344 research outputs found
A GBT Survey for HI 21 cm Absorption in the Disks and Halos of Low-Redshift Galaxies
We present an HI 21 cm absorption survey with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT)
of galaxy-quasar pairs selected by combining data from the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey (SDSS) and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters
(FIRST) survey. Our sample consists of 23 sightlines through 15 low-redshift
foreground galaxy - background quasar pairs with impact parameters ranging from
1.7 kpc up to 86.7 kpc. We detected one absorber in the GBT survey from the
foreground dwarf galaxy, GQ1042+0747, at an impact parameter of 1.7 kpc and
another possible absorber in our follow-up Very Large Array (VLA) imaging of
the nearby foreground galaxy, UGC 7408. Both of the absorbers are narrow (FWHM
of 3.6 and 4.8 km/s), have sub Damped Lyman alpha column densities, and most
likely originate in the disk gas of the foreground galaxies. We also detected H
I emission from three foreground galaxies, including UGC 7408. Although our
sample contains both blue and red galaxies, the two H I absorbers as well as
the H I emissions are associated with blue galaxies. We discuss the physical
conditions in the 21 cm absorbers and some drawbacks of the large GBT beam for
this type of survey.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 3 table
Initial Data and Coordinates for Multiple Black Hole Systems
We present here an alternative approach to data setting for spacetimes with
multiple moving black holes generalizing the Kerr-Schild form for rotating or
non-rotating single black holes to multiple moving holes. Because this scheme
preserves the Kerr-Schild form near the holes, it selects out the behaviour of
null rays near the holes, may simplify horizon tracking, and may prove useful
in computational applications. For computational evolution, a discussion of
coordinates (lapse function and shift vector) is given which preserves some of
the properties of the single-hole Kerr-Schild form
Magellan LDSS3 emission confirmation of galaxies hosting metal-rich Lyman-alpha absorption systems
Using the Low Dispersion Survey Spectrograph 3 at the Magellan II Clay
Telescope, we target {candidate absorption host galaxies} detected in deep
optical imaging {(reaching limiting apparent magnitudes of 23.0-26.5 in and filters) in the fields of three QSOs, each of which shows the
presence of high metallicity, high absorption systems in their
spectra (Q0826-2230: =0.9110, Q1323-0021: ,
Q1436-0051: ). We confirm three host galaxies {at
redshifts 0.7387, 0.7401, and 0.9286} for two of the Lyman- absorption
systems (one with two galaxies interacting). For these systems, we are able to
determine the star formation rates (SFRs); impact parameters (from previous
imaging detections); the velocity shift between the absorption and emission
redshifts; and, for one system, also the emission metallicity.} Based on
previous photometry, we find these galaxies have LL. The [O II]
SFRs for these galaxies are in the range M yr
{(uncorrected for dust)}, while the impact parameters lie in the range
kpc. {Despite the fact that we have confirmed galaxies at 50 kpc from the QSO,
no gradient in metallicity is indicated between the absorption metallicity
along the QSO line of sight and the emission line metallicity in the galaxies.}
We confirm the anti-correlation between impact parameter and from
the literature. We also report the emission redshift of five other galaxies:
three at , and two (LL) at not
corresponding to any known absorption systems.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables, accepted to MNRA
Collisions of boosted black holes: perturbation theory prediction of gravitational radiation
We consider general relativistic Cauchy data representing two nonspinning,
equal-mass black holes boosted toward each other. When the black holes are
close enough to each other and their momentum is sufficiently high, an
encompassing apparent horizon is present so the system can be viewed as a
single, perturbed black hole. We employ gauge-invariant perturbation theory,
and integrate the Zerilli equation to analyze these time-asymmetric data sets
and compute gravitational wave forms and emitted energies. When coupled with a
simple Newtonian analysis of the infall trajectory, we find striking agreement
between the perturbation calculation of emitted energies and the results of
fully general relativistic numerical simulations of time-symmetric initial
data.Comment: 5 pages (RevTex 3.0 with 3 uuencoded figures), CRSR-107
On the Observed W_MgII--L_[OII] Correlation in SDSS QSO Spectra
This paper investigates the effect of differential aperture loss with SDSS
fibers and examines whether such selection bias would result in the observed
correlation between rest-frame absorption equivalent width of MgII absorbers,
Wr(2796), and mean associated [OII] luminosity, L_[OII], in SDSS QSO spectra.
We demonstrate based on a Monte Carlo simulation that the observed Wr(2796) vs.
L_[OII] correlation of MgII absorbers can be well-reproduced, if all galaxies
found in deep surveys possess extended MgII halos and if the extent of MgII
halos scales proportionally with galaxy mass as shown in previous studies. The
observed correlation can be explained by a combination of (1) the known
Wr(2796) vs. rho anti-correlation in galaxy and MgII absorber pairs and (2) an
increasing aperture loss in the 3" diameter SDSS fiber for galaxies at larger
rho. Galaxies at larger projected distances produce on average weaker MgII
absorbers and weaker (or zero) L_[OII] in SDSS QSO spectra. We show that such
correlation diminishes when larger fibers are adopted and is therefore not
physical. While under a simple halo model the majority of MgII absorbers do not
directly probe star-forming disks, they trace photo-ionized halo gas associated
with galaxies. We show that because of the scaling relation between extended
gas cross-section and galaxy mass, the number density evolution of the MgII
absorber population as a whole provides a good measure of the cosmic star
formation history.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Corotating and irrotational binary black holes in quasi-circular orbits
A complete formalism for constructing initial data representing black-hole
binaries in quasi-equilibrium is developed. Radiation reaction prohibits, in
general, true equilibrium binary configurations. However, when the timescale
for orbital decay is much longer than the orbital period, a binary can be
considered to be in quasi-equilibrium. If each black hole is assumed to be in
quasi-equilibrium, then a complete set of boundary conditions for all initial
data variables can be developed. These boundary conditions are applied on the
apparent horizon of each black hole, and in fact force a specified surface to
be an apparent horizon. A global assumption of quasi-equilibrium is also used
to fix some of the freely specifiable pieces of the initial data and to
uniquely fix the asymptotic boundary conditions. This formalism should allow
for the construction of completely general quasi-equilibrium black hole binary
initial data.Comment: 13 pages, no figures, revtex4; Content changed slightly to reflect
fact that regularized shift solutions do satisfy the isometry boundary
condition
- …