Discovery of distant high luminosity infrared galaxies

We have developed a method for selecting the most luminous galaxies detected by IRAS based on their extreme values of R, the ratio of 60 micron and B-band luminosity. These objects have optical counterparts that are close to or below the limits of Schmidt surveys. We have tested our method on a 1079 deg^2 region of sky, where we have selected a sample of IRAS sources with 60 micron flux densities greater than 0.2 Jy, corresponding to a redshift limit z~1 for objects with far-IR luminosities of 10^{13} L_sun. Optical identifications for these were obtained from the UK Schmidt Telescope plates, using the likelihood ratio method. Optical spectroscopy has been carried out to reliably identify and measure the redshifts of six objects with very faint optical counterparts, which are the only objects with R>100 in the sample. One object is a hyperluminous infrared galaxy (HyLIG) at z=0.834. Of the remaining, fainter objects, five are ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIGs) with a mean redshift of 0.45, higher than the highest known redshift of any non-hyperluminous ULIG prior to this study. High excitation lines reveal the presence of an active nucleus in the HyLIG, just as in the other known infrared-selected HyLIGs. In contrast, no high excitation lines are found in the non-hyperluminous ULIGs. We discuss the implications of our results for the number density of HyLIGs at z<1 and for the evolution of the infrared galaxy population out to this redshift, and show that substantial evolution is indicated. Our selection method is robust against the presence of gravitational lensing if the optical and infrared magnification factors are similar, and we suggest a way of using it to select candidate gravitationally lensed infrared galaxies.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in A&

The Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect at 1 and 2 mm towards ROSAT Clusters

An observing campaign was devoted to the search for the Sunyaev-Zeldovich (S-Z) effect towards X-ray ROSAT Clusters in the millimetric spectral domain. A double channel (1.2 and 2 {\it mm}) photometer was installed at the focus of the 15m Swedish ESO Submillimeter Telescope (SEST) in Chile in september 1994 and 1995 and observations of the targets S1077, A2744, S295 and RXJ0658-5557 were gathered. Detections were found for A2744 at 1 {\it mm} and in both channels (at 1.2 and 2 {\it mm}) towards RXJ0658-5557. For the first time there is evidence for the S-Z enhancement and both the latter and the decrement were detected on the same source. We discuss astrophysical and systematic effects which could give origin to these signals.Comment: 6 pg Latex file (style file included) including 1 ps figure, XVIth Moriond Astrophysics Meeting "The Anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background", Les Arcs, Savoie-France, March 16-23 199

VLA Observations of the "Eye of the Tornado"- the High Velocity \HII Region G357.63-0.06

The unusual supernova remnant candidate G357.7-0.1 and the compact source G357.63-0.06 have been observed with the Very Large Array at 1.4 and 8.3 GHz. The H92$\alpha$ line (8.3 GHz) was detected from the compact source with a surprising velocity of about -210 km/s indicating that this source is an \HII region, is most likely located at the Galactic center, and is unrelated to the SNR. The \HI absorption line (1.4 GHz) data toward these sources supports this picture and suggests that G357.7-0.1 lies farther away than the Galactic center.Comment: Latex, 14 pages including 4 figures. Accepted to A

Issues for the Next Generation of Galaxy Surveys

I argue that the weight of the available evidence favours the conclusions that galaxies are unbiased tracers of mass, the mean mass density (excluding a cosmological constant or its equivalent) is less than the critical Einstein-de Sitter value, and an isocurvature model for structure formation offers a viable and arguably attractive model for the early assembly of galaxies. If valid these conclusions complicate our work of adding structure formation to the standard model for cosmology, but it seems sensible to pay attention to evidence.Comment: 14 pages, 3 postscript figures, uses rspublic.st

Discovery of distant high luminosity infrared galaxies

We have developed a method for selecting the most luminous galaxies detected by IRAS based on their extreme values of R, the ratio of 60 micron and B-band luminosity. These objects have optical counterparts that are close to or below the limits of Schmidt surveys. We have tested our method on a 1079 deg^2 region of sky, where we have selected a sample of IRAS sources with 60 micron flux densities greater than 0.2 Jy, corresponding to a redshift limit z~1 for objects with far-IR luminosities of 10^{13} L_sun. Optical identifications for these were obtained from the UK Schmidt Telescope plates, using the likelihood ratio method. Optical spectroscopy has been carried out to reliably identify and measure the redshifts of six objects with very faint optical counterparts, which are the only objects with R>100 in the sample. One object is a hyperluminous infrared galaxy (HyLIG) at z=0.834. Of the remaining, fainter objects, five are ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIGs) with a mean redshift of 0.45, higher than the highest known redshift of any non-hyperluminous ULIG prior to this study. High excitation lines reveal the presence of an active nucleus in the HyLIG, just as in the other known infrared-selected HyLIGs. In contrast, no high excitation lines are found in the non-hyperluminous ULIGs. We discuss the implications of our results for the number density of HyLIGs at z<1 and for the evolution of the infrared galaxy population out to this redshift, and show that substantial evolution is indicated. Our selection method is robust against the presence of gravitational lensing if the optical and infrared magnification factors are similar, and we suggest a way of using it to select candidate gravitationally lensed infrared galaxies

