Galaxy clusters, the largest gravitationally bound objects in the Universe, are thought to grow by accreting mass from their surroundings through large-scale virial shocks. Due to electron acceleration in such a shock, it should appear as a gamma-ray, hard X-ray, and radio ring, elongated towards the large-scale filaments feeding the cluster, coincident with a cutoff in the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) signal. However, no such signature was found so far, and the very existence of cluster virial shocks has remained a theory. We report the discovery of a large, ~5 Mpc diameter gamma-ray ring around the Coma cluster, elongated towards the large scale filament connecting Coma and Abell 1367. The gamma-ray ring correlates both with a synchrotron signal and with the SZ cutoff. The gamma-ray, hard-X-ray, and radio signatures agree with analytic and numerical predictions, if the shock deposits a few percent of the thermal energy in relativistic electrons over a Hubble time, and ~1% of the energy in magnetic fields. The implied inverse-Compton and synchrotron cumulative emission from similar shocks dominates the diffuse extragalactic gamma-ray and low frequency radio backgrounds. Our results reveal the prolate structure of the hot gas in Coma, the feeding pattern of the cluster, and properties of the surrounding large scale voids and filaments. The anticipated detection of such shocks around other clusters would provide a powerful new cosmological probe.
The concentration-mass relation for dark matter-dominated halos is one of the essential results expected from a theory of structure formation. We present a simple prediction scheme, a cosmic emulator, for the c-M relation as a function of cosmological parameters for wCDM models. The emulator is constructed from 37 individual models, with three nested N-body gravity-only simulations carried out for each model. The mass range covered by the emulator is 2 x 10^{12} M_sun < M <10^{15} M_sun with a corresponding redshift range of z=0 -1. Over this range of mass and redshift, as well as the variation of cosmological parameters studied, the mean halo concentration varies from c ~ 2 to c ~ 8. The distribution of the concentration at fixed mass is Gaussian with a standard deviation of one-third of the mean value, almost independent of cosmology, mass, and redshift over the ranges probed by the simulations. We compare results from the emulator with previously derived heuristic analytic fits for the c-M relation, finding that they underestimate the halo concentration at high masses. Using the emulator to investigate the cosmology dependence of the c-M relation over the currently allowable range of values, we find -- not surprisingly -- that \sigma_8 and \omega_m influence it considerably, but also that the dark energy equation of state parameter, w, has a substantial effect. In general, the concentration of lower-mass halos is more sensitive to changes in cosmological parameters as compared to cluster mass halos.
We present the first 3D simulations to include the effects of dark matter annihilation feedback during the collapse of primordial mini-halos. We begin our simulations from cosmological initial conditions and account for dark matter annihilation in our treatment of the chemical and thermal evolution of the gas. The dark matter is modelled using an analytical density profile that responds to changes in the peak gas density. We find that the gas can collapse to high densities despite the additional energy input from the dark matter. No objects supported purely by dark matter annihilation heating are formed in our simulations. However, we find that the dark matter annihilation heating has a large effect on the evolution of the gas following the formation of the first protostar. Previous simulations without dark matter annihilation found that protostellar discs around Population III stars rapidly fragmented, forming multiple protostars that underwent mergers or ejections. When dark matter annihilation is included, however, these discs become stable to radii of 1000 AU or more. In the cases where fragmentation does occur, it is a wide binary that is formed.
Bent-double radio sources have been used as a probe to measure the density of intergalactic gas in galaxy groups. We carry out a series of high-resolution, 3D simulations of AGN jets moving through an external medium with a constant density in order to develop a general formula for the radius of curvature of the jets, and to determine how accurately the density of the intra-group medium (IGM) can be measured. Our simulations produce curved jets ending in bright radio lobes with an extended trail of low surface brightness radio emission. The radius of curvature of the jets varies with time by only about 25%. The radio trail seen in our simulations is typically not detected in known sources, but may be detectable in lower resolution radio observations. The length of this tail can be used to determine the age of the AGN. We also use our simulation data to derive a formula for the kinetic luminosity of observed jets in terms of the radius of curvature and jet pressure. In characterizing how well observations can measure the IGM density, we find that the limited resolution of typical radio observations leads to a systematic under-estimate of the density of about 50%. The unknown angles between the observer and the direction of jet propagation and direction of AGN motion through the IGM leads to an uncertainty of about 50% in estimates of the IGM density. Previous conclusions drawn using these sources, indicating that galaxy groups contain significant reservoirs of baryons in their IGM, are still valid when considering this level of uncertainty. In addition, we model the X-ray emission expected from bent-double radio sources. We find that known sources in reasonably dense environments should be detectable in ~100 ks Chandra observations. X-ray observations of these sources would place constraints on the IGM density and AGN velocity that are complementary to radio observations.
In the era of precision cosmology the Virgo cluster takes on a new role in the cosmic distance scale. Its traditional role of testing the consistency of secondary distance indicators is replaced by an ensemble of distance measurements within the Local Supercluster united by a velocity field model obtained from redshift survey based reconstruction. WMAP leads us to see the Hubble Constant as one of six parameters in a standard model of cosmology with considerable covariance between parameters. Independent experiments, such as WMAP and the HST Key Project (and their successors) constrain these parameters.
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features dominate the mid-infrared spectra of star-forming galaxies and can be useful to calibrate star formation rates and diagnose ionized states of grains. However, the PAH 3.3 micron feature has not been studied as much as other PAH features since it is weaker than others and resides outside of Spitzer capability. In order to detect and calibrate the 3.3 micron PAH emission and investigate its potential as a star formation rate indicator, we carried out an AKARI mission program, AKARI mJy Unbiased Survey of Extragalactic Survey (AMUSES) and compare its sample with various literature samples. We obtained 2 ~5 micron low resolution spectra of 20 flux-limited galaxies with mixed SED classes, which yields the detection of the 3.3 micron PAH emission from three out of 20 galaxies. For the combined sample of AMUSES and literature samples, the 3.3 micron PAH luminosities correlate with the infrared luminosities of star-forming galaxies, albeit with a large scatter (1.5 dex). The correlation appears to break down at the domain of ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), and the power of the 3.3 micron PAH luminosity as a proxy for the infrared luminosity is hampered at log[L(PAH3.3)/(erg/sec)] > -42.0. Possible origins for this deviation in the correlation are discussed, including contribution from AGN and strongly obscured YSOs, and the destruction of PAH molecules in ULIRGs.
We apply the Wiener Hermite (WH) expansion to the non-linear evolution of Large-Scale Structure, and obtain an approximate expression for the matter power spectrum in full order of the expansion. This method allows us to expand any random function in terms of an orthonormal bases in space of random functions in such a way that the first order of the expansion expresses the Gaussian distribution, and others are the deviation from the Gaussianity. It is proved that the Wiener Hermite expansion is mathematically equivalent with the $\Gamma$-expansion approach in the Renormalized Perturbation Theory (RPT). While an exponential behavior in the high-$k$ limit has been proved for the mass density and velocity fluctuations of Dark Matter in the RPT, we reprove the behavior in the context of the Wiener Hermite expansion using the result of Standard Perturbation Theory (SPT). We propose a new approximate expression for the matter power spectrum which interpolates the low-$k$ expression corresponding to 1-loop level in SPT and the high-$k$ expression obtained by taking a high-$k$ limit of the WH expansion. The validity of our prescription is specifically verified by comparing with the 2-loop solutions of the SPT. The proposed power spectrum agrees with the result of $N$-body simulation with the accuracy better than 1% or 2% in a range of the BAO scales, where the wave number is about $k= 0.2 \sim 0.4$ $h{\rm Mpc^{-1}}$ at $z=0.5-3.0$. This accuracy is comparable to or slightly less than the ones in the Closure Theory whose the fractional difference from N body result is within 1%. A merit of our method is that the computational time is very short because only single and double integrals are involved in our solution.
We analysed the optical and radio properties of lobe-dominated giant-sized (> 0.72 Mpc) radio quasars and compared the results with those derived for a sample of smaller radio sources to determine whether the large size of some extragalactic radio sources is related to the properties of their nuclei. We compiled the largest (to date) sample of giant radio quasars, including 24 new and 21 previously-known objects, and calculated a number of important parameters of their nuclei such as the black hole mass and the accretion rate. We conclude that giant radio quasars have properties similar to those of smaller size and that giant quasars do not have more powerful central engines than other radio quasars. The results obtained are consistent with evolutionary models of extragalactic radio sources which predict that giant radio quasars could be more evolved (aged) sources compared to smaller radio quasars. In addition we found out that the environment may play only a minor role in formation of large-scale radio structures.
We study the gravitational effect of non-self-annihilating dark matter on compact stellar objects. The self-interaction of condensate dark matter can give high accretion rate of dark matter onto stars. Phase transition to condensation state takes place when the dark matter density exceeds the critical value. A compact degenerate dark matter core is developed and alter the structure and stability of the stellar objects. Condensate dark matter admixed neutron stars is studied through the two-fuid TOV equation. The existence of condensate dark matter deforms the mass-radius relation of neutron stars and lower their maximum baryonic masses and radii. The possible effects on the Gamma-ray Burst rate in high redshift are discussed.
We study the relations between the multimodality of galaxy clusters drawn from the SDSS DR8 and the environment where they reside. We find that multimodal clusters reside in higher density environment than unimodal clusters. We determine morphological types of superclusters and show that clusters in superclusters of spider morphology have higher probabilities to have substructure and larger peculiar velocities of their main galaxies than clusters in superclusters of filament morphology. Our study shows the importance of the role of superclusters as high density environment which affects the properties of galaxy systems in them.
We present an inflationary model preceded by a bounce in a metric theory a l\'{a} $f(R)$ where $R$ is the scalar curvature of the space-time. The model is asymptotically de Sitter such that the gravitational action tends asymptotically to a Hilbert-Einstein action, therefore modified gravity affects only the early stages of the universe. We then analyse the spectrum of the gravitational waves through the method of the Bogoliubov coefficients by two means: taking into account the gravitational perturbations due to the modified gravitational action in the $f(R)$ setup and by simply considering those perturbations inherent to the standard Hilbert-Einstein action. We show that there are distinctive (oscillatory) signals on the spectrum for very low frequencies; i.e. corresponding to modes that are currently entering the horizon.
By way of expressing the Hubble expansion rate for the general Lema\^{i}tre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) metric as a function of cosmic time, we test the scale on which the Copernican Principle holds in the context of a void model. By performing parameter estimation on the CGBH void model, we show the Hubble parameter data favors a void with characteristic radius of $2 \sim 3$ Gpc. This brings the void model closer, but not yet enough, to harmony with observational indications given by the background kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and the normalization of near-infrared galaxy luminosity function. However, the test of such void models may ultimately lie in the future detection of the discrepancy between longitudinal and transverse expansion rates, a touchstone of inhomogeneous models. With the proliferation of observational Hubble parameter data and future large-scale structure observation, a definitive test could be performed on the question of cosmic homogeneity.
Atomic cooling haloes with T_vir > 10^4 K are the most plausible sites for the formation of the first galaxies. In this article, we aim to study the implications of gravity driven turbulence in protogalactic haloes. By varying the resolution per Jeans length, we explore whether the turbulent cascade is resolved well enough to obtain converged results. We have performed high resolution cosmological simulations using the adaptive mesh refinement code Enzo including a subgrid-scale turbulence model to study the role of unresolved turbulence. We compared the results of three different Jeans resolutions from 16 to 64 cells. While radially averaged profiles roughly agree at different resolutions, differences in the morphology reveal that even the highest resolution employed provides no convergence. Moreover, taking into account unresolved turbulence significantly influences the morphology of a halo. We have quantified the properties of the high-density clumps in the halo. These clumps are gravitationally unbound with temperature above 6000 K and densities of the order of 10^-12 gcm^-3. In general, the clumps with SGS turbulence are denser and more massive compared with their counterparts in the standard simulation setup that ignores unresolved turbulence.
We describe the La Silla-QUEST (LSQ) Variability Survey. LSQ is a dedicated wide-field synoptic survey in the Southern Hemisphere, focussing on the discovery and study of transients ranging from low redshift (z < 0.1) SN Ia, Tidal Disruption events, RR Lyr{\ae} variables, CVs, Quasars, TNOs and others. The survey utilizes the 1.0-m Schmidt Telescope of the European Southern Observatory at La Silla, Chile, with the large-area QUEST camera, a mosaic of 112 CCDs with field of view of 9.6 square degrees. The LSQ Survey was commissioned in 2009, and is now regularly covering ~1000 square deg per night with a repeat cadence of hours to days. The data are currently processed on a daily basis. We present here a first look at the photometric capabilities of LSQ and we discuss some of the most interesting recent transient detections.
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We use maximum entropy arguments to derive the phase space distribution of a
virialized dark matter halo. Our distribution function gives an improved
representation of the end product of violent relaxation. This is achieved by
incorporating physically motivated dynamical constraints (specifically on
orbital actions) which prevent arbitrary redistribution of energy.
We compare the predictions with three high-resolution dark matter simulations
of widely varying mass. The numerical distribution function is accurately
predicted by our argument, producing an excellent match for the vast majority
of particles.
The remaining particles constitute the central cusp of the halo (<4% of the
dark matter). They can be accounted for within the presented framework once the
short dynamical timescales of the centre are taken into account.
We compute the scale dependence of fNL for multi-field inflation model, allowing for an arbitrary field space metric. We show that, in addition to multi-field effects and self interactions, the curved field space metric provides another source of scale dependence, which arises from the field-space Riemann curvature tensor and its derivatives. The scale dependence may be detectable within the near future if the amplitude of fNL is not too far from the current observational bounds.
We discuss how different cosmological models of the Universe affect the probability that a background source has multiple images related by an angular distance $\theta_E$ of the line of sight, \textit{i. e.}, the optical depth of gravitational lensing. We examine some cosmological models for different values of the density parameter $\Omega_i$: i) the cold dark matter model, ii) the $\Lambda$CDM model, iii) the Bose-Einstein condensate dark matter model, iv) the Chaplygin gas model, v) the viscous fluid cosmological model and vi) the holographic dark energy model. We note that the dependence of the energy-matter content of the universe profoundly alters the frequency of multiple quasar image.
A fast transition between a standard matter-like era and a late $\Lambda$CDM-like epoch (or more in general, a CDM+DE era), generated by a single Unified Dark Matter component, can provide a new interesting paradigm in the context of general relativity, alternative to $\Lambda$CDM itself or other forms of DE or modified gravity theories invoked to explain the observed acceleration of the Universe. UDM models with a fast transition have interesting features, leading to measurable predictions, thus they should be clearly distinguishable from $\Lambda$CDM (and alternatives) through observations. Here we look at different ways of prescribing phenomenological UDM models with fast transition, then focusing on a particularly simple model. We analyse the viability of this model by studying features of the background model and properties of the adiabatic UDM perturbations, which depend on the effective speed of sound and the functional form of the Jeans scale. As a result, theoretical constraints on the parameters of the models are found that allow for a behaviour compatible with observations.
