18068972
Growth of supermassive black holes and metallicity in quasars
The strong correlation between the mass of the central supermassive black hole (SMBH) and the bulge in some galaxies and quasars implies that the formation of the black hole is somehow linked to the bulge. The measurement of metallicity by NV=CIV or NV=HeII in quasars allows to discuss a possible way of formation of the black hole. In this letter we trace the metallicity along the possible routes in Rees' diagram in order to test the ways by which SMBHs can form. We derive a relation between the metallicity and the mass of the SMBH as Z / MBH based on the numerical simulation of the evolution of star clusters. It is in good agreement with the relation determined by the metallicity measured by NV=CIV or NV=HeII in Hamann & Ferland's sample. This lends observational support to the formation of SMBHs via routes R4 or R5, namely, the evolution of dense star clusters.
17396076
INTEGRAL and RXTE/ASM observations on IGR J17098−3628
To probe further the possible nature of the unidentified source IGR J17098-3628, we have carried out a detailed analysis of its long-term time variability as monitored by RXTE/ASM, and of its hard X-ray properties as observed by INTEGRAL. INTEGRAL has monitored this sky region over years and significantly detected IGR J17098-3628 only when the source was in this dubbed active state. In particular, at $\ge$ 20 keV, IBIS/ISGRI caught an outburst in March 2005, lasting for $\sim$5 days with detection significance of 73$\sigma$ (20-40 keV) and with the emission at $ $20 keV) outburst by $\sim$2 days. This resembles the behavior of X-ray novae like XN 1124-683, hence it further suggests a LMXB nature for IGR J17098-3628. While the quality of the ASM data prevents us from drawing any definite conclusions, these discoveries are important clues that, coupled with future observations, will help to resolve the as yet unknown nature of IGR J17098-3628.
15715110
Suppressed star formation in circumnuclear regions in seyfert galaxies
Feedback from black hole activity is widely believed to play a key role in regulating star formation and black hole growth. A long-standing issue is the relation between star formation and the fueling of the supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). We compile a sample of 57 Seyfert galaxies to tackle this issue. We estimate the surface densities of gas and star formation rates in circumnuclear regions (CNRs). Comparing them with the well-known Kennicutt-Schmidt (K-S) law, we find that the star formation rates (SFRs) in the CNRs of most Seyfert galaxies are suppressed in this sample. Feedback is suggested to explain the suppressed SFRs.
17406200
EVOLUTION OF GASEOUS DISK VISCOSITY DRIVEN BY SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS IN STAR-FORMING GALAXIES AT HIGH REDSHIFT
Motivated by Genzel et al.'s observations of high-redshift star-forming galaxies, containing clumpy and turbulent rings or disks, we build a set of equations describing the dynamical evolution of gaseous disks with inclusion of star formation and its feedback. Transport of angular momentum is due to "turbulent" viscosity induced by supernova explosions in the star formation region. Analytical solutions of the equations are found for the initial cases of a gaseous ring and the integrated form for a gaseous disk, respectively. For a ring with enough low viscosity, it evolves in a slow process of gaseous diffusion and star formation near the initial radius. For a high viscosity, the ring rapidly diffuses in the early phase. The diffusion drives the ring into a region with a low viscosity and starts the second phase undergoing pile-up of gas at a radius following the decreased viscosity torque. The third is a sharply decreasing phase because of star formation consumption of gas and efficient transportation of gas inward forming a stellar disk. We apply the model to two z similar to 2 galaxies BX 482 and BzK 6004, and find that they are undergoing a decline in their star formation activity.
16433217
The afterglows of ultraluminous quasars
Quasars represent a brief phase in the life cycle of most massive galaxies, but the evolutionary connection between central black holes and their host galaxies remains unclear. While quasars are active and shining brighter than the Compton-limit luminosity, their radiation heats the surrounding medium to the Compton temperature, forming Compton spheres extending to the Stromgren radius of Fe26+/He2+. After the quasars shut off, their "afterglow" can be detected through three signatures: (1) an extended X-ray envelope, with a characteristic temperature of ~3 × 107 K, (2) Lyα and Lyβ lines and the K edge of Fe26+, and (3) nebulosity from hydrogen and helium recombination emission lines. We discuss the possibility of detecting these signatures using Chandra, the planned X-Ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy mission, and ground-based optical telescopes. The luminosity and size of quasar afterglows can be used to constrain the lifetime of quasars.
