13,763 research outputs found
Redshift-distance Survey of Early-type Galaxies: The D_n-sigma Relation
In this paper R-band photometric and velocity dispersion measurements for a
sample of 452 elliptical and S0 galaxies in 28 clusters are used to construct a
template D_n-sigma relation. This template relation is constructed by combining
the data from the 28 clusters, under the assumption that galaxies in different
clusters have similar properties. The photometric and spectroscopic data used
consist of new as well as published measurements, converted to a common system,
as presented in a accompanying paper. The resulting direct relation, corrected
for incompleteness bias, is log{D_n} =1.203 log{sigma} + 1.406; the zero-point
has been defined by requiring distant clusters to be at rest relative to the
CMB. This zero-point is consistent with the value obtained by using the
distance to Virgo as determined by the Cepheid period-luminosity relation. This
new D_n-sigma relation leads to a peculiar velocity of -72 (\pm 189) km/s for
the Coma cluster. The scatter in the distance relation corresponds to a
distance error of about 20%, comparable to the values obtained for the
Fundamental Plane relation. Correlations between the scatter and residuals of
the D_n-sigma relation with other parameters that characterize the cluster
and/or the galaxy stellar population are also analyzed. The direct and inverse
relations presented here have been used in recent studies of the peculiar
velocity field mapped by the ENEAR all-sky sample.Comment: 46 pages, 20 figures, and 7 tables. To appear in AJ, vol. 123, no. 5,
May 200
Redshift-Distance Survey of Early-type Galaxies. I. Sample Selection, Properties and Completeness
This is the first in a series of papers describing the recently completed
all-sky redshift-distance survey of nearby early-type galaxies (ENEAR) carried
out for peculiar velocity analysis. The sample is divided into two parts and
consists of 1607 elliptical and lenticular galaxies with cz < 7000 km/s and
with blue magnitudes brighter than m_B=14.5 (ENEARm), and of galaxies in
clusters (ENEARc). Galaxy distances based on the Dn-sigma and Fundamental Plane
(FP) relations are now available for 1359 and 1107 ENEARm galaxies,
respectively, with roughly 80% based on new data gathered by our group. The
Dn-sigma and FP template distance relations are derived by combining 569 and
431 galaxies in 28 clusters, respectively, of which about 60% are based on our
new measurements. The ENEARm redshift-distance survey extends the earlier work
of the 7S and the recent Tully-Fisher surveys sampling a comparable volume. In
subsequent papers of this series we intend to use the ENEAR sample by itself or
in combination with the SFI Tully-Fisher survey to analyze the properties of
the local peculiar velocity field and to test how sensitive the results are to
different sampling and to the distance indicators. We also anticipate that the
homogeneous database assembled will be used for a variety of other applications
and serve as a benchmark for similar studies at high-redshift.Comment: 43 pages, 15 figures, submitted to the Astronomical Journa
Infrared Spectra of Meteoritic SiC Grains
We present here the first infrared spectra of meteoritic SiC grains. The
mid-infrared transmission spectra of meteoritic SiC grains isolated from the
Murchison meteorite were measured in the wavelength range 2.5--16.5 micron, in
order to make available the optical properties of presolar SiC grains. These
grains are most likely stellar condensates with an origin predominately in
carbon stars. Measurements were performed on two different extractions of
presolar SiC from the Murchison meteorite. The two samples show very different
spectral appearance due to different grain size distributions. The spectral
feature of the smaller meteoritic SiC grains is a relatively broad absorption
band found between the longitudinal and transverse lattice vibration modes
around 11.3 micron, supporting the current interpretation about the presence of
SiC grains in carbon stars. In contrast to this, the spectral feature of the
large (> 5 micron) grains has an extinction minimum around 10 micron. The
obtained spectra are compared with commercially available SiC grains and the
differences are discussed. This comparison shows that the crystal structure
(e.g., beta-SiC versus alpha-SiC) of SiC grains plays a minor role on the
optical signature of SiC grains compared to e.g. grain size.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. To appear in A&
The Globular Cluster Systems in the Coma Ellipticals. III: The Unique Case of IC 4051
Using archival \hst WFPC2 data, we derive the metallicity distribution,
luminosity function, and spatial structure of the globular cluster system
around IC 4051, a giant E galaxy on the outskirts of the Coma cluster core. The
metallicity distribution derived from the (V-I) colors has a mean [Fe/H] =
-0.3, a near-complete lack of metal-poor clusters, and only a small metallicity
gradient with radius; it may, however, have two roughly equal metallicity
subcomponents, centered at [Fe/H] ~ 0.0 and -1.0. The luminosity distribution
(GCLF) has the Gaussian-like form observed in all other giant E galaxies, with
a peak (turnover) at V = 27.8, consistent with a Coma distance of 100 Mpc. The
radial profiles of both the GCS and the halo light show an unusually steep
falloff which may indicate that the halo of this galaxy has been tidally
truncated. Lastly, the specific frequency of the GCS is remarkably large: we
find S_N = 11 +- 2, resembling the central cD-type galaxies even though IC 4051
is not a cD or brightest cluster elliptical. A formation model consistent with
most of the observations would be that this galaxy was subjected to removal of
a large fraction of its protogalactic gas shortly after its main phase of
globular cluster formation, probably by its first passage through the Coma
core. Since then, no significant additions due to accretions or mergers have
taken place.Comment: 24 pp. plus 13 Figures. Postscript file for the complete paper can
also be downloaded from http://www.physun.mcmaster.ca/~harris/WEHarris.html.
