638 research outputs found
Age and metallicity gradients in fossil ellipticals
Fossil galaxy groups are speculated to be old and highly evolved systems of
galaxies that formed early in the universe and had enough time to deplete their
galaxies through successive mergers of member galaxies, building up one
massive central elliptical, but retaining the group X-ray halo. Considering
that fossils are the remnants of mergers in ordinary groups, the merger history
of the progenitor group is expected to be imprinted in the fossil central
galaxy (FCG). We present for the first time radial gradients of single-stellar
population (SSP) ages and metallicites in a sample of FCGs to constrain their
formation scenario. Our sample comprises some of the most massive galaxies in
the universe exhibiting an average central velocity dispersion of
km s. Metallicity gradients are throughout negative
with comparatively flat slopes of while
age gradients are found to be insignificant ().
All FCGs lie on the fundamental plane, suggesting that they are virialised
systems. We find that gradient strengths and central metallicities are similar
to those found in cluster ellipticals of similar mass. The comparatively flat
metallicity gradients with respect to those predicted by monolithic collapse
() suggest that fossils are indeed the result of multiple
major mergers. Hence we conclude that fossils are not 'failed groups' that
formed with a top heavy luminosity function. The low scatter of gradient slopes
suggests a similar merging history for all galaxies in our sample.Comment: 14 pages, 12 Figures, accepted for publication in A&
Representation of SO(3) Group by a Maximally Entangled State
A representation of the SO(3) group is mapped into a maximally entangled two
qubit state according to literatures. To show the evolution of the entangled
state, a model is set up on an maximally entangled electron pair, two electrons
of which pass independently through a rotating magnetic field. It is found that
the evolution path of the entangled state in the SO(3) sphere breaks an odd or
even number of times, corresponding to the double connectedness of the SO(3)
group. An odd number of breaks leads to an additional phase to the
entangled state, but an even number of breaks does not. A scheme to trace the
evolution of the entangled state is proposed by means of entangled photon pairs
and Kerr medium, allowing observation of the additional phase.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Hubble flow variations as a test for inhomogeneous cosmology
Context. Backreactions from large-scale inhomogeneities may provide an
elegant explanation for the observed accelerated expansion of the universe
without the need to introduce dark energy. Aims. We propose a cosmological test
for a specific model of inhomogeneous cosmology, called timescape cosmology.
Using large-scale galaxy surveys such as SDSS and 2MRS, we test the variation
of expansion expected in the -CDM model versus a more generic
differential expansion using our own calibrations of bounds suggested by
timescape cosmology. Method. Our test measures the systematic variations of the
Hubble flow towards distant galaxies groups as a function of the matter
distribution in the lines of sight to those galaxy groups. We compare the
observed systematic variation of the Hubble flow to mock catalogues from the
Millennium Simulation in the case of the -CDM model, and a deformed
version of the same simulation that exhibits more pronounced differential
expansion. Results. We perform a series of statistical tests, ranging from
linear regressions to Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, on the obtained data. They
consistently yield results preferring -CDM cosmology over our
approximated model of timescape cosmology. Conclusions. Our analysis of
observational data shows no evidence that the variation of expansion differs
from that of the standard -CDM model.Comment: 20 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Complementarity and Information in "Delayed-choice for entanglement swapping"
Building on Peres's idea of "Delayed-choice for extanglement swapping" we
show that even the degree to which quantum systems were entangled can be
defined after they have been registered and may even not exist any more. This
does not arise as a paradox if the quantum state is viewed as just a
representative of information. Moreover such a view gives a natural
quantification of the complementarity between the measure of information about
the input state for teleportation and the amount of entanglement of the
resulting swapped entangled state.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, submitted to the special issue of Foundation of
Physics in honor of Asher Peres' 70th birthda
Small-scale systems of galaxies. IV. Searching for the faint galaxy population associated with X-ray detected isolated E+S pairs
In hierarchical evolutionary scenarios, isolated, physical pairs may
represent an intermediate phase, or "way station", between collapsing groups
and isolated elliptical (E) galaxies (or fossil groups). We started a
comprehensive study of a sample of galaxy pairs composed of a giant E and a
spiral (S) with the aim of investigating their formation/evolutionary history
from observed optical and X-ray properties. Here we present VLT-VIMOS
observations designed to identify faint galaxies associated with the E+S
systems from candidate lists generated using photometric criteria on WFI images
covering an area of ~ 0.2 h^{-1} Mpc radius around the pairs.
