646 research outputs found
Interstellar extinction towards the inner Galactic Bulge
DENIS observations in the J (1.2 micron) and K_S (2.15 micron) bands together
with isochrones calculated for the RGB and AGB phase are used to draw an
extinction map of the inner Galactic Bulge. The uncertainty in this method is
mainly limited by the optical depth of the Bulge itself. A comparison with
fields of known extinction shows a very good agreement. We present an
extinction map for the inner Galactic Bulge (approx. 20 sq. deg.)Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in A&A as a letter, see
also http://www-denis.iap.fr/articles/extinction
Gender inequalities in transnational academic mobility and the ideal type of academic entrepreneur
Dark energy constraints and correlations with systematics from CFHTLS weak lensing, SNLS supernovae Ia and WMAP5
We combine measurements of weak gravitational lensing from the CFHTLS-Wide
survey, supernovae Ia from CFHT SNLS and CMB anisotropies from WMAP5 to obtain
joint constraints on cosmological parameters, in particular, the dark energy
equation of state parameter w. We assess the influence of systematics in the
data on the results and look for possible correlations with cosmological
parameters.
We implement an MCMC algorithm to sample the parameter space of a flat CDM
model with a dark-energy component of constant w. Systematics in the data are
parametrised and included in the analysis. We determine the influence of
photometric calibration of SNIa data on cosmological results by calculating the
response of the distance modulus to photometric zero-point variations. The weak
lensing data set is tested for anomalous field-to-field variations and a
systematic shape measurement bias for high-z galaxies.
Ignoring photometric uncertainties for SNLS biases cosmological parameters by
at most 20% of the statistical errors, using supernovae only; the parameter
uncertainties are underestimated by 10%. The weak lensing field-to-field
variance pointings is 5%-15% higher than that predicted from N-body
simulations. We find no bias of the lensing signal at high redshift, within the
framework of a simple model. Assuming a systematic underestimation of the
lensing signal at high redshift, the normalisation sigma_8 increases by up to
8%. Combining all three probes we obtain -0.10<1+w<0.06 at 68% confidence
(-0.18<1+w<0.12 at 95%), including systematic errors. Systematics in the data
increase the error bars by up to 35%; the best-fit values change by less than
0.15sigma. [Abridged]Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. Revised version, matches the one to be
published in A&A. Modifications have been made corresponding to the referee's
suggestions, including reordering of some section
APOGEE DR14/DR15 Abundances in the Inner Milky Way
We present an overview of the distributions of 11 elemental abundances in the
Milky Way's inner regions, as traced by APOGEE stars released as part of SDSS
Data Release 14/15 (DR14/DR15), including O, Mg, Si, Ca, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Na,
Al, and K. This sample spans ~4000 stars with R_GC<4 kpc, enabling the most
comprehensive study to date of these abundances and their variations within the
innermost few kiloparsecs of the Milky Way. We describe the observed abundance
patterns ([X/Fe]-[Fe/H]), compare to previous literature results and to
patterns in stars at the solar Galactic radius, and discuss possible trends
with DR14/DR15 effective temperatures. We find that the position of the
[Mg/Fe]-[Fe/H] "knee" is nearly constant with R_GC, indicating a well-mixed
star-forming medium or high levels of radial migration in the early inner
Galaxy. We quantify the linear correlation between pairs of elements in
different subsamples of stars and find that these relationships vary; some
abundance correlations are very similar between the alpha-rich and alpha-poor
stars, but others differ significantly, suggesting variations in the
metallicity dependencies of certain supernova yields. These empirical trends
will form the basis for more detailed future explorations and for the
refinement of model comparison metrics. That the inner Milky Way abundances
appear dominated by a single chemical evolutionary track and that they extend
to such high metallicities underscore the unique importance of this part of the
Galaxy for constraining the ingredients of chemical evolution modeling and for
improving our understanding of the evolution of the Galaxy as a whole.Comment: Submitted to AAS Journals; revised after referee repor