Unlike at lower redshift, where there is a 40% detection rate, surveys for 21-cm absorption arising within the hosts of z > 1 radio galaxies and quasars have been remarkably unsuccessful. Curran et al.(2008) suggest that this is due to the high redshift selection biasing towards the most optically bright objects (those most luminous in the ultra-violetin the rest-frame), where the gas is ionised by the active galactic nucleus. They therefore argue that there must be a population of fainter objects in which the hydrogen is not ionised and which exhibit a similar detection rate as at lower redshifts. In order to find this "missing" gas at high redshift, we have therefore undertaken a survey of z > 2 radio sources, selected by optical faintness. Despite having optical magnitudes which indicate that the targets have ultra-violet luminosities below the threshold where all of the gas is ionised, there were no detections in any of the eight sources for which useable data were obtained. Upon an analysis of the spectral energy distributions, ionising photon rates can only be determined for three of these, all of which suggest that the objects are above the highest luminosity of a current 21-cm detection. The possibility that the other five could be located at lower photon rates cannot be ruled out, although zero detections out of five is not statistically significant. Another possible cause of the non-detections is that our selection biases the sample towards sources which are very steep in the radio band, with a mean spectral index of = -1.0, cf. -0.3 for both the 21-cm detections and UV luminous non-detections. This adds the further possibility that the sources have very extended emission, which would have the effect of reducing the coverage by the putative absorbing gas, thus decreasing the sensitivity of the observation.
We describe a method to measure the M-sigma relation in the non-local universe using dust-obscured QSOs. We present results from a pilot sample of nine 2MASS red QSOs with redshifts 0.14<z<0.37. We find that there is an offset (0.8 dex, on average) between the position of our objects and the local relation for AGN, in the sense that the majority of red QSO hosts have lower velocity dispersions and/or more massive BHs than local galaxies. These results are in agreement with recent studies of AGN at similar and higher redshifts. This could indicate an unusually rapid growth in the host galaxies since z~0.2, if these objects were to land in the local relation at present time. However, the z>0.1 AGN (including our sample and those of previous studies) have significantly higher BH mass than those of local AGN, so a direct comparison is not straightforward. Further, using several samples of local and higher-z AGN, we find a striking trend of an increasing offset with respect to the local M-sigma relation as a function of AGN luminosity, with virtually all objects with log(L_5100/erg s^-1) > 43.6 falling above the relation. Given the relatively small number of AGN at z>0.1 for which there are direct measurements of stellar velocity dispersions, it is impossible at present to determine whether there truly is evolution in M-sigma with redshift. Larger, carefully selected samples of AGN are necessary to disentangle the dependence of M-sigma on mass, luminosity, accretion rates, and redshift.
We have performed the Fourier decomposition analysis of 8- and 13-year V-band light curves of a carefully selected sample of 454 fundamental-mode RR Lyrae variables (RRab type), detected in a 14 square degree area of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and listed in the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment, phase III, Catalogue of Variable Stars. The Fourier decomposition parameters were used to derive metal abundances and distance moduli, following the methodology described by Kapakos, Hatzidimitriou & Soszy\'nski. The average metal abundance of the RRab stars on the new scale of Carretta et al. was found to be <[Fe/H]C09> = -1.69pm0.41 dex (std, with a standard error of 0.02 dex). A tentative metallicity gradient of -0.013pm0.007 dex/kpc was detected, with increasing metal abundance towards the dynamical center of the SMC, but selection effects are also discussed. The distance modulus of the SMC was re-estimated and was found to be <\mu> = 19.13pm0.19 (std) in a distance scale where the distance modulus of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is \mu_LMC = 18.52pm0.06(std). The average 1-sigma line-of-sight depth was found to be sigma_int = 5.3pm0.4 kpc (std), while spatial variations of the depth were detected. The SMC was found to be deeper in the north-eastern region, while metal richer and metal poorer objects in the sample seem to belong to different dynamical structures. The former have smaller scale height and may constitute a thick disk, its width being 10.40pm0.02 kpc, and a bulge whose size (radius) is estimated to be 2.09pm0.81 kpc. The latter seem to belong to a halo structure with a maximum depth along the line of sight extending over 16 kpc in the SMC central region and falling to 12 kpc in the outer regions.
In this paper, we study the degeneracies among several cosmological parameters in detail and discuss their impacts on the determinations of these parameters from the current and future observations. By combining the latest data sets, including type-Ia supernovae "Union2.1" compilation, WMAP seven-year data and the baryon acoustic oscillations from the SDSS Data Release Seven, we perform a global analysis to determine the cosmological parameters, such as the equation of state of dark energy w, the curvature of the universe \Omega_k, the total neutrino mass \sum{m_\nu}, and the parameters associated with the power spectrum of primordial fluctuations (n_s, \alpha_s and r). We pay particular attention on the degeneracies among these parameters and the influences on their constraints, by with or without including these degeneracies, respectively. We find that $w$ and \Omega_k or \sum{m_\nu} are strongly correlated. Including the degeneracies will significantly weaken the constraints. Furthermore, we study the capabilities of future observations and find these degeneracies can be broken very well. Consequently, the constraints of cosmological parameters can be improved dramatically.
Gas outflows appear to be a phenomenon shared by the vast majority of quasars. Observations indicate that there is wide range in outflow prominence. In this paper we review how the 4D eigenvector 1 scheme helps to organize observed properties and lead to meaningful constraints on the outflow physical and dynamical processes.
This is a summary of my lectures during the 2011 IAC Winter School in Puerto de la Cruz. I give an introduction to the field of stellar populations in galaxies, and highlight some new results. Since the title of the Winter School was {\it Secular Evolution of Galaxies} I mostly concentrate on nearby galaxies, which are best suited to study this theme. Of course, the understanding of stellar populations is intimately connected to understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies, one of the great outstanding problems of astronomy. We are currently in a situation where very large observational advances have been made in recent years. Galaxies have been detected up to a redshift of 10. A huge effort has to be made so that stellar population theory can catch up with observations. Since most galaxies are far away, information about them has to come from stellar population synthesis of integrated light. Here I will discuss how stellar evolution theory, together with observations in our Milky Way and Local Group, are used as building blocks to analyze these integrated stellar populations.
This paper presents cosmological results from the final data release of the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. We perform full analyses of different cosmological models using the WiggleZ power spectra measured at z=0.22, 0.41, 0.60, and 0.78, combined with other cosmological datasets. The limiting factor in this analysis is the theoretical modelling of the galaxy power spectrum, including non-linearities, galaxy bias, and redshift-space distortions. In this paper we assess several different methods for modelling the theoretical power spectrum, testing them against the Gigaparsec WiggleZ simulations (GiggleZ). We fit for a base set of 6 cosmological parameters, {Omega_b h^2, Omega_CDM h^2, H_0, tau, A_s, n_s}, and 5 supplementary parameters {n_run, r, w, Omega_k, sum m_nu}. In combination with the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), our results are consistent with the LambdaCDM concordance cosmology, with a measurement of the matter density of Omega_m =0.29 +/- 0.016 and amplitude of fluctuations sigma_8 = 0.825 +/- 0.017. Using WiggleZ data with CMB and other distance and matter power spectra data, we find no evidence for any of the extension parameters being inconsistent with their LambdaCDM model values. The power spectra data and theoretical modelling tools are available for use as a module for CosmoMC, which we here make publicly available at this http URL We also release the data and random catalogues used to construct the baryon acoustic oscillation correlation function.
Recent indications from both particle physics and cosmology suggest the existence of more than three neutrino species. In cosmological analyses the effects of neutrino mass and number of species can in principle be disentangled for fixed cosmological parameters. However, since we do not have perfect measurements of the standard Lambda Cold Dark Matter model parameters some correlation remains between the neutrino mass and number of species, and both parameters should be included in the analysis. Combining the newest observations of several cosmological probes (cosmic microwave background, large scale structure, expansion rate) we obtain N_eff=3.58(+0.15/-0.16 at 68% CL) (+0.55/-0.53 at 95% CL) and a sum of neutrino masses of less than 0.60 eV (95 CL), which are currently the strongest constraints on N_eff and M_nu from an analysis including both parameters. The preference for N_eff >3 is now at a 2sigma level.
Using several cosmological observations, i.e. the cosmic microwave background anisotropies (WMAP), the weak gravitational lensing (CFHTLS), the measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations (SDSS+WiggleZ), the most recent observational Hubble parameter data, the Union2.1 compilation of type Ia supernovae, and the HST prior, we impose constraints on the sum of neutrino masses ($\mnu$), the effective number of neutrino species ($\neff$) and dark energy equation of state ($w$), individually and collectively. We find that a tight upper limit on $\mnu$ can be extracted from the full data combination, if $\neff$ and $w$ are fixed. However this upper bound is severely weakened if $\neff$ and $w$ are allowed to vary. This result naturally raises questions on the robustness of previous strict upper bounds on $\mnu$, ever reported in the literature. The best-fit values from our most generalized constraint read $\mnu=0.556^{+0.231}_{-0.288}\rm eV$, $\neff=3.839\pm0.452$, and $w=-1.058\pm0.088$ at 68% confidence level, which shows a firm lower limit on total neutrino mass, favors an extra light degree of freedom, and supports the cosmological constant model. The constraining ability of current weak lensing data is indeed helpful when $w=-1$ yet is of little help once $w$ is freed. The dataset of Hubble parameter gains numerous advantages over supernovae, when $w$ is fixed, particularly its illuminating power in constraining $\neff$. As long as $w$ is included as a free parameter, it is still the standardizable candles of type Ia supernovae that play the most dominant role in the parameter constraints.
We present a regular cubic lattice solution to Einstein field equations that is exact at second order in a small parameter. We show that this solution is kinematically equivalent to the Friedmann-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) solution with the same averaged energy density. This allows us to discuss the fitting problem in that framework: are observables along the past lightcone of observers equivalent to those in the analogue FLRW model obtained by smoothing spatially the distribution of matter? We find a criterion on the compacity of the objects that must be satisfied in order for the answer to this question to be positive and given by perturbative arguments. If this criterion is not met, the answer to this question must be addressed fully non perturbatively along the past lightcone, even though the spacetime geometry can be described perturbatively.
In this paper we consider scalar-tensor theories, allowing for both conformal and disformal couplings to a fluid with a generic equation of state. We derive the effective coupling for both background cosmology and for perturbations in that fluid. As an application we consider the scalar degree of freedom to be coupled to baryons and study the dynamics of the tightly coupled photon-baryon fluid in the early universe. We derive an expression for the effective speed of sound, which differs from its value in General Relativity. We apply our findings to the \mu-distortion of the cosmic microwave background radiation, which depends on the effective sound-speed of the photon-baryon fluid, and show that the predictions differ from General Relativity. Thus, the \mu-distortion provides further information about gravity in the very early universe well before decoupling.
We consider a model of preheating where the coupling of the inflaton to the preheat field is modulated by an additional scalar field which is light during inflation. We establish that such a model produces the observed curvature perturbation analogously to the modulated reheating scenario. The contribution of modulated preheating to the power spectrum and to non-Gaussianity can however be significantly larger compared to modulated perturbative reheating. We also consider the implications of the current constraints on isocurvature perturbations in case where the modulating field is responsible for cold dark matter. We find that existing bounds on CDM isocurvature perturbations imply that modulated preheating is unlikely to give a dominant contribution to the curvature perturbation and that the same bounds suggest important constraints on non-Gaussianity and the amount of primordial gravitational waves.
We present forecasts for the accuracy of determining the parameters of a minimal cosmological model and the total neutrino mass based on combined mock data for a future Euclid-like galaxy survey and Planck. We consider two different galaxy surveys: a spectroscopic redshift survey and a cosmic shear survey. We make use of the Monte Carlo Markov Chains (MCMC) technique and assume two sets of theoretical errors. The first error is meant to account for uncertainties in the modelling of the effect of neutrinos on the non-linear galaxy power spectrum and we assume this error to be fully correlated in Fourier space. The second error is meant to parametrize the overall residual uncertainties in modelling the non-linear galaxy power spectrum at small scales, and is conservatively assumed to be uncorrelated and to increase with the ratio of a given scale to the scale of non-linearity. It hence increases with wavenumber and decreases with redshift. With these two assumptions for the errors and assuming further conservatively that the uncorrelated error rises above 2% at k = 0.4 h/Mpc and z = 0.5, we find that a future Euclid-like cosmic shear/galaxy survey achieves a 1-sigma error on Mnu close to 32 meV/25 meV, sufficient for detecting the total neutrino mass with good significance. If the residual uncorrelated errors indeed rises rapidly towards smaller scales in the non-linear regime as we have assumed here then the data on non-linear scales does not increase the sensitivity to the total neutrino mass. Assuming instead a ten times smaller theoretical error with the same scale dependence, the error on the total neutrino mass decreases moderately from sigma(Mnu) = 18 meV to 14 meV when mildly non-linear scales with 0.1 h/Mpc < k < 0.6 h/Mpc are included in the analysis of the galaxy survey data.
We analyze whether there is any residual foreground contamination in the cleaned WMAP 7 years data for the differential assemblies, Q, V and W. We calculate the correlation between the foreground map, from which long wavelength correlations have been subtracted, and the foreground reduced map for each differential assembly after applying the Galaxy and point sources masks. We find positive correlations for all the differential assemblies, with high statistical significance. For Q and V, we find that a large fraction of the contamination comes from pixels where the foreground maps have positive values larger than three times the rms values. These findings imply the presence of residual contamination from Galactic emissions and unresolved point sources. We redo the analysis after masking the extended point sources cataloque of Scodeller et al. [7] and find a drop in the correlation and corresponding significance values. To quantify the effect of the residual contamination on the search for primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB we add estimated contaminant fraction to simulated Gaussian CMB maps and calculate the characteristic non-Gaussian deviation shapes of Minkowski Functionals that arise due to the contamination. We find remarkable agreement of these deviation shapes with those measured from WMAP data, which imply that a major fraction of the observed non-Gaussian deviation comes from residual foreground contamination. We also compute non-Gaussian deviations of Minkowski Functionals after applying the point sources mask of Scodeller et al. and find a decrease in the overall amplitudes of the deviations which is consistent with a decrease in the level of contamination.
Vorticity is ubiquitous in nature however, to date, studies of vorticity in cosmology and the early universe have been quite rare. In this paper, based on a talk in session CM1 of the 13th Marcel Grossmann Meeting, we consider vorticity generation from scalar cosmological perturbations of a perfect fluid system. We show that, at second order in perturbation theory, vorticity is sourced by a coupling between energy density and entropy gradients, thus extending a well-known feature of classical fluid dynamics to a relativistic cosmological framework. This induced vorticity, sourced by isocurvature perturbations, may prove useful in the future as an additional discriminator between inflationary models.
We present an analytical model of the relation between the surface density of gas and star formation rate in galaxies and clouds, as a function of the presence of supersonic turbulence and the associated structure of the interstellar medium. The model predicts a power-law relation of index 3/2, flattened under the effects of stellar feedback at high densities or in very turbulent media, and a break at low surface densities when ISM turbulence becomes too weak to induce strong compression. This model explains the diversity of star formation laws and thresholds observed in nearby spirals and their resolved regions, the Small Magellanic Cloud, high-redshift disks and starbursting mergers, as well as Galactic molecular clouds. While other models have proposed interstellar dust content and molecule formation to be key ingredients to the observed variations of the star formation efficiency, we demonstrate instead that these variations can be explained by interstellar medium turbulence and structure in various types of galaxies.
