2,702 research outputs found
Giant disk galaxies : Where environment trumps mass in galaxy evolution
We identify some of the most HI massive and fastest rotating disk galaxies in
the local universe with the aim of probing the processes that drive the
formation of these extreme disk galaxies. By combining data from the Cosmic
Flows project, which has consistently reanalyzed archival galaxy HI profiles,
and 3.6m photometry obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, with which
we can measure stellar mass, we use the baryonic Tully-Fisher (BTF)
relationship to explore whether these massive galaxies are distinct. We discuss
several results, but the most striking is the systematic offset of the
HI-massive sample above the BTF. These galaxies have both more gas and more
stars in their disks than the typical disk galaxy of similar rotational
velocity. The "condensed" baryon fraction, , the fraction of the baryons
in a dark matter halo that settle either as cold gas or stars into the disk, is
twice as high in the HI-massive sample than typical, and almost reaches the
universal baryon fraction in some cases, suggesting that the most extreme of
these galaxies have little in the way of a hot baryonic component or cold
baryons distributed well outside the disk. In contrast, the star formation
efficiency, measured as the ratio of the mass in stars to that in both stars
and gas, shows no difference between the HI-massive sample and the typical disk
galaxies. We conclude that the star formation efficiency is driven by an
internal, self-regulating process, while is affected by external factors.
We also found that the most massive HI detected galaxies are located
preferentially in filaments. We present the first evidence of an environmental
effect on galaxy evolution using a dynamical definition of a filament.Comment: 14 pages, in press MNRA
Anatomy of Ursa Majoris
A nearby friable cloud in Ursa Majoris contains 270 galaxies with radial
velocities 500 < VLG < 1500 km s^-1 inside the area of RA= [11h; 13h] and DEC=
[+40deg; +60deg]. At present, 97 galaxies of them have individual distance
estimates. We use these data to clarify the structure and kinematics of the UMa
complex. According to Makarov & Karachentsev (2011), most of the UMa galaxies
belong to seven bound groups, which have the following median parameters:
velocity dispersion of 58 km s^-1, harmonic projected radius of 300 kpc, virial
mass of 2.10^12 Msol, and virial- mass-to-K-band-luminosity of 27Msol/Lsol.
Almost a half of the UMa cloud population are gas-rich dwarfs (Ir, Im, BCD)
with active star formation seen in the GALEX UV-survey. The UMa groups reside
within 15-19 Mpc from us, being just at the same distance as Virgo cluster. The
total virial mass of the UMa groups is 4.10^13 Msol, yielding the average
density of dark matter in the UMa cloud to be Omega_m = 0.08, i.e. a factor
three lower than the cosmic average. This is despite the fact that the UMa
cloud resides in a region of the Universe that is an apparent overdensity. A
possible explanation for this is that most mass in the Universe lies in the
empty space between clusters. Herewith, the mean distances and velocities of
the UMa groups follow nearly undisturbed Hubble flow without a sign of the
'Z-wave" effect caused by infall toward a massive attractor. This constrains
the total amount of dark matter between the UMa groups within the cloud volume.Comment: correction of a typo in the abstract, 18 pages, 2 figures. accepted
for MNRAS, nov 26, 201
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Examination of Bayesian belief network for safety assessment of nuclear computer-based systems
We report here on a continuation of work on the Bayesian Belief Network (BBN)model described in [Fenton, Littlewood et al. 1998]. As explained in the previous deliverable, our model concerns one part of the safety assessment task for computer and software based nuclear systems. We have produced a first complete, functioning version of our BBN model by eliciting a large numerical node probability table (NPT) required for our âDesign Process Performanceâ variable. The requirement for such large numerical NPTs poses some difficult questions about how, in general, large NPTs should be elicited from domain experts. We report about the methods we have devised to support the expert in building and validating a BBN. On the one hand, we have proceeded by eliciting approximate descriptions of the expertâs probabilistic beliefs, in terms of properties like stochastic orderings among distributions; on the other hand, we have explored ways of presenting to the expert visual and algebraic descriptions of relations among variables in the BBN, to assist the expert in an ongoing assessment of the validity of the BBN
Star Formation in Nearby Isolated Galaxies
We use the FUV fluxes measured with the GALEX to study the star formation
properties of galaxies collected in the "Local Orphan Galaxies" catalog (LOG).
Among 517 LOG galaxies having radial velocities V(LG) < 3500 km/s and Galactic
latitudes |b|> 15 degr, 428 objects have been detected in FUV. We briefly
discuss some scaling relations between the specific star formation rate (SSFR)
and stellar mass, HI-mass, morphology, and surface brightness of galaxies
situated in extremely low density regions of the Local Supercluster. Our sample
is populated with predominantly late-type, gas-rich objects with the median
morphological type of Sdm. Only 5% of LOG galaxies are classified as early
types: E, S0, S0/a, however, they systematically differ from normal E and S0
galaxies by lower luminosity and presence of gas and dust. We find that almost
all galaxies in our sample have their SSFR below 0.4 [Gyr^{-1}]. This limit is
also true even for a sample of 260 active star-burst Markarian galaxies
situated in the same volume. The existence of such a quasi-Eddington limit for
galaxies seems to be a key factor which characterizes the transformation of gas
into stars at the current epoch.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, 3 table
Spatially-Correlated Microstructure and Superconductivity in Polycrystalline Boron-Doped Diamond
Scanning tunneling spectroscopies are performed below 100~mK on
nano-crystalline boron-doped diamond films characterized by Transmission
Electron Microscopy and transport measurements. We demonstrate a strong
correlation between the local superconductivity strength and the granular
structure of the films. The study of the spectral shape, amplitude and
temperature dependence of the superconductivity gap enables us to differentiate
intrinsically superconducting grains that follow the BCS model, from grains
showing a different behavior involving the superconducting proximity effect
Niobium-based superconducting nano-devices fabrication using all-metal suspended masks
We report a novel method for the fabrication of superconducting nanodevices
based on niobium. The well-known difficulties of lithographic patterning of
high-quality niobium are overcome by replacing the usual organic resist mask by
a metallic one. The quality of the fabrication procedure is demonstrated by the
realization and characterization of long and narrow superconducting lines and
niobium-gold-niobium proximity SQUIDs
The Josephson critical current in a long mesoscopic S-N-S junction
We carry out an extensive experimental and theoretical study of the Josephson
effect in S-N-S junctions made of a diffusive normal metal (N) embedded between
two superconducting electrodes (S). Our experiments are performed on Nb-Cu-Nb
junctions with highly-transparent interfaces. We give the predictions of the
quasiclassical theory in various regimes on a precise and quantitative level.
We describe the crossover between the short and the long junction regimes and
provide the temperature dependence of the critical current using dimensionless
units and where
is the Thouless energy. Experimental and theoretical results are in excellent
quantitative agreement.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, slighly modified version, publishe
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