1,106 research outputs found
Ballistic magnon heat conduction and possible Poiseuille flow in the helimagnetic insulator CuOSeO
We report on the observation of magnon thermal conductivity 70
W/mK near 5 K in the helimagnetic insulator CuOSeO, exceeding that
measured in any other ferromagnet by almost two orders of magnitude. Ballistic,
boundary-limited transport for both magnons and phonons is established below 1
K, and Poiseuille flow of magnons is proposed to explain a magnon mean-free
path substantially exceeding the specimen width for the least defective
specimens in the range 2 K 10 K. These observations establish
CuOSeO as a model system for studying long-wavelength magnon dynamics.Comment: 10pp, 9 figures, accepted PRB (Editor's Suggestion
AGN X-ray variability in the XMM-COSMOS survey
We took advantage of the observations carried out by XMM in the COSMOS field
during 3.5 years, to study the long term variability of a large sample of AGN
(638 sources), in a wide range of redshift (0.1<z<3.5) and X-ray luminosity
(L(2-10)). Both a simple statistical method to asses the
significance of variability, and the Normalized Excess Variance
() parameter, where used to obtain a quantitative measurement
of the variability. Variability is found to be prevalent in most AGN, whenever
we have good statistic to measure it, and no significant differences between
type-1 and type-2 AGN were found. A flat (slope -0.23+/-0.03) anti-correlation
between and X-ray luminosity is found, when significantly
variable sources are considered all together. When divided in three redshift
bins, the anti-correlation becomes stronger and evolving with z, with higher
redshift AGN being more variable. We prove however that this effect is due to
the pre-selection of variable sources: considering all the sources with
available measurement, the evolution in redshift disappears.
For the first time we were also able to study the long term X-ray variability
as a function of and Eddington ratio, for a large sample of AGN
spanning a wide range of redshift. An anti-correlation between
and is found, with the same slope of the
anti-correlation between and X-ray luminosity, suggesting
that the latter can be a byproduct of the former one. No clear correlation is
found between and the Eddington ratio in our sample.
Finally, no correlation is found between the X-ray and the
optical variability.Comment: 14 Pages, 13 figures. Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal on
December 6, 201
Linking black-hole growth with host galaxies: The accretion-stellar mass relation and its cosmic evolution
Previous studies suggest that the growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs)
may be fundamentally related to host-galaxy stellar mass (). To
investigate this SMBH growth- relation in detail, we calculate
long-term SMBH accretion rate as a function of and redshift
[] over ranges of
and . Our
is constrained by high-quality survey data
(GOODS-South, GOODS-North, and COSMOS), and by the stellar mass function and
the X-ray luminosity function. At a given , is
higher at high redshift. This redshift dependence is stronger in more massive
systems (for , is
three decades higher at than at ), possibly due to AGN feedback.
Our results indicate that the ratio between and average
star formation rate () rises toward high at a
given redshift. This dependence on
does not support the scenario that SMBH and galaxy growth are in
lockstep. We calculate SMBH mass history [] based on our
and the from the literature, and
find that the - relation has weak redshift evolution since
. The ratio is higher toward massive galaxies:
it rises from at to at . Our predicted ratio
at high is similar to that observed in local giant ellipticals,
suggesting that SMBH growth from mergers is unlikely to dominate over growth
from accretion.Comment: 27 pages, 21 figures, 2 tables; MNRAS accepte
The XMM-Newton wide-field survey in the COSMOS field. IV: X-ray spectral properties of Active Galactic Nuclei
We present a detailed spectral analysis of point-like X-ray sources in the
XMM-COSMOS field. Our sample of 135 sources only includes those that have more
than 100 net counts in the 0.3-10 keV energy band and have been identified
through optical spectroscopy. The majority of the sources are well described by
a simple power-law model with either no absorption (76%) or a significant
intrinsic, absorbing column (20%).As expected, the distribution of intrinsic
absorbing column densities is markedly different between AGN with or without
broad optical emission lines. We find within our sample four Type-2 QSOs
candidates (L_X > 10^44 erg/s, N_H > 10^22 cm^-2), with a spectral energy
distribution well reproduced by a composite Seyfert-2 spectrum, that
demonstrates the strength of the wide field XMM/COSMOS survey to detect these
rare and underrepresented sources.Comment: 16 pages, ApJS COSMOS Special Issue, 2007 in press. The
full-resolution version is available at
http://www.mpe.mpg.de/XMMCosmos/PAPERS/mainieri_cosmos.ps.g