The infrared (IR) emission of M_* galaxies (10^{10.4} < M_{star} < 10^{11.0} M_\sun) in galaxy pairs, derived using data obtained in Herschel (PEP/HerMES) and Spitzer (S-COSMOS) surveys, is compared to that of single disk galaxies in well matched control samples to study the cosmic evolution of the star-formation enhancement induced by galaxy-galaxy interaction. Both the mean IR SED and mean IR luminosity of star-forming galaxies (SFGs) in SFG+SFG (S+S) pairs in the redshift bin of 0.6 < z < 1 are consistent with no star-formation enhancement. SFGs in S+S pairs in a lower redshift bin of 0.2 < z < 0.6 show marginal evidence for a weak star-formation enhancement. Together with the significant and strong sSFR enhancement shown by SFGs in a local sample of S+S pairs (obtained using previously published Spitzer observations), our results reveal a trend for the star-formation enhancement in S+S pairs to decrease with increasing redshift. Between z=0 and z=1, this decline of interaction-induced star-formation enhancement occurs in parallel with the dramatic increase (by a factor of ~10) of the sSFR of single SFGs, both can be explained by the higher gas fraction in higher z disks. SFGs in mixed pairs (S+E pairs) do not show any significant star-formation enhancement at any redshift. The difference between SFGs in S+S pairs and in S+E pairs suggests a modulation of the sSFR by the inter-galactic medium IGM in the dark matter halos (DMH) hosting these pairs.
We demonstrate that accurate and precise cosmological information can be extracted from the cell count analysis of the 3D spatial clustering of galaxies once the second-order ratio between one- and two-point moments of the smoothed galaxy density distribution is analyzed. This probe does not require the calibration of any standard rod, the knowledge of the galaxy bias nor the modeling of galaxy redshift distortions. Using the spectroscopic Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data release 7 (DR7) galaxy sample, no cosmic microwave background (CMB) information, weak (flat) priors on the value of the curvature of the universe (Omega_k) and the constant value of the dark energy equation of state (w), we estimate the abundance of matter (Omega_m) with a relative error of 11% (at 68% c.l.). The method may be instrumental in searching for evidences of new physics beyond the standard model of cosmology and in planning future missions such as BigBOSS or EUCLID.
The origin of hard X-ray (HXR) excess emission from clusters of galaxies is still an enigma, whose nature is debated. One of the possible mechanism to produce this emission is the bremsstrahlung model. However, previous analytical and numerical calculations showed that in this case the intracluster plasma had to be overheated very fast because suprathermal electrons emitting the HXR excess lose their energy mainly by Coulomb losses, i.e., they heat the background plasma. It was concluded also from these investigations that it is problematic to produce emitting electrons from a background plasma by stochastic (Fermi) acceleration because the energy supplied by external sources in the form of Fermi acceleration is quickly absorbed by the background plasma. In other words the Fermi acceleration is ineffective for particle acceleration. We revisited this problem and found that at some parameter of acceleration the rate of plasma heating is rather low and the acceleration tails of non-thermal particles can be generated and exist for a long time while the plasma temperature is almost constant. We showed also that for some regime of acceleration the plasma cools down instead of being heated up, even though external sources (in the form of external acceleration) supply energy to the system. The reason is that the acceleration withdraws effectively high energy particles from the thermal pool (analogue of Maxwell demon).
In this paper, we investigate the link between the hypervelocity stars (HVSs) discovered in the Galactic halo and the S-stars moving in the Galactic center (GC), under the hypothesis that they are both the products of the tidal breakup of the same population of stellar binaries by the central massive black hole (MBH). By adopting several hypothetical models for binaries to be injected into the vicinity of the MBH and doing numerical simulations, we realize the tidal breakup processes of the binaries and their follow-up evolution. We find that many statistical properties of the detected HVSs and S-stars can be reproduced under some binary injecting models, and their number ratio can be re-produced if the stellar initial mass function is top-heavy (e.g., with slope ~-1.6). The total number of the captured companions is ~50 that have masses in the range ~3-7Msun and semimajor axes <~4000 AU and survive to the present within their main-sequence lifetime. The innermost one is expected to have a semimajor axis ~300-1500 AU and a pericenter distance ~10-200 AU, with a significant probability of being closer to the MBH than S2. Future detection of such a closer star would offer an important test to general relativity. The majority of the surviving ejected companions of the S-stars are expected to be located at Galactocentric distances <~20 kpc, and have heliocentric radial velocities ~-500-1500 km/s and proper motions up to ~5-20 mas/yr. Future detection of these HVSs may provide evidence for the tidal-breakup formation mechanism of the S-stars.
Several mechanisms of bar formation in stellar galactic disks are considered, including Toomre swing amplification and normal mode approach. On example of the well-known model of Kuzmin--Toomre using N-body simulations it was shown that the stellar bar is developed as a result of the evolution of an unstable normal mode. The pattern speed and the growth rate found agree well with linear perturbation theory. Nonlinear evolution of the bar is followed. Role of the growing transient spirals in bar formation is discussed.
We study the multifield inflationary models where the cosmological perturbation is sourced by light scalar fields other than the inflaton. We exploit the operator product expansion and partly the symmetries present during the de Sitter epoch to characterize the non-Gaussian four-point correlator in the squeezed limit. We point out that the contribution to it from the intrinsic non-Gaussianity of the light fields at horizon crossing can be larger than the usually studied contribution arising on superhorizon scales and it comes with a different shape. Our findings indicate that particular attention needs to be taken when studying the effects of the primordial NG on real observables, such as the clustering of dark matter halos.
In this paper we use radio polarimetric observations of the jet of the nearby bright quasar 3C\,345 to estimate the fluid velocity on kiloparsec scales. The jet is highly polarized, and surprisingly, the electric vector position angles in the jet are ``twisted'' with respect to the jet axis. Simple models of magnetized jets are investigated in order to study various possible origins of the electric vector distribution. In a cylindrically-symmetric transparent jet a helical magnetic field will appear either transverse or longitudinal due to partial cancellations of Stokes parameters between the front and back of the jet. Synchrotron opacity can break the symmetry, but it leads to fractional polarization less than that observed, and to strong frequency dependence that is not seen. Modeling shows that differential Doppler boosting in a diverging jet can break the symmetry, allowing a helical magnetic field to produce a twisted electric vector pattern. Constraints on the jet inclination, magnetic field properties, intrinsic opening angle, and fluid velocities are obtained, and show that highly relativistic speeds ($\beta \ga 0.95$) are required. This is consistent with the observed jet opening angle, with the absence of a counter-jet, with the polarization of the knots at the end of the jet, and with some inverse-Compton models for the X-ray emission from the 3C\,345 jet. This model can also apply on parsec scales and may help explain those sources where the electric vector position angles in the jet are neither parallel nor transverse to the jet axis.
By investigating the correlations between dust column density as inferred from infrared data and the observed colours of celestial objects at cosmological distances with small colour dispersion, we constrain the properties of Milky Way dust. Results derived using colours of quasars, brightest central galaxies and large red galaxies are broadly consistent, indicating a proportionality constant between the reddening E(B-V)=A_B-A_V and the dust column density D^T (given in units of MJy/sr) of p=E(B-V)/D^T=0.02 and a reddening parameter R_V=A_V/E(B-V)=3 with fractional uncertainties of the order 10%. The data does not provide any evidence for spatial variations in the dust properties, except for a possible hint of scatter in the dust extinction properties at the longest optical wavelengths.
We present the results of 12CO(J = 1-0) mapping observations toward four interacting galaxies in early and mid stages of the interaction to understand the behavior of molecular gas in galaxy-galaxy interaction. The observations were carried out using the 45-m telescope at Nobeyama Radio Observatory (NRO). We compared our CO total flux to those previously obtained with single-dish observations and found that there are no discrepancy between them. Applying a typical CO-H2 conversion factor, all constituent galaxies have molecular gas mass more than 10^9 M_sun. Comparisons to HI, Ks and tracers of SF such as Halpha, FUV, 8 um and 24 um revealed that the distribution of molecular gas in interacting galaxies in the early stage of the interaction differs from atomic gas, stars and star-forming regions. These differences are not explained without the result of the interaction. Central concentration of molecular gas of interacting galaxies in the early stage of the interaction is lower than that of isolated galaxies, which suggests molecular gas is distributed off-centre and/or extends in the beginning of the interaction.
Relativistic jets in AGN in general, and in blazars in particular, are the most energetic and among the most powerful astrophysical objects known so far. Their relativistic nature provides them with the ability to emit profusely at all spectral ranges from radio wavelengths to gamma-rays, as well as to vary extremely at time scales from hours to years. Since the birth of gamma-ray astronomy, locating the origin of gamma-ray emission has been a fundamental problem for the knowledge of the emission processes involved. Deep and densely time sampled monitoring programs with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and other facilities at most of the available spectral ranges (including millimeter interferometric imaging and polarization measurements wherever possible) are starting to shed light for the case of blazars. After a short review of the status of the problem, we summarize two of our latest results -obtained from the comprehensive monitoring data compiled by the Boston University Blazar monitoring program - that locate the GeV flaring emission of the BL Lac objects AO 0235+164 and OJ287 within the jets of these blazars, at >12 parsecs from the central AGN engine.
BL Lacertae is the prototype of the BL Lac class of active galactic nuclei, exhibiting intensive activity on parsec (pc) scales, such as intense core variability and multiple ejections of jet components. In particular, in previous works the existence of precession motions in the pc-scale jet of BL Lacertae has been suggested. In this work we revisit this issue, investigating temporal changes of the observed right ascension and declination offsets of the jet knots in terms of our relativistic jet-precession model. The seven free parameters of our precession model were optimized via a heuristic cross-entropy method, comparing the projected precession helix with the positions of the jet components on the plane of the sky and imposing constraints on their maximum and minimum superluminal velocities. Our optimized best model is compatible with a jet having a bulk velocity of 0.9824c, which is precessing with a period of about 12.1 yr in the observer's reference frame and changing its orientation in relation to the line of sight between 4 and 5 degrees, approximately. Assuming that the jet precession has its origin in a supermassive binary black hole system, we show that the 2.3-yr periodic variation in the structural position angle of the very-long-baseline interferometry (VLBI) core of BL Lacertae reported by Stirling et al. is compatible with a nutation phenomenon if the secondary black hole has a mass higher than about six times that of the primary black hole.
Compact objects, like neutron stars and white dwarfs, may accrete dark matter, and then be sensitive probes of its presence. These compact stars with a dark matter component can be modeled by a perfect fluid minimally coupled to a complex scalar field (representing a bosonic dark matter component), resulting in objects known as fermion-boson stars. We have performed the dynamical evolution of these stars in order to analyze their stability, and to study their spectrum of normal modes, which may reveal the amount of dark matter in the system. Their stability analysis shows a structure similar to that of an isolated (fermion or boson) star, with equilibrium configurations either laying on the stable or on the unstable branch. The analysis of the spectrum of normal modes indicates the presence of new oscillation modes in the fermionic part of the star, which result from the coupling to the bosonic component through the gravity.
The velocity distribution function (VDF) of the hypothetical Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), currently the most favored candidate for the Dark Matter (DM) in the Galaxy, is determined directly from the rotation curve data of the Galaxy assuming isotropic VDF. This is done by "inverting" --- using Eddington's method --- the Navarro-Frenk-White universal density profile of the DM halo of the Galaxy, the parameters of which are determined, by using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique, from a recently compiled set of observational data on the Galaxy's rotation curve extended to distances well beyond the visible edge of the disk of the Galaxy. The derived most-likely local isotropic VDF strongly differs from the Maxwellian form assumed in the "Standard Halo Model" (SHM) customarily used in the analysis of the results of WIMP direct-detection experiments. A parametrized (non-Maxwellian) form of the derived most-likely local VDF is given. The astrophysical "g-factor" that determines the effect of the WIMP VDF on the expected event rate in a direct-detection experiment can be lower for the most-likely VDF than that for the closest Maxwellian VDF by as much two orders of magnitude at the lowest WIMP mass threshold of a typical experiment.
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Dark matter haloes from cosmological N-body simulations typically have triaxial shapes and anisotropic velocity distributions. Recently it has been shown that the velocity anisotropy, beta, of cosmological haloes and major merger remnants depends on direction in such a way that beta is largest along the major axis and smallest along the minor axis. In this work we use a wide range of non-cosmological N-body simulations to examine halo shapes and direction-dependence of velocity anisotropy profiles. For each of our simulated haloes we define 48 cones pointing in different directions, and from the particles inside each cone we compute velocity anisotropy profiles. We find that elongated haloes can have very distinct velocity anisotropies. We group the behaviour of haloes into three different categories, that range from spherically symmetric profiles to a much more complex behaviour, where significant differences are found for beta along the major and minor axes. We encourage future studies of velocity anisotropies in haloes from cosmological simulations to calculate beta-profiles in cones, since it reveals information, which is hidden from a spherically averaged profile. Finally, we show that spherically averaged profiles often obey a linear relation between beta and the logarithmic density slope in the inner parts of haloes, but this relation is not necessarily obeyed, when properties are calculated in cones.
We investigate the contribution of star-forming galaxies to the ionizing background at z~3, building on previous work based on narrowband (NB3640) imaging in the SSA22a field. We use new Keck/LRIS spectra of Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) and narrowband-selected Lya emitters (LAEs) to measure redshifts for 16 LBGs and 87 LAEs at z>3.055, such that our NB3640 imaging probes the Lyman-continuum (LyC) region. When we include the existing set of spectroscopically-confirmed LBGs, our total sample with z>3.055 consists of 41 LBGs and 91 LAEs, of which nine LBGs and 20 LAEs are detected in our NB3640 image. With our combined imaging and spectroscopic data sets, we critically investigate the origin of NB3640 emission for detected LBGs and LAEs. We remove from our samples 3 LBGs and 3 LAEs with spectroscopic evidence of contamination of their NB3640 flux by foreground galaxies, and statistically model the effects of additional, unidentified foreground contaminants. The resulting contamination and LyC-detection rates, respectively, are 62 +/-13% and 8 +/-3% for our LBG sample, and 47 +/-10% and 12 +/-2% for our LAE sample. The corresponding ratios of non-ionizing UV to LyC flux-density, corrected for intergalactic medium (IGM) attenuation, are 18.0 +34.8/-7.4 for LBGs, and 3.7 +2.5/-1.1 for LAEs. We use these ratios to estimate the total contribution of star-forming galaxies to the ionizing background and the hydrogen photoionization rate in the IGM, finding values larger than, but consistent with, those measured in the Lya forest. Finally, the measured UV to LyC flux-density ratios imply model-dependent LyC escape fractions of f_{esc}^{LyC} ~ 5-7% for our LBG sample and f_{esc}^{LyC} ~ 10-30% for our fainter LAE sample.
Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) might detect gravitational waves (GWs) from massive black hole (MBH) binaries within this decade. The signal is expected to be an incoherent superposition of several nearly-monochromatic waves of different strength. The brightest sources might be individually resolved, and the overall deconvolved, at least partially, in its individual components. In this paper we extend the maximum-likelihood based method developed in Babak & Sesana 2012, to search for individual MBH binaries in PTA data. We model the signal as a collection of circular monochromatic binaries, each characterized by three free parameters: two angles defining the sky location, and the frequency. We marginalize over all other source parameters and we apply an efficient multi-search genetic algorithm to maximize the likelihood function and look for sources in synthetic datasets. On datasets characterized by white Gaussian noise plus few injected sources with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the range 10-60, our search algorithm performs well, recovering all the injections with no false positives. Individual source SNRs are estimated within few % of the injected values, sky locations are recovered within few degrees, and frequencies are determined with sub-Fourier bin precision.
