4,982 research outputs found
A New Marine Ascomycete from Australia
Most marine pyrenomycetes are lignicolous, but some are epiphytic on marine phanerogims and algae. Meyers (1957) listed 30 species of algae known to be attacked by these fungi. A number of reports dealing with marine ascomycetes on algal hosts appeared before 1900, the most noteworthy being those of Winter (1887), and Jones (1898). Cotton (1908) described a pyrenomycete on Ascophyllum nodosum (L.) Le Jol. and summarized previous reports of ascomycetes found on algae. Reed (1902) collected two species, and Sutherland, in a series of papers (1914-1916), reported several alga-infesting pyrenomycetes. More recently, a number of ascomycetes occurring on algae have been noted (Feldmann, 1957, 1958; Cribb & Herbert, 1954; Cribb & Cribb, 1955, 1960a, b; Wilson & Knoyle, 1961; Kohlmeyer, 1963). This report describes a heretofore unreported pyrenomycete collected from the marine alga, Ballia callitricha Ag. The material was obtained from Warrnambool, Victoria, in waters off southern Australia
Theory of measuring the "Luttinger-g" of a one-dimensional quantum dot
We study electron transport through a quantum dot in a Tomonaga-Luttinger
liquid with an inhomogeneity induced either by a non-uniform electron
interaction or by the presence of tunnel resistances of contacts. The
non-analytic temperature behavior of the conductance peaks show crossovers
determined by the different energy scales associated with the dot and the
inhomogeneity despite the Coulomb blockade remains intact. This suggests an
explanation of recent findings in semiconductor quantum wires and carbon
nanotubes.Comment: 4 pages, 3 colour figures, to be published with Phys. Rev.
Extracting Galaxy Cluster Gas Inhomogeneity from X-ray Surface Brightness: A Statistical Approach and Application to Abell 3667
Our previous analysis indicates that small-scale fluctuations in the
intracluster medium (ICM) from cosmological hydrodynamic simulations follow the
lognormal distribution. In order to test the lognormal nature of the ICM
directly against X-ray observations of galaxy clusters, we develop a method of
extracting statistical information about the three-dimensional properties of
the fluctuations from the two-dimensional X-ray surface brightness.
We first create a set of synthetic clusters with lognormal fluctuations.
Performing mock observations of these synthetic clusters, we find that the
resulting X-ray surface brightness fluctuations also follow the lognormal
distribution fairly well. Systematic analysis of the synthetic clusters
provides an empirical relation between the density fluctuations and the X-ray
surface brightness. We analyze \chandra observations of the galaxy cluster
Abell 3667, and find that its X-ray surface brightness fluctuations follow the
lognormal distribution. While the lognormal model was originally motivated by
cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, this is the first observational
confirmation of the lognormal signature in a real cluster. Finally we check the
synthetic cluster results against clusters from cosmological hydrodynamic
simulations. As a result of the complex structure exhibited by simulated
clusters, the empirical relation shows large scatter. Nevertheless we are able
to reproduce the true value of the fluctuation amplitude of simulated clusters
within a factor of two from their X-ray surface brightness alone.
Our current methodology combined with existing observational data is useful
in describing and inferring the statistical properties of the three dimensional
inhomogeneity in galaxy clusters.Comment: 34 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Negative differential conductance induced by spin-charge separation
Spin-charge states of correlated electrons in a one-dimensional quantum dot
attached to interacting leads are studied in the non-linear transport regime.
With non-symmetric tunnel barriers, regions of negative differential
conductance induced by spin-charge separation are found. They are due to a
correlation-induced trapping of higher-spin states without magnetic field, and
associated with a strong increase in the fluctuations of the electron spin.Comment: REVTEX, 4 pages including 3 figures; Accepted for publication on
Physical Review Letter
X-raying the Star Formation History of the Universe
The current models of early star and galaxy formation are based upon the
hierarchical growth of dark matter halos, within which the baryons condense
into stars after cooling down from a hot diffuse phase. The latter is
replenished by infall of outer gas into the halo potential wells; this includes
a fraction previously expelled and preheated, due to momentum and energy fed
back by the SNe which follow the star formation. We identify such an implied
hot phase with the medium known to radiate powerful X-rays in clusters and in
groups of galaxies. We show that the amount of the hot component required by
the current star formation models is enough to be observable out to redshifts
in forthcoming deep surveys from {\it Chandra} and {\it XMM},
especially in case the star formation rate is high at such and earlier .
