113 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&
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&
The matter distribution in the local Universe as derived from galaxy groups in SDSS DR12 and 2MRS
Context. Friends-of-friends algorithms are a common tool to detect galaxy
groups and clusters in large survey data. In order to be as precise as
possible, they have to be carefully calibrated using mock catalogues.
Aims. We create an accurate and robust description of the matter distribution
in the local Universe using the most up-to-date available data. This will
provide the input for a specific cosmological test planned as follow-up to this
work, and will be useful for general extragalactic and cosmological research.
Methods. We created a set of galaxy group catalogues based on the 2MRS and
SDSS DR12 galaxy samples using a friends-of-friends based group finder
algorithm. The algorithm was carefully calibrated and optimised on a new set of
wide-angle mock catalogues from the Millennium simulation, in order to provide
accurate total mass estimates of the galaxy groups taking into account the
relevant observational biases in 2MRS and SDSS.
Results. We provide four different catalogues (i) a 2MRS based group
catalogue; (ii) an SDSS DR12 based group catalogue reaching out to a redshift z
= 0.11 with stellar mass estimates for 70% of the galaxies; (iii) a catalogue
providing additional fundamental plane distances for all groups of the SDSS
catalogue that host elliptical galaxies; (iv) a catalogue of the mass
distribution in the local Universe based on a combination of our 2MRS and SDSS
catalogues.
Conclusions. While motivated by a specific cosmological test, three of the
four catalogues that we produced are well suited to act as reference databases
for a variety of extragalactic and cosmological science cases. Our catalogue of
fundamental plane distances for SDSS groups provides further added value to
this paper.Comment: 31 pages, 25 figures, accepted for publication in A&
A Subtlety of the Schr\"{o}dinger Picture Dynamics
We address a mathematical and physical status of exotic (like e.g. fractal)
wave packets and their quantum dynamics. To this end, we extend the formal
meaning of the Schr\"{o}dinger equation beyond the domain of the Hamiltonian.
The dynamical importance of the finite mean energy condition is elucidated.Comment: Minor amendments, typos corrected, to appear in Rep. Math. Phy
SimCADO - an instrument data simulator package for MICADO at the E-ELT
MICADO will be the first-light wide-field imager for the European Extremely
Large Telescope (E-ELT) and will provide difiraction limited imaging (7mas at
1.2mm) over a ~53 arcsecond field of view. In order to support various
consortium activities we have developed a first version of SimCADO: an
instrument simulator for MICADO. SimCADO uses the results of the detailed
simulation efforts conducted for each of the separate consortium-internal work
packages in order to generate a model of the optical path from source to
detector readout. SimCADO is thus a tool to provide scientific context to both
the science and instrument development teams who are ultimately responsible for
the final design and future capabilities of the MICADO instrument. Here we
present an overview of the inner workings of SimCADO and outline our plan for
its further development.Comment: to appear in Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy
VI, eds. Evans C., Simard L., Takami H., Proc. SPIE vol. 9908 id 73; 201
Towards a Solution for the Ca II Triplet Puzzle : Results from Dwarf Elliptical Galaxies
We present new estimates of ages and metallicities, based on FORS/VLT optical
(4400-5500A) spectroscopy, of 16 dwarf elliptical galaxies (dE's) in the Fornax
Cluster and in Southern Groups. These dE's are more metal-rich and younger than
previous estimates based on narrow-band photometry and low-resolution
spectroscopy. For our sample we find a mean metallicity [Z/H] = -0.33 dex and
mean age 3.5 Gyr, consistent with similar samples of dE's in other environments
(Local Group, Virgo). Three dE's in our sample show emission lines and very
young ages. This suggests that some dE's formed stars until a very recent epoch
and were self-enriched by a long star formation history. Previous observations
of large near-infrared (~8500A) Ca II absorption strengths in these dE's are in
good agreement with the new metallicity estimates, solving part of the
so-called Calcium puzzle.Comment: ApJ Letters accepted, 5 pages emulateapj, 2 figure
Ages and Metallicities of Cluster Galaxies in a779 Using Modified Strömgren Photometry
In the quest for the formation and evolution of galaxy clusters, Rakos and co-workers introduced a spectrophotometric method using modified Strömgren photometry, but with the considerable debate toward the project's abilities, we re-introduce the system by testing for the repeatability of the modified Strömgren colors and compare them with the Strömgren colors, and check for the reproducibility of the ages and metallicities (using the Principle Component Analysis (PCA) technique and the GALEV models) for the six common galaxies in all three A779 data sets. As a result, a fair agreement between two filter systems was found to produce similar colors (with a precision of 0.09 mag in (uz - vz), 0.02 mag in (bz - yz), and 0.03 mag in (vz - vz)) and the generated ages and metallicities are also similar (with an uncertainty of 0.36 Gyr and 0.04 dex from PCA and 0.44 Gyr and 0.2 dex using the GALEV models). We infer that the technique is able to relieve the age-metallicity degeneracy by separating the age effects from the metallicity effects, but it is still unable to completely eliminate it.We further extend this paper to re-study the evolution of galaxies in the low mass, dynamically poor A779 cluster (as it was not elaborately analyzed by Rakos and co-workers in their previous work) by correlating the luminosity (mass), density, and radial distance with the estimated age, metallicity, and the star formation history. Our results distinctly show the bimodality of the young, low-mass, metal-poor population with a mean age of 6.7 Gyr (± 0.5 Gyr) and the old, high-mass, metal-rich galaxies with a mean age of 9 Gyr (± 0.5 Gyr). The method also observes the color evolution of the blue cluster galaxies to red (Butcher-Oemler phenomenon), and the downsizing phenomenon. Our analysis shows that modified Strömgren photometry is very well suited for studying low- and intermediate-z clusters, as it is capable of observing deeper with better spatial resolution at spectroscopic redshift limits, and the narrow-band filters estimate the age and metallicity with fewer uncertainties compared to other methods that study stellar population scenarios
Optimal Quantum Cloning via Stimulated Emission
We show that optimal universal quantum cloning can be realized via stimulated
emission. Universality of the cloning procedure is achieved by choosing systems
that have appropriate symmetries. We first discuss a scheme based on stimulated
emission in certain three-level-systems, e.g. atoms in a cavity. Then we
present a way of realizing optimal universal cloning based on stimulated
parametric down-conversion. This scheme also implements the optimal universal
NOT operation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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