2,654 research outputs found
Local Starbursts in a Cosmological Context
In this contribution I introduce some of the major issues that motivate the
conference, with an emphasis on how starbursts fit into the ``big picture''. I
begin by defining starbursts in several different ways, and discuss the merits
and limitations of these definitions. I will argue that the most physically
useful definition of a starburst is its ``intensity'' (star formation rate per
unit area). This is the most natural parameter to compare local starbursts with
physically similar galaxies at high redshift, and indeed I will argue that
local starbursts are unique laboratories to study the processes at work in the
early universe. I will describe how NASA's GALEX mission has uncovered a rare
population of close analogs to Lyman Break Galaxies in the local universe. I
will then compare local starbursts to the Lyman-Break and sub-mm galaxies high
redshift populations, and speculate that the multidimensional ``manifold'' of
starbursts near and far can be understood largely in terms of the
Schmidt/Kennicutt law and galaxy mass-metallicity relation. I will briefly
summarize he properties of starburst-driven galactic superwinds and their
possible implications for the evolution of galaxies and the IGM. These complex
multiphase flows are best studied in nearby starbursts, where we can study the
the hot X-ray gas that contains the bulk of the energy and newly produced
metals.Comment: Proceedings of the Conference "Starbursts: Fropm 30 Doradus to Lyman
Break Galaxies
PCA Tomography and its application to nearby galactic nuclei
With the development of modern technologies such as IFUs, it is possible to
obtain data cubes in which one produces images with spectral resolution. To
extract information from them can be quite complex, and hence the development
of new methods of data analysis is desirable. We briefly describe a method of
analysis of data cubes (data from single field observations, containing two
spatial and one spectral dimension) that uses Principal Component Analysis
(PCA) to express the data in the form of reduced dimensionality, facilitating
efficient information extraction from very large data sets. We applied the
method, for illustration purpose, to the central region of the low ionization
nuclear emission region (LINER) galaxy NGC 4736, and demonstrate that it has a
type 1 active nucleus, not known before. Furthermore, we show that it is
displaced from the centre of its stellar bulge.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, to be published in the Proceedings of the
IAU Symposium no. 26
Feedback in the local LBG Analog Haro 11 as probed by far-UV and X-ray observations
We have re-analyzed FUSE data and obtained new Chandra observations of Haro
11, a local (D_L=88 Mpc) UV luminous galaxy. Haro 11 has a similar far-UV
luminosity (10^10.3 L_\odot), UV surface brightness (10^9.4 L_\odot kpc^-2),
SFR, and metallicity to that observed in Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs). We show
that Haro 11 has extended, soft thermal (kT~0.68 keV) X-ray emission with a
luminosity and size which scales with the physical properties (e.g. SFR,
stellar mass) of the host galaxy. An enhanced alpha/Fe, ratio of ~4 relative to
solar abundance suggests significant supernovae enrichment. These results are
consistent with the X-ray emission being produced in a shock between a
supernovae driven outflow and the ambient material. The FUV spectra show strong
absorption lines similar to those observed in LBG spectra. A blueshifted
absorption component is identified as a wind outflowing at ~200-280 km/s.
OVI\lambda\lambda1032,1038 emission, the dominant cooling mechanism for coronal
gas at T~10^5.5 K is also observed. If associated with the outflow, the
luminosity of the OVI emission suggests that <20% of the total mechanical
energy from the supernovae and solar winds is being radiated away. This implies
that radiative cooling through OVI is not significantly inhibiting the growth
of the outflowing gas. In contradiction to the findings of Bergvall et al 2006,
we find no convincing evidence of Lyman continuum leakage in Haro 11. We
conclude that the wind has not created a `tunnel' allowing the escape of a
significant fraction of Lyman continuum photons and place a limit on the escape
fraction of f_{esc}<2%. Overall, both Haro 11 and a previously observed LBG
analogue VV 114, provide an invaluable insight into the X-ray and FUV
properties of high redshift LBGs.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 40 pages, 17 figure
Matter wave functions and Yukawa couplings in F-theory Grand Unification
We study the local structure of zero mode wave functions of chiral matter
fields in F-theory unification. We solve the differential equations for the
zero modes derived from local Higgsing in the 8-dimensional parent action of
F-theory 7-branes. The solutions are found as expansions both in powers and
derivatives of the magnetic fluxes. Yukawa couplings are given by an overlap
integral of the three wave functions involved in the interaction and can be
calculated analytically. We provide explicit expressions for these Yukawas to
second order both in the flux and derivative expansions and discuss the effect
of higher order terms. We explicitly describe the dependence of the couplings
on the U(1) charges of the relevant fields, appropriately taking into account
their normalization. A hierarchical Yukawa structure is naturally obtained. The
application of our results to the understanding of the observed hierarchies of
quarks and leptons is discussed.Comment: Latex, 51 pages, 4 figures, typos corrected, note adde
Spatial distribution from small beta sources and the effects of aperture size. Technological spinoff report
Using a film technique, the forward and backward distribution of small beta sources were studied. In addition, the effect of the ratio of aperture size to source size was investigated for commercial coaxial-type beta-backscatter probes. Experiments indicaied that the signal-to-noise ratio for such probes is intolerable when apentures smaller than 0.020 in. (0.5 mm) are used. Test configuration, probe, and detector design changes for measurements on areas 0.005 in. (0.13 mm) in diameter are discussed. (auth
T-Branes and Monodromy
We introduce T-branes, or "triangular branes," which are novel non-abelian
bound states of branes characterized by the condition that on some loci, their