We present velocity-resolved reverberation results for five active galactic nuclei. We recovered velocity-delay maps using the maximum-entropy method for four objects: Mrk 335, Mrk 1501, 3C120, and PG2130+099. For the fifth, Mrk 6, we were only able to measure mean time delays in different velocity bins of the H\beta\ emission line, but see tentative evidence of combined virial motion and infalling gas. The four velocity-delay maps show unique dynamical signatures for each object. For 3C120, the Balmer lines show kinematic signatures consistent with both an inclined disk and infalling gas, but the HeII 4686 emission line is suggestive only of inflow. The Balmer lines in Mrk 335, Mrk 1501, and PG 2130+099 show signs of infalling gas, but the HeII emission in Mrk 335 is consistent with an inclined disk. The maps for 3C120 and Mrk 335 are two of the most clearly defined velocity-delay maps to date. These maps constitute a large increase in the number of objects for which we have resolved velocity-delay maps and provide evidence supporting the reliability of reverberation-based black hole mass measurements.
Recent measurements by the ARCADE2 experiment unambiguously show an excess in the isotropic radio background at frequencies below the GHz scale. We argue that this excess may be a natural consequence of the interaction of visible and dark matter in the early universe if the dark matter consists of heavy nuggets of quark matter. Explanation of the observed radio band excess requires the introduction of no new parameters, rather we exploit the same dark matter model and identical normalization parameters to those previously used to explain other excesses of diffuse emission from the centre of our galaxy. These previously observed excesses include the WMAP Haze of GHz radiation, keV X -ray emission and MeV gamma-ray radiation.
This paper describes a new catalog that supplements the existing DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey photometric and spectroscopic catalogs with ugriz photometry from two other surveys; the Canada-France-Hawaii Legacy Survey (CFHTLS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Each catalog is cross-matched by position on the sky in order to assign ugriz photometry to objects in the DEEP2 catalogs. We have recalibrated the CFHTLS photometry where it overlaps DEEP2 in order to provide a more uniform dataset. We have also used this improved photometry to predict DEEP2 BRI photometry in regions where only poorer measurements were available previously. In addition, we have included improved astrometry tied to SDSS rather than USNO-A2.0 for all DEEP2 objects. In total this catalog contains ~27,000 objects with full ugriz photometry as well as robust spectroscopic redshift measurements, 64% of which have r > 23. By combining the secure and accurate redshifts of the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey with ugriz photometry, we have created a catalog that can be used as an excellent testbed for future photo-z studies, including tests of algorithms for surveys such as LSST and DES.
This work describes a new instrument optimized for a detection of the neutral hydrogen 21cm power spectrum between redshifts of 0.5-1.5: the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Broadband and Broad-beam (BAOBAB) Array. BAOBAB will build on the efforts of a first generation of 21cm experiments which are targeting a detection of the signal from the Epoch of Reionization at z ~ 10. At z ~ 1, the emission from neutral hydrogen in self-shielded overdense halos also presents an accessible signal, since the dominant, synchrotron foreground emission is considerably fainter than at redshift 10. The principle science driver for these observations are Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in the matter power spectrum which have the potential to act as a standard ruler and constrain the nature of dark energy. BAOBAB will fully correlate dual-polarization antenna tiles over the 600-900MHz band with a frequency resolution of 300 kHz and a system temperature of 50K. The number of antennas will grow in staged deployments, and reconfigurations of the array will allow for both traditional imaging and high power spectrum sensitivity operations. We present calculations of the power spectrum sensitivity for various array sizes, with a 35-element array measuring the cosmic neutral hydrogen fraction as a function of redshift, and a 132-element system detecting the BAO features in the power spectrum, yielding a 1.8% error on the z ~ 1 distance scale, and, in turn, significant improvements to constraints on the dark energy equation of state over an unprecedented range of redshifts from ~0.5-1.5.
The Planck-ATCA Co-eval Observations (PACO) have provided multi-frequency (5-40 GHz) flux density measurements of complete samples of Australia Telescope 20 GHz (AT20G) radio sources at frequencies below and overlapping with Planck frequency bands, almost simultaneously with Planck observations. In this work we analyse the data in total intensity for the spectrally-selected PACO sample, a complete sample of 69 sources brighter than 200 mJy at 20 GHz selected from the AT20G survey catalogue to be inverted or upturning between 5 and 20 GHz. We study the spectral behaviour and variability of the sample. We use the variability between AT20G (2004-2007) and PACO (2009-2010) epochs to discriminate between candidate High Frequency Peakers (HFPs) and candidate blazars. The HFPs picked up by our selection criteria have spectral peaks > 10 GHz in the observer frame and turn out to be rare (<0.5% of the S >200 mJy sources), consistent with the short duration of this phase implied by the `youth' scenario. Most (~ 89 %) of blazar candidates have remarkably smooth spectra, well described by a double power-law, suggesting that the emission in the PACO frequency range is dominated by a single emitting region. Sources with peaked PACO spectra show a decrease of the peak frequency with time at a mean rate of -3 +- 2 GHz/yr on an average timescale of \tau = 2.1 +- 0.5 yr. The 5-20 GHz spectral indices show a systematic decrease from AT20G to PACO observations. At higher frequencies spectral indices steepen: the median \alpha 30-40 GHz is steeper than the median \alpha 5-20 GHz by \delta\alpha = 0.6. Taking further into account the WISE data we find that the SEDs, \nu S(\nu), of most of our blazars peak at \nu_p <10^5 GHz; the median peak wavelength is \lambda_p ~93 \mu m. Only 6 have \nu_p>10^5 GHz.
We produce catalogues of voids for SDSS DR7 redshift survey and for a Millennium I simulation mock data. The mock catalog is constructed such that it closely represents SDSS DR7 survey. We carry a parallel analysis of the two catalogues and find that in both the observation and the simulation, voids tend to be equally spherical. The total volume occupied by the voids and their total number are slightly larger in the simulation than in the observation. We find that large voids are less abundant in the simulation and the total luminosity of the galaxies contained in a void with a given radius is on average higher than observed by SDSS DR7 survey. We expect these discrepancies to be, in fact, even more important than found here since the present value of $\sigma_8$ given by WMAP7 is lower than the value of 0.9 used in the Millennium I simulation. The reason why the simulation fails to produce enough of the large and dark voids could be due to the failure of certain semi-analytic models of galaxy formation in reducing the small-scale power of $\Lambda$CDM and in producing sufficient power on large scales.
The upcoming new generation of spectroscopic galaxy redshift surveys will provide large samples of cosmic voids, the distinct, large underdense structures in the universe. Combining these with future galaxy imaging surveys, we study the prospects of probing the underlying matter distribution in and around cosmic voids via the weak gravitational lensing effects of stacked voids, utilizing both shear and magnification information. The statistical precision is greatly improved by stacking together a large number of voids along different lines of sight, even when taking into account the impact of inherent miscentering and projection effects. We show that Dark Energy Task Force Stage IV surveys, such as the Euclid satellite and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, should be able to detect the void lensing signal with sufficient precision from stacking abundant medium-sized voids, thus providing direct constraints on the matter density profile of voids independent of assumptions on galaxy bias.
We investigate how explosions of aspherical supernovae (A-SNe) can influence star formation histories and chemical evolution of dwarf galaxies by using a new chemodynamical model. We mainly present the numerical results of two comparative models so that the A-SN feedback effects on galaxies can be more clearly seen. SNe originating from stars with masses larger than 30M_sun are A-SNe in the "ASN" model whereas all SNe are spherical ones (S-SNe) in the "SSN" model. Each S-SN and A-SN are assumed to release feedback energy of 10^{51} erg and 10^{52} erg, respectively, and chemical yields and feedback energy of A-SN ejecta depend on angles between the axis of symmetry and the ejection directions. We find that star formation can become at least by a factor of ~3 lower in the ASN model in comparison with the SSN one owing to the more energetic feedback of A-SNe. As a result of this, chemical evolution can proceed very slowly in the ASN model. A-SN feedback effects can play a significant role in the formation of giant gaseous holes and energetic gaseous outflow and unique chemical abundances (e.g., high [Mg/Ca]). Based on these results, we provide a number of implications of the A-SN feedback effects on galaxy formation and evolution.
With galaxy groups constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), we analyze the expected galaxy-galaxy lensing signals around satellite galaxies residing in different host haloes and located at different halo-centric distances. We use Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method to explore the potential constraints on the mass and density profile of subhaloes associated with satellite galaxies from SDSS-like surveys and surveys similar to the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). Our results show that for SDSS-like surveys, we can only set a loose constraint on the mean mass of subhaloes. With LSST-like surveys, however, both the mean mass and the density profile of subhaloes can be well constrained.
We constrain the dominant optical selection effects biasing the Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) redshift distribution using Swift triggered redshifts acquired from the optical afterglow (OA). Models for the Malmquist, redshift desert, and dust extinction biases are used to show how the "true" GRB redshift distribution is distorted to its presently observed biased distribution. We find that that the statistically optimal model shows that GRB host galaxy dust extinction could account for up to 17% of missing redshifts, but the bias is negligible at very high-$z$. The redshift desert, and optically faint bursts missed because they are at high-$z$, reduce the overall fraction of redshifts by only 4% and \sim2% respectively. Significant sources of bias for the very high-$z$ sample include the limiting sensitivity of the telescopes, the time to acquire spectroscopic/photometric redshifts, and Lyman-$\alpha$ dropout. The statistically optimal model requires an increasing mean optical afterglow luminosity with redshift. This could be explained by a decrease in dust obscuration in GRB hosts at high-$z$. Alternatively, the optimal model can also be obtained without optical afterglow brightness evolution, but requires a source rate evolution four times higher than the star formation rate at $z=10$ compared to z=0. We find it is not necessary to invoke high-energy GRB luminosity evolution with redshift to account for the observed GRB rate excess at high-$z$.
We analytically derive a more accurate formula for the power spectrum of the biased objects with the primordial non-Gaussianity parameterized not only by the non-linearity parameter fNL, but also by gNL and tauNL which characterize the trispectrum of the primordial curvature perturbations. We adopt the integrated perturbation theory which was constructed in Matsubara (2011). We discuss an inequality between fNL and tauNL in the context of the scale-dependent bias, by introducing a stochasticity parameter. We also mention higher order loop corrections into the scale-dependency of the bias parameter.
Although cosmological observations suggest that the fluctuations of seed fields are almost Gaussian, the possibility of a small deviation of their fields from Gaussianity is widely discussed. Theoretically, there exist numerous inflationary scenarios which predict large and characteristic non-Gaussianities in the primordial perturbations. These model-dependent non-Gaussianities act as sources of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) bispectrum; therefore, the analysis of the CMB bispectrum is very important and attractive in order to clarify the nature of the early Universe. Currently, the impacts of the primordial non-Gaussianities in the scalar perturbations, where the rotational and parity invariances are kept, on the CMB bispectrum have been well-studied. However, for a complex treatment, the CMB bispectra generated from the non-Gaussianities, which originate from the vector- and tensor-mode perturbations and include the violation of the rotational or parity invariance, have never been considered in spite of the importance of this information. On the basis of our current studies, this thesis provides the general formalism for the CMB bispectrum sourced by the non-Gaussianities not only in the scalar-mode perturbations but also in the vector- and tensor-mode perturbations. Applying this formalism, we calculate the CMB bispectrum from two scalars and a graviton correlation and that from primordial magnetic fields, and we then outline new constraints on these amplitudes. Furthermore, this formalism can be easily extended to the cases where the rotational or parity invariance is broken. We also compute the CMB bispectra from the non-Gaussianities of the curvature perturbations with a preferred direction and the graviton non-Gaussianities induced by the parity-violating Weyl cubic terms. We also present some unique impacts to the violation of these invariances on the CMB bispectrum.
We present here a new spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting approach that we adopt to select radio-excess sources amongst distant star-forming galaxies in the GOODS-Herschel (North) field and to reveal the presence of hidden, highly obscured AGN. Through extensive SED analysis of 458 galaxies with radio 1.4 GHz and mid-IR 24 um detections using some of the deepest Chandra X-ray, Spitzer and Herschel infrared, and VLA radio data available to date, we have robustly identified a sample of 51 radio-excess AGN (~1300 deg^-2) out to redshift z~3. These radio-excess AGN have a significantly lower far-IR/radio ratio (q<1.68) than the typical relation observed for star-forming galaxies (q~2.2). We find that ~45% of these radio-excess sources have a dominant AGN component in the mid-IR band, while for the remainders the excess radio emission is the only indicator of AGN activity. The fraction of radio-excess AGN increases with X-ray luminosity reaching ~60% at Lx~10^44-10^45 erg/s, making these sources an important part of the total AGN population. However, almost half (24/51) of these radio-excess AGN are not detected in the deep Chandra X-ray data, suggesting that some of these sources might be heavily obscured. We also find that the specific star formation rates (sSFRs) of the radio-excess AGN are on average lower that those observed for X-ray selected AGN hosts, indicating that our sources are forming stars more slowly than typical AGN hosts, and possibly their star formation is progressively quenching.
We describe a new methodology to analyze the reionization process in numerical simulations: The evo- lution of the reionization is investigated by focusing on the merger histories of individual HII regions. From the merger tree of ionized patches, one can track the individual evolution of the regions such as e.g. their size, or investigate the properties of the percolation process by looking at the formation rate, the frequency of mergers and the number of individual HII regions involved in the mergers. By applying this technique to cosmological simulations with radiative transfer, we show how this methodology is a good candidate to quantify the impact of the star formation adopted on the history of the reionization. As an application we show how different models of sources result in different evolutions and geometry of the reionization even though they produce e.g. similar ionized fraction or optical depth.
We propose a two parameter generalization for the dark energy equation of state (EOS) for thawing dark energy models, which includes PNGB, CPL and algerbraic thawing models as limiting cases; and confront our model with latest Supernova Type Ia (SNe Ia) Data from Union 2.1 compilation, latest Observational Hubble Data (OHD), Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Data from 7 year WMAP results and latest Baryon Acoustic Oscillation Data from SDSS Data Release 9 to constrain our parameter space. The analysis reveals that thawing dark energy EOS is not unique from the observational point of view so far as the standard parameters (dark energy EOS, present value of matter density parameter and Hubble parameter) are concerned. In other words, different thawing dark energy models are not distinguishable from each other with the help of best-fit values of matter density parameter at present epoch, linear growth of matter perturbation and the average deceleration parameter. But tuning the model parameters does leave its impact on the variation of dark energy EOS as well as the model-independent parameters like the statefinder pair and $Om3$ parameters. We are thus led to the conclusion that unlike the standard parameters, the model-independent parameters and the variation of EOS serve as model discriminators for different thawing dark energy models.
We study a large sample of narrow-line radio galaxies (NLRGs) with extended radio structures. Using 1.4 GHz radio luminosities, $L_{1.4}$, narrow optical emission line luminosities, $L_{\oiii}$ and $L_{H_{\alpha}}$, as well as black hole masses $M_{BH}$ derived from stellar velocity dispersions measured from the optical spectra obtained with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we find that: (i) NLRGs cover about 4 decades of the Eddington ratio, $\lambda \equiv L_{bol}/L_{Edd} \propto L_{line}/M_{BH}$; (ii) $L_{1.4}/M_{BH}$ strongly correlates with $\lambda$; (iii) radio-loudness, ${\cal R} \equiv L_{1.4}/L_{line}$, strongly anti-correlates with $\lambda$. A very broad range of the Eddington ratio indicates that the parent population of NLRGs includes both radio-loud quasars (RLQs) and broad-line radio galaxies (BLRGs). The correlations they obey and their high jet production efficiencies favor a jet production model which involves the so-called 'magnetically choked' accretion scenario. In this model, production of the jet is dominated by the Blandford-Znajek mechanism, and the magnetic fields in the vicinity of the central black hole are confined by the ram pressure of the accretion flow. Since large net magnetic flux accumulated in central regions of the accretion flow required by the model can take place only via geometrically thick accretion, we speculate that the massive, 'cold' accretion events associated with luminous emission-line AGN can be accompanied by an efficient jet production only if preceded by a hot, very sub-Eddington accretion phase.
