284 research outputs found
Thermodynamic, transport, and flow properties for the products of methane burned in oxygen-enriched air
Thermodynamic, transport, and flow properties for products of methane burned in oxygen-enriched ai
Quasar Clustering and the Lifetime of Quasars
Although the population of luminous quasars rises and falls over a period of
10^9 years, the typical lifetime of individual quasars is uncertain by several
orders of magnitude. We show that quasar clustering measurements can
substantially narrow the range of possible lifetimes with the assumption that
luminous quasars reside in the most massive host halos. If quasars are
long-lived, then they are rare phenomena that are highly biased with respect to
the underlying dark matter, while if they are short-lived they reside in more
typical halos that are less strongly clustered. For a given quasar lifetime, we
calculate the minimum host halo mass by matching the observed space density of
quasars, using the Press-Schechter approximation. We use the results of Mo &
White to calculate the clustering of these halos, and hence of the quasars they
contain, as a function of quasar lifetime. A lifetime of t_Q = 4 x 10^7 years,
the e-folding timescale of an Eddington luminosity black hole with accretion
efficiency eps=0.1, corresponds to a quasar correlation length r_0 ~ 10 Mpc/h
in low-density cosmological models at z=2-3; this value is consistent with
current clustering measurements, but these have large uncertainties.
High-precision clustering measurements from the 2dF and Sloan quasar surveys
will test our key assumption of a tight correlation between quasar luminosity
and host halo mass, and if this assumption holds then they should determine t_Q
to a factor of three or better. An accurate determination of the quasar
lifetime will show whether supermassive black holes acquire most of their mass
during high-luminosity accretion, and it will show whether the black holes in
the nuclei of typical nearby galaxies were once the central engines of
high-luminosity quasars.Comment: ApJ Accepted (Feb 2001). 30 pages, 8 embedded ps figures, AASTEX5.
Added discussion of quasar luminosity evolution. Also available at
http://www.ociw.edu/~martini/pubs
The Asiago-ESO/RASS QSO Survey. III. Clustering analysis and its theoretical interpretation
This is the third paper of a series describing the Asiago-ESO/RASS QSO survey
(AERQS), a project aimed at the construction of an all-sky statistically
well-defined sample of relatively bright QSOs (B<15) at z<0.3. We present here
the clustering analysis of the full spectroscopically identified database (392
AGN). The clustering signal at 0.02<z<0.22 is detected at a 3-4 sigma level and
its amplitude is measured to be r_0=8.6\pm 2.0 h^{-1} Mpc (in a LambdaCDM
model). The comparison with other classes of objects shows that low-redshift
QSOs are clustered in a similar way to Radio Galaxies, EROs and early-type
galaxies in general, although with a marginally smaller amplitude. The
comparison with recent results from the 2QZ shows that the correlation function
of QSOs is constant in redshift or marginally increasing toward low redshift.
We discuss this behavior with physically motivated models, deriving interesting
constraints on the typical mass of the dark matter halos hosting QSOs, M_DMH=
10^{12.7} h^{-1} M_sun (10^{12.0}-10^{13.5}h^{-1} M_sun at 1 sigma confidence
level). Finally, we use the clustering data to infer the physical properties of
local AGN, obtaining M_BH=2 10^8 h^{-1} M_sun (10^7-3 10^9 h^{-1} M_sun) for
the mass of the active black holes, tau_{AGN}= 8 10^6 yr (2 10^{6}-5 10^{7} yr)
for their life-time and eta = 0.14 for their efficiency (always for a LambdaCDM
model).Comment: 37 pages, Astronomical Journal in press. Changes to match the referee
comment
The Twice-Overlooked, Second FR II Broad Absorption Line Quasar LBQS 1138-0126
We report the correct classification of an overlooked Fanaroff-Riley class II
radio-loud quasar with broad absorption lines, only the second such object so
identified. The rare properties of this quasar, LBQS 1138-0126, are twice
overlooked. First LBQS 1138-0126 was found in the Large Bright Quasar Survey
but only noted as a possible broad absorption line quasar without additional
follow-up. Later LBQS 1138-0126 was rediscovered and classified as a radio-loud
broad absorption line quasar but not recognized as an FR II radio source. We
describe the radio, absorption line, and optical polarization properties of
LBQS 1138-0126 and place it in context with respect to related quasars. In
particular, spectropolarimetry shows that LBQS 1138-0126 has high continuum
polarization increasing from 3% in the red (rest-frame 2400 Angstroms) to over
4% in the blue (rest-frame 1650 Ansgtroms), essentially confirming the
intrinsic nature of the absorption. The polarization position angle rotates
from about -30 degrees in the red to about 0 degrees in the blue; the radio
lobe position angle is 52 degrees for comparison. LBQS 1138-0126 is
additionally notable for being one of the most radio-loud broad absorption line
quasars, and for having low-ionization broad absorption lines as well.Comment: Figure 3 has color. To appear in the Astronomical Journa
The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: Star-formation in UV-luminous galaxies from their luminosity functions
We present the ultraviolet (UV) luminosity function of galaxies from the
GALEX Medium Imaging Survey with measured spectroscopic redshifts from the
first data release of the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey. This sample selects
galaxies with high star formation rates: at 0.6 < z < 0.9 the median star
formation rate is at the upper 95th percentile of optically-selected (r<22.5)
galaxies and the sample contains about 50 per cent of all NUV < 22.8, 0.6 < z <
0.9 starburst galaxies within the volume sampled.
