3,103 research outputs found
The Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample 3. Space density and evolution of QSOs
We analyze the Parkes quarter-Jansky flat-spectrum sample of QSOs in terms of
space density, including the redshift distribution, the radio luminosity
function, and the evidence for a redshift cutoff. With regard to the luminosity
function, we note the strong evolution in space density from the present day to
epochs corresponding to redshifts ~ 1. We draw attention to a selection effect
due to spread in spectral shape that may have misled other investigators to
consider the apparent similarities in shape of luminosity functions in
different redshift shells as evidence for luminosity evolution. To examine the
evolution at redshifts beyond 3, we develop a model-independent method based on
the V_max test using each object to predict expectation densities beyond z=3.
With this we show that a diminution in space density at z > 3 is present at a
significance level >4 sigma. We identify a severe bias in such determinations
from using flux-density measurements at epochs significantly later than that of
the finding survey. The form of the diminution is estimated, and is shown to be
very similar to that found for QSOs selected in X-ray and optical wavebands.
The diminution is also compared with the current estimates of star-formation
evolution, with less conclusive results. In summary we suggest that the
reionization epoch is little influenced by powerful flat-spectrum QSOs, and
that dust obscuration does not play a major role in our view of the QSO
population selected at radio, optical or X-ray wavelengths.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, accepted 18 Dec 2004, Astron. & Astrophys. The
accepted version is expanded to include an analysis of the form of the
decline in radio-QSO space density at high redshifts. This is compared with
the forms of epoch dependence derived for optically-selected QSOs, for
X-ray-selected QSOs, and for star formation rat
Do Quasars Lens Quasars?
If the unexpectedly high frequency of quasar pairs with very different
component redshifts is due to the lensing of a population of background quasars
by the foreground quasar, typical lens masses must be \sim10^{12}M_{\sun} and
the sum of all such quasar lenses would have to contain times the
closure density of the Universe. It then seems plausible that a very high
fraction of all \sim10^{12} M_{\sun} gravitational lenses with redshifts
contain quasars. Here I propose that these systems have evolved to
form the present population of massive galaxies with M and M
>5\times10^{11} M_{\sun}.Comment: 6 pages, aas style, ams symbols, ApJL (accepted
ÎŽ13C and ÎŽ15N in the endangered Kempâs ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempii after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon explosion in April 2010 and subsequent oil spill released 3.19 Ă 106 barrels (5.07 Ă 108 l) of MC252 crude oil into important foraging areas of the endangered Kempâs ridley sea turtle Lepidochelys kempii (Lk) in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). We measured ÎŽ13C and ÎŽ15N in scute biopsy samples from 33 Lk nesting in Texas during the period 2010 to 2012. Of these, 27 were equipped with satellite transmitters and were tracked to traditional foraging areas in the northern GoM after the spill. Differences in ÎŽ13C between the oldest and newest scute layers from 2010 nesters were not significant, but ÎŽ13C in the newest layers from 2011 and 2012 nesters was significantly lower compared to 2010. ÎŽ15N differences were not statis- tically significant. Collectively, the stable isotope and tracking data indicate that the lower ÎŽ13C values reflect the incorporation of oil rather than changes in diet or foraging area. Discriminant analysis indicated that 51.5% of the turtles sampled had isotope signatures indicating oil exposure. Growth of the Lk population slowed in the years following the spill. The involvement of oil exposure in recent population trends is unknown, but long-term effects may not be evident for many years. Our results indicate that C isotope signatures in scutes may be useful biomarkers of sea turtle exposure to oil
Exporting and capital investment: On the strategic behavior of exporters.