Near-Infrared Adaptive Optics Imaging of the Central Regions of Nearby Sc Galaxies: I. M33

Near-infrared images obtained with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) Adaptive Optics Bonnette (AOB) are used to investigate the stellar content within 18 arcsec of the center of the Local Group spiral galaxy M33. AGB stars with near-infrared spectral-energy distributions similar to those of giants in the solar neighborhood and Baade's Window are detected over most of the field. The bolometric luminosity function (LF) of these stars has a discontinuity near M_{bol} = -5.25, and comparisons with evolutionary tracks suggest that most of the AGB stars formed in a burst of star formation 1 - 3 Gyr in the past. The images are also used to investigate the integrated near-infrared photometric properties of the nucleus and the central light concentration. The nucleus is bluer than the central light concentration, in agreement with previous studies at visible wavelengths. The CO index of the central light concentration 0.5 arcsec from the galaxy center is 0.05, which corresponds to [Fe/H] = -1.2 for simple stellar systems. Hence, the central light concentration could not have formed from the chemically-enriched material that dominates the present-day inner disk of M33.Comment: 23 pages of text + 11 figures; to appear in A

An upper limit on anomalous dust emission at 31 GHz in the diffuse cloud [LPH96]201.663+1.643

[LPH96]201.663+1.643, a diffuse H{\sc ii} region, has been reported to be a candidate for emission from rapidly spinning dust grains. Here we present Cosmic Background Imager (CBI) observations at 26-36 GHz that show no evidence for significant anomalous emission. The spectral index within the CBI band, and between CBI and Effelsberg data at 1.4/2.7 GHz, is consistent with optically thin free-free emission. The best-fitting temperature spectral index from 2.7 to 31 GHz, $\beta=-2.06 \pm 0.03$, is close to the theoretical value, $\beta=-2.12$ for $T_{e}=9100$ K. We place an upper limit of 24% ~ (2\sigma) for excess emission at 31 GHz as seen in a 6\arcmin FWHM beam. Current spinning dust models are not a good fit to the spectrum of LPH96. No polarized emission is detected in the CBI data with an upper limit of 2% on the polarization fraction.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ

Carbon Nitrogen, and Oxygen Galactic Gradients: A Solution to the Carbon Enrichment Problem

Eleven models of Galactic chemical evolution, differing in the carbon, nitrogen,and oxygen yields adopted, have been computed to reproduce the Galactic O/H values obtained from H II regions. All the models fit the oxygen gradient, but only two models fit also the carbon gradient, those based on carbon yields that increase with metallicity due to stellar winds in massive stars (MS) and decrease with metallicity due to stellar winds in low and intermediate mass stars (LIMS). The successful models also fit the C/O versus O/H evolution history of the solar vicinity obtained from stellar observations. We also compare the present day N/H gradient and the N/O versus O/H and the C/Fe, N/Fe, O/Fe versus Fe/H evolution histories of the solar vicinity predicted by our two best models with those derived from H II regions and from stellar observations. While our two best models fit the C/H and O/H gradients as well as the C/O versus O/H history, only Model 1 fits well the N/H gradient and the N/O values for metal poor stars but fails to fit the N/H values for metal rich stars. Therefore we conclude that our two best models solve the C enrichment problem, but that further work needs to be done on the N enrichment problem. By adding the C and O production since the Sun was formed predicted by Models 1 and 2 to the observed solar values we find an excellent agreement with the O/H and C/H values of the solar vicinity derived from H II regions O and C recombination lines. One of the most important results of this paper is that the fraction of carbon due to MS and LIMS in the interstellar medium is strongly dependent on time and on the galactocentric distance; at present about half of the carbon in the interstellar medium of the solar vicinity has been produced by MS and half by LIMS.Comment: 34 pages, 6 tables, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Ring-opening polymerization of <em>rac</em>-lactide and ε-caprolactone using zinc and calcium salicylaldiminato complexes

Tridentate Schiff base complexes of zinc and calcium were prepared and tested in the ring-opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone and rac-lactide to generate biodegradable polymeric materials from biocompatible metals. Alteration of the pendant donor arm attached to the imine backbone provides some control over catalyst composition and polymerization activity. Complexes of the formula [ONN]ZnN(SiMe3)2, where [ONN] = 2-(N-donor arm-imine)[4,6-di(tert-butyl)phenoxide], were isolated with ethyldimethylamine, ethylpiperidine, and ethylmorpholine substituents, while disproportionation led to the isolation of [ONN]2Zn complexes with methylpyridine, quinoline, and ethyldiisopropylamine derivatives, two of which were crystallographically characterized. Calcium complexes were more stable and novel [ONN]CaN(SiMe3)2 complexes with ethylpiperidine and ethyldiisopropylamine substituents were reported. Zinc and calcium catalysts coordinated to a single tridentate ligand were effective at initiating the polymerization of ε-caprolactone, but did not control the polymerizations, whereas the bis(ligand) complexes produced no polymer. These catalysts were effective at controlling the polymerization of rac-lactide. Coordinatively saturated complexes inhibit the polymerization, while initiation from either the amido or ligand alkoxide functionalities produces poly(lactic acid) with low polydispersities. </jats:p