Effect of quantum confinement on exciton-phonon interactions
We investigate the homogeneous linewidth of localized type-I excitons in
type-II GaAs/AlAs superlattices. These localizing centers represent the
intermediate case between quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) and
quasi-zero-dimensional localizations. The temperature dependence of the
homogeneous linewidth is obtained with high precision from
micro-photoluminescence spectra. We confirm the reduced interaction of the
excitons with their environment with decreasing dimensionality except for the
coupling to LO-phonons. The low-temperature limit for the linewidth of these
localized excitons is five times smaller than that of Q2D excitons. The
coefficient of exciton-acoustic-phonon interaction is 5 ~ 6 times smaller than
that of Q2D excitons. An enhancement of the average exciton-LO-phonon
interaction by localization is found in our sample. But this interaction is
very sensitive to the detailed structure of the localizing centers.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Photometric redshifts for the CFHTLS T0004 Deep and Wide fields
We compute photometric redshifts based on the template-fitting method in the
fourth public release of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey. This
unique multi-colour catalogue comprises u*,g',r',i',z' photometry in four deep
fields of 1 deg2 each and 35 deg2 distributed over three Wide fields. Our
photometric redshifts are calibrated with and compared to 16,983 high-quality
spectroscopic redshifts from several surveys. We find a dispersion of 0.028 and
an outlier rate of 3.5% in the Deep field at i'AB < 24 and a dispersion of
0.036 and an outlier rate of 2.8% in the Wide field at i'AB < 22.5. Beyond i'AB
= 22.5 in the Wide field the number of outliers rises from 5% to 10% at i'AB<23
and i'AB<24 respectively. For the Wide sample, we find the systematic redshift
bias keeps below 1% to i'AB < 22.5, whereas we find no significant bias in the
Deep field. We investigated the effect of tile-to-tile photometric variations
and demonstrate that the accuracy of our photometric redshifts is reduced by at
most 21%. We separate stars from galaxies using both the size and colour
information, reducing the contamination by stars in our catalogues from 50% to
8% at i'AB < 22.5 in fields with the highest stellar density while keeping a
complete galaxy sample. Our CFHTLS T0004 photometric redshifts are distributed
to the community. Our release include 592,891 (i'AB < 22.5) and 244,701 (i'AB <
24) reliable galaxy photometric redshifts in the Wide and Deep fields,
respectively.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figure
ISOGAL: A deep survey of the obscured inner Milky Way with ISO at 7 and 15 micron and with DENIS in the near-infrared
The ISOGAL project is an infrared survey of specific regions sampling the
Galactic Plane selected to provide information on Galactic structure,stellar
populations,stellar mass-loss and the recent star formation history of the
inner disk and Bulge of the Galaxy. ISOGAL combines 7 and 15 micron ISOCAM
observations - with a resolution of 6'' at worst - with DENIS IJKs data to
determine the nature of the sources and theinterstellar extinction. We have
observed about 16 square degrees with a sensitivity approaching 10-20mJy,
detecting ~10^5 sources,mostly AGB stars,red giants and young stars. The main
features of the ISOGAL survey and the observations are summarized in this
paper,together with a brief discussion of data processing and quality. The
primary ISOGAL products are described briefly (a full description is given in
Schuller et al. 2003, astro-ph/0304309): viz. the images and theISOGAL-DENIS
five-wavelength point source catalogue. The main scientific results already
derived or in progress are summarized. These include astrometrically calibrated
7 and 15um images,determining structures of resolved sources; identification
and properties of interstellar dark clouds; quantification of the infrared
extinction law and source dereddening; analysis of red giant and (especially)
AGB stellar populations in the central Bulge,determining luminosity,presence of
circumstellar dust and mass--loss rate,and source classification,supplemented
in some cases by ISO/CVF spectroscopy; detection of young stellar objects of
diverse types,especially in the inner Bulge with information about the present
and recent star formation rate; identification of foreground sources with
