943 research outputs found
The redshifts of bright sub-mm sources
One of the key goals in observational cosmology over the next few years will
be to establish the redshift distribution of the recently-discovered sub-mm
source population. In this brief review I discuss and summarize the redshift
information which has been gleaned to date for the ~ 50 bright sub-mm sources
which have been uncovered via the six main classes of survey performed with
SCUBA on the JCMT over the last 2-3 years. Despite the biases inherent in some
of these surveys, and the crudeness of the redshift information available in
others, I conclude that all current information suggests that only 10-15 % of
luminous sub-mm sources lie at z < 2, and that the median redshift of this
population is z ~ 3. I suggest that such a high median redshift is arguably not
unexpected given current theories designed to explain the correlation between
black-hole mass and spheroid mass found at low redshift. In such scenarios,
peak AGN emission is expected to correspond to, or even to cause termination of
major star-formation activity in the host spheroid. In contrast, maximum dust
emission is expected to occur roughly half-way through the star-formation
process. Given that optical emission from bright quasars peaks at z = 2.5,
dust-emission from massive ellipticals might be reasonably expected to peak at
some point in the preceding ~ 1 Gyr, at z ~ 3. Confirmation or refutation of
this picture requires significantly-improved redshift information on bright
samples of SCUBA sources.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, FIRSED2000 conference proceedings, eds. I.M. van
Bemmel, B. Wilkes, & P. Barthel Elsevier New Astronomy Review
Science with the Square Kilometer Array: Motivation, Key Science Projects, Standards and Assumptions
The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) represents the next major, and natural, step
in radio astronomical facilities, providing two orders of magnitude increase in
collecting area over existing telescopes. In a series of meetings, starting in
Groningen, the Netherlands (August 2002) and culminating in a `science retreat'
in Leiden (November 2003), the SKA International Science Advisory Committee
(ISAC), conceived of, and carried-out, a complete revision of the SKA science
case (to appear in New Astronomy Reviews). This preface includes: (i) general
introductory material, (ii) summaries of the key science programs, and (iii) a
detailed listing of standards and assumptions used in the revised science case.Comment: 6 pages, 3 tables, espcrc2.sty. to appear in Science with the square
kilometer array, New Astronomy Reviews, (Elsevier, Amsterdam), eds. C.
Carilli & S. Rawling
Detection of CO (2-1) and Radio Continuum Emission from the z = 4.4 QSO BRI 1335-0417
We have detected redshifted CO (2-1) emission at 43 GHz and radio continuum
emission at 1.47 and 4.86 GHz from the z = 4.4 QSO BRI 1335-0417 using the Very
Large Array. The CO data imply optically thick emission from warm (>30 K)
molecular gas with a total mass, M(H_2), of 1.5+/-0.3 x10^{11} M_solar, using
the Galactic gas mass-to-CO luminosity conversion factor. We set an upper limit
to the CO source size of 1.1", and a lower limit of 0.23"x(T_ex/50K)^{-1/2},
where T_ex is the gas excitation temperature. We derive an upper limit to the
dynamical mass of 2x10^{10} x sin^{-2} i M_solar, where i is the disk
inclination angle. To reconcile the gas mass with the dynamical mass requires
either a nearly face-on disk (i < 25deg), or a gas mass-to-CO luminosity
conversion factor significantly lower than the Galactic value. The spectral
energy distribution from the radio to the rest-frame infrared of BRI 1335-0417
is consistent with that expected from a nuclear starburst galaxy, with an
implied massive star formation rate of 2300+/-600 M_solar yr^{-1}.Comment: standard AAS LATEX forma
Detection of Signals from Cosmic Reionization using Radio Interferometric Signal Processing
Observations of the HI 21cm transition line promises to be an important probe
into the cosmic dark ages and epoch of reionization. One of the challenges for
the detection of this signal is the accuracy of the foreground source removal.
This paper investigates the extragalactic point source contamination and how
accurately the bright sources ( ~Jy) should be removed in order to
reach the desired RMS noise and be able to detect the 21cm transition line.
