3,258 research outputs found
Systematic Errors in the Hubble Constant Measurement from the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect
The Hubble constant estimated from the combined analysis of the
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and X-ray observations of galaxy clusters is
systematically lower than those from other methods by 10-15 percent. We examine
the origin of the systematic underestimate using an analytic model of the
intracluster medium (ICM), and compare the prediction with idealistic triaxial
models and with clusters extracted from cosmological hydrodynamical
simulations. We identify three important sources for the systematic errors;
density and temperature inhomogeneities in the ICM, departures from
isothermality, and asphericity. In particular, the combination of the first two
leads to the systematic underestimate of the ICM spectroscopic temperature
relative to its emission-weighed one. We find that these three systematics well
reproduce both the observed bias and the intrinsic dispersions of the Hubble
constant estimated from the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, Minor change
Forming Clusters of Galaxies as the Origin of Unidentified GeV Gamma-Ray Sources
Over half of GeV gamma-ray sources observed by the EGRET experiment have not
yet been identified as known astronomical objects. There is an isotropic
component of such unidentified sources, whose number is about 60 in the whole
sky. Here we calculate the expected number of dynamically forming clusters of
galaxies emitting gamma-rays by high energy electrons accelerated in the shock
wave when they form, in the framework of the standard theory of structure
formation. We find that a few tens of such forming clusters should be
detectable by EGRET and hence a considerable fraction of the isotropic
unidentified sources can be accounted for, if about 5% of the shock energy is
going into electron acceleration. We argue that these clusters are very
difficult to detect in x-ray or optical surveys compared with the conventional
clusters, because of their extended angular size of about 1 degree. Hence they
define a new population of ``gamma-ray clusters''. If this hypothesis is true,
the next generation gamma-ray telescopes such as GLAST will detect more than a
few thousands of gamma-ray clusters. It would provide a new tracer of
dynamically evolving structures in the universe, in contrast to the x-ray
clusters as a tracer of hydrodynamically stabilized systems. We also derive the
strength of magnetic field required for the extragalactic gamma-ray background
by structure formation to extend up to 100 GeV as observed, that is about
10^{-5} of the shock-heated baryon energy density.Comment: Accepted by ApJ after minor revisions. Received May 9, Accepted
August 3. 8 pages including 2 figure
Biases on cosmological parameters by general relativity effects
General relativistic corrections to the galaxy power spectrum appearing at
the horizon scale, if neglected, may induce biases on the measured values of
the cosmological parameters. In this paper, we study the impact of general
relativistic effects on non standard cosmologies such as scenarios with a time
dependent dark energy equation of state, with a coupling between the dark
energy and the dark matter fluids or with non-Gaussianities. We then explore
whether general relativistic corrections affect future constraints on
cosmological parameters in the case of a constant dark energy equation of state
and of non-Gaussianities. We find that relativistic corrections on the power
spectrum are not expected to affect the foreseen errors on the cosmological
parameters nor to induce large biases on them.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, one added figure, results of Tab. I revised,
version accepted for publication in PR
Supernova Explosions in the Early Universe: Evolution of Radiative Remnants and the Halo Destruction Efficiency
We study the evolution of supernova (SN) remnants of the first stars, taking
proper account of the radiative feedback of the progenitor stars on the
surroundings. We carry out a series of one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations
with radiative cooling, starting from initial configurations that are drawn
from the results of our earlier radiation hydrodynamic simulations of the first
HII regions. In low-mass (< 10^6 M_sun) halos, the stellar radiation
significantly reduces the ambient gas density prior to the SN explosion. The
blastwave quickly propagates over the halo's virial radius, leading to complete
evacuation of the gas even with the input energy of 10^50 erg. We find that a
large fraction of the remnant's thermal energy is lost in 0.1-10 Myr by line
cooling, whereas, for larger explosion energies, the remnant expands even more
rapidly with decreasing interior density, and cools predominantly via inverse
Compton process. In higher mass halos, the gas density near the explosion site
remains high and the SN shock is heavily confined; the thermal energy of the
remnant is quickly radiated away by free-free emission, even if the total input
energy exceeds the binding energy of halos by two orders of magnitude. We show
that the efficiency of halo destruction is determined not only by the explosion
energy but also by the gas density profile, and thus controlled by radiative
feedback prior to the explosion. Several implications of our results for the
formation of first quasars and second-generation stars in the universe are also
discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 11 embedded figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Measuring the Cosmic Equation of State with Counts of Galaxies
The classical dN/dz test allows the determination of fundamental cosmological
parameters from the evolution of the cosmic volume element. This test is
applied by measuring the redshift distribution of a tracer whose evolution in
number density is known. In the past, ordinary galaxies have been used as such
a tracer; however, in the absence of a complete theory of galaxy formation,
that method is fraught with difficulties. In this paper, we propose studying
instead the evolution of the apparent abundance of dark matter halos as a
function of their circular velocity, observable via the linewidths or rotation
speeds of visible galaxies. Upcoming redshift surveys will allow the linewidth
distribution of galaxies to be determined at both z~1 and the present day. In
the course of studying this test, we have devised a rapid, improved
semi-analytic method for calculating the circular velocity distribution of dark
halos based upon the analytic mass function of Sheth et al. (1999) and the
formation time distribution of Lacey & Cole (1993). We find that if selection
effects are well-controlled and minimal external constraints are applied, the
planned DEEP Redshift Survey should allow the measurement of the cosmic
equation-of-state parameter w to 10% (as little as 3% if Omega_m has been
well-determined from other observations). This type of test has the potential
also to provide a constraint on any evolution of w such as that predicted by
``tracker'' models.Comment: 4 pages plus 3 embedded figures; version approved by Ap. J. Letters.