The most luminous galaxies in our sample (-21.0>M_NUV>-22.5) evolve very
rapidly with a number density declining as (1+z)^{5\pm 1} from redshift z = 0.9
to z = 0.6. These starburst galaxies (M_NUV<-21 is approximately a star
formation rate of 30 \msuny) contribute about 1 per cent of cosmic star
formation over the redshift range z=0.6 to z=0.9. The star formation rate
density of these very luminous galaxies evolves rapidly, as (1+z)^{4\pm 1}.
Such a rapid evolution implies the majority of star formation in these large
galaxies must have occurred before z = 0.9.
We measure the UV luminosity function in 0.05 redshift intervals spanning
0.1<z<0.9, and provide analytic fits to the results. At all redshifts greater
than z=0.55 we find that the bright end of the luminosity function is not well
described by a pure Schechter function due to an excess of very luminous
(M_NUV<-22) galaxies. These luminosity functions can be used to create a radial
selection function for the WiggleZ survey or test models of galaxy formation
and evolution. Here we test the AGN feedback model in Scannapieco et al.
(2005), and find that this AGN feedback model requires AGN feedback efficiency
to vary with one or more of the following: stellar mass, star formation rate
and redshift.Comment: 27 pages; 13 pages without appendices. 22 figures; 11 figures in the
main tex
Taxus and taxol: a compilation of research findings
History of the development of taxol as a cancer-fighting drug -- Traditional uses of yews -- A history of yews in the United States / Kenneth D. Cochran -- Taxus populations and clippings yields at commercial nurseries / Robert C. Hansen, Kenneth D. Cochran, Harold M. Keener and Edward M. Croom Jr. -- Genetic resources for ornamental Taxus in the United States / Kenneth D. Cochran -- Root rot of Taxus spp. in Ohio caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi / Michael A. Ellis, Sally A. Miller, A. F. Schmitthenner and Kenneth D. Cochran -- Growth rate of container-grown Taxus x media 'Hicksii' and 'Densiformis' compared at two levels of nutrition and irrigation / Robert C. Hansen, Kenneth D. Cochran and R. Peter Fynn -- Taxus clipping harvester / Robert G. Holmes and Don Wertz -- Thin-layer drying of cultivated Taxus clippings / Robert C. Hansen, Harold M. Keener and Hala N. ElSohly -- Evaluation of bin drying of Taxus biomass / Robert C. Hansen, Ralph B. Shugert Jr., Hala N. ElSohly, Edward M. Croom Jr., Harld M. Keener -- Selecting bed depth for drying cultivated Taxus clippings / Robert C. Hansen and Harold M. Keener -- Progress report and summary: National Cancer Institute Workshop on Taxus, Taxol, and Taxotere / Robert C. Hansen, Robert G. Holmes, Ralph B. Shugert Jr., Edward M. Croom Jr., Hala N. ElSohly, Harold M. Keener and Kenneth D. Cochra
The SAMI Galaxy Survey: The Low-Redshift Stellar Mass Tully-Fisher Relation
We investigate the Tully-Fisher Relation (TFR) for a morphologically and
kine- matically diverse sample of galaxies from the SAMI Galaxy Survey using 2
dimensional spatially resolved Halpha velocity maps and find a well defined
relation across the stellar mass range of 8.0 < log(M*) < 11.5. We use an
adaptation of kinemetry to parametrise the kinematic Halpha asymmetry of all
galaxies in the sample, and find a correlation between scatter (i.e. residuals
off the TFR) and asymmetry. This effect is pronounced at low stellar mass,
corresponding to the inverse relationship between stellar mass and kinematic
asymmetry found in previous work. For galaxies with log(M*) < 9.5, 25 +/- 3%
are scattered below the root mean square (RMS) of the TFR, whereas for galaxies
with log(M*) > 9.5 the fraction is 10 +/- 1% We use 'simulated slits' to
directly compare our results with those from long slit spectroscopy and find
that aligning slits with the photometric, rather than the kinematic, position
angle, increases global scatter below the TFR. Further, kinematic asymmetry is
correlated with misalignment between the photometric and kinematic position
angles. This work demonstrates the value of 2D spatially resolved kinematics
for accurate TFR studies; integral field spectroscopy reduces the
underestimation of rotation velocity that can occur from slit positioning off
the kinematic axis
Binary Quasars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Evidence for Excess Clustering on Small Scales
We present a sample of 218 new quasar pairs with proper transverse
separations R_prop < 1 Mpc/h over the redshift range 0.5 < z < 3.0, discovered
from an extensive follow up campaign to find companions around the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey and 2dF Quasar Redshift Survey quasars. This sample includes
26 new binary quasars with separations R_prop < 50 kpc/h (theta < 10
