar populations. We use simple single SSP fits to the SHELS spectra to study the influence of emission lines on the k-correction. The effects of emission lines can be ignored for rest-frame equivalent widths <~ 100 A depending on required photometric accuracy. We also provide analytic approximations to the k-corrections determined from our model fits for z<=0.7 as a function of redshift and Dn4000 for ugriz and UBVRI (sigma of the scatter is typically ~0.10 mag). Again, the approximations using Dn4000 are as good (or better than) those based on a suitably chosen observed galaxy color. We provide all analytical approximations in an on-line calculator.
Combining measurements of the galaxy power spectrum and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a powerful means of constraining the summed mass of neutrino species sum(m_nu), but is subject to systematic uncertainties due to non-linear structure formation, redshift-space distortions and galaxy bias. We empirically test the robustness of neutrino mass results to these effects by separately analyzing power spectra of red and blue galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II) Data Release 7 (DR7), combined with the CMB five-year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP5) data. We consider fitting for a range of maximum wavenumber k using twelve different galaxy bias models. For example, using a new model based on perturbation theory and including redshift space distortions (Saito et al. 2009), the all-galaxy power spectrum combined with WMAP5 for a wavenumber range of k<0.2 Mpc/h yields 95% CL sum(m_nu)<0.46 eV. The red and blue galaxy power spectra give 0.41 and 0.63 eV respectively for this model. Using mock catalogues, we find the expected difference in these limits assuming a true neutrino mass of zero is 0.10 + or - 0.14 eV. Thus the difference of 0.22 eV between upper limits on neutrino mass for red and blue galaxies is broadly consistent at the 1-sigma level, but is just at the edge of that acceptance level. We find similar results for the other models and k ranges tested. Being able to perform such systematic tests is advantageous, and future surveys would benefit by including broad galaxy populations and luminosities that enable such a decomposition.
We present templates for the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) angular power spectrum based on four models for the nonlinear gas distribution. The frequency-dependent SZ temperature fluctuations, with thermal (TSZ) and kinetic (KSZ) contributions, are calculated by tracing through a dark matter simulation, processed to include gas in dark matter halos and in the filamentary intergalactic medium. Different halo gas models are compared to study how star formation, energetic feedback, and nonthermal pressure support influence the angular power spectrum. The standard model has been calibrated to reproduce the stellar and gas fractions and X-ray scaling relations measured from low redshift clusters and groups. The other models illustrate the current theoretical and empirical uncertainties relating to properties of the intracluster medium. Relative to the standard model, their angular power spectra differ by approximately 50% (TSZ), 20% (KSZ), and 40% (SZ at 148 GHz) for l=3000, sigma_8=0.8, and homogeneous reionization at z=10. The angular power spectrum decreases in amplitude as gas mass and binding energy is removed through star formation, and as gas is pushed out to larger radii by energetic feedback. With nonthermal pressure support, less pressure is required to maintain hydrostatic equilibrium, thus reducing the thermal contribution to the SZ power. We also calculate the SZ templates as a function of sigma_8 and quantify this dependence. Assuming C_l is proprotional to (sigma_8/0.8)^alpha, the effective scaling index ranges from 7<alpha_tsz<9, 4.5<alpha_ksz<5.5, and 6.5<alpha_sz(148 GHz)<8 at l=3000 for 0.6<sigma_8<1. The template spectra are publicly available and can be used when fitting for the SZ contribution to the cosmic microwave background on arcminute scales.
We present a detailed analysis of 17,852 quiescent, Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release Seven (DR7) spanning a redshift range of 0.0 < z < 0.4. These galaxies are co-added into four equal bins of velocity dispersion and luminosity to produce high signal-to-noise spectra (>100A^{-1}), thus facilitating accurate measurements of the standard Lick absorption-line indices. In particular, we have carefully corrected and calibrated these indices onto the commonly used Lick/IDS system, thus allowing us to compare these data with other measurements in the literature, and derive realistic ages, metallicities ([Z/H]) and alpha-element abundance ratios ([alpha/Fe]) for these galaxies using Simple Stellar Population (SSP) models. We use these data to study the relationship of these galaxy parameters with redshift, and find little evidence for evolution in metallicity or alpha-elements (especially for our intermediate mass samples). This demonstrates that our subsamples are consistent with pure passive evolving (i.e. no chemical evolution) and represent a homogeneous population over this redshift range. We also present the age-redshift relation for these LRGs and clearly see a decrease in their age with redshift (5 Gyrs over the redshift range studied here) which is fully consistent with the cosmological lookback times in a concordance Lambda CDM universe. We also see that our most massive sample of LRGs is the youngest compared to the lower mass galaxies. We provide these data now to help future cosmological and galaxy evolution studies of LRGs, and provide in the appendices of this paper the required methodology and information to calibrate SDSS spectra onto the Lick/IDS system.
We show that the Halpha line (6563 Angstrom) alone is an extremely effective criterion for identifying galaxies that are uniform in color (red), luminosity-weighted age (old), and morphology (bulge-dominated). By combining the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (Data Release 6) with the New York University Value-Added Galaxy Catalog, we have photometric and spectroscopic indices for over 180,000 galaxies at (0.05<z<0.15). We separate the galaxies into three samples: 1) galaxies with Halpha equivalent width EW(Halpha)<0 Angstrom (i.e. no emission); 2) galaxies with morphological Sersic index n>2 (bulge-dominated); and 3) galaxies with n>2 that are also red in (g'-r'). We find that the Halpha-selected galaxies consistently have the smallest color scatter: for example, at z~0.05 the intrinsic scatter in apparent (g'-r') for the Halpha sample is only 0.0287+/-0.0007 compared to 0.0682+/-0.0014 for the Sersic sample. Applying a color-cut to the n>2 sample does decrease the color scatter to 0.0313+/-0.0007, but there remains a measurable fraction of star-forming and/or AGN galaxies (up to 9.3%). All of the EW(Halpha)<0 Angstrom galaxies have n>2, i.e. they are bulge-dominated systems. The spectra for the three samples confirm that the Halpha-selected galaxies have the highest D4000 values and are, on average, nearly twice as old as the Sersic-selected samples. With the advent of multi-object near-infrared spectrographs, Halpha alone can be used to reliably isolate truly quiescent galaxies dominated by evolved stellar populations at any epoch from z~0 up to z~2.
