726 research outputs found
Blind Detections of CO J = 1–0 in 11 H-ATLAS Galaxies at z = 2.1–3.5 with the GBT/Zpectrometer
We report measurements of the carbon monoxide ground state rotational transition (^(12)C^(16)O J = 1-0) with the Zpectrometer ultrawideband spectrometer on the 100 m diameter Green Bank Telescope. The sample comprises 11 galaxies with redshifts between z = 2.1 and 3.5 from a total sample of 24 targets identified by Herschel-ATLAS photometric colors from the SPIRE instrument. Nine of the CO measurements are new redshift determinations, substantially adding to the number of detections of galaxies with rest-frame peak submillimeter emission near 100 μm. The CO detections confirm the existence of massive gas reservoirs within these luminous dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs). The CO redshift distribution of the 350 μm selected galaxies is strikingly similar to the optical redshifts of 850 μm-selected submillimeter galaxies in 2.1 ≤ z ≤ 3.5. Spectroscopic redshifts break a temperature-redshift degeneracy; optically thin dust models fit to the far-infrared photometry indicate characteristic dust temperatures near 34 K for most of the galaxies we detect in CO. Detections of two warmer galaxies, and statistically significant nondetections, hint at warmer or molecule-poor DSFGs with redshifts that are difficult to determine from Herschel-SPIRE photometric colors alone. Many of the galaxies identified by H-ATLAS photometry are expected to be amplified by foreground gravitational lenses. Analysis of CO linewidths and luminosities provides a method for finding approximate gravitational lens magnifications μ from spectroscopic data alone, yielding μ ~ 3-20. Corrected for magnification, most galaxy luminosities are consistent with an ultraluminous infrared galaxy classification, but three are candidate hyper-LIRGs with luminosities greater than 10^(13) L_☉
Photometric Redshifts and Photometry Errors
We examine the impact of non-Gaussian photometry errors on photometric
redshift performance. We find that they greatly increase the scatter, but this
can be mitigated to some extent by incorporating the correct noise model into
the photometric redshift estimation process. However, the remaining scatter is
still equivalent to that of a much shallower survey with Gaussian photometry
errors. We also estimate the impact of non-Gaussian errors on the spectroscopic
sample size required to verify the photometric redshift rms scatter to a given
precision. Even with Gaussian {\it photometry} errors, photometric redshift
errors are sufficiently non-Gaussian to require an order of magnitude larger
sample than simple Gaussian statistics would indicate. The requirements
increase from this baseline if non-Gaussian photometry errors are included.
Again the impact can be mitigated by incorporating the correct noise model, but
only to the equivalent of a survey with much larger Gaussian photometry errors.
However, these requirements may well be overestimates because they are based on
a need to know the rms, which is particularly sensitive to tails. Other
parametrizations of the distribution may require smaller samples.Comment: submitted to ApJ
Diffraction Patterns of Layered Close-packed Structures from Hidden Markov Models
We recently derived analytical expressions for the pairwise (auto)correlation
functions (CFs) between modular layers (MLs) in close-packed structures (CPSs)
for the wide class of stacking processes describable as hidden Markov models
(HMMs) [Riechers \etal, (2014), Acta Crystallogr.~A, XX 000-000]. We now use
these results to calculate diffraction patterns (DPs) directly from HMMs,
discovering that the relationship between the HMMs and DPs is both simple and
fundamental in nature. We show that in the limit of large crystals, the DP is a
function of parameters that specify the HMM. We give three elementary but
important examples that demonstrate this result, deriving expressions for the
DP of CPSs stacked (i) independently, (ii) as infinite-Markov-order randomly
faulted 2H and 3C stacking structures over the entire range of growth and
deformation faulting probabilities, and (iii) as a HMM that models
Shockley-Frank stacking faults in 6H-SiC. While applied here to planar faulting
in CPSs, extending the methods and results to planar disorder in other layered
