Intracluster supernovae in the Multi-epoch Nearby Cluster Survey

The Multi-Epoch Nearby Cluster Survey (MENeaCS) has discovered twenty-three cluster Type Ia supernovae (SNe) in the 58 X-ray selected galaxy clusters (0.05 < z < 0.15) surveyed. Four of our SN Ia events have no host galaxy on close inspection, and are likely intracluster SNe. Deep image stacks at the location of the candidate intracluster SNe put upper limits on the luminosities of faint hosts, with M_{r} > -13.0 mag and M_{g} > -12.5 mag in all cases. For such limits, the fraction of the cluster luminosity in faint dwarfs below our detection limit is <0.1%, assuming a standard cluster luminosity function. All four events occurred within ~600 kpc of the cluster center (projected), as defined by the position of the brightest cluster galaxy, and are more centrally concentrated than the cluster SN Ia population as a whole. After accounting for several observational biases that make intracluster SNe easier to discover and spectroscopically confirm, we calculate an intracluster stellar mass fraction of 0.16^{+0.13}_{-0.09} (68% CL) for all objects within R_{200}. If we assume that the intracluster stellar population is exclusively old, and the cluster galaxies themselves have a mix of stellar ages, we derive an upper limit on the intracluster stellar mass fraction of <0.47 (84% one-sided CL). When combined with the intragroup SNe results of McGee & Balogh, we confirm the declining intracluster stellar mass fraction as a function of halo mass reported by Gonzalez and collaborators. (Abridged)Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, ApJ publishe

SDSS J124602.54+011318.8: A Highly Variable AGN, Not an Orphan GRB Afterglow

The optically variable source SDSS J124602.54+011318.8 first appears in Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data as a bright point source with nonstellar colors. Subsequent SDSS imaging and spectroscopy showed that the point source declined or disappeared, revealing an underlying host galaxy at redshift 0.385. Based on these properties, the source was suggested to be a candidate ``orphan afterglow'': a moderately beamed optical transient, associated with a gamma-ray burst (GRB) whose highly beamed radiation cone does not include our line of sight. We present new imaging and spectroscopic observations of this source. When combined with a careful re-analysis of archival optical and radio data, the observations prove that SDSS J124602.54+011318.8 is in fact an unusual radio-loud AGN, probably in the BL Lac class. The object displays strong photometric variability on time scales of weeks to years, including several bright flares, similar to the one initially reported. The SDSS observations are therefore almost certainly not related to a GRB. The optical spectrum of this object dramatically changes in correlation with its optical brightness. At the bright phase, weak, narrow oxygen emission lines and probably a broader H$\alpha$ line are superposed on a blue continuum. As the flux decreases, the spectrum becomes dominated by the host galaxy light, with emerging stellar absorption lines, while both the narrow and broad emission lines have larger equivalent widths. We briefly discuss the implications of this discovery on the study of AGNs and other optically variable or transient phenomena.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, AASTEX 5.0.2, slight modifications following referee's report, PASP, in pres

Identification of the Red Supergiant Progenitor of Supernova 2005cs: Do the Progenitors of Type II-P Supernovae Have Low Mass?

The stars that end their lives as supernovae (SNe) have been directly observed in only a handful of cases, due mainly to the extreme difficulty in identifying them in images obtained prior to the SN explosions. Here we report the identification of the progenitor for the recent Type II-plateau (core-collapse) SN 2005cs in pre-explosion archival images of the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). From high-quality ground-based images of the SN from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, we precisely determine the position of the SN and are able to isolate the SN progenitor to within 0".04 in the HST/ACS optical images. We further pinpoint the SN location to within 0".005 from HST/ACS ultraviolet images of the SN, confirming our progenitor identification. From photometry of the SN progenitor obtained with the pre-SN ACS images, and also limits to its brightness in pre-SN HST/NICMOS images, we infer that the progenitor is a red supergiant star of spectral type K0--M3, with initial mass 7--9 Msun. We also discuss the implications of the SN 2005cs progenitor identification and its mass estimate. There is an emerging trend that the most common Type II-plateau SNe originate from low-mass supergiants 8--15 Msun.Comment: Submitted to ApJ. A high resolution version can be found at http://astron.berkeley.edu/~weidong/sn05cs.p

A fourfold coordinated point defect in silicon

Due to their technological importance, point defects in silicon are among the best studied physical systems. The experimental examination of point defects buried in bulk is difficult and evidence for the various defects usually indirect. Simulations of defects in silicon have been performed at various levels of sophistication ranging from fast force fields to accurate density functional calculations. The generally accepted viewpoint from all these studies is that vacancies and self interstitials are the basic point defects in silicon. We challenge this point of view by presenting density functional calculations that show that there is a new fourfold coordinated point defect in silicon that is lower in energy

