Mutual heavy ion dissociation in peripheral collisions at ultrarelativistic energies

We study mutual dissociation of heavy nuclei in peripheral collisions at ultrarelativistic energies. Earlier this process was proposed for beam luminosity monitoring via simultaneous registration of forward and backward neutrons in zero degree calorimeters at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Electromagnetic dissociation of heavy ions is considered in the framework of the Weizsacker-Williams method and simulated by the RELDIS code. Photoneutron cross sections measured in different experiments and calculated by the GNASH code are used as input for the calculations of dissociation cross sections. The difference in results obtained with different inputs provides a realistic estimation for the systematic uncertainty of the luminosity monitoring method. Contribution to simultaneous neutron emission due to grazing nuclear interactions is calculated within the abrasion model. Good description of CERN SPS experimental data on Au and Pb dissociation gives confidence in predictive power of the model for AuAu and PbPb collisions at RHIC and LHC.Comment: 46 pages with 7 tables and 13 figures, numerical integration accuracy improved, next-to-leading-order corrections include

Joint analysis of galaxy-galaxy lensing and galaxy clustering: methodology and forecasts for dark energy survey

The joint analysis of galaxy-galaxy lensing and galaxy clustering is a promising method for inferring the growth function of large-scale structure. Anticipating a near future application of this analysis to Dark Energy Survey (DES) measurements of galaxy positions and shapes, we develop a practical approach to modeling the assumptions and systematic effects affecting the joint analysis of small-scale galaxy-galaxy lensing and large-scale galaxy clustering. Introducing parameters that characterize the halo occupation distribution (HOD), photometric redshift uncertainties, and shear measurement errors, we study how external priors on different subsets of these parameters affect our growth constraints. Degeneracies within the HOD model, as well as between the HOD and the growth function, are identified as the dominant source of complication, with other systematic effects being subdominant. The impact of HOD parameters and their degeneracies necessitate the detailed joint modeling of the galaxy sample that we employ. We conclude that DES data will provide powerful constraints on the evolution of structure growth in the Universe, conservatively/optimistically constraining the growth function to 7.9%/4.8% with its first-year data that cover over 1000 square degrees, and to 3.9%/2.3% with its full five-year data that will survey 5000 square degrees, including both statistical and systematic uncertainties

Wide-field lensing mass maps from Dark Energy Survey science verification data

We present a mass map reconstructed from weak gravitational lensing shear measurements over 139 deg2 from the Dark Energy Survey science verification data. The mass map probes both luminous and dark matter, thus providing a tool for studying cosmology. We find good agreement between the mass map and the distribution of massive galaxy clusters identified using a red-sequence cluster finder. Potential candidates for superclusters and voids are identified using these maps. We measure the cross-correlation between the mass map and a magnitude-limited foreground galaxy sample and find a detection at the 6.8 sigma level with 20 arc min smoothing. These measurements are consistent with simulated galaxy catalogs based on N -body simulations from a cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant. This suggests low systematics uncertainties in the map. We summarize our key findings in this Letter; the detailed methodology and tests for systematics are presented in a companion paper

DESAlert: enabling real-time transient follow-up with dark energy survey data

The Dark Energy Survey is undertaking an observational programme imaging 1/4 of the southern hemisphere sky with unprecedented photometric accuracy. In the process of observing millions of faint stars and galaxies to constrain the parameters of the dark energy equation of state, the Dark Energy Survey will obtain pre-discovery images of the regions surrounding an estimated 100 gamma-ray bursts over 5 yr. Once gamma-ray bursts are detected by, e.g., the Swift satellite, the DES data will be extremely useful for follow-up observations by the transient astronomy community. We describe a recently-commissioned suite of software that listens continuously for automated notices of gamma-ray burst activity, collates information from archival DES data, and disseminates relevant data products back to the community in near-real-time. Of particular importance are the opportunities that non-public DES data provide for relative photometry of the optical counterparts of gamma-ray bursts, as well as for identifying key characteristics (e.g., photometric redshifts) of potential gamma-ray burst host galaxies. We provide the functional details of the DESAlert software, and its data products, and we show sample results from the application of DESAlert to numerous previously detected gamma-ray bursts, including the possible identification of several heretofore unknown gamma-ray burst hosts

The evolution of active galactic nuclei in clusters of galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey

