232 research outputs found
The Massive End of the Stellar Mass Function
We derive average flux corrections to the \texttt{Model} magnitudes of the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) galaxies by stacking together mosaics of
similar galaxies in bins of stellar mass and concentration. Extra flux is
detected in the outer low surface brightness part of the galaxies, leading to
corrections ranging from 0.05 to 0.32 mag for the highest stellar mass
galaxies. We apply these corrections to the MPA-JHU (Max-Planck Institute for
Astrophysics - John Hopkins University) stellar masses for a complete sample of
half a million galaxies from the SDSS survey to derive a corrected galaxy
stellar mass function at in the stellar mass range
. We find that the flux corrections and the use
of the MPA-JHU stellar masses have a significant impact on the massive end of
the stellar mass function, making the slope significantly shallower than that
estimated by Li \& White (2009), but steeper than derived by Bernardi et al.
(2013). This corresponds to a mean comoving stellar mass density of galaxies
with stellar masses that is a factor of 3.36
larger than the estimate by Li \& White (2009), but is 43\% smaller than
reported by Bernardi et al. (2013).Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, Accepted to MNRA
Parametrizing the Stellar Haloes of Galaxies
We study the stellar haloes of galaxies out to 70-100 kpc as a function of
stellar mass and galaxy type by stacking aligned and band images from a
sample of 45508 galaxies from SDSS DR9 in the redshift range
and in the mass range r. We derive surface brightness profiles to a depth of
almost . We find that the
ellipticity of the stellar halo is a function of galaxy stellar mass and that
the haloes of high concentration () galaxies are more elliptical than
those of low concentration () galaxies. The - colour profile of
high concentration galaxies reveals that the - colour of the stellar
population in the stellar halo is bluer than in the main galaxy, and the colour
of the stellar halo is redder for higher mass galaxies. We further demonstrate
that the full two-dimensional surface intensity distribution of our galaxy
stacks can only be fit through multi-component S\'{e}rsic models. Using the
fraction of light in the outer component of the models as a proxy for the
fraction of accreted stellar light, we show that this fraction is a function of
stellar mass and galaxy type. For high concentration galaxies, the fraction of
accreted stellar light rises from to for galaxies in the stellar
mass range from to . The fraction of
accreted light is much smaller in low concentration systems, increasing from
to over the same mass range. This work provides important
constraints for the theoretical understanding of the formation of stellar
haloes of galaxies.Comment: Submitted to MNRAS, 18 pages, 19 figure
Gravitational detection of a low-mass dark satellite at cosmological distance
The mass-function of dwarf satellite galaxies that are observed around Local
Group galaxies substantially differs from simulations based on cold dark
matter: the simulations predict many more dwarf galaxies than are seen. The
Local Group, however, may be anomalous in this regard. A massive dark satellite
in an early-type lens galaxy at z = 0.222 was recently found using a new method
based on gravitational lensing, suggesting that the mass fraction contained in
substructure could be higher than is predicted from simulations. The lack of
very low mass detections, however, prohibited any constraint on their mass
function. Here we report the presence of a 1.9 +/- 0.1 x 10^8 M_sun dark
satellite in the Einstein-ring system JVAS B1938+666 at z = 0.881, where M_sun
denotes solar mass. This satellite galaxy has a mass similar to the Sagittarius
galaxy, which is a satellite of the Milky Way. We determine the logarithmic
slope of the mass function for substructure beyond the local Universe to be
alpha = 1.1^+0.6_-0.4, with an average mass-fraction of f = 3.3^+3.6_-1.8 %, by
combining data on both of these recently discovered galaxies. Our results are
consistent with the predictions from cold dark matter simulations at the 95 per
cent confidence level, and therefore agree with the view that galaxies formed
hierarchically in a Universe composed of cold dark matter.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Nature (19 January
2012
“In conspiracies we trust”: interpersonal/institutional trust and beliefs in conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic
Constraining SIDM with halo shapes: Revisited predictions from realistic simulations of early-type galaxies
We study the effect of self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) and baryons on the shape of early-type galaxies (ETGs) and their dark matter haloes, comparing them to the predictions of the cold dark matter (CDM) scenario. We use five hydrodynamical zoom-in simulations of haloes hosting ETGs (Mvir sim 10 13 , M ⊙ and M ∗ ∼ 10 11 , M ⊙), simulated in CDM and a SIDM model with constant cross-section of σT/mχ = 1 cm2g-1. We measure the 3D and projected shapes of the dark matter haloes and their baryonic content using the inertia tensor and compare our measurements to the results of three HST samples of gravitational lenses and Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observations. We find that the inclusion of baryons greatly reduces the differences between CDM and a SIDM, together with the ability to draw constraints based on shapes. Lensing measurements reject the predictions of CDM dark-matter-only simulations and prefer one of the hydro scenarios. When we consider the total sample of lenses, observational data prefer the CDM hydro scenario. The shapes of the X-ray emitting gas are compatible with observational results in both hydro runs, with CDM predicting higher elongations only in the very centre. Contrary to previous claims at the scale of elliptical galaxies, we conclude that both CDM and our SIDM model can still explain observed shapes once we include baryons in the simulations. Our results demonstrate that this is essential to derive realistic constraints and that new simulations are needed to confirm and extend our findings
Systematic errors in strong gravitational lensing reconstructions, a numerical simulation perspective
We present the analysis of a sample of twenty-four SLACS-like galaxy-galaxy
strong gravitational lens systems with a background source and deflectors from
the Illustris-1 simulation. We study the degeneracy between the complex mass
distribution of the lenses, substructures, the surface brightness distribution
of the sources, and the time delays. Using a novel inference framework based on
Approximate Bayesian Computation, we find that for all the considered lens
systems, an elliptical and cored power-law mass density distribution provides a
good fit to the data. However, the presence of cores in the simulated lenses
affects most reconstructions in the form of a Source Position Transformation.