The progenitor and early evolution of the Type IIb SN 2016gkg

We report initial observations and analysis on the Type IIb SN~2016gkg in the nearby galaxy NGC~613. SN~2016gkg exhibited a clear double-peaked light curve during its early evolution, as evidenced by our intensive photometric follow-up campaign. SN~2016gkg shows strong similarities with other Type IIb SNe, in particular with respect to the \he~emission features observed in both the optical and near infrared. SN~2016gkg evolved faster than the prototypical Type~IIb SN~1993J, with a decline similar to that of SN~2011dh after the first peak. The analysis of archival {\it Hubble Space Telescope} images indicate a pre-explosion source at SN~2016gkg's position, suggesting a progenitor star with a $\sim$mid F spectral type and initial mass $15-20$\msun, depending on the distance modulus adopted for NGC~613. Modeling the temperature evolution within $5\,\rm{days}$ of explosion, we obtain a progenitor radius of $\sim\,48-124$\rsun, smaller than that obtained from the analysis of the pre-explosion images ($240-320$\rsun).Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Submitted to ApJ Letter

The type IIb SN 2008ax: the nature of the progenitor

A source coincident with the position of the type IIb supernova (SN) 2008ax is identified in pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations in three optical filters. We identify and constrain two possible progenitor systems: (i) a single massive star that lost most of its hydrogen envelope through radiatively driven mass loss processes, prior to exploding as a helium-rich Wolf-Rayet star with a residual hydrogen envelope, and (ii) an interacting binary in a low mass cluster producing a stripped progenitor. Late time, high resolution observations along with detailed modelling of the SN will be required to reveal the true nature of this progenitor star.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, resolution of figure 1 reduced, figure 2 revised, some revision following referee's comments, accepted for publication in MNRAS letter

Efficient Behavior of Small-World Networks

We introduce the concept of efficiency of a network, measuring how efficiently it exchanges information. By using this simple measure small-world networks are seen as systems that are both globally and locally efficient. This allows to give a clear physical meaning to the concept of small-world, and also to perform a precise quantitative a nalysis of both weighted and unweighted networks. We study neural networks and man-made communication and transportation systems and we show that the underlying general principle of their construction is in fact a small-world principle of high efficiency.Comment: 1 figure, 2 tables. Revised version. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

The Caltech Core-Collapse Project (CCCP)

The cosmological utility of type Ia Supernovae prompted numerous studies of these events, and they are now well characterized observationally, both as individual objects and as a population. In contrast, all other types of supernovae (i.e. core-collapse events) are not as well observationally characterized. While some individual events have been studied in great detail (e.g. SN 1987A or SN 1998bw), the global properties of the core-collapse SN population are little known. However, in recent years, major drivers for change have emerged, among them the verification of the connection between core-collapse supernovae and long-duration Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs), the possible utility of some core-collapse supernovae (type II-P) as independent cosmological probes, and studies of core-collapse supernovae as high redshift targets for missions like the Supernova Acceleration Probe and the James Webb Space Telescope. The Caltech Core-Collapse Project is a large observational program using the Hale 200 inch and the robotic 60 inch telescopes at Palomar observatory to obtain optical photometry, spectroscopy and IR photometry of ~50 nearby core-collapse supernovae. The program is designed to provide a complete sample of core-collapse events, with well-defined selection criteria and uniform, high-quality optical/IR observations, as well as radio and X-ray light curves for some events. We will use this sample to characterize the little-studied properties of core-collapse supernovae as a population. The sample will be used as a comparison set for studies of supernovae associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts, to promote and calibrate the use of supernovae II-P for cosmography, and to set the stage for investigations of supernovae at high-z using coming space missions such as the Supernova Acceleration Probe and the James Webb Space Telescope

An automated archival VLA transients survey

In this paper we present the results of a survey for radio transients using data obtained from the Very Large Array archive. We have reduced, using a pipeline procedure, 5037 observations of the most common pointings - i.e. the calibrator fields. These fields typically contain a relatively bright point source and are used to calibrate `target' observations: they are therefore rarely imaged themselves. The observations used span a time range ~ 1984 - 2008 and consist of eight different pointings, three different frequencies (8.4, 4.8 and 1.4 GHz) and have a total observing time of 435 hours. We have searched for transient and variable radio sources within these observations using components from the prototype LOFAR transient detection system. In this paper we present the methodology for reducing large volumes of Very Large Array data; and we also present a brief overview of the prototype LOFAR transient detection algorithms. No radio transients were detected in this survey, therefore we place an upper limit on the snapshot rate of GHz frequency transients > 8.0 mJy to rho less than or equal to 0.032 deg^-2 that have typical timescales 4.3 to 45.3 days. We compare and contrast our upper limit with the snapshot rates - derived from either detections or non-detections of transient and variable radio sources - reported in the literature. When compared with the current Log N - Log S distribution formed from previous surveys, we show that our upper limit is consistent with the observed population. Current and future radio transient surveys will hopefully further constrain these statistics, and potentially discover dominant transient source populations. In this paper we also briefly explore the current transient commissioning observations with LOFAR, and the impact they will make on the field.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA