575 research outputs found
Statistics of Magnification Perturbations by Substructure in the Cold Dark Matter Cosmological Model
We study the statistical properties of magnification perturbations by
substructures in strong lensed systems using linear perturbation theory and an
analytical substructure model including tidal truncation and a continuous
substructure mass spectrum. We demonstrate that magnification perturbations are
dominated by perturbers found within a tidal radius of an image, and that
sizable magnification perturbations may arise from small, coherent
contributions from several substructures within the lens halo. We find that the
root-mean-square (rms) fluctuation of the magnification perturbation is 10% to
20% and both the average and rms perturbations are sensitive to the mass
spectrum and density profile of the perturbers. Interestingly, we find that
relative to a smooth model of the same mass, the average magnification in
clumpy models is lower (higher) than that in smooth models for positive
(negative) parity images. This is opposite from what is observed if one assumes
that the image magnification predicted by the best-fit smooth model of a lens
is a good proxy for what the observed magnification would have been if
substructures were absent. While it is possible for this discrepancy to be
resolved via nonlinear perturbers, we argue that a more likely explanation is
that the assumption that the best-fit lens model is a good proxy for the
magnification in the absence of substructure is not correct. We conclude that a
better theoretical understanding of the predicted statistical properties of
magnification perturbations by CDM substructure is needed in order to affirm
that CDM substructures have been unambiguously detected.Comment: ApJ accepted, minor change
Halo Substructure and the Power Spectrum
In this proceeding, we present the results of a semi-analytic study of CDM
substructure as a function of the primordial power spectrum. We apply our
method to several tilted models in the LCDM framework with n=0.85-1.1,
sigma_8=0.65-1.2 when COBE normalized. We also study a more extreme, warm dark
matter-like spectrum that is sharply truncated below a scale of 10^10 h^-1
Msun. We show that the mass fraction of halo substructure is not a strong
function of spectral slope, so it likely will be difficult to constrain tilt
using flux ratios of gravitationally lensed quasars. On the positive side, all
of our CDM-type models yield projected mass fractions in good agreement with
strong lensing estimates: f \sim 1.5% at M \sim 10^8 Msun. The truncated model
produces a significantly smaller fraction, f \lsim 0.3%, suggesting that warm
dark matter-like spectra may be distinguished from CDM spectra using lensing.
We also discuss the issue of dwarf satellite abundances, with emphasis on the
cosmological dependence of the map between the observed central velocity
dispersion of Milky Way satellites and the maximum circular velocities of their
host halos. In agreement with earlier work, we find that standard LCDM
over-predicts the estimated count of Milky Way satellites at fixed Vmax by an
order of magnitude, but tilted models do better because subhalos are less
concentrated. Interestingly, under the assumption that dwarfs have isotropic
velocity dispersion tensors, models with significantly tilted spectra (n \lsim
0.85, sigma_8 \lsim 0.7) may under-predict the number of large Milky Way
satellites with Vmax \gsim 40 km/s.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Poster contribution to the 13th Annual
Astrophysics Conference in Maryland, The Emergence of Cosmic Structur
Bailing Out the Milky Way: Variation in the Properties of Massive Dwarfs Among Galaxy-Sized Systems
Recent kinematical constraints on the internal densities of the Milky Way's
dwarf satellites have revealed a discrepancy with the subhalo populations of
simulated Galaxy-scale halos in the standard CDM model of hierarchical
structure formation. This has been dubbed the "too big to fail" problem, with
reference to the improbability of large and invisible companions existing in
the Galactic environment. In this paper, we argue that both the Milky Way
observations and simulated subhalos are consistent with the predictions of the
standard model for structure formation. Specifically, we show that there is
significant variation in the properties of subhalos among distinct host halos
of fixed mass and suggest that this can reasonably account for the deficit of
dense satellites in the Milky Way. We exploit well-tested analytic techniques
to predict the properties in a large sample of distinct host halos with a
variety of masses spanning the range expected of the Galactic halo. The
analytic model produces subhalo populations consistent with both Via Lactea II
and Aquarius, and our results suggest that natural variation in subhalo
properties suffices to explain the discrepancy between Milky Way satellite
kinematics and these numerical simulations. At least ~10% of Milky Way-sized
halos host subhalo populations for which there is no "too big to fail" problem,
even when the host halo mass is as large as M_host = 10^12.2 h^-1 M_sun.
Follow-up studies consisting of high-resolution simulations of a large number
of Milky Way-sized hosts are necessary to confirm our predictions. In the
absence of such efforts, the "too big to fail" problem does not appear to be a
significant challenge to the standard model of hierarchical formation.
