Modelling the number counts of early-type galaxies by pure luminosity evolution

In this paper, we explore the plausible luminosity evolution of early-type galaxies in different cosmological models by constructing a set of pure luminosity evolution (PLE) models via the choices of the star formation rate (SFR) parameters and formation redshift $z_f$ of galaxies, with the observational constraints derived from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) morphological number counts for elliptical and S0 galaxies of the Medium Deep Survey (MDS) and the Hubble Deep Field (HDF). We find that the number counts of early-type galaxies can be explained by the pure luminosity evolution models, without invoking exotic scenarios such as merging or introducing an additional population. But the evolution should be nearly passive, with a high $z_f$ assumed. The conclusion is valid in all of the three cosmological models we adopted in this paper. We also present the redshift distributions for three bins of observed magnitudes in F814w pass-band, to show at which redshift are the objects that dominate the counts at a given magnitude. The predictions of the redshift distribution of $22.5<b_j<24.0$ are also presented for comparison with future data.Comment: Plain tex, 15pages, 9 eps figures, plus an extra figure fig2c.eps, with the tex-macro mn.tex. MNRAS, accepte

Hugoniot of shocked liquid deuterium up to 300 GPa: Quantum molecular dynamic simulations

Quantum molecular dynamic (QMD) simulations are introduced to study the thermophysical properties of liquid deuterium under shock compression. The principal Hugoniot is determined from the equation of states, where contributions from molecular dissociation and atomic ionization are also added onto the QMD data. At pressures below 100 GPa, our results show that the local maximum compression ratio of 4.5 can be achieved at 40 GPa, which is in good agreement with magnetically driven flyer and convergent-explosive experiments; At the pressure between 100 and 300 GPa, the compression ratio reaches a maximum of 4.95, which agrees well with recent high power laser-driven experiments. In addition, the nonmetal-metal transition and optical properties are also discussed.Comment: 4.1 pages, 4 figure

Link between K-absorption edges and thermodynamic properties of warm-dense plasmas established by improved first-principles method

A precise calculation that translates shifts of X-ray K-absorption edges to variations of thermodynamic properties allows quantitative characterization of interior thermodynamic properties of warm dense plasmas by X-ray absorption techniques, which provides essential information for inertial confinement fusion and other astrophysical applications. We show that this interpretation can be achieved through an improved first-principles method. Our calculation shows that the shift of K-edges exhibits selective sensitivity to thermal parameters and thus would be a suitable temperature index to warm dense plasmas. We also show with a simple model that the shift of K-edges can be used to detect inhomogeneity inside warm dense plasmas when combined with other experimental tools

Extended First-Principles Molecular Dynamics Method From Cold Materials to Hot Dense Plasmas

An extended first-principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) method based on Kohn-Sham scheme is proposed to elevate the temperature limit of the FPMD method in the calculation of dense plasmas. The extended method treats the wave functions of high energy electrons as plane waves analytically, and thus expands the application of the FPMD method to the region of hot dense plasmas without suffering from the formidable computational costs. In addition, the extended method inherits the high accuracy of the Kohn-Sham scheme and keeps the information of elec- tronic structures. This gives an edge to the extended method in the calculation of the lowering of ionization potential, X-ray absorption/emission spectra, opacity, and high-Z dense plasmas, which are of particular interest to astrophysics, inertial confinement fusion engineering, and laboratory astrophysics