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H0LiCOW X: Spectroscopic/imaging survey and galaxy-group identification around the strong gravitational lens system WFI2033-4723
Galaxies and galaxy groups located along the line of sight towards
gravitationally lensed quasars produce high-order perturbations of the
gravitational potential at the lens position. When these perturbation are too
large, they can induce a systematic error on of a few-percent if the lens
system is used for cosmological inference and the perturbers are not explicitly
accounted for in the lens model. In this work, we present a detailed
characterization of the environment of the lens system WFI2033-4723 (, = 0.6575), one of the core targets of the H0LICOW
project for which we present cosmological inferences in a companion paper (Rusu
et al. 2019). We use the Gemini and ESO-Very Large telescopes to measure the
spectroscopic redshifts of the brightest galaxies towards the lens, and use the
ESO-MUSE integral field spectrograph to measure the velocity-dispersion of the
lens ( km/s) and of several nearby
galaxies. In addition, we measure photometric redshifts and stellar masses of
all galaxies down to mag, mainly based on Dark Energy Survey imaging
(DR1). Our new catalog, complemented with literature data, more than doubles
the number of known galaxy spectroscopic redshifts in the direct vicinity of
the lens, expanding to 116 (64) the number of spectroscopic redshifts for
galaxies separated by less than 3 arcmin (2 arcmin) from the lens. Using the
flexion-shift as a measure of the amplitude of the gravitational perturbation,
we identify 2 galaxy groups and 3 galaxies that require specific attention in
the lens models. The ESO MUSE data enable us to measure the
velocity-dispersions of three of these galaxies. These results are essential
for the cosmological inference analysis presented in Rusu et al. (2019).Comment: Matches the version accepted for publication by MNRAS. Note that this
paper previously appeared as H0LICOW X
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search. VI. Constraints on Dark Energy and the Evolution of Massive Galaxies
We present a statistical analysis of the final lens sample from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search (SQLS). The number distribution of a
complete subsample of 19 lensed quasars selected from 50,836 source quasars is
compared with theoretical expectations, with particular attention to the
selection function. Assuming that the velocity function of galaxies does not
evolve with redshift, the SQLS sample constrains the cosmological constant to
\Omega_\Lambda=0.79^{+0.06}_{-0.07}(stat.)^{+0.06}_{-0.06}(syst.) for a flat
universe. The dark energy equation of state is found to be consistent with w=-1
when the SQLS is combined with constraints from baryon acoustic oscillation
(BAO) measurements or results from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
(WMAP). We also obtain simultaneous constraints on cosmological parameters and
redshift evolution of the galaxy velocity function, finding no evidence for
redshift evolution at z<1 in any combinations of constraints. For instance,
number density evolution quantified as \nu_n=d\ln\phi_*/d\ln(1+z) and the
velocity dispersion evolution \nu_\sigma=d\ln\sigma_*/d\ln(1+z) are constrained
to \nu_n=1.06^{+1.36}_{-1.39}(stat.)^{+0.33}_{-0.64}(syst.) and
\nu_\sigma=-0.05^{+0.19}_{-0.16}(stat.)^{+0.03}_{-0.03}(syst.) respectively
when the SQLS result is combined with BAO and WMAP for flat models with a
cosmological constant. We find that a significant amount of dark energy is
preferred even after fully marginalizing over the galaxy evolution parameters.
Thus the statistics of lensed quasars robustly confirm the accelerated cosmic
expansion.Comment: 44 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in A
Behavioral genomics of honeybee foraging and nest defense
The honeybee has been the most important insect species for study of social behavior. The recently released draft genomic sequence for the bee will accelerate honeybee behavioral genetics. Although we lack sufficient tools to manipulate this genome easily, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that influence natural variation in behavior have been identified and tested for their effects on correlated behavioral traits. We review what is known about the genetics and physiology of two behavioral traits in honeybees, foraging specialization (pollen versus nectar), and defensive behavior, and present evidence that map-based cloning of genes is more feasible in the bee than in other metazoans. We also present bioinformatic analyses of candidate genes within QTL confidence intervals (CIs). The high recombination rate of the bee made it possible to narrow the search to regions containing only 17–61 predicted peptides for each QTL, although CIs covered large genetic distances. Knowledge of correlated behavioral traits, comparative bioinformatics, and expression assays facilitated evaluation of candidate genes. An overrepresentation of genes involved in ovarian development and insulin-like signaling components within pollen foraging QTL regions suggests that an ancestral reproductive gene network was co-opted during the evolution of foraging specialization. The major QTL influencing defensive/aggressive behavior contains orthologs of genes involved in central nervous system activity and neurogenesis. Candidates at the other two defensive-behavior QTLs include modulators of sensory signaling (Am5HT(7) serotonin receptor, AmArr4 arrestin, and GABA-B-R1 receptor). These studies are the first step in linking natural variation in honeybee social behavior to the identification of underlying genes