arcseconds), more than doubling the number of such systems known. We define a
statistical sample of binaries selected with homogeneous criteria and compute
its selection function, taking into account sources of incompleteness. The
first measurement of the quasar correlation function on scales 10 kpc/h <
R_prop < 400 kpc/h is presented. For R_prop < 40 kpc/h, we detect an order of
magnitude excess clustering over the expectation from the large scale R_prop >
3 Mpc/h quasar correlation function, extrapolated down as a power law to the
separations probed by our binaries. The excess grows to ~ 30 at R_prop ~ 10
kpc/h, and provides compelling evidence that the quasar autocorrelation
function gets progressively steeper on sub-Mpc scales. This small scale excess
can likely be attributed to dissipative interaction events which trigger quasar
activity in rich environments. Recent small scale measurements of galaxy
clustering and quasar-galaxy clustering are reviewed and discussed in relation
to our measurement of small scale quasar clustering.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures, 9 tables. Submitted to the Astronomical Journa
The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: improved distance measurements to z = 1 with reconstruction of the baryonic acoustic feature
We present significant improvements in cosmic distance measurements from the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey, achieved by applying the reconstruction of the baryonic acoustic feature technique. We show using both data and simulations that the reconstruction technique can often be effective despite patchiness of the survey, significant edge effects and shot-noise. We investigate three redshift bins in the redshift range 0.2 < z < 1, and in all three find improvement after reconstruction in the detection of the baryonic acoustic feature and its usage as a standard ruler. We measure model-independent distance measures DV(rsfid/rs) of 1716 ± 83, 2221 ± 101, 2516 ± 86 Mpc (68 perâcent CL) at effective redshifts z = 0.44, 0.6, 0.73, respectively, where DV is the volume-averaged distance, and rs is the sound horizon at the end of the baryon drag epoch. These significantly improved 4.8, 4.5 and 3.4 per cent accuracy measurements are equivalent to those expected from surveys with up to 2.5 times the volume of WiggleZ without reconstruction applied. These measurements are fully consistent with cosmologies allowed by the analyses of the Planck Collaboration and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We provide the DV(rsfid/rs) posterior probability distributions and their covariances. When combining these measurements with temperature fluctuations measurements of Planck, the polarization of Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 9, and the 6dF Galaxy Survey baryonic acoustic feature, we do not detect deviations from a flat Î cold dark matter (ÎCDM) model. Assuming this model, we constrain the current expansion rate to Hâ = 67.15 ± 0.98 km sâ»ÂčMpcâ»Âč. Allowing the equation of state of dark energy to vary, we obtain wDE = â1.080 ± 0.135. When assuming a curved ÎCDM model we obtain a curvature value of ΩK = â0.0043 ± 0.0047
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA)
The GAMA survey aims to deliver 250,000 optical spectra (3--7Ang resolution)
over 250 sq. degrees to spectroscopic limits of r_{AB} <19.8 and K_{AB}<17.0
mag. Complementary imaging will be provided by GALEX, VST, UKIRT, VISTA,
HERSCHEL and ASKAP to comparable flux levels leading to a definitive
multi-wavelength galaxy database. The data will be used to study all aspects of
cosmic structures on 1kpc to 1Mpc scales spanning all environments and out to a
redshift limit of z ~ 0.4. Key science drivers include the measurement of: the
halo mass function via group velocity dispersions; the stellar, HI, and
baryonic mass functions; galaxy component mass-size relations; the recent
merger and star-formation rates by mass, types and environment. Detailed
modeling of the spectra, broad SEDs, and spatial distributions should provide
individual star formation histories, ages, bulge-disc decompositions and
stellar bulge, stellar disc, dust disc, neutral HI gas and total dynamical
masses for a significant subset of the sample (~100k) spanning both the giant
and dwarf galaxy populations. The survey commenced March 2008 with 50k spectra
obtained in 21 clear nights using the Anglo Australian Observatory's new
multi-fibre-fed bench-mounted dual-beam spectroscopic system (AAOmega).Comment: Invited talk at IAU 254 (The Galaxy Disk in Cosmological Context,
Copenhagen), 6 pages, 5 figures, high quality PDF version available at
http://www.eso.org/~jliske/gama
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