579 research outputs found
Cosmological Relativity: A General-Relativistic Theory for the Accelerating Expanding Universe
Recent observations of distant supernovae imply, in defiance of expectations,
that the universe growth is accelerating, contrary to what has always been
assumed that the expansion is slowing down due to gravity. In this paper a
general-relativistic cosmological theory that gives a direct relationship
between distances and redshifts in an expanding universe is presented. The
theory is actually a generalization of Hubble's law taking gravity into account
by means of Einstein's theory of general relativity. The theory predicts that
the universe can have three phases of expansion, decelerating, constant and
accelerating, but it is shown that at present the first two cases are excluded,
although in the past it had experienced them. Our theory shows that the
universe now is definitely in the stage of accelerating expansion, confirming
the recent experimental results
An HST/WFPC Survey of Bright Young Clusters in M31. II. Photometry of Less Luminous Clusters in the Fields
We report on the properties of 89 low mass star clusters located in the
vicinity of luminous young clusters (blue globulars) in the disk of M31. 82 of
the clusters are newly detected. We have determined their integrated magnitudes
and colors, based on a series of Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field/Planetary
Camera 2 exposures in blue and red (HST filters F450W and F814W). The
integrated apparent magnitudes range from F450W = 17.5 to 22.5, and the colors
indicate a wide range of ages. Stellar color-magnitude diagrams for all
clusters were obtained and those with bright enough stars were fit to
theoretical isochrones to provide age estimates. The ages range from 12 Myr to
>500 Myr. Reddenings, which average E(F450 - F814) = 0.59 with a dispersion of
0.21 magnitudes, were derived from the main sequence fitting for those
clusters. Comparison of these ages and integrated colors with single population
theoretical models with solar abundances suggests a color offset of 0.085
magnitudes at the ages tested. Estimated ages for the remaining clusters are
based on their measured colors. The age-frequency diagram shows a steep decline
of number with age, with a large decrease in number per age interval between
the youngest and the oldest clusters detected.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figure
Panoramic Views of the Cygnus Loop
We present a complete atlas of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant in the light
of [O III] (5007), H alpha, and [S II] (6717, 6731). Despite its shell-like
appearance, the Cygnus Loop is not a current example of a Sedov-Taylor blast
wave. Rather, the optical emission traces interactions of the supernova blast
wave with clumps of gas. The surrounding interstellar medium forms the walls of
a cavity through which the blast wave now propagates, including a nearly
complete shell in which non-radiative filaments are detected. The Cygnus Loop
blast wave is not breaking out of a dense cloud, but is instead running into
confining walls. The interstellar medium dominates not only the appearance of
the Cygnus Loop but also the continued evolution of the blast wave. If this is
a typical example of a supernova remnant, then global models of the
interstellar medium must account for such significant blast wave deceleration.Comment: 28 pages AAS Latex, 28 black+white figures, 6 color figures. To be
published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Serie
Increasing permeability of phospholipid bilayer membranes to alanine with synthetic α-aminophosphonate carriers
A series of aminophosphonates was synthesized, and their ability to carry alanine, a model hydrophilic molecule, across phospholipid bilayer membranes was evaluated. Aminophosphonates facilitate the membrane transport at moderate rates, which make them a suitable platform for the design of carriers for continuous drug release devices. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi model and accelerating expansion
I discuss the spherically symmetric but inhomogeneous Lemaitre-Tolman- Bondi
(LTB) metric, which provides an exact toy model for an inhomogeneous universe.
Since we observe light rays from the past light cone, not the expansion of the
universe, spatial variation in matter density and Hubble rate can have the same
effect on redshift as acceleration in a perfectly homogeneous universe. As a
consequence, a simple spatial variation in the Hubble rate can account for the
distant supernova data in a dust universe without any dark energy. I also
review various attempts towards a semirealistic description of the universe
based on the LTB model.Comment: Invited Review for a special Gen. Rel. Grav. issue on Dark Energy. 17
pages, 3 figure
Speakable and unspeakable in cosmology: dark matter vs. gravitational self energies. Hubble's constant, the cosmological term and all that
The inadequacy of the present cosmological picture is underlined. The central
issue of energy and particles-photons number conservation is addressed. It is
shown that consideration of gravitational self energy is paramount both for
matter and for radiation to bring present data estimates of matter and
radiation density and the radius of the universe towards agreement with the
Planck scale quantities from which it should have consistently evolved.
