2,752 research outputs found
3C 48: Stellar Populations and the Kinematics of Stars and Gas in the Host Galaxy
We present deep Keck LRIS spectroscopy of the host galaxy of 3C 48. Our
observations at various slit positions sample the different luminous components
near the quasar, including the apparent tidal tail to the NW and several strong
emission line regions.
By fitting Bruzual & Charlot (1996) population synthesis models to our
spectra, we obtain ages for the most recent major episodes of star formation in
various parts of the host galaxy covered by our slits. There is vigorous
current star formation in regions just NE and SE of the quasar and
post-starburst regions with ages up to ~10^8 years in other parts of the host
galaxy, but most of the NW tidal tail shows no sign of significant recent star
formation. We use these model fits, together with the kinematics of the stars
and gas, to outline a plausible evolutionary history for the host galaxy, its
recent starburst activity, the triggering of the quasar, and the interaction of
the radio jet with the ambient gas.
There is strong evidence that the 3C 48 host is an ongoing merger, and that
it is probably near the peak of its starburst activity. Nevertheless, the
quasar itself seems to suffer little extinction, perhaps because we are viewing
it along a particularly favorable line-of-sight.Comment: 27 pages plus 11 figures (7 postscript, 4 gif). Postscript version
including figures (1840 kb) available at
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~canaguby/preprints.html . Accepted for publication
in Ap
A Disk Galaxy of Old Stars at z ~ 2.5
We describe observations of a galaxy in the field of the radio
galaxy 4C 23.56, photometrically selected to have a spectral-energy
distribution consistent with an old stellar population at the redshift of the
radio galaxy. Exploration of redshift--stellar-population-reddening constraints
from the photometry indicates that the galaxy is indeed at a redshift close to
that of 4C23.56, that the age of the most recent significant star formation is
roughly >~2 Gyr, and that reddening is fairly modest, with more reddening
required for the younger end of stellar age range. From analysis of a deep
adaptive-optics image of the galaxy, we find that an r^1/4-law profile, common
for local spheroidal galaxies, can be excluded quite strongly. On the other
hand, a pure exponential profile fits remarkably well, while the best fit is
given by a Sersic profile with index n=1.49. Reconstruction of the
two-dimensional form of the galaxy from the best-fit model is consistent with a
disk galaxy with neither a significant bulge component nor gross azimuthal
structure. The assembly of roughly 2L* of old stars into such a configuration
this early in the history of the universe is not easily explainable by any of
the currently popular scenarios for galaxy formation. A galaxy with these
properties would seem to require smooth but rapid infall of the large mass of
gas involved, followed by a burst of extremely vigorous and efficient star
formation in the resulting disk.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, emulateapj.sty, accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
The Extended Emission-Line Region of 4C 37.43
We have explored the nature of the extended emission-line region around the
z=0.37 quasar 4C 37.43, using extensive ground-based and HST imaging and
spectroscopy. The velocity field of the ionized gas shows gradual gradients
within components but large jumps between components, with no obvious global
organization. The HST [O III] image shows radial linear features on the east
side of the QSO that appear to mark the edges of an ionization cone.
Concentrating on the bright emission peaks ~4\arcsec$ east of the quasar, we
find through modeling that we require at least two density regimes contributing
significantly to the observed emission-line spectrum: one with a density of ~2
cm^-3, having essentially unity filling factor, and one with a density of ~500
cm^-3, having a very small (~10^-5) filling factor. Because the temperatures of
these two components are similar, they cannot be in pressure equilibrium, and
there is no obvious source of confinement for the dense regions. We estimate
that the dense regions will dissipate on timescales <~10^4 years and therefore
need to be continuously regenerated, most likely by shocks. Because we know
that some QSOs, at least, begin their lives in conjunction with merger-driven
massive starbursts in their host galaxies, an attractive interpretation is that
the extended emission region comprises gas that has been expelled as a result
of tidal forces during the merger and is now being shocked by the galactic
superwind from the starburst. This picture is supported by the observed
distribution of the ionized gas, the presence of velocities ranging up to ~700
km s^{-1}, and the existence of at least two QSOs having similarly luminous and
complex extended emission regions that are known to have ultra-luminous IR
galaxy hosts with current or recent starbursts.Comment: 22 pages, incl. 7 figures; to be published in The Astrophysical
Journal, 572 (June 20, 2002 issue
GMRT detection of HI 21 cm associated absorption towards the z=1.2 red quasar 3C 190
We report the GMRT detection of associated HI 21 cm-line absorption in the
z=1.1946 red quasar 3C 190. Most of the absorption is blue-shifted with respect
to the systemic redshift. The absorption, at 647.7 MHz, is broad and
complex, spanning a velocity width of 600 \kms. Since the core is
self-absorbed at this frequency, the absorption is most likely towards the
hotspots. Comparison of the radio and deep optical images reveal linear
filaments in the optical which overlap with the brighter radio jet towards the
south-west. We therefore suggest that most of the HI 21 cm-line absorption
could be occurring in the atomic gas shocked by the south-west jet.Comment: 8 pages, 1 fugure. To appear in Journal of Astrophysics and Astronom
Necessity of Superposition of Macroscopically Distinct States for Quantum Computational Speedup
For quantum computation, we investigate the conjecture that the superposition
of macroscopically distinct states is necessary for a large quantum speedup.