The latter leads to a systematic underestimation of the source sizes by 50 per
cent on average, and a fractional error in of around
per cent. The analysis of a control sample of twenty-four lens systems, for
which we have perfect knowledge about the shape of the lensing potential, leads
to a fractional error on of per cent. We find no
degeneracy between complexity in the lensing potential and the inferred amount
of substructures. We recover an average total projected mass fraction in
substructures of at the 68 per cent
confidence level in agreement with zero and the fact that all substructures had
been removed from the simulation. Our work highlights the need for
higher-resolution simulations to quantify the lensing effect of more realistic
galactic potentials better, and that additional observational constraint may be
required to break existing degeneracies.Comment: Accepted by MNRA
The lensing properties of subhaloes in massive elliptical galaxies in sterile neutrino cosmologies
We use high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations run with the EAGLE model of galaxy formation to study the differences between the properties of - and subsequently the lensing signal from - subhaloes of massive elliptical galaxies at redshift 0.2, in Cold and Sterile Neutrino (SN) Dark Matter models. We focus on the two 7 keV SN models that bracket the range of matter power spectra compatible with resonantly produced SN as the source of the observed 3.5 keV line. We derive an accurate parametrization for the subhalo mass function in these two SN models relative to cold dark matter (CDM), as well as the subhalo spatial distribution, density profile, and projected number density and the dark matter fraction in subhaloes. We create mock lensing maps from the simulated haloes to study the differences in the lensing signal in the framework of subhalo detection. We find that subhalo convergence is well described by a lognormal distribution and that signal of subhaloes in the power spectrum is lower in SN models with respect to CDM, at a level of 10-80 per cent, depending on the scale. However, the scatter between different projections is large and might make the use of power spectrum studies on the typical scales of current lensing images very difficult. Moreover, in the framework of individual detections through gravitational imaging a sample of ≃30 lenses with an average sensitivity of Msub = 5 × 107 M☉ would be required to discriminate between CDM and the considered sterile neutrino models
Hepatitis B virus DNA integration in tumour tissue of a non-cirrhotic HFE-haemochromatosis patient with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Co-existence of multiple causes of liver injury increases the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development. HCC usually develops in patients with cirrhosis although it may also occur in individuals with no or mild liver disease, in particular in cases with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Here we report the case of a 43year-old man with HFE-haemochromatosis, seronegative for hepatitis B and C infections, who developed HCC in the absence of severe liver damage. Both tumoural and non-tumoural liver DNA extracts were tested by nested-PCR and primers specific for four different HBV genomic regions in order to evaluate the presence of occult HBV infection. Only X gene sequences were detected in tumour (but not in non-tumour) DNA extracts. HBV-Alu PCR showed a HBV integration involving a 5'-deleted X gene with an intact enhancer-II/basal-core promoter region. The viral-host junction sequencing revealed that this integrant was located upstream of the partitioning-defective-6-homolog-gamma gene (PARD6G) and real time-PCR quantification demonstrated that PARD6G was overexpressed in tumour compared to non-tumour liver tissues. In conclusion, the combination of HFE-haemochromatosis and occult HBV infection in this patient might have led to a sequel of cellular events that determined the development of HCC even in the absence of cirrhosis
Using digital social market applications to incentivise active travel: Empirical analysis of a smart city initiative
Information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as mobile communication networks, and behaviour-based approaches for citizen engagement play a key role in making future cities sustainable and tackling persistent problems in high-density urban areas. In the context of Sharing Cities, an EU-funded programme aiming to deliver smart city solutions in areas such as citizen participation and infrastructure improvements of buildings and mobility, a prominent intervention has been the deployment and monitoring of a Digital Social Market (DSM) tool in Milan (Italy). The DSM allows cities to engage with residents and encourage sustainable behaviours by offering non-monetary rewards. This paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the DSM approach to promote active travel (cycling and walking) by analysing the data collected through the app as well as through participant surveys. Our model results show that a broader engagement with the DSM app (number of claps to posts, number of posts made, non-monetary rewards earned by participating in non-travel events) is positively correlated with the monitored level of active travel. Lifestyles, attitudes, and social influence also explain the variability in cycling and walking. This highlights the importance of investigating these factors when replicating such initiatives on a large scale
- …