Calcium Triplet Synthesis

We present theoretical equivalent widths for the sum of the two strongest lines of the Calcium Triplet, CaT index, in the near-IR, using evolutionary techniques and the most recent models and observational data for this feature in individual stars. We compute the CaT index for Single Stellar Populations (instantaneous burst, standard Salpeter-type IMF) at four metallicities, Z=0.004, 0.008, 0.02 (solar) and 0.05, and ranging in age from very young bursts of star formation (few Myr) to old stellar populations, up to 17 gyr, representative of globular clusters, elliptical galaxies and bulges of spirals. The interpretation of the observed equivalent widths of CaT in different stellar systems is discussed. Composite-population models are also computed as a tool to interpret the CaT detections in star-forming regions, in order to disantangle between the component due to Red Supergiants stars, RSG, and the underlying, older, population. CaT is found to be an excellent metallicity-indicator for populations older than 1 Gyr, practically independent of the age. We discuss its application to remove the age- metallicity degeneracy, characteristic of all studies of galaxy evolution based on the usual integrated indices (both broad band colors and narrow band indices). The application of the models computed here to the analysis of a sample of elliptical galaxies will be discussed in a forthcoming paper (Gorgas et al. 1998).Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, to be published in A&

Moving constraints as stabilizing controls in classical mechanics

The paper analyzes a Lagrangian system which is controlled by directly assigning some of the coordinates as functions of time, by means of frictionless constraints. In a natural system of coordinates, the equations of motions contain terms which are linear or quadratic w.r.t.time derivatives of the control functions. After reviewing the basic equations, we explain the significance of the quadratic terms, related to geodesics orthogonal to a given foliation. We then study the problem of stabilization of the system to a given point, by means of oscillating controls. This problem is first reduced to the weak stability for a related convex-valued differential inclusion, then studied by Lyapunov functions methods. In the last sections, we illustrate the results by means of various mechanical examples.Comment: 52 pages, 4 figure

The impact of metallicity and dynamics on the evolution of young star clusters

The early evolution of a dense young star cluster (YSC) depends on the intricate connection between stellar evolution and dynamical processes. Thus, N-body simulations of YSCs must account for both aspects. We discuss N-body simulations of YSCs with three different metallicities (Z=0.01, 0.1 and 1 Zsun), including metallicity-dependent stellar evolution recipes and metallicity-dependent prescriptions for stellar winds and remnant formation. We show that mass-loss by stellar winds influences the reversal of core collapse. In particular, the post-collapse expansion of the core is faster in metal-rich YSCs than in metal-poor YSCs, because the former lose more mass (through stellar winds) than the latter. As a consequence, the half-mass radius expands more in metal-poor YSCs. We also discuss how these findings depend on the total mass and on the virial radius of the YSC. These results give us a clue to understand the early evolution of YSCs with different metallicity.Comment: to appear in "Massive Young Star Clusters Near and Far: From the Milky Way to Reionization", 2013 Guillermo Haro Conference, Eds. Y. D. Mayya, D. Rosa-Gonzalez & E. Terlevich, INAOE and AMC. 4 pages, 2 figure

On Core Collapse Supernovae in Normal and in Seyfert Galaxies

This paper estimates the relative frequency of different types of core-collapse supernovae, in terms of the ratio f between the number of type Ib--Ic and of type II supernovae. We estimate f independently for all normal and Seyfert galaxies whose radial velocity is <=14000 km/s, and which had at least one supernova event recorded in the Asiago catalogue from January 1986 to August 2000. We find that the ratio f is approx. 0.23+/-0.05 in normal galaxies. This value is consistent with constant star formation rate and with a Salpeter Initial Mass Function and average binary rate approx. 50 %. On the contrary, Seyfert galaxies exceed the ratio f in normal galaxies by a factor approx. 4 at a confidence level >= 2 sigma. A caveat is that the numbers for Seyferts are still small (6 type Ib-Ic and 6 type II supernovae discovered as yet). Assumed real, this excess of type Ib and Ic with respect to type II supernovae, may indicate a burst of star formation of young age (<= 20 Myr), a high incidence of binary systems in the inner regions (r <= 0.4 R25) of Seyfert galaxies, or a top-loaded mass function.Comment: Accepted for Publication in MNRA

Star Formation History and Extinction in the central kpc of M82-like Starbursts

We report on the star formation histories and extinction in the central kpc region of a sample of starburst galaxies that have similar far infrared (FIR), 10 micron and K-band luminosities as those of the archetype starburst M82. Our study is based on new optical spectra and previously published K-band photometric data, both sampling the same area around the nucleus. Model starburst spectra were synthesized as a combination of stellar populations of distinct ages formed over the Hubble time, and were fitted to the observed optical spectra and K-band flux. The model is able to reproduce simultaneously the equivalent widths of emission and absorption lines, the continuum fluxes between 3500-7000 Ang, the K-band and the FIR flux. We require a minimum of 3 populations -- (1) a young population of age < 8 Myr, with its corresponding nebular emission, (2) an intermediate-age population (age < 500 Myr), and (3) an old population that forms part of the underlying disk or/and bulge population. The contribution of the old population to the K-band luminosity depends on the birthrate parameter and remains above 60% in the majority of the sample galaxies. Even in the blue band, the intermediate age and old populations contribute more than 40% of the total flux in all the cases. A relatively high contribution from the old stars to the K-band nuclear flux is also apparent from the strength of the 4000 Ang break and the CaII K line. The extinction of the old population is found to be around half of that of the young population. The contribution to the continuum from the relatively old stars has the effect of diluting the emission equivalent widths below the values expected for young bursts. The mean dilution factors are found to be 5 and 3 for the Halpha and Hbeta lines respectively.Comment: 20 pages, uses emulateapj.cls. Scheduled to appear in ApJ Jan 1, 200

