Spitzer Observations of Low Luminosity Isolated and Low Surface Brightness Galaxies

We examine the infrared properties of five low surface brightness galaxies (LSBGs) and compare them with related but higher surface brightness galaxies, using Spitzer Space Telescope images and spectra. All the LSBGs are detected in the 3.6 and 4.5um bands, representing the stellar population. All but one are detected at 5.8 and 8.0um, revealing emission from hot dust and aromatic molecules, though many are faint or point-like at these wavelengths. Detections of LSBGs at the far-infrared wavelengths, 24, 70, and 160um, are varied in morphology and brightness, with only two detections at 160um, resulting in highly varied spectral energy distributions. Consistent with previous expectations for these galaxies, we find that detectable dust components exist for only some LSBGs, with the strength of dust emission dependent on the existence of bright star forming regions. However, the far-infrared emission may be relatively weak compared with normal star-forming galaxies.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, accepted to Ap

IR observations of MS 1054-03: Star Formation and its Evolution in Rich Galaxy Clusters

We study the infrared (IR) properties of galaxies in the cluster MS 1054-03 at z=0.83 by combining MIPS 24 micron data with spectra of more than 400 galaxies and a very deep K-band selected catalog. 19 IR cluster members are selected spectroscopically, and an additional 15 are selected by their photometric redshifts. We derive the IR luminosity function of the cluster and find strong evolution compared to the similar-mass Coma cluster. The best fitting Schechter function gives L*_{IR}=11.49 +0.30/-0.29 L_sun with a fixed faint end slope, about one order of magnitude larger than that in Coma. The rate of evolution of the IR luminosity from Coma to MS 1054-03 is consistent with that found in field galaxies, and it suggests that some internal mechanism, e.g., the consumption of the gas fuel, is responsible for the general decline of the cosmic star formation rate (SFR) in different environments. The mass-normalized integrated SFR within 0.5R_200 in MS 1054-03 also shows evolution compared with other rich clusters at lower redshifts, but the trend is less conclusive if the mass selection effect is considered. A nonnegligible fraction (13%) of cluster members, are forming stars actively and the overdensity of IR galaxies is about 20 compared to the field. It is unlikely that clusters only passively accrete star forming galaxies from the surrounding fields and have their star formation quenched quickly afterward; instead, many cluster galaxies still have large amounts of gas, and their star formation may be enhanced by the interaction with the cluster.Comment: 49 pages, 9 figures, accepted by Ap

Detecting new physics contributions to the D0-D0bar mixing through their effects on B decays

New physics effects may yield a detectable mass difference in the D0-D0bar system, Delta m_D. Here we show that this has an important impact on some B --> D decays. The effect involves a new source of CP violation, which arises from the interference between the phases in the B --> D decays and those in the D0-D0bar system. This interference is naturally large. New physics may well manifest itself through Delta m_D contributions to these B decays.Comment: 10 pages, Revtex, no figures. To appear in PR

Spitzer view on the evolution of star-forming galaxies from z=0 to z~3

We use a 24 micron selected sample containing more than 8,000 sources to study the evolution of star-forming galaxies in the redshift range from z=0 to z~3. We obtain photometric redshifts for most of the sources in our survey using a method based on empirically-built templates spanning from ultraviolet to mid-infrared wavelengths. The accuracy of these redshifts is better than 10% for 80% of the sample. The derived redshift distribution of the sources detected by our survey peaks at around z=0.6-1.0 (the location of the peak being affected by cosmic variance), and decays monotonically from z~1 to z~3. We have fitted infrared luminosity functions in several redshift bins in the range 0<z<~3. Our results constrain the density and/or luminosity evolution of infrared-bright star-forming galaxies. The typical infrared luminosity (L*) decreases by an order of magnitude from z~2 to the present. The cosmic star formation rate (SFR) density goes as (1+z)^{4.0\pm0.2} from z=0 to z=0.8. From z=0.8 to z~1.2, the SFR density continues rising with a smaller slope. At 1.2<z<3, the cosmic SFR density remains roughly constant. The SFR density is dominated at low redshift (z<0.5) by galaxies which are not very luminous in the infrared (L_TIR<1.e11 L_sun, where L_TIR is the total infrared luminosity, integrated from 8 to 1000 micron). The contribution from luminous and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (L_TIR>1.e11 L_sun) to the total SFR density increases steadily from z~0 up to z~2.5, forming at least half of the newly-born stars by z~1.5. Ultraluminous infrared galaxies (L_TIR>1.e12 L_sun) play a rapidly increasing role for z>~1.3.Comment: 28 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Impact of D0-D0bar mixing on the experimental determination of gamma

Several methods have been devised to measure the weak phase gamma using decays of the type B+- --> D K+-, where it is assumed that there is no mixing in the D0-D0bar system. However, when using these methods to uncover new physics, one must entertain the real possibility that the measurements are affected by new physics effects in the D0-D0bar system. We show that even values of x_D and/or y_D around 10^{-2} can have a significant impact in the measurement of sin^2{gamma}. We discuss the errors incurred in neglecting this effect, how the effect can be checked, and how to include it in the analysis.Comment: 18 pages, Latex with epsfig, 8 figure

New Debris Disks Around Nearby Main Sequence Stars: Impact on The Direct Detection of Planets

