1,291 research outputs found
Superdense and normal early-type galaxies at 1<z<2
We combined proprietary and archival HST observations to collect a sample of
62 early-type galaxies (ETGs) at 0.9<z<2 with spectroscopic confirmation of
their redshift and spectral type. The whole sample is covered by ACS or NICMOS
observations and partially by Spitzer and AKARI observations. We derived
morphological parameters by fitting their HST light profiles and physical
parameters by fitting their spectral energy distributions. The study of the
size-mass and the size-luminosity relations of these early-types shows that a
large fraction of them (~50) follows the local relations. These 'normal' ETGs
are not smaller than local counterparts with comparable mass. The remaining
half of the sample is composed of compact ETGs with sizes (densities) 2.5-3
(15-30) times smaller (higher) than local counterparts and, most importantly,
than the other normal ETGs at the same redshift and with the same stellar mass.
This suggests that normal and superdense ETGs at z~2 come from different
histories of mass assembly.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in "Hunting for the Dark: The Hidden
Side of Galaxy Formation", Malta, 19-23 Oct. 2009, eds. V.P. Debattista and
C.C. Popescu, AIP Conf. (in press
Validation of fluorescence transition probability calculations
A systematic and quantitative validation of the K and L shell X-ray
transition probability calculations according to different theoretical methods
has been performed against experimental data. This study is relevant to the
optimization of data libraries used by software systems, namely Monte Carlo
codes, dealing with X-ray fluorescence. The results support the adoption of
transition probabilities calculated according to the Hartree-Fock approach,
which manifest better agreement with experimental measurements than
calculations based on the Hartree-Slater method.Comment: 8 pages, 21 figures and images, 3 tables, to appear in proceedings of
the Nuclear Science Symposium and Medical Imaging Conference 2009, Orland
Lower mass normalization of the stellar initial mass function for dense massive early-type galaxies at z ~ 1.4
This paper aims at understanding if the normalization of the stellar initial
mass function (IMF) of massive early-type galaxies (ETGs) varies with cosmic
time and/or with mean stellar mass density Sigma (M*/2\pi Re^2). For this
purpose we collected a sample of 18 dense (Sigma>2500 M_sun/pc^2) ETGs at
1.2<z<1.6 with available velocity dispersion sigma_e. We have constrained their
mass-normalization by comparing their true stellar masses (M_true) derived
through virial theorem, hence IMF independent, with those inferred through the
fit of the photometry assuming a reference IMF (M_ref). Adopting the virial
estimator as proxy of the true stellar mass, we have assumed for these ETGs
zero dark matter (DM). However, dynamical models and numerical simulations of
galaxy evolution have shown that the DM fraction within Re in dense high-z ETGs
is negligible. We have considered the possible bias of virial theorem in
recovering the total masses and have shown that for dense ETGs the virial
masses are in agreement with those derived through more sophisticated dynamical
models. The variation of the parameter Gamma = M_true/M_ref with sigma_e shows
that, on average, dense ETGs at = 1.4 follow the same IMF-sigma_e trend of
typical local ETGs, but with a lower mass-normalization. Nonetheless, once the
IMF-sigma_e trend we have found for high-z dense ETGs is compared with that of
local ETGs with similar Sigma and sigma_e, they turn out to be consistent. The
similarity between the IMF-sigma_e trends of dense high-z and low-z ETGs over 9
Gyr of evolution and their lower mass-normalization with respect to the mean
value of local ETGs suggest that, independently on formation redshift, the
physical conditions characterizing the formation of a dense spheroid lead to a
mass spectrum of new formed stars with an higher ratio of high- to low-mass
stars with respect to the IMF of normal local ETGs.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for pubblication in A&A, updated to
match final journal versio
Effect of processing conditions on the thermal and electrical conductivity of poly (butylene terephthalate) nanocomposites prepared via ring-opening polymerization
Successful preparation of polymer nanocomposites, exploiting graphene-related
materials, via melt mixing technology requires precise design, optimization and
control of processing. In the present work, the effect of different processing
parameters during the preparation of poly (butylene terephthalate)
nanocomposites, through ring-opening polymerization of cyclic butylene
terephthalate in presence of graphite nanoplatelets (GNP), was thoroughly
addressed. Processing temperature (240{\deg}C or 260{\deg}C), extrusion time (5
or 10 minutes) and shear rate (50 or 100 rpm) were varied by means of a full
