278 research outputs found
Trapping mechanism in overdamped ratchets with quenched noise
A trapping mechanism is observed and proposed as the origin of the anomalous
behavior recently discovered in transport properties of overdamped ratchets
subject to external oscillatory drive in the presence of quenched noise. In
particular, this mechanism is shown to appear whenever the quenched disorder
strength is greater than a threshold value. The minimum disorder strength
required for the existence of traps is determined by studying the trap
structure in a disorder configuration space. An approximation to the trapping
probability density function in a disordered region of finite length included
in an otherwise perfect ratchet lattice is obtained. The mean velocity of the
particles and the diffusion coefficient are found to have a non-monotonic
dependence on the quenched noise strength due to the presence of the traps.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, to appear in PR
A volume-limited sample of X-ray galaxy groups and clusters - II. X-ray cavity dynamics
We present the results of our study of a volume-limited sample (z <= 0.071)
of 101 X-ray galaxy groups and clusters, in which we explore the X-ray cavity
energetics. Out of the 101 sources in our parent sample, X-ray cavities are
found in 30 of them, all of which have a central cooling time of less than3
Gyr. New X-ray cavities are detected in three sources. We focus on the subset
of sources that have a central cooling time of less than 3 Gyr, whose active
galactic nucleus (AGN) duty cycle is approximately 61 percent (30/49). This
rises to over 80 percent for a central cooling time of less than 0.5 Gyr. When
projection effects and central radio source detection rates are considered, the
actual duty cycle is probably much higher. In addition, we show that data
quality strongly affects the detection rates of X-ray cavities. After
calculating the cooling luminosity and cavity powers of each source with
cavities, it is evident that the bubbling process induced by the central AGN
has to be, on average, continuous, to offset cooling. We find that the radius
of the cavities, r, loosely depends on the ambient gas temperature as T^0.5,
above about 1.5 keV, with much more scatter below that temperature. Finally, we
show that, at a given location in a group or cluster, larger bubbles travel
faster than smaller ones. This means that the bubbles seen at larger distances
from cluster cores could be the result of the merging of several smaller
bubbles, produced in separate AGN cycles.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 26 pages (including 10 pages of
images), 8 figures, 2 tables. Higher resolution images will be available as
online materia
Probing the extreme realm of AGN feedback in the massive galaxy cluster, RX J1532.9+3021
We present a detailed Chandra, XMM-Newton, VLA and HST analysis of one of the
strongest cool core clusters known, RX J1532.9+3021 (z=0.3613). Using new, deep
90 ks Chandra observations, we confirm the presence of a western X-ray cavity
or bubble, and report on a newly discovered eastern X-ray cavity. The total
mechanical power associated with these AGN-driven outflows is (22+/-9)*10^44
erg/s, and is sufficient to offset the cooling, indicating that AGN feedback
still provides a viable solution to the cooling flow problem even in the
strongest cool core clusters. Based on the distribution of the optical
filaments, as well as a jet-like structure seen in the 325 MHz VLA radio map,
we suggest that the cluster harbours older outflows along the north to south
direction. The jet of the central AGN is therefore either precessing or
sloshing-induced motions have caused the outflows to change directions. There
are also hints of an X-ray depression to the north aligned with the 325 MHz
jet-like structure, which might represent the highest redshift ghost cavity
discovered to date. We further find evidence of a cold front (r=65kpc) that
coincides with the outermost edge of the western X-ray cavity and the edge of
the radio mini-halo. The common location of the cold front with the edge of the
radio mini-halo supports the idea that the latter originates from electrons
being reaccelerated due to sloshing induced turbulence. Alternatively, its
coexistence with the edge of the X-ray cavity may be due to cool gas being
dragged out by the outburst. We confirm that the central AGN is highly
sub-Eddington and conclude that a >10^10M_Sun or a rapidly spinning black hole
is favoured to explain both the radiative-inefficiency of the AGN and the
powerful X-ray cavities.Comment: Accepted for publication to ApJ (minor corrections), 16 pages, 16
figures, 5 tables. Full resolution at http://www.stanford.edu/~juliehl/M1532
Temperature-programmed reduction and dispersive X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies of CeO2-based nanopowders for intermediate-temperature Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell anodes
In this work, we study the influence of the average crystallite size and
dopant oxide on the reducibility of CeO2-based nanomaterials. Samples were
prepared from commercial Gd2O3-, Sm2O3- and Y2O3-doped CeO2 powders by
calcination at different temperatures ranging between 400 and 900C and
characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and
BET specific surface area. The reducibility of the samples was analyzed by
temperature-programmed reduction and in situ dispersive X-ray absorption
spectroscopy techniques. Our results clearly demonstrate that samples treated
at lower temperatures, of smallest average crystallite size and highest
specific surface areas, exhibit the best performance, while Gd2O3-doped ceria
materials display higher reducibility than Sm2O3- and Y2O3-doped CeO2
Is there a giant Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in the sloshing cold front of the Perseus cluster?