The correlation between active galactic nuclei (AGNs) and environment provides important clues to AGN fuelling and the relationship of black hole growth to galaxy evolution. In this paper, we analyse the fraction of galaxies in clusters hosting AGN as a function of redshift and cluster richness for X-ray-detected AGN associated with clusters of galaxies in Dark Energy Survey (DES) Science Verification data. The present sample includes 33 AGNs with LX > 1043 erg s−1 in non-central, host galaxies with luminosity greater than 0.5L* from a total sample of 432 clusters in the redshift range of 0.1 0.7. This result is in good agreement with previous work and parallels the increase in star formation in cluster galaxies over the same redshift range. However, the AGN fraction in clusters is observed to have no significant correlation with cluster mass. Future analyses with DES Year 1 through Year 3 data will be able to clarify whether AGN activity is correlated to cluster mass and will tightly constrain the relationship between cluster AGN populations and redshift

Digging deeper into the Southern skies: a compact Milky Way companion discovered in first-year Dark Energy Survey data

We use the first-year Dark Energy Survey (DES) data down to previously unprobed photometric depths to search for stellar systems in the Galactic halo, therefore complementing the previous analysis of the same data carried out by our group earlier this year. Our search is based on a matched filter algorithm that produces stellar density maps consistent with stellar population models of various ages, metallicities, and distances over the survey area. The most conspicuous density peaks in these maps have been identified automatically and ranked according to their significance and recurrence for different input models. We report the discovery of one additional stellar system besides those previously found by several authors using the same first-year DES data. The object is compact, and consistent with being dominated by an old and metal-poor population. DES 1 is found at high significance and appears in the DES images as a compact concentration of faint blue point sources. Assuming different spatial profile parameterizations, the best-fitting heliocentric distance and total absolute magnitude in the range of 77.6-87.1 kpc and -3.00 ≲ MV ≲ -2.21, respectively. The half-light radius of this object, rh ˜ 10 pc and total luminosity are consistent with it being a low-mass halo cluster. It is also found to have a very elongated shape (ε ˜ 0.57). In addition, our deeper probe of DES first-year data confirms the recently reported satellite galaxy candidate Horologium II as a significant stellar overdensity. We also infer its structural properties and compare them to those reported in the literature

Observation of two new L4 Neptune Trojans in the Dark Energy Survey supernova fields

We report the discovery of the eighth and ninth known Trojans in stable orbits around Neptune's leading Lagrange point, L4. The objects 2014 QO 441 and 2014 QP 441 were detected in data obtained during the 2013-14 and 2014-15 observing seasons by the Dark Energy Survey, using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4-meter Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. Both are in high-inclination orbits (18.8 ∘ and 19.4 ∘ respectively). With an eccentricity of 0.104, 2014 QO 441 has the most eccentric orbit of the eleven known stable Neptune Trojans. Here we describe the search procedure and investigate the objects' long-term dynamical stability and physical properties

Searching for Dark Matter annihilation in recently discovered Milky Way satellites with Fermi-LAT

We search for excess gamma-ray emission coincident with the positions of confirmed and candidate Milky Way satellite galaxies using six years of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). Our sample of 45 stellar systems includes 28 kinematically confirmed dark-matter-dominated dwarf spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) and 17 recently discovered systems that have photometric characteristics consistent with the population of known dSphs. For each of these targets, the relative predicted gamma-ray flux due to dark matter annihilation is taken from kinematic analysis if available, and estimated from a distance-based scaling relation otherwise, assuming that the stellar systems are DM-dominated dSphs. LAT data coincident with four of the newly discovered targets show a slight preference (each ~ 2sigma local) for gamma-ray emission in excess of the background. However, the ensemble of derived gamma-ray flux upper limits for individual targets is consistent with the expectation from analyzing random blank-sky regions, and a combined analysis of the population of stellar systems yields no globally significant excess (global significance < 1sigma ). Our analysis has increased sensitivity compared to the analysis of 15 confirmed dSphs by Ackermann et al. The observed constraints on the DM annihilation cross section are statistically consistent with the background expectation, improving by a factor of ~2 for large DM masses ({m}{DM,b\bar{b}}≳ 1 {TeV} and {m}{DM,{tau }+{tau }-}≳ 70 {GeV}) and weakening by a factor of ~1.5 at lower masses relative to previously observed limits