2,452 research outputs found
Keck Spectroscopy of Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster
Keck spectroscopy is presented for four dwarf elliptical galaxies in the
Virgo Cluster. At this distance, the mean velocity and velocity dispersion are
well resolved as a function of radius between 100 to 1000 pc, allowing a clear
separation between nuclear and surrounding galaxy light. We find a variety of
dispersion profiles for the inner regions of these objects, and show that none
of these galaxies is rotationally flattened.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the Yale
Cosmology Workshop "The Shapes of Galaxies and their Halos", (ed. P.
Natarjan
Dynamical Models of Elliptical Galaxies in z=0.5 Clusters: I. Data-Model Comparison and Evolution of Galaxy Rotation
We present spatially resolved stellar rotation velocity and velocity
dispersion profiles form Keck/LRIS absorption-line spectra for 25 galaxies,
mostly visually classified ellipticals, in three clusters at z=0.5. We
interpret the kinematical data and HST photometry using oblate axisymmetric
two-integral f(E,Lz) dynamical models based on the Jeans equations. This yields
good fits, provided that the seeing and observational characteristics are
carefully modeled. The fits yield for each galaxy the dynamical M/L and a
measure of the galaxy rotation rate. Paper II addresses the implied M/L
evolution. Here we study the rotation-rate evolution by comparison to a sample
of local elliptical galaxies of similar present-day luminosity. The brightest
galaxies in the sample all rotate too slowly to account for their flattening,
as is also observed at z=0. But the average rotation rate is higher at z=0.5
than locally. This may be due to a higher fraction of misclassified S0 galaxies
(although this effect is insufficient to explain the observed strong evolution
of the cluster S0 fraction with redshift). Alternatively, dry mergers between
early-type galaxies may have decreased the average rotation rate over time. It
is unclear whether such mergers are numerous enough in clusters to explain the
observed trend quantitatively. Disk-disk mergers may affect the comparison
through the so-called progenitor bias, but this cannot explain the direction of
the observed rotation-rate evolution. Additional samples are needed to
constrain possible environmental dependencies and cosmic variance in galaxy
rotation rates. Either way, studies of the internal stellar dynamics of distant
galaxies provide a valuable new approach for exploring galaxy evolution.Comment: ApJ, submitted; 17 pages formatted with emulateap
Dynamical Models of Elliptical Galaxies in z=0.5 Clusters: II. Mass-to-Light Ratio Evolution without Fundamental Plane Assumptions
We study M/L evolution of early-type galaxies using dynamical modeling of
resolved internal kinematics. This makes fewer assumptions than Fundamental
Plane (FP) studies and provides a powerful new approach for studying galaxy
evolution. We focus on the sample of 25 galaxies in clusters at z=0.5 modeled
in Paper I. For comparison we compile and homogenize M/L literature data for 60
nearby galaxies that were modeled in comparable detail. The nearby sample obeys
log(M/L)_B = Z + S log(sigma_eff/[200 km/s]), with Z = 0.896 +/- 0.010, S =
0.992 +/- 0.054, and sigma_eff the effective velocity dispersion. The z=0.5
sample follows a similar relation but with lower zeropoint. The implied M/L
evolution is Delta log(M/L) / Delta z = -0.457 +/- 0.046(random) +/-
0.078(systematic), consistent with passive evolution following high-redshift
formation. This agrees with the FP results for this sample by van Dokkum & van
der Marel. This confirms that FP evolution tracks M/L evolution, which is an
important verification of the assumptions that underly FP studies. However,
while we find more FP evolution for galaxies of low sigma_eff (or low mass),
the dynamical M/L evolution instead shows little trend with sigma_eff. We argue
that this difference can be plausibly attributed to a combination of two
effects: (a) evolution in structural galaxy properties other than M/L; and (b)
the neglect of rotational support in studies of FP evolution. The results leave
the question open whether the low-mass galaxies in the sample have younger
population ages than the high-mass galaxies. This highlights the general
importance in the study of population ages for complementing dynamical
measurements with broad-band colors or spectroscopic population diagnostics.Comment: ApJ, submitted; 17 pages formatted with emulateap
Superconductivity-Induced Transfer of In-Plane Spectral Weight in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8: Resolving a Controversy
We present a detailed analysis of the superconductivity-induced
redistribution of optical spectral weight in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 near optimal doping.
