151 research outputs found

    The estimation of black-hole masses in distant radio galaxies

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    We have estimated the masses of the central supermassive black holes of 2442 radio galaxies froma catalog compiled using data from the NED, SDSS, and CATS databases. Mass estimates based on optical photometry and radio data are compared. Relationships between the mass of the central black hole MpbhM_p^{bh} and the redshift zpz_p are constructed for both wavelength ranges. The distribution of the galaxies in these diagrams and systematic effects influencing estimation of the black-hole parameters are discussed. Upperenvelope cubic regression fits are obtained using the maximum estimates of the black-hole masses. The optical and radio upper envelopes show similar behavior, and have very similar peaks in position, zp1.9z_p \simeq 1.9, and amplitude, logMpbh\log M_p^{bh} = 9.4. This is consistent with a model in which the growth of the supermassive black holes is self-regulating, with this redshift corresponding to the epoch when the accretion-flow phase begins to end and the nuclear activity falls off.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

    Optical and Radio Properties of Extragalactic Sources Observed by the FIRST and SDSS Surveys

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    We discuss the optical and radio properties of 30,000 FIRST sources positionally associated with an SDSS source in 1230 deg2^2 of sky. The majority (83%) of the FIRST sources identified with an SDSS source brighter than r=21 are optically resolved. We estimate an upper limit of 5% for the fraction of quasars with broad-band optical colors indistinguishable from those of stars. The distribution of quasars in the radio flux -- optical flux plane supports the existence of the "quasar radio-dichotomy"; 8% of all quasars with i<18.5 are radio-loud and this fraction seems independent of redshift and optical luminosity. The radio-loud quasars have a redder median color by 0.08 mag, and a 3 times larger fraction of objects with red colors. FIRST galaxies represent 5% of all SDSS galaxies with r<17.5, and 1% for r<20, and are dominated by red galaxies. Magnitude and redshift limited samples show that radio galaxies have a different optical luminosity distribution than non-radio galaxies selected by the same criteria; when galaxies are further separated by their colors, this result remains valid for both blue and red galaxies. The distributions of radio-to-optical flux ratio are similar for blue and red galaxies in redshift-limited samples; this similarity implies that the difference in their luminosity functions, and resulting selection effects, are the dominant cause for the preponderance of red radio galaxies in flux-limited samples. We confirm that the AGN-to-starburst galaxy number ratio increases with radio flux, and find that radio emission from AGNs is more concentrated than radio emission from starburst galaxies (abridged).Comment: submitted to AJ, color gif figures, PS figures available from [email protected]

    Low-mass bursty galaxies in JADES efficiently produce ionising photons and could represent the main drivers of reionisation

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    © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/We study galaxies in JADES Deep to study the evolution of the ionising photon production efficiency, ξion\xi_{\rm{ion}}, observed to increase with redshift. We estimate ξion\xi_{\rm{ion}} for a sample of 677 galaxies at z49z \sim 4 - 9 using NIRCam photometry. Specifically, combinations of the medium and wide bands F335M-F356W and F410M-F444W to constrain emission lines that trace ξion\xi_{\rm{ion}}: Hα\alpha and [OIII]. Additionally, we use the spectral energy distribution fitting code \texttt{Prospector} to fit all available photometry and infer galaxy properties. The flux measurements obtained via photometry are consistent with FRESCO and NIRSpec-derived fluxes. Moreover, the emission-line-inferred measurements are in tight agreement with the \texttt{Prospector} estimates. We also confirm the observed ξion\xi_{\rm{ion}} trend with redshift and MUV_{\rm{UV}}, and find: logξion(z,MUV)=(0.05±0.02)z+(0.11±0.02)MUV+(27.33±0.37)\log \xi_{\rm{ion}} (z,\text{M}_{\rm{UV}}) = (0.05 \pm 0.02)z + (0.11 \pm 0.02) \text{M}_{\rm{UV}} + (27.33 \pm 0.37). We use \texttt{Prospector} to investigate correlations of ξion\xi_{\rm{ion}} with other galaxy properties. We see a clear correlation between ξion\xi_{\rm{ion}} and burstiness in the star formation history of galaxies, given by the ratio of recent to older star formation, where burstiness is more prevalent at lower stellar masses. We also convolve our ξion\xi_{\rm{ion}} relations with luminosity functions from the literature, and constant escape fractions of 10 and 20\%, to place constraints on the cosmic ionising photon budget. By combining our results, we find that if our sample is representative of the faint low-mass galaxy population, galaxies with bursty star formation are efficient enough in producing ionising photons and could be responsible for the reionisation of the Universe.Peer reviewe

    Unassisted solar lignin valorisation using a compartmented photo-electro-biochemical cell

