Glass Transition Phenomena Semiannual Status Report

Multiple glass transitions, heat capacities, and equation of state properties of polymer system

The 3-D clustering of radio galaxies in the TONS survey

We present a clustering analysis of the Texas-Oxford NVSS Structure (TONS) radio galaxy redshift survey. This complete flux-limited survey consists of 268 radio galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts in three separate regions of the sky covering a total of 165 deg^2. By going to faint radio flux densities (s_1.4>3 mJy) but imposing relatively bright optical limits (E R 19.5), the TONS sample is optimised for looking at the clustering properties of low luminosity radio galaxies in a region of moderate (0 < z < 0.5) redshifts. We use the two point correlation function to determine the clustering strength of the combined TONS08 and TONS12 sub-samples and find a clustering strength of r_0(z)=8.7+/-1.6 Mpc (h=0.7). If we assume growth of structure by linear theory and that the median redshift is 0.3, this corresponds to r_0(0)=11.0+/-2.0 Mpc which is consistent with the clustering strength of the underlying host galaxies (~ 2.5 Lstar ellipticals) of the TONS radio galaxy population.Comment: 18 pages, MNRAS accepted. Full paper including all spectra can be found at http://www.noao.edu/noao/staff/brand/brand_corr_fn.ps.g

The preferentially magnified active nucleus in IRAS F10214+4724 - II. Spatially resolved cold molecular gas

We present JVLA observations of the cold (CO (1-0)) molecular gas in IRAS F10214+4724, a lensed ULIRG at z=2.3 with an obscured active nucleus. The galaxy is spatially and spectrally well-resolved in the CO (1-0) emission line. A CO (1-0) counter-image is detected at the 3-sigma level. Five of the 42 km/s channels (with >5-sigma detections) are mapped back into the source plane and their total magnification posterior PDFs sampled. This reveals a roughly linear arrangement, tentatively a rotating disk. We derive a molecular gas mass of M_gas = 1.2 +- 0.2 x 10^10 M_sun, assuming a ULIRG L_{CO}-to-M_{gas} conversion ratio of \alpha = 0.8 M_sun / (K km/s pc^2) that agrees well with the derived range of \alpha = 0.3 - 1.3 for separate dynamical mass estimates at assumed inclinations of i = 90 - 30 degrees. Based on the AGN and CO (1-0) peak emission positions and the lens model, we predict a distortion of the CO Spectral Line Energy Distribution (SLED) where higher order J lines that may be partially excited by AGN heating will be preferentially lensed owing to their smaller solid angles and closer proximity to the AGN and therefore the cusp of the caustic. Comparison with other lensing inversion results shows that the narrow line region and AGN radio core in IRAS F10214+4724 are preferentially lensed by a factor >~ 3 and 11 respectively, relative to the molecular gas emission. This distorts the global continuum emission Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) and suggests caution in unsophisticated uses of IRAS F10214+4724 as an archetype high-redshift ULIRG. We explore two Large Velocity Gradient (LVG) models, incorporating spatial CO (1-0) and (3-2) information and present tentative evidence for an extended, low excitation cold gas component that implies that the total molecular gas mass in IRAS F10214+4724 is a factor >~2 greater than that calculated using spatially unresolved CO observations.Comment: Dedicated to Steve Rawlings. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 16 pages, 11 figure

A submillimetre survey of the star-formation history of radio galaxies

We present the results of the first major systematic submillimetre survey of radio galaxies spanning the redshift range 1 < z < 5. The primary aim of this work is to elucidate the star-formation history of this sub-class of elliptical galaxies by tracing the cosmological evolution of dust mass. Using SCUBA on the JCMT we have obtained 850-micron photometry of 47 radio galaxies to a consistent rms depth of 1 mJy, and have detected dust emission in 14 cases. The radio galaxy targets have been selected from a series of low-frequency radio surveys of increasing depth (3CRR, 6CE, etc), in order to allow us to separate the effects of increasing redshift and increasing radio power on submillimetre luminosity. Although the dynamic range of our study is inevitably small, we find clear evidence that the typical submillimetre luminosity (and hence dust mass) of a powerful radio galaxy is a strongly increasing function of redshift; the detection rate rises from 15 per cent at z 2.5, and the average submillimetre luminosity rises as (1+z)^3 out to z~4. Moreover our extensive sample allows us to argue that this behaviour is not driven by underlying correlations with other radio galaxy properties such as radio power, radio spectral index, or radio source size/age. Although radio selection may introduce other more subtle biases, the redshift distribution of our detected objects is in fact consistent with the most recent estimates of the redshift distribution of comparably bright submillimetre sources discovered in blank field surveys. The evolution of submillimetre luminosity found here for radio galaxies may thus be representative of massive ellipticals in general.Comment: 31 pages - 10 figures in main text, 3 pages of figures in appendix. This revised version has been re-structured, but the analysis and conclusions have not changed. Accepted for publication in MNRA

You Don't See What I See:Individual Differences in the Perception of Meaning from Visual Stimuli