We present ultra-deep mid-IR spectra of 48 infrared-luminous galaxies in the GOODS-South field obtained with the InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) on the Spitzer Space Telescope. These galaxies are selected among faint infrared sources (0.14 - 0.5 mJy at 24 um) in two redshift bins (0.76-1.05 and 1.75-2.4) to sample the major contributors to the cosmic infrared background at the most active epochs. We estimate redshifts for 92% of the sample using PAH and Si absorption features. Only few of these galaxies (5% at z~1 and 12% at z~2) have their total infrared luminosity dominated by emission from AGN. The averaged mid-IR spectra of the z~1 LIRGs and of the z~2 ULIRGs are very similar to the averaged spectrum of local starbursts and HII-like ULIRGs, respectively. We find that 6.2um PAH equivalent widths reach a plateau of ~1 um for L(24 mu) < 1E11 L(sun). At higher luminosities, EW (6.2 mu) anti-correlates with L(24 um). Intriguingly, high-z ULIRGs and SMG lie above the local EW (6.2 um) - L(24 um) relationship suggesting that, at a given luminosity, high-z ULIRGs have AGN contributions to their dust emission lower than those of local counterparts. A quantitative analysis of their morphology shows that most of the luminous IR galaxies have morphologies similar to those of IR-quiet galaxies at the same redshift. All z~2 ULIRGs of our sample are IR-excess BzK galaxies and most of them have L(FIR)/L(1600A) ratios higher than those of starburst galaxies at a given UV slope. The ``IR excess'' (Daddi et al. 2007) is mostly due to strong 7.7 um PAH emission and under-estimation of UV dust extinction. On the basis of the AGN-powered L (6 um) continuum measured directly from the mid-IR spectra, we estimate an average intrinsic X-ray AGN luminosity of L(2-10 keV) = (0.1 +/- 0.6) 1E43 erg/s, a value substantially lower than the prediction by Daddi et al. (2007).
While supermassive black holes (SMBHs) play an important role in galaxy and cluster evolution, at present they can only be included in large-scale cosmological simulation via subgrid techniques. However, these subgrid models have not been studied in a systematic fashion. Using a newly-developed fast, parallel spherical overdensity halo finder built into the simulation code FLASH, we perform a suite of dark matter-only cosmological simulations to study the effects of subgrid model choice on relations between SMBH mass and dark matter halo mass and velocity dispersion. We examine three aspects of SMBH subgrid models: the choice of initial black hole seed mass, the test for merging two black holes, and the frequency of applying the subgrid model. We also examine the role that merging can play in determining the relations, ignoring the complicating effects of SMBH-driven accretion and feedback. We find that the choice of subgrid model can dramatically affect the black hole merger rate, the cosmic SMBH mass density, and the low-redshift relations to halo properties. We also find that it is possible to reproduce observations of the low-redshift relations without accretion and feedback, depending on the choice of subgrid model.
We study the population statistics of the surviving subhaloes of LCDM dark matter haloes using a set of very high resolution N-body simulations. These include both simulations of representative regions of the Universe and ultra-high resolution resimulations of individual dark matter haloes. We find that more massive haloes tend to have a larger mass fraction in subhaloes. For example, cluster size haloes typically have 7.5 percent of their mass in substructures of fractional mass larger than 1e-5, which is 25 percent higher than galactic haloes. There is, however, a large variance in the subhalo mass fraction from halo to halo, whereas the subhalo abundance shows much higher regularity. For dark matter haloes of fixed mass, the subhalo abundance decreases by 30 percent between redshift 2 and 0. The subhalo abundance function correlates with the host halo concentration parameter and formation redshift. However, the intrinsic scatter is not significantly reduced for narrow ranges of concentration parameter or formation redshift, showing that they are not the dominant parameters that determine the subhalo abundance in a halo.
Using the full radiation transfer function, we numerically calculate the CMB angular bispectrum seeded by the compensated magnetic scalar density mode. We find that, for the primordial magnetic fields characterized by index $n_B=-2.9$ and mean-field amplitude $B_{\lam}=9{\rm~nG}$, the angular bispectrum is dominated by two primordial magnetic shapes. For the reduced bispectrum $b^{(1)}_{l_1l_2l_3}$ seeded by primordial shape $f^{(1)}(k,q,p)$, both the profile and amplitude look similar to those of the primary CMB anisotropies. However, for different parameters ($l_1,l_2$), the bispectrum $b^{(1)}_{l_1l_2l_3}$ oscillate around different asymptotic values in the high-$l_3$ regime. This feature is different from the standard case where all modes approach to zero asymptotically in the high-$l$ limit. On the other hand, the behaviors of reduced bispectrum $b^{(2)}_{l_1l_2l_3}$ sourced by the shape $f^{(2)}(k,q,p)$ are quite different from those of the primary curvature perturbations. In the low-$l$ regime, its amplitude diverges, while in the high-$l$ regime, the amplitude is approximately of the same order of that of $b^{(1)}_{l_1l_2l_3}$, but with a reversal phase.
We present results of X-ray observations of a sample of 15 clusters selected via their imprint on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) from the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect. These clusters are a subset of the first SZ-selected cluster catalog, obtained from observations of 178 deg^2 of sky surveyed by the South Pole Telescope. Using X-ray observations with Chandra and XMM-Newton, we estimate the temperature, T_X, and mass, M_g, of the intracluster medium (ICM) within r_500 for each cluster. From these, we calculate Y_X=M_g T_X and estimate the total cluster mass using a M_500-Y_X scaling relation measured from previous X-ray studies. The integrated Comptonization, Y_SZ, is derived from the SZ measurements, using additional information from the X-ray measured gas density profiles and a universal temperature profile. We calculate scaling relations between the X-ray and SZ observables, and find results generally consistent with other measurements and the expectations from simple self-similar behavior. Specifically, we fit a Y_SZ-Y_X relation and find a normalization of 0.82 +- 0.07, marginally consistent with the predicted ratio of Y_SZ/Y_X=0.91+-0.01 that would be expected from the density and temperature models used in this work. Using the Y_X derived mass estimates, we fit a Y_SZ-M_500 relation and find a slope consistent with the self-similar expectation of Y_SZ ~ M^5/3 with a normalization consistent with predictions from other X-ray studies. We compare the X-ray mass estimates to previously published SZ mass estimates derived from cosmological simulations of the SPT survey. We find that the SZ mass estimates are lower by a factor of 0.89+-0.06, which is within the ~15% systematic uncertainty quoted for the simulation-based SZ masses.