It confirms the previous conclusion by Molegraaf et al. (Science 66, 2239
(2002)), that the integrated low-frequency spectral weight shows an extra
increase below Tc. Since the region, where the change of the integrated
spectral weight is not compensated, extends well above 2.5 eV, this transfer is
caused by the transfer of spectral weight from interband to intraband region
and only partially by the narrowing of the intraband peak. We show that the
opposite assertion by Boris et al. (Science 304, 708 (2004)) regarding this
compound, is unlikely the consequence of any obvious discrepancies between the
actual experimental data.Comment: ReVTeX, 9 pages, 8 encapsulated postscript figures, several typo's
correcte
Long range Coulomb forces and the behaviour of the chemical potential of electrons in metals at a second order phase transition
We give a general thermodynamic analyzis of the behaviour of the chemical
potential of electrons in metals at a second order phase transition, including
in our analysis the effect of long range Coulomb forces. It is shown, that this
chemical potential can have a kink at T, both for fixed sample volume and
fixed external pressure. The Coulomb term transfers the changes in chemical
potential of the electrons into an experimentally observable shift of the
surface potential if the sample is electrically connected to a ground
potential. VSGD.93.9.th1Comment: 6 pages, no figures. Revtex, version 2, Materials Science Center
Internal Report Number VSGD.93.9.th
Spatially Resolved Stellar Kinematics of Field Early-Type Galaxies at z=1: Evolution of the Rotation Rate
We use the spatial information of our previously published VLT/FORS2
absorption line spectroscopy to measure mean stellar velocity and velocity
dispersion profiles of 25 field early-type galaxies at a median redshift z=0.97
(full range 0.6<z<1.2). This provides the first detailed study of early-type
galaxy rotation at these redshifts. From surface brightness profiles from HST
imaging we calculate two-integral oblate axisymmetric Jeans equation models for
the observed kinematics. Fits to the data yield for each galaxy the degree of
rotational support and the mass-to-light ratio M/L_Jeans. S0 and Sa galaxies
are generally rotationally supported, whereas elliptical galaxies rotate less
rapidly or not at all. Down to M(B)=-19.5 (corrected for luminosity evolution),
we find no evidence for evolution in the fraction of rotating early-type (E+S0)
galaxies between z=1 (63+/-11%) and the present (61+/-5%). We interpret this as
evidence for little or no change in the field S0 fraction with redshift. We
compare M/L_Jeans with M/L_vir inferred from the virial theorem and globally
averaged quantities and assuming homologous evolution. There is good agreement
for non-rotating (mostly E) galaxies. However, for rotationally supported
galaxies (mostly S0) M/L_Jeans is on average ~40% higher than M/L_vir. We
discuss possible explanations and the implications for the evolution of M/L
between z=1 and the present and its dependence on mass.Comment: To appear in ApJ 683 (9 pages, 7 figures). Minor changes included to
match published versio
The counterrotating core and the black hole mass of IC1459
The E3 giant elliptical galaxy IC1459 is the prototypical galaxy with a fast
counterrotating stellar core. We obtained one HST/STIS long-slit spectrum along
the major axis of this galaxy and CTIO spectra along five position angles. We
present self-consistent three-integral axisymmetric models of the stellar
kinematics, obtained with Schwarzschild's numerical orbit superposition method.
We study the dynamics of the kinematically decoupled core (KDC) in IC1459 and
we find it consists of stars that are well-separated from the rest of the
galaxy in phase space. The stars in the KDC counterrotate in a disk on orbits
that are close to circular. We estimate that the KDC mass is ~0.5% of the total
galaxy mass or ~3*10^9 Msun. We estimate the central black hole mass M_BH of
IC1459 independently from both its stellar and its gaseous kinematics. Some
complications probably explain why we find rather discrepant BH masses with the
different methods. The stellar kinematics suggest that M_BH = (2.6 +/-
1.1)*10^9 Msun (3 sigma error). The gas kinematics suggests that M_BH ~
3.5*10^8 Msun if the gas is assumed to rotate at the circular velocity in a
thin disk. If the observed velocity dispersion of the gas is assumed to be
gravitational, then M_BH could be as high as ~1.0*10^9 Msun. These different
estimates bracket the value M_BH = (1.1 +/- 0.3)*10^9 Msun predicted by the
M_BH-sigma relation. It will be an important goal for future studies to assess
the reliability of black hole mass determinations with either technique. This
is essential if one wants to interpret the correlation between the BH mass and
other global galaxy parameters (e.g. velocity dispersion) and in particular the
scatter in these correlations (believed to be only ~0.3 dex). [Abridged]Comment: 51 pages, LaTeX with 19 PostScript figures. Revised version, with
three new figures and data tables. To appear in The Astrophysical Journal,
578, 2002 October 2
Common Fermi-liquid origin of T-squared resistivity and superconductivity in n-type SrTiO3
A detailed analysis is given of the T^2 term in the resistivity observed in
electron-doped SrTiO3. Novel bandstructure data are presented, which provide
values for the bare mass, density of states, and plasma frequency of the
quasiparticles as a function of doping. It is shown that these values are
renormalized by approximately a factor 2 due to electron-phonon interaction. It
is argued that the quasiparticles are in the anti-adiabatic limit with respect
to electron-phonon interaction. The condition of anti-adiabatic coupling
renders the interaction mediated through phonons effectively non-retarded. We
apply Fermi-liquid theory developed in the 70's for the T^2 term in the
resistivity of common metals, and combine this with expressions for Tc and with
the Brinkman-Platzman-Rice (BPR) sum-rule to obtain Landau parameters of n-type
SrTiO3. These parameters are comparable to those of liquid 3He, indicating
interesting parallels between these Fermi-liquids despite the differences
between the composite fermions from which they are formed.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure
The black hole in IC 1459 from HST observations of the ionized gas disk
The peculiar elliptical galaxy IC 1459 (M_V = -21.19, D = 16.5 Mpc) has a
fast counterrotating stellar core, stellar shells and ripples, a blue nuclear
point source and strong radio core emission. We present results of a detailed
HST study of IC 1459, and in particular its central gas disk, aimed a
constraining the central mass distribution. We obtained WFPC2 narrow-band
imaging centered on the Halpha+[NII] emission lines to determine the flux
distribution of the gas emission at small radii, and we obtained FOS spectra at
six aperture positions along the major axis to sample the gas kinematics. We
construct different dynamical models for the Halpha+[NII] and Hbeta kinematics
that include a supermassive black hole, and in which the stellar mass
distribution is constrained by the observed surface brightness distribution and
ground-based stellar kinematics. All models are consistent with a black hole
mass in the range Mbh=1-4 x 10^8 Msun, and models without a black hole are
always ruled out at high confidence.Comment: 40 pages including 14 figures, Latex; submitted to A
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