80 research outputs found
Vigorous star formation hidden by dust in a galaxy at
Near-infrared surveys have revealed a substantial population of enigmatic
faint galaxies with extremely red optical-to-near-infrared colours and with a
sky surface density comparable to that of faint quasars. There are two
scenarios for these extreme colours: (i) these distant galaxies have formed
virtually all their stars at very high redshifts and, due to the absence of
recently formed stars, the colours are extremely red and (ii) these distant
galaxies contain large amounts of dust, severely reddening the rest-frame
UV--optical spectrum. HR10 () is considered the archetype of the
extremely red galaxies. Here we report the detection of the continuum emission
from HR10 at 850m and at 1250m, demonstrating that HR10 is a very
dusty galaxy undergoing a major episode of star formation. Our result provides
a clear example of a high-redshift galaxy where the star formation rate
inferred from the ultraviolet luminosity would be underestimated by a factor up
to 1000, and shows that great caution should be used to infer the global star
formation history of the Universe from optical observations only.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, Nature, in press (30 April 1998
Ultra-Sensitive Hot-Electron Nanobolometers for Terahertz Astrophysics
The background-limited spectral imaging of the early Universe requires
spaceborne terahertz (THz) detectors with the sensitivity 2-3 orders of
magnitude better than that of the state-of-the-art bolometers. To realize this
sensitivity without sacrificing operating speed, novel detector designs should
combine an ultrasmall heat capacity of a sensor with its unique thermal
isolation. Quantum effects in thermal transport at nanoscale put strong
limitations on the further improvement of traditional membrane-supported
bolometers. Here we demonstrate an innovative approach by developing
superconducting hot-electron nanobolometers in which the electrons are cooled
only due to a weak electron-phonon interaction. At T<0.1K, the electron-phonon
thermal conductance in these nanodevices becomes less than one percent of the
quantum of thermal conductance. The hot-electron nanobolometers, sufficiently
sensitive for registering single THz photons, are very promising for
submillimeter astronomy and other applications based on quantum calorimetry and
photon counting.Comment: 19 pages, 3 color figure
On Semiclassical Limits of String States
We explore the relation between classical and quantum states in both open and
closed (super)strings discussing the relevance of coherent states as a
semiclassical approximation. For the closed string sector a gauge-fixing of the
residual world-sheet rigid translation symmetry of the light-cone gauge is
needed for the construction to be possible. The circular target-space loop
example is worked out explicitly.Comment: 12 page
A massive, quiescent galaxy at redshift of z=3.717
In the early Universe finding massive galaxies that have stopped forming
stars present an observational challenge as their rest-frame ultraviolet
emission is negligible and they can only be reliably identified by extremely
deep near-infrared surveys. These have revealed the presence of massive,
quiescent early-type galaxies appearing in the universe as early as z2,
an epoch 3 Gyr after the Big Bang. Their age and formation processes have now
been explained by an improved generation of galaxy formation models where they
form rapidly at z3-4, consistent with the typical masses and ages derived
from their observations. Deeper surveys have now reported evidence for
populations of massive, quiescent galaxies at even higher redshifts and earlier
times, however the evidence for their existence, and redshift, has relied
entirely on coarsely sampled photometry. These early massive, quiescent
galaxies are not predicted by the latest generation of theoretical models.
Here, we report the spectroscopic confirmation of one of these galaxies at
redshift z=3.717 with a stellar mass of 1.710 M whose
absorption line spectrum shows no current star-formation and which has a
derived age of nearly half the age of the Universe at this redshift. The
observations demonstrates that the galaxy must have quickly formed the majority
of its stars within the first billion years of cosmic history in an extreme and
short starburst. This ancestral event is similar to those starting to be found
by sub-mm wavelength surveys pointing to a possible connection between these
two populations. Early formation of such massive systems is likely to require
significant revisions to our picture of early galaxy assembly.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures. This is the final preprint corresponding closely
to the published version. Uploaded 6 months after publication in accordance
with Nature polic
Cluster Lenses
Clusters of galaxies are the most recently assembled, massive, bound
structures in the Universe. As predicted by General Relativity, given their
masses, clusters strongly deform space-time in their vicinity. Clusters act as
some of the most powerful gravitational lenses in the Universe. Light rays
traversing through clusters from distant sources are hence deflected, and the
resulting images of these distant objects therefore appear distorted and
magnified. Lensing by clusters occurs in two regimes, each with unique
observational signatures. The strong lensing regime is characterized by effects
readily seen by eye, namely, the production of giant arcs, multiple-images, and
arclets. The weak lensing regime is characterized by small deformations in the
shapes of background galaxies only detectable statistically. Cluster lenses
have been exploited successfully to address several important current questions
in cosmology: (i) the study of the lens(es) - understanding cluster mass
distributions and issues pertaining to cluster formation and evolution, as well
as constraining the nature of dark matter; (ii) the study of the lensed objects
- probing the properties of the background lensed galaxy population - which is
statistically at higher redshifts and of lower intrinsic luminosity thus