With the ever increasing size and complexity of fully self-consistent simulations of galaxy formation within the framework of the cosmic web, the demands upon object finders for these simulations has simultaneously grown. To this extent we initiated the Halo Finder Comparison Project that gathered together all the experts in the field and has so far led to two comparison papers, one for dark matter field haloes (Knebe et al. 2011), and one for dark matter subhaloes (Onions et al. 2012). However, as state-of-the-art simulation codes are perfectly capable of not only following the formation and evolution of dark matter but also account for baryonic physics (e.g. hydrodynamics, star formation, feedback) object finders should also be capable of taking these additional processes into consideration. Here we report on a comparison of codes as applied to the Constrained Local UniversE Simulation (CLUES) of the formation of the Local Group which incorporates much of the physics relevant for galaxy formation. We compare both the properties of the three main galaxies in the simulation (representing the MW, M31, and M33) as well as their satellite populations for a variety of halo finders ranging from phase-space to velocity-space to spherical overdensity based codes, including also a mere baryonic object finder. We obtain agreement amongst codes comparable to (if not better than) our previous comparisons, at least for the total, dark, and stellar components of the objects. However, the diffuse gas content of the haloes shows great disparity, especially for low-mass satellite galaxies. This is primarily due to differences in the treatment of the thermal energy during the unbinding procedure. We acknowledge that the handling of gas in halo finders is something that needs to be dealt with carefully, and the precise treatment may depend sensitively upon the scientific problem being studied.
We compare distance measurements obtained from two distance indicators, Supernovae observations (standard candles) and Baryon acoustic oscillation data (standard rulers). The Union2 sample of supernovae with BAO data from SDSS, 6dFGS and the latest BOSS and WiggleZ surveys is used in search for deviations from the distance duality relation. We find that the supernovae are brighter than expected from BAO measurements. The luminosity distances tend to be smaller then expected from angular diameter distance estimates as also found in earlier works on distance duality, but the trend is not statistically significant. This further constrains the cosmic transparency.
We present the first measurement of the angular two-point correlation function for AKARI 90-$\mu$m point sources, detected outside of the Milky Way plane and other regions characterized by high Galactic extinction, and categorized as extragalactic sources according to our far-infrared-color based criterion (Pollo et al. 2010). This is the first measurement of the large-scale angular clustering of galaxies selected in the far-infrared after IRAS measurements. Although a full description of clustering properties of these galaxies will be obtained by more detailed studies, using either spatial correlation function, or better information about properties and at least photometric redshifts of these galaxies, the angular correlation function remains the first diagnostics to establish the clustering properties of the catalog and observed galaxy population. We find a non-zero clustering signal in both hemispheres extending up to $\sim 40$ degrees, without any significant fluctuations at larger scales. The observed correlation function is well fitted by a power law function. The notable differences between a northern and southern hemisphere are found, which can be probably attributed to the photometry problems and point out to a necessity of performing a better calibration in the data from southern hemisphere.
We have studied the kinematics of ~2800 candidate close pair galaxies at 0.1<z<1.2 identified from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey fields. Spectra of these systems were obtained using spectrometers on the 6.5m Magellan and 5m Hale telescopes. These data allow us to constrain the rate of dry mergers at intermediate redshifts and to test the `hot halo' model for quenching of star formation. Using virial radii estimated from the correlation between dynamical and stellar masses published by Leauthaud et al. (2011), we find that around 1/5 of our candidate pairs are likely to share a common dark matter halo (our metric for close physical association). These pairs are divided into red-red, blue-red and blue-blue systems using the rest-frame colors classification method introduced in Chou et al. (2011). Galaxies classified as red in our sample have very low star-formation rates, but they need not be totally quiescent, and hence we refer to them as `damp', rather than `dry', systems. After correcting for known selection effects, the fraction of blue-blue pairs is significantly greater than that of red-red and blue-red pairs. Red-red pairs are almost entirely absent from our sample, suggesting that damp mergers are rare at z~0.5. Our data supports models with a short merging timescale (<0.5 Gyr) in which star-formation is enhanced in the early phase of mergers, but quenched in the late phase. Hot halo models may explain this behaviour, but only if virial shocks that heat gas are inefficient until major mergers are nearly complete.
Planned wide-field weak lensing surveys are expected to reduce the statistical errors on the shear field to unprecedented levels. In contrast, systematic errors like those induced by the convolution with the point spread function (PSF) will not benefit from that scaling effect and will require very accurate modeling and correction. While numerous methods have been devised to carry out the PSF correction itself, modeling of the PSF shape and its spatial variations across the instrument field of view has, so far, attracted much less attention. This step is nevertheless crucial because the PSF is only known at star positions while the correction has to be performed at any position on the sky. A reliable interpolation scheme is therefore mandatory and a popular approach has been to use low-order bivariate polynomials. In the present paper, we evaluate four other classical spatial interpolation methods based on splines (B-splines), inverse distance weighting (IDW), radial basis functions (RBF) and ordinary Kriging (OK). These methods are tested on the Star-challenge part of the GRavitational lEnsing Accuracy Testing 2010 (GREAT10) simulated data and are compared with the classical polynomial fitting (Polyfit). We also test all our interpolation methods independently of the way the PSF is modeled, by interpolating the GREAT10 star fields themselves (i.e., the PSF parameters are known exactly at star positions). We find in that case RBF to be the clear winner, closely followed by the other local methods, IDW and OK. The global methods, Polyfit and B-splines, are largely behind, especially in fields with (ground-based) turbulent PSFs. In fields with non-turbulent PSFs, all interpolators reach a variance on PSF systematics $\sigma_{sys}^2$ better than the $1\times10^{-7}$ upper bound expected by future space-based surveys, with the local interpolators performing better than the global ones.
Metal-rich (red) globular clusters in massive galaxies are, on average, smaller than metal-poor (blue) globular clusters. One of the possible explanations for this phenomenon is that the two populations of clusters have different spatial distributions. We test this idea by comparing clusters observed in unusually deep, high signal-to-noise images of M87 with a simulated globular cluster population in which the red and blue clusters have different spatial distributions, matching the observations. We compare the overall distribution of cluster effective radii as well as the relationship between effective radius and galactocentric distance for both the observed and simulated red and blue subpopulations. We find that the different spatial distributions does not produce a significant size difference between the red and blue subpopulations as a whole, or at a given galactocentric distance. These results suggest that the size difference between red and blue globular clusters is likely due to differences during formation or later evolution
We performed a Chandra X-ray study of three giant H II regions (GHRs), NGC 5461, NGC 5462, and NGC 5471, in the spiral galaxy M101. The X-ray spectra of the three GHRs all contain a prominent thermal component with a temperature of ~0.2 keV. In NGC 5461, the spatial distribution of the soft (< 1.5 keV) X-ray emission is generally in agreement with the extent of H1105, the most luminous H II region therein, but extends beyond its southern boundary, which could be attributed to outflows from the star cloud between H1105 and H1098. In NGC 5462, the X-ray emission is displaced from the H II regions and a ridge of blue stars; the H-alpha filaments extending from the ridge of star cloud to the diffuse X-rays suggest that hot gas outflows have occurred. The X-rays from NGC 5471 are concentrated at the B-knot, a "hypernova remnant" candidate. Assuming a Sedov-Taylor evolution, the derived explosion energy, on the order of 10^52 ergs, is consistent with a hypernova origin. In addition, a bright source in the field of NGC 5462 has been identified as a background AGN, instead of a black hole X-ray binary in M101.
We present the results of our systematic search for extended emission components following initial short gamma-ray burst (GRB) spikes, using Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) observations. We performed the extended emission search for both short- and long-duration GRBs to unveil the BATSE population of new hybrid class of GRBs similar to GRB 060614. For the identified bursts, we investigate temporal and spectral characteristics of their initial spikes as well as their extended emission. Our results reveal that the fraction of GRBs with extended emission is ~7% of the total number of our BATSE sample. We find that the spectrum of the extended emission is, in general, softer than that of the initial spike, which is in accord with what has been observed in the prototypical bursts, GRB 060614. We also find that the energy fluence of the extended emission varies on a broad range from 0.1 to 40 times of the fluence of the initial spike. We discuss our results in the context of existing physical models, in particular within the two-component jet model.
Since it was theorized by Kerr in 1963, determining the spin of black holes from observed data was paid very little attention until few years back. The main reasons behind this were the unavailability of adequate data and the lack of appropriate techniques. In this article, we explore determining/predicting the spin of several black holes in X-ray binaries and in the center of galaxies, using X-ray and gamma-ray satellite data. For X-ray binaries, in order to explain observed quasi-periodic oscillations, our model predicts the spin parameter of underlying black holes. On the other hand, the nature of spin parameters of black holes in BL Lacs and Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars is predicted by studying the total luminosities of systems based on Fermi gamma-ray data. All sources considered here exhibit characteristics of spinning black holes, which verifies natural existence of the Kerr metric.
We introduce the GENJI program (Gamma-ray Emitting Notable AGN Monitoring by Japanese VLBI), which is a monitoring program of gamma-ray bright AGNs with the VERA array (VLBI Exploration of Radio Astrometry). The GENJI programme aims a dense monitoring at 22 GHz towards the $\gamma$-ray emitting active galactic nuclei (AGNs) to investigate the radio time variation of the core and possible ejection of new radio component, motion of jets, and their relation with the emission at other wavelengths especially in $\gamma$-rays. Currently we are monitoring 8 $\gamma$-ray-emitting notable AGNs (DA 55, 3C 84, M 87, PKS 1510-089, DA 406, NRAO 530, BL Lac, 3C 454.3) about once every two weeks. This programme is promising to trace the trend of radio time variation on shorter timescale than conventional VLBI monitoring programme and to provide complimentary data with them (e.g., MOJAVE, Boston University Blazar Project). In particular, we successfully coordinated quick follow-up observations after the GeV $\gamma$-ray flare in NRAO 530 and 3C 454.3 reported by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Here we present the initial results of morphology and light curves for the first 7-month operation.
We provide a general formalism to calculate the infrared correlators of multiple interacting scalar fields in the de Sitter space by means of the stochastic approach. These scalar fields are treated as test fields and hence our result is applicable to the models such as the curvaton scenario where the fields that yield initially isocurvature modes do not contribute to the cosmic energy density during inflationary expansion. The stochastic formalism combined with the argument of conformal invariance of the correlators reflecting the de Sitter isometries allows us to fix the form and amplitude of the three-point functions completely and partially for the four-point functions in terms of calculable quantities. It turns out that naive scaling argument employed in the previous literature does not necessarily hold and we derive the necessary and sufficient condition for the correlator to obey the naive scaling. We also find that correlation functions can in principle exhibit more complicated structure than argued in the literature.
Ideas from causal set theory lead to a fluctuating, time dependent cosmological-constant of the right order of magnitude to match currently quoted "dark energy" values. Although such a term was predicted some time ago, a more detailed analysis of the resulting class of phenomenological models was begun only recently (based on numerical simulation of the cosmological equations with such a fluctuating term). In this paper we continue the investigation by studying the sensitivity of the scheme to some of the ad hoc choices made in setting it up.
We present a new atmospheric extinction curve for Mauna Kea spanning 3200--9700 \AA. It is the most comprehensive to date, being based on some 4285 standard star spectra obtained on 478 nights spread over a period of 7 years obtained by the Nearby SuperNova Factory using the SuperNova Integral Field Spectrograph. This mean curve and its dispersion can be used as an aid in calibrating spectroscopic or imaging data from Mauna Kea, and in estimating the calibration uncertainty associated with the use of a mean extinction curve. Our method for decomposing the extinction curve into physical components, and the ability to determine the chromatic portion of the extinction even on cloudy nights, is described and verified over the wide range of conditions sampled by our large dataset. We demonstrate good agreement with atmospheric science data obtain at nearby Mauna Loa Observatory, and with previously published measurements of the extinction above Mauna Kea.
We calculate the structure of a standard accretion disk with corona surrounding a massive Kerr black hole in general relativistic frame, in which the corona is assumed to be heated by the reconnection of the strongly buoyant magnetic fields generated in the cold accretion disk. The emergent spectra of the accretion disk-corona systems are calculated by using the relativistic ray-tracing method. We propose a new method to calculate the emergent Comptonized spectra from the coronae. The spectra of the disk-corona systems with a modified $\alpha$-magnetic stress show that both the hard X-ray spectral index and the hard X-ray bolometric correction factor $L_{\rm bol}/L_{\rm X,2-10keV}$ increase with the dimensionless mass accretion rate, which are qualitatively consistent with the observations of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). The fraction of the power dissipated in the corona decreases with increasing black hole spin parameter $a$, which leads to lower electron temperatures of the coronas for rapidly spinning black holes. The X-ray emission from the coronas surrounding rapidly spinning black holes becomes weak and soft. The ratio of the X-ray luminosity to the optical/UV luminosity increases with the viewing angle, while the spectral shape in the X-ray band is insensitive with the viewing angle. We find that the spectral index in the infrared waveband depends on the mass accretion rate and the black hole spin $a$, which deviates from $f_\nu\propto\nu^{1/3}$ expected by the standard thin disk model.
We analyze spatially resolved spectroscopic observations of the Eta Carinae binary system obtained with HST/STIS. Eta Car is enshrouded by the dusty Homunculus nebula, which scatters light emitted by the central binary and provides a unique opportunity to study a massive binary system from different vantage points. We investigate the latitudinal and azimuthal dependence of H$\alpha$ line profiles caused by the presence of a wind-wind collision (WWC) cavity created by the companion star. Using two-dimensional radiative transfer models, we find that the wind cavity can qualitatively explain the observed line profiles around apastron. Regions of the Homunculus which scatter light that propagated through the WWC cavity show weaker or no H alpha absorption. Regions scattering light that propagated through a significant portion of the primary wind show stronger P Cygni absorption. Our models overestimate the H alpha absorption formed in the primary wind, which we attribute to photoionization by the companion, not presently included in the models. We can qualitatively explain the latitudinal changes that occur during periastron, shedding light on the nature of Eta Car's spectroscopic events. Our models support the idea that during the brief period of time around periastron when the primary wind flows unimpeded toward the observer, H alpha absorption occurs in directions toward the central object and Homunculus SE pole, but not toward equatorial regions close to the Weigelt blobs. We suggest that observed latitudinal and azimuthal variations are dominated by the companion star via the WWC cavity, rather than by rapid rotation of the primary star.
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The first short part of this review is a general, but very detailed, critique
of the literature advocating a class of Seyfert galaxies intrinsically lacking
broad emission lines. My conclusion is that there is little or no evidence for
such objects.
Panchromatic properties of all types of radio loud AGN are then reviewed in
detail. Radio galaxies usually show subparsec-scale radio core sources, jets,
and a pair of giant radio lobes. The optical spectra sometimes show only
relatively weak lines of low-ionization ionic species, and no clear nuclear
continuum in the optical or UV region of the spectrum. Some show strong
high-ionization narrow lines. Finally, a few radio galaxies add broad bases
onto the permitted lines. These spectral categories are the same as those for
radio-quiet AGN and quasars.
By the 1980s, data from optical polarization and statistics of the radio
properties required that many narrow line radio galaxies do in fact produce
strong optical/UV continuum. This continuum and the broad line emission are
hidden from the line of sight by dusty, roughly toroidal gas distributions, but
they are seen in polarized flux. The radio galaxies with hidden quasars are
referred to as "thermal."
Do all radio galaxies harbor hidden quasars? We now know the answer using the
radio, infrared, optical and X-ray properties. Near the top of the radio
luminosity function, for FRII, GPS, and CSS galaxies, the answer is yes. At
somewhat lower luminosities, many do not. At the lowest radio luminosities,
most do not. Instead these "nonthermal" weakly-accreting galaxies manifest
their energetic output only as kinetic energy in the form of synchrotron jets.
This applies to all types of radio galaxies, big FR II doubles, as well as the
small young GPS and CSS sources. Only a few FR I sources are of the thermal
type.
The ARCADE 2 collaboration and other experiments have reported a significant excess in the isotropic radio background, whose homogeneity cannot be reconciled with clustered sources. This suggests a cosmological origin prior to structure formation. We investigate several potential mechanisms and show that injection of relativistic electrons through late decays of a metastable particle can give rise to the observed excess radio spectrum either through Compton or synchrotron emission. However, these turn out to be in conflict with CMB bounds on the primordial magnetic field or on the injection of ionizing radiation. The simplest optimal scenario is with MeV-scale particles decaying into e+ e- at a redshift of z ~ 5, which is still in moderate conflict with the CMB constraints. Decays into exotic millicharged particles can alleviate the tension, if they emit synchroton radiation in conjunction with a sufficiently large background magnetic field of a dark U(1)' gauge field.
We examine the velocity distribution function (VDF) in Dark Matter (DM) halos from Milky Way (MW) to cluster mass scales. We identify an empirical model for the VDF with a wider peak and a steeper tail than a Maxwell--Boltzmann distribution, and discuss physical explanations. We quantify sources of scatter in the VDF of cosmological halos and their implication for direct detection of DM. Given modern simulations and observations, we find that the most significant uncertainty in the VDF of the MW arises from the unknown radial position of the solar system relative to the DM halo scale radius.
We identify 42 candidate groups lying between 1.8<z<3.0 from a sample of 3502 galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in the zCOSMOS-deep redshift survey within the same redshift interval. These systems contain three to five spectroscopic galaxies that lie within 500kpc in projected distance (in physical space) and within 700km/s in velocity. Based on extensive analysis of mock catalogues that have been generated from the Millennium simulation, we examine the likely nature of these systems at the time of observation, and what they will evolve into down to the present epoch. Although few of the "member" galaxies are likely to reside in the same halo at the epoch we observe them, 50% of the systems will eventually bring them all into the same halo, and almost all (93%) will have at least part of the member galaxies in the same halo by the present epoch. Most of the candidate groups can therefore be described as "proto-groups". An estimate of the overdensities is also consistent with the idea that these systems are being seen at the start of the assembly process. We also examine present-day haloes and ask whether their progenitors would have been seen amongst our candidate groups. For present-day haloes between 10^14-10^15Msun/h, 35% should have appeared amongst our candidate groups, and this would have risen to 70% if our survey had been fully-sampled, so we can conclude that our sample can be taken as representative of a large fraction of such systems. There is a clear excess of massive galaxies above 10^10Msun around the locations of the candidate groups in a large independent COSMOS photo-z sample, but we see no evidence in this latter data for any colour differentiation with respect to the field. This is however consistent with the idea that such differentiation arises in satellite galaxies, as indicated at z<1, if the candidate groups are indeed only starting to be assembled.
A number of theoretically well-motivated additions to the standard cosmological model predict weak signatures in the form of spatially localized sources embedded in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) fluctuations. We present a hierarchical Bayesian statistical formalism and a complete data analysis pipeline for testing such scenarios. We derive an accurate approximation to the full posterior probability distribution over the parameters defining any theory that predicts sources embedded in the CMB, and perform an extensive set of tests in order to establish its validity. The approximation is implemented using a modular algorithm, designed to avoid a posteriori selection effects, which combines a candidate-detection stage with a full Bayesian model-selection and parameter-estimation analysis. We apply this pipeline to theories that predict cosmic textures and bubble collisions, extending previous analyses by using: (1) adaptive-resolution techniques, allowing us to probe features of arbitrary size, and (2) optimal filters, which provide the best possible sensitivity for detecting candidate signatures. We conclude that the WMAP 7-year data do not favor the addition of either cosmic textures or bubble collisions to Lambda CDM, and place robust constraints on the predicted number of such sources. The expected numbers of bubble collisions and cosmic textures on the CMB sky are constrained to be fewer than 4.0 and 5.2 at 95% confidence, respectively.
We have conducted the first blind HI survey covering 480 deg^2 and a
heliocentric velocity range from 300-1900 km/s to investigate the HI content of
the nearby spiral-rich Ursa Major region and to look for previously
uncatalogued gas-rich objects. Here we present the catalog of HI sources. The
HI data were obtained with the 4-beam receiver mounted on the 76.2-m Lovell
telescope (FWHM 12 arcmin) at the Jodrell Bank Observatory (UK) as part of the
HI Jodrell All Sky Survey (HIJASS). We use the automated source finder DUCHAMP
and identify 166 HI sources in the data cubes with HI masses in the range of
10^7 - 10^{10.5} M_sun. Our Ursa Major HI catalogue includes 10 first time
detections in the 21-cm emission line.
We identify optical counterparts for 165 HI sources (99 per cent). For 54 HI
sources (33 per cent) we find numerous optical counterparts in the HIJASS beam,
indicating a high density of galaxies and likely tidal interactions. Four of
these HI systems are discussed in detail.
We find only one HI source (1 per cent) without a visible optical counterpart
out of the 166 HI detections. Green Bank Telescope (FWHM 9 arcmin) follow-up
observations confirmed this HI source and its HI properties. The nature of this
detection is discussed and compared to similar sources in other HI surveys.
The peculiar motion of an observer with respect to the CMB rest frame induces an apparent deflection of the observed CMB photons, i.e. aberration, and a shift in their frequency, i.e. Doppler effect. Both effects distort the temperature multipoles a_lm's via a mixing matrix at any l. The common lore when performing a CMB based cosmological parameter estimation is to consider that Doppler affects only the l=1 multipole, and neglect any other corrections. In this paper we reconsider the validity of this assumption, showing that it is actually not robust when sky cuts are included to model CMB foreground contaminations. Assuming a simple fiducial cosmological model with five parameters, we simulated CMB temperature maps of the sky in a WMAP-like and in a Planck-like experiment and added aberration and Doppler effects to the maps. We then analyzed with a MCMC in a Bayesian framework the maps with and without aberration and Doppler effects in order to assess the ability of reconstructing the parameters of the fiducial model. We find that, depending on the specific realization of the simulated data, the parameters can be biased up to one standard deviation for WMAP and almost two standard deviations for Planck. Therefore we conclude that in general it is not a solid assumption to neglect aberration in a CMB based cosmological parameter estimation.
We present a cosmic shear study from the Deep Lens Survey (DLS), a deep BVRz multi-band imaging survey of five 4 sq. degree fields with two National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) 4-meter telescopes at Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo. For both telescopes, the change of the point-spread-function (PSF) shape across the focal plane is complicated, and the exposure-to-exposure variation of this position-dependent PSF change is significant. We overcome this challenge by modeling the PSF separately for individual exposures and CCDs with principal component analysis (PCA). We find that stacking these PSFs reproduces the final PSF pattern on the mosaic image with high fidelity, and the method successfully separates PSF-induced systematics from gravitational lensing effects. We calibrate our shears and estimate the errors, utilizing an image simulator, which generates sheared ground-based galaxy images from deep Hubble Space Telescope archival data with a realistic atmospheric turbulence model. For cosmological parameter constraints, we marginalize over shear calibration error, photometric redshift uncertainty, and the Hubble constant. We use cosmology-dependent covariances for the Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis and find that the role of this varying covariance is critical in our parameter estimation. Our current non-tomographic analysis alone constrains the Omega_M-sigma_8 likelihood contour tightly, providing a joint constraint of Omega_M=0.262+-0.051 and sigma_8=0.868+-0.071. We expect that a future DLS weak-lensing tomographic study will further tighten these constraints because explicit treatment of the redshift dependence of cosmic shear more efficiently breaks the Omega_M-sigma_8 degeneracy. Combining the current results with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7-year (WMAP7) likelihood data, we obtain Omega_M=0.278+-0.018 and sigma_8=0.815+-0.020.
(Abridge) We study statistical intrinsic shape of star-forming BzK galaxies (sBzK galaxies) at z~2 in both rest-frame UV and rest-frame optical wavelengths. The sBzK galaxies are selected down to K(AB)=24.0 mag in the GOODS-South and SXDS fields, where high-resolution images from Hubble Space Telescope are publicly available. 57% (583) of all 1028 galaxies in GOODS-S show a single component in the ACS/F850LP image. As WFC3/F160W images cover only some part of GOODS-S and SXDS, 724/1028 and 2500/29835 sBzK galaxies in the GOODS-S and SXDS have the WFC3 coverage. 86% (626) and 82% (2044) of the sBzK galaxies in WFC3/F160W images appear as a single component in the GOODS-S and SXDS, respectively. Larger fraction of single-component objects in F850LP images represents multiple star-forming regions in galaxies, while they are not so obvious in the F160W image which appears smoother. Most of the single-component sBzK galaxies show S\'ersic indices of n=0.5-2.5, in agreement with those of local disk galaxies. Their effective radii are 1.0-3.0 kpc and 1.5-4.0 kpc in F850LP and F160W images, respectively, regardless of the observed fields. Stellar surface mass density of the sBzK galaxies is also comparable to that of the local disk galaxies. However, the intrinsic shape of sBzK galaxies is not a round disk as seen in the local disk galaxies. By comparing apparent axial ratio (b/a) distributions of the sBzK galaxies with those by assuming tri-axial model with axes A>B>C, we found their intrinsic face-on B/A ratios peak at B/A=0.70 and B/A=0.77-0.79 in the rest-frame UV and optical, respectively and are statistically more bar-like than that of the local disk galaxies. The intrinsic edge-on C/A ratios in both rest-frame UV and optical wavelengths peak at 0.26, which is slightly larger than that of the local disk galaxies.
Deep Herschel imaging and 12CO(2-1) line luminosities from the IRAM PdBI are combined for a sample of 17 galaxies at z>1 from the GOODS-N field. The sample includes galaxies both on and above the main sequence (MS) traced by star-forming galaxies in the SFR-M* plane. The far-infrared data are used to derive dust masses, Mdust. Combined with an empirical prescription for the dependence of the gas-to-dust ratio on metallicity (GDR), the CO luminosities and Mdust values are used to derive for each galaxy the CO-to-H2 conversion factor, alpha_co. Like in the local Universe, the value of alpha_co is a factor of ~5 smaller in starbursts compared to normal star-forming galaxies (SFGs). We also uncover a relation between alpha_co and dust temperature (Tdust; alpha_co decreasing with increasing Tdust) as obtained from modified blackbody fits to the far-infrared data. While the absolute normalization of the alpha_co(Tdust) relation is uncertain, the global trend is robust against possible systematic biases in the determination of Mdust, GDR or metallicity. Although we cannot formally distinguish between a step and a smooth evolution of alpha_co with the dust temperature, we can conclude that in galaxies of near-solar metallicity, a critical value of Tdust=30K can be used to determine whether the appropriate alpha_co is closer to the starburst value (1.0 Msun(K kms pc^2)^-1, if Tdust>30K) or closer to the Galactic value (4.35 Msun (K kms pc^2)^-1, if Tdust<30K). This indicator has the great advantage of being less subjective than visual morphological classifications of mergers/SFGs, which can be difficult at high z because of the clumpy nature of SFGs. In the absence of far-infrared data, the offset of a galaxy from the main sequence (i.e., log[SSFR(galaxy)/SSFR_MS(M*,z)]) can be used to identify galaxies requiring the use of an alpha_co conversion factor lower than the Galactic value.
The stellar mass and metallicity are among the fundamental parameters of galaxies. An understanding of the interplay between those properties as well as their environmental dependence will give us a general picture of the physics and feedback processes ongoing in groups of galaxies. We study the relationships and environmental dependencies between the stellar mass, and gas metallicity for more than 1900 galaxies in groups up to redshift 0.35 using the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. Using a control sample of more than 28,000 star-forming field galaxies, we find evidence for a decrement of the gas metallicity for galaxies in groups.
We study future observational constraints on cosmic string parameters from various types of next-generation experiments: direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs), pulsar timing array, and the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We consider both GW burst and stochastic GW background searches by ground- and space-based interferometers as well as GW background detection in pulsar timing experiments. We also consider cosmic string contributions to the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies. These different types of observations offer independent probes of cosmic strings and may enable us to investigate cosmic string properties if the signature is detected. In this paper, we evaluate the power of future experiments to constrain cosmic string parameters, such as the string tension Gmu, the initial loop size alpha, and the reconnection probability p, by performing Fisher information matrix calculations. We find that combining the information from the different types of observations breaks parameter degeneracies and provides more stringent constraints on the parameters. We also find future space-borne interferometers independently provide a highly precise determination of the parameters.
In this paper we study an anisotropic model generated from a Bianchi III metric, generalization of G\"{o}del's metric, which is an exact solution of Einstein's field equations. In particular, we analyse supernova Ia data, namely the SDSS sample calibrated with the MLCS2k2 fitter, verifying in which limits of distances and redshifts the anisotropy of the model could be observed, and in which limits the model approaches the \Lambda CDM model. We found that redshifts above z = 2 has a particular importance in setting the point at which the anisotropy would be noticed, as well as the point at which the present model begins to diverge from the \Lambda CDM. We conclude that data above this limit, as well as an increasing accuracy in measuring these distances, might indicate the existence of such an anisotropy in the universe.
Non-Gaussianity in the inflationary perturbations can couple observable scales to modes of much longer wavelength (superhorizon even), leaving as signature a large-angle modulation of the observed CMB power spectrum. This provides an alternative origin for a power asymmetry which is otherwise often ascribed to a breaking of statistical isotropy. The non-Gaussian modulation effect can be significant even for typical ~10^{-5} perturbations, while respecting current constraints on non-Gaussianity, if the squeezed limit of the bispectrum is sufficiently infrared-divergent. Just such a strongly infrared-divergent bispectrum is predicted by inflation models with a non-Bunch-Davies initial state, for instance. Upper limits on the observed CMB power asymmetry place stringent constraints on the duration of inflation in such models.
We present a systematical analysis of the Chandra observations of 53 nearby highly-inclined (i>60 degree) disk galaxies to study the coronae around them. This sample covers a broad range of galaxy properties: e.g., about three orders of magnitude in the SFR and more than two orders of magnitude in the stellar mass. The Chandra observations of the diffuse soft X-ray emission from 20 of these galaxies are presented for the first time. The data are reduced in a uniform manner, including the excision/subtraction of both resolved and unresolved stellar contributions. Various coronal properties, such as the scale height and luminosity, are characterized for all the sample galaxies. For galaxies with high enough counting statistics, we also examine the thermal and chemical states of the coronal gas. We note on galaxies with distinct multi-wavelength characteristics which may affect the coronal properties. The uniformly processed images, spectra, and brightness profiles, as well as the inferred hot gas parameters, form a large X-ray database for studying the coronae around nearby disk galaxies. We also discuss various complications which may cause biases to this database and their possible corrections or effects, such as the uncertainty in the thermal and chemical states of hot gas, the different galactic disk inclination angles, the presence of AGN, and the contribution of the emission from charge exchange at interfaces between hot and cool gases. Results from a detailed correlation analysis are presented in a companion paper, to gain a more comprehensive statistical understanding of the origin of galactic coronae.
