Effect of the Environment on the Fundamental Plane of Elliptical Galaxies

We present an analysis of interacting E/S0 galaxies location on the Fundamental Plane. Using the NEMO package, we performed N-body simulations of close encounters and mergers between two spherical galaxies. We followed how structural and dynamical parameters (central density, half-mass radius and velocity dispersion)of galaxies are changed during the encounter. We analysed the dependence of these changes on initial mass concentration and presence of dark halo. The results of our simulations are used to discuss the Fundamental Plane for interacting early-type galaxies.Comment: Poster presented at JENAM-2000 (Joint European and National Astronomical meeting - S02. Morphology and dynamics of stellar systems: star clusters, galactic arms and rings

Modulation of Circumstellar Extinction in a Young Binary System with a Low-Mass Companion in a Noncoplanar Orbit

The cyclic activity model of a young star with the low-mass secondary component (q = M2/M1 <= 0.1) accreting a matter from circumbinary disk is considered. It is assumed that the orbit is circular and the disk and orbital planes are non-coplanar. Sets of hydrodynamics models of such a system have been calculated by the SPH method and then the variations of the circumstellar extinction and phase light curves were determined. The calculations showed that depending on the model parameters and orientation of the system in regards to an observer the different in shape and amplitude light curves can be observed. An important property of the considered models is also the dependence of the mass accretion rate onto the components on the phase of the orbital period. The results of the calculation can be used for analysis of the cyclic activity of UX Ori stars and young stars with the long-lasting eclipses.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure

Estimating the Dark Halo Mass from the Relative Thickness of Stellar Disks

We analyze the relationship between the mass of a spherical component and the minimum possible thickness of stable stellar disks. This relationship for real galaxies allows the lower limit on the dark halo mass to be estimated (the thinner the stable stellar disk is, the more massive the dark halo must be). In our analysis, we use both theoretical relations and numerical N-body simulations of the dynamical evolution of thin disks in the presence of spherical components with different density profiles and different masses. We conclude that the theoretical relationship between the thickness of disk galaxies and the mass of their spherical components is a lower envelope for the model data points. We recommend using this theoretical relationship to estimate the lower limit for the dark halo mass in galaxies. The estimate obtained turns out to be weak. Even for the thinnest galaxies, the dark halo mass within four exponential disk scale lengths must be more than one stellar disk mass.Comment: 20 pages including 6 figures. To be published in Astronomy Letters (v. 32, No. 10, pp. 649-660, 2006

New insights from old cosmic rays: A novel analysis of archival KASCADE data

Cosmic ray data collected by the KASCADE air shower experiment are competitive in terms of quality and statistics with those of modern observatories. We present a novel mass composition analysis based on archival data acquired from 1998 to 2013 provided by the KASCADE Cosmic ray Data Center (KCDC). The analysis is based on modern machine learning techniques trained on simulation data provided by KCDC. We present spectra for individual groups of primary nuclei, the results of a search for anisotropies in the event arrival directions taking mass composition into account, and search for gamma-ray candidates in the PeV energy domain.Comment: Proceedings of the 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC2021), 12-23 July 2021, Berlin, Germany - Onlin

Optimal Choice of the Softening Length and Time-Step in N-body Simulations

A criterion for the choice of optimal softening length $\epsilon$ and time-step $dt$ for $N$-body simulations of a collisionless stellar system is analyzed. Plummer and Hernquist spheres are used as models to follow how changes in various parameters of an initially equilibrium stable model depend on $\epsilon$ and $dt$. These dependences are used to derive a criterion for choosing $\epsilon$ and $dt$. The resulting criterion is compared to Merritt's criterion for choosing the softening length, which is based on minimizing the mean irregular force acting on a particle with unit mass. Our criterion for choosing $\epsilon$ and $dt$ indicate that $\epsilon$ must be a factor of 1.5-2 smaller than the mean distance between particles in the densest regions to be resolved. The time-step must always be adjusted to the chosen $\epsilon$ (the particle must, on average, travel a distance smaller than $0.5\epsilon$ during one time-step). An algorithm for solving N-body problems with adaptive variations of the softening length is discussed in connection with the task of choosing $\epsilon$, but is found not to be promising.Comment: To be published in Astonomy Reports, 11 pages, 5 figure