Although this conjecture was supported for a circuit-based quantum computer
performing Shor's factoring algorithm [A. Ukena and A. Shimizu, Phys. Rev. A69
(2004) 022301], it needs to be generalized for it to be applicable to a large
class of algorithms and/or other models such as measurement-based quantum
computers. To treat such general cases, we first generalize the indices for the
superposition of macroscopically distinct states. We then generalize the
conjecture, using the generalized indices, in such a way that it is
unambiguously applicable to general models if a quantum algorithm achieves
exponential speedup. On the basis of this generalized conjecture, we further
extend the conjecture to Grover's quantum search algorithm, whose speedup is
large but quadratic. It is shown that this extended conjecture is also correct.
Since Grover's algorithm is a representative algorithm for unstructured
problems, the present result further supports the conjecture.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. Fixed typos throughout the manuscript. This
version has been publishe
Keck spectroscopy and Spitzer Space Telescope analysis of the outer disk of the Triangulum Spiral Galaxy M33
In an earlier study of the spiral galaxy M33, we photometrically identified
arcs or outer spiral arms of intermediate age (0.6 Gyr - 2 Gyr) carbon stars
precisely at the commencement of the HI-warp. Stars in the arcs were
unresolved, but were likely thermally-pulsing asymptotic giant branch carbon
stars. Here we present Keck I spectroscopy of seven intrinsically bright and
red target stars in the outer, northern arc in M33. The target stars have
estimated visual magnitudes as faint as V \sim 25 mag. Absorption bands of CN
are seen in all seven spectra reported here, confirming their carbon star
status. In addition, we present Keck II spectra of a small area 0.5 degree away
from the centre of M33; the target stars there are also identified as carbon
stars. We also study the non-stellar PAH dust morphology of M33 secured using
IRAC on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. The Spitzer 8 micron image attests
to a change of spiral phase at the start of the HI warp. The Keck spectra
confirm that carbon stars may safely be identified on the basis of their red
J-K_s colours in the outer, low metallicity disk of M33. We propose that the
enhanced number of carbon stars in the outer arms are an indicator of recent
star formation, fueled by gas accretion from the HI-warp reservoir.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted in A&
Reverse quantum state engineering using electronic feedback loops
We propose an all-electronic technique to manipulate and control interacting
quantum systems by unitary single-jump feedback conditioned on the outcome of a
capacitively coupled electrometer and in particular a single-electron
transistor. We provide a general scheme to stabilize pure states in the quantum
system and employ an effective Hamiltonian method for the quantum master
equation to elaborate on the nature of stabilizable states and the conditions
under which state purification can be achieved. The state engineering within
the quantum feedback scheme is shown to be linked with the solution of an
inverse eigenvalue problem. Two applications of the feedback scheme are
presented in detail: (i) stabilization of delocalized pure states in a single
charge qubit and (ii) entanglement stabilization in two coupled charge qubits.
In the latter example we demonstrate the stabilization of a maximally entangled
Bell state for certain detector positions and local feedback operations.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, to be published by New Journal of Physics (2013
Charmed meson decay constants in three-flavor lattice QCD
We present the first lattice QCD calculation with realistic sea quark content
of the D^+ meson decay constant f_{D^+}. We use the MILC Collaboration's
publicly available ensembles of lattice gauge fields, which have a quark sea
with two flavors (up and down) much lighter than a third (strange). We obtain
f_{D^+} = 201 +/- 3 +/- 17 MeV, where the errors are statistical and a
combination of systematic errors. We also obtain f_{D_s} = 249 +/- 3 +/- 16 MeV
for the D_s meson.Comment: note added on recent CLEO measurement; PRL versio
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