mid-IR excess. These results are the subject of about 25 refereed papers
published or in preparation.Comment: A&A in press. 19 pages,10 Ps figures; problems with figures fixe
Coherent dynamics of interwell excitons in GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs superlattices
Coherent exciton dynamics in a GaAs/AlxGa1âxAs narrow-miniband superlattice is studied by spectrally resolved transient four-wave mixing. Coherent optical properties of the investigated structure are found to be strongly affected by the existence of two different heavy-hole excitonic states. One of them, the 1s heavy-hole exciton, is almost identical to the same state in noninteracting quantum wells, while the other, the heavy-hole interwell exciton, is composed of an electron and a heavy hole in adjacent wells. The interwell exciton leads to a resonant enhancement in the four-wave mixing spectra and exhibits quantum beats with the 1s heavy-hole exciton. The dephasing of the interwell exciton is one order of magnitude faster than that of the heavy-hole exciton and is mostly due to intensity-independent scattering mechanisms
ISOGAL-DENIS detection of red giants with weak mass loss in the Galactic Bulge
The ISOGAL project is a survey of the stellar populations, structure, and
recent star formation history of the inner disk and bulge of the Galaxy. ISOGAL
combines 15 and 7micron ISOCAM observations with DENIS IJKs data to determine
the nature of a source and the interstellar extinction. In this paper we report
an ISOGAL study of a small field in the inner Galactic Bulge (l=0deg, b=1.0deg,
area=0.035 sq. deg) as a prototype of the larger area ISOGAL survey of the
inner Galaxy. The five wavelengths of ISOGAL+DENIS, together with the
relatively low and constant extinction in front of this specific field, allow
reliable determination of the nature of the sources. The primary scientific
result of this paper is evidence that the most numerous class of ISOGAL
15micron sources are Red Giants in the Galactic bulge and central disk, with
luminosities just above or close to the RGB tip and weak mass-loss rates. They
form loose sequences in the magnitude-colour diagrams [15]/Ks-[15] and
[15]/[7]-[15]. Their large excesses at 15micron with respect to 2micron and
7micron is due to circumstellar dust produced by mass-loss at low rates. These
ISOGAL results are the first systematic evidence and study of dust emission at
this early stage (''Intermediate'' AGB), before the onset of the large
mass-loss phase. It is thus well established that efficient dust formation is
already associated with such low mass-loss rates during this early phase.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysics Journa
Mass-Losing Semiregular Variable Stars in Baade's Windows
By cross-correlating the results of two recent large-scale surveys, the
general properties of a well defined sample of semi-regular variable stars have
been determined. ISOGAL mid-infrared photometry and MACHO lightcurves are
assembled for approximately 300 stars in the Baade's Windows of low extinction
towards the Galactic bulge. These stars are mainly giants of late M spectral
type, evolving along the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). They are found to
possess a wide and continuous distribution of pulsation periods and to obey an
approximate log~period -- bolometric magnitude relation or set of such
relations.
Approximate mass-loss rates in the range of 1e-8 to 5e-7 M_sun per year are
derived from ISOGAL mid-infrared photometry and models of stellar spectra
adjusted for the presence of optically-thin circumstellar silicate dust.
Mass-loss rates depend on luminosity and pulsation period. Some stars lose mass
as rapidly as short-period Miras but do not show Mira-like amplitudes. A period
of 70 days or longer is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for mass
loss to occur.
For AGB stars in the mass-loss ranges that we observe, the functional
dependence of mass-loss rate on temperature and luminosity is found to be in
agreement with recent theoretical predictions. If we include our mass-loss
rates with a sample of extreme mass-losing AGB stars in the Large Magellanic
Cloud, we get the general result for AGB stars that mass-loss rate is
proportional to luminosity^{2.7}, valid for AGB stars with 10^{-8} to 10^{-4}
M_sun per year (Abridged).Comment: to appear in The Astrophysical Journal, 51 pages, 9 figures, 3
tables; table 1 will be available in machine-readable format at the
electronic Ap
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