17 research outputs found
Multi-wavelength interferometry of evolved stars using VLTI and VLBA
We report on our project of coordinated VLTI/VLBA observations of the
atmospheres and circumstellar environments of evolved stars. We illustrate in
general the potential of interferometric measurements to study stellar
atmospheres and envelopes, and demonstrate in particular the advantages of a
coordinated multi-wavelength approach including near/mid-infrared as well as
radio interferometry. We have so far made use of VLTI observations of the near-
and mid-infrared stellar sizes and of concurrent VLBA observations of the SiO
maser emission. To date, this project includes studies of the Mira stars S Ori
and RR Aql as well as of the supergiant AH Sco. These sources all show strong
silicate emission features in their mid-infrared spectra. In addition, they
each have relatively strong SiO maser emission. The results from our first
epochs of S Ori measurements have recently been published and the main results
are reviewed here. The S Ori maser ring is found to lie at a mean distance of
about 2 stellar radii, a result that is virtually free of the usual uncertainty
inherent in comparing observations of variable stars widely separated in time
and stellar phase. We discuss the status of our more recent S Ori, RR Aql, and
AH Sco observations, and present an outlook on the continuation of our project.Comment: 9 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the ESO workshop "The Power
of Optical/IR Interferometry: Recent Scientific Results and 2nd Generation
VLTI Instrumentation", ESO Astrophysics Symposi
Search for Tensor, Vector, and Scalar Polarizations in the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background
The detection of gravitational waves with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo has enabled novel tests of general relativity, including direct study of the polarization of gravitational waves. While general relativity allows for only two tensor gravitational-wave polarizations, general metric theories can additionally predict two vector and two scalar polarizations. The polarization of gravitational waves is encoded in the spectral shape of the stochastic gravitational-wave background, formed by the superposition of cosmological and individually unresolved astrophysical sources. Using data recorded by Advanced LIGO during its first observing run, we search for a stochastic background of generically polarized gravitational waves. We find no evidence for a background of any polarization, and place the first direct bounds on the contributions of vector and scalar polarizations to the stochastic background. Under log-uniform priors for the energy in each polarization, we limit the energy densities of tensor, vector, and scalar modes at 95% credibility to Ω0T<5.58×10-8, Ω0V<6.35×10-8, and Ω0S<1.08×10-7 at a reference frequency f0=25 Hz. © 2018 American Physical Society
On the progenitor of binary neutron star merger GW170817
On 2017 August 17 the merger of two compact objects with masses consistent with two neutron stars was discovered through gravitational-wave (GW170817), gamma-ray (GRB 170817A), and optical (SSS17a/AT 2017gfo) observations. The optical source was associated with the early-type galaxy NGC 4993 at a distance of just ∼40 Mpc, consistent with the gravitational-wave measurement, and the merger was localized to be at a projected distance of ∼2 kpc away from the galaxy's center. We use this minimal set of facts and the mass posteriors of the two neutron stars to derive the first constraints on the progenitor of GW170817 at the time of the second supernova (SN). We generate simulated progenitor populations and follow the three-dimensional kinematic evolution from binary neutron star (BNS) birth to the merger time, accounting for pre-SN galactic motion, for considerably different input distributions of the progenitor mass, pre-SN semimajor axis, and SN-kick velocity. Though not considerably tight, we find these constraints to be comparable to those for Galactic BNS progenitors. The derived constraints are very strongly influenced by the requirement of keeping the binary bound after the second SN and having the merger occur relatively close to the center of the galaxy. These constraints are insensitive to the galaxy's star formation history, provided the stellar populations are older than 1 Gyr
Constraints on cosmic strings using data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run
Cosmic strings are topological defects which can be formed in grand unified theory scale phase transitions in the early universe. They are also predicted to form in the context of string theory. The main mechanism for a network of Nambu-Goto cosmic strings to lose energy is through the production of loops and the subsequent emission of gravitational waves, thus offering an experimental signature for the existence of cosmic strings. Here we report on the analysis conducted to specifically search for gravitational-wave bursts from cosmic string loops in the data of Advanced LIGO 2015-2016 observing run (O1). No evidence of such signals was found in the data, and as a result we set upper limits on the cosmic string parameters for three recent loop distribution models. In this paper, we initially derive constraints on the string tension Gμ and the intercommutation probability, using not only the burst analysis performed on the O1 data set but also results from the previously published LIGO stochastic O1 analysis, pulsar timing arrays, cosmic microwave background and big-bang nucleosynthesis experiments. We show that these data sets are complementary in that they probe gravitational waves produced by cosmic string loops during very different epochs. Finally, we show that the data sets exclude large parts of the parameter space of the three loop distribution models we consider
Multi-epoch imaging polarimetry of the SiO masers in the extended atmosphere of the Mira variable TX Cam
We present a time series of synoptic images of the linearly polarized ν = 1, J = 1-0 SiO maser emission toward the Mira variable, TX Cam. These data comprise 43 individual epochs at an approximate biweekly sampling over an optical pulsation phase range of φ = 0.68 to φ = 1.82. The images have an angular resolution of ∼500 μas and were obtained using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), operating in the 43 GHz band in spectral-line, polarization mode. We have previously published the total intensity time series for this pulsation phase range; this paper serves to present the linearly polarized image sequence and an associated animation representing the evolution of the linear polarization morphology over time. We find a predominantly tangential polarization morphology, a high degree of persistence in linear polarization properties over individual component lifetimes, and stronger linear polarization in the inner projected shell than at larger projected shell radii. We present an initial polarization proper motion analysis examining the possible dynamical influence of magnetic fields in component motions in the extended atmospheres of late-type, evolved stars. © 2009 The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A