3,485 research outputs found
Cellulases from extremely thermophilic bacteria
Cellulose is the most abundant biopolymer on earth, and is the major component of urban waste. Thus cellulose must be seen as a very significant renewable source of chemical foodstocks when fossil fuels become restricted
Are lysosomes involved in hexose transport regulation? Turnover of hexose carriers and the activity of thiol cathepsins are arrested by cyanate and ammonia.
RETROCAM: A Versatile Optical Imager for Synoptic Studies
We present RETROCAM, an auxiliary CCD camera that can be rapidly inserted
into the optical beam of the MDM 2.4m telescope. The speed and ease of
reconfiguring the telescope to use the imager and a straightforward user
interface permit the camera to be used during the course of other observing
programs. This in turn encourages RETROCAM's use for a variety of monitoring
projects.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, Accepted by A
Microlensing of the Lensed Quasar SDSS0924+0219
We analyze V, I and H band HST images and two seasons of R-band monitoring
data for the gravitationally lensed quasar SDSS0924+0219. We clearly see that
image D is a point-source image of the quasar at the center of its host galaxy.
We can easily track the host galaxy of the quasar close to image D because
microlensing has provided a natural coronograph that suppresses the flux of the
quasar image by roughly an order of magnitude. We observe low amplitude,
uncorrelated variability between the four quasar images due to microlensing,
but no correlated variations that could be used to measure a time delay. Monte
Carlo models of the microlensing variability provide estimates of the mean
stellar mass in the lens galaxy (0.02 Msun < M < 1.0 Msun), the accretion disk
size (the disk temperature is 5 x 10^4 K at 3.0 x 10^14 cm < rs < 1.4 x 10^15
cm), and the black hole mass (2.0 x 10^7 Msun < MBH \eta_{0.1}^{-1/2}
(L/LE)^{1/2} < 3.3 x 10^8 Msun), all at 68% confidence. The black hole mass
estimate based on microlensing is consistent with an estimate of MBH = 7.3 +-
2.4 x 10^7 Msun from the MgII emission line width. If we extrapolate the
best-fitting light curve models into the future, we expect the the flux of
images A and B to remain relatively stable and images C and D to brighten. In
particular, we estimate that image D has a roughly 12% probability of
brightening by a factor of two during the next year and a 45% probability of
brightening by an order of magnitude over the next decade.Comment: v.2 incorporates referee's comments and corrects two errors in the
original manuscript. 28 pages, 10 figures, published in Ap
X-ray Monitoring of Gravitational Lenses With Chandra
We present \emph{Chandra} monitoring data for six gravitationally lensed
quasars: QJ 01584325, HE 04351223, HE 11041805, SDSS 0924+0219, SDSS
1004+4112, and Q 2237+0305. We detect X-ray microlensing variability in all six
lenses with high confidence. We detect energy dependent microlensing in HE
04351223, SDSS 1004+4112, SDSS 0924+0219 and Q 2237+0305. We present a
detailed spectral analysis for each lens, and find that simple power-law models
plus Gaussian emission lines give good fits to the spectra. We detect intrinsic
spectral variability in two epochs of Q 2237+0305. We detect differential
absorption between images in four lenses. We also detect the \feka\ emission
line in all six lenses, and the Ni XXVII K line in two images of Q
2237+0305. The rest frame equivalent widths of the \feka\ lines are measured to
be 0.4--1.2 keV, significantly higher than those measured in typical active
galactic nuclei of similar X-ray luminosities. This suggests that the \feka\
emission region is more compact or centrally concentrated than the continuum
emission region.Comment: 55 pages, 22 figure
The Most Massive Black Holes in the Universe: Effects of Mergers in Massive Galaxy Clusters
Recent observations support the idea that nuclear black holes grew by gas
accretion while shining as luminous quasars at high redshift, and they
establish a relation of the black hole mass with the host galaxy's spheroidal
stellar system. We develop an analytic model to calculate the expected impact
of mergers on the masses of black holes in massive clusters of galaxies. We use
the extended Press-Schechter formalism to generate Monte Carlo merger histories
of halos with a mass 10^{15} h^{-1} Msun. We assume that the black hole mass
function at z=2 is similar to that inferred from observations at z=0 (since
quasar activity declines markedly at z<2), and we assign black holes to the
progenitor halos assuming a monotonic relation between halo mass and black hole
mass. We follow the dynamical evolution of subhalos within larger halos,
allowing for tidal stripping, the loss of orbital energy by dynamical friction,
and random orbital perturbations in gravitational encounters with subhalos, and
we assume that mergers of subhalos are followed by mergers of their central
black holes. Our analytic model reproduces numerical estimates of the subhalo
mass function. We find that the most massive black holes in massive clusters
typically grow by a factor ~ 2 by mergers after gas accretion has stopped. In
our ten realizations of 10^{15} h^{-1} Msun clusters, the highest initial (z=2)
black hole masses are 5-7 x 10^9 Msun, but four of the clusters contain black
holes in the range 1-1.5 x 10^{10} Msun at z=0. Satellite galaxies may host
black holes whose mass is comparable to, or even greater than, that of the
central galaxy. Thus, black hole mergers can significantly extend the very high
end of the black hole mass function.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Simultaneous Estimation of Time Delays and Quasar Structure
We expand our Bayesian Monte Carlo method for analyzing the light curves of
gravitationally lensed quasars to simultaneously estimate time delays and
quasar structure including their mutual uncertainties. We apply the method to
HE1104-1805 and QJ0158-4325, two doubly-imaged quasars with microlensing and
intrinsic variability on comparable time scales. For HE1104-1805 the resulting
time delay of (Delta t_AB) = t_A - t_B = 162.2 -5.9/+6.3 days and accretion
disk size estimate of log(r_s/cm) = 15.7 -0.5/+0.4 at 0.2 micron in the rest
frame are consistent with earlier estimates but suggest that existing methods
for estimating time delays in the presence of microlensing underestimate the
uncertainties. We are unable to measure a time delay for QJ0158-4325, but the
accretion disk size is log(r_s/cm) = 14.9 +/- 0.3 at 0.3 micron in the rest
frame.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Ap
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