1,139 research outputs found
Determining the fraction of reddened quasars in COSMOS with multiple selection techniques from X-ray to radio wavelengths
The sub-population of quasars reddened by intrinsic or intervening clouds of
dust are known to be underrepresented in optical quasar surveys. By defining a
complete parent sample of the brightest and spatially unresolved quasars in the
COSMOS field, we quantify to which extent this sub-population is fundamental to
our understanding of the true population of quasars. By using the available
multiwavelength data of various surveys in the COSMOS field, we built a parent
sample of 33 quasars brighter than mag, identified by reliable X-ray to
radio wavelength selection techniques. Spectroscopic follow-up with the
NOT/ALFOSC was carried out for four candidate quasars that had not been
targeted previously to obtain a 100\% redshift completeness of the sample. The
population of high quasars (HAQs), a specific sub-population of quasars
selected from optical/near-infrared photometry, is found to contribute
of the parent sample. The full population of bright spatially
unresolved quasars represented by our parent sample consists of
reddened quasars defined by having , and
of the sample having assuming the extinction
curve of the Small Magellanic Cloud. We show that the HAQ selection works well
for selecting reddened quasars, but some are missed because their optical
spectra are too blue to pass the color cut in the HAQ selection. This is
either due to a low degree of dust reddening or anomalous spectra. We find that
the fraction of quasars with contributing light from the host galaxy is most
dominant at . At higher redshifts the population of spatially
unresolved quasars selected by our parent sample is found to be representative
of the full population at mag. This work quantifies the bias against
reddened quasars in studies that are based solely on optical surveys.Comment: 22 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&A. The ArXiv
abstract has been shortened for it to be printabl
Touch me not
Central Poststroke Pain syndrome (CPSP) can occur due to disruption of the somatosensory pathways of the brain at any level such as the thalamus, medulla, or cerebral cortex. It is characterized by sensory abnormalities and hyperesthesia in the part of the body correlating to the central lesion. The treatment of this pain syndrome is often difficult, and it does not usually respond to traditional analgesics. The first line of treatment is drugs aimed at lowering neuronal hyperexcitability, for example, amitriptyline or lamotrigine, with gabapentin considered a second line
[OII] Emission, Eigenvector 1 and Orientation in Radio-quiet Quasars
We present supportive evidence that the Boroson and Green eigenvector 1 is
not driven by source orientation. Until recently it was generally accepted that
eigenvector 1 does not depend on orientation as it strongly correlates with
[OIII]5007 emission, thought to be an isotropic property. However, recent
studies of radio-loud AGN have questioned the isotropy of [OIII] emission and
concluded that [OII]3727 emission is isotropic. In this paper we investigate
the relation between eigenvector 1 and [OII] emission in radio-quiet BQS
(Bright Quasar Survey) quasars, and readdress the issue of orientation as the
driver of eigenvector 1. We find significant correlations between eigenvector 1
and orientation independent [OII] emission, which implies that orientation does
not drive eigenvector 1. The luminosities and equivalent widths of [OIII] and
[OII] correlate with one another, and the range in luminosities and equivalent
widths is similar. This suggests that the radio-quiet BQS quasars are largely
free of orientation dependent dust effects and ionization dependent effects in
the narrow-line region. We also conclude that neither the [OIII] emission nor
the [OII]/[OIII] ratio are dependent on orientation in our radio-quiet BQS
quasar sample, contrary to recent results found for radio-loud quasars.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
VLT identification of the optical afterglow of the gamma-ray burst GRB 000131 at z=4.50
We report the discovery of the gamma-ray burst GRB 000131 and its optical
afterglow. The optical identification was made with the VLT 84 hours after the
burst following a BATSE detection and an Inter Planetary Network localization.
GRB 000131 was a bright, long-duration GRB, with an apparent precursor signal
62 s prior to trigger. The afterglow was detected in ESO VLT, NTT, and DK1.54m
follow-up observations. Broad-band and spectroscopic observations of the
spectral energy distribution reveals a sharp break at optical wavelengths which
is interpreted as a Ly-alpha absorption edge at 6700 A. This places GRB 000131
at a redshift of 4.500 +/- 0.015. The inferred isotropic energy release in
gamma rays alone was approximately 10^54 erg (depending on the assumed
cosmology). The rapid power-law decay of the afterglow (index alpha=2.25,
similar to bursts with a prior break in the lightcurve), however, indicates
collimated outflow, which relaxes the energy requirements by a factor of < 200.
The afterglow of GRB 000131 is the first to be identified with an 8-m class
telescope.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted to A&A Letter
Implications from the optical to UV flux ratio of FeII emission in quasars
We investigate FeII emission in Broad Line Region (BLR) of AGNs by analyzing
the FeII(UV), FeII(4570) and MgII emission lines in 884 quasars in the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Quasar catalog in a redshift range of 0.727 < z <
0.804. FeII(4570)/FeII(UV) is used to infer the column density of FeII-emitting
clouds and explore the excitation mechanism of FeII emission lines. As
suggested before in various works, the classical photoionization models fail to
account for FeII(4570)/FeII(UV) by a factor of 10, which may suggest anisotropy
of UV FeII emission; otherwise, an alternative heating mechanism like shock is
working. The column density distribution derived from FeII(4570)/FeII(UV)
indicates that radiation pressure plays an important role in BLR gas dynamics.