Astron.J., in pres
Commuting self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators defined from the partial derivatives
We consider the problem of finding commuting self-adjoint extensions of the
partial derivatives {(1/i)(\partial/\partial x_j):j=1,...,d} with domain
C_c^\infty(\Omega) where the self-adjointness is defined relative to
L^2(\Omega), and \Omega is a given open subset of R^d. The measure on \Omega is
Lebesgue measure on R^d restricted to \Omega. The problem originates with I.E.
Segal and B. Fuglede, and is difficult in general. In this paper, we provide a
representation-theoretic answer in the special case when \Omega=I\times\Omega_2
and I is an open interval. We then apply the results to the case when \Omega is
a d-cube, I^d, and we describe possible subsets \Lambda of R^d such that
{e^(i2\pi\lambda \dot x) restricted to I^d:\lambda\in\Lambda} is an orthonormal
basis in L^2(I^d).Comment: LaTeX2e amsart class, 18 pages, 2 figures; PACS numbers 02.20.Km,
02.30.Nw, 02.30.Tb, 02.60.-x, 03.65.-w, 03.65.Bz, 03.65.Db, 61.12.Bt,
61.44.B
Are complete intersections complete intersections?
A commutative local ring is generally defined to be a complete intersection
if its completion is isomorphic to the quotient of a regular local ring by an
ideal generated by a regular sequence. It has not previously been determined
whether or not such a ring is necessarily itself the quotient of a regular ring
by an ideal generated by a regular sequence. In this article, it is shown that
if a complete intersection is a one dimensional integral domain, then it is
such a quotient. However, an example is produced of a three dimensional
complete intersection domain which is not a homomorphic image of a regular
local ring, and so the property does not hold in general
Two tails in NGC 3656, and the major merger origin of shell and minor axis dust lane ellipticals
I report on the discovery of two faint (~ 26.8 Rmag/arcsec^2) tidal tails
around the shell elliptical NGC 3656 (Arp 155). This galaxy had previously been
interpreted as a case of accretion, or minor merger. The two tidal tails are
inconsistent with a minor merger, and point instead to a disk-disk major merger
origin. NGC 3656 extends Toomre's merger sequence toward normal elliptical
galaxies, and hints at a major merger origin for shells and minor-axis dust
lanes. A dwarf galaxy lies at the tip of one of the tidal tails. A prominent
shell, which shows sharp azymuthal color discontinuities, belongs to a rotating
dynamical component of young stars which includes the inner dust lane.Comment: 9 pages, 2 plates, 1 figure, uses aaspp.sty, accepted for publication
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Files also available by anonymous ftp
at ftp.iac.es, directory ./pub/balcell
Charge exchange contribution to the decay of the ring current, measured by energetic neutral atoms (ENAs)
In this paper we calculate the contribution of charge exchange to the decay of the ring current. Past works have suggested that charge exchange of ring current protons is primarily responsible for the decay of the ring current during the late recovery phase, but there is still much debate about the fast decay of the early recovery phase. We use energetic neutral atom (ENA) measurements from Polar to calculate the total ENA energy escape. To get the total ENA escape we apply a forward modeling technique, and to estimate the total ring current energy escape we use the Dessler-Parker-Sckopke relationship. We find that during the late recovery phase of the March 10, 1998 storm ENAs with energies greater than 17.5 keV can account for 75% of the estimated energy loss from the ring current. During the fast recovery the measured ENAs can only account for a small portion of the total energy loss. We also find that the lifetime of the trapped ions is significantly shorter during the fast recovery phase than during the late recovery phase, suggesting that different processes are operating during the two phases
Tuning of magnetic and electronic states by control of oxygen content in lanthanum strontium cobaltites
We report on the magnetic, resistive, and structural studies of perovskite
LaSrCoO. By using the relation of synthesis
temperature and oxygen partial pressure to oxygen stoichiometry obtained from
thermogravimetric analysis, we have synthesized a series of samples with
precisely controlled . These samples show three structural
phases at , , , and two-phase
behavior for other oxygen contents. The stoichiometric material with
is a cubic ferromagnetic metal with the Curie temperature K. The increase of to 0.15 is followed by a linear decrease of
to 160 K and a metal-insulator transition near the
boundary of the cubic structure range. Further increase of results in
formation of a tetragonal phase for
and a brownmillerite phase for . At low
temperatures, these are weak ferromagnetic insulators (canted antiferromagnets)
with magnetic transitions at and 120 K, respectively. At
higher temperatures, the phase is -type
antiferromagnetic between 230 K and 360 K. Low temperature magnetic
properties of this system for can be described in terms of a
mixture of Co ions in the low-spin state and Co ions in the
intermediate-spin state and a possible spin transition of Co to the
intermediate-spin state above . For , there appears to
be a combination of Co and Co ions, both in the high-spin state
with dominating antiferromagnetic interactions.Comment: RevTeX, 9 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Physical Review
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