Extragalactic radio source evolution under the dual-population unification scheme

We show that a dual-population unification scheme provides a successful paradigm with which to describe the evolution and beaming of all bright extragalactic radio sources. The paradigm consists of two intrinsic radio-source populations, based on the two distinct radio-galaxy morphologies of Fanaroff-Riley classes I and II. These represent the `unbeamed' or `side-on' parent populations of steep radio spectra; the `beamed' source types including flat-spectrum quasars and BL Lac objects, arise through the random alignment of their radio-axis to our line-of-sight where Doppler-beaming of the relativistic radio jets produces highly anisotropic radio emission.Comment: 18 pages & 18 postscript figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Apparatus for welding torch angle and seam tracking control Patent

Computer controlled apparatus for maintaining welding torch angle and velocity during seam trackin

The correlation function of radio sources

We investigate the large-scale clustering of radio sources in the Green Bank and Parkes-MIT-NRAO 4.85 GHz surveys by measuring the angular two-point correlation function w(\theta). Excluding contaminated areas, the two surveys together cover 70 per cent of the whole sky. We find both surveys to be reasonably complete above 50 mJy. On the basis of previous studies, the radio sources are galaxies and radio-loud quasars lying at redshifts up to z \sim 4, with a median redshift z \sim 1. This provides the opportunity to probe large-scale structures in a volume far larger than that within the reach of present optical and infrared surveys. We detect a clustering signal w(\theta) \approx 0.01 for \theta = 1\degr. By assuming an evolving power-law spatial correlation function in comoving coordinates \xi(r_c,z) = ( r_c / r_0 )^{-\gamma} (1+z)^{\gamma-(3+\epsilon)}, where \gamma = 1.8, and the redshift distribution N(z) of the radio galaxies, we constrain the r_0--\epsilon parameter space. For `stable clustering' (\epsilon = 0), we find the correlation length r_0 \approx 18 Mpc/h, larger than the value for nearby normal galaxies and comparable to the cluster-cluster correlation length.Comment: 8 pages, 7 ps figures included, LaTeX (mn,sty). Accepted by MNRA

Evolution of AGN Space Densities and the FR Dichotomy

We focus on a comparison of the space densities of FRI and FRII extended radio sources at different epochs, and find that FRI and FRII sources show similar space density enhancements in various redshift ranges, possibly implying a common evolution.Comment: IAU Symposium 267 Proceeding - 1 pag

The Deep Diffuse Extragalactic Radio Sky at 1.75 GHz

We present a study of diffuse extragalactic radio emission at $1.75\,$GHz from part of the ELAIS-S1 field using the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The resulting mosaic is $2.46\,$deg$^2$, with a roughly constant noise region of $0.61\,$deg$^2$ used for analysis. The image has a beam size of $150 \times60\,$arcsec and instrumental $\langle\sigma_{\rm n}\rangle= (52\pm5)\, \mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$. Using point-source models from the ATLAS survey, we subtract the discrete emission in this field for $S \ge 150\, \mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$. Comparison of the source-subtracted probability distribution, or \pd, with the predicted distribution from unsubtracted discrete emission and noise, yields an excess of $(76 \pm 23) \, \mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$. Taking this as an upper limit on any extended emission we constrain several models of extended source counts, assuming $\Omega_{\rm source} \le 2\,$arcmin. The best-fitting models yield temperatures of the radio background from extended emission of $T_{\rm b}=(10\pm7) \,$mK, giving an upper limit on the total temperature at $1.75\,$GHz of $(73\pm10)\,$mK. Further modelling shows that our data are inconsistent with the reported excess temperature of ARCADE2 to a source-count limit of $1\, \mu$Jy. Our new data close a loop-hole in the previous constraints, because of the possibility of extended emission being resolved out at higher resolution. Additionally, we look at a model of cluster halo emission and two WIMP dark matter annihilation source-count models, and discuss general constraints on any predicted counts from such sources. Finally, we report the derived integral count at $1.4\,$GHz using the deepest discrete count plus our new extended-emission limits, providing numbers that can be used for planning future ultra-deep surveys.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, 7 tables, Accepted by MNRA

Variance and Skewness in the FIRST survey

We investigate the large-scale clustering of radio sources in the FIRST 1.4-GHz survey by analysing the distribution function (counts in cells). We select a reliable sample from the the FIRST catalogue, paying particular attention to the problem of how to define single radio sources from the multiple components listed. We also consider the incompleteness of the catalogue. We estimate the angular two-point correlation function $w(\theta)$, the variance $\Psi_2$, and skewness $\Psi_3$ of the distribution for the various sub-samples chosen on different criteria. Both $w(\theta)$ and $\Psi_2$ show power-law behaviour with an amplitude corresponding a spatial correlation length of $r_0 \sim 10 h^{-1}$Mpc. We detect significant skewness in the distribution, the first such detection in radio surveys. This skewness is found to be related to the variance through $\Psi_3=S_3(\Psi_2)^{\alpha}$, with $\alpha=1.9\pm 0.1$, consistent with the non-linear gravitational growth of perturbations from primordial Gaussian initial conditions. We show that the amplitude of variance and skewness are consistent with realistic models of galaxy clustering.Comment: 13 pages, 21 inline figures, to appear in MNRA