materials is straightforward. In this way, we effectively solve the broad
problem of calculating a DP---either analytically or numerically---for any
stacking structure---ordered or disordered---where the stacking process can be
expressed as a HMM.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables;
http://csc.ucdavis.edu/~cmg/compmech/pubs/dplcps.ht
[CII] line emission in BRI1335-0417 at z=4.4
Using the 12m APEX telescope, we have detected redshifted emission from the
157.74micron [CII] line in the z=4.4074 quasar BRI1335-0417. The linewidth and
redshift are in good agreement with previous observations of high-J CO line
emission. We measure a [CII] line luminosity, L_[CII] = (16.4 +/- 2.6)x10^9
Lsun, making BRI~1335-0417 the most luminous, unlensed [CII] line emitter known
at high-redshift. The [CII]-to-FIR luminosity ratio of (5.3+/-0.8)x10^-4 is ~3x
higher than expected for an average object with a FIR luminosity L_FIR =
3.1x10^13 Lsun, if this ratio were to follow the trend observed in other
FIR-bright galaxies that have been detected in [CII] line emission. These new
data suggest that the scatter in the [CII]-to-FIR luminosity ratio could be
larger than previously expected for high luminosity objects. BR1335-0417 has a
similar FIR luminosity and [CII]/CO luminosity compared to local ULIRGS and
appears to be a gas-rich merger forming stars at a rate of a few thousand solar
masses per year.Comment: A&A accepte
Metal Loss Characterization in 55-Gallon Drum Steel by the Magnetic Flux Leakage Method
Estimates indicate the number of 55-gallon carbon steel drums, storing various waste forms, total in the millions and are distributed in localized waste storage sites all across the US. Other nations are expected to have similar situations as well. Figure 1 shows steel drums in a burial trench at Hanford. Each Government site working on radioactive weapons production store their drums differently but each site is beginning to experience problems with leaking drums
The Molecular Gas Content of z<0.1 Radio Galaxies: Linking the AGN Accretion Mode to Host Galaxy Properties
One of the main achievements in modern cosmology is the so-called `unified
model', which successfully describes most classes of active galactic nuclei
(AGN) within a single physical scheme. However, there is a particular class of
radio-luminous AGN that presently cannot be explained within this framework --
the `low-excitation' radio AGN (LERAGN). Recently, a scenario has been put
forward which predicts that LERAGN, and their regular `high-excitation' radio
AGN (HERAGN) counterparts represent different (red sequence vs. green valley)
phases of galaxy evolution. These different evolutionary states are also
expected to be reflected in their host galaxy properties, in particular their
cold gas content. To test this, here we present CO(1-0) observations toward a
sample of 11 of these systems conducted with CARMA. Combining our observations
with literature data, we derive molecular gas masses (or upper limits) for a
complete, representative, sample of 21 z<0.1 radio AGN. Our results yield that
HERAGN on average have a factor of ~7 higher gas masses than LERAGN. We also
infer younger stellar ages, lower stellar, halo, and central supermassive black
masses, as well as higher black hole accretion efficiencies in HERAGN relative
to LERAGN. These findings support the idea that high- and low-excitation radio
AGN form two physically distinct populations of galaxies that reflect different
stages of massive galaxy build-up.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in Ap
The evolutionary connection between QSOs and SMGs: molecular gas in far-infrared luminous QSOs at z ∼ 2.5