factorial design of experiment approach, leading to the preparation of
polybutylene terephthalate/GNP nanocomposite in 8 different processing
conditions. Morphology and quality of GNP were investigated by means of
electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetry and
Raman spectroscopy. Molecular weight of the polymer matrix in nanocomposites
and nanoflake dispersion were experimentally determined as a function of the
different processing conditions. The effect of transformation parameters on
electrical and thermal properties was studied by means of electrical and
thermal conductivity measurement. Heat and charge transport performance
evidenced a clear correlation with the dispersion and fragmentation of the GNP
nanoflakes; in particular, gentle processing conditions (low shear rate, short
mixing time) turned out to be the most favourable condition to obtain high
conductivity values
The population of early-type galaxies: how it evolves with time and how it differs from passive and late-type galaxies
The aim of our analysis is twofold. On the one hand we are interested in
addressing whether a sample of ETGs morphologically selected differs from a
sample of passive galaxies in terms of galaxy statistics. On the other hand we
study how the relative abundance of galaxies, the number density and the
stellar mass density for different morphological types change over the redshift
range 0.6<z<2.5. From the 1302 galaxies brighter than Ks=22 selected from the
GOODS-MUSIC catalogue, we classified the ETGs on the basis of their morphology
and the passive galaxies on the basis of their sSFR. We proved how the
definition of passive galaxy depends on the IMF adopted in the models and on
the assumed sSFR threshold. We find that ETGs cannot be distinguished from the
other morphological classes on the basis of their low sSFR, irrespective of the
IMF adopted in the models. Using the sample of 1302 galaxies morphologically
classified into spheroidal galaxies (ETGs) and not spheroidal galaxies (LTGs),
we find that their fractions are constant over the redshift range 0.6<z<2.5
(20-30% ETGs vs 70-80% LTGs). However, at z<1 these fractions change among the
population of the most massive (M*>=10^(11) M_sol) galaxies, with the fraction
of massive ETGs rising up to 40% and the fraction of massive LTGs decreasing
down to 60%. Moreover, we find that the number density and the stellar mass
density of the whole population of massive galaxies increase almost by a factor
of ~10 between 0.6<z<2.5, with a faster increase of these densities for the
ETGs than for the LTGs. Finally, we find that the number density of the
highest-mass galaxies (M*>3-4x10^(11) M_sol) both ETGs and LTGs do not increase
since z~2.5, contrary to the lower mass galaxies. This suggests that the
population of the most massive galaxies formed at z>2.5-3 and that the assembly
of such high-mass galaxies is not effective at lower redshift.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures. Published in A&
Colour gradients in normal and compact early-type galaxies at 1<z<2
We have derived colour gradients for a sample of 20 early-type galaxies
(ETGs) at 1 < z_spec < 2 selected from the GOODS-South field. The sample
includes both normal ETGs (13) having effective radii comparable to the mean
radius of local ones and compact ETGs (7) having effective radii from two to
six times smaller. Colour gradients have been derived in the F606W-F850LP bands
(UV-U rest-frame) taking advantage of the ultradeep HST-ACS observations
covering this field and providing a spatial resolution of about 0.8 kpc at the
redshift of the galaxies. Despite of the narrow wavelength baseline covered
(1000 Angstrom), sampling approximatively the emission dominated by the same
stellar population, we detect significant radial colour variations in 50 per
cent of our sample. In particular, we find five ETGs with positive colour
gradients (cores bluer than the external regions), and five galaxies with
negative colour gradients (cores redder than the external regions), as commonly
observed in the local Universe. These results show that at 1 < z < 2, when the
Universe was only 3-4 Gyr old, ETGs constituted a composite population of
galaxies whose different assembly histories have generated different stellar
distributions with the bluest stellar population either in the center or in the
outskirts as well as throughout the whole galaxy. Moreover, we find that
compact galaxies seem to preferentially show a blue cores while moving towards
normal galaxies, central stellar populations become progressively redder.
Nonetheless, the narrow baseline covered together with the low statistics still
prevent us to be conclusive about a possible physical connection between colour
gradients and the degree of compactness of high-z ETGs.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
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