Hadronic multiparticle production in extensive air showers and accelerator experiments

Using CORSIKA for simulating extensive air showers, we study the relation between the shower characteristics and features of hadronic multiparticle production at low energies. We report about investigations of typical energies and phase space regions of secondary particles which are important for muon production in extensive air showers. Possibilities to measure relevant quantities of hadron production in existing and planned accelerator experiments are discussed.Comment: To be published in Proceedings of ICRC 2005, 29th International Cosmic Ray Conferenc

The HI - Star Formation Connection: Open Questions

We show data from the Survey of Ionization in Neutral Gas Galaxies (SINGG) and Survey of Ultraviolet emission in Neutral Gas Galaxies (SUNGG) which survey the star formation properties of HI selected galaxies as traced by H-alpha and ultraviolet emission, respectively. The correlations found demonstrate a strong relationship between the neutral ISM, young massive stars, and the evolved stellar populations. For example the correlation between R band surface brightness and the HI cycling time is tighter than the Kennicutt-Schmidt Star Formation Law. Other scaling relations from SINGG give strong direct confirmation of the downsizing scenario: low mass galaxies are more gaseous and less evolved into stars than high mass galaxies. There are strong variations in the H-alpha to UV flux ratios within and between galaxies. The only plausible explanations for this result are that either the escape fraction of ionizing photons or the upper end of the IMF varies with galaxy mass. We argue for the latter interpretation, although either result has major implications for astrophysics. A detailed dissection of the massive star content in the extended HI disk of NGC2915 provides a consistent picture of continuing star formation with a truncated or steep IMF, while other GALEX results indicate that star formation edges seen in Halpha are not always apparent in the UV. These and other recent results settle some old questions but open many new questions about star formation and its relation to the ISM.Comment: To appear in AIP Conference Proceedings, "The Evolution of Galaxies through the Neutral Hydrogen Window", Feb 1-3 2008, Arecibo, Puerto Rico, eds. R. Minchin & E. Momjian. 7 page

The Starburst Nature of Lyman-Break Galaxies: Testing UV Extinction with X-rays

We derive the bolometric to X-ray correlation for a local sample of normal and starburst galaxies and use it, in combination with several UV reddening schemes, to predict the 2--8 keV X-ray luminosity for a sample of 24 Lyman-break galaxies in the HDF/CDF-N. We find that the mean X-ray luminosity, as predicted from the Meurer UV reddening relation for starburst galaxies, agrees extremely well with the Brandt stacking analysis. This provides additional evidence that Lyman-break galaxies can be considered as scaled-up local starbursts and that the locally derived starburst UV reddening relation may be a reasonable tool for estimating the UV extinction at high redshift. Our analysis shows that the Lyman-break sample can not have far-IR to far-UV flux ratios similar to nearby ULIGs, as this would predict a mean X-ray luminosity 100 times larger than observed, as well as far-IR luminosities large enough to be detected in the sub-mm. We calculate the UV reddening expected from the Calzetti effective starburst attenuation curve and the radiative transfer models of Witt & Gordon for low metallicity dust in a shell geometry with homogeneous or clumpy dust distributions and find that all are consistent with the observed X-ray emission. Finally, we show that the mean X-ray luminosity of the sample would be under predicted by a factor of 6 if the the far-UV is unattenuated by dust.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in A

Cosmic clocks: A Tight Radius - Velocity Relationship for HI-Selected Galaxies

HI-Selected galaxies obey a linear relationship between their maximum detected radius Rmax and rotational velocity. This result covers measurements in the optical, ultraviolet, and HI emission in galaxies spanning a factor of 30 in size and velocity, from small dwarf irregulars to the largest spirals. Hence, galaxies behave as clocks, rotating once a Gyr at the very outskirts of their discs. Observations of a large optically-selected sample are consistent, implying this relationship is generic to disc galaxies in the low redshift Universe. A linear RV relationship is expected from simple models of galaxy formation and evolution. The total mass within Rmax has collapsed by a factor of 37 compared to the present mean density of the Universe. Adopting standard assumptions we find a mean halo spin parameter lambda in the range 0.020 to 0.035. The dispersion in lambda, 0.16 dex, is smaller than expected from simulations. This may be due to the biases in our selection of disc galaxies rather than all halos. The estimated mass densities of stars and atomic gas at Rmax are similar (~0.5 Msun/pc^2) indicating outer discs are highly evolved. The gas consumption and stellar population build time-scales are hundreds of Gyr, hence star formation is not driving the current evolution of outer discs. The estimated ratio between Rmax and disc scale length is consistent with long-standing predictions from monolithic collapse models. Hence, it remains unclear whether disc extent results from continual accretion, a rapid initial collapse, secular evolution or a combination thereof.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, 3 in colour. Published in MNRAS. This v2 corrects wrong journal in the references section (all instances of "Astrophysics and Space Sciences" should have been ApJ). The Posti+2017 has also been updated. An erratum has been submitted to MNRA

