Dynamical masses and non-homology of massive elliptical galaxies grown by dry mergers

We study whether dry merger-driven size growth of massive elliptical galaxies depends on their initial structural concentration, and analyse the validity of the homology hypothesis for virial mass determination in massive ellipticals grown by dry mergers. High-resolution simulations of a few realistic merger trees, starting with compact progenitors of different structural concentrations (S\'ersic indices n), show that galaxy growth has little dependence on the initial S\'ersic index (larger n leads to slightly larger size growth), and depends more on other particulars of the merger history. We show that the deposition of accreted matter in the outer parts leads to a systematic and predictable breaking of the homology between remnants and progenitors, which we characterize through the evolution, during the course of the merger history, of virial coefficients K = GM/Re \sigma^2 associated to the most commonly-used dynamical and stellar mass parameters. The virial coefficient for the luminous mass, K , is about 50 per cent larger at the z = 2 start of the merger evolution than in z = 0 remnants. Ignoring virial evolution leads to biased virial mass estimates. We provide K corresponding to a variety of dynamical and stellar mass parameters, and provide recipes for the dynamical determination of galaxy masses. For massive, non-compact ellipticals, the popular expression M = 5 Re \sigma^2 / G underestimates the dynamical mass within the luminous body by factors of up to 4; it instead provides an approximation to the total stellar mass with smaller uncertainty than current stellar population models

Portable high-performance programs

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-169).by Matteo Frigo.Ph.D

Efficient solvers for hybridized three-field mixed finite element coupled poromechanics

We consider a mixed hybrid finite element formulation for coupled poromechanics. A stabilization strategy based on a macro-element approach is advanced to eliminate the spurious pressure modes appearing in undrained/incompressible conditions. The efficient solution of the stabilized mixed hybrid block system is addressed by developing a class of block triangular preconditioners based on a Schur-complement approximation strategy. Robustness, computational efficiency and scalability of the proposed approach are theoretically discussed and tested using challenging benchmark problems on massively parallel architectures

Gibbs sampling approach to regime switching analysis of financial time series

We will introduce a Monte Carlo type inference in the framework of Markov Switching models to analyse financial time series, namely the Gibbs Sampling. In particular we generalize the results obtained in Albert and Chib (1993), Di Persio and Vettori (2014) and Kim and Nelson (1999) to take into account the switching mean as well as the switching variance case. In particular the volatility of the relevant time series will be treated as a state variable in order to describe the abrupt changes in the behaviour of financial time series which can be implied, e.g., by social, political or economic factors. The accuracy of the proposed analysis will be tested considering financial dataset related to the U.S. stock market in the period 2007–2014

Maximum Likelihood Approach to Markov Switching Models

The present paper concerns a Maximum Likelihood analysis for the Markov switching approach to the forecasting problem of financial time series. In particular we model the volatility parameter characterizing time series of interest as a state variable of a suitable Markov chain. Latter formulation is based on the idea of describing abrupt changes in the behaviour of studied financial quantities due to, e.g., social or political factors able to substantially change the economic scenarios we are interested in. A case study for the NASDAQ IXIC index in the period 3rd Jan 2007 - 30th Dec 2013 is also provided

The formation of extremely diffuse galaxy cores by merging supermassive black holes

Given its velocity dispersion, the early-type galaxy NGC 1600 has an unusually massive ($M_\bullet = 1.7 \times 10^{10} M_\odot$) central supermassive black hole (SMBH), surrounded by a large core ($r_\mathrm{b} = 0.7$ kpc) with a tangentially biased stellar distribution. We present high-resolution equal-mass merger simulations including SMBHs to study the formation of such systems. The structural parameters of the progenitor ellipticals were chosen to produce merger remnants resembling NGC 1600. We test initial stellar density slopes of $\rho \propto r^{-1}$ and $\rho \propto r^{-3/2}$ and vary the initial SMBH masses from $8.5 \times 10^8$ to $8.5 \times 10^9$ $M_\odot$. With increasing SMBH mass the merger remnants show a systematic decrease in central surface brightness, an increasing core size, and an increasingly tangentially biased central velocity anisotropy. Two-dimensional kinematic maps reveal decoupled, rotating core regions for the most massive SMBHs. The stellar cores form rapidly as the SMBHs become bound, while the velocity anisotropy develops more slowly after the SMBH binaries become hard. The simulated merger remnants follow distinct relations between the core radius and the sphere-of-influence, and the SMBH mass, similar to observed systems. We find a systematic change in the relations as a function of the progenitor density slope, and present a simple scouring model reproducing this behavior. Finally, we find the best agreement with NGC 1600 using SMBH masses totaling the observed value of $M_\bullet = 1.7 \times 10^{10} M_\odot$. In general, density slopes of $\rho \propto r^{-3/2}$ for the progenitor galaxies are strongly favored for the equal-mass merger scenario.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