We study the growth of cosmic structure under the assumption that dark matter self-annihilates with an averaged cross section times relative velocity that grows with the scale factor, an increase known as Sommerfeld-enhancement. Such an evolution is expected in models in which a light force carrier in the dark sector enhances the annihilation cross section of dark matter particles, and has been invoked, for instance, to explain anomalies in cosmic ray spectra reported in the past. In order to make our results as general as possible, we assume that dark matter annihilates into a relativistic species that only interacts gravitationally with the standard model. This assumption also allows us to test whether the additional relativistic species mildly favored by cosmic-microwave background data could originate from dark matter annihilation. We do not find evidence for Sommerfeld-enhanced dark matter annihilation and derive the corresponding upper limits on the annihilation cross-section.
The CO-H2 conversion factor (Xco; otherwise known as the X-factor) is observed to be remarkably constant in the Milky Way and in the Local Group (aside from the SMC). To date, our understanding of why Xco should be so constant remains poor. Using a combination of extremely high resolution (~ 1 pc) galaxy evolution simulations and molecular line radiative transfer calculations, we suggest that Xco displays a narrow range of values in the Galaxy due to the fact that molecular clouds share very similar physical properties. In our models, this is itself a consequence of stellar feedback competing against gravitational collapse. GMCs whose lifetimes are regulated by radiative feedback show a narrow range of surface densities, temperatures and velocity dispersions with values comparable to those seen in the Milky Way. As a result, the X-factors from these clouds show reasonable correspondence with observed data from the Local Group, and a relatively narrow range. On the other hand, feedback-free clouds collapse to surface densities that are larger than those seen in the Galaxy, and hence result in X-factors that are systematically too large compared to the Milky Way's. We conclude that radiative feedback within GMCs can generate cloud properties similar to those observed in the Galaxy, and hence a roughly constant Milky Way X-factor in normal, quiescent clouds.
An extreme-mass-ratio burst (EMRB) is a gravitational wave signal emitted when a compact object passes through periapsis on a highly eccentric orbit about a much more massive object, in our case a stellar mass object about a 10^6 M_sol black hole. EMRBs are a relatively unexplored means of probing the spacetime of massive black holes (MBHs). We conduct an investigation of the properties of EMRBs and how they could allow us to constrain the parameters, such as spin, of the Galaxy's MBH. We find that if an EMRB event occurs in the Galaxy, it should be detectable for periapse distances r_p < 65 r_g for a \mu = 10 M_sol orbiting object, where r_g = GM/c^2 is the gravitational radius. The signal-to-noise ratio scales as \rho ~ -2.7 log(r_p/r_g) + log(\mu/M_sol) + 4.9. For periapses r_p < 10 r_g, EMRBs can be informative, and provide good constraints on both the MBH's mass and spin. Closer orbits provide better constraints, with the best giving accuracies of better than one part in 10^4 for both the mass and spin parameter.
Using newly released data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, we report the discovery of rapid infrared variability in three radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) selected from the 23 sources in the sample of Yuan et al. (2008). J0849+5108 and J0948+0022 clearly show intraday variability, while J1505+0326 has a longer measurable time scale within 180 days. Their variability amplitudes, corrected for measurement errors, are $\sim 0.1-0.2$ mag. The detection of intraday variability restricts the size of the infrared-emitting region to $\sim 10^{-3}$ pc, significantly smaller than the scale of the torus but consistent with the base of a jet. The three variable sources are exceptionally radio-loud, have the highest radio brightness temperature among the whole sample, and all show detected $\gamma$-ray emission in Fermi/LAT observations. Their spectral energy distributions resemble those of low-energy-peaked blazars, with a synchrotron peak around infrared wavelengths. This result strongly confirms the view that at least some radio-loud NLS1s are blazars with a relativistic jet close to our line of sight. The beamed synchrotron emission from the jet contributes significantly to and probably dominates the spectra in the infrared and even optical bands.
The intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) can be indirectly probed through its effect on electromagnetic cascades initiated by a source of TeV gamma-rays, such as active galactic nuclei (AGN). AGN that are sufficiently luminous at TeV energies, extreme TeV blazars, can produce detectable levels of secondary radiation from Inverse Compton (IC) scattering of the electrons in the cascade, provided that the IGMF is not too large. We review recent work in the literature which utilizes this idea to derive constraints on the IGMF for three TeV-detected blazars-1ES 0229+200, 1ES 1218+304, and RGB J0710+591, and we also investigate four other hard-spectrum TeV blazars in the same context. Through a recently developed detailed Monte Carlo code, incorporating all major effects of QED and cosmological expansion, we research effects of major uncertainties such as the spectral properties of the source, uncertainty in the UV - far IR extragalactic background light (EBL), undersampled Very High Energy (VHE; energy > 100 GeV) coverage, past history of gamma-ray emission, source vs. observer geometry, and jet AGN Doppler factor. The implications of these effects on the recently reported lower limits of the IGMF are thoroughly examined to conclude that presently available data are compatible with a zero IGMF hypothesis.
We study the constraints on the cosmic opacity using the latest BAO and Union2 SNIa data in this paper and find that the best fit values seem to indicate that an opaque universe is preferred in redshift regions $0.20-0.35$, $0.35-0.44$ and $0.60-0.73$, whereas, a transparent universe is favored in redshift regions $0.106-0.20$, $0.44-0.57$and $0.57-0.60$. However, our result is still consistent with a transparent universe at the 1$\sigma$ confidence level, even though the best-fit cosmic opacity oscillates between zero and some nonzero values as the redshift varies.
We examine the first ATLAS Collaboration 8 TeV 5.8/fb supersymmetry (SUSY) multijet data observations in the context of No-Scale Flipped SU(5) with extra TeV-Scale vector-like flippon multiplets, dubbed F-SU(5), finding that the recent 8 TeV collider data is statistically consistent with our prior 7 TeV results. Furthermore, we synthesize all currently ongoing experiments searching for beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics with this fit to the 8 TeV data, establishing a suggestive global coherence within a No-Scale F-SU(5) high-energy framework. The SUSY mass scale consistent with all BSM data consists of the region of the F-SU(5) model space within 660 ~< M_{1/2} ~< 760 GeV, which corresponds to sparticle masses of 133 ~< M(chi_1^0) ~< 160 GeV, 725 ~< M(t_1) ~< 845 GeV, and 890 ~< M(g) ~< 1025 GeV. We suggest that the tight non-trivial correspondence between the SUSY multijets, direct and indirect searches for dark matter, proton decay, rare-decay processes, the observed Higgs boson mass, and the measured dark matter relic density, is strongly indicative of a deeper fundamental relationship. We additionally suggest a simple mechanism for enhancing the capture efficiency of F-SU(5) SUSY multijets, which results in a 93% suppression in ATLAS reported background events, but only a 27% decrease in Monte Carlo simulated F-SU(5) multijet events.
The application of Effective Field Theory (EFT) methods to inflation has taken a central role in our current understanding of the very early universe. The EFT perspective has been particularly useful in analyzing the self-interactions determining the evolution of co-moving curvature perturbations (Goldstone boson modes) and their influence on low-energy observables. However, the standard EFT formalism, to lowest order in spacetime differential operators, does not provide the most general parametrization of a theory that remains weakly coupled throughout the entire low-energy regime. Here we study the EFT formulation by including spacetime differential operators implying a scale dependence of the Goldstone boson self-interactions and its dispersion relation. These operators are shown to arise naturally from the low-energy interaction of the Goldstone boson with heavy fields that have been integrated out. We find that the EFT then stays weakly coupled all the way up to the cutoff scale at which ultraviolet degrees of freedom become operative. This opens up a regime of new physics where the dispersion relation is dominated by a quadratic dependence on the momentum $\omega \sim p^2$. In addition, provided that modes crossed the horizon within this energy range, the prediction of inflationary observables --including non-Gaussian signatures-- are significantly affected by the new scales characterizing it.
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A generic prediction of the single-degenerate model for Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is that a significant amount of material will be stripped from the donor star (~0.5 M_sol for a giant donor and ~0.15 M_sol for a main sequence donor) by the supernova ejecta. This material, excited by gamma-rays from radioactive decay, would then produce relatively narrow (<1000 km s^-1) emission features observable once the supernova enters the nebular phase. Such emission has never been detected, which already provides strong constraints on Type Ia progenitor models. In this Letter we report the deepest limit yet on the presence of H alpha emission originating from the stripped hydrogen in the nebular spectrum of a Type Ia supernova obtained using a high signal-to-noise spectrum of the nearby normal SN Ia 2011fe 274 days after B-band maximum light with the Large Binocular Telescope's Multi-Object Double Spectrograph. We put a conservative upper limit on the H alpha flux of 3.14x10^-17 erg/s/cm^2, which corresponds to a luminosity of 1.57x10^35 erg/s. Assuming the models of Mattila et al. (2005) and the methods of Leonard (2007), this translates into an upper limit of <0.001 M_sol of stripped material, which is an order of magnitude stronger than previous limits by Leonard (2007). SN 2011fe was a typical Type Ia supernova, special only in its proximity, and we argue that lack of hydrogen emission in its nebular spectrum adds yet another strong constraint on the single degenerate class of models for SNe Ia.
Many cosmological models invoke rolling scalar fields to account for the observed acceleration of the expansion of the universe. These theories generally include a potential V(phi) which is a function of the scalar field phi. Although V(phi) can be represented by a very diverse set of functions, recent work has shown the under some conditions, such as the slow roll conditions, the equation of state parameter w is either independent of the form of V(phi) or is part of family of solutions with only a few parameters. In realistic models of this type the scalar field couples to other sectors of the model leading to possibly observable changes in the fundamental constants such as the fine structure constant alpha and the proton to electron mass ratio mu. This paper explores the limits this puts on the validity of various cosmologies that invoke rolling scalar fields. We find that the limit on the variation of mu puts significant constraints on the product of a cosmological parameter w+1 times a new physics parameter zeta_mu^2, the coupling constant between mu and the rolling scalar field. Even when the cosmologies are restricted to very slow roll conditions either the value of zeta_mu must be at the lower end of or less than its expected values or the value of w+1 must be restricted to values vanishingly close to 0. This implies that either the rolling scalar field is very weakly coupled with the electromagnetic field, small zeta_mu, very weakly coupled with gravity, w+1 ~ 0 or both. These results stress that adherence to the measured invariance in mu is a very significant test of the validity of any proposed cosmology and any new physics it requires. The limits on the variation of mu also produces a significant tension with the reported changes in the value of alpha.
The first stars in the universe ionized the ambient primordial gas through various feedback processes. "Second-generation" primordial stars potentially form from this disturbed gas after its recombination. In this Letter, we study the late formation stage of such second-generation stars, where a large amount of gas accretes onto the protostar and the final stellar mass is determined when the accretion terminates. We directly compute the complex interplay between the accretion flow and stellar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, performing radiation-hydrodynamic simulations coupled with stellar evolution calculations. Because of more efficient H2 and HD cooling in the pre-stellar stage, the accretion rates onto the star are ten times lower than in the case of the formation of the first stars. The lower accretion rates and envelope density result in the occurrence of an expanding bipolar HII region at a lower protostellar mass M_* \simeq 10Msun, which blows out the circumstellar material, thereby quenching the mass supply from the envelope to the accretion disk. At the same time the disk loses mass due to photoevaporation by the growing star. In our fiducial case the stellar UV feedback terminates mass accretion onto the star at M_* \simeq 17Msun. Although the derived masses of the second-generation primordial stars are systematically lower than those of the first generation, the difference is within a factor of only a few. Our results suggest a new scenario, whereby the majority of the primordial stars are born as massive stars with tens of solar masses, regardless of their generations.
We present a detailed study of the QSO-galaxy pair [SDSS J163956.35+112758.7 (zq = 0.993) and SDSS J163956.38+112802.1 (zg = 0.079)] based on observations carried out using the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT), the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA), the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and the ESO New Technology Telescope (NTT). We show that the interstellar medium of the galaxy probed by the QSO line of sight has near-solar metallicity (12+log(O/H) = 8.47+/-0.25) and dust extinction (E(B-V) 0.83+/-0.11) typical of what is usually seen in translucent clouds. We report the detection of absorption in the \lambda 6284 diffuse interstellar band (DIB) with a rest equivalent width of 1.45+/-0.20\AA. Our GMRT spectrum shows a strong 21-cm absorption at the redshift of the galaxy with an integrated optical depth of 15.70+/-0.13 km/s. Follow-up VLBA observations show that the background radio source is resolved into three components with a maximum projected separation of 89 pc at the redshift of the galaxy. One of these components is too weak to provide useful HI 21-cm absorption information. The integrated HI optical depth towards the other two components are higher than that measured in our GMRT spectrum and differ by a factor 2. By comparing the GMRT and VLBA spectra we show the presence of structures in the 21-cm optical depth on parsec scales. We discuss the implications of such structures for the spin-temperature measurements in high-z damped Lyman-alpha systems. The analysis presented here suggests that this QSO-galaxy pair is an ideal target for studying the DIBs and molecular species using future observations in optical and radio wavebands.
We discuss the prospects to measure galaxy-cluster properties via weak lensing of 21-cm fluctuations from the dark ages and the epoch of reionization (EoR). We choose as a figure of merit the smallest cluster mass detectable through such measurements. We construct the minimum-variance quadratic estimator for the cluster mass based on lensing of 21-cm fluctuations at multiple redshifts. We discuss the tradeoff between frequency bandwidth, angular resolution, and number of redshift shells available for a fixed noise level for the radio detectors. Observations of lensing of the 21-cm background from the dark ages will be capable of detecting M>~10^12 Msun/h mass halos, but will require futuristic experiments to overcome the contaminating sources. Next-generation radio measurements of 21-cm fluctuations from the EoR will, however, have the sensitivity to detect galaxy clusters with halo masses M>~10^13 Msun/h, given enough observation time (for the relevant sky patch) and collecting area to maximize their resolution capabilities.
We present VLT/X-shooter observations of a high redshift, type Ia supernova host galaxy, discovered with HST/WFC3 as part of the CANDELS Supernova project. The galaxy exhibits strong emission lines of Ly{\alpha}, [O II], H{\beta}, [O III], and H{\alpha} at z = 1.54992(+0.00008-0.00004). From the emission-line fluxes and SED fitting of broad-band photometry we rule out AGN activity and characterize the host galaxy as a young, low mass, metal poor, starburst galaxy with low intrinsic extinction and high Ly{\alpha} escape fraction. The host galaxy stands out in terms of the star formation, stellar mass, and metallicity compared to its lower redshift counterparts, mainly because of its high specific star-formation rate. If valid for a larger sample of high-redshift SN Ia host galaxies, such changes in the host galaxy properties with redshift are of interest because of the potential impact on the use of SN Ia as standard candles in cosmology.
Observations show that the underlying rotation curves at intermediate radii in spiral and low-surface brightness galaxies are nearly universal. Further, in these same galaxies, the product of the central density and the core radius ($\rho_{0}r_{0}$) is constant. An empirically motivated model for dark matter halos which incorporates these observational constraints is presented and shown to be in accord with the observations. A model fit to the observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 611 shows that $\rho_{0}r_{0}$ for the dark matter halo in this more massive structure is larger by a factor of $\sim 20$ over that assumed for the galaxies. The model maintains the successful NFW form in the outer regions although the well defined differences in the inner regions suggest that modifications to the standard CDM picture are required.
