23,299 research outputs found
Multiple dynamical components in Local Group dwarf spheroidals
The dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellites of the Local Group have long been
thought to be simple spheroids of stars embedded within extended dark matter
halos. Recently, however, evidence for the presence of spatially and
kinematically distinct stellar populations has been accumulating. Here, we
examine the influence of such components on dynamical models of dwarf galaxies
embedded in cold dark matter halos. We begin by constructing a model of
Andromeda II, a dSph satellite of M31 which shows evidence for spatially
distinct stellar components. We find that the two-component model predicts an
overall velocity dispersion profile that remains approximately constant at
km s out to kpc from the center; this is despite
wide kinematic and spatial differences between the two individual components.
The presence of two components may also help to explain oddities in the
velocity dispersion profiles of other dSphs; we show that velocity dispersion
profiles which appear to rise from the center outwards before leveling
off--such as those of Leo I, Draco, and Fornax--can result from the gradual
transition from a dynamically cold, concentrated component to a second, hotter,
and more spatially extended one, both in equilibrium within the same dark halo.
Dwarf galaxies with two stellar components generally have a leptokurtic
line-of-sight velocity distribution which is well described by a double
Maxwellian. Interestingly, we find that multiple equilibrium components could
also provide a potential alternative origin for ``extra-tidal'' stars (normally
ascribed to tidal effects) in situations where corroborating evidence for tides
may be lacking.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS Letters. Revised version, with addition of new
section and expanded discussio
Neutrino propagation in Neutron Matter and the Nuclear Equation of State
We study the propagation of neutrinos inside dense matter under the
conditions prevailing in a proto-neutron star. Equations of state obtained with
different nuclear effective interactions (Skyrme type and Gogny type) are first
discussed. It is found that for many interactions, spin and/or isospin
instabilities occur at densities larger than the saturation density of nuclear
matter. From this study we select two representative interactions, SLy230b and
D1P. We calculate the response functions in pure neutron matter where nuclear
correlations are described at the Hartree-Fock plus RPA level. These response
functions allow us to evaluate neutrino mean free paths corresponding to
neutral current processes.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, to appear in "The Nuclear Many-Body Problem
2001", NATO Science Series II (Kluwer Academic Publishers
Symmetries in two-dimensional dilaton gravity with matter
The symmetries of generic 2D dilaton models of gravity with (and without)
matter are studied in some detail. It is shown that , one of the
symmetries of the matterless models, can be generalized to the case where
matter fields of any kind are present. The general (classical) solution for
some of these models, in particular those coupled to chiral matter, which
generalizes the Vaidya solution of Einstein Gravity, is also given.Comment: Minor changes have been made; the references have been updated and
some added; 11 pages. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Is a Simple Collisionless Relic Dark Matter Particle Ruled Out?
The central densities of dark matter (DM) halos are much lower than predicted
in cold DM models of structure formation. Confirmation that they have cores
with a finite central density would allow us to rule out many popular types of
collisionless particle as candidates for DM. Any model that leads to cusped
halos (such as cold DM) is already facing serious difficulties on small scales
and hot DM models have been excluded. Here I show that fermionic warm DM is
inconsistent with the wide range of phase space densities in the DM halos of
well-observed nearby galaxies.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX uses emulateapj.sty, revised version to
appear in ApJ Letters. Argument clarified and strengthened in response to
criticism, conclusions little change
Gas-Rich Companions of Isolated Galaxies
We have used the VLA to search for gaseous remnants of the galaxy formation
process around six extremely isolated galaxies. We found two distinct HI clouds
around each of two galaxies in our sample (UGC 9762 & UGC 11124). These clouds
are rotating and appear to have optical counterparts, strongly implying that
they are typical dwarf galaxies. The companions are currently weakly
interacting with the primary galaxy, but have short dynamical friction
timescales (~1 Gyr) suggesting that these triple galaxy systems will shortly
collapse into one massive galaxy. Given that the companions are consistent with
being in circular rotation about the primary galaxy, and that they have small
relative masses, the resulting merger will be a minor one. The companions do,
however, contain enough gas that the merger will represent a significant
infusion of fuel to drive future star formation, bar formation, or central
activity, while building up the mass of the disk thus making these systems
important pieces of the galaxy formation and evolution process.Comment: Corrected dynamical friction calculation error. Revised discussion &
conclusions. 7 pages, 4 tables, 6 figures, to appear in May 1999 Astronomical
Journa
A Faster Implementation of Online Run-Length Burrows-Wheeler Transform
Run-length encoding Burrows-Wheeler Transformed strings, resulting in
Run-Length BWT (RLBWT), is a powerful tool for processing highly repetitive
strings. We propose a new algorithm for online RLBWT working in run-compressed
space, which runs in time and bits of space, where
is the length of input string received so far and is the number of runs