By exporting, firms sell in markets whose business cycles are not perfectly correlated, and so can be expected to have more stable cash flows. If companies are liquidity constrained, this stability of cash flows can provide exporters with certain advantages over firms that operate solely in a domestic market. For instance, under the existence of liquidity constraints, more stable cash flows should foster more stable capital investments. Moreover, the expectation of more stable future cash flows and the information signal from commencing exporting can lessen the severity of liquidity constraints for exporters compared to non-exporters. We test these arguments by examining a stratified representative sample of the Spanish manufacturing sector from 1990 to 1998. Our results suggest that exporters' cash flows and capital investments are more stable than non-exporters'. Moreover, we find that liquidity constraints are less binding for exporters than for non-exporters. The richness of our data allows us to examine alternative explanations for the results we present. We conclude by discussing the strategic implications of our findings for firms.Liquidity constraint; exporter; non-exporter
Metallicities of 0.3<z<1.0 Galaxies in the GOODS-North Field
We measure nebular oxygen abundances for 204 emission-line galaxies with
redshifts 0.3<z<1.0 in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey North
(GOODS-N) field using spectra from the Team Keck Redshift Survey (TKRS). We
also provide an updated analytic prescription for estimating oxygen abundances
using the traditional strong emission line ratio, R_{23}, based on the
photoionization models of Kewley & Dopita (2003). We include an analytic
formula for very crude metallicity estimates using the [NII]6584/Halpha ratio.
Oxygen abundances for GOODS-N galaxies range from 8.2< 12+log(O/H)< 9.1
corresponding to metallicities between 0.3 and 2.5 times the solar value. This
sample of galaxies exhibits a correlation between rest-frame blue luminosity
and gas-phase metallicity (i.e., an L-Z relation), consistent with L-Z
correlations of previously-studied intermediate-redshift samples. The zero
point of the L-Z relation evolves with redshift in the sense that galaxies of a
given luminosity become more metal poor at higher redshift. Galaxies in
luminosity bins -18.5<M_B<-21.5 exhibit a decrease in average oxygen abundance
by 0.14\pm0.05 dex from z=0 to z=1. This rate of metal enrichment means that
28\pm0.07% of metals in local galaxies have been synthesized since z=1, in
reasonable agreement with the predictions based on published star formation
rate densities which show that ~38% of stars in the universe have formed during
the same interval. (Abridged)Comment: AASTeX, 49 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
Reionization and the large-scale 21 cm-cosmic microwave background cross correlation
Of the many probes of reionization, the 21 cm line and the cosmic microwave
background (CMB) are among the most effective. We examine how the
cross-correlation of the 21 cm brightness and the CMB Doppler fluctuations on
large angular scales can be used to study this epoch. We employ a new model of
the growth of large scale fluctuations of the ionized fraction as reionization
proceeds. We take into account the peculiar velocity field of baryons and show
that its effect on the cross correlation can be interpreted as a mixing of
Fourier modes. We find that the cross-correlation signal is strongly peaked
toward the end of reionization and that the sign of the correlation should be
positive because of the inhomogeneity inherent to reionization. The signal
peaks at degree scales (l~100) and comes almost entirely from large physical
scales (k~0.01 Mpc). Since many of the foregrounds and noise that plague low
frequency radio observations will not correlate with CMB measurements, the
cross correlation might appear to provide a robust diagnostic of the
cosmological origin of the 21 cm radiation around the epoch of reionization.
Unfortunately, we show that these signals are actually only weakly correlated
and that cosmic variance dominates the error budget of any attempted detection.