Everyone has their own unique version of the visual world and there has been growing interest in understanding the way that personality shapes one's perception. Here, we investigated meaningful visual experiences in relation to the personality dimension of schizotypy. In a novel approach to this issue, a non-clinical sample of subjects (total n = 197) were presented with calibrated images of scenes, cartoons and faces of varying visibility embedded in noise; the spatial properties of the images were constructed to mimic the natural statistics of the environment. In two experiments, subjects were required to indicate what they saw in a large number of unique images, both with and without actual meaningful structure. The first experiment employed an open-ended response paradigm and used a variety of different images in noise; the second experiment only presented a series of faces embedded in noise, and required a forced-choice response from the subjects. The results in all conditions indicated that a high positive schizotypy score was associated with an increased tendency to perceive complex meaning in images comprised purely of random visual noise. Individuals high in positive schizotypy seemed to be employing a looser criterion (response bias) to determine what constituted a 'meaningful' image, while also being significantly less sensitive at the task than those low in positive schizotypy. Our results suggest that differences in perceptual performance for individuals high in positive schizotypy are not related to increased suggestibility or susceptibility to instruction, as had previously been suggested. Instead, the observed reductions in sensitivity along with increased response bias toward seeing something that is not there, indirectly implicated subtle neurophysiological differences associated with the personality dimension of schizotypy, that are theoretically pertinent to the continuum of schizophrenia and hallucination-proneness

On Star Formation and the Non-Existence of Dark Galaxies

We investigate whether a baryonic dark galaxy or `galaxy without stars' could persist indefinitely in the local universe, while remaining stable against star formation. To this end, a simple model has been constructed to determine the equilibrium distribution and composition of a gaseous protogalactic disk. Specifically, we determine the amount of gas that will transit to a Toomre unstable cold phase via the H2 cooling channel in the presence of a UV--X-ray cosmic background radiation field. All but one of the models are predicted to become unstable to star formation. Moreover, we find that all our model objects would be detectable via HI line emission, even in the case that star formation is potentially avoided. These results are consistent with the non-detection of isolated extragalactic HI clouds with no optical counterpart (galaxies without stars) by HIPASS. Additionally, where star formation is predicted to occur, we determine the minimum interstellar radiation field required to restore gravothermal stability, which we then relate to a minimum global star formation rate. This leads to the prediction of a previously undocumented relation between HI mass and star formation rate that is observed for a wide variety of dwarf galaxies in the HI mass range 10^8--10^10 M_sun. The existence of such a relation strongly supports the notion that the well observed population of dwarf galaxies represent the minimum rates of self-regulating star formation in the universe. (Barely abridged)Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, TeX using emulateapj.cls, v2 accepted for publication in ApJ (16/8/5) with one figure deleted and a number of minor clarifying revision

Sensitive Limits on the Water Abundance in Cold Low Mass Molecular Cores

We present SWAS observations of water vapor in two cold star-less clouds, B68 and Core D in rho Ophiuchus. Sensitive non-detections of the 1(10)-1(01) transition of o-H2O are reported for each source. Both molecular cores have been previously examined by detailed observations that have characterized the physical structure. Using these rather well defined physical properties and a Monte-Carlo radiation transfer model we have removed one of the largest uncertainties from the abundance calculation and set the lowest water abundance limit to date in cold low-mass molecular cores. These limits are < 3 x 10^{-8} (relative to H2) and < 8 x 10^{-9} in B68 and rho Oph D, respectively. Such low abundances confirm the general lack of ortho-water vapor in cold (T < 20 K) cores. Provided that the ortho/para ratio of water is not near zero, these limits are well below theoretical predictions and appear to support the suggestion that most of the water in dense low-mass cores is frozen onto the surfaces of cold dust grains.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Astrophysical Journal Letter

The Evolution of the Stellar Hosts of Radio Galaxies

We present new near-infrared images of z>0.8 radio galaxies from the flux-limited 7C-III sample of radio sources for which we have recently obtained almost complete spectroscopic redshifts. The 7C objects have radio luminosities about 20 times fainter than 3C radio galaxies at a given redshift. The absolute magnitudes of the underlying host galaxies and their scale sizes are only weakly dependent on radio luminosity. Radio galaxy hosts at z~2 are significantly brighter than the hosts of radio-quiet quasars at similar redshifts and the model AGN hosts of Kauffmann & Haehnelt (2000). There is no evidence for strong evolution in scale size, which shows a large scatter at all redshifts. The hosts brighten significantly with redshift, consistent with the passive evolution of a stellar population that formed at z>~3. This scenario is consistent with studies of host galaxy morphology and submillimeter continuum emission, both of which show strong evolution at z>~2.5. The lack of a strong ``redshift cutoff'' in the radio luminosity function to z>4 suggests that the formation epoch of the radio galaxy host population lasts >~1Gyr from z>~5 to z~3. We suggest these facts are best explained by models in which the most massive galaxies and their associated AGN form early due to high baryon densities in the centres of their dark matter haloes.Comment: To appear in A