Particle creation is proven to play a fundamental role in the evolution of the
Universe. It is argued that we might be living inside an expanding black hole
A Century of Cosmology
In the century since Einstein's anno mirabilis of 1905, our concept of the
Universe has expanded from Kapteyn's flattened disk of stars only 10 kpc across
to an observed horizon about 30 Gpc across that is only a tiny fraction of an
immensely large inflated bubble. The expansion of our knowledge about the
Universe, both in the types of data and the sheer quantity of data, has been
just as dramatic. This talk will summarize this century of progress and our
current understanding of the cosmos.Comment: Talk presented at the "Relativistic Astrophysics and Cosmology -
Einstein's Legacy" meeting in Munich, Nov 2005. Proceedings will be published
in the Springer-Verlag "ESO Astrophysics Symposia" series. 10 pages Latex
with 2 figure
The Tolman Surface Brightness Test for the Reality of the Expansion. IV. A Measurement of the Tolman Signal and the Luminosity Evolution of Early-Type Galaxies
We review a sample of the early literature in which the reality of the
expansion is discussed, explain Hubble's reticence to accept the expansion as
real, and contrast the Tolman surface brightness test with three other modern
tests. We search for the Tolman surface brightness depression with redshift
using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data from Paper III for 34 early-type
galaxies from the three clusters Cl 1324+3011 (z=0.76), Cl 1604+4304 (z=0.90),
and Cl 1604+4321 (z=0.92). Depressions of the surface brightness relative to
the zero-redshift fiducial lines in the mean surface brightness, log linear
radius diagrams of Paper I are found for all three clusters. Expressed as the
exponent, n, in 2.5 log (1 + z)^n mag, the value of n for all three clusters is
n = 2.59 +/- 0.17 in the R band and 3.37 +/- 0.13 in the I band for a q_o = 1/2
model. The sensitivity of the result to the assumed value of q_o is shown to be
less than 23% between q_o = 0 and +1. For a true Tolman signal with n = 4, the
luminosity evolution in the look-back time, expressed as the exponent in 2.5
log (1+z)^(4-n) mag, must then be between 1.72 to 1.19 in the R band and 0.94
to 0.45 in the I band. We show that this is precisely the range expected from
the evolutionary models of Bruzual & Charlot. We conclude that the Tolman
surface brightness test is consistent with the reality of the expansion. We
have also used the high-redshift HST data to test the ``tired light''
speculation for a non-expansion model for the redshift. The HST data rule out
the ``tired light'' model at a significance level of better than 10 sigma.Comment: 36 pages, 6 figures; accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journa
Time variability of X-ray sources in the M 31 centre field
We present an extension to our XMM-Newton X-ray source catalogue of M 31,
containing 39 newly found sources. In order to classify and identify more of
the sources we search for X-ray time variability in XMM-Newton archival data of
the M 31 centre field.
As a source list we used our extended catalogue based on observations
covering the time span from June 2000 to July 2004. We then determined the flux
or at least an upper limit at the source positions for each observation.
Deriving the flux ratios for the different observations and searching for the
maximum flux difference we determined variability factors. We also calculated
the significance of the flux ratios.
Using hardness ratios, X-ray variability and cross correlations with
catalogues in the X-ray, optical, infrared and radio regimes, we detected three
super soft source candidates, one supernova remnant and six supernova remnant
candidates, one globular cluster candidate, three X-ray binaries and four X-ray
binary candidates. Additionally we identified one foreground star candidate and
classified fifteen sources with hard spectra, which may either be X-ray
binaries or Crab-like supernova remnants in M 31 or background active galactic
nuclei. The remaining five sources stay unidentified or without classification.
Based on the time variability results we suggest six sources, which were
formerly classified as "hard", to be X-ray binary candidates. The
classification of one other source (XMMM31 J004236.7+411349) as a supernova
remnant, has to be rejected due to the distinct time variability we found. We
now classify this source as a foreground star.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Beyond a pale blue dot : how to search for possible bio-signatures on earth-like planets
The Earth viewed from outside the Solar system would be identified merely
like a pale blue dot, as coined by Carl Sagan. In order to detect possible
signatures of the presence of life on a second earth among several terrestrial
planets discovered in a habit-able zone, one has to develop and establish a
methodology to characterize the planet as something beyond a mere pale blue
dot. We pay particular attention to the periodic change of the color of the dot
according to the rotation of the planet. Because of the large-scale
inhomogeneous distribution of the planetary surface, the reflected light of the
dot comprises different color components corresponding to land, ocean, ice, and
cloud that cover the surface of the planet. If we decompose the color of the
dot into several principle components, in turn, one can identify the presence
of the different surface components. Furthermore, the vegetation on the earth
is known to share a remarkable reflection signature; the reflection becomes
significantly enhanced at wave-lengths longer than 760nm, which is known as a
red-edge of the vegetation. If one can identify the corresponding color
signature in a pale blue dot, it can be used as a unique probe of the presence
of life. I will describe the feasibility of the methodology for future space
missions, and consider the direction towards astrobiology from an
astrophysicist's point of view.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, published in Yamagishi A., Kakegawa T., Usui T.
(eds) Astrobiology. Springer, Singapore (2019
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