The fate of the Antennae galaxies

27 pages, 18 figures, submitted to MNRASWe present a high-resolution smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulation of the Antennae galaxies (NGC 4038/4039) and follow the evolution $3$ Gyrs beyond the final coalescence. The simulation includes metallicity dependent cooling, star formation, and both stellar feedback and chemical enrichment. The simulated best-match Antennae reproduces well both the observed morphology and the off-nuclear starburst. We also produce for the first time a simulated two-dimensional metallicity map of the Antennae and find good agreement with the observed metallicity of off-nuclear stellar clusters, however the nuclear metallicities are overproduced by $\sim 0.5$ dex. Using the radiative transfer code SKIRT we produce multi-wavelength observations of both the Antennae and the merger remnant. The $1$ Gyr old remnant is well fitted with a S\'ersic profile of $n=4.05$, and with an $r$-band effective radius of $r_{\mathrm{e}}= 1.8$ kpc and velocity dispersion of $\sigma_{\mathrm{e}}=180$ km$/$s the remnant is located on the fundamental plane of early-type galaxies (ETGs). The initially blue Antennae remnant evolves onto the red sequence after $\sim 2.5$ Gyr of secular evolution. The remnant would be classified as a fast rotator, as the specific angular momentum evolves from $\lambda_R\approx0.11$ to $\lambda_R\approx0.14$ during its evolution. The remnant shows ordered rotation and a double peaked maximum in the mean 2D line-of-sight velocity. These kinematical features are relatively common among local ETGs and we specifically identify three local ETGs (NGC 3226, NGC 3379 and NGC 4494) in the ATLAS$^\mathrm{3D}$ sample, whose photometric and kinematic properties most resemble the Antennae remnant.We present a high-resolution smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulation of the Antennae galaxies (NGC 4038/4039) and follow the evolution 3 Gyr beyond the final coalescence. The simulation includes metallicity-dependent cooling, star formation, and both stellar feed-back and chemical enrichment. The simulated best-match Antennae reproduce well both the observed morphology and the off-nuclear starburst. We also produce for the first time a simulated two-dimensional (2D) metallicity map of the Antennae and find good agreement with the observed metallicity of off-nuclear stellar clusters; however, the nuclear metallicities are overproduced by similar to 0.5 dex. Using the radiative transfer code SKIRT, we produce multiwavelength observations of both the Antennae and the merger remnant. The 1-Gyr-old remnant is well fitted with a Sersic profile of n = 7.07, and with an r-band effective radius of r(e) = 1.6 kpc and velocity dispersion of sigma(e) = 180 km s(-1) the remnant is located on the Fundamental Plane of early-type galaxies (ETGs). The initially blue Antennae remnant evolves on to the red sequence after similar to 2.5 Gyr of secular evolution. The remnant would be classified as a fast rotator, as the specific angular momentum evolves from lambda(Re) approximate to 0.11 to 0.14 during its evolution. The remnant shows ordered rotation and a double peaked maximum in the mean 2D line-of-sight velocity. These kinematical features are relatively common amongst local ETGs and we specifically identify three local ETGs (NGC 3226, NGC 3379, and NGC 4494) in the ATLAS(3D) sample, whose photometric and kinematic properties most resemble the Antennae remnant.Peer reviewe