The Role of Heating and Enrichment in Galaxy Formation

We show that the winds identified with high-redshift low-mass galaxies may strongly affect the formation of stars in more massive galaxies that form later. With 3D realizations of a simple linear growth model we track gas shocking, metal enrichment, and cooling, together with dark halo formation. We show that outflows typically strip baryonic material out of collapsing intermediate mass halos, suppressing star formation. More massive halos can trap the heated gas but collapse late, leading to a broad bimodal redshift distribution, with a larger characteristic mass associated with the lower redshift peak. This scenario accounts for the observed bell-shaped luminosity function of early type galaxies, explains the small number of Milky Way satellite galaxies relative to Cold Dark Matter models predictions, and provides a possible explanation for the lack of metal poor G-dwarfs in the solar neighborhood and the more general lack of low-metallicity stars in massive galaxies relative to ``closed-box'' models of chemical enrichment. Intergalactic medium heating from outflows should produce spectral distortions in the cosmic microwave background that will be measurable with the next generation of experiments.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures, accepted to ApJ, models refined and minor revisions mad

Chemical evolution of the intra-cluster medium

The high metallicity of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) is generally interpreted on the base of the galactic wind scenario for elliptical galaxies. In this framework, we develop a toy-model to follow the chemical evolution of the ICM, formulated in analogy to chemical models for individual galaxies. The model computes the galaxy formation history (GFH) of cluster galaxies, connecting the final luminosity function (LF) to the corresponding metal enrichment history of the ICM. The observed LF can be reproduced with a smooth, Madau-plot like GFH peaking at z~ 1-2, plus a "burst" of formation of dwarf galaxies at high redshift. The model is used to test the response of the predicted metal content and abundance evolution of the ICM to varying input galactic models. The chemical enrichment is computed from "galactic yields" based on models of elliptical galaxies with a variable initial mass function (IMF), favouring the formation of massive stars at high redshift and/or in more massive galaxies. For a given final galactic luminosity, these model ellipticals eject into the ICM a larger quantity of gas and of metals than do standard models based on the Salpeter IMF. However, a scenario in which the IMF varies with redshift as a consequence of the effect of the the cosmic background temperature on the Jeans mass scale, appears to be too mild to account for the observed metal production in clusters. The high iron-mass-to-luminosity-ratio of the ICM can be reproduced only by assuming a more dramatic variation of the typical stellar mass, in line with other recent findings. The mass in the wind-ejected gas is predicted to exceed the mass in galaxies by a factor of 1.5-2 and to constitute roughly half of the intra-cluster gas.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Galactic winds driven by cosmic-ray streaming

Galactic winds are observed in many spiral galaxies with sizes from dwarfs up to the Milky Way, and they sometimes carry a mass in excess of that of newly formed stars by up to a factor of ten. Multiple driving processes of such winds have been proposed, including thermal pressure due to supernova-heating, UV radiation pressure on dust grains, or cosmic ray (CR) pressure. We here study wind formation due to CR physics using a numerical model that accounts for CR acceleration by supernovae, CR thermalization, and advective CR transport. In addition, we introduce a novel implementation of CR streaming relative to the rest frame of the gas. We find that CR streaming drives powerful and sustained winds in galaxies with virial masses M_200 < 10^{11} Msun. In dwarf galaxies (M_200 ~ 10^9 Msun) the winds reach a mass loading factor of ~5, expel ~60 per cent of the initial baryonic mass contained inside the halo's virial radius and suppress the star formation rate by a factor of ~5. In dwarfs, the winds are spherically symmetric while in larger galaxies the outflows transition to bi-conical morphologies that are aligned with the disc's angular momentum axis. We show that damping of Alfven waves excited by streaming CRs provides a means of heating the outflows to temperatures that scale with the square of the escape speed. In larger haloes (M_200 > 10^{11} Msun), CR streaming is able to drive fountain flows that excite turbulence. For halo masses M_200 > 10^{10} Msun, we predict an observable level of H-alpha and X-ray emission from the heated halo gas. We conclude that CR-driven winds should be crucial in suppressing and regulating the first epoch of galaxy formation, expelling a large fraction of baryons, and - by extension - aid in shaping the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. They should then also be responsible for much of the metal enrichment of the intergalactic medium.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, accepted by MNRA

Flavor Physics in an SO(10) Grand Unified Model

In supersymmetric grand-unified models, the lepton mixing matrix can possibly affect flavor-changing transitions in the quark sector. We present a detailed analysis of a model proposed by Chang, Masiero and Murayama, in which the near-maximal atmospheric neutrino mixing angle governs large new b -> s transitions. Relating the supersymmetric low-energy parameters to seven new parameters of this SO(10) GUT model, we perform a correlated study of several flavor-changing neutral current (FCNC) processes. We find the current bound on B(tau -> mu gamma) more constraining than B(B -> X_s gamma). The LEP limit on the lightest Higgs boson mass implies an important lower bound on tan beta, which in turn limits the size of the new FCNC transitions. Remarkably, the combined analysis does not rule out large effects in B_s-B_s-bar mixing and we can easily accomodate the large CP phase in the B_s-B_s-bar system which has recently been inferred from a global analysis of CDF and DO data. The model predicts a particle spectrum which is different from the popular Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (CMSSM). B(tau -> mu gamma) enforces heavy masses, typically above 1 TeV, for the sfermions of the degenerate first two generations. However, the ratio of the third-generation and first-generation sfermion masses is smaller than in the CMSSM and a (dominantly right-handed) stop with mass below 500 GeV is possible.Comment: 44 pages, 5 figures. Footnote and references added, minor changes, Fig. 2 corrected; journal versio

Phenomenology of Light Sneutrino Dark Matter in cMSSM/mSUGRA with Inverse Seesaw

We study the possibility of a light Dark Matter (DM) within a constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (cMSSM) framework augmented by a SM singlet-pair sector to account for the non-zero neutrino masses by inverse seesaw mechanism. Working within a 'hybrid' scenario with the MSSM sector fixed at high scale and the singlet neutrino sector at low scale, we find that, contrary to the case of the usual cMSSM where the neutralino DM cannot be very light, we can have a light sneutrino DM with mass below 100 GeV satisfying all the current experimental constraints from cosmology, collider as well as low-energy experiments. We also note that the supersymmetric inverse seesaw mechanism with sneutrino as the lightest supersymmetric partner can have enhanced same-sign dilepton final states with large missing transverse energy (mET) coming from the gluino- and squark-pair as well as the squark-gluino associated productions and their cascade decay through charginos. We present a collider study for the same-sign dilepton+jets+mET signal in this scenario and propose some distinctions with the usual cMSSM. We also comment on the implications of such a light DM scenario on the invisible decay width of an 125 GeV Higgs boson.Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures, 7 tables; matches published versio

Interacting Ghost Dark Energy in Non-Flat Universe

A new dark energy model called "ghost dark energy" was recently suggested to explain the observed accelerating expansion of the universe. This model originates from the Veneziano ghost of QCD. The dark energy density is proportional to Hubble parameter, $\rho_D=\alpha H$, where $\alpha$ is a constant of order $\Lambda_{\rm QCD}^3$ and $\Lambda_{\rm QCD}\sim 100 MeV$ is QCD mass scale. In this paper, we extend the ghost dark energy model to the universe with spatial curvature in the presence of interaction between dark matter and dark energy. We study cosmological implications of this model in detail. In the absence of interaction the equation of state parameter of ghost dark energy is always $w_D > -1$ and mimics a cosmological constant in the late time, while it is possible to have $w_D < -1$ provided the interaction is taken into account. When $k = 0$, all previous results of ghost dark energy in flat universe are recovered. To check the observational consistency, we use Supernova type Ia (SNIa) Gold sample, shift parameter of Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) and the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillation peak from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The best fit values of free parameter at $1\sigma$ confidence interval are: $\Omega_m^0= 0.35^{+0.02}_{-0.03}$, $\Omega_D^0=0.75_{-0.04}^{+0.01}$ and $b^2=0.08^{+0.03}_{-0.03}$. Consequently the total energy density of universe at present time in this model at 68% level equates to $\Omega_{\rm tot}^0=1.10^{+0.02}_{-0.05}$.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures. V2: Added comments, observational consequences, references, figures and major corrections. Accepted for publication in General Relativity and Gravitatio