Three-dimensional modeling of the HI kinematics of NGC 2915

The nearby blue compact dwarf, NGC 2915, has its stellar disc embedded in a large, extended (~ 22 B-band scale-lengths) HI disc. New high-resolution HI synthesis observations of NGC 2915 have been obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. These observations provide evidence of extremely complex HI kinematics within the immediate vicinity of the galaxy's star-forming core. We identify and quantify double-peaked HI line profiles near the centre of the galaxy and show that the HI energetics can be accounted for by the mechanical energy output of the central high-mass stellar population within time-scales of 10^6-10^7 yr. Full three-dimensional models of the HI data cube are generated and compared to the observations to test various physical scenarios associated with the high-mass star-forming core of NGC 2915. Purely circular HI kinematics are ruled out together with the possibility of a high-velocity-dispersion inter-stellar medium at inner radii. Radial velocities of ~ 30 km/s are required to describe the central-most HI kinematics of the system. Our results lend themselves to the simple physical scenario in which the young stellar core of the galaxy expels the gas outwards from the centre of the disc, thereby creating a central HI under-density. These kinematics should be thought of as being linked to a central HI outflow rather than a large-scale galactic blow-out or wind.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Star Formation at z~6: The UDF-Parallel ACS Fields

We report on the i-dropouts detected in two exceptionally deep ACS fields (B_{435}, V_{606}, i_{775}, and z_{850} with 10 sigma limits of 28.8, 29.0, 28.5, and 27.8, respectively) taken in parallel with the UDF NICMOS observations. Using an i-z>1.4 cut, we find 30 i-dropouts over 21 arcmin^2 down to z_AB=28.1, or 1.4 i-dropouts arcmin^{-2}, with significant field-to-field variation (as expected from cosmic variance). This extends i-dropout searches some ~0.9^m further down the luminosity function than was possible in the GOODS field, netting a ~7x increase in surface density. An estimate of the size evolution for UV bright objects is obtained by comparing the composite radial flux profile of the bright i-dropouts (z<27.2) with scaled versions of the HDF-N + HDF-S U-dropouts. The best-fit is found with a (1+z)^{-1.57_{-0.53} ^{+0.50}} scaling in size (for fixed luminosity), extending lower redshift (1<z<5) trends to z~6. Adopting this scaling and the brighter i-dropouts from both GOODS fields, we make incompleteness estimates and construct a z~6 LF in the rest-frame continuum UV (~1350 A) over a 3.5 magnitude baseline, finding a shape consistent with that found at lower redshift. To evaluate the evolution in the LF from z~3.8, we make comparisons against different scalings of a lower redshift B-dropout sample. Though a strong degeneracy is found between luminosity and density evolution, our best-fit model scales as (1+z)^{-2.8} in number and (1+z)^0.1 in luminosity, suggesting a rest-frame continuum UV luminosity density at z~6 which is just 0.38_{-0.07} ^{+0.09}x that at z~3.8. Our inclusion of size evolution makes the present estimate lower than previous z~6 estimates.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, labelling to the left-hand axis of Figure 4 correcte

Dust emission from the lensed Lyman break galaxy cB58

We detect 1.2mm continuum emission from dust in the gravitationally lensed Lyman break galaxy MS 1512+36-cB58. Our detected flux is surprisingly low: relative to local starburst galaxies, cB58 appears to produce somewhat less far-IR emission than its UV reddening predicts. After comparing several different estimates of the source's dust content, we conclude that the apparent discrepancy is most likely related to uncertainty in its UV spectral slope. Alternate scenarios to account for a far-IR "deficit" which rely on a high dust temperature or differential magnification are less satisfactory. Our result underscores one of the risks inherent in characterizing the cosmic star formation history from rest-UV data alone.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted by A&A Letter

The Rich Globular Cluster System of Abell 1689 and the Radial Dependence of the Globular Cluster Formation Efficiency

We study the rich globular cluster (GC) system in the center of the massive cluster of galaxies Abell 1689 (z=0.18), one of the most powerful gravitational lenses known. With 28 HST/ACS orbits in the F814W bandpass, we reach magnitude I_814=29 with >90% completeness and sample the brightest ~5% of the GC system. Assuming the well-known Gaussian form of the GC luminosity function (GCLF), we estimate a total population of N(GC_total) = 162,850 GCs within a projected radius of 400kpc. As many as half may comprise an intracluster component. Even with the sizable uncertainties, which mainly result from the uncertain GCLF parameters, this is by far the largest GC system studied to date. The specific frequency S_N is high, but not uncommon for central galaxies in massive clusters, rising from S_N~5 near the center to ~12 at large radii. Passive galaxy fading would increase S_N by ~20% at z=0. We construct the radial mass profiles of the GCs, stars, intracluster gas, and lensing-derived total mass, and we compare the mass fractions as a function of radius. The estimated mass in GCs, M(GC_total)=3.9x10^10 Msun, is comparable to ~80% of the total stellar mass of the Milky Way. The shape of the GC mass profile appears intermediate between those of the stellar light and total cluster mass. Despite the extreme nature of this system, the ratios of the GC mass to the baryonic and total masses, and thus the GC formation efficiency, are typical of those in other rich clusters when comparing at the same physical radii. The GC formation efficiency is not constant, but varies with radius, in a manner that appears similar for different clusters; we speculate on the reasons for this similarity in profile.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in Ap