The Polar Stellar Ring and Dark Halo of NGC 5907

Numerical simulations of the disruption of a dwarf companion moving in the polar plane of a massive galaxy are presented. The constructed model is compared with observational data on the recently discovered low-surface-brightness stellar ring around galaxy NGC 5907. Constraints on the ring lifetime (<=1.5 gyr after the first approach of the galaxies), on the structure of companion -- the ring presecursor, and on mass of dark halo of the main galaxy in whose gravitational field the companion moves are provided. The dark halo mass within 50 kpc of NGC 5907 center cannot exceed 3 or 4 "visible" masses.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, article published in Astronomy Letters, Vol.26, No.5, 2000, pp277-28

Mixed Morphology Pairs as a Breeding Ground for Active Nuclei

Mixed morphology pairs offer a simplification of the interaction equation that involves a gas-rich fast rotator paired with a gas-poor slow rotator. In past low resolution IRAS studies it was assumed that the bulk of the far infrared emission originated in the spiral component. However our ISO studies revealed a surprising number of early-type components with significant IR emission some of which turned out to show active nuclei. This motivated us to look at the current statistics of active nuclei in mixed pairs using the FIR-radio continuum correlation as a diagnostic. We find a clear excess of early-type components with radio continuum emission and an active nucleus. We suggest that they arise more often in mixed pairs via cross fueling of gas from the spiral companion. This fuel is more efficiently channeled into the nucleus of the slow rotating receptor. In a sample of 112 mixed-morphology pairs from the Karachentsev catalog we find that about 25-30% of detected mixed pairs show a displacement from the radio-FIR relation defined by normal star forming galaxies. The latter objects show excess radio continuum emission while others extend the relation to unusually high radio and FIR flux levels. Many of the outliers/extreme emitters involve an early-type component with an active nucleus. The paired E/S0 galaxies in the sample exhibit a significant excess detection fraction and a marginal excess luminosity distribution compared to isolated unpaired E/S0 galaxies.Comment: 3 figure

Bending Instability of Stellar Disks: The Stabilizing Effect of a Compact Bulge

The saturation conditions for bending modes in inhomogeneous thin stellar disks that follow from an analysis of the dispersion relation are compared with those derived from $N$-body simulations. In the central regions of inhomogeneous disks, the reserve of disk strength against the growth of bending instability is smaller than that for a homogeneous layer. The spheroidal component (a dark halo, a bulge) is shown to have a stabilizing effect. The latter turns out to depend not only on the total mass of the spherical component, but also on the degree of mass concentration toward the center. We conclude that the presence of a compact (not necessarily massive) bulge in spiral galaxies may prove to be enough to suppress the bending perturbations that increase the disk thickness. This conclusion is corroborated by our $N$-body simulations in which we simulated the evolution of almost equilibrium, but unstable finite-thickness disks in the presence of spheroidal components. The final disk thickness at the same total mass of the spherical component (dark halo + bulge) has been found to be much smaller than that in the simulations where a concentrated bulge is present.Comment: 27 pages including 10 figures. To be published in Astronomy Letters (v.31, No. 1, pp. 15-29 2005

Mechanisms of the Vertical Secular Heating of a Stellar Disk

We investigate the nonlinear growth stages of bending instability in stellar disks with exponential radial density profiles.We found that the unstable modes are global (the wavelengths are larger than the disk scale lengths) and that the instability saturation level is much higher than that following from a linear criterion. The instability saturation time scales are of the order of one billion years or more. For this reason, the bending instability can play an important role in the secular heating of a stellar disk in the $z$ direction. In an extensive series of numerical $N$-body simulations with a high spatial resolution, we were able to scan in detail the space of key parameters (the initial disk thickness $z_0$, the Toomre parameter $Q$, and the ratio of dark halo mass to disk mass $M_{\rm h} / M_{\rm d}$). We revealed three distinct mechanisms of disk heating in the $z$ direction: bending instability of the entire disk, bending instability of the bar, and heating on vertical inhomogeneities in the distribution of stellar matter.Comment: 22 pages including 8 figures. To be published in Astronomy Letters (v.29, 2003