These X-ray emissions constitute a necessary counterpart, and will provide a
much wanted probe of the SF process itself (in particular, of the SN feedback),
to parallel and complement the currently debated data from optical and IR
observations of the young stars.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publicatin in ApJ
The Fall of the Quasar Population
We derive quantitative predictions of the optical and X-ray luminosity
functions (LF) for QSs in the redshift range . Based on BH paradigm, we
investigate how the accretion is controlled by the surrounding structures, as
these grow hierarchically. We argue that for efficient black hole
fueling is triggered by the encounters of a gas-rich host with its companions
in a group. The dispersion of the dynamical parameters in the encounters
produces a double power-law LF. Strong luminosity evolution (LE) is produced as
these encounters deplete the gas supply in the host; an additional, milder
density evolution obtains since the interactions become progressively rarer as
the groups grow richer but less dense. From the agreement with the optical and
the X-ray data, we conclude that the evolution of the bright quasars is
articulated in two ways. Earlier than the gas-rich protogalaxies grow by
merging, which also induces parallel growth of central holes accreting at
Eddington rates. In the later era of group assemblage the host encounters with
companions drive onto already existing holes further but meager accretion;
these consume the gas in the hosts, and cause supply-limited emissions which
are intermittent, go progressively sub-Eddington and peter out. Then other
fueling processes come to the foreground; we discuss the faint emissions,
especially noticeable in X-rays, which are expected when hosts in the field
cannibalize satellite galaxies with their meager gas contents.Comment: 12 pages Latex + 3 EPS figures, ApJ in press, we have corrected the
previous printing problems with the style \ca
Images, structural properties and metal abundances of galaxy clusters observed with Chandra ACIS-I at 0.1<z<1.3
We have assembled a sample of 115 galaxy clusters at 0.1<z<1.3 with archived
Chandra ACIS-I observations. We present X-ray images of the clusters and make
available region files containing contours of the smoothed X-ray emission. The
structural properties of the clusters were investigated and we found a
significant absence of relaxed clusters (as determined by centroid shift
measurements) at z>0.5. The slope of the surface brightness profiles at large
radii were steeper on average by 15% than the slope obtained by fitting a
simple beta-model to the emission. This slope was also found to be correlated
with cluster temperature, with some indication that the correlation is weaker
for the clusters at z>0.5. We measured the mean metal abundance of the cluster
gas as a function of redshift and found significant evolution, with the
abundances dropping by 50% between z=0.1 and z~1. This evolution was still
present (although less significant) when the cluster cores were excluded from
the abundance measurements, indicating that the evolution is not solely due to
the disappearance of relaxed, cool core clusters (which are known to have
enhanced core metal abundances) from the population at z>0.5.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJS. Updated to
match published version. Redshifts of two clusters (RXJ1701 and CL0848)
corrected and two observations of MACSJ0744.8 have been combined into one.
Conclusions unchanged. A version with images of all of the clusters is
available at http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~bmaughan/clusters.htm
X-ray Over-Luminous Elliptical Galaxies: A New Class of Mass Concentrations in the Universe?
We detect four isolated, X-ray over-luminous (Lx>2e43 [h/0.5]**-2 erg/s)
elliptical galaxies (OLEGs) in our 160 square degree ROSAT PSPC survey. The
extent of their X-ray emission, total X-ray luminosity, total mass, and mass of
the hot gas in these systems correspond to poor clusters, and the optical
luminosity of the central galaxies (M_R<-22.5 + 5 lg h) is comparable to that
of cluster cDs. However, there are no detectable fainter galaxy concentrations
around the central elliptical. The mass-to-light ratio within the radius of
detectable X-ray emission is in the range 250-450 Msun/Lsun, which is 2-3 times
higher than typically found in clusters or groups. These objects can be the
result of galaxy merging within a group. However, their high M/L values are
difficult to explain in this scenario. OLEGs must have been undisturbed for a
very long time, which makes them the ultimate examples of systmes in
hydrostatic equilibrium. The number density of OLEGs is n=2.4(+3.1-1.2}x10**-7
(h/0.5)**-3 Mpc**-3 at the 90% confidence. They comprise 20% of all clusters
and groups of comparable X-ray luminosity, and nearly all galaxies brighter
than M_R=-22.5. The estimated contirubution of OLEGs to the total mass density
in the Universe is close to that of T>7 keV clusters.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, uses emulateapj.sty, submitted to ApJ Letter
Mass Models and Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect Predictions for a Flux Limited Sample of 22 Nearby X-Ray Clusters
We define a 90% complete, volume-limited sample of 31 z<0.1 x-ray clusters
and present a systematic analysis of public ROSAT PSPC data on 22 of these
objects. Our efforts are undertaken in support of the Penn/OVRO SZE survey, and
to this end we present predictions for the inverse Compton optical depth
towards all 22 of these clusters. We have performed detailed Monte Carlo
simulations to understand the effects of the cluster profile uncertainties on
the SZE predictions given the OVRO 5.5-meter telescope beam and switching
patterns; we find that the profile uncertainties are one of the least
significant components of our error budget for SZE-based distance measurements.
We also present baryonic masses and baryon mass fractions derived under the
assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium for these 22 clusters. The mean baryonic
mass fraction within R_500 \sim 500 h^-1 kpc is (7.02 \pm 0.28) x 10^-2 h^-3/2,
or (19.8 \pm 0.8) x 10^-2 for h=0.5. We confirm the Allen et al. (1993) claim
of an excess absorbing column density towards Abell 478, but do not find
similar anomalies in the other 21 clusters in our sample. We also find some
evidence for an excess of soft counts in the ROSAT PSPC data.
A measurement of H_o using these models and OVRO SZE determinations will be
presented in a second paper.Comment: 51 pages, 6 figures included in text. Added comparison of different
cosmologies; accepted for publication in Ap
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