The relativistic and nonrelativistic approaches for the calculations of the two-photon decay rates of highly excited states in hydrogen are compared. The dependence on the principal quantum number (n) of the ns, nd, and np initial states is investigated up to n = 100 for the nonresonant emissions. For the ns states together with the main E1E1 channel the contributions of higher multipoles (M1M1, E2E2, E1M2) are considered. For the np states the E1M1 and E1E2 channels are evaluated. Moreover, the simple analytical formula for the E1M1 decay is derived in the nonrelativistic limit.
Within a supersymmetric (SUSY) type-I seesaw framework with flavor-blind universal boundary conditions, we study the consequences of requiring that the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe be explained by either thermal or non-thermal leptogenesis. In the former case, we find that the parameter space is very constrained. In the bulk and stop-coannihilation regions of mSUGRA parameter space (that are consistent with the measured dark matter abundance), lepton flavor-violating (LFV) processes are accessible at MEG and future experiments. However, the very high reheat temperature of the Universe needed after inflation (of about 10^{12} GeV) leads to a severe gravitino problem, which disfavors either thermal leptogenesis or neutralino dark matter. Non-thermal leptogenesis in the preheating phase from SUSY flat directions relaxes the gravitino problem by lowering the required reheat temperature. The baryon asymmetry can then be explained while preserving neutralino dark matter, and for the bulk or stop-coannihilation regions LFV processes should be observed in current or future experiments.
We introduce a duality relation between two distinct branes, a cosmological brane with macroscopic matter and a holographic brane with microscopic gauge fields. Using brane-world cosmology with a single brane in a 5-dimensional AdS5 background, we find an explicit time-dependent holographic correspondence between the bulk metric surrounding the cosmological brane and the N=4 gauge field theory living on the boundary of the Z2-symmetric mirror bulk, identified with the holographic brane. We then relate the cosmic acceleration on the cosmological brane to the conformal anomaly of the gauge theory on the holographic brane. This leads to a dual microscopic interpretation of the number of e-foldings of the cosmological eras on the cosmological brane.
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Lyman alpha (Lya) emission lines should be attenuated in a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM). Therefore the visibility of Lya emitters at high redshifts can serve as a valuable probe of reionization at about the 50% level. We present an imaging search for z=7.7 Lya emitting galaxies using an ultra-narrowband filter (filter width= 9A) on the NEWFIRM imager at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. We found four candidate Lya emitters in a survey volume of 1.4 x 10^4 Mpc^3, with a line flux brighter than 6x10^-18 erg/cm^2/s (5 sigma in 2" aperture). We also performed a detailed Monte-Carlo simulation incorporating the instrumental effects to estimate the expected number of Lya emitters in our survey, and found that we should expect to detect one Lya emitter, assuming a non-evolving Lya luminosity function (LF) between z=6.5 and z=7.7. Even if one of the present candidates is spectroscopically confirmed as a z~8 Lya emitter, it would indicate that there is no significant evolution of the Lya LF from z=3.1 to z~8. While firm conclusions would need both spectroscopic confirmations and larger surveys to boost the number counts of galaxies, we successfully demonstrate the feasibility of sensitive near-infrared (1.06 um) narrow-band searches using custom filters designed to avoid the OH emission lines that make up most of the sky background.
We present the results of GALEX observations of 17 cool core (CC) clusters of galaxies. We show that GALEX is easily capable of detecting star formation in brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) out to $z\ge 0.45$ and 50-100 kpc. In most of the CC clusters studied, we find significant UV luminosity excesses and colors that strongly suggest recent and/or current star formation. The BCGs are found to have blue UV colors in the center that become increasingly redder with radius, indicating that the UV signature of star formation is most easily detected in the central regions. Our findings show good agreement between UV star formation rates and estimates based on H$\alpha$ observations. IR observations coupled with our data indicate moderate-to-high dust attenuation. Comparisons between our UV results and the X-ray properties of our sample suggest clear correlations between UV excess, cluster entropy, and central cooling time, confirming that the star formation is directly and incontrovertibly related to the cooling gas.
We investigate the emergence of large, localized, pseudo-stable configurations (oscillons) from inflaton fragmentation at the end of inflation. We predict the number density of large oscillons, and the conditions necessary for their emergence in a class of inflationary models. Analytic estimates are provided for a 3+1 and 1+1-dimensional universe. We test our predictions with detailed numerical simulations in 1+1-dimensions. We see a zoo of oscillons emerging from the simulations, including the usual small amplitude "sech" oscillons as well as large "flat-topped" oscillons. The emergent oscillons account for approximately 80 per cent of the energy density of the inflaton.
We present NICMOS J110 (rest-frame 1200-2100 A) observations of the three z=5.7 Lyman Alpha emitters discovered in the blind multislit spectroscopic survey by Martin et al. (2008). These images confirm the presence of the two sources which were previously only seen in spectroscopic observations. The third source, which is undetected in our J110 observations has been detected in narrowband imaging of the Cosmic Origins Survey (COSMOS), so our nondetection implies a rest frame equivalent width >146 Angstroms (3 sigma). The two J110-- detected sources have more modest rest frame equivalent widths of 30-40 Angstroms, but all three are typical of high-redshift LAEs. In addition, the J110- detected sources have UV luminosities that are within a factor of two of L*_{UV}, and sizes that appear compact (r_{hl} ~ 0."15) in our NIC2 images -- consistent with a redshift of 5.7. We use these UV-continuum and Lyman Alpha measurements to estimate the i-z colors of these galaxies, and show that at least one, and possibly all three would be missed by the i-dropout LBG selection. These observations help demonstrate the utility of multislit narrowband spectroscopy as a technique for finding faint emission line galaxies.
The channeling of the ion recoiling after a collision with a WIMP changes the ionization signal in direct detection experiments, producing a larger signal than otherwise expected. We give estimates of the fraction of channeled recoiling ions in NaI (Tl) crystals using analytic models produced since the 1960's and 70's to describe channeling and blocking effects. We find that the channeling fraction of recoiling lattice nuclei is smaller than that of ions that are injected into the crystal and that it is strongly temperature dependent.
