3,844 research outputs found
NICMOS Snapshot Survey of Damped Lyman Alpha Quasars
We image 19 quasars with 22 damped Lyman alpha (DLA) systems using the F160W
filter and the Near-Infrared Camera and Multiobject Spectrograph aboard the
Hubble Space Telescope, in both direct and coronagraphic modes. We reach 5
sigma detection limits of ~H=22 in the majority of our images. We compare our
observations to the observed Lyman-break population of high-redshift galaxies,
as well as Bruzual & Charlot evolutionary models of present-day galaxies
redshifted to the distances of the absorption systems. We predict H magnitudes
for our DLAs, assuming they are producing stars like an L* Lyman-break galaxy
(LBG) at their redshift. Comparing these predictions to our sensitivity, we
find that we should be able to detect a galaxy around 0.5-1.0 L* (LBG) for most
of our observations. We find only one new possible candidate, that near
LBQS0010-0012. This scarcity of candidates leads us to the conclusion that most
DLA systems are not drawn from a normal LBG luminosity function nor a local
galaxy luminosity function placed at these high redshifts.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for Feb. 10 issue of Ap
HST/ACS weak lensing analysis of the galaxy cluster RDCS 1252.9-2927 at z=1.24
We present a weak lensing analysis of one of the most distant massive galaxy
cluster known, RDCS 1252.9-2927 at z=1.24, using deep images from the Advanced
Camera for Survey (ACS) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). By taking
advantage of the depth and of the angular resolution of the ACS images, we
detect for the first time at z>1 a clear weak lensing signal in both the i
(F775W) and z (F850LP) filters. We measure a 5-\sigma signal in the i band and
a 3-\sigma signal in the shallower z band image. The two radial mass profiles
are found to be in very good agreement with each other, and provide a
measurement of the total mass of the cluster inside a 1Mpc radius of M(<1Mpc) =
(8.0 +/- 1.3) x 10^14 M_\odot in the current cosmological concordance model h
=0.70, \Omega_m=0.3, \Omega_\Lambda=0.7, assuming a redshift distribution of
background galaxies as inferred from the Hubble Deep Fields surveys. A weak
lensing signal is detected out to the boundary of our field (3' radius,
corresponding to 1.5Mpc at the cluster redshift). We detect a small offset
between the centroid of the weak lensing mass map and the brightest cluster
galaxy, and we discuss the possible origin of this discrepancy. The cumulative
weak lensing radial mass profile is found to be in good agreement with the
X-ray mass estimate based on Chandr and XMM-Newton observations, at least out
to R_500=0.5Mpc.Comment: 38 pages, ApJ in press. Full resolution images available at
http://www.eso.org/~prosati/RDCS1252/Lombardi_etal_accepted.pd
Near-infrared thermal emissivity from ground based atmospheric dust measurements at ORM
We present an analysis of the atmospheric content of aerosols measured at
Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM; Canary Islands). Using a laser
diode particle counter located at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) we
have detected particles of 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 3.0, 5.0 and 10.0 um size. The
seasonal behavior of the dust content in the atmosphere is calculated. The
Spring has been found to be dustier than the Summer, but dusty conditions may
also occur in Winter. A method to estimate the contribution of the aerosols
emissivity to the sky brightness in the near-infrared (NIR) is presented. The
contribution of dust emission to the sky background in the NIR has been found
to be negligible comparable to the airglow, with a maximum contribution of
about 8-10% in the Ks band in the dusty days.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Discovery of Damped Lyman-Alpha Systems at Redshifts Less Than 1.65 and Results on their Incidence and Cosmological Mass Density
We report results on the incidence and cosmological mass density of damped
Lyman-alpha (DLA) systems at redshifts less that 1.65. We used HST and an
efficient non-traditional (but unbiased) survey technique to discover DLA
systems at redshifts z<1.65, where we observe the Lyman-alpha line in known
MgII absorption-line systems. We uncovered 14 DLA lines including 2
serendipitously. We find that (1) The DLA absorbers are drawn almost
exclusively from the population of MgII absorbers which have rest equivalent
widths W(2796)>0.6A. (2) The incidence of DLA systems per unit redshift,
n(DLA), is observed to decrease with decreasing redshift. (3) On the other
hand, the cosmological mass density of neutral gas in low-redshift DLA
absorbers, Omega(DLA), is observed to be comparable to that observed at high
redshift. (4) The low-redshift DLA absorbers exhibit a significantly larger
fraction of very high column density systems in comparison to determinations at
both high redshift and locally.Comment: 47 pages in LaTeX - emulateapj style with included tables and
encapsulated postscript figures. Accepted for Publication in Astrophysical
Journal Supplements. Results unchanged, text revise
Simulations of Damped Lyman-Alpha and Lyman Limit Absorbers in Different Cosmologies: Implications for Structure Formation at High Redshift
We use hydrodynamic cosmological simulations to study damped Lyman-alpha
(DLA) and Lyman limit (LL) absorption at redshifts z=2-4 in five variants of
the cold dark matter scenario. Our standard simulations resolve the formation
