Abell 1201: a Minor merger at second core passage

We present an analysis of the structures and dynamics of the merging cluster Abell~1201, which has two sloshing cold fronts around a cooling core, and an offset gas core approximately 500kpc northwest of the center. New Chandra and XMM-Newton data reveal a region of enhanced brightness east of the offset core, with breaks in surface brightness along its boundary to the north and east. This is interpreted as a tail of gas stripped from the offset core. Gas in the offset core and the tail is distinguished from other gas at the same distance from the cluster center chiefly by having higher density, hence lower entropy. In addition, the offset core shows marginally lower temperature and metallicity than the surrounding area. The metallicity in the cool core is high and there is an abrupt drop in metallicity across the southern cold front. We interpret the observed properties of the system, including the placement of the cold fronts, the offset core and its tail in terms of a simple merger scenario. The offset core is the remnant of a merging subcluster, which first passed pericenter southeast of the center of the primary cluster and is now close to its second pericenter passage, moving at ~1000 km/s. Sloshing excited by the merger gave rise to the two cold fronts and the disposition of the cold fronts reveals that we view the merger from close to the plane of the orbit of the offset core.Comment: accepted by Ap

Zero-Temperature Relaxation in Spin-Polarized Fermi Systems

The effect of zero-temperature attenuation, which has been recently observed in spin dynamics of Fermi liquids, on various processes in helium and ferromagnetic systems is described. A brief review of theoretical and experimental data on zero-temperature attenuation in transverse spin dynamics of helium systems is followed by a discussion of coupling between longitudinal and transverse processes, the Castaing instability in 3He and 3He−4He mixtures, and applications to pure ferromagneticmetals

Low-Temperature Spin Diffusion in a Spin-Polarized Fermi Gas

We present a finite temperature calculation of the transverse spin-diffusion coefficient, $D_\bot$, in a dilute degenerate Fermi gas in the presence of a small external magnetic field, $H$. While the longitudinal diffusion coefficient displays the conventional low-temperature Fermi-liquid behavior, $D_\parallel \propto T^{-2}$, the corresponding results for $D_\bot$ show three separate regimes: (a) $D_\bot \sim H^{-2}$ for $T \ll H$; (b) $D_\bot \sim T^{-2}$, $D_\bot /D_\parallel \neq 1$ for $T \gg H$ and large spin-rotation parameter $\xi \gg 1$, and (c) $D_\bot = D_\parallel \propto T^{-2}$ for $T \gg H$ and $\xi \ll 1$. Our results are qualitatively consistent with the available experimental data in weakly spin-polarized $^3{\rm He}$ and $^3{\rm He} - ^4{\rm He}$ mixtures.Comment: 13 pages, REVTEX, 3 figures available upon request, RU-94-4

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) : The mechanisms for quiescent galaxy formation at z<1

© 2016 The Authors. One key problem in astrophysics is understanding how and why galaxies switch off their star formation, building the quiescent population that we observe in the local Universe. From the Galaxy And Mass Assembly and VIsible MultiObject Spectrograph Public Extragalactic Redshift surveys, we use spectroscopic indices to select quiescent and candidate transition galaxies.We identify potentially rapidly transitioning post-starburst (PSB) galaxies and slower transitioning green-valley galaxies. Over the last 8Gyr, the quiescent population has grown more slowly in number density at high masses (M * > 10 11 M ⊙ ) than at intermediate masses (M * > 10 10.6 M ⊙ ). There is evolution in both the PSB and green-valley stellar mass functions, consistent with higher mass galaxies quenching at earlier cosmic times.At intermediatemasses (M * > 10 10.6 M ⊙ ), we find a green-valley transition time-scale of 2.6 Gyr. Alternatively, at z ~ 0.7, the entire growth rate could be explained by fast-quenching PSB galaxies, with a visibility time-scale of 0.5 Gyr. At lower redshift, the number density of PSBs is so low that an unphysically short visibility window would be required for them to contribute significantly to the quiescent population growth. The importance of the fast-quenching route may rapidly diminish at z 10 11 M ⊙ ), there is tension between the large number of candidate transition galaxies compared to the slow growth of the quiescent population. This could be resolved if not all high-mass PSB and green-valley galaxies are transitioning from star forming to quiescent, for example if they rejuvenate out of the quiescent population following the accretion of gas and triggering of star formation, or if they fail to completely quench their star formation

Irregular sloshing cold fronts in the nearby merging groups NGC 7618 and UGC 12491: evidence for Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities

We present results from two \sim30 ks Chandra observations of the hot atmospheres of the merging galaxy groups centered around NGC 7618 and UGC 12491. Our images show the presence of arc-like sloshing cold fronts wrapped around each group center and \sim100 kpc long spiral tails in both groups. Most interestingly, the cold fronts are highly distorted in both groups, exhibiting 'wings' along the fronts. These features resemble the structures predicted from non-viscous hydrodynamic simulations of gas sloshing, where Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities (KHIs) distort the cold fronts. This is in contrast to the structure seen in many other sloshing and merger cold fronts, which are smooth and featureless at the current observational resolution. Both magnetic fields and viscosity have been invoked to explain the absence of KHIs in these smooth cold fronts, but the NGC 7618/UGC 12491 pair are two in a growing number of both sloshing and merger cold fronts that appear distorted. Magnetic fields and/or viscosity may be able to suppress the growth of KHIs at the cold fronts in some clusters and groups, but clearly not in all. We propose that the presence or absence of KHI-distortions in cold fronts can be used as a measure of the effective viscosity and/or magnetic field strengths in the ICM.Comment: ApJ, accepted. Uses emulateapj styl

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): growing up in a bad neighbourhood - how do low-mass galaxies become passive?

Both theoretical predictions and observations of the very nearby Universe suggest that low-mass galaxies (log$_{10}$[M$_{*}$/M$_{\odot}$]<9.5) are likely to remain star-forming unless they are affected by their local environment. To test this premise, we compare and contrast the local environment of both passive and star-forming galaxies as a function of stellar mass, using the Galaxy and Mass Assembly survey. We find that passive fractions are higher in both interacting pair and group galaxies than the field at all stellar masses, and that this effect is most apparent in the lowest mass galaxies. We also find that essentially all passive log$_{10}$[M$_{*}$/M$_{\odot}$]<8.5 galaxies are found in pair/group environments, suggesting that local interactions with a more massive neighbour cause them to cease forming new stars. We find that the effects of immediate environment (local galaxy-galaxy interactions) in forming passive systems increases with decreasing stellar mass, and highlight that this is potentially due to increasing interaction timescales giving sufficient time for the galaxy to become passive via starvation. We then present a simplistic model to test this premise, and show that given our speculative assumptions, it is consistent with our observed results.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, Accepted to MNRA

Concentration Dependence of the Effective Mass of He-3 Atoms in He-3/He-4 Mixtures

Recent measurements by Yorozu et al. (S. Yorozu, H. Fukuyama, and H. Ishimoto, Phys. Rev. B 48, 9660 (1993)) as well as by Simons and Mueller (R. Simons and R. M. Mueller, Czhechoslowak Journal of Physics Suppl. 46, 201 (1976)) have determined the effective mass of He-3 atoms in a He-3/He-4 mixture with great accuracy. We here report theoretical calculations for the dependence of that effective mass on the He-3 concentration. Using correlated basis functions perturbation theory to infinite order to compute effective interactions in the appropriate channels, we obtain good agreement between theory and experiment.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): a deeper view of the mass, metallicity and SFR relationships

A full appreciation of the role played by gas metallicity (Z), star formation rate (SFR) and stellar mass (M*) is fundamental to understanding how galaxies form and evolve. The connections between these three parameters at different redshifts significantly affect galaxy evolution, and thus provide important constraints for galaxy evolution models. Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey–Data Release 7 (SDSS–DR7) and the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) surveys, we study the relationships and dependences between SFR, Z and M*, as well as the Fundamental Plane for star-forming galaxies. We combine both surveys using volume-limited samples up to a redshift of z ≈ 0.36. The GAMA and SDSS surveys complement each other when analysing the relationships between SFR, M* and Z. We present evidence for SFR and metallicity evolution to z ∼ 0.2. We study the dependences between SFR, M*, Z and specific SFR (SSFR) on the M*–Z, M*–SFR, M*–SSFR, Z–SFR and Z–SSFR relations, finding strong correlations between all. Based on those dependences, we propose a simple model that allows us to explain the different behaviour observed between low- and high-mass galaxies. Finally, our analysis allows us to confirm the existence of a Fundamental Plane, for which M* = f(Z, SFR) in star-forming galaxies

Osmotic pressure of matter and vacuum energy

The walls of the box which contains matter represent a membrane that allows the relativistic quantum vacuum to pass but not matter. That is why the pressure of matter in the box may be considered as the analog of the osmotic pressure. However, we demonstrate that the osmotic pressure of matter is modified due to interaction of matter with vacuum. This interaction induces the nonzero negative vacuum pressure inside the box, as a result the measured osmotic pressure becomes smaller than the matter pressure. As distinct from the Casimir effect, this induced vacuum pressure is the bulk effect and does not depend on the size of the box. This effect dominates in the thermodynamic limit of the infinite volume of the box. Analog of this effect has been observed in the dilute solution of 3He in liquid 4He, where the superfluid 4He plays the role of the non-relativistic quantum vacuum, and 3He atoms play the role of matter.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, JETP Lett. style, version accepted in JETP Letter