in the BWT of the reversed . We improve the state-of-the-art algorithm for
online RLBWT in terms of empirical construction time. Adopting the dynamic list
for maintaining a total order, we can replace rank queries in a dynamic wavelet
tree on a run-length compressed string by the direct comparison of labels in a
dynamic list. The empirical result for various benchmarks show the efficiency
of our algorithm, especially for highly repetitive strings.Comment: In Proc. IWOCA201
A Planck-like problem for quantum charged black holes
Motivated by the parallelism existing between the puzzles of classical
physics at the beginning of the XXth century and the current paradoxes in the
search of a quantum theory of gravity, we give, in analogy with Planck's black
body radiation problem, a solution for the exact Hawking flux of evaporating
Reissner-Nordstrom black holes. Our results show that when back-reaction
effects are fully taken into account the standard picture of black hole
evaporation is significantly altered, thus implying a possible resolution of
the information loss problem.Comment: 6 pages, LaTeX file, Awarded Fifth Prize in the Gravity Research
Foundation Essay Competition for 200
The Tidal Evolution of Local Group Dwarf Spheroidals
(Abridged) We use N-body simulations to study the evolution of dwarf
spheroidal galaxies (dSphs) driven by galactic tides. We adopt a
cosmologically-motivated model where dSphs are approximated by a King model
embedded within an NFW halo. We find that these NFW-embedded King models are
extraordinarily resilient to tides; the stellar density profile still resembles
a King model even after losing more than 99% of the stars. As tides strip the
galaxy, the stellar luminosity, velocity dispersion, central surface
brightness, and core radius decrease monotonically. Remarkably, we find that
the evolution of these parameters is solely controlled by the total amount of
mass lost from within the luminous radius. Of all parameters, the core radius
is the least affected: after losing 99% of the stars, R_c decreases by just a
factor of ~2. Interestingly, tides tend to make dSphs more dark-matter
dominated because the tightly bound central dark matter ``cusp'' is more
resilient to disruption than the ``cored'' King profile. We examine whether the
extremely large M/L ratios of the newly-discovered ultra-faint dSphs might have
been caused by tidal stripping of once brighter systems. Although dSph tidal
evolutionary tracks parallel the observed scaling relations in the
luminosity-radius plane, they predict too steep a change in velocity dispersion
compared with the observational estimates hitherto reported in the literature.
The ultra-faint dwarfs are thus unlikely to be the tidal remnants of systems
like Fornax, Draco, or Sagittarius. Despite spanning four decades in
luminosity, dSphs appear to inhabit halos of comparable peak circular velocity,
lending support to scenarios that envision dwarf spheroidals as able to form
only in halos above a certain mass threshold.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figs., accepted by Ap
The cosmological origin of the Tully-Fisher relation
We use high-resolution cosmological simulations that include the effects of
gasdynamics and star formation to investigate the origin of the Tully-Fisher
relation in the standard Cold Dark Matter cosmogony. Luminosities are computed
for each model galaxy using their full star formation histories and the latest
spectrophotometric models. We find that at z=0 the stellar mass of model
galaxies is proportional to the total baryonic mass within the virial radius of
their surrounding halos. Circular velocity then correlates tightly with the
total luminosity of the galaxy, reflecting the equivalence between mass and
circular velocity of systems identified in a cosmological context. The slope of
the relation steepens slightly from the red to the blue bandpasses, and is in
fairly good agreement with observations. Its scatter is small, decreasing from
\~0.45 mag in the U-band to ~0.34 mag in the K-band. The particular
cosmological model we explore here seems unable to account for the zero-point
of the correlation. Model galaxies are too faint at z=0 (by about two
magnitudes) if the circular velocity at the edge of the luminous galaxy is used
as an estimator of the rotation speed. The Tully-Fisher relation is brighter in
the past, by about ~0.7 magnitudes in the B-band at z=1, at odds with recent
observations of z~1 galaxies. We conclude that the slope and tightness of the
Tully-Fisher relation can be naturally explained in hierarchical models but
that its normalization and evolution depend strongly on the star formation
algorithm chosen and on the cosmological parameters that determine the
universal baryon fraction and the time of assembly of galaxies of different
mass.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures included, submitted to ApJ (Letters
Nuclear liquid-gas phase transition and supernovae evolution
It is shown that the large density fluctuations appearing at the onset of the
first order nuclear liquid-gas phase transition can play an important role in
the supernovae evolution. Due to these fluctuations, the neutrino gas may be
trapped inside a thin layer of matter near the proto-neutron star surface. The
resulting increase of pressure may induce strong particle ejection a few
hundred milliseconds after the bounce of the collapse, contributing to the
revival of the shock wave. The Hartree-Fock+RPA scheme, with a finite-range
nucleon-nucleon effective interaction, is employed to estimate the effects of
the neutrino trapping due to the strong density fluctuations, and to discuss
qualitatively the consequences of the suggested new scenario.Comment: version2 - precise that nuclear liquid-gas phase transition is 1st
order and the unique instable mode is isoscala
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