1,936 research outputs found
The large scale clustering of radio sources
The observed two-point angular correlation function, w(theta), of mJy radio
sources exhibits the puzzling feature of a power-law behaviour up to very large
(almost 10 degrees) angular scales which cannot be accounted for in the
standard hierarchical clustering scenario for any realistic redshift
distribution of such sources. After having discarded the possibility that the
signal can be explained by a high density local source population, we find no
alternatives to assuming that - at variance with all the other extragalactic
populations studied so far, and in particular with optically selected quasars -
radio sources responsible for the large-scale clustering signal were
increasingly less clustered with increasing look-back time, up to at least z=1.
The data are accurately accounted for in terms of a bias function which
decreases with increasing redshift, mirroring the evolution with cosmic time of
the characteristic halo mass, M_{star}, entering the non linear regime. In the
framework of the `concordance cosmology', the effective halo mass controlling
the bias parameter is found to decrease from about 10^{15} M_{sun}/h at z=0 to
the value appropriate for optically selected quasars, 10^{13} M_{sun}/h, at
z=1.5. This suggests that, in the redshift range probed by the data, the
clustering evolution of radio sources is ruled by the growth of large-scale
structure, and that they are associated with the densest environments
virializing at any cosmic epoch. The data provide only loose constraints on
radio source clustering at z>1 so we cannot rule out the possibility that at
these redshifts the clustering evolution of radio sources enters a different
regime, perhaps similar to that found for optically selected quasars. The
dependence of w(theta) on cosmological parameters is also discussed.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication on MNRA
Impact of foregrounds on Cosmic Microwave Background maps
We discuss the possible impact of astrophysical foregrounds on three recent
exciting results of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments: the WMAP
measurements of the temperature-polarization (TE) correlation power spectrum,
the detection of CMB polarization fluctuations on degree scales by the DASI
experiment, and the excess power on arcminute scales reported by the CBI and
BIMA groups. A big contribution from the Galactic synchrotron emission to the
TE power spectrum on large angular scales is indeed expected, in the lower
frequency WMAP channels, based on current, albeit very uncertain, models; at
higher frequencies the rapid decrease of the synchrotron signal may be, to some
extent, compensated by polarized dust emission. Recent measurements of
polarization properties of extragalactic radio sources at high radio frequency
indicate that their contamination of the CMB polarization on degree scales at
30 GHz is substantially below the expected CMB E-mode amplitude. Adding the
synchrotron contribution, we estimate that the overall foreground contamination
of the signal detected by DASI may be significant but not dominant. The excess
power on arc-min scales detected by the BIMA experiment may be due to
galactic-scale Sunyaev-Zeldovich effects, if the proto-galactic gas is heated
to its virial temperature and its cooling time is comparable to the Hubble time
at the epoch of galaxy formation. A substantial contamination by radio sources
of the signal reported by the CBI group on scales somewhat larger than BIMA's
cannot be easily ruled out.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, to appear in proc. int. conf. "Thinking,
Observing and Mining the Universe", Sorrento, Sept. 200
An evolutionary model for GHz Peaked Spectrum Sources. Predictions for high frequency surveys
We have explored, in the general framework of the ``young source'' scenario,
evolutionary models for GHz Peaked Spectrum (GPS) galaxies and quasars which
reproduce the observed counts, redshift and peak frequency distributions of
currently available samples. Substantially different cosmological evolution
properties are found for the two populations: the quasar luminosity function
must evolve strongly up to , while the data on galaxies may be
consistent with no evolution. The models show that GPS sources (mostly quasars)
may comprise quite a significant fraction of bright (Jy) radio sources
at GHz if the intrinsic distribution of peak frequencies extends
up to GHz. In any case, however, their fraction decreases rapidly
with decreasing flux and their contribution to small scale fluctuations in the
frequency range covered by the forthcoming space missions MAP and Planck
Surveyor is expected to be minor.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, A&A accepte
Super-massive Black Hole Demography: the Match between the Local and Accreted Mass Functions
We have performed a detailed analysis of the local super-massive black-hole
(SMBH) mass function based on both kinematic and photometric data and derived
an accurate analytical fit in the range 10^6 <= (M_BH/M_sun) <= 5*10^9. We find
a total SMBH mass density of (4.2+/-1.1)*10^5 M_sun/Mpc^3, about 25% of which
is contributed by SMBHs residing in bulges of late type galaxies. Exploiting
up-to-date luminosity functions of hard X-ray and optically selected AGNs, we
have studied the accretion history of the SMBH population. If most of the
