20,223 research outputs found
Fuzzy Supernova Templates II: Parameter Estimation
Wide field surveys will soon be discovering Type Ia supernovae (SNe) at rates
of several thousand per year. Spectroscopic follow-up can only scratch the
surface for such enormous samples, so these extensive data sets will only be
useful to the extent that they can be characterized by the survey photometry
alone. In a companion paper (Rodney and Tonry, 2009) we introduced the SOFT
method for analyzing SNe using direct comparison to template light curves, and
demonstrated its application for photometric SN classification. In this work we
extend the SOFT method to derive estimates of redshift and luminosity distance
for Type Ia SNe, using light curves from the SDSS and SNLS surveys as a
validation set. Redshifts determined by SOFT using light curves alone are
consistent with spectroscopic redshifts, showing a root-mean-square scatter in
the residuals of RMS_z=0.051. SOFT can also derive simultaneous redshift and
distance estimates, yielding results that are consistent with the currently
favored Lambda-CDM cosmological model. When SOFT is given spectroscopic
information for SN classification and redshift priors, the RMS scatter in
Hubble diagram residuals is 0.18 mags for the SDSS data and 0.28 mags for the
SNLS objects. Without access to any spectroscopic information, and even without
any redshift priors from host galaxy photometry, SOFT can still measure
reliable redshifts and distances, with an increase in the Hubble residuals to
0.37 mags for the combined SDSS and SNLS data set. Using Monte Carlo
simulations we predict that SOFT will be able to improve constraints on
time-variable dark energy models by a factor of 2-3 with each new generation of
large-scale SN surveys.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted to ApJ; paper 1 is arXiv:0910.370
Statistical Mechanics of Learning in the Presence of Outliers
Using methods of statistical mechanics, we analyse the effect of outliers on
the supervised learning of a classification problem. The learning strategy aims
at selecting informative examples and discarding outliers. We compare two
algorithms which perform the selection either in a soft or a hard way. When the
fraction of outliers grows large, the estimation errors undergo a first order
phase transition.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures (minor extensions added
Spatially Resolved Stellar Populations of Eight GOODS-South AGN at z~1
We present a pilot study of the stellar populations of 8 AGN hosts at z~1 and
compare to (1) lower redshift samples and (2) a sample of nonactive galaxies of
similar redshift. We utilize K' images in the GOODS South field obtained with
the laser guide star adaptive optics (LGSAO) system at Keck Observatory. We
combine this K' data with B, V, i, and z imaging from the ACS on HST to give
multi-color photometry at a matched spatial resolution better than 100 mas in
all bands. The hosts harbor AGN as inferred from their high X-ray luminosities
(L_X > 10^42 ergs/s) or mid-IR colors. We find a correlation between the
presence of younger stellar populations and the strength of the AGN, as
measured with [OIII] line luminosity or X-ray (2-10 keV) luminosity. This
finding is consistent with similar studies at lower redshift. Of the three Type
II galaxies, two are disk galaxies and one is of irregular type, while in the
Type I sample there only one disk-like source and four sources with smooth,
elliptical/spheroidal morphologies. In addition, the mid-IR SEDs of the strong
Type II AGN indicate that they are excited to LIRG (Luminous InfraRed Galaxy)
status via galactic starbursting, while the strong Type I AGN are excited to
LIRG status via hot dust surrounding the central AGN. This supports the notion
that the obscured nature of Type II AGN at z~1 is connected with global
starbursting and that they may be extincted by kpc-scale dusty features that
are byproducts of this starbursting.Comment: 56 pages, 39 figures, accepted to A
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