294 research outputs found
Dark energy constraints and correlations with systematics from CFHTLS weak lensing, SNLS supernovae Ia and WMAP5
We combine measurements of weak gravitational lensing from the CFHTLS-Wide
survey, supernovae Ia from CFHT SNLS and CMB anisotropies from WMAP5 to obtain
joint constraints on cosmological parameters, in particular, the dark energy
equation of state parameter w. We assess the influence of systematics in the
data on the results and look for possible correlations with cosmological
parameters.
We implement an MCMC algorithm to sample the parameter space of a flat CDM
model with a dark-energy component of constant w. Systematics in the data are
parametrised and included in the analysis. We determine the influence of
photometric calibration of SNIa data on cosmological results by calculating the
response of the distance modulus to photometric zero-point variations. The weak
lensing data set is tested for anomalous field-to-field variations and a
systematic shape measurement bias for high-z galaxies.
Ignoring photometric uncertainties for SNLS biases cosmological parameters by
at most 20% of the statistical errors, using supernovae only; the parameter
uncertainties are underestimated by 10%. The weak lensing field-to-field
variance pointings is 5%-15% higher than that predicted from N-body
simulations. We find no bias of the lensing signal at high redshift, within the
framework of a simple model. Assuming a systematic underestimation of the
lensing signal at high redshift, the normalisation sigma_8 increases by up to
8%. Combining all three probes we obtain -0.10<1+w<0.06 at 68% confidence
(-0.18<1+w<0.12 at 95%), including systematic errors. Systematics in the data
increase the error bars by up to 35%; the best-fit values change by less than
0.15sigma. [Abridged]Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures. Revised version, matches the one to be
published in A&A. Modifications have been made corresponding to the referee's
suggestions, including reordering of some section
Numerical Galaxy Catalog -I. A Semi-analytic Model of Galaxy Formation with N-body simulations
We construct the Numerical Galaxy Catalog (GC), based on a semi-analytic
model of galaxy formation combined with high-resolution N-body simulations in a
-dominated flat cold dark matter (CDM) cosmological model.
The model includes several essential ingredients for galaxy formation, such as
merging histories of dark halos directly taken from N-body simulations,
radiative gas cooling, star formation, heating by supernova explosions
(supernova feedback), mergers of galaxies, population synthesis, and extinction
by internal dust and intervening HI clouds. As the first paper in a series
using this model, we focus on basic photometric, structural and kinematical
properties of galaxies at present and high redshifts. Two sets of model
parameters are examined, strong and weak supernova feedback models, which are
in good agreement with observational luminosity functions of local galaxies in
a range of observational uncertainty. Both models agree well with many
observations such as cold gas mass-to-stellar luminosity ratios of spiral
galaxies, HI mass functions, galaxy sizes, faint galaxy number counts and
photometric redshift distributions in optical pass-bands, isophotal angular
sizes, and cosmic star formation rates. In particular, the strong supernova
feedback model is in much better agreement with near-infrared (K'-band) faint
galaxy number counts and redshift distribution than the weak feedback model and
our previous semi-analytic models based on the extended Press-Schechter
formalism. (Abridged)Comment: 26 pages including 27 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ,
full-resolution version is available at
http://grape.astron.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~yahagi/nugc
Revisiting the Cosmic Star Formation History: Caution on the Uncertainties in Dust Correction and Star Formation Rate Conversion
The cosmic star formation rate density (CSFRD) has been observationally
investigated out to redshift z~10. However, most of theoretical models for
galaxy formation underpredict the CSFRD at z>1. Since the theoretical models
reproduce the observed luminosity functions (LFs), luminosity densities (LDs),
and stellar mass density at each redshift, this inconsistency does not simply
imply that theoretical models should incorporate some missing unknown physical
processes in galaxy formation. Here, we examine the cause of this inconsistency
in UV wavelengths by using a mock catalog of galaxies generated by a
semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. We find that this inconsistency is due
to two observational uncertainties: dust obscuration correction and conversion
from UV luminosity to star formation rate (SFR). The methods for correction of
obscuration and SFR conversion used in observational studies result in the
overestimation of CSFRD by ~ 0.1-0.3 dex and ~ 0.1-0.2 dex, respectively,
compared to the results obtained directly from our mock catalog. We present new
empirical calibrations for dust attenuation and conversion from observed UV LFs
and LDs into CSFRD.Comment: 12 pages including 11 figures. matches the published version (ApJ
2013 Jan. 20 issue
On the offset of Short Gamma-ray Bursts
Short Gamma-Ray Bursts (SGRBs) are expected to form from the coalescence of
compact binaries, either of primordial origin or from dynamical interactions in
globular clusters. In this paper, we investigate the possibility that the
offset and afterglow brightness of a SGRB can help revealing the origin of its
progenitor binary. We find that a SGRB is likely to result from the primordial
channel if it is observed within 10 kpc from the center of a massive galaxy and
shows a detectable afterglow. The same conclusion holds if it is 100 kpc away
from a small, isolated galaxy and shows a weak afterglow. On the other hand, a
dynamical origin is suggested for those SGRBs with observable afterglow either
at a large separation from a massive, isolated galaxy or with an offset of
10-100 kpc from a small, isolated galaxy. We discuss the possibility that SGRBs
from the dynamical channel are hosted in intra-cluster globular clusters and
find that GRB 061201 may fall within this scenario.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, MNRAS in pres
VLT photometry in the Antlia Cluster: the giant ellipticals NGC 3258 and NGC 3268 and their globular cluster systems
We present a deep VLT photometry in the regions surrounding the two dominant
galaxies of the Antlia cluster, the giant ellipticals NGC 3258 and NGC 3268. We
construct the luminosity functions of their globular cluster systems (GCSs) and
determine their distances through the turn-over magnitudes. These distances are
in good agreement with those obtained by the SBF method. There is some, but not
conclusive, evidence that the distance to NGC 3268 is larger by several Mpc.