119102309
Possible hard X-ray shortages in bursts from KS 1731-260 and 4U 1705-44
Aims. A hard X-ray shortage, implying the cooling of the corona, was observed during bursts of IGR J17473-272, 4U 1636-536, Aql X-1, and GS 1826-238. Apart from these four sources, we investigate here an atoll sample, in which the number of bursts for each source is larger than 5, to explore the possible additional hard X-ray shortage during Rossi X-ray timing explorer (RXTE) era. Methods. According to the source catalog that shows type-I bursts, we analyzed all the available pointing observations of these sources carried out by the RXTE proportional counter array. We grouped and combined the bursts according to their outburst states and searched for the possible hard X-ray shortage while bursting. Results. We found that the island states of KS 1731-260 and 4U 1705-44 show a hard X-ray shortage at significant levels of 4.5 and 4.7σ and a systematic time lag of 0.9 ± 2.1 s and 2.5 ± 2.0 s with respect to the soft X-rays, respectively. While in their banana branches and other sources, we did not find any consistent shortage.
122803232
Search for Microscopic Black Hole Signatures at the Large Hadron Collider
A search for microscopic black hole production and decay in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV has been conducted by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35 inverse picobarns. Events with large total transverse energy are analyzed for the presence of multiple high-energy jets, leptons, and photons, typical of a signal expected from a microscopic black hole. Good agreement with the expected standard model backgrounds, dominated by QCD multijet production, is observed for various final-state multiplicities. Limits on the minimum black hole mass are set, in the range 3.5 -- 4.5 TeV, for a variety of parameters in a model with large extra dimensions, along with model-independent limits on new physics in these final states. These are the first direct limits on black hole production at a particle accelerator.
119234828
CS 5-4 survey toward nearby IR bright galaxies
With the observations of the CS 5-4 line toward a sample of 24 infrared bright galaxies using HHSMT, we detected CS 5-4 emission in 14 galaxies, including 12 ULIRGs/LIRGs and 2 nearby normal galaxies. As a good dense gas tracer, which has been well used for studying star formation in the Milky Way, CS 5-4 can trace the active star forming gas in galaxies. The correlation between CS 5-4 luminosity, which is estimated with detected CS 5-4 line emission, and infrared luminosity in these 14 galaxies is fitted with correlation coefficient of 0.939 and the slope close to unity. This correlation confirmed that dense gas, which is closely linked to star formation, is very important for understanding star formation in galaxies.
119217895
Constraining extragalactic background light from TeV blazars
Aims. Our goal is to research the upper limits to the extragalactic background light (EBL). Methods. The upper limits to the extragalactic background light (EBL) are presented, using the Fermi and very high energy (VHE) spectra recently observed in TeV blazars. We use an assumption that the VHE intrinsic photon index cannot be harder than the Fermi index measured by the Fermi-LAT. Results. These upper limits are compatible with ones given by most EBL models; however, the models of high EBL density are contradicted by TeV blazars.
18179490
Toward a Unified Model for the “Diffuse Ionized Medium” in Normal and Starburst Galaxies
The "diffuse ionized medium" (DIM) makes up a significant fraction of the mass and ionization requirements of the interstellar medium of the Milky Way and is now known to be an energetically significant component in most normal star-forming galaxies. Observations of the ionized gas in starburst galaxies have revealed the presence of gas with striking similarities to the DIM in normal galaxies: relatively low surface brightness and strong emission from low-ionization forbidden lines like [S II] λλ6716, 6731. In this paper we analyze Hα images and long-slit spectra of samples of normal and starburst galaxies to better understand the nature of this diffuse, low surface brightness gas. We find that in both samples there is a strong inverse correlation between the Hα surface brightness (ΣHα) and the [S II]/Hα line ratio at a given location in the galaxy. However, the correlation for the starbursts is offset brightward by an order of magnitude in Hα surface brightness at a given line ratio. In contrast, we find that all the galaxies (starburst and normal alike) define a universal relation between line ratio and the relative Hα surface brightness (ΣHα/Σe, where Σe is the mean Hα surface brightness within the galaxy half-light radius). We show that such a universal correlation is a natural outcome of a model in which the DIM is photoionized gas that has a characteristic thermal pressure (P) that is proportional to the mean rate of star formation per unit area in the galaxy (ΣSFR). Good quantitative agreement with the data follows if we require the constant of proportionality to be consistent with the values of P and ΣSFR in the local disk of the Milky Way. Such a scaling between P and ΣSFR may arise either because feedback from massive stars heats the ISM or because ΣSFR is determined (or limited) by the mean gas pressure.
14588649
Production of e, mu and tau pairs in untagged two-photon collisions at LEP
The two-photon collision reaction e+e- --> e+e-l+l- has been studied at root(s) ~ 91 GeV using the L3 detector at LEP for l = e, muon , tau. We have analysed untagged configurations where the two photons are quasi-real. Good agreement is found between our measurements and the order alpha**4 QED expectation.