Constraints on the Redshift and Luminosity Distributions of Gamma Ray Bursts in an Einstein-de Sitter Universe

Two models of the gamma ray burst population, one with a standard candle luminosity and one with a power law luminosity distribution, are chi^2-fitted to the union of two data sets: the differential number versus peak flux distribution of BATSE's long duration bursts, and the time dilation and energy shifting versus peak flux information of pulse duration time dilation factors, interpulse duration time dilation factors, and peak energy shifting factors. The differential peak flux distribution is corrected for threshold effects at low peak fluxes and at short burst durations, and the pulse duration time dilation factors are also corrected for energy stretching and similar effects. Within an Einstein-de Sitter cosmology, we place strong bounds on the evolution of the bursts, and these bounds are incompatible with a homogeneous population, assuming a power law spectrum and no luminosity evolution. Additionally, under the implied conditions of moderate evolution, the 90% width of the observed luminosity distribution is shown to be < 10^2, which is less constrained than others have demonstrated it to be assuming no evolution. Finally, redshift considerations indicate that if the redshifts of BATSE's faintest bursts are to be compatible with that which is currently known for galaxies, a standard candle luminosity is unacceptable, and in the case of the power law luminosity distribution, a mean luminosity < 10^57 ph s^-1 is favored.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal, 18 pages, LaTe

Optical radiation from the Crab pulsar

Possible mechanisms for producing the optical radiation from the Crab pulsar are proposed and discussed. There are severe difficulties in interpreting the radiation as being produced by an incoherent process, whether it be synchrotron radiation, inverse-Compton radiation or curvature radiation. It is proposed therefore that radiation in the optical part of the spectrum is coherent. In the polar cap model, a small bunch of electrons and positrons forms near each primary electron as a result of the pair-production cascade process. Ambient electric fields give rise to energy separation, as a result of which either the electrons or positrons will dominate the radiation from each bunch. The roll-off in the infrared is ascribed to synchrotron absorption by electrons and positrons located between the surface of the star and the force-balance radius. Various consequences of this model, which may be subjected to observational test, are discussed

A Simple Model for the Absorption of Starlight by Dust in Galaxies

We present a new model to compute the effects of dust on the integrated spectral properties of galaxies, based on an idealized prescription of the main features of the interstellar medium (ISM). The model includes the ionization of HII regions in the interiors of the dense clouds in which stars form and the influence of the finite lifetime of these clouds on the absorption of radiation. We compute the production of emission lines and the absorption of continuum radiation in the HII regions and the subsequent transfer of line and continuum radiation in the surrounding HI regions and the ambient ISM. This enables us to interpret simultaneously all the observations of a homogeneous sample of nearby UV-selected starburst galaxies, including the ratio of far-IR to UV luminosities, the ratio of Halpha to Hbeta luminosities, the Halpha equivalent width, and the UV spectral slope. We show that the finite lifetime of stellar birth clouds is a key ingredient to resolve an apparent discrepancy between the attenuation of line and continuum photons in starburst galaxies. In addition, we find that an effective absorption curve proportional to lambda^-0.7 reproduces the observed relation between the ratio of far-IR to UV luminosities and the UV spectral slope. We interpret this relation most simply as a sequence in the overall dust content of the galaxies. The shallow wavelength dependence of the effective absorption curve is compatible with the steepness of known extinction curves if the dust has a patchy distribution. In particular, we find that a random distribution of discrete clouds with optical depths similar to those in the Milky Way provides a consistent interpretation of all the observations. Our model for absorption can be incorporated easily into any population synthesis model. (abridged)Comment: To appear in the 2000 July 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal; 19 pages with 13 embedded PS figures (emulateapj5.sty

Solving the Cooling Flow Problem of Galaxy Clusters by Dark Matter Neutralino Annihilation

Recent X-ray observations revealed that strong cooling flow of intracluster gas is not present in galaxy clusters, even though predicted theoretically if there is no additional heating source. I show that relativistic particles produced by dark matter neutralino annihilation in cluster cores provide a sufficient heating source to suppress the cooling flow, under reasonable astrophysical circumstances including adiabatic growth of central density profile, with appropriate particle physics parameters for dark matter neutralinos. In contrast to other astrophysical heat sources such as AGNs, this process is a steady and stable feedback over cosmological time scales after turned on.Comment: 4 pages, no figure. Accepted to Phys. Rev. Lett. A few minor revisions and references adde

Nonthermal radiation mechanisms

In this paper we review the possible radiation mechanisms for the observed non-thermal emission in clusters of galaxies, with a primary focus on the radio and hard X-ray emission. We show that the difficulty with the non-thermal, non-relativistic Bremsstrahlung model for the hard X-ray emission, first pointed out by Petrosian (2001) using a cold target approximation, is somewhat alleviated when one treats the problem more exactly by including the fact that the background plasma particle energies are on average a factor of 10 below the energy of the non-thermal particles. This increases the lifetime of the non-thermal particles, and as a result decreases the extreme energy requirement, but at most by a factor of three. We then review the synchrotron and so-called inverse Compton emission by relativistic electrons, which when compared with observations can constrain the value of the magnetic field and energy of relativistic electrons. This model requires a low value of the magnetic field which is far from the equipartition value. We briefly review the possibilities of gamma-ray emission and prospects for GLAST observations. We also present a toy model of the non-thermal electron spectra that are produced by the acceleration mechanisms discussed in an accompanying paper.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews, special issue "Clusters of galaxies: beyond the thermal view", Editor J.S. Kaastra, Chapter 10; work done by an international team at the International Space Science Institute (ISSI), Bern, organised by J.S. Kaastra, A.M. Bykov, S. Schindler & J.A.M. Bleeke