The role of the synchrotron component in the mid infrared spectrum of M 87

We study in detail the mid-infrared Spitzer-IRS spectrum of M 87 in the range 5 to 20 micron. Thanks to the high sensitivity of our Spitzer-IRS spectra we can disentangle the stellar and nuclear components of this active galaxy. To this end we have properly subtracted from the M 87 spectrum, the contribution of the underlying stellar continuum, derived from passive Virgo galaxies in our sample. The residual is a clear power-law, without any additional thermal component, with a zero point consistent with that obtained by high spatial resolution, ground based observations. The residual is independent of the adopted passive template. This indicates that the 10 micron silicate emission shown in spectra of M 87 can be entirely accounted for by the underlying old stellar population, leaving little room for a possible torus contribution. The MIR power-law has a slope alpha ~ 0.77-0.82 (S$_\nu\propto\nu^{-\alpha}$), consistent with optically thin synchrotron emission.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ main journa

Mid-infrared colour gradients and the colour-magnitude relation in Virgo early-type galaxies

We make use of Spitzer imaging between 4 and 16 micron and near-infrared data at 2.2 micron to investigate the nature and distribution of the mid-infrared emission in a sample of early-type galaxies in the Virgo cluster. These data allow us to conclude, with some confidence, that the emission at 16 micron in passive ETGs is stellar in origin, consistent with previous work concluding that the excess mid-infrared emission comes from the dusty envelopes around evolved AGB stars. There is little evidence for the mid-infrared emission of an unresolved central component, as might arise in the presence of a dusty torus associated with a low-luminosity AGN. We nonetheless find that the 16 micron emission is more centrally peaked than the near-infrared emission, implying a radial stellar population gradient. By comparing with independent evidence from studies at optical wavelengths, we conclude that a metallicity that falls with increasing radius is the principal driver of the observed gradient. We also plot the mid-infrared colour-magnitude diagram and combine with similar work on the Coma cluster to define the colour-magnitude relation for absolute K-band magnitudes from -26 to -19. Because a correlation between mass and age would produce a relation with a gradient in the opposite sense to that observed, we conclude that the relation reflects the fact that passive ETGs of lower mass also have a lower average metallicity. The colour-magnitude relation is thus driven by metallicity effects. In contrast to what is found in Coma, we do not find any objects with anomalously bright 16 micron emission relative to the colour-magnitude relation. Although there is little overlap in the mass ranges probed in the two clusters, this may suggest that observable ``rejuvenation'' episodes are limited to intermediate mass objects.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

Ultra-luminous X-ray sources and remnants of massive metal-poor stars

Massive metal-poor stars might form massive stellar black holes (BHs), with mass 25<=mBH/Msun<=80, via direct collapse. We derive the number of massive BHs (NBH) that are expected to form per galaxy through this mechanism. Such massive BHs might power most of the observed ultra-luminous X-ray sources (ULXs). We select a sample of 64 galaxies with X-ray coverage, measurements of the star formation rate (SFR) and of the metallicity. We find that NBH correlates with the number of observed ULXs per galaxy (NULX) in this sample. We discuss the dependence of our model on the SFR and on the metallicity. The SFR is found to be crucial, consistently with previous studies. The metallicity plays a role in our model, since a lower metallicity enhances the formation of massive BHs. Consistently with our model, the data indicate that there might be an anticorrelation between NULX, normalized to the SFR, and the metallicity. A larger and more homogeneous sample of metallicity measurements is required, in order to confirm our results.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

SPITZER IRS spectra of Virgo early type galaxies: detection of stellar silicate emission

We present high signal to noise ratio Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph observations of 17 Virgo early-type galaxies. The galaxies were selected from those that define the colour-magnitude relation of the cluster, with the aim of detecting the silicate emission of their dusty, mass-losing evolved stars. To flux calibrate these extended sources we have devised a new procedure that allows us to obtain the intrinsic spectral energy distribution and to disentangle resolved and unresolved emission within the same object. We have found that thirteen objects of the sample (76%) are passively evolving galaxies with a pronounced broad silicate feature which is spatially extended and likely of stellar origin, in agreement with model predictions. The other 4 objects (24%) are characterized by different levels of activity. In NGC 4486 (M 87) the line emission and the broad silicate emission are evidently unresolved and, given also the typical shape of the continuum, they likely originate in the nuclear torus. NGC 4636 shows emission lines superimposed on extended (i.e. stellar) silicate emission, thus pushing the percentage of galaxies with silicate emission to 82%. Finally, NGC 4550 and NGC 4435 are characterized by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and line emission, arising from a central unresolved region. A more detailed analysis of our sample, with updated models, will be presented in a forthcoming paper.Comment: 6 pages; ApJ Letters, accepte