41,200 research outputs found
Dense molecular clouds in the SN2008fp host galaxy
(abridged) We use observations of interstellar absorption features, such as
atomic and molecular lines as well as diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs),
towards SN2008fp to study the physical properties of extra-galactic diffuse
interstellar clouds in the host galaxy, ESO428-G14. The properties of the
intervening dust are investigated via spectropolarimetry. The spectra of
SN2008fp reveal a complex of diffuse atomic clouds at radial velocities in line
with the systematic velocities of the host galaxy (~1700 km/s). A translucent
(A_V ~ 1.5 mag) cloud is detected at a heliocentric velocity of 1770 km/s This
cold dense cloud is rich in dense atomic gas tracers, molecules, as well as
diffuse interstellar bands. We have detected both C2 and C3 for the first time
in a galaxy beyond the Local Group. The CN (0,0) band line ratios are used to
derive an in-situ measurement of the cosmic background radiation temperature in
an external galaxy; this gives an excitation temperature of T = 2.9 +- 0.3 K.
The interstellar polarization law deviates significantly from what is observed
in the Galaxy, indicating substantial differences in the composition or size
distribution of dust grains in the SN2008fp host galaxy. C2 is used to probe
the cold diffuse ISM density and temperature. The lack of variability in the
extra-galactic absorption line profiles over a period of one month implies that
the absorbing material is not circumstellar and thus not affected directly by
the SN event. Also it shows that there are no significant density variation in
the small-scale structure of the molecular cloud down to 100 AU.Comment: 10 pages. Accepted for publication in A&A. Revisions include several
small correction
Extraordinary nonlinear plasmonics in graphene nanoislands
Nonlinear optical processes rely on the intrinsically weak interactions
between photons enabled by their coupling with matter. Unfortunately, many
applications in nonlinear optics are severely hindered by the small response of
conventional materials. Metallic nanostructures partially alleviate this
situation, as the large light enhancement associated with their localized
plasmons amplifies their nonlinear response to record high levels. Graphene
hosts long-lived, electrically tunable plasmons that also interact strongly
with light. Here we show that the nonlinear polarizabilities of graphene
nanoislands can be electrically tuned to surpass by several orders of magnitude
those of metal nanoparticles of similar size. This extraordinary behavior
extends over the visible and near-infrared for islands consisting of hundreds
of carbon atoms doped with moderate carrier densities. Our quantum-mechanical
simulations of the plasmon-enhanced optical response of nanographene reveal
this material as an ideal platform for the development of electrically tunable
nonlinear optical nanodevices.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, 54 reference
Studying the small scale ISM structure with supernovae
AIMS. In this work we explore the possibility of using the fast expansion of
a Type Ia supernova photosphere to detect extra-galactic ISM column density
variations on spatial scales of ~100 AU on time scales of a few months.
METHODS. We constructed a simple model which describes the expansion of the
photodisk and the effects of a patchy interstellar cloud on the observed
equivalent width of Na I D lines. Using this model we derived the behavior of
the equivalent width as a function of time, spatial scale and amplitude of the
column density fluctuations.
RESULTS. The calculations show that isolated, small (<100 AU) clouds with Na
I column densities exceeding a few 10^11 cm^-2 would be easily detected. In
contrast, the effects of a more realistic, patchy ISM become measurable in a
fraction of cases, and for peak-to-peak variations larger than ~10^12 cm^-2 on
a scale of 1000 AU.
CONCLUSIONS. The proposed technique provides a unique way to probe the
extra-galactic small scale structure, which is out of reach for any of the
methods used so far. The same tool can also be applied to study the sub-AU
Galactic ISM structure.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysic
Derivatives of the Incomplete Beta Function
The incomplete beta function is defined as where Beta(p, q) is the beta function. Dutka (1981) gave a history of the development and numerical evaluation of this function. In this article, an algorithm for computing first and second derivatives of Ix,p,q with respect to p and q is described. The algorithm is useful, for example, when fitting parameters to a censored beta, truncated beta, or a truncated beta-binomial model.
Anomalous aging phenomena caused by drift velocities
We demonstrate via several examples that a uniform drift velocity gives rise
to anomalous aging, characterized by a specific form for the two-time
correlation functions, in a variety of statistical-mechanical systems far from
equilibrium. Our first example concerns the oscillatory phase observed recently
in a model of competitive learning. Further examples, where the proposed theory
is exact, include the voter model and the Ohta-Jasnow-Kawasaki theory for
domain growth in any dimension, and a theory for the smoothing of sandpile
surfaces.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Europhysics Letter
Determining the Properties and Evolution of Red Galaxies from the Quasar Luminosity Function
(Abridged) We study the link between quasars and the red galaxy population
using a model for the self-regulated growth of supermassive black holes in
mergers involving gas-rich galaxies. Using a model for quasar lifetimes and
evolution motivated by hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy mergers, we
de-convolve the observed quasar luminosity function at various redshifts to
determine the rate of formation of black holes of a given final mass.
Identifying quasar activity with the formation of spheroids in the framework of
the merger hypothesis, this enables us to deduce the corresponding rate of
formation of spheroids with given properties as a function of redshift. This
allows us to predict, for the red galaxy population, the distribution of galaxy
velocity dispersions, the mass function, mass density, star formation rates,
the luminosity function in many observed wavebands (NUV, U, B, V, R, I, J, H,
K), the total red galaxy number density and luminosity density, the
distribution of colors as a function of magnitude and velocity dispersion for
several different wavebands, the distribution of mass to light ratios vs. mass,
the luminosity-size relations, and the typical ages and distribution of ages
(formation redshifts) as a function of both mass and luminosity. For each of
these quantities, we predict the evolution from redshift z=0-6. Each of our
predictions agrees well with existing observations, without the addition of
tunable parameters; the essential observational inputs come from the observed
quasar luminosity function. These predictions are skewed by several orders of
magnitude if we adopt simpler, traditional models of quasar lifetimes in which
quasars turn on/off or follow simple exponential light curves, instead of the
more complicated evolution implied by our simulations.Comment: 28 pages, 22 figures, matches version accepted to Ap
Influence of Correlated Hybridization on the Conductance of Molecular Transistors
We study the spin-1/2 single-channel Anderson impurity model with correlated
(occupancy dependent) hybridization for molecular transistors using the
numerical renormalization-group method. Correlated hybridization can induce
nonuniversal deviations in the normalized zero-bias conductance and, for some
parameters, modestly enhance the spin polarization of currents in applied
magnetic field. Correlated hybridization can also explain a gate-voltage
dependence to the Kondo scale similar to what has been observed in recent
experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
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