Here, we consider position and flux errors in the global sky-model for these
bright sources as well as the frequency independent residual calibration
errors. The synthesized beam is the only frequency dependent term included
here. This work determines the level of accuracy for the calibration and source
removal schemes and puts forward constraints for the design of the cosmic
reionization data reduction scheme for the upcoming low frequency arrays like
MWA,PAPER, etc. We show that in order to detect the reionization signal the
bright sources need to be removed from the data-sets with a positional accuracy
of arc-second. Our results also demonstrate that the efficient
foreground source removal strategies can only tolerate a frequency independent
antenna based mean residual calibration error of in amplitude
or degree in phase, if they are constant over each days of
observations (6 hours). In future papers we will extend this analysis to the
power spectral domain and also include the frequency dependent calibration
errors and direction dependent errors (ionosphere, primary beam, etc).Comment: accepted by ApJ; 12 pages, 10 figure
High Sensitivity Array Observations of the QSO BRI 1335-0417
We present sensitive phase-referenced VLBI results on the radio continuum
emission from the QSO BRI 1335--0417. The observations were carried out
at 1.4 GHz using the High Sensitivity Array (HSA). Our sensitive VLBI image at
mas ( kpc) resolution shows continuum
emission in BRI 1335--0417 with a total flux density of Jy,
consistent with the flux density measured with the VLA. The size of the source
at FWHM is mas ( kpc) and the derived
intrinsic brightness temperature is K. No continuum
emission is detected at the full VLBI resolution ( mas, pc), with a 4 point source upper limit of 34 Jy
beam, or an upper limit to the intrinsic brightness temperature of
K. The highest angular resolution with at least a 4.5
detection of the radio continuum emission is mas ( kpc). At this resolution, the image shows a continuum feature in BRI
1335--0417 with a size of mas ( kpc) at FWHM,
and intrinsic brightness temperature of K. The extent of
the observed continuum sources at 1.4 GHz and the derived brightness
temperatures show that the radio emission (and thus presumably the far-infrared
emission) in BRI 1335--0417 is powered by a major starburst, with a massive
star formation rate of order a few thousand M_{\odot} {\rm yr}^{-1}z=4.4$ QSO.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, AJ accepte
Strong Limit on a Variable Proton-to-Electron Mass Ratio from Molecules in the Distant Universe
The Standard Model of particle physics assumes that the so-called fundamental
constants are universal and unchanging. Absorption lines arising in molecular
clouds along quasar sightlines offer a precise test for variations in the
proton-to-electron mass ratio, mu, over cosmological time and distance scales.
The inversion transitions of ammonia are particularly sensitive to mu compared
to molecular rotational transitions. Comparing the available ammonia spectra
observed towards the quasar B0218+357 with new, high-quality rotational
spectra, we present the first detailed measurement of mu with this technique,
limiting relative deviations from the laboratory value to |dmu/mu| <
1.8x10^{-6} (95% confidence level) at approximately half the Universe's current
age - the strongest astrophysical constraint to date. Higher-quality ammonia
observations will reduce both the statistical and systematic uncertainties in
these measurements.Comment: Science, 20th June 2008. 22 pages, 5 figures (12 EPS files), 2
tables, including Supporting Online Material; v2: Corrected reference for
laboratory mu-variation bound
Deep radio observations of 3C324 and 3C368: evidence for jet-cloud interactions
High resolution, deep radio images are presented for two distant radio
galaxies, 3C324 (z=1.206) and 3C368 (z=1.132), which are both prime examples of
the radio-optical alignment effect seen in powerful radio galaxies with
redshifts z > 0.6. Radio observations were made using the Very Large Array in
A-array configuration at 5 and 8 GHz, and using the MERLIN array at 1.4 and
1.65 GHz. Radio spectral index, radio polarisation, and rotation measure maps
are presented for both sources. Radio core candidates are detected in each
source, and by aligning these with the centroid of the infrared emission the
radio and the optical/infrared images can be related astrometrically with 0.1
arcsec accuracy. In each source the radio core is located at a minimum of the
optical emission, probably associated with a central dust lane. Both sources