Deep observations of nearby galaxy clusters with Chandra have revealed concave ‘bay’ structures in a number of systems (Perseus, Centaurus and Abell 1795), which have similar X-ray and radio properties. These bays have all the properties of cold fronts, where the temperature rises and density falls sharply, but are concave rather than convex. By comparing to simulations of gas sloshing, we find that the bay in the Perseus cluster bears a striking resemblance in its size, location and thermal structure, to a giant (≈50 kpc) roll resulting from Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities. If true, the morphology of this structure can be compared to simulations to put constraints on the initial average ratio of the thermal and magnetic pressure, β = pth/pB, throughout the overall cluster before the sloshing occurs, for which we find β = 200 to best match the observations. Simulations with a stronger magnetic field (β = 100) are disfavoured, as in these the large Kelvin–Helmholtz rolls do not form, while in simulations with a lower magnetic field (β = 500), the level of instabilities is much larger than is observed. We find that the bay structures in Centaurus and Abell 1795 may also be explained by such features of gas sloshing
Star-Forming Brightest Cluster Galaxies at 0.25 < z < 1.25: A Transitioning Fuel Supply
We present a multi-wavelength study of 90 brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs)
in a sample of galaxy clusters selected via the Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect by
the South Pole Telescope, utilizing data from various ground- and space-based
facilities. We infer the star formation rate (SFR) for the BCG in each cluster,
based on the UV and IR continuum luminosity, as well as the [O II] emission
line luminosity in cases where spectroscopy is available, finding 7 systems
with SFR > 100 Msun/yr. We find that the BCG SFR exceeds 10 Msun/yr in 31 of 90
(34%) cases at 0.25 < z < 1.25, compared to ~1-5% at z ~ 0 from the literature.
At z > 1, this fraction increases to 92(+6)(-31)%, implying a steady decrease
in the BCG SFR over the past ~9 Gyr. At low-z, we find that the specific star
formation rate in BCGs is declining more slowly with time than for field or
cluster galaxies, most likely due to the replenishing fuel from the cooling ICM
in relaxed, cool core clusters. At z > 0.6, the correlation between cluster
central entropy and BCG star formation - which is well established at z ~ 0 -
is not present. Instead, we find that the most star-forming BCGs at high-z are
found in the cores of dynamically unrelaxed clusters. We investigate the
rest-frame near-UV morphology of a subsample of the most star-forming BCGs
using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, finding complex, highly asymmetric
UV morphologies on scales as large as ~50-60 kpc. The high fraction of
star-forming BCGs hosted in unrelaxed, non-cool core clusters at early times
suggests that the dominant mode of fueling star formation in BCGs may have
recently transitioned from galaxy-galaxy interactions to ICM cooling.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures. Submitted for publication in ApJ. Comments
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The Evolution of Environmental Quenching Timescales to
Using a sample of 4 galaxy clusters at and 10 galaxy
clusters at , we measure the environmental quenching
timescale, , corresponding to the time required after a galaxy is accreted
by a cluster for it to fully cease star formation. Cluster members are selected
by a photometric-redshift criterion, and categorized as star-forming,
quiescent, or intermediate according to their dust-corrected rest-frame colors
and magnitudes. We employ a "delayed-then-rapid" quenching model that relates a
simulated cluster mass accretion rate to the observed numbers of each type of
galaxy in the cluster to constrain . For galaxies of mass , we find a quenching timescale of 1.24 Gyr
in the cluster sample, and 1.50 Gyr at . Using values
drawn from the literature, we compare the redshift evolution of to
timescales predicted for different physical quenching mechanisms. We find
to depend on host halo mass such that quenching occurs over faster timescales
in clusters relative to groups, suggesting that properties of the host halo are
responsible for quenching high-mass galaxies. Between and , we
find that evolves faster than the molecular gas depletion timescale and
slower than an SFR-outflow timescale, but is consistent with the evolution of
the dynamical time. This suggests that environmental quenching in these
galaxies is driven by the motion of satellites relative to the cluster
environment, although due to uncertainties in the atomic gas budget at high
redshift, we cannot rule out quenching due to simple gas depletion
AGN feedback and iron enrichment in the powerful radio galaxy, 4C+55.16
We present a detailed X-ray analysis of 4C+55.16, an unusual and interesting
radio galaxy, located at the centre of a cool core cluster of galaxies.
4C+55.16 is X-ray bright (L(cluster)~10^45 erg/s), radio powerful, and shows
clear signs of interaction with the surrounding intracluster medium. By
combining deep Chandra (100 ks) with 1.4 GHz VLA observations, we find evidence
of multiple outbursts from the central AGN, providing enough energy to offset
cooling of the ICM (P_bubbles=6.7x10^44 erg/s). Furthermore, 4C+55.16 has an
unusual intracluster iron distribution showing a plume-like feature rich in Fe
L emission that runs along one of the X-ray cavities. The excess of iron
associated with the plume is around 10^7M_sol. The metal abundances are
consistent with being Solar-like, indicating that both SNIa and SNII contribute
to the enrichment. The plume and southern cavity form a region of cool
metal-rich gas, and at the edge of this region, there is a clear discontinuity
in temperature (from kT~2.5 keV to kT~5.0 keV), metallicity (from ~0.4 solar to
0.8 solar), and surface brightness distribution, consistent with it being
caused by a cold front. However, we also suggest that this discontinuity could
be caused by cool metal-rich gas being uplifted from the central AGN along one
of its X-ray cavities.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, Accepted to MNRAS (minor revision
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