A wide angle tail radio galaxy in the COSMOS field: evidence for cluster formation
We have identified a complex galaxy cluster system in the COSMOS field via a
wide angle tail (WAT) radio galaxy consistent with the idea that WAT galaxies
can be used as tracers of clusters. The WAT galaxy, CWAT-01, is coincident with
an elliptical galaxy resolved in the HST-ACS image. Using the COSMOS
multiwavelength data set, we derive the radio properties of CWAT-01 and use the
optical and X-ray data to investigate its host environment. The cluster hosting
CWAT-01 is part of a larger assembly consisting of a minimum of four X-ray
luminous clusters within ~2 Mpc distance. We apply hydrodynamical models that
combine ram pressure and buoyancy forces on CWAT-01. These models explain the
shape of the radio jets only if the galaxy's velocity relative to the
intra-cluster medium (ICM) is in the range of about 300-550 km/s which is
higher than expected for brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) in relaxed systems.
This indicates that the CWAT-01 host cluster is not relaxed, but is possibly
dynamically young. We argue that such a velocity could have been induced
through subcluster merger within the CWAT-01 parent cluster and/or
cluster-cluster interactions. Our results strongly indicate that we are
witnessing the formation of a large cluster from an assembly of multiple
clusters, consistent with the hierarchical scenario of structure formation. We
estimate the total mass of the final cluster to be approximately 20% of the
mass of the Coma cluster.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures; accepted for publication in ApJS, COSMOS
special issue; added color figure (Fig. 13) which was previously unavailabl
Observational Constraints on the Dependence of Radio-Quiet Quasar X-ray Emission on Black Hole Mass and Accretion Rate
In this work we use a sample of 318 radio-quiet quasars (RQQ) to investigate
the dependence of the ratio of optical/UV flux to X-ray flux, alpha_ox, and the
X-ray photon index, Gamma_X, on black hole mass, UV luminosity relative to
Eddington, and X-ray luminosity relative to Eddington. Our sample is drawn from
the SDSS, with X-ray data from ROSAT and Chandra, and optical data mostly from
the SDSS; 153 of these sources have estimates of Gamma_X from Chandra. We
estimate M_BH using standard estimates derived from the Hbeta, Mg II, and C IV
broad emission lines. Our sample spans a broad range in black hole mass (10^6 <
M_BH / M_Sun < 10^10) and redshift (z < 4.8). We find that alpha_ox increases
with increasing M_BH and L_UV / L_Edd, and decreases with increasing L_X /
L_Edd. In addition, we confirm the correlation seen in previous studies between
Gamma_X and M_BH and both L_UV / L_Edd and L_X / L_Edd; however, we also find
evidence that the dependence of Gamma_X of these quantities is not monotonic,
changing sign at M_BH ~ 3 x 10^8 M_Sun. We argue that the alpha_ox correlations
imply that the fraction of bolometric luminosity emitted by the accretion disk,
as compared to the corona, increases with increasing accretion rate relative to
Eddington. In addition, we argue that the Gamma_X trends are caused by a
dependence of X-ray spectral index on accretion rate. We discuss our results
within the context of accretion models with comptonizing corona, and discuss
the implications of the alpha_ox correlations for quasar feedback. To date,
this is the largest study of the dependence of RQQ X-ray parameters on black
hole mass and related quantities, and the first to attempt to correct for the
large statistical uncertainty in the broad line mass estimates.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 23 pages, 15 figures, emulateapj styl
Magellan Spectroscopy of AGN Candidates in the COSMOS Field
We present spectroscopic redshifts for the first 466 X-ray and radio-selected
AGN targets in the 2 deg^2 COSMOS field. Spectra were obtained with the IMACS
instrument on the Magellan (Baade) telescope, using the nod-and-shuffle
technique. We identify a variety of Type 1 and Type 2 AGN, as well as red
galaxies with no emission lines. Our redshift yield is 72% down to i_AB=24,
although the yield is >90% for i_AB<22. We expect the completeness to increase
as the survey continues. When our survey is complete and additional redshifts
from the zCOSMOS project are included, we anticipate ~1100 AGN with redshifts
over the entire COSMOS field. Our redshift survey is consistent with an
obscured AGN population that peaks at z~0.7, although further work is necessary
to disentangle the selection effects.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures. Accepted to ApJS special COSMOS issue. The full
electronic version of Table 2 can be found at
http://shaihulud.as.arizona.edu/~jtrump/tab2.tx
Testing Diagnostics of Nuclear Activity and Star Formation in Galaxies at z>1
We present some of the first science data with the new Keck/MOSFIRE
instrument to test the effectiveness of different AGN/SF diagnostics at z~1.5.
