502 research outputs found
One-vortex moduli space and Ricci flow
The metric on the moduli space of one abelian Higgs vortex on a surface has a
natural geometrical evolution as the Bradlow parameter, which determines the
vortex size, varies. It is shown by various arguments, and by calculations in
special cases, that this geometrical flow has many similarities to Ricci flow.Comment: 20 page
Self-Similar Dynamical Relaxation of Dark Matter Halos in an Expanding Universe
We investigate the structure of cold dark matter halos using advanced models
of spherical collapse and accretion in an expanding Universe. These base on
solving time-dependent equations for the moments of the phase-space
distribution function in the fluid approximation; our approach includes
non-radial random motions, and most importantly, an advanced treatment of both
dynamical relaxation effects that takes place in the infalling matter:
phase-mixing associated to shell crossing, and collective collisions related to
physical clumpiness. We find self-similar solutions for the
spherically-averaged profiles of mass density rho(r), pseudo phase-space
density Q(r) and anisotropy parameter beta(r). These profiles agree with the
outcomes of state-of-the-art N-body simulations in the radial range currently
probed by the latter; at smaller radii, we provide specific predictions. In the
perspective provided by our self-similar solutions we link the halo structure
to its two-stage growth history, and propose the following picture. During the
early fast collapse of the inner region dominated by a few merging clumps,
efficient dynamical relaxation plays a key role in producing a closely
universal mass density and pseudo phase-space density profiles; in particular,
these are found to depend only weakly on the detailed shape of the initial
perturbation and the related collapse times. The subsequent inside-out growth
of the outer regions feeds on the slow accretion of many small clumps and
diffuse matter; thus the outskirts are only mildly affected by dynamical
relaxation but are more sensitive to asymmetries and cosmological variance.Comment: 31 pages, 16 figures. Typos corrected. Accepted by Ap
The SDSS-IV extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: selecting emission line galaxies using the Fisher discriminant
We present a new selection technique of producing spectroscopic target
catalogues for massive spectroscopic surveys for cosmology. This work was
conducted in the context of the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic
Survey (eBOSS), which will use ~200 000 emission line galaxies (ELGs) at
0.6<zspec<1.0 to obtain a precise baryon acoustic oscillation measurement. Our
proposed selection technique is based on optical and near-infrared broad-band
filter photometry. We used a training sample to define a quantity, the Fisher
discriminant (linear combination of colours), which correlates best with the
desired properties of the target: redshift and [OII] flux. The proposed
selections are simply done by applying a cut on magnitudes and this Fisher
discriminant. We used public data and dedicated SDSS spectroscopy to quantify
the redshift distribution and [OII] flux of our ELG target selections. We
demonstrate that two of our selections fulfil the initial eBOSS/ELG redshift
requirements: for a target density of 180 deg^2, ~70% of the selected objects
have 0.6<zspec<1.0 and only ~1% of those galaxies in the range 0.6<zspec<1.0
are expected to have a catastrophic zspec estimate. Additionally, the stacked
spectra and stacked deep images for those two selections show characteristic
features of star-forming galaxies. The proposed approach using the Fisher
discriminant could, however, be used to efficiently select other galaxy
populations, based on multi-band photometry, providing that spectroscopic
information is available. This technique could thus be useful for other future
massive spectroscopic surveys such as PFS, DESI, and 4MOST.Comment: Version published in A&
Understanding the shape of the halo-mass and galaxy-mass cross-correlation functions
We use the Millennium Simulation to measure the cross-correlation between
halo centres and mass (or equivalently the average density profiles of dark
haloes) in a LCDM cosmology. We present results for radii in the range 10 kpc/h
< r < 30 Mpc/h for halo masses in the range 4e10 Msol/h < M200 < 4e14 Msol/h.
Both at z=0 and at z=0.76 these cross-correlations are surprisingly well fit by
approximating the inner region by a density profile of NFW or Einasto form, the
outer region by a biased version of the linear mass autocorrelation function,
and by adopting the maximum of the two where they are comparable. We use a
simulation of the formation of galaxies within the Millennium Simulation to
explore how these results are reflected in cross-correlations between galaxies
and mass. These are directly observable through galaxy-galaxy lensing. Here
also we find that simple models can represent the simulation results remarkably
well, typically to < 10%. Such models can be used to extend our results to
other redshifts, to cosmologies with other parameters, and to other assumptions
about how galaxies populate dark haloes. The characteristic features predicted
in the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal should provide a strong test of the LCDM
cosmology as well as a route to understanding how galaxies form within it.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figures submitted to MNRAS, replaced incorrect figure
fil
Water vapor in the starburst galaxy NGC 253: A new nuclear maser?