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    Lignin is a major component of lignocellulosic biomass. Although it is highly recalcitrant to break down, it is a very abundant natural source of valuable aromatic carbons. Thus, the effective valorisation of lignin is crucial for realising a sustainable biorefinery chain. Here, we report a compartmented photo-electro-biochemical system for unassisted, selective, and stable lignin valorisation, in which a TiO2 photocatalyst, an atomically dispersed Co-based electrocatalyst, and a biocatalyst (lignin peroxidase isozyme H8, horseradish peroxidase) are integrated, such that each system is separated using Nafion and cellulose membranes. This cell design enables lignin valorisation upon irradiation with sunlight without the need for any additional bias or sacrificial agent and allows the protection of the biocatalyst from enzymedamaging elements, such as reactive radicals, gas bubbles, and light. The photo-electrobiochemical system is able to catalyse lignin depolymerisation with a 98.7% selectivity and polymerisation with a 73.3% yield using coniferyl alcohol, a lignin monomer

    Vulnerability and resilience under effects of tsunamis: case of industrial plants

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    International audienceThe damages caused by natural or technological hazards to physical systems may generate disastrous situations. However, the damaged systems can adapt, recover and be restored or strengthened in given acceptable recovery period for resilient systems. The metrics to evaluate objectively the resilience are still to be developed for several systems such as industrial plants, for instance. In fact, the resilience is intimately depending on both expected damages level and adaptation measures. The mechanical vulnerability is therefore an influent governing parameter. The present paper focuses on the case of industrial tanks and their mechanical vulnerability under tsunamis' effect. The resilience of coastal industrial plants is implicitly investigated by running sensitivity analysis:- Since tsunamis may cause structural failure of the tanks. Several modes of damages are considered, i.e. uplift by buoyancy, rigid overturning, rupture of anchorages or rigid sliding effect, and excessive stress by bending or buckling.- For a wide range of tanks dimensions and filling ratios, the vulnerability and fragility curves are developed and discussed

    Morphological characterization and elastic response of a granular material

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    International audienceThe granular structures of energetic materials made of hexogene particles embedded in a matrix are characterized using a combination of flotation, light-scattering measurements and micro-computed tomography images. The complementary nature of the three characterization techniques, when employed with this type of material, allows one to derive accurate estimates for the grain size distribution and the particle bulk density distribution. Three types of granular formulations, with the same weight fraction of particles but markedly different grains morphology and shock-sensitivity properties, are addressed. The particles granulometry and intra-granular porosities differ from one material to another. The grains spatial dispersion in the three formulations, characterized by the scale-dependent local density, also varies from one formulation to another. Specifically, we show that samples containing elongated grains display “abnormal” variance scalings for the grains local density, as a result of long-range correlations in the granular packing structure. The use of virtual microstructures to predict the materials mechanical properties is addressed and discussed

    An Efficient Parallelization of Dynamic Programming on a Ring of Processors

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    c, for different instances of the problem. We discuss how to implement efficiently (1) on a ring of general-purpose processors (Intel Paragon). Our approach is based on the result in [AR94] which provides an analytic solution of optimal tiling problem, namely the problem of determining the size of iteration space tiles so as to minimize the running time of the program. This solution uses a realistic model of the architecture which accounts for coprocessors that permit overlapping of communication and computation, context switching times, etc. Determining the optimal tile size is shown to reduce to a non-linear optimization problem. The closed form analytic solution involves only parameters of the architecture and program that are easily determined at compile time. In this study we improve and develop the model using the peculiarities of Intel Paragon showing that the main ideas from [AR94] are valid also in this case. Figure 1 gives an example which illustrates the corroborati

    Cooperative Action of ADMP- and BMP-Mediated Pathways in Regulating Cell Fates in the Zebrafish Gastrula

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    International audienceIt was shown in Xenopus and chick that Spemann's organizer activity is regulated through the negative action of Anti-Dorsalizing Morphogenetic Protein (ADMP). We report the characterization and functional properties of admp in zebrafish. admp expression profile is consistent with a role in the organizer, including the tail organizer. We studied admp function through overexpression experiments, with the use of a dominant-negative form (TR-ADMP) and of an antisense morpholino-modified oligonucleotide. Our results indicate that the ADMP pathway causes the restriction of anterior and axial fates and that ADMP, BMP2b, and BMP7 pathways have distinct actions but cooperate in establishing proper dorso-ventral regionalization. This is shown by partial rescue of the dorsalized mutant snailhouse and of the ventralized mutant chordino, upon admp and tr-admp RNA injection, respectively. Moreover, ADMP and BMP7 probably form heterodimers as shown by the ability of TR-ADMP and BMP7 to antagonize each other. We observed that a MYC-tagged ADMP was secreted and detected in the extracellular space, suggesting that admp could act at a distance. Simultaneous local inhibition of bmp function at the blastoderm margin and impairment of ADMP secretion led to the induction of secondary head structures, confirming that the two pathways cooperatively regulate organizer formation and activity
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