New classes of summable Skyrmions

We introduce two new classes of summable Skyrmions. The Lagrangians they originate from are explicitely constructed. We also analyse how some models could be solve. Exact solutions are found for Skyrme-like toy models.Comment: 9 pages, revtex v3, EP-CPTh.A274.1193 and LAVAL-PHY-11-9

Skyrmion vibrational energies with a generalized mass term

We study various properties of a one parameter mass term for the Skyrme model, originating from the works of Kopeliovich, Piette and Zakrzewski, through the use of axially symmetric solutions obtained numerically by simulated-annealing. These solutions allow us to observe asymptotic behaviors of the B=2 binding energies that differ to those previously obtained. We also decipher the characteristics of three distinct vibrational modes that appear as eigenstates of the vibrational Hamiltonian. This analysis further examine the assertion that the one parameter mass term offers a better account of baryonic matter than the traditional mass term.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure

The Stability of the Weak Skyrmions

We consider a set of gauge invariant terms in higher order effective Lagrangians of the strongly interacting scalar of the electroweak theory. The terms are introduced in the framework of the hidden gauge symmetry formalism. The usual gauge term is known to stabilize the skyrmion but only in the large vector mass limit. We find that adding higher-order gauge terms is insufficient to insure stability. We then proceed to analyze other gauge invariant interaction terms. Some of the conclusions also apply to QCD skyrmions.Comment: 3 pages, revtex v3, (optional), LAVAL-PHY-11-9

Spitzer Observations of Galaxy Clusters

We present preliminary results of a project to study three rich nearby clusters of galaxies with the Spitzer space telescope. The Spitzer observations in the four IRAC and three MIPS bands cover a region up to three virial radii, approximately, and have been recently completed. On the basis of the first Spitzer images, we followed up spectroscopically the far-infrared sources with the multi-fiber spectrograph HYDRA on the WIYN telescope. 70% of the sources brighter than 0.3 mJy at 24 μm and r’ < 20.5 have been observed for a total of 1078 spectra. For 87% of them we were able to measure redshifts obtaining 50 to 100 members for the different clusters. This first study shows that the far-IR sources in these clusters are predominantly powered by star formation and clustered in regions far from the center. In the case of A1763, they seem to be situated along a filament supporting the idea of infalling galaxies experiencing bursts of star formation during their first contact with the hot intra-cluster medium

Spitzer observations of Abell 1763. III. The infrared luminosity function in different supercluster environments

Context. The study of galaxy luminosity functions (LFs) in different environments provides powerful constraints on the physics of galaxy evolution. The infrared (IR) LF is a particularly useful tool since it is directly related to the distribution of galaxy star-formation rates (SFRs). Aims. We aim to determine the galaxy IR LF as a function of the environment in a supercluster at redshift 0.23 to shed light on the processes driving galaxy evolution in and around clusters. Methods. We base our analysis on multi-wavelength data, which include optical, near-IR, and mid- to far-IR photometry, as well as redshifts from optical spectroscopy. We identify 467 supercluster members in a sample of 24-μm-selected galaxies, on the basis of their spectroscopic (153) and photometric (314) redshifts. IR luminosities and stellar masses are determined for supercluster members via spectral energy distribution fitting. Galaxies with active galactic nuclei are identified by a variety of methods and excluded from the sample. SFRs are obtained for the 432 remaining galaxies from their IR luminosities via the Kennicutt relation. Results. We determine the IR LF of the whole supercluster as well as the IR LFs of three different regions in the supercluster: the cluster core, a large-scale filament, and the cluster outskirts (excluding the filament). A comparison of the IR LFs of the three regions, normalized by the average number densities of r-band selected normal galaxies, shows that the filament (respectively, the core) contains the highest (respectively, the lowest) fraction of IR-emitting galaxies at all levels of IR luminosities, and the highest (respectively, the lowest) total SFR normalized by optical galaxy richness. Luminous IR galaxies (LIRGs) are almost absent in the core region. The relation between galaxy specific SFRs and stellar masses does not depend on the environment, and it indicates that most supercluster LIRGs are rather massive galaxies with relatively low specific SFRs. A comparison with previous IR LF determinations from the literature confirms that the mass-normalized total SFR in clusters increases with redshift, but more rapidly than previously suggested for redshifts ≲ 0.4. Conclusions. The IR LF shows an environmental dependence that is not simply related to the local galaxy density. The filament, an intermediate-density region in the A1763 supercluster, contains the highest fraction of IR-emitting galaxies. We interpret our findings within a possible scenario for the evolution of galaxies in and around clusters