22 GHz water vapor emission was observed toward the central region of the
spiral starburst galaxy NGC 253. Monitoring observations with the 100-m
telescope at Effelsberg and measurements with the BnC array of the VLA reveal
three distinct velocity components, all of them blueshifted with respect to the
systemic velocity. The main component arises from a region close to the
dynamical center and is displaced by <1 arcsec from the putative nuclear
continuum source. The bulk of this maser component is spread over an area not
larger than 70 x 50 mas. Its radial velocity may be explained by masing gas
that is part of a nuclear accretion disk or of a counterrotating kinematical
subsystem or by gas that is entrained by the nuclear superwind or by an
expanding supernova shell. A weaker feature, located 5 arcsec to the northeast,
is likely related to an optically obscured site of massive star formation.Comment: 6 pages, 4 Postscript figures, A&A Main Journa
Exploring the Free Energy Landscape: From Dynamics to Networks and Back
The knowledge of the Free Energy Landscape topology is the essential key to
understand many biochemical processes. The determination of the conformers of a
protein and their basins of attraction takes a central role for studying
molecular isomerization reactions. In this work, we present a novel framework
to unveil the features of a Free Energy Landscape answering questions such as
how many meta-stable conformers are, how the hierarchical relationship among
them is, or what the structure and kinetics of the transition paths are.
Exploring the landscape by molecular dynamics simulations, the microscopic data
of the trajectory are encoded into a Conformational Markov Network. The
structure of this graph reveals the regions of the conformational space
corresponding to the basins of attraction. In addition, handling the
Conformational Markov Network, relevant kinetic magnitudes as dwell times or
rate constants, and the hierarchical relationship among basins, complete the
global picture of the landscape. We show the power of the analysis studying a
toy model of a funnel-like potential and computing efficiently the conformers
of a short peptide, the dialanine, paving the way to a systematic study of the
Free Energy Landscape in large peptides.Comment: PLoS Computational Biology (in press
ALMA observations of lensed Herschel sources: testing the dark matter halo paradigm
With the advent of wide-area submillimetre surveys, a large number of high-redshift gravitationally lensed dusty star-forming galaxies have been revealed. Because of the simplicity of the selection criteria for candidate lensed sources in such surveys, identified as those with S500 μm > 100 mJy, uncertainties associated with the modelling of the selection function are expunged. The combination of these attributes makes submillimetre surveys ideal for the study of strong lens statistics. We carried out a pilot study of the lensing statistics of submillimetre-selected sources by making observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) of a sample of strongly lensed sources selected from surveys carried out with the Herschel Space Observatory. We attempted to reproduce the distribution of image separations for the lensed sources using a halo mass function taken from a numerical simulation that contains both dark matter and baryons. We used three different density distributions, one based on analytical fits to the haloes formed in the EAGLE simulation and two density distributions [Singular Isothermal Sphere (SIS) and SISSA] that have been used before in lensing studies. We found that we could reproduce the observed distribution with all three density distributions, as long as we imposed an upper mass transition of ∼1013 M⊙ for the SIS and SISSA models, above which we assumed that the density distribution could be represented by a Navarro–Frenk–White profile. We show that we would need a sample of ∼500 lensed sources to distinguish between the density distributions, which is practical given the predicted number of lensed sources in the Herschel surveys
Satellite abundances around bright isolated galaxies
We study satellite galaxy abundances in SDSS by counting photometric galaxies
around isolated bright primaries. We present results as a function of the
luminosity, stellar mass and colour of the satellites, and of the stellar mass
and colour of the primaries. For massive primaries the luminosity and stellar
mass functions of satellites are similar in shape to those of field galaxies,
but for lower mass primaries they are significantly steeper. The steepening is
particularly marked for the stellar mass function. Satellite abundance
increases strongly with primary stellar mass, approximately in proportion to
expected dark halo mass. Massive red primaries have up to a factor of 2 more
satellites than blue ones of the same stellar mass. Satellite galaxies are
systematically redder than field galaxies of the same stellar mass. Satellites
are also systematically redder around more massive primaries. At fixed primary
mass, they are redder around red primaries. We select similarly isolated
galaxies from mock catalogues based on the simulations of Guo et al.(2011) and
analyze them in parallel with the SDSS data. The simulation reproduces all the
above trends qualitatively, except for the steepening of the satellite
luminosity and stellar mass functions. Model satellites, however, are
systematically redder than in the SDSS, particularly at low mass and around
low-mass primaries. Simulated haloes of a given mass have satellite abundances
that are independent of central galaxy colour, but red centrals tend to have
lower stellar masses, reflecting earlier quenching of their star formation by
feedback. This explains the correlation between satellite abundance and primary
colour in the simulation. The correlation between satellite colour and primary
colour arises because red centrals live in haloes which are more massive, older
and more gas-rich, so that satellite quenching is more efficient.Comment: 29 pages, 24 figure
The Energy Landscape, Folding Pathways and the Kinetics of a Knotted Protein
The folding pathway and rate coefficients of the folding of a knotted protein
are calculated for a potential energy function with minimal energetic
frustration. A kinetic transition network is constructed using the discrete
path sampling approach, and the resulting potential energy surface is
visualized by constructing disconnectivity graphs. Owing to topological
constraints, the low-lying portion of the landscape consists of three distinct
regions, corresponding to the native knotted state and to configurations where
either the N- or C-terminus is not yet folded into the knot. The fastest
folding pathways from denatured states exhibit early formation of the
N-terminus portion of the knot and a rate-determining step where the C-terminus
is incorporated. The low-lying minima with the N-terminus knotted and the
C-terminus free therefore constitute an off-pathway intermediate for this
model. The insertion of both the N- and C-termini into the knot occur late in
the folding process, creating large energy barriers that are the rate limiting
steps in the folding process. When compared to other protein folding proteins
of a similar length, this system folds over six orders of magnitude more
slowly.Comment: 19 page
- …