matrix of normal deformations, or Higgs field, is upper triangular. These
configurations refine the notion of monodromic branes which have recently
played a key role in F-theory phenomenology. We show how localized matter
living on complex codimension one subspaces emerge, and explain how to compute
their Yukawa couplings, which are localized in complex codimension two. Not
only do T-branes clarify what is meant by brane monodromy, they also open up a
vast array of new possibilities both for phenomenological constructions and for
purely theoretical applications. We show that for a general T-brane, the
eigenvalues of the Higgs field can fail to capture the spectrum of localized
modes. In particular, this provides a method for evading some constraints on
F-theory GUTs which have assumed that the spectral equation for the Higgs field
completely determines a local model.Comment: 110 pages, 5 figure
Recursion relations and branching rules for simple Lie algebras
The branching rules between simple Lie algebras and its regular (maximal)
simple subalgebras are studied. Two types of recursion relations for anomalous
relative multiplicities are obtained. One of them is proved to be the
factorized version of the other. The factorization property is based on the
existence of the set of weights specific for each injection. The
structure of is easily deduced from the correspondence between the
root systems of algebra and subalgebra. The recursion relations thus obtained
give rise to simple and effective algorithm for branching rules. The details
are exposed by performing the explicit decomposition procedure for injection.Comment: 15p.,LaTe
The Higgs as a Probe of Supersymmetric Extra Sectors
We present a general method for calculating the leading contributions to h ->
gg and h -> gamma gamma in models where the Higgs weakly mixes with a nearly
supersymmetric extra sector. Such mixing terms can play an important role in
raising the Higgs mass relative to the value expected in the MSSM. Our method
applies even when the extra sector is strongly coupled, and moreover does not
require a microscopic Lagrangian description. Using constraints from holomorphy
we fix the leading parametric form of the contributions to these Higgs
processes, including the Higgs mixing angle dependence, up to an overall
coefficient. Moreover, when the Higgs is the sole source of mass for a
superconformal sector, we show that even this coefficient is often calculable.
For appropriate mixing angles, the contribution of the extra states to h -> gg
and h -> gamma gamma can vanish. We also discuss how current experimental
limits already lead to non-trivial constraints on such models. Finally, we
provide examples of extra sectors which satisfy the requirements necessary to
use the holomorphic approximation.Comment: v4: 34 pages, 2 figures, typo corrected and clarification adde
A Search for Ultraviolet Emission from LINERs
We have obtained Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 2200 A and optical V-band
images of 20 low-luminosity active galactic nuclei, most of which are
spectroscopically classified as LINERs, in order to search for a possible
photoionizing continuum. Six (30%) of the galaxies are detected in the UV. Two
of the detected galaxies (NGC 3642 and NGC 4203) have compact, unresolved
nuclear UV sources, while the remaining four UV sources (in NGC 4569, NGC 5005,
NGC 6500, and NGC 7743) are spatially extended. Combining our sample with that
of Maoz et al. (1995), we find that the probability of detection of a nuclear
UV source is greatest for galaxies having low internal reddening and low
inclination, and we conclude that dust obscuration is the dominant factor
determining whether or not a UV source is detected. Large emission-line
equivalent widths and the presence of broad-line emission also increase the
likelihood of detection of nuclear UV emission. Our results suggest that the
majority of LINERs harbor obscured nuclear UV sources, which may be either
accretion-powered active nuclei or young star clusters. Under the assumption
that the compact UV sources in NGC 3642 and NGC 4203 have nonstellar power-law
spectra extending into the extreme ultraviolet, the extrapolated ionizing
fluxes are sufficiently strong to photoionize the narrow-line regions of these
objects. The V-band images of many galaxies in our sample reveal remarkably
strong dust lanes which may be responsible for obscuring some UV sources.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, LaTeX, AASTeX v4.0 style file,
accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, additional figures
available at http://astro.berkeley.edu/~barth/papers/u
Polarized Broad-Line Emission from Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei
In order to determine whether unified models of active galactic nuclei apply
to low-luminosity objects, we have undertaken a spectropolarimetric survey of
of LINERs and Seyfert nuclei at the Keck Observatory. The 14 objects observed
have a median H-alpha luminosity of 8x10^{39} erg/s, well below the typical
value of ~10^{41} erg/s for Markarian Seyfert nuclei. Polarized broad H-alpha
emission is detected in three LINERs: NGC 315, NGC 1052, and NGC 4261. Each of
these is an elliptical galaxy with a double-sided radio jet, and the
emission-line polarization in each case is oriented roughly perpendicular to
the jet axis, as expected for the obscuring torus model. NGC 4261 and NGC 315
are known to contain dusty circumnuclear disks, which may be the outer
extensions of the obscuring tori. The detection of polarized broad-line
emission suggests that these objects are nearby, low-luminosity analogs of
obscured quasars residing in narrow-line radio galaxies. The nuclear continuum
of the low-luminosity Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4395 is polarized at p = 0.67%,
possibly the result of an electron scattering region near the nucleus.
Continuum polarization is detected in other objects, with a median level of p =
0.36% over 5100-6100 A, but in most cases this is likely to be the result of
transmission through foreground dust. The lack of significant broad-line
polarization in most type 1 LINERs is consistent with the hypothesis that we
view the broad-line regions of these objects directly, rather than in scattered
light.Comment: 28 pages, including 3 tables and 16 figures. Uses the emulateapj
latex style file. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
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