The results are discussed in the context of the evolution of poor galaxy
group associations. A comparison between the Optical Luminosity Functions
(OLFs) of our E+S systems and a sample of X-ray bright poor groups suggest that
the OLF of X-ray detected poor galaxy systems is not universal. The OLF of our
X-ray bright systems suggests that they are more dynamically evolved than our
X-ray faint sample and some X-ray bright groups in the literature. However, we
suggest that the X-ray faint E+S pairs represent a phase in the dynamical
evolution of some X-ray bright poor galaxy groups. The recent or ongoing
interaction in which the E member of the X-ray faint pairs is involved could
have decreased the luminosity of any surrounding X-ray emitting gas.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic
The puzzlingly large Ca II triplet absorption in dwarf elliptical galaxies
We present central CaT, PaT, and CaT* indices for a sample of fifteen dwarf
elliptical galaxies (dEs). Twelve of these have CaT* ~ 7 A and extend the
negative correlation between the CaT* index and central velocity dispersion
sigma, which was derived for bright ellipticals (Es), down to 20 < sigma < 55
km/s. For five dEs we have independent age and metallicity estimates. Four of
these have CaT* ~ 7 A, much higher than expected from their low metallicities
(-1.5 < [Z/H] < -0.5). The observed anti-correlation of CaT* as a function of
sigma or Z is in flagrant disagreement with theory. We discuss some of the
amendments that have been proposed to bring the theoretical predictions into
agreement with the observed CaT*-values of bright Es and how they can be
extended to incorporate also the observed CaT*-values of dEs. Moreover, 3 dEs
in our sample have CaT* ~ 5 A, as would be expected for metal-poor stellar
systems. Any theory for dE evolution will have to be able to explain the
co-existence of low-CaT* and high-CaT* dEs at a given mean metallicity. This
could be the first direct evidence that the dE population is not homogeneous,
and that different evolutionary paths led to morphologically and kinematically
similar but chemically distinct objects.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
On the origin of bursts in blue compact dwarf galaxies: clues from kinematics and stellar populations
Blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) form stars at, for their sizes, extraordinarily high rates. In this paper, we study what triggers this starburst and what is the fate of the galaxy once its gas fuel is exhausted. We select four BCDs with smooth outer regions, indicating them as possible progenitors of dwarf elliptical galaxies. We have obtained photometric and spectroscopic data with the FORS and ISAAC instruments on the VLT. We analyse their infrared spectra using a full spectrum fitting technique, which yields the kinematics of their stars and ionized gas together with their stellar population characteristics. We find that the stellar velocity to velocity dispersion ratio ((nu/sigma)(star)) of our BCDs is of the order of 1.5, similar to that of dwarf elliptical galaxies. Thus, those objects do not require significant (if any) loss of angular momentum to fade into early-type dwarfs. This finding is in discordance with previous studies, which however compared the stellar kinematics of dwarf elliptical galaxies with the gaseous kinematics of star-forming dwarfs. The stellar velocity fields of our objects are very disturbed and the star formation regions are often kinematically decoupled from the rest of the galaxy. These regions can be more or less metal rich with respect to the galactic body and sometimes they are long lived. These characteristics prevent us from pinpointing a unique trigger of the star formation, even within the same galaxy. Gas impacts, mergers, and in-spiraling gas clumps are all possible star formation igniters for our targets
Operationally Invariant Information in Quantum Measurements
A new measure of information in quantum mechanics is proposed which takes
into account that for quantum systems the only feature known before an
experiment is performed are the probabilities for various events to occur. The
sum of the individual measures of information for mutually complementary
observations is invariant under the choice of the particular set of
complementary observations and conserved if there is no information exchange
with an environment. That operational quantum information invariant results in
N bits of information for a system consisting of N qubits.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
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