We find a positive correlation between FeII(4570)/FeII(UV) and the Eddington
ratio. We also find that almost all FeII-emitting clouds are to be under
super-Eddington conditions unless ionizing photon fraction is much smaller than
that previously suggested. Finally we propose a physical interpretation of a
striking set of correlations between various emission-line properties, known as
``Eigenvector 1''.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Reverberation Mapping Measurements of Black Hole Masses in Six Local Seyfert Galaxies
We present the final results from a high sampling rate, multi-month,
spectrophotometric reverberation mapping campaign undertaken to obtain either
new or improved Hbeta reverberation lag measurements for several relatively
low-luminosity AGNs. We have reliably measured thetime delay between variations
in the continuum and Hbeta emission line in six local Seyfert 1 galaxies. These
measurements are used to calculate the mass of the supermassive black hole at
the center of each of these AGNs. We place our results in context to the most
current calibration of the broad-line region (BLR) R-L relationship, where our
results remove outliers and reduce the scatter at the low-luminosity end of
this relationship. We also present velocity-resolved Hbeta time delay
measurements for our complete sample, though the clearest velocity-resolved
kinematic signatures have already been published.Comment: 52 pages (AASTeX: 29 pages of text, 8 tables, 7 figures), accepted
for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Black Hole Mass Estimates Based on CIV are Consistent with Those Based on the Balmer Lines
Using a sample of high-redshift lensed quasars from the CASTLES project with
observed-frame ultraviolet or optical and near-infrared spectra, we have
searched for possible biases between supermassive black hole (BH) mass
estimates based on the CIV, Halpha and Hbeta broad emission lines. Our sample
is based upon that of Greene, Peng & Ludwig, expanded with new near-IR
spectroscopic observations, consistently analyzed high S/N optical spectra, and
consistent continuum luminosity estimates at 5100A. We find that BH mass
estimates based on the FWHM of CIV show a systematic offset with respect to
those obtained from the line dispersion, sigma_l, of the same emission line,
but not with those obtained from the FWHM of Halpha and Hbeta. The magnitude of
the offset depends on the treatment of the HeII and FeII emission blended with
CIV, but there is little scatter for any fixed measurement prescription. While
we otherwise find no systematic offsets between CIV and Balmer line mass
estimates, we do find that the residuals between them are strongly correlated
with the ratio of the UV and optical continuum luminosities. Removing this
dependency reduces the scatter between the UV- and optical-based BH mass
estimates by a factor of approximately 2, from roughly 0.35 to 0.18 dex. The
dispersion is smallest when comparing the CIV sigma_l mass estimate, after
removing the offset from the FWHM estimates, and either Balmer line mass
estimate. The correlation with the continuum slope is likely due to a
combination of reddening, host contamination and object-dependent SED shapes.
When we add additional heterogeneous measurements from the literature, the
results are unchanged.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. 37 text pages
+ 8 tables + 23 figures. Updated with comments by the referee and with a
expanded discussion on literature data including new observation
Occurrence and Global Properties of Narrow CIV lambda 1549 Absorption Lines in Moderate-Redshift Quasars
A statistical study is presented of (a) the frequency of narrow CIV lambda
1549 absorption lines in 1.5 <~ z <~ 3.6 radio-quiet and radio-loud quasars,
and of (b) the UV and radio properties of the absorbed quasars. The quasar
sample is unbiased with respect to absorption properties and the radio-quiet
and radio-loud subsamples are well matched in redshift and luminosity. A
similarly high incidence (>~50%) of narrow CIV absorbers is detected for the
radio-quiet and radio-loud quasars, and a constant ~25% of all the quasars,
irrespective of radio type display associated CIV absorbers stronger than a
rest equivalent width of 0.5A. Both radio-quiet and radio-loud quasars with
narrow absorption lines have systematically redder continua, especially
strongly absorbed objects. There is evidence of inclination dependent dust
reddening and absorption for the radio quasars. An additional key result is
that the most strongly absorbed radio quasars have the largest radio source
extent. This result is in stark contrast to a recent study of the low-frequency
selected Molonglo survey in which a connection between the strength of the
narrow absorbers and the (young) age of the radio source has been proposed. The
possible origin of these discrepant results is discussed and may be related to
the higher source luminosity for the quasars studied here.Comment: 28 pages, including 10 figures and 8 tables. To appear in ApJ, 599,
December 200
Proposal of an experimental scheme for realising a translucent eavesdropping on a quantum cryptographic channel
Purpose of this paper is to suggest a scheme, which can be realised with
today's technology and could be used for entangling a probe to a photon qubit
based on polarisation. Using this probe a translucent or a coherent
eavesdropping can be performed.Comment: in pres
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