The overmassive black hole in NGC 1277: new constraints from molecular gas kinematics

We report the detection of CO(1-0) emission from NGC 1277, a lenticular galaxy in the Perseus Cluster. NGC 1277 has previously been proposed to host an overmassive black hole (BH) compared to the galaxy bulge luminosity (mass), based on stellar-kinematic measurements. The CO(1-0) emission, observed with the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) using both, a more compact (2.9-arcsec resolution) and a more extended (1-arcsec resolution) configuration, is likely to originate from the dust lane encompassing the galaxy nucleus at a distance of 0.9 arcsec (~320 pc). The double-horned CO(1-0) profile found at 2.9-arcsec resolution traces $1.5\times 10^8\ M_\odot$ of molecular gas, likely orbiting in the dust lane at $\sim 550\ \mathrm{km\ s^{-1}}$, which suggests a total enclosed mass of$\sim 2\times 10^{10}\ M_\odot$. At 1-arcsec resolution, the CO(1-0) emission appears spatially resolved along the dust lane in east-west direction, though at a low signal-to-noise ratio. In agreement with the previous stellar-kinematic measurements, the CO(1-0) kinematics is found to be consistent with an$\sim 1.7\times 10^{10}\ M_\odot$BH for a stellar mass-to-light ratio of$M/L_V=6.3$, while a less massive BH of$\sim 5\times 10^{9}\ M_\odot$is possible when assuming a larger$M/L_V=10$. While the molecular gas reservoir may be associated with a low level of star formation activity, the extended 2.6-mm continuum emission is likely to originate from a weak AGN, possibly characterized by an inverted radio-to-millimetre spectral energy distribution. Literature radio and X-ray data indicate that the BH in NGC 1277 is also overmassive with respect to the Fundamental Plane of BH activity.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS on 20 January 2016; updated version including minor changes and note added in proo

First Detection of Molecular Gas in the Shells of CenA

Shells are faint arc-like stellar structures, which have been observed around early type galaxies and are thought to be the result of an interaction. HI gas has recently been detected in shells, a surprising result in view of the theoretical predictions that most of the gas should decouple from stars and fall into the nucleus in such interactions. Here we report the first detection of molecular gas (CO) in shells, found 15kpc away from the center of NGC5128 (CenA), a giant elliptical galaxy that harbors an active nucleus (AGN). The ratio between CO and HI emission in the shells is the same as that found in the central regions, which is unexpected given the metallicity gradient usually observed in galaxies. We propose that the dynamics of the gas can be understood within the standard picture of shell formation if one takes into account that the interstellar medium is clumpy and hence not highly dissipative. The observed metal enrichment could be due to star formation induced by the AGN jet in the shells. Furthermore our observations provide evidence that molecular gas in mergers may be spread out far from the nuclear regions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Letters, (Vol. 356), 4 pages + 1 color figur

On Eigenvalue spacings for the 1-D Anderson model with singular site distribution

We study eigenvalue spacings and local eigenvalue statistics for 1D lattice Schrodinger operators with Holder regular potential, obtaining a version of Minami's inequality and Poisson statistics for the local eigenvalue spacings. The main additional new input are regular properties of the Furstenberg measures and the density of states obtained in some of the author's earlier work.Comment: 13 page

Conductivity and the current-current correlation measure

We review various formulations of conductivity for one-particle Hamiltonians and relate them to the current-current correlation measure. We prove that the current-current correlation measure for random Schr\"odinger operators has a density at coincident energies provided the energy lies in a localization regime. The density vanishes at such energies and an upper bound on the rate of vanishing is computed. We also relate the current-current correlation measure to the localization length

Replacing Quantum Feedback with Open-Loop Control and Quantum Filtering

Feedback control protocols can stabilize and enhance the operation of quantum devices, however, unavoidable delays in the feedback loop adversely affect their performance. We introduce a quantum control methodology, combining open-loop control with quantum filtering, which is not constrained by feedback delays. For the problems studied (rapid purification and rapid measurement) we analytically derive lower bounds on the control performance that are comparable with the best corresponding bounds for feedback protocols.Comment: 5 pages, revtex4, 3 eps figures. Comments welcome. V2 minor corrections, published version

Non-absorbing high-efficiency counter for itinerant microwave photons

Detecting an itinerant microwave photon with high efficiency is an outstanding problem in microwave photonics and its applications. We present a scheme to detect an itinerant microwave photon in a transmission line via the nonlinearity provided by a transmon in a driven microwave resonator. With a single transmon we achieve 84% distinguishability between zero and one microwave photons and 90% distinguishability with two cascaded transmons by performing continuous measurements on the output field of the resonator. We also show how the measurement diminishes coherence in the photon number basis thereby illustrating a fundamental principle of quantum measurement: the higher the measurement efficiency, the faster is the decoherence

Detection of parent molecules in the IR spectrum of P/Halley with the IKS-Vega spectrometer

The two spectroscopic channels of the IKS experiment on board the Vega probes were designed for the detection of emission bands of parent molecules and/or cometary dust, in the 2.5 to 5 micrometer range and the 6 to 12 micron range respectively. On Vega 1, the experiment worked successfully, and cometary spectra were recorded at distances from the comet nucleus ranging from about 250,000 to 40,000 km. The field of view was 1 deg and the spectral resolving power was about 50. On Vega 2, no result could be obtained due to a failure of the cryogenic system. The emission spectra obtained are briefly analyzed

Simplicity of eigenvalues in the Anderson model

We give a simple, transparent, and intuitive proof that all eigenvalues of the Anderson model in the region of localization are simple