Intrinsic Shapes of Molecular Cloud Cores

We conduct an analysis of the shapes of molecular cloud cores using recently compiled catalogs of observed axis ratios of individual cores mapped in ammonia or through optical selection. We apply both analytical and statistical techniques to deproject the observed axis ratios in order to determine the true distribution of cloud core shapes. We find that neither pure oblate nor pure prolate cores can account for the observed distribution of core shapes. Intrinsically triaxial cores produce distributions which agree with observations. The best-fit triaxial distribution contains cores which are more nearly oblate than prolate.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. To appear in ApJ (2001 April 1). Color figures available at http://www.astro.uwo.ca/~cjones/ or http://www.astro.uwo.ca/~basu/pub.htm

The Ellipticity of the Disks of Spiral Galaxies

The disks of spiral galaxies are generally elliptical rather than circular. The distribution of ellipticities can be fit with a log-normal distribution. For a sample of 12,764 galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 1 (SDSS DR1), the distribution of apparent axis ratios in the i band is best fit by a log-normal distribution of intrinsic ellipticities with ln epsilon = -1.85 +/- 0.89. For a sample of nearly face-on spiral galaxies, analyzed by Andersen and Bershady using both photometric and spectroscopic data, the best fitting distribution of ellipticities has ln epsilon = -2.29 +/- 1.04. Given the small size of the Andersen-Bershady sample, the two distribution are not necessarily inconsistent. If the ellipticity of the potential were equal to that of the light distribution of the SDSS DR1 galaxies, it would produce 1.0 magnitudes of scatter in the Tully-Fisher relation, greater than is observed. The Andersen-Bershady results, however, are consistent with a scatter as small as 0.25 magnitudes in the Tully-Fisher relation.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures; ApJ, accepte

Getting the astrophysics and particle physics of dark matter out of next-generation direct detection experiments

The next decade will bring massive new data sets from experiments of the direct detection of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter. The primary goal of these experiments is to identify and characterize the dark-matter particle species. However, mapping the data sets to the particle-physics properties of dark matter is complicated not only by the considerable uncertainties in the dark-matter model, but by its poorly constrained local distribution function (the "astrophysics" of dark matter). In this Letter, I propose a shift in how to do direct-detection data analysis. I show that by treating the astrophysical and particle physics uncertainties of dark matter on equal footing, and by incorporating a combination of data sets into the analysis, one may recover both the particle physics and astrophysics of dark matter. Not only does such an approach yield more accurate estimates of dark-matter properties, but may illuminate how dark matter coevolves with galaxies.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, replaced to match version accepted by Phys. Rev.

Stellar Orbits and the Interstellar Gas Temperature in Elliptical Galaxies

We draw attention to the close relationship between the anisotropy parameter beta(r) for stellar orbits in elliptical galaxies and the temperature profile T(r) of the hot interstellar gas. For nearly spherical galaxies the gas density can be accurately determined from X-ray observations and the stellar luminosity density can be accurately found from the optical surface brightness. The Jeans equation and hydrostatic equilibrium establish a connection between beta(r) and T(r) that must be consistent with the observed stellar velocity dispersion. Purely optical observations of the bright elliptical galaxy NGC 4472 indicate beta(r) < 0.35 within the effective radius. However, the X-ray gas temperature profile T(r) for NGC 4472 requires significantly larger anisotropy, beta = 0.6 - 0.7, about twice the optical value. This strong preference for radial stellar orbits must be understood in terms of the formation history of massive elliptical galaxies. Conversely, if the smaller, optically determined anisotropy is indeed correct, we are led to the important conclusion that the temperature profile T(r) of the hot interstellar gas in NGC 4472 must differ from that indicated by X-ray observations, or that the hot gas is not in hydrostatic equilibrium.Comment: 6 pages (emulateapj5) with 4 figures; accepted by The Astrophysical Journa

Cluster Algorithm Renormalization Group Study of Universal Fluctuations in the 2D Ising Model

In this paper we propose a novel method to study critical systems numerically by a combined collective-mode algorithm and Renormalization Group on the lattice. This method is an improved version of MCRG in the sense that it has all the advantages of cluster algorithms. As an application we considered the 2D Ising model and studied wether scale invariance or universality are possible underlying mechanisms responsible for the approximate "universal fluctuations" close to a so-called bulk temperature $T^*(L)$. "Universal fluctuations" was first proposed in [1] and stated that the probability density function of a global quantity for very dissimilar systems, like a confined turbulent flow and a 2D magnetic system, properly normalized to the first two moments, becomes similar to the "universal distribution", originally obtained for the magnetization in the 2D XY model in the low temperature region. The results for the critical exponents and the renormalization group flow of the probability density function are very accurate and show no evidence to support that the approximate common shape of the PDF should be related to both scale invariance or universal behavior.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures and 3 table