While clusters of galaxies are considered one of the most important cosmological probes, the standard spherical modelling of the dark matter and the intracluster medium is only a rough approximation. Indeed, it is well established both theoretically and observationally that galaxy clusters are much better approximated as triaxial objects. However, investigating the asphericity of galaxy clusters is still in its infancy. We review here this topic which is currently gathering a growing interest from the cluster community. We begin by introducing the triaxial geometry. Then we discuss the topic of deprojection and demonstrate the need for combining different probes of the cluster's potential. We discuss the different works that have been addressing these issues. We present a general parametric framework intended to simultaneously fit complementary data sets (X-ray, Sunyaev Zel'dovich and lensing data). We discuss in details the case of Abell 1689 to show how different models/data sets lead to different haloe parameters. We present the results obtained from fitting a 3D NFW model to X-ray, SZ, and lensing data for 4 strong lensing clusters. We argue that a triaxial model generally allows to lower the inferred value of the concentration parameter compared to a spherical analysis. This may alleviate tensions regarding, e.g. the over-concentration problem. However, we stress that predictions from numerical simulations rely on a spherical analysis of triaxial halos. Given that triaxial analysis will have a growing importance in the observational side, we advocate the need for simulations to be analysed in the very same way, allowing reliable and meaningful comparisons. Besides, methods intended to derive the three dimensional shape of galaxy clusters should be extensively tested on simulated multi-wavelength observations.
I present a new algorithm, CALCLENS, for efficiently computing weak gravitational lensing shear signals from large N-body light cone simulations over a curved sky. This new algorithm properly accounts for the sky curvature and boundary conditions, is able to produce redshift-dependent shear signals including corrections to the Born approximation by using multiple-plane ray tracing, and properly computes the lensed images of source galaxies in the light cone. The key feature of this algorithm is a new, computationally efficient Poisson solver for the sphere that combines spherical harmonic transform and multgrid methods. As a result, large areas of sky (~10, 000 square degrees) can be ray traced efficiently at high-resolution using only a few hundred cores on widely available machines. Using this new algorithm and curved-sky calculations that only use a slower but more accurate spherical harmonic transform Poisson solver, I study the shear B-mode and rotation mode power spectra. Employing full-sky E/B-mode decompositions, I confirm that the shear B-mode and rotation mode power spectra are equal at high accuracy (~1%), as expected from perturbation theory up to second order. Coupled with realistic galaxy populations placed in large N-body light cone simulations, this new algorithm is ideally suited for the construction of synthetic weak lensing shear catalogs to be used to test for systematic effects in data analysis procedures for upcoming large-area sky surveys. The implementation presented in this work, written in C and employing widely available software libraries to maintain portability, is publicly available at this http URL
Magnetic fields present in galaxy NGC 253 are exceptionally strong so that they can influence the rotation of matter and hence the mass-to-light ratio. In this context the issue of the presence of non-baryonic dark matter halo in this galaxy is addressed.
We exploit the detection of three distinct stellar subpopulations in the red giant branch of the Fornax dwarf Spheroidal to probe its density distribution. This allows us to resolve directly the evolution with radius of the dark matter mass profile. We find that a cored dark matter halo provides a perfect fit to the data, being consistent with all three stellar populations well within 1-sigma, and for the first time we are able to put constraints on the core size of such a halo. With respect to previous work, we do not strengthen the statistical exclusion of a dark matter cusp in Fornax, but we find that Navarro-Frenk-White haloes would be required to have unrealistically large scale radii in order to be compatible with the data, hence low values of the concentration parameter. We are then forced to conclude that the Fornax dwarf Spheroidal sits within a dark matter halo having a constant density core, with a core size of between 0.6 and 1.8 kpc.
Turbulence is ubiquitous in many astrophysical systems like galaxies, galaxy clusters and possibly even the IGM filaments. We study fluctuation dynamo action in turbulent systems focusing on one observational signature; the Faraday rotation measure (RM) from background radio sources seen through the magnetic field generated by such a dynamo. We simulate the fluctuation dynamo (FD) in periodic boxes up to resolutions of 512^3, with varying fluid and magnetic Reynolds numbers, and measure the resulting random RMs. We show that the resulting rms value of RM is quite significant, given that the FD produces intermittent fields. When the dynamo saturates, it is of order 40%-50% of the value expected in a model where fields of strength B_rms uniformly fill cells of the largest turbulent eddy but are randomly oriented from one cell to another. This level of RM dispersion obtains across different values of magnetic Reynolds number and Prandtl number explored. We also use the random RMs to probe the structure of the generated fields to distinguish the contribution from intense and diffuse field regions. We find that the strong field regions (say with B > 2B_rms) contribute only of order 15%-20% to the RM. Thus rare structures do not dominate the RM; rather the general 'sea' of volume filling fluctuating fields are the dominant contributors. We also show that the magnetic integral scale, L_{int}, which is directly related to the RM dispersion, increases in all the runs, as Lorentz forces become important to saturate the dynamo. It appears that due to the ordering effect of the Lorentz forces, L_{int} of the saturated field tends to a modest fraction, 1/2-1/3 of the integral scale of the velocity field, for all our runs. These results are then applied to discuss the RM signatures of FD generated fields in young galaxies, galaxy clusters and intergalactic filaments.
A suitable coupling of the inflaton phi to a vector kinetic term F^2 gives frozen and scale invariant vector perturbations. We compute the cosmological perturbations zeta that result from such coupling by taking into account the classical vector field that unavoidably gets generated at large scales during inflation. This generically results in a too anisotropic power spectrum of zeta. Specifically, the anisotropy exceeds the 1% level (10% level) if inflation lasted ~5 e-folds (~50 e-folds) more than the minimal amount required to produce the CMB modes. This conclusion applies, among others, to the application of this mechanism for magnetogenesis, for anisotropic inflation, and for the generation of anisotropic perturbations at the end of inflation through a waterfall field coupled to the vector (in this case, the unavoidable contribution that we obtain is effective all throughout inflation, and it is independent of the waterfall field). For a tuned duration of inflation, a 1% (10%) anisotropy in the power spectrum corresponds to an anisotropic bispectrum which is enhanced like the local one in the squeezed limit, and with an effective local f_{NL} ~3 (~30). More in general, a significant anisotropy of the perturbations may be a natural outcome of all models that sustain higher than 0 spin fields during inflation.
We consider several early Universe models that allow for production of large curvature perturbations at small scales. As is well known, such perturbations can lead to production of primordial black holes (PBHs). We briefly review the Gaussian case and then focus on two models which produce strongly non-Gaussian perturbations: hybrid inflation waterfall model and the curvaton model. We show that limits on the values of curvature perturbation power spectrum amplitude are strongly dependent on the shape of perturbations and can significantly (by two orders of magnitude) deviate from the usual Gaussian limit of ${\cal P}_\zeta \lesssim 10^{-2}$. We give examples of PBH mass spectra calculations for each case.
From previous studies of the effect of primordial magnetic fields on early structure formation, we know that the presence of primordial magnetic fields during early structure formation could induce more perturbations at small scales (at present 1-10 Mpc/h) as compared to the usual LCDM theory. Matter power spectrum over these scales are effectively probed by cosmological observables such as shear correlation and Ly-alpha clouds, In this paper we discuss the implications of primordial magnetic fields on the distribution of Ly-alpha clouds. We simulate the line of sight density fluctuation including the contribution coming from the primordial magnetic fields. We compute the evolution of Ly-alpha opacity for this case and compare our theoretical estimates of Ly-alpha opacity with the existing data to constrain the parameters of the primordial magnetic fields. We also discuss the case when the two density fields are correlated. Our analysis yields an upper bounds of roughly 0.3-0.6 nG on the magnetic field strength for a range of nearly scale invariant models, corresponding to magnetic field power spectrum index n \simeq -3.
The next generation of wide-area sky surveys offer the power to place extremely precise constraints on cosmological parameters and to test the source of cosmic acceleration. These observational programs will employ multiple techniques based on a variety of statistical signatures of galaxies and large-scale structure. These techniques have sources of systematic error that need to be understood at the percent-level in order to fully leverage the power of next-generation catalogs. Simulations of large-scale structure provide the means to characterize these uncertainties. We are using XSEDE resources to produce multiple synthetic sky surveys of galaxies and large-scale structure in support of science analysis for the Dark Energy Survey. In order to scale up our production to the level of fifty 10^10-particle simulations, we are working to embed production control within the Apache Airavata workflow environment. We explain our methods and report how the workflow has reduced production time by 40% compared to manual management.
We present correlation results for the radio halo power in galaxy clusters with the integrated thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect signal, including new results obtained at sub-GHz frequencies. The radio data is compiled from several published works, and the SZ measurements are taken from the Planck ESZ cluster catalog. The tight correlation between the radio halo power and the SZ effect demonstrates a clear correspondence between the thermal and non-thermal electron populations in the intra-cluster medium, as already has been shown in X-ray based studies. The radio power varies roughly as the square of the global SZ signal, but when the SZ signal is scaled to within the radio halo radius the correlation becomes approximately linear, with reduced intrinsic scatter. We do not find any strong indication of a bi-modal division in the radio halo cluster population, as has been reported in the literature, which suggests that such duality could be an artifact of X-ray selection. We compare the SZ signal dependence of radio halos with simplified predictions from theoretical models, and discuss some implications and shortcomings of the present work.
Like the Lovelock Lagrangian which is a specific homogeneous polynomial in Riemann curvature, for an alternative derivation of the gravitational equation of motion, it is possible to define a specific homogeneous polynomial analogue of the Riemann curvature, and then the trace of its Bianchi derivative yields the corresponding polynomial analogue of the divergence free Einstein tensor defining the differential operator for the equation of motion. We propose that the general equation of motion is $G^{(n)}_{ab} = -\Lambda g_{ab} +\kappa_n T_{ab}$ for $d=2n+1, \, 2n+2$ dimensions with the single coupling constant $\kappa_n$, and $n=1$ is the usual Einstein equation. It turns out that gravitational behavior is essentially similar in the critical dimensions for all $n$. All static vacuum solutions asymptotically go over to the Einstein limit, Schwarzschild-dS/AdS. The thermodynamical parameters bear the same relation to horizon radius, for example entropy always goes as $r_h^{d-2n}$ and so for the critical dimensions it always goes as $r_h, \, r_h^2$. In terms of the area, it would go as $A^{1/n}$. The generalized analogues of the Nariai and Bertotti-Robinson solutions arising from the product of two constant curvature spaces, also bear the same relations between the curvatures $k_1=k_2$ and $k_1=-k_2$ respectively.
The near-infrared to optical-ultraviolet (0.1 -- 10 $\mu m$) spectral energy distribution (SED) shapes of 407 X-ray-selected radio-quiet type 1 AGN in the wide-field "Cosmic Evolution Survey" (COSMOS) have been studied for signs of evolution. For a sub-sample of 200 radio-quiet quasars with black hole mass estimation and host galaxy correction, we study the mean SEDs as a function of a broad range of redshift, bolometric luminosity, black hole mass and Eddington ratio, and compare them with the Elvis et al. (1994, E94) type 1 AGN mean SED. The mean SEDs in each bin are very similar to each other, showing no evidence of dependence on any of the analyzed parameters. We also checked the SED dispersion as a function of these four parameters, and found no significant dependance. The dispersion of the XMM-COSMOS SEDs is generally larger than E94 SED dispersion in the ultraviolet, which might be largely due to the broader "window function" for COSMOS quasars, and the X-ray based selection technique.
We analyze the state space of a Bianchi I universe with anisotropic sources. Here we consider an extended state space which includes null geodesics in this background. The evolution equations for all the state observables are derived. Dynamical system approach is used to study the evolution of these equations. The asymptotic stable fixed points for all the evolution equations are found. We also check our analytic results with numerical analysis of these dynamical equations. The evolution of the state observables are studied both in cosmic time and using a dimensionless time variable. Finally the cosmic microwave background anisotropy maps are generated, assuming that the universe is anisotropic and dominated by one of the anisotropic sources since decoupling. We find that they contribute dominantly to CMB quadrupole.
What does it mean to say that space expands? One approach to this question is the study of relative velocities. In this context, a non local test particle is "superluminal" if its relative velocity exceeds the local speed of light of the observer. The existence of superluminal relative velocities of receding test particles, in a particular cosmological model, suggests itself as a possible criterion for expansion of space in that model. In this point of view, superluminal velocities of distant receding galaxy clusters result from the expansion of space between the observer and the clusters. However, there is a fundamental ambiguity that must be resolved before this approach can be meaningful. The notion of relative velocity of a nonlocal object depends on the choice of coordinates, and this ambiguity suggests the need for coordinate independent definitions. In this work, we review four (inequivalent) geometrically defined and universal notions of relative velocity: Fermi, kinematic, astrometric, and spectroscopic relative velocities. We apply this formalism to test particles undergoing radial motion relative to comoving observers in expanding Robertson-Walker cosmologies, and include previously unpublished results on Fermi coordinates for a class of inflationary cosmologies. We compare relative velocities to each other, and show how pairs of them determine geometric properties of the spacetime, including the scale factor with sufficient data. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the existence of superluminal recessional Fermi speeds in general Robertson-Walker cosmologies. We conclude with a discussion of expansion of space.
The axion is a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson. It appears after the spontaneous breaking of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry, which was proposed to solve the strong-CP problem. Other pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons, postulated in some extensions of the standard model of particle physics, are called axion-like particles (ALPs) if they share certain characteristics with the axion, in particular a coupling to two photons. Thus far, axion and ALP searches have been unsuccessful, indicating that their couplings have to be extremely weak. However, axions and ALPs could be responsible for some observable effects in astrophysics and cosmology, which can also be exploited to constrain the parameter space of these particles. We focus on limits coming from cosmology, which is an optimal field for studying axions and ALPs. In particular, we first investigate the possibility of a primordial population of axions and ALPs arising during the earliest epochs of the universe. The importance of this analysis lies on the fact that axions and ALPs are ideal dark matter candidates because of their faint interactions and their peculiar production mechanisms. Finally, we consider the consequences of the decay of such a population on specific cosmological observables, namely the photon spectrum of galaxies, the cosmic microwave background, the effective number of neutrino species, and the abundance of primordial elements. Our bounds constitute the most stringent probes of early decays and exclude a part of the ALP parameter space that is otherwise very difficult to test experimentally.
The accelerating expansion of the Universe points to a small positive vacuum energy density and negative vacuum pressure. A strong candidate is the cosmological constant in Einstein's equations of General Relativity. The vacuum dark energy density extracted from astrophysics is 10^56 times smaller than the value expected from the Higgs potential in Standard Model particle physics. The dark energy scale is however close to the range of possible values expected for the light neutrino mass. We investigate this physics in a simple toy model where the chirality of the neutrino is treated by analogy as an Ising-like "spin" degree of freedom.
We have analyzed a long-look Suzaku observation of the Seyfert 1.2 Mkn~590. We aimed to measure the Compton reflection strength, Fe K complex properties and soft excess emission as had been observed previously in this source. The Compton reflection strength was measured to be in the range 0.2-1.0 depending on the model used. A moderately strong Fe \ka emission line was detected with an equivalent width of ~120+/-25 eV and an Fe Kb line was identified with an equivalent width of ~30+/-20 eV, although we could not rule out contribution from ionized Fe emission at this energy. Surprisingly, we found no evidence for soft excess emission. Comparing our results with a 2004 observation from XMM-Newton we found that either the soft excess has decreased by a factor of 20-30 in 7 years or the photon index has steepened by 0.10 (with no soft excess present) while the continuum flux in the range 2-10 keV has varied only minimally (10%). This result could support recent claims that the soft excess is independent of the X-ray continuum.
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