592 research outputs found
Unbiased estimates of galaxy scaling relations from photometric redshift surveys
Many physical properties of galaxies correlate with one another, and these
correlations are often used to constrain galaxy formation models. Such
correlations include the color-magnitude relation, the luminosity-size
relation, the Fundamental Plane, etc. However, the transformation from
observable (e.g. angular size, apparent brightness) to physical quantity
(physical size, luminosity), is often distance-dependent. Noise in the distance
estimate will lead to biased estimates of these correlations, thus compromising
the ability of photometric redshift surveys to constrain galaxy formation
models. We describe two methods which can remove this bias. One is a
generalization of the V_max method, and the other is a maximum likelihood
approach. We illustrate their effectiveness by studying the size-luminosity
relation in a mock catalog, although both methods can be applied to other
scaling relations as well. We show that if one simply uses photometric
redshifts one obtains a biased relation; our methods correct for this bias and
recover the true relation
Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state in a perpendicular field of quasi two-dimensional CeCoIn5
A Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnkov (FFLO) state was previously reported in the
quasi-2D heavy fermion CeCoIn5 when a magnetic field was applied parallel to
the ab-plane. Here, we conduct 115^In NMR studies of this material in a
PERPENDICULAR field, and provide strong evidence for FFLO in this case as well.
Although the topology of the phase transition lines in the H-T phase diagram is
identical for both configurations, there are several remarkable differences
between them. Compared to H//ab, the FFLO region for H perpendicular to the
ab-plane shows a sizable decrease, and the critical field separating the FFLO
and non-FFLO superconducting states almost ceases to have a temperature
dependence. Moreover, directing H perpendicular to the ab-plane results in a
notable change in the quasiparticle excitation spectrum within the planar node
associated with the FFLO transition.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Reconstructing galaxy fundamental distributions and scaling relations from photometric redshift surveys. Applications to the SDSS early-type sample
Noisy distance estimates associated with photometric rather than
spectroscopic redshifts lead to a mis-estimate of the luminosities, and produce
a correlated mis-estimate of the sizes. We consider a sample of early-type
galaxies from the SDSS DR6 for which both spectroscopic and photometric
information is available, and apply the generalization of the V_max method to
correct for these biases. We show that our technique recovers the true
redshift, magnitude and size distributions, as well as the true size-luminosity
relation. We find that using only 10% of the spectroscopic information randomly
spaced in our catalog is sufficient for the reconstructions to be accurate
within about 3%, when the photometric redshift error is dz = 0.038. We then
address the problem of extending our method to deep redshift catalogs, where
only photometric information is available. In addition to the specific
applications outlined here, our technique impacts a broader range of studies,
when at least one distance-dependent quantity is involved. It is particularly
relevant for the next generation of surveys, some of which will only have
photometric information.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, new section 3.1 and appendix added,
MNRAS in pres
The acceleration and storage of radioactive ions for a neutrino factory
The term beta-beam has been coined for the production of a pure beam of
electron neutrinos or their antiparticles through the decay of radioactive ions
circulating in a storage ring. This concept requires radioactive ions to be
accelerated to a Lorentz gamma of 150 for 6He and 60 for 18Ne. The neutrino
source itself consists of a storage ring for this energy range, with long
straight sections in line with the experiment(s). Such a decay ring does not
exist at CERN today, nor does a high-intensity proton source for the production
of the radioactive ions. Nevertheless, the existing CERN accelerator
infrastructure could be used as this would still represent an important saving
for a beta-beam facility. This paper outlines the first study, while some of
the more speculative ideas will need further investigations.Comment: Accepted for publication in proceedings of Nufact02, London, 200
A Serendipitous XMM Survey of the SDSS: the evolution of the colour-magnitude diagram of X-ray AGN from z=0.8 to z=0.1
A new serendipitous XMM survey in the area of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey is
described (XMM/SDSS), which includes features such as the merging of
overlapping fields to increase the sensitivity to faint sources, the use of a
new parametrisation of the XMM point spread function for the source detection
and photometry, the accurate estimation of the survey sensitivity. About 40,000
X-ray point sources are detected over a total area of 122deg2. A subsample of
209 sources detected in the 2-8keV spectral band with SDSS spectroscopic
redshifts in the range 0.03<z<0.2, optical magnitudes r<17.77mag and
logLx(2-10keV)>41.5 (erg/s) are selected to explore their distribution on the
colour magnitude diagram. This is compared with the colour-magnitude diagram of
X-ray AGN in the AEGIS field at z~0.8. We find no evidence for evolution of the
rest-frame colours of X-ray AGN hosts from z=0.8 to z=0.1. This suggests that
the dominant accretion mode of the AGN population, which is expected to imprint
on the properties of their host galaxies, does not change since z=0.8. This
argues against scenarios which attribute the rapid decline of the accretion
power of the Universe with time (1dex since z=0.8) to changes in the AGN
fueling/triggering mode.Comment: To appear in MNRAS. Data available at
http://www.astro.noa.gr/~age/xmmsdss.htm
Monocytes regulate the mechanism of T-cell death by inducing Fas-mediated apoptosis during bacterial infection.