We present Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique Plateau de Bure Interferometer observations of the ^(12)CO (3–2) emission from two far-infrared luminous QSOs at z ∼ 2.5 selected from the Herschel-Astrophysical Tetrahertz Large Area Survey. These far-infrared bright QSOs were selected to have supermassive black holes (SMBHs) with masses similar to those thought to reside in submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) at z ∼ 2.5, making them ideal candidates as systems in the potential transition from an ultraluminous infrared galaxy phase to a submillimetre faint, unobscured, QSO. We detect ^(12)CO (3–2) emission from both QSOs and we compare their baryonic, dynamical and SMBH masses to those of SMGs at the same epoch. We find that these far-infrared bright QSOs have similar dynamical but lower gas masses than SMGs. We combine our results with literature values and find that at a fixed LFIR, far-infrared bright QSOs have ∼50 ± 30 per cent less warm/dense gas than SMGs. Taken together with previous results, which show that QSOs lack the extended, cool reservoir of gas seen in SMGs, this suggests that far-infrared bright QSOs are at a different evolutionary stage. This is consistent with the hypothesis that far-infrared bright QSOs represent a short (∼1 Myr) but ubiquitous phase in the transformation of dust-obscured, gas-rich, starburst-dominated SMGs into unobscured, gas-poor, QSOs
A multiwavelength exploration of the [C II]/IR ratio in H-ATLAS/GAMA galaxies out to z = 0.2
We explore the behaviour of [C ii] λ157.74 μm forbidden fine-structure line observed in a sample of 28 galaxies selected from ∼ 50 deg^2 of the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey survey. The sample is restricted to galaxies with flux densities higher than S160 μm > 150 mJy and optical spectra from the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey at 0.02 2.5 × 10^(−3) with respect to those showing lower ratios. In particular, those with high ratios tend to have: (1) L_(IR) <10^(11) L_⊙; (2) cold dust temperatures, T_d < 30 K; (3) disc-like morphologies in r-band images; (4) a Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer colour 0.5 ≲ S_(12 μm)/S_(22 μm) ≲ 1.0; (5) low surface brightness Σ_(IR) ≈ 10^(8–9) L_⊙ kpc^(−2), (6) and specific star formation rates of sSFR ≈0.05–3 Gyr^(−1). We suggest that the strength of the far-UV radiation fields (〈G_O〉) is main parameter responsible for controlling the [C _(ii)]/IR ratio. It is possible that relatively high 〈G_O〉 creates a positively charged dust grain distribution, impeding an efficient photoelectric extraction of electrons from these grains to then collisionally excite carbon atoms. Within the brighter IR population, 11 < log(L_(IR)/L_⊙) < 12, the low [C_( ii)]/IR ratio is unlikely to be modified by [C _(ii)] self-absorption or controlled by the presence of a moderately luminous AGN (identified via the BPT diagram)
A Detailed Gravitational Lens Model Based on Submillimeter Array and Keck Adaptive Optics Imaging of a Herschel-ATLAS Submillimeter Galaxy at z = 4.243
We present high-spatial resolution imaging obtained with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) at 880 μm and the Keck
adaptive optics (AO) system at the KS-band of a gravitationally lensed submillimeter galaxy (SMG) at z = 4.243 discovered in the Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey. The SMA data (angular resolution ≈0".
6) resolve the dust emission into multiple lensed images, while the Keck AO K_S-band data (angular resolution ≈0".
1) resolve the lens into a pair of galaxies separated by 0".
3. We present an optical spectrum of the foreground lens
obtained with the Gemini-South telescope that provides a lens redshift of z_(lens) = 0.595 ± 0.005. We develop and
apply a new lens modeling technique in the visibility plane that shows that the SMG is magnified by a factor
of μ = 4.1 ± 0.2 and has an intrinsic infrared (IR) luminosity of L_(IR) = (2.1 ± 0.2) × 10_(13) L_☉. We measure a half-light radius of the background source of r_s = 4.4 ± 0.5 kpc which implies an IR luminosity surface density of Σ_(IR) = (3.4 ± 0.9) × 10^(11) L_☉ kpc^(−2), a value that is typical of z > 2 SMGs but significantly lower than IR luminous galaxies at z ∼ 0. The two lens galaxies are compact (r_(lens) ≈ 0.9 kpc) early-types with Einstein
radii of θ_(E1) = 0.57 ± 0.01 and θ_(E2) = 0.40 ± 0.01 that imply masses of M_(lens1) = (7.4 ± 0.5) × 10^(10)M_☉ and
M_(lens2) = (3.7 ± 0.3) × 10^(10) M_☉. The two lensing galaxies are likely about to undergo a dissipationless merger, and the mass and size of the resultant system should be similar to other early-type galaxies at z ∼ 0.6. This work highlights the importance of high spatial resolution imaging in developing models of strongly lensed galaxies discovered by Herschel
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