Using the MIPS instrument on the Spitzer telescope, we have searched for infrared excesses around a sample of 82 stars, mostly F, G, and K main-sequence field stars, along with a small number of nearby M stars. These stars were selected for their suitability for future observations by a variety of planet-finding techniques. These observations provide information on the asteroidal and cometary material orbiting these stars - data that can be correlated with any planets that may eventually be found. We have found significant excess 70um emission toward 12 stars. Combined with an earlier study, we find an overall 70um excess detection rate of $13 \pm 3$% for mature cool stars. Unlike the trend for planets to be found preferentially toward stars with high metallicity, the incidence of debris disks is uncorrelated with metallicity. By newly identifying 4 of these stars as having weak 24um excesses (fluxes $\sim$10% above the stellar photosphere), we confirm a trend found in earlier studies wherein a weak 24um excess is associated with a strong 70um excess. Interestingly, we find no evidence for debris disks around 23 stars cooler than K1, a result that is bolstered by a lack of excess around any of the 38 K1-M6 stars in 2 companion surveys. One motivation for this study is the fact that strong zodiacal emission can make it hard or impossible to detect planets directly with future observatories like the {\it Terrestrial Planet Finder (TPF)}. The observations reported here exclude a few stars with very high levels of emission, $>$1,000 times the emission of our zodiacal cloud, from direct planet searches. For the remainder of the sample, we set relatively high limits on dust emission from asteroid belt counterparts

Far Infrared Source Counts at 70 and 160 microns in Spitzer Deep Surveys

We derive galaxy source counts at 70 and 160 microns using the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) to map the Chandra Deep Field South (CDFS) and other fields. At 70 microns, our observations extend upwards about 2 orders of magnitude in flux density from a threshold of 15 mJy, and at 160 microns they extend about an order of magnitude upward from 50 mJy. The counts are consistent with previous observations on the bright end. Significant evolution is detected at the faint end of the counts in both bands, by factors of 2-3 over no-evolution models. This evolution agrees well with models that indicate most ofthe faint galaxies lie at redshifts between 0.7 and 0.9. The new Spitzer data already resolve about 23% of the Cosmic Far Infrared Background at 70 microns and about 7% at 160 microns.Comment: Small modifications to match printed version. Models in Differential Counts plots were changed. MIPS Source Counts are available at: http://lully.as.arizona.edu/GTODeep/Counts/ . Accepted for Publication in ApJS Special Issue on Spitze

Frequency of Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars: First Results from a Spitzer/MIPS Survey

We have searched for infrared excesses around a well defined sample of 69 FGK main-sequence field stars. These stars were selected without regard to their age, metallicity, or any previous detection of IR excess; they have a median age of ~4 Gyr. We have detected 70 um excesses around 7 stars at the 3-sigma confidence level. This extra emission is produced by cool material (< 100 K) located beyond 10 AU, well outside the ``habitable zones'' of these systems and consistent with the presence of Kuiper Belt analogs with ~100 times more emitting surface area than in our own planetary system. Only one star, HD 69830, shows excess emission at 24 um, corresponding to dust with temperatures > 300 K located inside of 1 AU. While debris disks with Ld/L* > 10^-3 are rare around old FGK stars, we find that the disk frequency increases from 2+-2% for Ld/L* > 10^-4 to 12+-5% for Ld/L* > 10^-5. This trend in the disk luminosity distribution is consistent with the estimated dust in our solar system being within an order of magnitude, greater or less, than the typical level around similar nearby stars.Comment: 11 figure

Measurements of Lifetimes and a Limit on the Lifetime Difference in the Neutral D-Meson System

Using the large hadroproduced charm sample collected in experiment E791 at Fermilab, we report the first directly measured constraint on the decay-width difference Delta Gamma for the mass eigenstates of the D0-D0bar system. We obtain our result from lifetime measurements of the decays D0 --> K-pi+ and D0 --> K-K+, under the assumption of CP invariance, which implies that the CP eigenstates and the mass eigenstates are the same. The lifetime of D0 --> K-K+ (the CP-even final state is \tau_KK = 0.410 +/- 0.011 +/- 0.006 ps, and the lifetime of D0 --> K-pi+ (an equal mixture of CP-odd and CP-even final states is tau_Kpi = 0.413 +/- 0.003 +/- 0.004 ps. The decay-width difference is Delta Gamma = 2(Gamma_KK - Gamma_Kpi) = 0.04 +/- 0.14 +/- 0.05 ps^-1. We relate these measurements to measurements of mixing in the neutral D-meson system.Comment: 8 pages + 3 figures + 2 table

A Search for Dark Matter Annihilation with the Whipple 10m Telescope

We present observations of the dwarf galaxies Draco and Ursa Minor, the local group galaxies M32 and M33, and the globular cluster M15 conducted with the Whipple 10m gamma-ray telescope to search for the gamma-ray signature of self-annihilating weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) which may constitute astrophysical dark matter (DM). We review the motivations for selecting these sources based on their unique astrophysical environments and report the results of the data analysis which produced upper limits on excess rate of gamma rays for each source. We consider models for the DM distribution in each source based on the available observational constraints and discuss possible scenarios for the enhancement of the gamma-ray luminosity. Limits on the thermally averaged product of the total self-annihilation cross section and velocity of the WIMP, , are derived using conservative estimates for the magnitude of the astrophysical contribution to the gamma-ray flux. Although these limits do not constrain predictions from the currently favored theoretical models of supersymmetry (SUSY), future observations with VERITAS will probe a larger region of the WIMP parameter phase space, and WIMP particle mass (m_\chi).Comment: 33 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa