124 research outputs found
Quasar-galaxy and AGN-galaxy cross-correlations
We compute quasar-galaxy and AGN-galaxy cross-correlation functions for
samples taken from the \cite{VCV98} catalog of quasars and active galaxies,
using tracer galaxies taken from the Edinburgh/Durham Southern Catalog. The
sample of active galaxy targets shows positive correlation at projected
separations consistent with the usual power-law. On the
other hand, we do not find a statistically significant positive quasar-galaxy
correlation signal except in the range
where we find similar AGN-galaxy and quasar-galaxy correlation amplitudes. At
separations a strong decline of quasar-galaxy correlations
is observed, suggesting a significant local influence of quasars in galaxy
formation. In an attempt to reproduce the observed cross-correlation between
quasars and galaxies, we have performed CDM cosmological hydrodynamical
simulations and tested the viability of a scenario based on the model developed
by \cite{silkrees98}. In this scheme a fraction of the energy released by
quasars is considered to be transferred into the baryonic component of the
intergalactic medium in the form of winds. The results of the simulations
suggest that the shape of the observed quasar-galaxy cross-correlation function
could be understood in a scenario where a substantial amount of energy is
transferred to the medium at the redshift of maximum quasar activity.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Policy Driven Management for Distributed Systems
Separating management policy from the automated managers which interpret the policy facilitates the dynamic change of behavior of a distributed management system. This permits it to adapt to evolutionary changes in the system being managed and to new application requirements. Changing the behavior of automated managers can be achieved by changing the policy without having to reimplement them—this permits the reuse of the managers in different environments. It is also useful to have a clear specification of the policy applying to human managers in an enterprise. This paper describes the work on policy which has come out of two related ESPRIT funded projects, SysMan and IDSM. Two classes of policy are elaborated—authorization policies define what a manager is permitted to do and obligation policies define what a manager must do. Policies are specified as objects which define a relationship between subjects (managers) and targets (managed objects). Domains are used to group the objects to which a policy applies. Policy objects also have attributes specifying the action to be performed and constraints limiting the applicability of the policy. We show how a number of example policies can be modeled using these objects and briefly mention issues relating to policy hierarchy and conflicts between overlapping policies. © 1994, Plenum Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.Accepted versio
The Nearby Optical Galaxy Sample: The Local Galaxy Luminosity Function
In this paper we derive the galaxy luminosity function from the Nearby
Optical Galaxy (NOG) sample, which is a nearly complete, magnitude-limited
(B<14 mag), all-sky sample of nearby optical galaxies (~6400 galaxies with
cz<5500 km/s). For this local sample, we use galaxy distance estimates based on
different peculiar velocity models. Therefore, the derivation of the luminosity
function is carried out using the locations of field and grouped galaxies in
real distance space.
The local field galaxy luminosity function in the B system is well described
by a Schechter function. The exact values of the Schechter parameters slightly
depend on the adopted peculiar velocity field models.
The shape of the luminosity function of spiral galaxies does not differ
significantly from that of E-S0 galaxies. On the other hand, the late-type
spirals and irregulars have a very steeply rising luminosity function towards
the faint end, whereas the ellipticals appreciably decrease in number towards
low luminosities.
The presence of galaxy systems in the NOG sample does not affect
significantly the field galaxy luminosity function, since environmental effects
on the total luminosity function appear to be marginal.Comment: 35 pages including 7 figures and 4 tables. Accepted for publication
in Ap
The Aquarius Superclusters - I. Identification of Clusters and Superclusters
We study the distribution of galaxies and galaxy clusters in a 10^deg x 6^deg
field in the Aquarius region. In addition to 63 clusters in the literature, we
have found 39 new candidate clusters using a matched-filter technique and a
counts-in-cells analysis. From redshift measurements of galaxies in the
direction of these cluster candidates, we present new mean redshifts for 31
previously unobserved clusters, while improved mean redshifts are presented for
35 other systems. About 45% of the projected density enhancements are due to
the superposition of clusters and/or groups of galaxies along the line of
sight, but we could confirm for 72% of the cases that the candidates are real
physical associations similar to the ones classified as rich galaxy clusters.
On the other hand, the contamination due to galaxies not belonging to any
concentration or located only in small groups along the line of sight is ~ 10%.
Using a percolation radius of 10 h^{-1} Mpc (spatial density contrast of about
10), we detect two superclusters of galaxies in Aquarius, at z = 0.086 and at z
= 0.112, respectively with 5 and 14 clusters. The latter supercluster may
represent a space overdensity of about 160 times the average cluster density as
measured from the Abell et al. (1989) cluster catalog, and is possibly
connected to a 40 h^{-1} Mpc filament from z ~ 0.11 to 0.14.Comment: LateX text (21 pages) and 12 (ps/eps/gif) figures; figures 5a, 5b and
6 are not included in the main LateX text; to be published in the
Astronomical Journal, March issu
The ROSAT All-Sky Survey: a Catalog of Clusters of Galaxies in a Region of 1 Ster around the South Galactic Pole
A field of 1.013 ster in the ROSAT all-sky survey (RASS), centered on the
south galactic pole (SGP), has been searched in a systematic, objective manner
for clusters of galaxies. The procedure relied on a correlation of the X-ray
positions and properties of ROSAT sources with the distribution of galaxies in
the COSMOS digitised data base, which was obtained by scanning the plates of
the UK Schmidt IIIa-J optical southern sky survey. The study used the second
ROSAT survey data base (RASS-2) and included several optical observing
campaigns to measure redshifts. The search, a precursor to the larger REFLEX
survey of the whole southern sky, reached the detection limits of the RASS and
the COSMOS data, and yielded a catalog of 186 clusters in which the lowest flux
is 1.5e-12 erg/cm2/s in the 0.1-2.4 keV band. Of these 157 have measured
redshifts. Using a limit of 3.0e-12 erg/cm2/s a complete subset of 112 clusters
was obtained, of which 110 have measured redshifts. The spatial distribution of
the X-ray clusters out to z = 0.15 shows an extension of the Local Supercluster
to the Pisces-Cetus supercluster (z<~0.07), and a more distant orthogonal
structure at 0.07<z<0.15.Comment: To be published in ApJ Supplements in February 2002: 53 pages: 18
figure
The Millennium Galaxy Catalogue: 16 < B_MGC < 24 galaxy counts and the calibration of the local galaxy luminosity function
The Millennium Galaxy Catalogue (MGC) is a 37.5 deg^2, medium-deep, B-band
imaging survey along the celestial equator, taken with the Wide Field Camera on
the Isaac Newton Telescope. The survey region is contained within the regions
of both the Two Degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS) and the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey Early Data Release (SDSS-EDR). The survey has a uniform
isophotal detection limit of 26 mag arcsec^-2 and it provides a robust,
well-defined catalogue of stars and galaxies in the range 16 <= B_MGC < 24 mag.
Here we describe the survey strategy, the photometric and astrometric
calibration, source detection and analysis, and present the galaxy number
counts that connect the bright and faint galaxy populations within a single
survey. We argue that these counts represent the state of the art and use them
to constrain the normalizations (phi*) of a number of recent estimates of the
local galaxy luminosity function. We find that the 2dFGRS, SDSS Commissioning
Data (CD), ESO Slice Project, Century Survey, Durham/UKST, Mt Stromlo/APM,
SSRS2, and NOG luminosity functions require a revision of their published phi*
values by factors of 1.05 +/- 0.05, 0.76 +/- 0.10, 1.02 +/- 0.22, 1.02 +/-
0.16, 1.16 +/- 0.28, 1.75 +/- 0.37, 1.40 +/- 0.26 and 1.01 +/- 0.39,
respectively. After renormalizing the galaxy luminosity functions we find a
mean local \bj luminosity density of j_{b_J} = (1.986 +/- 0.031) x 10^8 h
L_{\odot} Mpc^-3.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 20 Postscript figures (some low resolution), MNRAS,
in press; considerably revised versio
Can sacrificial feeding areas protect aquatic plants from herbivore grazing? Using behavioural ecology to inform wildlife management
Effective wildlife management is needed for conservation, economic and human well-being objectives. However, traditional population control methods are frequently ineffective, unpopular with stakeholders, may affect non-target species, and can be both expensive and impractical to implement. New methods which address these issues and offer effective wildlife management are required. We used an individual-based model to predict the efficacy of a sacrificial feeding area in preventing grazing damage by mute swans (Cygnus olor) to adjacent river vegetation of high conservation and economic value. The accuracy of model predictions was assessed by a comparison with observed field data, whilst prediction robustness was evaluated using a sensitivity analysis. We used repeated simulations to evaluate how the efficacy of the sacrificial feeding area was regulated by (i) food quantity, (ii) food quality, and (iii) the functional response of the forager. Our model gave accurate predictions of aquatic plant biomass, carrying capacity, swan mortality, swan foraging effort, and river use. Our model predicted that increased sacrificial feeding area food quantity and quality would prevent the depletion of aquatic plant biomass by swans. When the functional response for vegetation in the sacrificial feeding area was increased, the food quantity and quality in the sacrificial feeding area required to protect adjacent aquatic plants were reduced. Our study demonstrates how the insights of behavioural ecology can be used to inform wildlife management. The principles that underpin our model predictions are likely to be valid across a range of different resource-consumer interactions, emphasising the generality of our approach to the evaluation of strategies for resolving wildlife management problems
Police Strategies and Suspect Responses in Real-Life Serious Crime Interviews
This research focuses exclusively on real-life taped interviews with serious crime suspects and examines the strategies used and types of questions asked by police, and suspects’ responses to these. The information source was audio-tape-recorded interviews with 56 suspects. These recordings were obtained from 11 police services across England and Wales and were analysed using a specially designed coding frame. It was found that interviewers employed a range of strategies with presentation of evidence and challenge the most frequently observed. Closed questions were by far the most frequently used, and open questions, although less frequent, were found to occur more during the opening phases of the interviews. The frequency of ineffective question types (e.g. negative, repetitive, multiple) was low. A number of significant associations were observed between interviewer strategies and suspect responses. Rapport/empathy and open-type questions were associated with an increased likelihood of suspects admitting the offence whilst describing trauma, and negative questions were associated with a decreased likelihood
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