We consider an accretion-disc origin for the broad and luminous forbidden-line emission observed in ultraluminous X-ray (ULX) sources CXOJ033831.8-352604 and XMMU 122939.7+075333 in globular clusters hosted by elliptical galaxies NGC 1399 and NGC 4472, respectively. We will refer to the latter by the globular cluster name RZ2109. The first has strong [OIII] and [NII], the second only [OIII]. Both H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ are very weak or undetected in both objects. We assume that the large line widths are due to Keplerian rotation around a compact object and derive expressions for maximum line luminosities. These idealized models require central masses $\gtrsim100$ and $\gtrsim30000\Msun$ for CXOJ033831.8-352604 and RZ2109, respectively. An independent, bootstrap argument for the total disc mass yields, for both systems, $M_{\mathrm{disc}}\gtrsim10^{-4}\Msun$ for a purely metallic disc (and two orders of magnitude larger for solar metallicities). If Roche-lobe overflow is implicated, viscous time-scales are $\gtrsim300$ yr. Standard disc theory then offers another limit on the central masses. Lobe radii for a $\sim1\Msun$ donor are $\gtrsim10^{13}$ cm. We therefore rule out Roche-lobe overflow of a white dwarf in both systems. Red giants could fill the necessary lobes. Whether they are too metal-poor to produce the strong forbidden lines without strong hydrogen emission is unclear.
We report on multi-bands VLBA polarimetric observations of NRAO 530 in February 1997. Total intensity, EVPA distributions at all these frequencies are presented. Model fitting has been performed, from which the fitted southmost component A is confirmed as the core of the radio structure with relatively high brightness temperature and hard spectrum between 15 and 43 GHz in comparison with the central component B of dominant flux. The relatively high degree of polarization for the component A may arise from its complex radio structure, which is resolvable at 86 GHz. As a contrast, the component B shows a well fitted power-law spectrum with the spectral index of about -0.5, and a linear correlation between EVPAs and wavelength square with the observed RM of about -1062 rad m^{-2}, indicating its structural singleness. Assuming that the component B has a comparable degree of polarization without depolarization at these frequencies, the decrease in fractional polarization with wavelength mainly results from opacity and Faraday rotation, in which the opacity plays quite a large part of role. A spine-sheath like structure in fractional polarization is detected covering almost the whole emission region at 5 and 8 GHz. The linear polarization at 5 GHz shows 3 separate polarized emission regions with alternately aligned and orthogonal polarization vectors down the jet. The polarization goes to zero between the top two regions, with the highest polarization level occurring at the top and bottom. The 5 and 8 GHz images show EVPA changes across the width of the jet as well as along the jet. These complex polarimetric properties can be explained in terms of either the presence of a large helical magnetic field or tangled magnetic fields compressed and sheared down the jet.
We present and test a new halo finder based on the spherical overdensity (SO) method. This new adaptive spherical overdensity halo finder (ASOHF) is able to identify dark matter haloes and their substructures (subhaloes) down to the scales allowed by the analysed simulations. The code has been especially designed for the adaptive mesh refinement cosmological codes, although it can be used as a stand-alone halo finder for N-body codes. It has been optimised for the purpose of building the merger tree of the haloes. In order to verify the viability of this new tool, we have developed a set of bed tests that allows us to estimate the performance of the finder. Finally, we apply the halo finder to a cosmological simulation and compare the results obtained to those given by other well known publicly available halo finders.
The minimal bimetric theory employing a disformal transformation between matter and gravity metrics is known to produce exactly scale-invariant fluctuations. It has a purely equilateral non-Gaussian signal, with an amplitude smaller than that of DBI inflation (with opposite sign) but larger than standard inflation. We consider non-minimal bimetric models, where the coupling $B$ appearing in the disformal transformation ${\hat g}_{\mn}= g_{\mn} -B\partial_\mu\phi\partial_\nu\phi$ can run with $\phi$. For power-law $B(\phi)$ these models predict tilted spectra. For each value of the spectral index, a distinctive distortion to the equilateral property can be found. The constraint between this distortion and the spectral index can be seen as a "consistency relation" for non-minimal bimetric models.
We propose a new method for cosmological parameters extraction using the baryon acoustic oscillation scale as a standard ruler in deep galaxy surveys with photometric determination of redshifts. The method consists in a simple empirical parametric fit to the angular 2-point correlation function w(theta). It is parametrized as a power law to describe the continuum plus a Gaussian to describe the BAO bump. The location of the Gaussian is used as the basis for the measurement of the sound horizon scale. This method, although simple, actually provides a robust estimation, since the inclusion of the power law and the use of the Gaussian removes the shifts which affect the local maximum. We discuss the effects of projection bias, non-linearities, redshift space distortions and photo-z precision, and apply our method to a mock catalog of the Dark Energy Survey, built upon a large N-body simulation provided by the MICE collaboration. We discuss the main systematic errors associated to our method and show that they are dominated by the photo-z uncertainty.
The observed dark matter phenomenon is attributed to the presence of a gas of wormholes. We show that due to topological polarization effects the background density of baryons generates non-vanishing values for wormhole rest masses. We infer basic formulas for the scattering section between baryons and wormholes and equations of motion. Such equations are then used for the kinetic and hydrodynamic description of the gas of wormholes. In the Newtonian approximation we consider the behavior of density perturbations and show that at very large distances wormholes behave exactly like heavy non-baryon particles, thus reproducing all features of CDM models. At smaller scales (at galaxies) wormholes strongly interact with baryons and cure the problem of cusps. We also show that collisions of wormholes and baryons lead to some additional damping of the Jeans instability in baryons.
The analytical treatment of lensing in the Einstein-Straus solution with positive cosmological constant by Kantowski et al. is compared to the numerical treatment by the present author. The agreement is found to be excellent.
One of the most intriguing open questions of today's astrophysics is the one concerning the location and the mechanisms for the production of MeV, GeV, and TeV gamma-rays in AGN jets. M87 is a privileged laboratory for a detailed study of the properties of jets, owing to its proximity, its massive black hole, and its conspicuous emission at radio wavelengths and above. We started on November 2009 a monitoring program with the e-EVN at 5 GHz, during which two episodes of activity at energy E > 100 GeV have occured. We present here results of these multi-epoch observations. The inner jet and HST-1 are both detected and resolved in our datasets. One of these observations was obtained at the same day of the first high energy flare. A clear change in the proper motion velocity of HST-1 is present at the epoch ~2005.5. In the time range 2003 -- 2005.5 the apparent velocity is subluminal, and superluminal (~ 2.7c) after 2005.5.
