9,832 research outputs found
Measuring the Radiative Histories of QSOs with the Transverse Proximity Effect
Since the photons that stream from QSOs alter the ionization state of the gas
they traverse, any changes to a QSO's luminosity will produce
outward-propagating ionization gradients in the surrounding intergalactic gas.
This paper shows that at redshift z~3 the gradients will alter the gas's
Lyman-alpha absorption opacity enough to produce a detectable signature in the
spectra of faint background galaxies. By obtaining noisy (S:N~4) low-resolution
(~7A) spectra of a several dozen background galaxies in an R~20' field
surrounding an isotropically radiating 18th magnitude QSO at z=3, it should be
possible to detect any order-of-magnitude changes to the QSO's luminosity over
the previous 50--100 Myr and to measure the time t_Q since the onset of the
QSO's current luminous outburst with an accuracy of ~5 Myr for t_Q<~50 Myr.
Smaller fields-of-view are acceptable for shorter QSO lifetimes. The major
uncertainty, aside from cosmic variance, will be the shape and orientation of
the QSO's ionization cone. This can be determined from the data if the number
of background sources is increased by a factor of a few. The method will then
provide a direct test of unification models for AGN.Comment: Accepted for publication in the ApJ. 16 page
Experimental study of the stability and flow characteristics of floating liquid columns confined between rotating disks
A low Bond number simulation technique was used to establish the stability limits of cylindrical and conical floating liquid columns under conditions of isorotation, equal counter rotation, rotation of one end only, and parallel axis offset. The conditions for resonance in cylindrical liquid columns perturbed by axial, sinusoidal vibration of one end face are also reported. All tests were carried out under isothermal conditions with water and silicone fluids of various viscosities. A technique for the quantitative measurement of stream velocity within a floating, isothermal, liquid column confined between rotatable disks was developed. In the measurement, small, light scattering particles were used as streamline markers in common arrangement, but the capability of the measurement was extended by use of stereopair photography system to provide quantitative data. Results of velocity measurements made under a few selected conditions, which established the precision and accuracy of the technique, are given. The general qualitative features of the isothermal flow patterns under various conditions of end face rotation resulting from both still photography and motion pictures are presented
Constraints on Lorentz Invariance Violation using INTEGRAL/IBIS observations of GRB041219A
One of the experimental tests of Lorentz invariance violation is to measure
the helicity dependence of the propagation velocity of photons originating in
distant cosmological obejcts. Using a recent determination of the distance of
the Gamma-Ray Burst GRB 041219A, for which a high degree of polarization is
observed in the prompt emission, we are able to improve by 4 orders of
magnitude the existing constraint on Lorentz invariance violation, arising from
the phenomenon of vacuum birefringence.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication as a Rapid Communication
in Physical Review
Unpolarized states and hidden polarization
We capitalize on a multipolar expansion of the polarisation density matrix,
in which multipoles appear as successive moments of the Stokes variables. When
all the multipoles up to a given order vanish, we can properly say that the
state is th-order unpolarized, as it lacks of polarization information to
that order. First-order unpolarized states coincide with the corresponding
classical ones, whereas unpolarized to any order tally with the quantum notion
of fully invariant states. In between these two extreme cases, there is a rich
variety of situations that are explored here. The existence of \textit{hidden}
polarisation emerges in a natural way in this context.Comment: 7 pages, 3 eps-color figures. Submitted to PRA. Comments welcome
Morphological number-count and redshift distributions to I < 26 from the Hubble Deep Field: Implications for the evolution of Ellipticals, Spirals and Irregulars
We combine the photometric redshift data of Fernandez-Soto et al. (1997) with
the morphological data of Odewahn et al. (1996) for all galaxies with I < 26.0
detected in the Hubble Deep Field. From this combined catalog we generate the
morphological galaxy number-counts and corresponding redshift distributions and
compare these to the predictions of high normalization zero- and passive-
evolution models. From this comparison we conclude the following: (1) E/S0s are
seen in numbers and over a redshift range consistent with zero- or minimal
passive- evolution to I = 24. Beyond this limit fewer E/S0s are observed than
predicted implying a net negative evolutionary process --- luminosity dimming,
disassembly or masking by dust --- at I > 24. (2) Spiral galaxies are present
in numbers consistent with zero- evolution predictions to I = 22. Beyond this
magnitude some net- positive evolution is required. Although the number-counts
are consistent with the passive-evolution predictions to I=26.0 the redshift
distributions favor number AND luminosity evolution. (3) There is no obvious
explanation for the late-type/irregular class and this category requires
further subdivision. While a small fraction of the population lies at low
redshift (i.e. true irregulars), the majority lie at redshifts, 1 < z < 3. At z
> 1.5 mergers are frequent and, taken in conjunction with the absence of normal
spirals at z > 2, the logical inference is that they represent the progenitors
of normal spirals forming via hierarchical merging.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, colour plates available from
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/~spd/bib.htm
Proper motions in the VVV Survey: Results for more than 15 million stars across NGC 6544
Context: In the last six years, the VVV survey mapped 562 sq. deg. across the
bulge and southern disk of the Galaxy. However, a detailed study of these
regions, which includes globular clusters (GCs) and thousands of open
clusters is by no means an easy challenge. High differential reddening and
severe crowding along the line of sight makes highly hamper to reliably
distinguish stars belonging to different populations and/or systems. Aims: The
aim of this study is to separate stars that likely belong to the Galactic GC
NGC 6544 from its surrounding field by means of proper motion (PM) techniques.