Thermodynamics of the glassy state: effective temperature as an additional system parameter

A system is glassy when the observation time is much smaller than the equilibration time. A unifying thermodynamic picture of the glassy state is presented. Slow configurational modes are in quasi-equilibrium at an effective temperature. It enters thermodynamic relations with the configurational entropy as conjugate variable. Slow fluctuations contribute to susceptibilities via quasi-equilibrium relations, while there is also a configurational term. Fluctuation-dissipation relations also involve the effective temperature. Fluctuations in the energy are non-universal, however. The picture is supported by analytically solving the dynamics of a toy model.Comment: 5 pages, REVTEX. Phys. Rev. Lett, to appea

Neutrinos and Gamma Rays from Galaxy Clusters

The next generation of neutrino and gamma-ray detectors should provide new insights into the creation and propagation of high-energy protons within galaxy clusters, probing both the particle physics of cosmic rays interacting with the background medium and the mechanisms for high-energy particle production within the cluster. In this paper we examine the possible detection of gamma-rays (via the GLAST satellite) and neutrinos (via the ICECUBE and Auger experiments) from the Coma cluster of galaxies, as well as for the gamma-ray bright clusters Abell 85, 1758, and 1914. These three were selected from their possible association with unidentified EGRET sources, so it is not yet entirely certain that their gamma-rays are indeed produced diffusively within the intracluster medium, as opposed to AGNs. It is not obvious why these inconspicuous Abell-clusters should be the first to be seen in gamma-rays, but a possible reason is that all of them show direct evidence of recent or ongoing mergers. Their identification with the EGRET gamma-ray sources is also supported by the close correlation between their radio and (purported) gamma-ray fluxes. Under favorable conditions (including a proton spectral index of 2.5 in the case of Abell 85, and sim 2.3 for Coma, and Abell 1758 and 1914), we expect ICECUBE to make as many as 0.3 neutrino detections per year from the Coma cluster of galaxies, and as many as a few per year from the Abell clusters 85, 1758, and 1914. Also, Auger may detect as many as 2 events per decade at ~ EeV energies from these gamma-ray bright clusters.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Dust-filled axially symmetric universes with a cosmological constant

Following the recent recognition of a positive value for the vacuum energy density and the realization that a simple Kantowski-Sachs model might fit the classical tests of cosmology, we study the qualitative behavior of three anisotropic and homogeneous models: Kantowski-Sachs, Bianchi type-I and Bianchi type-III universes, with dust and a cosmological constant, in order to find out which are physically permitted. We find that these models undergo isotropization up to the point that the observations will not be able to distinguish between them and the standard model, except for the Kantowski-Sachs model $(\Omega_{k_{0}}0)$ with $\Omega_{\Lambda_{0}}$ smaller than some critical value $\Omega_{\Lambda_{M}}$. Even if one imposes that the Universe should be nearly isotropic since the last scattering epoch ($z\approx 1000$), meaning that the Universe should have approximately the same Hubble parameter in all directions (considering the COBE 4-Year data), there is still a large range for the matter density parameter compatible with Kantowsky-Sachs and Bianchi type-III if $|\Omega_0+\Omega_{\Lambda_0}-1|\leq \delta$, for a very small $\delta$ . The Bianchi type-I model becomes exactly isotropic owing to our restrictions and we have $\Omega_0+\Omega_{\Lambda_0}=1$ in this case. Of course, all these models approach locally an exponential expanding state provided the cosmological constant $\Omega_\Lambda>\Omega_{\Lambda_{M}}$.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. Published in Physical Review D 1

Emission Line Spectroscopy of a Damped Lyman-alpha Absorbing Galaxy at z = 0.437

We present Keck/LRIS spectra of a candidate damped Lyman-alpha (DLA) galaxy toward the QSO 3C196 (z_em = 0.871). The DLA absorption system has a redshift of z_DLA = 0.437, and a galaxy at 1.5" from the QSO has been identified in high resolution imaging with WFPC2/HST. We have detected emission lines of [O II] 3727A, Hbeta, [O III] 5007A, Halpha and [N II] 6584A at the absorption redshift. Based on the emission lines, we have found the redshift of the galaxy to be z_em = 0.4376 +/- 0.0006. The emission lines also enabled us to calculate the extinction-corrected luminosities and metallicity indicators using established indices based on line strengths of different emission lines. These indicators suggest that the ISM of the DLA galaxy has a high metallicity comparable to or perhaps twice as much as solar (e.g. 12+log (O/H) = 8.98 +/- 0.07). Based on the strengths of Halpha and on the reddening derived from the relative strengths of Halpha and Hbeta, the star formation rate is 4.7 +/- 0.8 M_solar/yr. This places the galaxy in the range of gas-rich spiral galaxies.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in A

Dark Matter and the Chemical Evolution of Irregular Galaxies

We present three types of chemical evolution models for irregular galaxies: closed-box with continuous star formation rates (SFRs), closed-box with bursting SFRs, and O-rich outflow with continuous SFRs. We discuss the chemical evolution of the irregular galaxies NGC 1560 and II Zw 33, and a ``typical'' irregular galaxy. The fraction of low-mass stars needed by our models is larger than that derived for the solar vicinity, but similar to that found in globular clusters. For our typical irregular galaxy we need a mass fraction of about 40% in the form of substellar objects plus non baryonic dark matter inside the Holmberg radius, in good agreement with the results derived for NGC 1560 and II Zw 33 where we do have an independent estimate of the mass fraction in non baryonic dark matter. Closed-box models are better than O-rich outflow models in explaining the C/O and Z/O observed values for our typical irregular galaxy.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure, uses emulateapj.sty package. ApJ in press. New models were added. The order of Tables has been correcte