3,020 research outputs found
The Environment of HII Galaxies revisited
We present a study of the close (< 200 kpc) environment of 110 relatively
local (z< 0.16) HII galaxies, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS;
DR7). We use available spectroscopic and photometric redshifts in order to
investigate the presence of a close and possibly interacting companion galaxy.
Our aim is to compare the physical properties of isolated and interacting HII
galaxies and investigate possible systematic effects in their use as
cosmological probes. We find that interacting HII galaxies tend to be more
compact, less luminous and have a lower velocity dispersion than isolated ones,
in agreement with previous studies on smaller samples. However, as we verified,
these environmental differences do not affect the cosmologically important
L_{H{\beta}}-{\sigma} correlation of the HII galaxies.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in A&
On the limits of measuring the bulge and disk properties of local and high-redshift massive galaxies
A considerable fraction of the massive quiescent galaxies at \emph{z}
2, which are known to be much more compact than galaxies of
comparable mass today, appear to have a disk. How well can we measure the bulge
and disk properties of these systems? We simulate two-component model galaxies
in order to systematically quantify the effects of non-homology in structures
and the methods employed. We employ empirical scaling relations to produce
realistic-looking local galaxies with a uniform and wide range of
bulge-to-total ratios (), and then rescale them to mimic the
signal-to-noise ratios and sizes of observed galaxies at \emph{z} 2.
This provides the most complete set of simulations to date for which we can
examine the robustness of two-component decomposition of compact disk galaxies
at different . We confirm that the size of these massive, compact galaxies
can be measured robustly using a single S\'{e}rsic fit. We can measure
accurately without imposing any constraints on the light profile shape of the
bulge, but, due to the small angular sizes of bulges at high redshift, their
detailed properties can only be recovered for galaxies with \gax\ 0.2.
The disk component, by contrast, can be measured with little difficulty
Variations of the ISM Compactness Across the Main Sequence of Star-Forming Galaxies: Observations and Simulations
(abridged) The majority of star-forming galaxies follow a simple empirical
correlation in the star formation rate (SFR) versus stellar mass () plane,
usually referred to as the star formation Main Sequence (MS). Here we combine a
set of hydro-dynamical simulations of interacting galactic disks with
state-of-the-art radiative transfer codes to analyze how the evolution of
mergers is reflected upon the properties of the MS. We present
\textsc{Chiburst}, a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Spectral Energy
Distribution (SED) code that fits the multi-wavelength, broad-band photometry
of galaxies and derives stellar masses, star formation rates, and geometrical
properties of the dust distribution. We apply this tool to the SEDs of
simulated mergers and compare the derived results with the reference output
from the simulations. Our results indicate that changes in the SEDs of mergers
as they approach coalescence and depart from the MS are related to an evolution
of dust geometry in scales larger than a few hundred parsecs. This is reflected
in a correlation between the specific star formation rate (sSFR), and the
compactness parameter , that parametrizes this geometry and hence
the evolution of dust temperature () with time. As mergers
approach coalescence, they depart from the MS and increase their compactness,
which implies that moderate outliers of the MS are consistent with late-type
mergers. By further applying our method to real observations of Luminous
Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs), we show that the merger scenario is unable to
explain these extreme outliers of the MS. Only by significantly increasing the
gas fraction in the simulations are we able to reproduce the SEDs of LIRGs.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted in Ap
Image Analysis and Machine Learning in Agricultural Research
Agricultural research has been a focus for academia and industry to improve human well-being. Given the challenges in water scarcity, global warming, and increased prices of fertilizer, and fossil fuel, improving the efficiency of agricultural research has become even more critical. Data collection by humans presents several challenges including: 1) the subjectiveness and reproducibility when doing the visual evaluation, 2) safety when dealing with high toxicity chemicals or severe weather events, 3) mistakes cannot be avoided, and 4) low efficiency and speed.
Image analysis and machine learning are more versatile and advantageous in evaluating different plant characteristics, and this could help with agricultural data collection. In the first chapter, information related to different types of imaging (e.g., RGB, multi/hyperspectral, and thermal imaging) was explored in detail for its advantages in different agriculture applications. The process of image analysis demonstrated how target features were extracted for analysis including shape, edge, texture, and color. After acquiring features information, machine learning can be used to automatically detect or predict features of interest such as disease severity. In the second chapter, case studies of different agricultural applications were demonstrated including: 1) leaf damage symptoms, 2) stress evaluation, 3) plant growth evaluation, 4) stand/insect counting, and 5) evaluation for produce quality. Case studies showed that the use of image analysis is often more advantageous than visual rating. Advantages of image analysis include increased objectivity, speed, and more reproducibly reliable results. In the third chapter, machine learning was explored using romaine lettuce images from RD4AG to automatically grade for bolting and compactness (two of the important parameters for lettuce quality). Although the accuracy is at 68.4 and 66.6% respectively, a much larger data base and many improvements are needed to increase the model accuracy and reliability.
With the advancement in cameras, computers with high computing power, and the development of different algorithms, image analysis and machine learning have the potential to replace part of the labor and improve the current data collection procedure in agricultural research.
Advisor: Gary L. Hei
Long-baseline optical intensity interferometry: Laboratory demonstration of diffraction-limited imaging
A long-held vision has been to realize diffraction-limited optical aperture
synthesis over kilometer baselines. This will enable imaging of stellar
surfaces and their environments, and reveal interacting gas flows in binary
systems. An opportunity is now opening up with the large telescope arrays
primarily erected for measuring Cherenkov light in air induced by gamma rays.
With suitable software, such telescopes could be electronically connected and
also used for intensity interferometry. Second-order spatial coherence of light
is obtained by cross correlating intensity fluctuations measured in different
pairs of telescopes. With no optical links between them, the error budget is
set by the electronic time resolution of a few nanoseconds. Corresponding
light-travel distances are approximately one meter, making the method
practically immune to atmospheric turbulence or optical imperfections,
permitting both very long baselines and observing at short optical wavelengths.
Previous theoretical modeling has shown that full images should be possible to
retrieve from observations with such telescope arrays. This project aims at
verifying diffraction-limited imaging experimentally with groups of detached
and independent optical telescopes. In a large optics laboratory, artificial
stars were observed by an array of small telescopes. Using high-speed
photon-counting solid-state detectors, intensity fluctuations were
cross-correlated over up to 180 baselines between pairs of telescopes,
producing coherence maps across the interferometric Fourier-transform plane.
These measurements were used to extract parameters about the simulated stars,
and to reconstruct their two-dimensional images. As far as we are aware, these
are the first diffraction-limited images obtained from an optical array only
linked by electronic software, with no optical connections between the
telescopes.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, Astronomy & Astrophysics, in press. arXiv admin
note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1407.599
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