accretion happens at constant \dot{M_BH}/M_BH the local SMBH mass function is
fully accounted for by mass accreted by X-ray selected AGNs, with bolometric
corrections indicated by current observations and a standard mass-to-light
conversion efficiency \epsilon ~10%. The analysis of the accretion history
highlights that the most massive BHs accreted their mass faster and at higher
redshifts (z>1.5), while the lower mass BHs responsible for most of the hard
X-ray background have mostly grown at z<1.5. The accreted mass function matches
the local SMBH mass function if \epsilon ~0.09(+0.04,-0.03) and the Eddington
ratio \lambda=L/L_Edd \~0.3(+0.3,-0.1) (68% confidence errors). The visibility
time, during which AGNs are luminous enough to be detected by the currently
available X-ray surveys, ranges from ~0.1 Gyr for present day BH masses
M_BH(z=0) ~10^6 M_sun to ~0.3 Gyr for M_BH(z=0) >= 10^9 M_sun. The mass
accreted during luminous phases is >= 25-30% even if we assume extreme values
of \epsilon (\epsilon \~0.3-0.4). An unlikely fine tuning of the parameters
would be required to account for the local SMBH mass function accomodating a
dominant contribution from 'dark' BH growth (due, e.g., to BH coalescence).Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS, minor
changes following referee's comment
Average fractional polarization of extragalactic sources at Planck frequencies
Recent detailed simulations have shown that an insufficiently accurate
characterization of the contamination of unresolved polarized extragalactic
sources can seriously bias measurements of the primordial cosmic microwave
background (CMB) power spectrum if the tensor-to-scalar ratio as
predicted by models currently of special interest (e.g., Starobinsky's
and Higgs inflation). This has motivated a reanalysis of the median
polarization fraction of extragalactic sources (radio-loud AGNs and dusty
galaxies) using data from the \textit{Planck} polarization maps. Our approach,
exploiting the intensity distribution analysis, mitigates or overcomes the most
delicate aspects of earlier analyses based on stacking techniques. By means of
simulations, we have shown that the residual noise bias on the median
polarization fraction, , of extragalactic sources is
generally \simlt 0.1\%. For radio sources, we have found , with no significant dependence on either frequency or flux
density, in good agreement with the earlier estimate and with high-sensitivity
measurements in the frequency range 5--40\,GHz. No polarization signal is
detected in the case of dusty galaxies, implying 90\% confidence upper limits
of \Pi_{\rm dusty}\simlt 2.2\% at 353\,GHz and of \simlt 3.9\% at 217\,GHz.
The contamination of CMB polarization maps by unresolved point sources is
discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 7 tables; revised version. In press on Astronomy
and Astrophysic
A dark matter interpretation for the ARCADE excess?
The ARCADE 2 Collaboration has recently measured an isotropic radio emission
which is significantly brighter than the expected contributions from known
extra-galactic sources. The simplest explanation of such excess involves a
"new" population of unresolved sources which become the most numerous at very
low (observationally unreached) brightness. We investigate this scenario in
terms of synchrotron radiation induced by WIMP annihilations or decays in
extragalactic halos. Intriguingly, for light-mass WIMPs with thermal
annihilation cross-section, and fairly conservative clustering assumptions, the
level of expected radio emission matches the ARCADE observations.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. v2: one benchmark model added, comments and
references expanded, to appear in PR
A reassessment of the evidence of the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect through the WMAP-NVSS correlation
We reassess the estimate of the cross-correlation of the spatial distribution
of the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) radio sources with that of Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB) anisotropies from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
(WMAP). This re-analysis is motivated by the fact that most previous studies
adopted a redshift distribution of NVSS sources inconsistent with recent data.
We find that the constraints on the bias-weighted redshift distribution,
b(z)xN(z), of NVSS sources, set by the observed angular correlation function,
w(theta), strongly mitigate the effect of the choice of N(z). If such
constraints are met, even highly discrepant redshift distributions yield
NVSS-WMAP cross-correlation functions consistent with each other within
statistical errors. The models favoured by recent data imply a bias factor,
b(z), decreasing with increasing z, rather than constant, as assumed by most
previous analyses. As a consequence, the function b(z)xN(z) has more weight at
z<1, i.e. in the redshift range yielding the maximum contribution to the ISW in
a standard LambdaCDM cosmology. On the whole, the NVSS turns out to be better
suited for ISW studies than generally believed, even in the absence of an
observational determination of the redshift distribution. The NVSS-WMAP
cross-correlation function is found to be fully consistent with the prediction
of the standard LambdaCDM cosmology.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, submitted to MNRA
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