We conclude that the detection of a cross-correlation peak at degree-size
angular scales is unlikely even with ideal experiments.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, submitted to MNRA
A radio Search for high redshift HI absorption
Ground based optical observations have yielded considerable information on
the statistics of damped-lyman alpha systems. In particular these systems are
known to be the dominant repository of the observed neutral gas at high
redshift. However, particularly at high redshift, there is the possibility that
optical observations could be biased due to the exclusion of damped-lyman alpha
systems that contain moderate to significant amounts of dust. Independent
observational constraints on the neutral hydrogen content at high redshifts and
the amount of dust in high redshift systems can be obtained from a radio search
against the bright lobes of distant radio galaxies (which is less affected by
the presence of dust in foreground damped-lyman alpha systems). We describe
here a pilot radio survey along the line of sight to a small sample of high
redshift radio galaxies, and also present some preliminary results. The survey
uses a novel observing mode at the WSRT which enables one to make sensitive
searches of a large redshift interval in a modest amount of telescope time.Comment: A version with figures is available at http://www.nfra.nl/~chengalu/
To appear in "Cold Gas at High Redshift", Eds. M.Bremer et al. (Kluwer,
Dordrecht
Active Galactic Nuclei in Void Regions
We present a comprehensive study of accretion activity in the most underdense
environments in the universe, the voids, based on the SDSS DR2 data. Based on
investigations of multiple void regions, we show that AGN's occurrence rate and
properties differ from those in walls. AGN are more common in voids than in
walls, but only among moderately luminous and massive galaxies (M_r < -20, log
M_*/M_sun < 10.5), and this enhancement is more pronounced for the weakly
accreting systems (i.e., L_[O III] < 10^39 erg/s). Void AGN hosted by
moderately massive and luminous galaxies are accreting at equal or lower rates
than their wall counterparts, show less obscuration than in walls, and
similarly aged stellar populations. The very few void AGN in massive bright
hosts accrete more strongly, are more obscured, and are associated with younger
stellar emission than wall AGN. Thus, accretion strength is probably connected
to the availability of fuel supply, and accretion and star-formation co-evolve
and rely on the same source of fuel. Nearest neighbor statistics indicate that
the weak accretion activity (LINER-like) is not influenced by the local
environment. However, H IIs, Seyferts, and Transition objects prefer more
grouped small scale structures, indicating that the rate at which galaxies
interact with each other affects their activity. These trends support a
potential H II -> Seyfert/Transition Object -> LINER evolutionary sequence that
we show is apparent in many properties of actively line-emitting galaxies, in
both voids and walls. The subtle differences between void and wall AGN might be
explained by a longer, less disturbed duty cycle of these systems in voids.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures (1 color); to appear in ApJ, submitted on May 11,
200
Radio Signatures of HI at High Redshift: Mapping the End of the ``Dark Ages''
The emission of 21-cm radiation from a neutral intergalactic medium (IGM) at
high redshift is discussed in connection with the thermal and ionization
history of the universe. The physical mechanisms that make such radiation
detectable against the cosmic microwave background include Ly_alpha coupling of
the hydrogen spin temperature to the kinetic temperature of the gas and
preheating of the IGM by the first generation of stars and quasars. Three
different signatures are investigated in detail: (a) the fluctuations in the
redshifted 21-cm emission induced by the gas density inhomogeneities that
develop at early times in cold dark matter (CDM) dominated cosmologies; (b) the
sharp absorption feature in the radio sky due to the rapid rise of the Ly_alpha
continuum background that marks the birth of the first UV sources in the
universe; and (c) the 21-cm emission and absorption shells that are generated
on several Mpc scales around the first bright quasars. Future radio
observations with projected facilities like the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope
and the Square Kilometer Array may shed light on the power spectrum of density
fluctuations at z>5, and map the end of the "dark ages", i.e. the transition
from the post-recombination universe to one populated with radiation sources.Comment: LateX, 19 pages, 5 figures, significantly revised version to be
published in the Ap
VLA Observations of the "Eye of the Tornado"- the High Velocity \HII Region G357.63-0.06
The unusual supernova remnant candidate G357.7-0.1 and the compact source
G357.63-0.06 have been observed with the Very Large Array at 1.4 and 8.3 GHz.
The H92 line (8.3 GHz) was detected from the compact source with a
surprising velocity of about -210 km/s indicating that this source is an \HII
region, is most likely located at the Galactic center, and is unrelated to the
SNR. The \HI absorption line (1.4 GHz) data toward these sources supports this
picture and suggests that G357.7-0.1 lies farther away than the Galactic
center.Comment: Latex, 14 pages including 4 figures. Accepted to A
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