Recent work based on a global measurement of the ICM properties find evidence for an increase of the iron abundance in galaxy clusters with temperature around 2-4 keV up to a value about 3 times larger than that typical of very hot clusters. We have started a study of the metal distribution in these objects from the sample of Baumgartner et al. (2005), aiming at resolving spatially the metal content of the ICM. We report here on a 42ks XMM observation of the first object of the sample, the cluster Abell 2028. The XMM observation reveals a complex structure of the cluster over scale of 300 kpc, showing an interaction between two sub-clusters in cometary-like configurations. At the leading edges of the two substructures cold fronts have been detected. The core of the main subcluster is likely hosting a cool corona. We show that a one-component fit for this region returns a biased high metallicity. This inverse iron bias is due to the behavior of the fitting code in shaping the Fe-L complex. In presence of a multi-temperature structure of the ICM, the best-fit metallicity is artificially higher when the projected spectrum is modeled with a single temperature component and it is not related to the presence of both Fe-L and Fe-K emission lines in the spectrum. After accounting for the bias, the overall abundance of the cluster is consistent with the one typical of hotter, more massive clusters. We caution the interpretation of high abundances inferred when fitting a single thermal component to spectra derived from relatively large apertures in 3-4 keV clusters, because the inverse iron bias can be present. Most of the inferences trying to relate high abundances in 3-4 keV clusters to fundamental physical processes will likely have to be revised.
The stability of an Einstein static universe in the DGP braneworld scenario is studied in this paper. Two separate branches denoted by $\epsilon=\pm1$ of the DGP model are analyzed. Assuming the existence of a perfect fluid with a constant equation of state, $w$, in the universe, we find that, for the branch with $\epsilon=1$, there is no a stable Einstein static solution, while, for the case with $\epsilon=-1$, the Einstein static universe exists and it is stable when $-1<w<-1/3$. Thus, the universe can stay at this stable state past-eternally and may undergo a series of infinite, non-singular oscillations. Therefore, the big bang singularity problem in the standard cosmological model can be resolved.
We investigate the merger of a neutron star (of compaction ratio $0.1$) in orbit about a spinning black hole in full general relativity with a mass ratio of $5:1$, allowing for the star to have an initial magnetization of $10^{12} {\rm Gauss}$. We present the resulting gravitational waveform and analyze the fallback accretion as the star is disrupted. The evolutions suggest no significant effects from the initial magnetization. We find that only a negligible amount of matter becomes unbound; $99\%$ of the neutron star material has a fallback time of 10 seconds or shorter to reach the region of the central engine and that $99.99\%$ of the star will interact with the central disk and black hole within 3 hours.
Single-zone synchrotron self-Compton and external Compton models are widely used to explain broad-band Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs) of blazars from infrared to gamma-rays. These models bear obvious similarities to the homogeneous synchrotron cloud model which is often applied to explain radio emission from individual components of parsec-scale radio jets. The parsec-scale core, typically the brightest and most compact feature of blazar radio jet, could be the source of high-energy emission. We report on ongoing work to test this hypothesis by deriving the physical properties of parsec-scale radio emitting regions of twenty bright Fermi blazars using dedicated 5-43 GHz VLBA observations and comparing these parameters to results of SED modeling.
We consider a minimal model of GUT scalar dark matter (DM) stabilized by the discrete gauge matter parity $P_{X}$ that arises from breaking of $SO(10)$. The dark sector comprises the complex singlet $S$ and the inert doublet $H_{2}$. GUT scale parameters are evaluated to the electroweak scale via Renormalization Group Equations (RGEs). Experimental and theoretical constraints limit the DM mass to the 80 GeV to 2 TeV range. The EW symmetry breaking is radiative and can occur via RGE running and 1-loop matching corrections from integrating out DM. Because the next-to-lightest scalar is almost degenerate with DM, it gives a background free displaced decay vertex at the LHC.
In this work it is investigated general models with interactions between two canonical scalar fields and between one non-canonical (tachyon-type) and one canonical scalar field. The potentials and couplings to the gravity are selected through the Noether symmetry approach. These general models are employed to describe interactions between dark energy and dark matter, with the fields being constrained by the astronomical data. The cosmological solutions of some cases are compared with the observed evolution of the late Universe.
Direction sensitive direct detection of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) as Dark matter would provide an unambiguous non-gravitational signature of Dark Matter (DM). The diurnal variation of DM signal due to earth's rotation around its own axis can be a significant signature for galactic WIMPs. Because of particular orientation of earth's axis of rotation with respect to WIMP wind direction, the apparent direction of WIMP wind as observed at a detector can alter widely over a day. In this work we calculate the directional detection rates with their daily and yearly modulations in a earth-bound dark matter experiments considering detailed features of the geometry and dynamics of the earth-sun system along with the solar motion in galactic frame. We demonstrate the results for two types of gas detectors namely DRIFT (target material CS2) and NEWAGE (target material CF4) that use Time Projection Chamber techniques for measuring directionality of the recoil nucleus.
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We study the growth of massive black holes (BH) in galaxies using smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations of major galaxy mergers with new implementations of BH accretion and feedback. The effect of BH accretion on gas in its host galaxy is modeled by depositing momentum at a rate ~ tau L/c into the ambient gas, where L is the luminosity produced by accretion onto the BH and tau is the wavelength-averaged optical depth of the galactic nucleus to the AGN's radiation (a free parameter of our model). The accretion rate onto the BH is relatively independent of our subgrid accretion model and is instead determined by the BH's dynamical impact on its host galaxy: BH accretion is thus self-regulated rather than `supply limited.' We show that the final BH mass and total stellar mass formed during a merger are more robust predictions of the simulations than the time dependence of the star formation rate or BH accretion rate. In particular, the latter depend on the assumed interstellar medium physics, which determines when and where the gas fragments to form star clusters; this in turn affects the fuel available for further star formation and BH growth. Simulations over a factor of ~ 30 in galaxy mass are consistent with the observed M_BH-sigma relation for a mean optical depth of tau ~ 25. This requires that most BH growth occur when the galactic nucleus is optically thick to far-infrared radiation, consistent with the hypothesized connection between ultra-luminous infrared galaxies and quasars. We find tentative evidence for a shallower M_BH-sigma relation in the lowest mass galaxies, sigma < 100 km/s. Our results demonstrate that feedback-regulated BH growth and consistency with the observed M_BH-sigma relation do not require that BH feedback terminate star formation in massive galaxies or unbind large quantities of cold gas.
