16,098 research outputs found
Magnetic Fields in the Center of the Perseus Cluster
We present Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the nucleus of NGC
1275, the central, dominant galaxy in the Perseus cluster of galaxies. These
are the first observations to resolve the linearly polarized emission from
3C84, and from them we determine a Faraday rotation measure (RM) ranging from
6500 to 7500 rad/m^2 across the tip of the bright southern jet component. At 22
GHz some polarization is also detected from the central parsec of 3C84,
indicating the presence of even more extreme RMs that depolarize the core at
lower frequencies. The nature of the Faraday screen is most consistent with
being produced by magnetic fields associated with the optical filaments of
ionized gas in the Perseus Cluster.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
A massive, distant proto-cluster at z=2.47 caught in a phase of rapid formation?
Numerical simulations of cosmological structure formation show that the
Universe's most massive clusters, and the galaxies living in those clusters,
assemble rapidly at early times (2.5 < z < 4). While more than twenty
proto-clusters have been observed at z > 2 based on associations of 5-40
galaxies around rare sources, the observational evidence for rapid cluster
formation is weak. Here we report observations of an asymmetric, filamentary
structure at z = 2.47 containing seven starbursting, submillimeter-luminous
galaxies and five additional AGN within a comoving volume of 15000 Mpc.
As the expected lifetime of both the luminous AGN and starburst phase of a
galaxy is ~100 Myr, we conclude that these sources were likely triggered in
rapid succession by environmental factors, or, alternatively, the duration of
these cosmologically rare phenomena is much longer than prior direct
measurements suggest. The stellar mass already built up in the structure is
and we estimate that the cluster mass will exceed that
of the Coma supercluster at . The filamentary structure is in line
with hierarchical growth simulations which predict that the peak of cluster
activity occurs rapidly at z > 2.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted in ApJL (small revisions from
previous version
The Origin and Distribution of Diffuse Hot Gas in the Spiral Galaxy NGC 3184
Deep Chandra exposures reveal the presence of diffuse X-ray emission with a
luminosity of 1.3x10^{39} ergs s^{-1} from the spiral galaxy NGC 3184. This
appears to be truly diffuse thermal emission distinct from the low-luminosity
LMXB emission. While the unresolved emission from older LMXBs is more uniformly
distributed across the galaxy, the diffuse X-ray emission is concentrated in
areas of younger stellar populations and star forming regions. The surface
brightness of the diffuse emission over the spiral arms is five times greater
than in off-arm regions, and eight times brighter in H II regions than in non-H
II regions. Spectral fits to the diffuse thermal emission are consistent with a
low temperature component, T ~ 1.5 x 10^6 K, plus a higher temperature
component, T ~ 5 x 10^6 K.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication by The Astronomical
Journa
Relating chaos to deterministic diffusion of a molecule adsorbed on a surface
Chaotic internal degrees of freedom of a molecule can act as noise and affect
the diffusion of the molecule on a substrate. A separation of time scales
between the fast internal dynamics and the slow motion of the centre of mass on
the substrate makes it possible to directly link chaos to diffusion. We discuss
the conditions under which this is possible, and show that in simple atomistic
models with pair-wise harmonic potentials, strong chaos can arise through the
geometry. Using molecular-dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that a realistic
model of benzene is indeed chaotic, and that the internal chaos affects the
diffusion on a graphite substrate
Nonclassical Fields and the Nonlinear Interferometer
We demonstrate several new results for the nonlinear interferometer, which
emerge from a formalism which describes in an elegant way the output field of
the nonlinear interferometer as two-mode entangled coherent states. We clarify
the relationship between squeezing and entangled coherent states, since a weak
nonlinear evolution produces a squeezed output, while a strong nonlinear
evolution produces a two-mode, two-state entangled coherent state. In between
these two extremes exist superpositions of two-mode coherent states manifesting
varying degrees of entanglement for arbitrary values of the nonlinearity. The
cardinality of the basis set of the entangled coherent states is finite when
the ratio is rational, where is the nonlinear strength. We
also show that entangled coherent states can be produced from product coherent
states via a nonlinear medium without the need for the interferometric
configuration. This provides an important experimental simplification in the
process of creating entangled coherent states.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figure
The Nuclear and Circum-nuclear Stellar Population in Seyfert 2 Galaxies: Implications for the Starburst-AGN Connection
We report the results of a spectroscopic investigation of a sample of 20 of
the brightest type 2 Seyfert nuclei. Our goal is to search for the direct
spectroscopic signature of massive stars, and thereby probe the role of
circumnuclear starbursts in the Seyfert phenomenon. The method used is based on