Methods: This work was based upon a new astrometric reduction method optimized
for images of the VVV survey. Results: Photometry over the six years baseline
of the survey allowed us to obtain a mean precision of mas/yr, in
each PM coordinate, for stars with Ks < 15 mag. In the area studied here,
cluster stars separate very well from field stars, down to the main sequence
turnoff and below, allowing us to derive for the first time the absolute PM of
NGC 6544. Isochrone fitting on the clean and differential reddening corrected
cluster color magnitude diagram yields an age of 11-13 Gyr, and
metallicity [Fe/H] = -1.5 dex, in agreement with previous studies restricted to
the cluster core. We were able to derive the cluster orbit assuming an
axisymmetric model of the Galaxy and conclude that NGC 6544 is likely a halo
GC. We have not detected tidal tail signatures associated to the cluster, but a
remarkable elongation in the galactic center direction has been found. The
precision achieved in the PM determination also allows us to separate bulge
stars from foreground disk stars, enabling the kinematical selection of bona
fide bulge stars across the whole survey area. Our results show that VVV data
is perfectly suitable for this kind of analysis.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, accepted in A&
The Transverse Proximity Effect: A Probe to the Environment, Anisotropy, and Megayear Variability of QSOs
The transverse proximity effect is the expected decrease in the strength of
the Lya forest absorption in a QSO spectrum when another QSO lying close to the
line of sight enhances the photoionization rate above that due to the average
cosmic ionizing background. We select three QSOs from the Early Data Release of
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that have nearby foreground QSOs, with proper line
of sight tangential separations of 0.50, 0.82, and 1.10 h^{-1} Mpc. We estimate
that the ionizing flux from the foreground QSO should increase the
photoionization rate by a factor (94, 13, 13) in these three cases, which would
be clearly detectable in the first QSO and marginally so in the other two. We
do not detect the transverse proximity effect. Three possible explanations are
provided: an increase of the gas density in the vicinity of QSOs, time
variability, and anisotropy of the QSO emission. We find that the increase of
gas density near QSOs can be important if they are located in the most massive
halos present at high redshift, but is not enough to fully explain the absence
of the transverse proximity effect. Anisotropy requires an unrealistically
small opening angle of the QSO emission. Variability demands that the
luminosity of the QSO with the largest predicted effect was much lower 10^6
years ago, whereas the transverse proximity effect observed in the HeII Lya
absorption in QSO 0302-003 by Jakobsen et al. (2003) implies a lifetime longer
than 10^7 years. A combination of all three effects may better explain the lack
of Lya absorption reduction. A larger sample of QSO pairs may be used to
diagnose the environment, anisotropy and lifetime distribution of QSOs.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, accepted by Ap
Instanton traces in lattice gluon correlation functions
Strong coupling constant computed in Landau gauge and MOM renormalization
scheme from lattice two and three gluon Green Functions exhibits an unexpected
behavior in the deep IR, showing a maximum value around . We
analise this coupling below this maximum within a semiclassical approach, were
gluon degrees of freedom at very low energies are described in terms of the
classical solutions of the lagrangian, namely instantons. We provide some new
results concerning the relationship between instantons and the low energy
dynamics of QCD, by analising gluon two- and three-point Green functions
separately and with the help of a cooling procedure to eliminate short range
correlations.Comment: 4 pages, talk given at XXXX Rencontres de Moriond on QCD and Hadronic
Interactions, La Thuile (Italy
Modified instanton profile effects from lattice Green functions
We trace here instantons through the analysis of pure Yang-Mills gluon Green
functions in the Landau gauge for a window of IR momenta (0.4 GeV
GeV). We present lattice results that can be fitted only after substituting the
BPST profile in the Instanton liquid model (ILM) by one based on the Diakonov
and Petrov variational methods. This also leads us to gain information on the
parameters of ILM.Comment: 32 pagex, 6 figure
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