In addition to shear and vorticity a homogeneous background may also exhibit anisotropic curvature. Here a class of spacetimes is shown to exist where the anisotropy is solely of the latter type, and the shear-free condition is supported by a canonical, massless 2-form field. A distortion of the luminosity distances is derived and used to test the model against supernovae and the CMB.
Dark energy is now one of the most important and topical problems in cosmology. The first step to reveal its nature is to detect the evolution of dark energy or to prove beyond doubt that the cosmological constant is indeed constant. However, in the standard approach to cosmology, the Universe is described by the homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann models and nearly all sets of cosmological observations are analyzed within the framework of the homogeneous models. This paper shows that in the perturbed universe (even if perturbations vanish if averaged over sufficiently large scale) the distance relation is not the same as in the unperturbed universe. This has a serious consequence when studying the nature of dark energy, and as shown here can impair the analysis and studies of dark energy. An example of the Swiss-Cheese model is presented and it is shown that perturbations (even if <\delta\rho> =0) do affect observations and that the perturbed distance relation does not oscillate around the unperturbed value. Therefore, if future observations are analyzed only within the homogeneous framework then the impact of inhomogeneities (such as voids and superclusters) can be mistaken for evolving dark energy.
We use the redshift Hubble parameter $H(z)$ data derived from relative galaxy ages, distant type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) peak, and the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) shift parameter data, to constrain cosmological parameters in the Undulant Universe. We marginalize the likelihood functions over $h$ by integrating the probability density $P\propto e^{-\chi^2/2}$. By using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique, we obtain the best fitting results and give the confidence regions on the $b-\Omega_{\rm m0}$ plane. Then we compare their constraints. Our results show that the $H(z)$ data play a similar role with the SNe Ia data in cosmological study. By presenting the independent and joint constraints, we find that the BAO and CMB data play very important roles in breaking the degeneracy compared with the $H(z)$ and SNe Ia data alone. Combined with the BAO or CMB data, one can improve the constraints remarkably. The SNe Ia data sets constrain $\Omega_{\rm m0}$ much tighter than the $H(z)$ data sets, but the $H(z)$ data sets constrain $b$ much tighter than the SNe Ia data sets. All these results show that the Undulant Universe approaches the $\Lambda \rm$CDM model. We expect more $H(z)$ data to constrain cosmological parameters in future.
By analyzing Chandra X-ray data of a sample of 21 galaxy groups and 19 galaxy clusters, we find that in 31 sample systems there exists a significant central ($R^{<}_{\sim} 10h_{71}^{-1}$ kpc) gas entropy excess ($\Delta K_{0}$), which corresponds to $\simeq 0.1-0.5$ keV per gas particle, beyond the power-law model that best fits the radial entropy profile of outer regions. We also find a distinct correlation between the central entropy excess $\Delta K_{0}$ and $K$-band luminosity $L_{K}$ of the central dominating galaxies (CDGs), which is scaled as $\Delta K_{0} \propto L_{K}^{1.6\pm0.4}$, where $L_{K}$ is tightly associated with the mass of the supermassive black hole hosted in the CDG. In fact, if an effective mass-to-energy conversion-efficiency of 0.02 is assumed for the accretion process, the cumulative AGN feedback $E^{\rm AGN}_{\rm feedback} \simeq \eta M_{\rm BH}c^{2}$ yields an extra heating of $\simeq 0.5-17.0$ keV per particle, which is sufficient to explain the central entropy excess. In most cases the AGN contribution can compensate the radiative loss of the X-ray gas within the cooling radius ($\simeq 0.002-2.2$ keV per particle), and apparently exceeds the energy required to deviate the scaling relations from the self-similar predictions ($\simeq 0.2-1.0$ keV per particle). In contrast to the AGN feedback, the extra heating provided by supernova explosions accounts for $\simeq 0.01-0.08$ keV per particle in groups and is almost negligible in clusters. Therefore, the observed correlation between $\Delta K_{0}$ and $L_{K}$ can be considered as a direct evidence for AGN feedback in galaxy groups and clusters.
Earth-mass dark matter microhalos with size of $\sim$ 100 AUs are the first structures formed in the universe, if we consider neutralino as the dark matter candidate. Early studies suggested that a noticeable fraction of microhalos born in early universe have survived up to present time and they might be observed as the dominant sources of the annihilation signal. On the other hand, others claimed that small-scale structure have a negligible impact on dark matter detectability. Here, we report the results of ultra-high-resolution simulation of the formation and evolution of these microhalos. We found that microhalos have the central density cusp of the form $\rho \propto r^{-1.5}$, much steeper than the cusp of larger dark halos. The very central regions of these microhalos survive the encounters with stars down to the radius of a few kpcs from the galactic center. The nearest microhalos at distance of $\sim$ 0.1 pc, might be visible as point sources (radius less than 1'), with proper motion of $\sim 0.2$ degree per year. Subhalos are also observable by boosts due to microhalos. Also, we might be able to use the millisecond pulsar timing measurements by PPTA to detect microhalos.
We propose that synchronized triggering of star formation in gas-rich galaxies is possible during major mergers of cluster of galaxies, based on new numerical simulations of the time evolution of the physical properties of the intracluster medium (ICM) during such a merger event. Our numerical simulations show that the external pressure of the ICM in which cluster member galaxies are embedded, can increase significantly during cluster merging. As such, efficient star formation can be triggered in gas-rich members as a result of the strong compression of their cold gas by the increased pressure. We also suggest that these star-forming galaxies can subsequently be transformed into poststarburst galaxies, with their spatial distribution within the cluster being different to the rest of its population. We discuss whether this possible merger-induced enhancement in the number of star-forming and post-star-forming cluster galaxies is consistent with the observed evolution of galaxies in merging clusters.