the detection of the higher order Balmer lines and HeI lines in absorption and
the Wolf-Rayet feature at 4680 \AA in emission. These lines are strong
indicators of the presence of young (a few Myrs) and intermediate-age (a few
100 Myrs) stellar populations. In over half the sample, we have detected HeI
and/or strong stellar absorption features in the high-order (near-UV) Balmer
series together with relatively weak lines from an old stellar population. In
three others we detect a broad emission feature near 4680 \AA that is most
plausibly ascribed to a population of Wolf-Rayet stars (the evolved descendants
of the most massive stars). We therefore conclude that the blue and near-UV
light of over half of the sample is dominated by young and/or intermediate age
stars. The ``young'' Seyfert 2's have have larger far-IR luminosities, cooler
mid/far-IR colors, and smaller [OIII]/H flux ratios than the ``old''
ones. These differences are consistent with a starburst playing a significant
energetic role in the former class. We consider the possibility that there may
be two distinct sub-classes of Seyfert 2 nuclei (``starbursts'' and ``hidden
BLR''). However, the fact that hidden BLRs have been found in three of the
``young'' nuclei argues against this, and suggests that nuclear starbursts may
be a more general part of the Seyfert phenomenon.Comment: To be published in ApJ, 546, Jan 10, 200
Feedback under the microscope II: heating, gas uplift, and mixing in the nearest cluster core
Using a combination of deep 574ks Chandra data, XMM-Newton high-resolution
spectra, and optical Halpha+NII images, we study the nature and spatial
distribution of the multiphase plasma in M87. Our results provide direct
observational evidence of `radio mode' AGN feedback in action, stripping the
central galaxy of its lowest entropy gas and preventing star-formation. This
low entropy gas was entrained with and uplifted by the buoyantly rising
relativistic plasma, forming long "arms". These arms are likely oriented within
15-30 degrees of our line-of-sight. The mass of the uplifted gas in the arms is
comparable to the gas mass in the approximately spherically symmetric 3.8 kpc
core, demonstrating that the AGN has a profound effect on its immediate
surroundings. The coolest X-ray emitting gas in M87 has a temperature of ~0.5
keV and is spatially coincident with Halpha+NII nebulae, forming a multiphase
medium where the cooler gas phases are arranged in magnetized filaments. We
place strong upper limits of 0.06 Msun/yr on the amount of plasma cooling
radiatively from 0.5 keV and show that a uniform, volume-averaged heating
mechanism could not be preventing the cool gas from further cooling. All of the
bright Halpha filaments appear in the downstream region of the <3 Myr old shock
front, at smaller radii than ~0.6'. We suggest that shocks induce shearing
around the filaments, thereby promoting mixing of the cold gas with the ambient
hot ICM via instabilities. By bringing hot thermal particles into contact with
the cool, line-emitting gas, mixing can supply the power and ionizing particles
needed to explain the observed optical spectra. Mixing of the coolest X-ray
emitting plasma with the cold optical line emitting filamentary gas promotes
efficient conduction between the two phases, allowing non-radiative cooling
which could explain the lack of X-ray gas with temperatures under 0.5 keV.Comment: to appear in MNRA
Probing the extreme realm of AGN feedback in the massive galaxy cluster, RX J1532.9+3021
We present a detailed Chandra, XMM-Newton, VLA and HST analysis of one of the
strongest cool core clusters known, RX J1532.9+3021 (z=0.3613). Using new, deep
90 ks Chandra observations, we confirm the presence of a western X-ray cavity
or bubble, and report on a newly discovered eastern X-ray cavity. The total
mechanical power associated with these AGN-driven outflows is (22+/-9)*10^44
erg/s, and is sufficient to offset the cooling, indicating that AGN feedback
still provides a viable solution to the cooling flow problem even in the
strongest cool core clusters. Based on the distribution of the optical
filaments, as well as a jet-like structure seen in the 325 MHz VLA radio map,
we suggest that the cluster harbours older outflows along the north to south
direction. The jet of the central AGN is therefore either precessing or
sloshing-induced motions have caused the outflows to change directions. There
are also hints of an X-ray depression to the north aligned with the 325 MHz
jet-like structure, which might represent the highest redshift ghost cavity
discovered to date. We further find evidence of a cold front (r=65kpc) that
coincides with the outermost edge of the western X-ray cavity and the edge of
the radio mini-halo. The common location of the cold front with the edge of the
radio mini-halo supports the idea that the latter originates from electrons
being reaccelerated due to sloshing induced turbulence. Alternatively, its
coexistence with the edge of the X-ray cavity may be due to cool gas being
dragged out by the outburst. We confirm that the central AGN is highly
sub-Eddington and conclude that a >10^10M_Sun or a rapidly spinning black hole
is favoured to explain both the radiative-inefficiency of the AGN and the
powerful X-ray cavities.Comment: Accepted for publication to ApJ (minor corrections), 16 pages, 16
figures, 5 tables. Full resolution at http://www.stanford.edu/~juliehl/M1532
The Effects of Foam Rolling on Hamstring Flexibility, Muscle Soreness and Power
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