LISA Measurement of Gravitational Wave Background Anisotropy: Hexadecapole Moment via a Correlation Analysis

We discuss spatial fluctuations in the gravitational wave background arising from unresolved Galactic binary sources, such as close white dwarf binaries, due to the fact the galactic binary source distribution is anisotropic. We introduce a correlation analysis of the two data streams of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) to extract spherical harmonic coefficients, in an independent manner, of the hexadecapole moment ($l=4$) related to the projected two-dimensional density distribution of the binary source population. The proposed technique complements and improves over previous suggestions in the literature to measure the gravitational wave background anisotropy based on the time modulation of data as LISA orbits around the Sun. Such techniques, however, are restricted only to certain combinations of spherical harmonic coefficients of the galaxy with no ability to separate them individually. With LISA, $m=2,3$ and 4 coefficients of the hexadecapole ($l=4$) can be measured with signal-to-noise ratios at the level of 10 and above in a certain coordinate system. In addition to the hexadecapole coefficients, when combined with the time modulation analysis, the correlation study can also be used, in principle, to measure quadrupole coefficients of the binary distribution.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

On the Orbit Structure of the Logarithmic Potential

We investigate the dynamics in the logarithmic galactic potential with an analytical approach. The phase-space structure of the real system is approximated with resonant detuned normal forms constructed with the method based on the Lie transform. Attention is focused on the properties of the axial periodic orbits and of low order `boxlets' that play an important role in galactic models. Using energy and ellipticity as parameters, we find analytical expressions of several useful indicators, such as stability-instability thresholds, bifurcations and phase-space fractions of some orbit families and compare them with numerical results available in the literature.Comment: To appear on the Astrophysical Journa

The CMB Dipole and Circular Galaxy Distribution

The validity of Hubble's law defies the determination of the center of the big bang expansion, even if it exists. Every point in the expanding universe looks like the center from which the rest of the universe flies away. In this article, the author shows that the distribution of apparently circular galaxies is not uniform in the sky and that there exists a special direction in the universe in our neighborhood. The data is consistent with the assumption that the tidal force due to the mass distribution around the universe center causes the deformation of galactic shapes depending on its orientation and location relative to the center and our galaxy. Moreover, the cmb dipole data can also be associated with the center of the universe expansion, if the cmb dipole at the center of our supercluster is assumed to be due to Hubble flow. The location of the center is estimated from the cmb dipole data. The direction to the center from both sets of data is consistent and the distance to the center is computed from the cmb dipole data.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures (10 figure captions), 1 tabl

The Planetary Nebula System and Dynamics in the Outer Halo of NGC 5128

The halos of elliptical galaxies are faint and difficult to explore, but they contain vital clues to both structure and formation. We present the results of an imaging and spectroscopic survey for planetary nebulae (PNe) in the nearby elliptical NGC 5128. We extend the work of Hui et al.(1995) well into the halo of the galaxy--out to distances of 100 and 50 kpc along the major and minor axes. We now know of 1141 PNe in NGC 5128, 780 of which are confirmed. Of these 780 PNe, 349 are new from this survey, and 148 are at radii beyond 20 kpc. PNe exist at distances up to 80 kpc (~15 r_e), showing that the stellar halo extends to the limit of our data. This study represents by far the largest kinematic study of an elliptical galaxy to date, both in the number of velocity tracers and in radial extent. We confirm the large rotation of the PNe along the major axis, and show that it extends in a disk-like feature into the halo. The rotation curve of the stars flattens at ~100 km/s with V/sigma between 1 and 1.5, and with the velocity dispersion of the PNe falling gradually at larger radii. The two-dimensional velocity field exhibits a zero-velocity contour with a pronounced twist, showing that the galaxy potential is likely triaxial in shape, tending toward prolate. The total dynamical mass of the galaxy within 80 kpc is ~5 x 10^{11} M_sun, with M/L_B ~ 13. This mass-to-light ratio is much lower than what is typically expected for elliptical galaxies.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures (figures 3-8 best viewed in color), accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa