5,385 research outputs found
Verifying the mass-metallicity relation in damped Lyman-alpha selected galaxies at 0.1<z<3.2
A scaling relation has recently been suggested to combine the galaxy
mass-metallicity (MZ) relation with metallicities of damped Lyman-alpha systems
(DLAs) in quasar spectra. Based on this relation the stellar masses of the
absorbing galaxies can be predicted. We test this prediction by measuring the
stellar masses of 12 galaxies in confirmed DLA absorber - galaxy pairs in the
redshift range 0.1<z<3.2. We find an excellent agreement between the predicted
and measured stellar masses over three orders of magnitude, and we determine
the average offset = 0.44+/-0.10 between absorption
and emission metallicities. We further test if could depend on the
impact parameter and find a correlation at the 5.5sigma level. The impact
parameter dependence of the metallicity corresponds to an average metallicity
difference of -0.022+/-0.004 dex/kpc. By including this metallicity vs. impact
parameter correlation in the prescription instead of , the scatter
reduces to 0.39 dex in log M*. We provide a prescription how to calculate the
stellar mass (M*,DLA) of the galaxy when both the DLA metallicity and DLA
galaxy impact parameter is known. We demonstrate that DLA galaxies follow the
MZ relation for luminosity-selected galaxies at z=0.7 and z=2.2 when we include
a correction for the correlation between impact parameter and metallicity.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures. Major revision. Accepted for publication in
MNRA
New search strategy for high z intervening absorbers: GRB021004, a pilot study
We present near-infrared narrow- and broad-band imaging of the field of
GRB021004, performed with ISAAC on the UT1 of the ESO Very Large Telescope. The
narrow-band filters were chosen to match prominent emission lines at the
redshift of the absorption-line systems found against the early-time afterglow
of GRB021004: [OIII] at z=1.38 and Halpha at z=1.60, respectively. For the
z=1.38 system we find an emission-line source at an impact parameter of 16",
which is somewhat larger than the typical impact parameters of a sample of MgII
absorbers at redshifts around unity. Assuming that this tentative
redshift-identification is correct, the star formation rate of the galaxy is 13
+- 2 Msun/year. Our study reaches star-formation rate limits (5 sigma) of 5.7
Msun/year at z=1.38, and 7.7 Msun/year at z=1.60. These limits correspond to a
depth of roughly 0.13 L*. Any galaxy counterpart of the absorbers nearer to the
line of sight either has to be fainter than this limit or not be an
emission-line source.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in A&A letter
Measuring the effective phonon density of states of a quantum dot
We employ detuning-dependent decay-rate measurements of a quantum dot in a
photonic-crystal cavity to study the influence of phonon dephasing in a
solid-state quantum-electrodynamics experiment. The experimental data agree
with a microscopic non-Markovian model accounting for dephasing from
longitudinal acoustic phonons, and identifies the reason for the hitherto
unexplained difference between non-resonant cavity feeding in different
nanocavities. From the comparison between experiment and theory we extract the
effective phonon density of states experienced by the quantum dot. This
quantity determines all phonon dephasing properties of the system and is found
to be described well by a theory of bulk phonons.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitte
On the Clock Paradox in the case of circular motion of the moving clock
In this paper we deal analytically with a version of the so called clock
paradox in which the moving clock performs a circular motion of constant
radius. The rest clock is denoted as (1), the rotating clock is (2), the
inertial frame in which (1) is at rest and (2) moves is I and, finally, the
accelerated frame in which (2) is at rest and (1) rotates is A. By using the
General Theory of Relativity in order to describe the motion of (1) as seen in
A we will show the following features. I) A differential aging between (1) and
(2) occurs at their reunion and it has an absolute character, i.e. the proper
time interval measured by a given clock is the same both in I and in A. II)
From a quantitative point of view, the magnitude of the differential aging
between (1) and (2) does depend on the kind of rotational motion performed by
A. Indeed, if it is uniform there is no any tangential force in the direction
of motion of (2) but only normal to it. In this case, the proper time interval
reckoned by (2) does depend only on its constant velocity v=romega. On the
contrary, if the rotational motion is uniformly accelerated, i.e. a constant
force acts tangentially along the direction of motion, the proper time
intervals on the angular acceleration alpha. III) Finally, in
regard to the sign of the aging, the moving clock (2) measures always a
interval of proper time with respect to (1).Comment: LaTex2e, 9 pages, no figures, no tables. It is the follow-on of the
paper physics/040503
On the sizes of z>2 Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbing Galaxies
Recently, the number of detected galaxy counterparts of z > 2 Damped
Lyman-alpha Absorbers in QSO spectra has increased substantially so that we
today have a sample of 10 detections. M{\o}ller et al. in 2004 made the
prediction, based on a hint of a luminosity-metallicity relation for DLAs, that
HI size should increase with increasing metallicity. In this paper we
investigate the distribution of impact parameter and metallicity that would
result from the correlation between galaxy size and metallicity. We compare our
observations with simulated data sets given the relation of size and
metallicity. The observed sample presented here supports the metallicity-size
prediction: The present sample of DLA galaxies is consistent with the model
distribution. Our data also show a strong relation between impact parameter and
column density of HI. We furthermore compare the observations with several
numerical simulations and demonstrate that the observations support a scenario
where the relation between size and metallicity is driven by feedback
mechanisms controlling the star-formation efficiency and outflow of enriched
gas.Comment: Accepted for publishing in MNRAS lette
Minisatellite mutation rates increase with extra-pair paternity among birds
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Amos <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp> suggested recently that a previously reported positive relationship between minisatellite mutation rates and extra-pair paternity among species of birds <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B2">2</abbr></abbrgrp> was confounded by transcription errors and selective inclusion of studies. Here we attempted to replicate the results reported by Amos <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp>, but also tested for the relationship by expanding the data base by including studies published after our original paper.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We were able to replicate the positive association between mutation rate and extra-pair paternity in birds, even after controlling statistically for the confounding effecs of mean number of bands scored, using 133 species, compared to 81 species in our first report <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B2">2</abbr></abbrgrp>. We suggest that Amos <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp> failed to reach a similar conclusion due to four different potential causes of bias. First, Amos <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp> missed 15 studies from the literature that we were able to include. Second, he used estimates of mutation rates that were based on both within- and extra-pair offspring, although the latter will cause bias in estimates. Third, he made a number of transcription errors from the original publications for extra-pair paternity, mutation rates, number of novel bands, and mean number of bands scored per individual. Fourth, he included <it>Vireo olivaceus </it>although the mutation rate estimate was based on one single offspring!</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There was a positive association between mutation rates and extra-pair paternity in birds, accounting for an intermediate effect size that explained 5â11% of the variance; estimates that are bound to be conservative due to many different causes of noise in the data. This result was robust to statistical control for potentially confounding variables, highlighting that it is important to base comparative studies on all available evidence, and that it is crucial to critically transcribe data while simultaneously checking published estimates for their correctness.</p
Effect of feeding fermentable fibrerich feedstuffs on meat quality with emphasis on chemical and sensory boar taint in entire male and female pigs
Skatole, androstenone and other compounds such as indole cause boar taint in entire male pork. However, female pigs also produce skatole and indole. The purpose of this experiment was to minimise boar taint and increase overall impression of sensory quality by feeding entire male and female pigs with fibrerich feedstuffs. The pigs have been fed three organic diets for either 1 or 2 weeks prior to slaughter of which two diets contained different fermentable fibre-rich feedstuffs â 10â13.3% dried chicory roots or
25% blue lupines. These two treatments were compared with pigs fed with an organic control diet for either 1 or 2 weeks prior to slaughter. Lupines significantly reduced skatole in blood and backfat for both genders after 1 week. Moreover, lupines showed negative impact on growth rate and feed conversion whilst chicory showed no significant differences in this respect. However, the indole concentration was significantly lower in chicory than lupine fed pigs. From a sensory perspective, chicory and lupine feeding reduced boar taint since odour and flavour of manure related to skatole and urine associated to androstenone were minimised. The level of boar taint in the entire male pigs was most effectively reduced after 14 days by both fibre-rich feeds while lupine had the largest influence on ââboarâ taint reduction in female pigs
Determining the fraction of reddened quasars in COSMOS with multiple selection techniques from X-ray to radio wavelengths
The sub-population of quasars reddened by intrinsic or intervening clouds of
dust are known to be underrepresented in optical quasar surveys. By defining a
complete parent sample of the brightest and spatially unresolved quasars in the
COSMOS field, we quantify to which extent this sub-population is fundamental to
our understanding of the true population of quasars. By using the available
multiwavelength data of various surveys in the COSMOS field, we built a parent
sample of 33 quasars brighter than mag, identified by reliable X-ray to
radio wavelength selection techniques. Spectroscopic follow-up with the
NOT/ALFOSC was carried out for four candidate quasars that had not been
targeted previously to obtain a 100\% redshift completeness of the sample. The
population of high quasars (HAQs), a specific sub-population of quasars
selected from optical/near-infrared photometry, is found to contribute
of the parent sample. The full population of bright spatially
unresolved quasars represented by our parent sample consists of
reddened quasars defined by having , and
of the sample having assuming the extinction
curve of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We show that the HAQ selection works well
for selecting reddened quasars, but some are missed because their optical
spectra are too blue to pass the color cut in the HAQ selection. This is
either due to a low degree of dust reddening or anomalous spectra. We find that
the fraction of quasars with contributing light from the host galaxy is most
dominant at . At higher redshifts the population of spatially
unresolved quasars selected by our parent sample is found to be representative
of the full population at mag. This work quantifies the bias against
reddened quasars in studies that are based solely on optical surveys.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. The ArXiv
abstract has been shortened for it to be printabl
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