The GCSs colour distributions are bimodal but the brightest globular clusters
(GCs) show a unimodal distribution with an intermediate colour peak. The radial
distributions of both GCSs are well fitted by de Vaucouleurs laws up to 5
arcmin. Red GCs present a steeper radial density profile than the blue GCs, and
follow closely the galaxies' brightness profiles. Total GC populations are
estimated to be about 6000+/-150 GCs in NGC 3258 and 4750+/-150 GCs in NGC
3268. We discuss the possible existence of GCs in a field located between the
two giant galaxies (intracluster GCs). Their luminosity functions and number
densities are consistent with the two GCSs overlapping in projection.Comment: 13 pages, 16 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Internal properties of ultracompact dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster
We present new imaging and spectroscopic observations of six ultracompact dwarf (UCD) galaxies in the Virgo Cluster, along with reanalyzed data for five Fornax Cluster UCDs. These are the most luminous UCDs: -14 mag < M-V < -12 mag. Our Hubble Space Telescope imaging shows that most of the UCDs have shallow or steep cusps in their cores; only one UCD has a flat "King'' core. None of the UCDs show tidal cutoffs down to our limiting surface brightness. Spectroscopic analysis shows that Virgo UCDs are old ( older than 8 Gyr) and have metallicities in the range from [Z/H] = -1.35 to +0.35 dex. Five Virgo UCDs have supersolar [alpha/Fe] abundance ratios, and one Virgo UCD has a solar abundance ratio. The supersolar [alpha/Fe] abundances are typical of old stellar populations found in globular clusters and elliptical galaxies. We find that Virgo UCDs have structural and dynamical properties similar to Fornax UCDs. The Virgo and Fornax UCDs all have masses approximate to(2-9) x 10(7) M-circle dot and mass-to-light ratios approximate to(3-5) M-circle dot/L-circle dot,(V). The dynamical mass-to-light ratios for Virgo UCDs are consistent with simple stellar population model predictions: the Virgo UCDs do not require dark matter to explain their mass-to-light ratios. We conclude that the internal properties of Virgo UCDs are consistent with them being the high-mass/high-luminosity extreme of known globular cluster populations. We refrain from any firm conclusions on Fornax UCD origins until accurate age, metallicity, and alpha-abundance estimates are obtained for them. Some of our results, notably the fundamental plane projections, are consistent with the formation of UCDs by the simple removal of the halo from the nuclei of nucleated dwarf galaxies. However, the ages, metallicities, and abundances for Virgo UCDs are not consistent with this simple stripping model. It might be consistent with more sophisticated models of the stripping process that include the effects of gas removal on the chemical evolution of the nuclei
Transformation Pathways of Silica under High Pressure
Concurrent molecular dynamics simulations and ab initio calculations show
that densification of silica under pressure follows a ubiquitous two-stage
mechanism. First, anions form a close-packed sub-lattice, governed by the
strong repulsion between them. Next, cations redistribute onto the interstices.
In cristobalite silica, the first stage is manifest by the formation of a
metastable phase, which was observed experimentally a decade ago, but never
indexed due to ambiguous diffraction patterns. Our simulations conclusively
reveal its structure and its role in the densification of silica.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
On the cosmological mass function theory
This paper provides, from one side, a review of the theory of the
cosmological mass function from a theoretical point of view, starting from the
seminal paper of Press & Shechter (1974) to the last developments (Del Popolo &
Gambera (1998, 1999), Sheth & Tormen 1999 (ST), Sheth, Mo & Tormen 2001 (ST1),
Jenkins et al. 2001 (J01), Shet & Tormen 2002 (ST2), Del Popolo 2002a, Yagi et
al. 2004 (YNY)), and from another side some improvements on the multiplicity
function models in literature. ...Comment: Astronomy Reports, in prin
Cosmological Hydrodynamics with Adaptive Mesh Refinement: a new high resolution code called RAMSES
A new N-body and hydrodynamical code, called RAMSES, is presented. It has
been designed to study structure formation in the universe with high spatial
resolution. The code is based on Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) technique, with
a tree based data structure allowing recursive grid refinements on a
cell-by-cell basis. The N-body solver is very similar to the one developed for
the ART code (Kravtsov et al. 97), with minor differences in the exact
implementation. The hydrodynamical solver is based on a second-order Godunov
method, a modern shock-capturing scheme known to compute accurately the thermal
history of the fluid component. The accuracy of the code is carefully estimated
using various test cases, from pure gas dynamical tests to cosmological ones.
The specific refinement strategy used in cosmological simulations is described,
and potential spurious effects associated to shock waves propagation in the
resulting AMR grid are discussed and found to be negligible. Results obtained
in a large N-body and hydrodynamical simulation of structure formation in a low
density LCDM universe are finally reported, with 256^3 particles and 4.1 10^7
cells in the AMR grid, reaching a formal resolution of 8192^3. A convergence
analysis of different quantities, such as dark matter density power spectrum,
gas pressure power spectrum and individual haloes temperature profiles, shows
that numerical results are converging down to the actual resolution limit of
the code, and are well reproduced by recent analytical predictions in the
framework of the halo model.Comment: 21 pages and 13 low resolution JPEG images. Accepted for publication
in A&
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