A greatly improved error analysis has been added, along with a figure showing
complementarity to other cosmological test
Chandra View of the Dynamically Young Cluster of Galaxies A1367 I. Small-Scale Structures
The 40 ks \emph{Chandra} ACIS-S observation of A1367 provides new insights
into small-scale structures and point sources in this dynamically young
cluster. Here we concentrate on small-scale extended structures. A ridge-like
structure around the center (``the ridge'') is significant in the \chandra\
image. The ridge, with a projected length of 8 arcmin (or 300
h kpc), is elongated from northwest (NW) to southeast (SE), as is
the X-ray surface brightness distribution on much larger scales ( 2
h Mpc). The ridge is cooler than its western and southern
surroundings while the differences from its eastern and northern surroundings
are small. We also searched for small-scale structures with sizes
arcmin. Nine extended features, with sizes from 0.5 to 1.5, were
detected at significance levels above 4 . Five of the nine features are
located in the ridge and form local crests. The nine extended features can be
divided into two types. Those associated with galaxies (NGC 3860B, NGC 3860 and
UGC 6697) are significantly cooler than their surroundings (0.3 - 0.9 keV vs. 3
- 4.5 keV). The masses of their host galaxies are sufficient to bind the
extended gas. These extended features are probably related to thermal halos or
galactic superwinds of their host galaxies. The existence of these relatively
cold halos imply that galaxy coronae can survive in cluster environment (e.g.,
Vikhlinin et al. 2001). Features of the second type are not apparently
associated with galaxies. Their temperatures may not be significantly different
from those of their surroundings. This class of extended features may be
related to the ridge. We consider several possibilities for the ridge and the
second type of extended features. The merging scenario is preferred.Comment: To appear in ApJ, Vol 576, 2002, Sep., a high-resolution version is
in http://cfa160.harvard.edu/~sunm/a1367_a.ps.g
Formation of Sub-galactic Clouds under UV Background Radiation
The effects of the UV background radiation on the formation of sub-galactic
clouds are studied by means of one-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. The
radiative transfer of the ionizing photons due to the absorption by HI, HeI and
HeII, neglecting the emission, is explicitly taken into account. We find that
the complete suppression of collapse occurs for the clouds with circular
velocities typically in the range V_c \sim 15-40 km/s and the 50% reduction in
the cooled gas mass with V_c \sim 20-55 km/s. These values depend most
sensitively on the collapse epoch of the cloud, the shape of the UV spectrum,
and the evolution of the UV intensity. Compared to the optically thin case,
previously investigated by Thoul & Weinberg (1996), the absorption of the
external UV photon by the intervening medium systematically lowers the above
threshold values by \Delta V_c \sim 5 km/s. Whether the gas can contract or
keeps expanding is roughly determined by the balance between the gravitational
force and the thermal pressure gradient when it is maximally exposed to the
external UV flux. Based on our simulation results, we discuss a number of
implications on galaxy formation, cosmic star formation history, and the
observations of quasar absorption lines. In Appendix, we derive analytical
formulae for the photoionization coefficients and heating rates, which
incorporate the frequency/direction-dependent transfer of external photons.Comment: 38 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
The Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Effect at Five Arc-seconds: RXJ1347.5-1145 Imaged by ALMA
We present the first image of the thermal Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE)
obtained by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Combining
7-m and 12-m arrays in Band 3, we create an SZE map toward a galaxy cluster
RXJ1347.5-1145 with 5 arc-second resolution (corresponding to the physical size
of 20 kpc/h), the highest angular and physical spatial resolutions achieved to
date for imaging the SZE, while retaining extended signals out to 40
arc-seconds. The 1-sigma statistical sensitivity of the image is 0.017 mJy/beam
or 0.12 mK_CMB at the 5 arc-second full width at half maximum. The SZE image
shows a good agreement with an electron pressure map reconstructed
independently from the X-ray data and offers a new probe of the small-scale
structure of the intracluster medium. Our results demonstrate that ALMA is a
powerful instrument for imaging the SZE in compact galaxy clusters with
unprecedented angular resolution and sensitivity. As the first report on the
detection of the SZE by ALMA, we present detailed analysis procedures including
corrections for the missing flux, to provide guiding methods for analyzing and
interpreting future SZE images by ALMA.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in PAS
- âŠ