[abridged]Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures; accepted by JCAP. Replaced with published
versio
Testing general relativity and probing the merger history of massive black holes with LISA
Observations of binary inspirals with LISA will allow us to place bounds on
alternative theories of gravity and to study the merger history of massive
black holes (MBH). These possibilities rely on LISA's parameter estimation
accuracy. We update previous studies of parameter estimation including
non-precessional spin effects. We work both in Einstein's theory and in
alternative theories of gravity of the scalar-tensor and massive-graviton
types. Inclusion of non-precessional spin terms in MBH binaries has little
effect on the angular resolution or on distance determination accuracy, but it
degrades the estimation of the chirp mass and reduced mass by between one and
two orders of magnitude. The bound on the coupling parameter of scalar-tensor
gravity is significantly reduced by the presence of spin couplings, while the
reduction in the graviton-mass bound is milder. LISA will measure the
luminosity distance of MBHs to better than ~10% out to z~4 for a (10^6+10^6)
Msun binary, and out to z~2 for a (10^7+10^7) Msun binary. The chirp mass of a
MBH binary can always be determined with excellent accuracy. Ignoring spin
effects, the reduced mass can be measured within ~1% out to z=10 and beyond for
a (10^6+10^6) Msun binary, but only out to z~2 for a (10^7+10^7) Msun binary.
Present-day MBH coalescence rate calculations indicate that most detectable
events should originate at z~2-6: at these redshifts LISA can be used to
measure the two black hole masses and their luminosity distance with sufficient
accuracy to probe the merger history of MBHs. If the low-frequency LISA noise
can only be trusted down to 10^-4 Hz, parameter estimation for MBHs (and LISA's
ability to perform reliable cosmological observations) will be significantly
degraded.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of GWDAW 9. Matches version accepted
in Classical and Quantum Gravit
Dark Matter Annihilation around Intermediate Mass Black Holes: an update
The formation and evolution of Black Holes inevitably affects the
distribution of dark and baryonic matter in the neighborhood of the Black Hole.
These effects may be particularly relevant around Supermassive and Intermediate
Mass Black Holes (IMBHs), the formation of which can lead to large Dark Matter
overdensities, called {\em spikes} and {\em mini-spikes} respectively. Despite
being larger and more dense, spikes evolve at the very centers of galactic
halos, in regions where numerous dynamical effects tend to destroy them.
Mini-spikes may be more likely to survive, and they have been proposed as
worthwhile targets for indirect Dark Matter searches. We review here the
formation scenarios and the prospects for detection of mini-spikes, and we
present new estimates for the abundances of mini-spikes to illustrate the
sensitivity of such predictions to cosmological parameters and uncertainties
regarding the astrophysics of Black Hole formation at high redshift. We also
connect the IMBHs scenario to the recent measurements of cosmic-ray electron
and positron spectra by the PAMELA, ATIC, H.E.S.S., and Fermi collaborations.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Invited contribution to NJP Focus Issue on "Dark
Matter and Particle Physics
The Anisotropic Distribution of Galactic Satellites
We present a study of the spatial distribution of subhalos in galactic dark
matter halos using dissipationless cosmological simulations of the concordance
LCDM model. We find that subhalos are distributed anisotropically and are
preferentially located along the major axes of the triaxial mass distributions
of their hosts. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov probability for drawing our simulated
subhalo sample from an isotropic distribution is P_KS \simeq 1.5 \times
10^{-4}. An isotropic distribution of subhalos is thus not the correct null
hypothesis for testing the CDM paradigm. The nearly planar distribution of
observed Milky Way (MW) satellites is marginally consistent (probability \simeq
0.02) with being drawn randomly from the subhalo distribution in our
simulations. Furthermore, if we select the subhalos likely to be luminous, we
find a distribution that is consistent with the observed MW satellites. In
fact, we show that subsamples of the subhalo population with a
centrally-concentrated radial distribution, similar to that of the MW dwarfs,
typically exhibit a comparable degree of planarity. We explore the origin of
the observed subhalo anisotropy and conclude that it is likely due to (1)
preferential accretion of subhalos along filaments, often closely aligned with
the major axis of the host halo, and (2) evolution of satellite orbits within
the prolate, triaxial potentials typical of CDM halos. Agreement between
predictions and observations requires the major axis of the outer dark matter
halo of the Milky Way to be nearly perpendicular to the disk. We discuss
possible observational tests of such disk-halo alignment with current large
galaxy surveys.Comment: 14 pages (including appendix), 9 figures. Accepted for Publication in
ApJ. Minor changes to reflect referee's comment
A New Signature of Dark Matter Annihilations: Gamma-Rays from Intermediate-Mass Black Holes
We study the prospects for detecting gamma-rays from Dark Matter (DM)
annihilations in enhancements of the DM density (mini-spikes) around
intermediate-mass black holes with masses in the range 10^2 \lsim M / \msun
\lsim 10^6. Focusing on two different IMBH formation scenarios, we show that,
for typical values of mass and cross section of common DM candidates,
mini-spikes, produced by the adiabatic growth of DM around pregalactic IMBHs,
would be bright sources of gamma-rays, which could be easily detected with
large field-of-view gamma-ray experiments such as GLAST, and further studied
with smaller field-of-view, larger-area experiments like Air Cherenkov
Telescopes CANGAROO, HESS, MAGIC and VERITAS. The detection of many gamma-ray
sources not associated with a luminous component of the Local Group, and with
identical cut-offs in their energy spectra at the mass of the DM particle,
would provide a potential smoking-gun signature of DM annihilations and shed
new light on the nature of intermediate and supermassive Black Holes.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
The peculiar velocities of satellites of external disk galaxies
We analyze the angular distribution and the orbital rotation directions of a
sample of carefully-selected satellite galaxies extracted from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We also study these statistics in an N-body
simulation of cosmological structure formation set within the LCDM paradigm
under various assumptions for the orientations of disk angular momenta.