MOSFIRE spectra were obtained in three H-band multi-slit masks in the GOODS-S
field, resulting in two hour exposures of 36 emission-line galaxies. We compare
X-ray data with the traditional emission-line ratio diagnostics and the
alternative mass-excitation and color-excitation diagrams, combining new
MOSFIRE infrared data with previous HST/WFC3 infrared spectra (from the 3D-HST
survey) and multiwavelength photometry. We demonstrate that a high [OIII]/Hb
ratio is insufficient as an AGN indicator at z>1. For the four X-ray detected
galaxies, the classic diagnostics ([OIII]/Hb vs. [NII]/Ha and [SII]/Ha) remain
consistent with X-ray AGN/SF classification. The X-ray data also suggest that
"composite" galaxies (with intermediate AGN/SF classification) host bona-fide
AGNs. Nearly 2/3 of the z~1.5 emission-line galaxies have nuclear activity
detected by either X-rays or the classic diagnostics. Compared to the X-ray and
line ratio classifications, the mass-excitation method remains effective at
z>1, but we show that the color-excitation method requires a new calibration to
successfully identify AGNs at these redshifts.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted to ApJ Letter
The Chandra COSMOS Survey: III. Optical and Infrared Identification of X-ray Point Sources
The Chandra COSMOS Survey (C-COSMOS) is a large, 1.8 Ms, Chandra program that
has imaged the central 0.9 deg^2 of the COSMOS field down to limiting depths of
1.9 10^-16 erg cm^-2 s-1 in the 0.5-2 keV band, 7.3 10^-16 erg cm^-2 s^-1 in
the 2-10 keV band, and 5.7 10^-16 erg cm^-2 s-1 in the 0.5-10 keV band. In this
paper we report the i, K and 3.6micron identifications of the 1761 X-ray point
sources. We use the likelihood ratio technique to derive the association of
optical/infrared counterparts for 97% of the X-ray sources. For most of the
remaining 3%, the presence of multiple counterparts or the faintness of the
possible counterpart prevented a unique association. For only 10 X-ray sources
we were not able to associate a counterpart, mostly due to the presence of a
very bright field source close by. Only 2 sources are truly empty fields.
Making use of the large number of X-ray sources, we update the "classic locus"
of AGN and define a new locus containing 90% of the AGN in the survey with full
band luminosity >10^42 erg/s. We present the linear fit between the total i
band magnitude and the X-ray flux in the soft and hard band, drawn over 2
orders of magnitude in X-ray flux, obtained using the combined C-COSMOS and
XMM-COSMOS samples. We focus on the X-ray to optical flux ratio (X/O) and we
test its known correlation with redshift and luminosity, and a recently
introduced anti-correlation with the concentration index (C). We find a strong
anti-correlation (though the dispersion is of the order of 0.5 dex) between C
and X/O, computed in the hard band, and that 90% of the obscured AGN in the
sample with morphological information live in galaxies with regular morphology
(bulgy and disky/spiral), suggesting that secular processes govern a
significant fraction of the BH growth at X-ray luminosities of 10^43- 10^44.5
erg/s.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in ApJS. The
catalog is available at the urls listed in the pape
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