of dense concentrations of neutral gas in halos with circular velocity v_c
roughly 140 km/s for Omega_m=1 and 90 km/s for Omega_m=0.4, at z=2; an
additional LCDM simulation resolves halos down to v_c approximately 50 km/s at
z=3. We find a clear relation between HI column density and projected distance
to the center of the nearest galaxy, with DLA absorption usually confined to
galactocentric radii less than 10-15 kpc and LL absorption arising out to
projected separations of 30 kpc or more. Detailed examination provides evidence
of non-equilibrium effects on absorption cross-section. If we consider only
absorption in the halos resolved by our standard simulations, then all five
models fall short of reproducing the observed abundance of DLA and LL systems
at these redshifts. If we extrapolate to lower halo masses, we find all four
models are consistent with the observed abundance of DLA systems if the the
extrapolated behavior extends to circular velocities roughly 50-80 km/s, and
they may produce too much absorption if the relation continues to 40 km/s. Our
results suggest that LL absorption is closely akin to DLA absorption, arising
in less massive halos or at larger galactocentric radii but not caused by
processes acting on a radically different mass scale.Comment: 33 pages with 10 embedded EPS figures. Substantially revised and
updated from original version. Includes new high-resolution simulations.
Accepted for publication in the Ap
Nonlinear magneto-optical rotation with frequency-modulated light in the geophysical field range
Recent work investigating resonant nonlinear magneto-optical rotation (NMOR)
related to long-lived (\tau\ts{rel} \sim 1 {\rm s}) ground-state atomic
coherences has demonstrated potential magnetometric sensitivities exceeding
for small () magnetic
fields. In the present work, NMOR using frequency-modulated light (FM NMOR) is
studied in the regime where the longitudinal magnetic field is in the
geophysical range (), of particular interest for many
applications. In this regime a splitting of the FM NMOR resonance due to the
nonlinear Zeeman effect is observed. At sufficiently high light intensities,
there is also a splitting of the FM NMOR resonances due to ac Stark shifts
induced by the optical field, as well as evidence of alignment-to-orientation
conversion type processes. The consequences of these effects for FM-NMOR-based
atomic magnetometry in the geophysical field range are considered.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure
Planetary Science Goals for the Spitzer Warm Era
The overarching goal of planetary astronomy is to deduce how the present collection of objects found in our Solar System were formed from the original material present in the proto-solar nebula. As over two hundred exo-planetary systems are now known, and multitudes more are expected, the Solar System represents the closest and best system which we can study, and the only one in which we can clearly resolve individual bodies other than planets. In this White Paper we demonstrate how to use Spitzer Space Telescope InfraRed Array Camera Channels 1 and 2 (3.6 and 4.5 µm) imaging photometry with large dedicated surveys to advance our knowledge of Solar System formation and evolution. There are a number of vital, key projects to be pursued using dedicated large programs that have not been pursued during the five years of Spitzer cold operations. We present a number of the largest and most important projects here; more will certainly be proposed once the warm era has begun, including important observations of newly discovered objects
Imaging and spectroscopy of galaxies associated with two z~0.7 damped Lyman-alpha absorption systems
We have identified galaxies near two quasars which are at the redshift of
damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) systems in the UV spectra of the quasars. Both
galaxies are actively forming stars. One galaxy has a luminosity close to the
break in the local galaxy luminosity function, L*, the other is significantly
fainter than L* and appears to be interacting with a nearby companion. Despite
the strong selection effects favoring spectroscopic identification of the most
luminous DLA galaxies, many of the spectroscopically-identified DLA galaxies in
the literature are sub-L*, suggesting that the majority of the DLA population
is probably sub-L*, in contrast to MgII absorbers at similar redshifts whose
mean luminosity is close to L*.Comment: 9 pages, to appear in AJ, November 2003 issu
Ground state and bias current induced rearrangement of semifluxons in 0-pi long Josephson junctions
We investigate numerically a long Josephson junction with several phase
pi-discontinuity points. Such junctions are usually fabricated as a ramp
between an anisotropic cuprate superconductor like YBCO and an isotropic metal
superconductor like Nb. From the top, they look like zigzags with pi-jumps of
the Josephson phase at the corners. These pi-jumps, at certain conditions, lead
to the formation of half-integer flux quanta, which we call semifluxons (SF),
pinned at the corners. We show (a) that the spontaneous formation of SFs
depends on the junction length, (b) that the ground state without SFs can be
converted to a state with SFs by applying a bias current, (c) that the SF
configuration can be rearranged by the bias current. All these effects can be
observed using a SQUID microscope.Comment: ~8 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
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