31,810 research outputs found
The star-formation history of the universe - an infrared perspective
A simple and versatile parameterized approach to the star formation history
allows a quantitative investigation of the constraints from far infrared and
submillimetre counts and background intensity measurements.
The models include four spectral components: infrared cirrus (emission from
interstellar dust), an M82-like starburst, an Arp220-like starburst and an AGN
dust torus. The 60 m luminosity function is determined for each chosen
rate of evolution using the PSCz redshift data for 15000 galaxies. The
proportions of each spectral type as a function of 60 m luminosity are
chosen for consistency with IRAS and SCUBA colour-luminosity relations, and
with the fraction of AGN as a function of luminosity found in 12 m
samples. The luminosity function for each component at any wavelength can then
be calculated from the assumed spectral energy distributions. With assumptions
about the optical seds corresponding to each component and, for the AGN
component, the optical and near infrared counts can be accurately modelled.
A good fit to the observed counts at 0.44, 2.2, 15, 60, 90, 175 and 850
m can be found with pure luminosity evolution in all 3 cosmological models
investigated: = 1, = 0.3 ( = 0), and
= 0.3, = 0.7.
All 3 models also give an acceptable fit to the integrated background
spectrum. Selected predictions of the models, for example redshift
distributions for each component at selected wavelengths and fluxes, are shown.
The total mass-density of stars generated is consistent with that observed,
in all 3 cosmological models.Comment: 20 pages, 25 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ. Full details
of models can be found at http://astro.ic.ac.uk/~mrr/countmodel
A local potential for the Weyl tensor in all dimensions
In all dimensions and arbitrary signature, we demonstrate the existence of a
new local potential -- a double (2,3)-form -- for the Weyl curvature tensor,
and more generally for all tensors with the symmetry properties of the Weyl
curvature tensor. The classical four-dimensional Lanczos potential for a Weyl
tensor -- a double (2,1)-form -- is proven to be a particular case of the new
potential: its double dual.Comment: 7 pages; Late
The Relationship Between Molecular Gas Tracers and Kennicutt-Schmidt Laws
We provide a model for how Kennicutt-Schmidt (KS) laws, which describe the
correlation between star formation rate and gas surface or volume density,
depend on the molecular line chosen to trace the gas. We show that, for lines
that can be excited at low temperatures, the KS law depends on how the line
critical density compares to the median density in a galaxy's star-forming
molecular clouds. High critical density lines trace regions with similar
physical properties across galaxy types, and this produces a linear correlation
between line luminosity and star formation rate. Low critical density lines
probe regions whose properties vary across galaxies, leading to a star
formation rate that varies superlinearly with line luminosity. We show that a
simple model in which molecular clouds are treated as isothermal and homogenous
can quantitatively reproduce the observed correlations between galactic
luminosities in far infrared and in the CO(1->0) and HCN(1->0) lines, and
naturally explains why these correlations have different slopes. We predict
that IR-line luminosity correlations should change slope for galaxies in which
the median density is close to the line critical density. This prediction may
be tested by observations of lines such as HCO^+(1->0) with intermediate
critical densities, or by HCN(1->0) observations of intensely star-forming high
redshift galaxies with very high densities. Recent observations by Gao et al.
hint at just such a change in slope. We argue that deviations from linearity in
the HCN(1->0)-IR correlation at high luminosity are consistent with the
assumption of a constant star formation efficiency.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. 11 pages, 4 figures, emulateapj format. This version
has some additional models exploring the effects of varying metallicity and
temperature. The conclusions are unchange
Identifying Very Metal-Rich Stars with Low-Resolution Spectra: Finding Planet-Search Targets
We present empirical calibrations that estimate stellar metallicity,
effective temperature and surface gravity as a function of Lick/IDS indices.
These calibrations have been derived from a training set of 261 stars for which
(1) high-precision measurements of [Fe/H], T_eff and log g have been made using
spectral-synthesis analysis of HIRES spectra, and (2) Lick indices have also
been measured. Our [Fe/H] calibration, which has precision 0.07 dex, has
identified a number of bright (V < 9) metal-rich stars which are now being
screened for hot Jupiter-type planets. Using the Yonsei-Yale stellar models, we
show that the calibrations provide distance estimates accurate to 20% for
nearby stars.
This paper outlines the second tier of the screening of planet-search targets
by the N2K Consortium, a project designed to identify the stars most likely to
harbor extrasolar planets. Discoveries by the N2K Consortium include the
transiting hot Saturn HD 149026 b (Sato et al. 2005, astro-ph/0507009) and HD
88133 b (Fischer et al. 2005). See Ammons et al. (2005, In Press) for a
description of the first tier of N2K metallicity screening, calibrations using
broadband photometry.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
RXTE Observations of Cygnus X-3
In the period between May 1997 and August 1997 a series of pointed RXTE
observations were made of Cyg X-3. During this period Cyg X-3 made a transition
from a quiescent radio state to a flare state (including a major flare) and
then returned to a quiescent radio state. Analyses of the observations are made
in the context of concurrent observations in the hard X-ray (CGRO/BATSE), soft
X-ray (RXTE/ASM) and the radio (Green Bank Interferometer, Ryle Telescope, and
RATAN-600). Preliminary analyses of the observations are presented.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. newarcrc.sty included. To appear in 2nd Workshop
of Relativistic Jets from Galactic Sources, R.N. Ogley and S.J. Bell Burnell
eds, NewAR 42, in pres
Isomerization dynamics of a buckled nanobeam
We analyze the dynamics of a model of a nanobeam under compression. The model
is a two mode truncation of the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation subject to
compressive stress. We consider parameter regimes where the first mode is
unstable and the second mode can be either stable or unstable, and the
remaining modes (neglected) are always stable. Material parameters used
correspond to silicon. The two mode model Hamiltonian is the sum of a
(diagonal) kinetic energy term and a potential energy term. The form of the
potential energy function suggests an analogy with isomerisation reactions in
chemistry. We therefore study the dynamics of the buckled beam using the
conceptual framework established for the theory of isomerisation reactions.
When the second mode is stable the potential energy surface has an index one
saddle and when the second mode is unstable the potential energy surface has an
index two saddle and two index one saddles. Symmetry of the system allows us to
construct a phase space dividing surface between the two "isomers" (buckled
states). The energy range is sufficiently wide that we can treat the effects of
the index one and index two saddles in a unified fashion. We have computed
reactive fluxes, mean gap times and reactant phase space volumes for three
stress values at several different energies. In all cases the phase space
volume swept out by isomerizing trajectories is considerably less than the
reactant density of states, proving that the dynamics is highly nonergodic. The
associated gap time distributions consist of one or more `pulses' of
trajectories. Computation of the reactive flux correlation function shows no
sign of a plateau region; rather, the flux exhibits oscillatory decay,
indicating that, for the 2-mode model in the physical regime considered, a rate
constant for isomerization does not exist.Comment: 42 pages, 6 figure
Simultaneous Border-Collision and Period-Doubling Bifurcations
We unfold the codimension-two simultaneous occurrence of a border-collision
bifurcation and a period-doubling bifurcation for a general piecewise-smooth,
continuous map. We find that, with sufficient non-degeneracy conditions, a
locus of period-doubling bifurcations emanates non-tangentially from a locus of
border-collision bifurcations. The corresponding period-doubled solution
undergoes a border-collision bifurcation along a curve emanating from the
codimension-two point and tangent to the period-doubling locus here. In the
case that the map is one-dimensional local dynamics are completely classified;
in particular, we give conditions that ensure chaos.Comment: 22 pages; 5 figure
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