Assuming that the angular momenta of the disks are aligned with the angular
momenta of the inner regions of their host dark matter halos, we find that the
fraction of simulated satellite halos that exhibit prograde motion is
0.55-0.60, with larger satellites more likely to be prograde. In our
observational sample, approximately 60% of the satellites exhibit prograde
motion, a result that is broadly consistent with the simulated sample. Contrary
to several recent studies, our observational sample of satellite galaxies show
no evidence for being anisotropically distributed about their primary disks.
Again, this result is broadly consistent with our simulated sample of
satellites under the assumption that disk and halo angular momenta are aligned.
However, the small size of our observational sample does not yet allow us to
distinguish between various assumptions regarding the orientations of disks in
their halos. Finally, we assessed the importance of contamination by
interlopers on the measured prograde and retrograde statistics.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Ap
Shredded Galaxies as the Source of Diffuse Intrahalo Light On Varying Scales
We make predictions for diffuse stellar mass fractions in dark matter halos
from the scales of small spiral galaxies to those of large galaxy clusters. We
use an extensively-tested analytic model for subhalo infall and evolution and
empirical constraints from galaxy survey data to set the stellar mass in each
accreted subhalo to model diffuse light. We add stellar mass to the diffuse
light as subhalos become disrupted due to interactions within their host halos.
We predict that the stellar mass fraction in diffuse, intrahalo light should
rise on average from ~0.5% to approximately 20% from small galaxy halos to poor
groups. The trend with mass flattens considerably beyond the group scale,
increasing weakly from a fraction of ~20% in poor galaxy clusters (~10^14
M_sun) to roughly ~30% in massive clusters (~10^15 M_sun). The mass-dependent
diffuse light fraction is governed primarily by the empirical fact that the
mass-to-light ratio in galaxy halos must vary as a function of halo mass.
Galaxy halos have little diffuse light because they accrete most of their mass
in small subhalos that themselves have high mass-to-light ratios; stellar halos
around galaxies are built primarily from disrupted dwarf-irregular-type
galaxies with M*~10^8.5 M_sun. The diffuse light in group and cluster halos is
built from satellite galaxies that form stars efficiently and have
correspondingly low mass-to-light ratios; intracluster light is dominated by
material liberated from massive galaxies with M*~10^11 M_sun. Our results are
consistent with existing observations spanning the galaxy, group, and cluster
scale; however, they can be tested more rigorously in future deep surveys for
faint diffuse light.Comment: version accepted for publication in ApJ; details clarified and
robustness discussion expanded, with results and conclusions unchanged; 15
pages, 10 figure
From Motion to Emotion : Accelerometer Data Predict Subjective Experience of Music
Music is often discussed to be emotional because it reflects expressive movements in audible form. Thus, a valid approach to measure musical emotion could be to assess movement stimulated by music. In two experiments we evaluated the discriminative power of mobile-device generated acceleration data produced by free movement during music listening for the prediction of ratings on the Geneva Emotion Music Scales (GEMS-9). The quality of prediction for different dimensions of GEMS varied between experiments for tenderness (R12(first experiment) = 0.50, R22(second experiment) = 0.39), nostalgia (R12 = 0.42, R22 = 0.30), wonder (R12 = 0.25, R22 = 0.34), sadness (R12 = 0.24, R22 = 0.35), peacefulness (R12 = 0.20, R22 = 0.35) and joy (R12 = 0.19, R22 = 0.33) and transcendence (R12 = 0.14, R22 = 0.00). For others like power (R12 = 0.42, R22 = 0.49) and tension (R12 = 0.28, R22 = 0.27) results could be almost reproduced. Furthermore, we extracted two principle components from GEMS ratings, one representing arousal and the other one valence of the experienced feeling. Both qualities, arousal and valence, could be predicted by acceleration data, indicating, that they provide information on the quantity and quality of experience. On the one hand, these findings show how music-evoked movement patterns relate to music-evoked feelings. On the other hand, they contribute to integrate findings from the field of embodied music cognition into music recommender systems
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