The mass function of galaxy clusters and their redshift distribution are computed for 12 distinct accelerating cosmological scenarios and confronted to the predictions of the conventional flat $\Lambda$CDM model. The comparison with $\Lambda$CDM is a two-step process. Firstly, we determine the free parameters of all models through a joint analysis involving the latest cosmological data from SNe type Ia, CMB shift parameter and BAO. Apart from a brane world inspired cosmology, it is found that the derived Hubble relation of the remaining models reproduce the $\Lambda$CDM results approximately with the same degree of statistical confidence. Secondly, in order to distinguish the different models from the expectations of $\Lambda$CDM, we discuss the predicted cluster redshift distribution on the basis of two future cluster surveys: (i)an X-ray survey based on the {\tt eROSITA} satellite, and (ii) a Sunayev-Zeldovich survey based on the Southern Polar Telescope. As a result, we find that the predictions of 6 out of 12 dark energy models can be clearly distinguished from the $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, only 1 of them can probably be distinguished, while 5 models are statistically equivalent to $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, as long as the expected cluster mass function and redshift distribution are concerned. The present analysis suggest that such a technique appears to be very competitive to independent tests probing the late time evolution of the Universe and the associated dark energy effects.
Recent studies of lensing clusters reveal that it might be fairly common for a galaxy cluster that the X-ray center has an obvious offset from its gravitational center which is measured by strong lensing. We argue that if these offsets exist, then X-rays and lensing are indeed measuring different regions of a cluster, and may thus naturally result in a discrepancy in the measured gravitational masses by the two different methods. Here we investigate theoretically the dynamical effects of such lensing-X-ray offsets, and compare with observational data. We find that for typical values, the offset alone can give rise to a factor of two difference between the lensing and X-ray determined masses for the core regions of a cluster, suggesting that such "offset effect" may play an important role and should not be ignored in our dynamical measurements of clusters.
We compute time delays for gravitational lensing in a flat LambdaCDM Swiss cheese universe. We assume a primary and secondary pair of light rays are deflected by a single point mass condensation described by a Kottler metric (Schwarzschild with Lambda) embedded in an otherwise homogeneous cosmology. We find that the cosmological constant's effect on the difference in arrival times is non-linear and at most around 0.002% for a large cluster lens; however, we find differences from time delays predicted by conventional linear lensing theory that can reach ~4% for these large lenses. The differences in predicted delay times are due to the failure of conventional lensing to incorporate the lensing mass into the mean mass density of the universe.
Directional detection is a promising search strategy to discover galactic Dark Matter. 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. Even though the goal of directional search is to identify a WIMP positive detection, exclusion limits are still needed for very low exposure with a rather large background contamination, such as the one obtained with prototype experiments. Data of directional detectors are composed of energy and 3D track of recoiling nuclei. However, to set robust exclusion limits, we focus on the angular part of the event distribution, arguing that the energy part of the WIMP distribution is featureless and may even be mimic by the background one. Then, as the angular distributions of both background and WIMP events are known, a Bayesian approach to set exclusion limits is possible. In this paper, a statistical method based on an extended likelihood is proposed, compared to existing ones and is shown to be optimal. Eventually, a comprehensive study of the effect of detector configuration on exclusion limits is presented. It includes the effect of having or not sense recognition, a finite angular resolution, taking into account energy threshold as well as some astrophysical uncertainties.
A space-based galaxy redshift survey would have enormous power in constraining dark energy and testing general relativity, provided that its parameters are suitably optimized. We study viable space-based galaxy redshift surveys, exploring the dependence of the Dark Energy Task Force (DETF) figure-of-merit (FoM) on redshift accuracy, redshift range, survey area, target selection, and forecast method. Fitting formulae are provided for convenience. We also consider the dependence on the information used: the full galaxy power spectrum P(k), P(k) marginalized over its shape, or just the Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO). We find that the inclusion of growth rate information (extracted using redshift space distortion and galaxy clustering amplitude measurements) leads to a factor of ~ 3 improvement in the FoM, assuming general relativity is not modified. This inclusion partially compensates for the loss of information when only the BAO are used to give geometrical constraints, rather than using the full P(k) as a standard ruler. We find that a space-based galaxy redshift survey covering ~20,000 sq deg over 0.5 < z < 2 with \sigma_z/(1+z)<= 0.001 exploits a redshift range that is only easily accessible from space, extends to sufficiently low redshifts to allow both a vast 3-D map of the universe using a single tracer population, and overlaps with ground-based surveys to enable robust modeling of systematic effects. We argue that these parameters are close to their optimal values given current instrumental and practical constraints.
Understanding the escape fraction, f_esc, of ionizing photons from early galaxies gives an important constraint on the sources that reionize the universe. Previous attempts to measure f_esc have found a wide range of values, varying from less than 0.01 to nearly 1. Rather than try to find an exact value of f_esc, we seek to clarify how internal properties of the galaxy affect f_esc through: (1) the density and distribution of neutral hydrogen within the galaxy; (2) the number of ionizing photons produced per time; (3) how the neutral medium is clumped. Fewer, higher density clumps lead to a greater value of f_esc than many less dense clumps. Populations of stars that increase the number of ionizing photons produced (such as metal-free or more massive stars or disks with a high star-formation efficiency) increase f_esc because the angle out of the disk that photons can escape is increased, allowing more photons to escape. For halos formed at higher redshifts, f_esc also decreases since halos are more dense, assuming no change in stellar population over redshift. We also find that galaxy mass does not affect the escape fraction, as long as the star-formation efficiency is constant. Finally, populations of galaxies made up of only high mass galaxies have a harder time to reionize the universe, especially at high redshifts, because the f_esc needed is above 1.
We present an abundance analysis based on high resolution spectra of 10 stars
selected to span the full range in metallicity in the Ursa Minor dwarf
spheroidal galaxy. We find [Fe/H] for the sample stars ranges from -1.35 to
-3.10 dex and establish the trends of the abundance ratios [X/Fe]. In key
cases, particularly for the alpha-elements, these resemble those for stars in
the outer part of the Galactic halo, especially at the lowest metallicities
probed. The n-capture elements show a r-process distribution over the full
range of Fe-metallicity. This suggests that the duration of star formation in
the UMi dSph was shorter than in other dSph galaxies. The derived ages for a
larger sample of UMi stars with more uncertain metallicities also suggest a
population dominated by uniformly old (~13 Gyr) stars, with a hint of an
age-metallicity relationship.
In comparing our results for UMi, our earlier work in Draco, and published
studies of more metal-rich dSph Galactic satellites, there appears to be a
pattern of moving from a chemical inventory for dSph giants with [Fe/H] < -2
dex which is very similar to that of stars in the outer part of the Galactic
halo (enhanced alpha/Fe relative to the Sun, coupled with subsolar [X/Fe] for
the heavy neutron capture elements and r-process domination), switching to
subsolar alpha-elements and super-solar s-process dominated neutron capture
elements for the highest [Fe/H] dSph stars. The combination of low star
formation rates over a varying and sometimes extended duration that produced
the stellar populations in the local dSph galaxies with [Fe/H] > -1.5 dex leads
to a chemical inventory wildly discrepant from that of any component of the
Milky Way.
We present a search for galaxies at 7.5<z<10 using the latest HST WFC3 near-infrared data, based on the Lyman-break technique. We search for galaxies which have large (Y-J) colours (Y-drops) on account of the Lyman-alpha forest absorption, and with (J-H) colours inconsistent with being low-redshift contaminants. We identify 22 candidates at redshift z~8-9 over an area of ~50 square arcminutes. Previous searches for Y-drops with WFC3 have focussed only on the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), and our larger survey (involving two other nearby deep fields and a wider area survey) has trebelled the number of robust Y-drop candidates. For the first time, we have sufficient Z~8-9 galaxies to fit a both phi* and M* of the UV Schechter luminosity function. There is evidence for evolution in this luminosity function from z=6-7 to z=8-9, in the sense that there are fewer UV-bright galaxies at z~8-9, consistent with an evolution mainly in M*. The candidate z~8-9 galaxies we detect have insufficient ionizing flux to reionize the Universe, and it is probable that galaxies below our detection limit provide a significant UV contribution. The faint-end slope, alpha, is not well constrained. However, adopting a similiar faint-end slope to that determined at z=3-6 (alpha=-1.7) and a Salpeter IMF, then the ionizing photon budget still falls short if f_esc<0.5, even integrating down to M_UV=-8. A steeper faint end slope or a low-metallicity population (or a top-heavy IMF) might still provide sufficient photons for star-forming galaxies to reionize the Universe, but confirmation of this might have to await the James Webb Space Telescope.
We present a new analysis of the motion of broad line region (BLR) clouds in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) taking into account the combined influence of gravity and radiation pressure force. We calculate cloud orbits under a large range of conditions and include the effect of a changing column density as a function of location. The dependence of radiation pressure force on the level of ionization and the column density are accurately computed. The main results are: a. The mean cloud location r(BLR) and the line widths (FWHMs) are combined in such a way that the simple virial mass estimate, r{BLR} FWHM^2/G, gives a reasonable approximation to the black hole mass M even when radiation pressure force is important. The reason is that L/M rather than L is the main parameter affecting the planar cloud motion. b. Reproducing the observed mean radius, FWHM and intensity of H-beta and CIV 1549 requires at least two different populations of clouds. c. The cloud location is a function of both L^{1/2} and L/M. Given this we suggest a new approximation for r(BLR) which, when inserted into the BH mass equation, results in a new approximation for M. The new expression involves L^{1/2}, FWHM and two constants that are obtained from a comparison with available M-sigma mass estimates. It deviates only slightly from the old mass estimate at all luminosities. d. The quality of present black hole mass estimators depends, critically, on the way the present M-sigma AGN sample (16 objects) represents the AGN population, in particular the distribution of Eddington ratios.
Detecting the dark matter annihilation signal from Galactic substructure, or subhalos, is an important challenge for high-energy gamma-ray experiments. In this paper we discuss detection prospects by combining two different aspects of the gamma-ray signal: the angular distribution and the photon counts probability distribution function (PDF). The true PDF from subhalos has been shown recently (by Lee et al.) to deviate from Poisson; we extend this analysis and derive the signal PDF from a detailed Lambda-CDM-based model for the properties of subhalos. We combine our PDF with a model for Galactic and extra-Galactic diffuse gamma-ray emission to obtain an estimator and projected error on dark matter particle properties (mass and annihilation cross section) using the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. We compare the estimator obtained from the true PDF to that obtained from the simpler Poisson analysis. We find that, although both estimators are unbaised in the presence of backgrounds, the error on dark matter properties derived from the true PDF is ~45% smaller than when utilizing the Poisson-based analysis.
We present corrections to the Schlegel, Finkbeiner, Davis (SFD98) reddening maps over the Sloan Digital Sky Survey northern Galactic cap area. To find these corrections, we employ what we dub the "standard crayon" method, in which we use passively evolving galaxies as color standards by which to measure deviations from the reddening map. We select these passively evolving galaxies spectroscopically, using limits on the H alpha and O II equivalent widths to remove all star-forming galaxies from the SDSS main galaxy catalog. We find that by correcting for known reddening, redshift, color-magnitude relation, and variation of color with environmental density, we can reduce the scatter in color to below 3% in the bulk of the 151,637 galaxies we select. Using these galaxies we construct maps of the deviation from the SFD98 reddening map at 4.5 degree resolution, with 1-sigma error of ~ 1.5 millimagnitudes E(B-V). We find that the SFD98 maps are largely accurate with most of the map having deviations below 3 millimagnitudes E(B-V), though some regions do deviate from SFD98 by as much as 50%. The maximum deviation found is 45 millimagnitudes in E(B-V), and spatial structure of the deviation is strongly correlated with the observed dust temperature, such that SFD98 underpredicts reddening in regions of low dust temperature. Our maps of these deviations, as well as their errors, are made available to the scientific community as supplemental correction to SFD98 at this http URL
We derive an analytic formula using the Mueller matrix formalism that parameterizes the non-idealities of a half-wave plate (HWP) made from dielectric AR-coated birefringent slabs. This model accounts for frequency-dependent effects at normal incidence, including effects driven by the reflections at dielectric boundaries. The model also may be used to guide the characterization of an instrument that uses a HWP. We discuss the coupling of a HWP to different source spectra, and the potential impact of that effect on foreground removal for the SPIDER CMB experiment. We also describe a way to use this model in a map-making algorithm that fully corrects for HWP non-idealities.
We study FRW cosmology for a non-linear modified F(R) Horava-Lifshitz gravity which has a viable convenient counterpart. A unified description of early-time inflation and late-time acceleration is possible in this theory, but the cosmological dynamic details are generically different from the ones of the convenient viable F(R) model. Remarkably, for some specific choice of parameters they do coincide. The emergence of finite-time future singularities is investigated in detail. It is shown that these singularities can be cured by adding an extra, higher-derivative term, which turns out to be qualitatively different when compared with the corresponding one of the convenient F(R) theory.
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