also exhibit radio jets which lie along the directions of the bright strings of
optical knots seen in high resolution Hubble Space Telescope images. The
northern arm of 3C368 shows a close correlation between the radio and optical
emission, whilst along the jet direction of 3C324 the bright radio and optical
knots are co-linear but not co-spatial. These indicate that interactions
between the radio jet and its environment play a key role in producing the
excess ultraviolet emission of these sources, but that the detailed mechanisms
vary from source to source. 3C368 is strongly depolarised and has an average
rest-frame rotation measure of a few hundred rad/m^2, reaching about 1000
rad/m^2 close to the most depolarised regions. 3C324 has weaker depolarisation,
and an average rest-frame rotation measure of between 100 and 200 rad/m^2. Both
sources show large gradients in their rotation measure structures, with
variations of up to 1000 rad/m^2 over distances of about 10 kpc.Comment: 15 pages including 4 figures. LaTeX. Accepted for publication in
MNRA
Sensitive VLBI Continuum and H I Absorption Observations of NGC 7674: First Scientific Observations with the Combined Array VLBA, VLA & Arecibo
We present phase-referenced VLBI observations of the radio continuum emission
from, and the H I 21 cm absorption toward, the Luminous Infrared Galaxy NGC
7674. The observations were carried out at 1380 MHz using the VLBA, the phased
VLA, and theArecibo radio telescope. These observations constitute the first
scientific use of the Arecibo telescope in a VLBI observation with the VLBA.
The high- and low-resolution radio continuum images reveal several new
continuum structures in the nuclear region of this galaxy. At ~100 mas
resolution, we distinguish six continuum structures extending over 1.4 arcsec,
with a total flux density of 138 mJy. Only three of these structures were known
previously. All these structures seem to be related to AGN activity. At the
full resolution of the array, we only detect two of the six continuum
structures. Both are composed of several compact components with brightness
temperatures on the order of K. While it is possible that one of these
compact structures could host an AGN, they could also be shock-like features
formed by the interaction of the jet with compact interstellar clouds in the
nuclear region of this galaxy. Complex H I absorption is detected with our VLBI
array at both high and low angular resolution. Assuming that the widest H I
feature is associated with a rotating H I disk or torus feeding a central AGN,
we estimate an enclosed dynamical mass of ~7 x 10^7 M_sun, comparable to the
value derived from the hidden broad H emission in this galaxy. The
narrower H I lines could represent clumpy neutral hydrogen structures in the H
I torus. The detection of H I absorption toward some of the continuum
components, and its absence toward others, suggest an inclined H I disk or
torus in the central region of NGC 7674.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures. ApJ accepted. To appear in the Nov. 10, 2003
issue of ApJ. Please use the PDF version if the postscript doesn't show the
figure
The Scatter in the Relationship between Redshift and the Radio-to-Submm Spectral Index
We derive the scatter in the relationship between redshift and radio-to-submm
spectral index, alpha^{350}_{1.4}, using the observed spectral energy
distributions of 17 low redshift star forming galaxies. A mean galaxy model is
derived, along with the rms scatter in alpha^{350}_{1.4}. The scatter is
roughly constant with redshift. Constant rms scatter, combined with the
flattening of the mean alpha^{350}_{1.4} -- z relationship with increasing
redshift, leads to increasing uncertainty for redshift estimates at high
redshifts. Normalizing by the dust temperature in the manner proposed by Blain
decreases the scatter in alpha^{350}_{1.4} for most of the sample, but does not
remove outliers, and free-free absorption at rest frequencies above 1.4 GHz is
not likely to be a dominant cause for scatter in the alpha^{350}_{1.4} -- z
relationship. We re-derive the cumulative redshift distribution of the 14 field
galaxies in a recent submm and radio source sample of Smail et al.. The most
likely median redshift for the distribution is 2.7, with a conservative lower
limit of z = 2, as was also found by Smail et al. based on the original
alpha^{350}_{1.4} -- z models. The normalization and shape of the redshift
distribution for the faint submm sources are consistent with those expected for
forming elliptical galaxies.Comment: Added Erratum, standard AAS LATEX forma
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