51 research outputs found
Ages of Elliptical Galaxies: Single versus Multi Population Interpretation
New calibrations of spectrophotometric indices of elliptical galaxies as
functions of spectrophotometric indices are presented, permitting estimates of
mean stellar population ages and metallicities. These calibrations are based on
evolutionary models including a two-phase interstellar medium, infall and a
galactic wind.Free parameters were fixed by requiring that models reproduce the
mean trend of data in the color-magnitude diagram as well as in the plane of
indices Hbeta-Mg2 and Mg2-. To improve the location of faint ellipticals(MB
> -20) in the Hbeta-Mg2 diagram, down-sizing was introduced. An application of
our calibrations to a sample of ellipticals and a comparison with results
derived from single stellar population models is given. Our models indicate
that mean population ages span an interval of 7-12 Gyr and are correlated with
metallicities, which range from approximately half up to three times solar.Comment: 10 pages and 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices
of the Royal Astronomical Society Main Journa
New UBVRI colour distributions in E-type galaxies I.The data
New colour distributions have been derived from wide field UBVRI frames for
36 northern bright elliptical galaxies and a few lenticulars. The classical
linear representations of colours against log r were derived, with some
improvements in the accuracy of the zero point colours and of the gradients.
The radial range of signicant measurements was enlarged both towards the
galaxian center and towards the outskirts of each object. Thus, the "central
colours", integrated within a radius of 3", and the "outermost colours"
averaged near the mu_V = 24 surface brightness, could also be obtained. Some
typical deviations of colour profiles from linearity are described.
Colour-colour relations of interest are presented. Very tight correlations are
found between the U-V colour and the Mg2 line-index, measured either at the
galaxian center or at the effective radius.Comment: 34 pages, 10 figures, to appear in A&A journa
The Metallicity of the Redshift 4.16 Quasar BR2248-1242
We estimate the metallicity in the broad emission-line region of the redshift
z=4.16 quasar, BR2248-1242, by comparing line ratios involving nitrogen to
theoretical predictions. BR2248-1242 has unusually narrow emission lines with
large equivalent widths, thus providing a rare opportunity to measure several
line-ratio abundance diagnostics. The combined diagnostics indicate a
metallicity of ~2 times solar. This result suggests that an episode of vigorous
star formation occurred near BR2248-1242 prior to the observed z=4.16 epoch.
The time available for this enrichment episode is only ~1.5 Gyr at z=4.16 (for
H_{0}=65 km s^-1 Mpc^-1, Omega_{m}=0.3 and Omega_Lambda ~< 1). This evidence
for high metallicities and rapid star formation is consistent with the expected
early-epoch evolution of dense galactic nuclei.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. Prepared in AAStex. Submitted to the
Astrophysical Journal Revised version: added 1 referenc
Capture Rates of Compact Objects by Supermassive Black Holes
Capture rates of compact objects were calculated by using a recent solution
of the Fokker-Planck equation in energy-space, including two-body resonant
effects. The fraction of compact objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars and
stellar black holes) was estimated as a function of the luminosity of the
galaxy from a new grid of evolutionary models. Stellar mass densities at the
influence radius of central supermassive black holes were derived from
brightness profiles obtained by Hubble Space Telescope observations. The
present study indicates that the capture rates scale as , consequence of the fact that dwarf galaxies have denser
central regions than luminous objects. If the mass distribution of supermassive
black holes has a lower cutoff at M
(corresponding to the lowest observed supermassive black hole mass, located in
M32), then 9 inspiral events are expected to be seen by LISA (7-8 corresponding
to white dwarf captures and 1-2 to neutron star and stellar black hole
captures) after one year of operation. However, if the mass distribution
extends down to M, then the total number of
expected events increases up to 579 (corresponding to 274 stellar black
hole captures, 194 neutron star captures and 111 white dwarf
captures).Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in PR
VLT Observations of Turnoff stars in the Globular Cluster NGC 6397
VLT-UVES high resolution spectra of seven turnoff stars in the metal-poor
globular cluster NGC 6397 have been obtained. Atmospheric parameters and
abundances of several elements (Li, Na, Mg, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Fe, Ni, Zn and Ba)
were derived for program stars. The mean iron abundance is [Fe/H] = -2.02, with
no star-to-star variation. The mean abundances of the alpha-elements (Ca, Ti)
and of the iron-peak elements (Sc, Cr, Ni) are consistent with abundances
derived for field stars of similar metallicity. Magnesium is also almost solar,
consistent with the values found by Idiart & Th\'evenin (2000) when non-LTE
effects (NLTE hereafter) are taken into account. The sodium abundance derived
for five stars is essentially solar, but one object (A447) is clearly Na
deficient. These results are compatible with the expected abundance range
estimated from the stochastic evolutionary halo model by Argast et al. (2000)
when at the epoch of [Fe/H] -2 the interstellar medium is supposed to
become well-mixed.Comment: to appear in A&
Retrieval behavior and thermodynamic properties of symmetrically diluted Q-Ising neural networks
The retrieval behavior and thermodynamic properties of symmetrically diluted
Q-Ising neural networks are derived and studied in replica-symmetric mean-field
theory generalizing earlier works on either the fully connected or the
symmetrical extremely diluted network. Capacity-gain parameter phase diagrams
are obtained for the Q=3, Q=4 and state networks with uniformly
distributed patterns of low activity in order to search for the effects of a
gradual dilution of the synapses. It is shown that enlarged regions of
continuous changeover into a region of optimal performance are obtained for
finite stochastic noise and small but finite connectivity. The de
Almeida-Thouless lines of stability are obtained for arbitrary connectivity,
and the resulting phase diagrams are used to draw conclusions on the behavior
of symmetrically diluted networks with other pattern distributions of either
high or low activity.Comment: 21 pages, revte
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