The origin of dust in galaxies revisited: the mechanism determining dust content

The origin of cosmic dust is a fundamental issue in planetary science. This paper revisits the origin of dust in galaxies, in particular, in the Milky Way, by using a chemical evolution model of a galaxy composed of stars, interstellar medium, metals (elements heavier than helium), and dust. We start from a review of time-evolutionary equations of the four components, and then, we present simple recipes for the stellar remnant mass and yields of metal and dust based on models of stellar nucleosynthesis and dust formation. After calibrating some model parameters with the data from the solar neighborhood, we have confirmed a shortage of the stellar dust production rate relative to the dust destruction rate by supernovae if the destruction efficiency suggested by theoretical works is correct. If the dust mass growth by material accretion in molecular clouds is active, the observed dust amount in the solar neighborhood is reproduced. We present a clear analytic explanation of the mechanism for determining dust content in galaxies after the activation of accretion growth: a balance between accretion growth and supernova destruction. Thus, the dust content is independent of the uncertainty of the stellar dust yield after the growth activation. The timing of the activation is determined by a critical metal mass fraction which depends on the growth and destruction efficiencies. The solar system formation seems to have occurred well after the activation and plenty of dust would have existed in the proto-solar nebula.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figure

Galaxies and Intergalactic Matter at Redshift z~3: Overview

We present the first results from a survey of the relative spatial distributions of galaxies, intergalactic neutral hydrogen, and intergalactic metals at high redshift. We obtained high-resolution spectra of 8 bright QSOs at 3.1<z<4.1 and spectroscopic redshifts for 431 Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at slightly lower redshifts. Comparing the locations of galaxies to the absorption lines in the QSO spectra shows that the intergalactic medium contains less neutral hydrogen than the global average within r<0.5h^-1 comoving Mpc of LBGs and more than average at slightly larger distances 1<r<5 h^-1 comoving Mpc. The intergalactic medium within the largest overdensities at z~3, which will presumably evolve into the intracluster medium by z~0, is rich in neutral hydrogen and CIV. The lack of HI absorption at small distances from LBGs appears unlikely to be produced solely by the Lyman continuum radiation they emit; it may show that the galaxies' supernovae-driven winds maintain their measured outflow velocities of ~600 km/s for a few hundred million years and drive away nearby intergalactic gas. We present correlation functions of galaxies with Lyman-alpha forest flux decrements, with CIV systems, and with other galaxies. We describe the association of galaxies with damped Lyman-a systems and with intergalactic HeII opacity. A strong observed correlation of galaxies with intergalactic metals supports the idea that Lyman-break galaxies' winds have enriched their surroundings.Comment: 32 pages including 26 figures. To appear in Ap

Glucose-induced posttranslational activation of protein phosphatases PP2A and PP1 in yeast

The protein phosphatases PP2A and PP1 are major regulators of a variety of cellular processes in yeast and other eukaryotes. Here, we reveal that both enzymes are direct targets of glucose sensing. Addition of glucose to glucose-deprived yeast cells triggered rapid posttranslational activation of both PP2A and PP1. Glucose activation of PP2A is controlled by regulatory subunits Rts1, Cdc55, Rrd1 and Rrd2. It is associated with rapid carboxymethylation of the catalytic subunits, which is necessary but not sufficient for activation. Glucose activation of PP1 was fully dependent on regulatory subunits Reg1 and Shp1. Absence of Gac1, Glc8, Reg2 or Red1 partially reduced activation while Pig1 and Pig2 inhibited activation. Full activation of PP2A and PP1 was also dependent on subunits classically considered to belong to the other phosphatase. PP2A activation was dependent on PP1 subunits Reg1 and Shp1 while PP1 activation was dependent on PP2A subunit Rts1. Rts1 interacted with both Pph21 and Glc7 under different conditions and these interactions were Reg1 dependent. Reg1-Glc7 interaction is responsible for PP1 involvement in the main glucose repression pathway and we show that deletion of Shp1 also causes strong derepression of the invertase gene SUC2. Deletion of the PP2A subunits Pph21 and Pph22, Rrd1 and Rrd2, specifically enhanced the derepression level of SUC2, indicating that PP2A counteracts SUC2 derepression. Interestingly, the effect of the regulatory subunit Rts1 was consistent with its role as a subunit of both PP2A and PP1, affecting derepression and repression of SUC2, respectively. We also show that abolished phosphatase activation, except by reg1Δ, does not completely block Snf1 dephosphorylation after addition of glucose. Finally, we show that glucose activation of the cAMP-PKA (protein kinase A) pathway is required for glucose activation of both PP2A and PP1. Our results provide novel insight into the complex regulatory role of these two major protein phosphatases in glucose regulation