257 research outputs found
Constraint on intergalactic dust from thermal history of intergalactic medium
This Letter investigates the amount of dust in the intergalactic medium
(IGM). The dust photoelectric heating can be the most efficient heating
mechanism in the IGM where the density is very small and there are a lot of
hard ultraviolet photons. Comparing the observational thermal history of IGM
with a theoretical one taking into account the dust photoelectric heating, we
can put an upper limit on the dust-to-gas ratio, , in the IGM. Since
the rate of the dust photoelectric heating depends on the size of dust, we find
the following results: If the grain size is \ga 100 \AA, at is \la 1/100 Galactic value corresponding to \Omega_{\rm dust}^{\rm
IGM}\la 10^{-5}. On the other hand, if the grain size is as small as
\AA, is \la 1/1000 Galactic value corresponding to \Omega_{\rm
dust}^{\rm IGM}\la 10^{-6}.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; accepted for publication in MNRAS pink page
Star Formation Efficiency in the Central 1 kpc Region of Early-Type Spiral Galaxies
It has been reported recently that there are some early-type spiral (Sa--Sab)
galaxies having evident star-forming regions which concentrate in their own
central 1-kpc. In such central region, is the mechanism of the star formation
distinct from that in disks of spiral galaxies? To reveal this, we estimate the
star formation efficiency (SFE) in this central 1-kpc star-forming region of
some early-type spiral galaxies, taking account of the condition for this 1-kpc
region to be self-gravitating. Using two indicators of present star formation
rate (H and infrared luminosity), we estimate the SFE to be a few
percents. This is equivalent to the observational SFE in the disks of late-type
spiral (Sb--) galaxies. This coincidence may support the universality of the
mean SFE of spiral galaxies reported in the recent studies. That is, we find no
evidence of distinct mechanism of the star formation in the central 1-kpc
region of early-type galaxies. Also, we examine the structure of the central
star-forming region, and discuss a method for estimating the mass of
star-forming regions.Comment: accepted by A
Application of the Limit Cycle Model to Star Formation Histories in Spiral Galaxies: Variation among Morphological Types
We propose a limit-cycle scenario of star formation history for any
morphological type of spiral galaxies. It is known observationally that the
early-type spiral sample has a wider range of the present star formation rate
(SFR) than the late-type sample. This tendency is understood in the framework
of the limit-cycle model of the interstellar medium (ISM), in which the SFR
cyclically changes in accordance with the temporal variation of the mass
fraction of the three ISM components. When the limit-cycle model of the ISM is
applied, the amplitude of variation of the SFR is expected to change with the
supernova (SN) rate. Observational evidence indicates that the early-type
spiral galaxies show smaller rates of present SN than late-type ones. Combining
this evidence with the limit-cycle model of the ISM, we predict that the
early-type spiral galaxies show larger amplitudes in their SFR variation than
the late-types. Indeed, this prediction is consistent with the observed wider
range of the SFR in the early-type sample than in the late-type sample. Thus,
in the framework of the limit-cycle model of the ISM, we are able to interpret
the difference in the amplitude of SFR variation among the morphological
classes of spiral galaxies.Comment: 12 pages LaTeX, to appear in A
Emission from Dust in Galaxies: Metallicity Dependence
Infrared (IR) dust emission from galaxies is frequently used as an indicator
of star formation rate (SFR). However, the effect of the dust-to-gas ratio
(i.e., amount of the dust) on the conversion law from IR luminosity to SFR has
not so far been considered. Then, in this paper, we present a convenient
analytical formula including this effect. In order to obtain the dependence on
the dust-to-gas ratio, we extend the formula derived in our previous paper, in
which a theoretical formula converting IR luminosity to SFR was derived. That
formula was expressed as , where f is
the fraction of ionizing photons absorbed by hydrogen, is the
efficiency of dust absorption for nonionizing photons, is the cirrus
fraction of observed dust luminosity, and is the observed
luminosity of dust emission in the 8-1000-m range. Our formula explains
the IR excess of the Galaxy and the Large Magellanic Cloud. In the current
paper, especially, we present the metallicity dependence of our conversion law
between SFR and . This is possible since both f and can
be estimated via the dust-to-gas ratio, which is related to metallicity. We
have confirmed that the relation between the metallicity and the dust-to-gas
ratio is applied to both giant and dwarf galaxies. Finally, we apply the result
to the cosmic star formation history. We find that the comoving SFR at z=3
calculated from previous empirical formulae is underestimated by a factor of
4-5.Comment: 8 pages LaTeX, to appear in A&
Pion decay constant in quenched QCD with Kogut-Susskind quarks
We present a non-perturbative calculation for the pion decay constant with
quenched Kogut-Susskind quarks. Numerical simulations are carried out at and 6.2 with various operators extending over all flavors. The
renormalization correction is applied for each flavor by computing
non-perturbative renormalization constants, and it is compared with a
perturbative calculation. We also study the behavior of in the
continuum limits for both non-perturbative and perturbative calculations. The
results in the continuum limit is also discussed.Comment: LATTICE99(matrix elements) 3 pages, 4 eps figure
Effect of Dust Extinction on Estimating Star Formation Rate of Galaxies: Lyman Continuum Extinction
We re-examine the effect of Lyman continuum ( \AA)
extinction (LCE) by dust in H {\sc ii} regions in detail and discuss how it
affects the estimation of the global star formation rate (SFR) of galaxies. To
clarify the first issue, we establish two independent methods for estimating a
parameter of LCE (), which is defined as the fraction of Lyman continuum
photons contributing to hydrogen ionization in an H {\sc ii} region. One of
those methods determines from the set of Lyman continuum flux, electron
density and metallicity. In the framework of this method, as the metallicity
and/or the Lyman photon flux increase, is found to decrease. The other
method determines from the ratio of infrared flux to Lyman continuum flux.
Importantly, we show that f \la 0.5 via both methods in many H {\sc ii}
regions of the Galaxy. Thus, it establishes that dust in such H {\sc ii}
regions absorbs significant amount of Lyman continuum photons directly. To
examine the second issue, we approximate to a function of only the
dust-to-gas mass ratio (i.e., metallicity), assuming a parameter fit for the
Galactic H {\sc ii} regions. We find that a characteristic , which is
defined as averaged over a galaxy-wide scale, is 0.3 for the nearby spiral
galaxies. This relatively small indicates that a typical increment
factor due to LCE for estimating the global SFR () is large () for the nearby spiral galaxies. Therefore, we conclude that the effect of
LCE is not negligible relative to other uncertainties of estimating the SFR of
galaxies.Comment: 18 papges, 11 figures, accepted by Ap
The Minimum Stellar Mass in Early Galaxies
The conditions for the fragmentation of the baryonic component during merging
of dark matter halos in the early Universe are studied. We assume that the
baryonic component undergoes a shock compression. The characteristic masses of
protostellar molecular clouds and the minimum masses of protostars formed in
these clouds decrease with increasing halo mass. This may indicate that the
initial stellar mass function in more massive galaxies was shifted towards
lower masses during the initial stages of their formation. This would result in
an increase of the number of stars per unit halo mass, i.e., the efficiency of
star formation.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
I=2 Pion Scattering Length with Wilson Fermions
We present results for I=2 pion scattering length with the Wilson fermions in
the quenched approximation. The finite size method presented by L\"uscher is
employed, and calculations are carried out at , 6.1, and 6.3. In the
continuum limit, we obtain a result in reasonable agreement with the
experimental value.Comment: LATTICE99(matrixelement), 3 pages, 4 eps figure
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