enabling the probing of galaxy formation at the earliest times right up to the
Dark Ages; and (iii) the study of the geometry of the Universe - as the
strength of lensing depends on the ratios of angular diameter distances between
the lens, source and observer, lens deflections are sensitive to the value of
cosmological parameters and offer a powerful geometric tool to probe Dark
Energy. In this review, we present the basics of cluster lensing and provide a
current status report of the field.Comment: About 120 pages - Published in Open Access at:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j183018170485723/ . arXiv admin note:
text overlap with arXiv:astro-ph/0504478 and arXiv:1003.3674 by other author
NuStar observations of WISE J1036+0449, a galaxy at z ∼ 1 obscured by hot dust
Hot dust-obscured galaxies (hot DOGs), selected from Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer’s all-sky infrared survey, host some of the most powerful active galactic nuclei known and may represent an important stage in the evolution of galaxies. Most known hot DOGs are located at z> 1.5, due in part to a strong bias against identifying them at lower redshift related to the selection criteria. We present a new selection method that identifies 153 hot DOG candidates at z˜ 1, where they are significantly brighter and easier to study. We validate this approach by measuring a redshift z = 1.009 and finding a spectral energy distribution similar to that of higher-redshift hot DOGs for one of these objects, WISE J1036+0449 ({L}{Bol}≃ 8× {10}46 {erg} {{{s}}}-1). We find evidence of a broadened component in Mg II, which would imply a black hole mass of {M}{BH}≃ 2× {10}8 {M}⊙ and an Eddington ratio of {λ }{Edd}≃ 2.7. WISE J1036+0449 is the first hot DOG detected by the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, and observations show that the source is heavily obscured, with a column density of {N}{{H}}≃ (2{--}15)× {10}23 {{cm}}-2. The source has an intrinsic 2-10 keV luminosity of ˜ 6× {10}44 {erg} {{{s}}}-1, a value significantly lower than that expected from the mid-infrared/X-ray correlation. We also find that other hot DOGs observed by X-ray facilities show a similar deficiency of X-ray flux. We discuss the origin of the X-ray weakness and the absorption properties of hot DOGs. Hot DOGs at z≲ 1 could be excellent laboratories to probe the characteristics of the accretion flow and of the X-ray emitting plasma at extreme values of the Eddington ratio
Modeling the accretion history of supermassive black holes
There is overwhelming evidence for the presence of supermassive black holes
(SMBHs) in the centers of most nearby galaxies. The mass estimates for these
remnant black holes from the stellar kinematics of local galaxies and the
quasar phenomenon at high redshifts point to the presence of assembled SMBHs.
The accretion history of SMBHs can be reconstructed using observations at high
and low redshifts as model constraints. Observations of galaxies and quasars in
the submillimeter, infrared, optical, and X-ray wavebands are used as
constraints, along with data from the demography of local black holes.
Theoretical modeling of the growth of black hole mass with cosmic time has been
pursued thus far in two distinct directions: a phenomenological approach that
utilizes observations in various wavebands, and a semi-analytic approach that
starts with a theoretical framework and a set of assumptions with a view to
matching observations. Both techniques have been pursued in the context of the
standard paradigm for structure formation in a Cold Dark Matter dominated
universe. Here, we examine the key issues and uncertainties in the theoretical
understanding of the growth of SMBHs.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, to appear as Chapter 4 in "Supermassive Black
Holes in the Distant Universe" (2004), ed. A. J. Barger, Kluwer Academic
Publishers, in pres
Reconstructing Galaxy Histories from Globular Clusters
Nearly a century after the true nature of galaxies as distant "island
universes" was established, their origin and evolution remain great unsolved
problems of modern astrophysics. One of the most promising ways to investigate
galaxy formation is to study the ubiquitous globular star clusters that
surround most galaxies. Recent advances in our understanding of the globular
cluster systems of the Milky Way and other galaxies point to a complex picture
of galaxy genesis driven by cannibalism, collisions, bursts of star formation
and other tumultuous events.Comment: Review Article published in Nature, 1 January 2004. 18 pages, 4
figures, pdf format onl
Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases
The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of
aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs)
can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves
excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological
concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can
lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl
radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic
inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the
involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a
large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and
inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation
of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many
similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e.
iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The
studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic
and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and
lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and
longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is
thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As
systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have
multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent
patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of
multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the
decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference
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