Monocytes and T-cells are critical to the host response to acute bacterial infection but monocytes are primarily viewed as amplifying the inflammatory signal. The mechanisms of cell death regulating T-cell numbers at sites of infection are incompletely characterized. T-cell death in cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) showed 'classic' features of apoptosis following exposure to pneumococci. Conversely, purified CD3(+) T-cells cultured with pneumococci demonstrated necrosis with membrane permeabilization. The death of purified CD3(+) T-cells was not inhibited by necrostatin, but required the bacterial toxin pneumolysin. Apoptosis of CD3(+) T-cells in PBMC cultures required 'classical' CD14(+) monocytes, which enhanced T-cell activation. CD3(+) T-cell death was enhanced in HIV-seropositive individuals. Monocyte-mediated CD3(+) T-cell apoptotic death was Fas-dependent both in vitro and in vivo. In the early stages of the T-cell dependent host response to pneumococci reduced Fas ligand mediated T-cell apoptosis was associated with decreased bacterial clearance in the lung and increased bacteremia. In summary monocytes converted pathogen-associated necrosis into Fas-dependent apoptosis and regulated levels of activated T-cells at sites of acute bacterial infection. These changes were associated with enhanced bacterial clearance in the lung and reduced levels of invasive pneumococcal disease
Weak lensing, dark matter and dark energy
Weak gravitational lensing is rapidly becoming one of the principal probes of
dark matter and dark energy in the universe. In this brief review we outline
how weak lensing helps determine the structure of dark matter halos, measure
the expansion rate of the universe, and distinguish between modified gravity
and dark energy explanations for the acceleration of the universe. We also
discuss requirements on the control of systematic errors so that the
systematics do not appreciably degrade the power of weak lensing as a
cosmological probe.Comment: Invited review article for the GRG special issue on gravitational
lensing (P. Jetzer, Y. Mellier and V. Perlick Eds.). V3: subsection on
three-point function and some references added. Matches the published versio
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey: Search Algorithm and Follow-up Observations
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey has identified a large
number of new transient sources in a 300 sq. deg. region along the celestial
equator during its first two seasons of a three-season campaign. Multi-band
(ugriz) light curves were measured for most of the sources, which include solar
system objects, Galactic variable stars, active galactic nuclei, supernovae
(SNe), and other astronomical transients. The imaging survey is augmented by an
extensive spectroscopic follow-up program to identify SNe, measure their
redshifts, and study the physical conditions of the explosions and their
environment through spectroscopic diagnostics. During the survey, light curves
are rapidly evaluated to provide an initial photometric type of the SNe, and a
selected sample of sources are targeted for spectroscopic observations. In the
first two seasons, 476 sources were selected for spectroscopic observations, of
which 403 were identified as SNe. For the Type Ia SNe, the main driver for the
Survey, our photometric typing and targeting efficiency is 90%. Only 6% of the
photometric SN Ia candidates were spectroscopically classified as non-SN Ia
instead, and the remaining 4% resulted in low signal-to-noise, unclassified
spectra. This paper describes the search algorithm and the software, and the
real-time processing of the SDSS imaging data. We also present the details of
the supernova candidate selection procedures and strategies for follow-up
spectroscopic and imaging observations of the discovered sources.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal (66 pages, 13
figures); typos correcte
f(R) theories
Over the past decade, f(R) theories have been extensively studied as one of
the simplest modifications to General Relativity. In this article we review
various applications of f(R) theories to cosmology and gravity - such as
inflation, dark energy, local gravity constraints, cosmological perturbations,
and spherically symmetric solutions in weak and strong gravitational
backgrounds. We present a number of ways to distinguish those theories from
General Relativity observationally and experimentally. We also discuss the
extension to other modified gravity theories such as Brans-Dicke theory and
Gauss-Bonnet gravity, and address models that can satisfy both cosmological and
local gravity constraints.Comment: 156 pages, 14 figures, Invited review article in Living Reviews in
Relativity, Published version, Comments are welcom
The COS-Halos Survey: Keck LRIS and Magellan MagE Optical Spectroscopy
We present high signal-to-noise optical spectra for 67 low-redshift (0.1 < z
< 0.4) galaxies that lie within close projected distances (5 kpc < rho < 150
kpc) of 38 background UV-bright QSOs. The Keck LRIS and Magellan MagE data
presented here are part of a survey that aims to construct a statistically
sampled map of the physical state and metallicity of gaseous galaxy halos using
the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We
provide a detailed description of the optical data reduction and subsequent
spectral analysis that allow us to derive the physical properties of this
uniquely data-rich sample of galaxies. The galaxy sample is divided into 38
pre-selected L ~ L*, z ~ 0.2 "target" galaxies and 29 "bonus" galaxies that lie
in close proximity to the QSO sightlines. We report galaxy spectroscopic
redshifts accurate to +/- 30 km s-1, impact parameters, rest-frame colors,
stellar masses, total star formation rates, and gas-phase interstellar medium
oxygen abundances. When we compare the distribution of these galaxy
characteristics to those of the general low-redshift population, we find good
agreement. The L ~ L* galaxies in this sample span a diverse range of color
(1.0 < u-r < 3.0), stellar mass (10^9.5 < M/M_sun < 10^11.5), and SFRs (0.01 -
20 M_sun yr-1). These optical data, along with the COS UV spectroscopy,
comprise the backbone of our efforts to understand how halo gas properties may
correlate with their host galaxy properties, and ultimately to uncover the
processes that drive gas outflow and/or are influenced by gas inflow.Comment: 20 pages, 12 Figures, Submitted to ApJ
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