118660389
TWO-PHASE ICM IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE RICH CLUSTER OF GALAXIES A1795: A JOINT CHANDRA, XMM-NEWTON, AND SUZAKU VIEW
Based on a detailed analysis of the high-quality Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Suzaku data of the X-ray bright cluster of galaxies A1795, we report clear evidence for a two-phase intracluster medium (ICM) structure, which consists of a cool (with a temperature T-c approximate to 2.0-2.2 keV) and a hot (T-h approximate to 5.0-5.7 keV) component that coexist and dominate the X-ray emission at least in the central 80 kpc. A third weak emission component (T-3 approximate to 0.8 keV) is also detected within the innermost 144 kpc and is ascribed to a portion of interstellar medium of the cD galaxy. Deprojected spectral analysis reveals flat radial temperature distributions for both the hot phase and cool phase components. These results are consistent with the ASCA measurements reported by Xu et al. and resemble the previous findings for the Centaurus Cluster. By analyzing the emission measure ratio and gas metal abundance maps created from the Chandra data, we find that the cool phase component is more metal-enriched than the hot phase one in the 50-100 kpc region, which agrees with that found in M87. The coexistence of the cool phase and hot phase ICM cannot be realized by bubble uplifting from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) alone. Instead, the two-phase ICM properties are better reconciled with a cD corona model. In this model, the cool phase may be ascribed to the plasmas confined in magnetic loops, which are surrounded by the intruding hot phase ICM and have been polluted by metals synthesized in the cD galaxy. AGN feedback energy released in the innermost 10 kpc can serve as the heating source to prevent the loop-interior gas from cooling down to temperatures much lower than the observed value. The total gravitating mass profile exhibits a hierarchical structure, regardless of the ICM temperature modeling.
119194670
Metal enrichment via ram pressure stripping in the IGM of the compact galaxy group RGH 80
By creating and analyzing two dimensional gas temperature and abundance maps of the RGH 80 compact galaxy group with high-quality Chandra data, we detect a high-abundance (≃0.7 Z ⊙ ) arc, where the metal abundance is significantly higher than the surrounding regions by ≃0.3 Z ⊙ . This structure shows tight spatial correlations with the member galaxy PGC 046529, as well as with the arm-like feature identified on the X-ray image in the previous work of Randall et al. (2009). Since no apparent signature of AGN activity is found to be associated with PGC 046529 in multi-band observations, and the gas temperature, metallicity, and mass of the high-abundance arc resemble those of the ISM of typical early-type galaxies, we conclude that this high-abundance structure is the remnant of the ISM of PGC 046529, which was stripped out of the galaxy by ram pressure stripping due to the motion of PGC 046529 in RGH 80. This novel case shows that ram pressure stripping can work as efficiently in the metal enrichment process in galaxy groups as it can in galaxy clusters.
118583722
Influence of synchrotron self-absorption on 21-cm experiments
The presence of spectral curvature resulting from the synchrotron self-absorption of extragalactic radio sources could break down the spectral smoothness feature. This leads to the premise that the bright radio foreground can be successfully removed in 21-cm experiments that search for the epoch of reionization (EoR). We present a quantitative estimate of the effect of the spectral curvature resulting from the synchrotron self-absorption of extragalactic radio sources on the measurement of the angular power spectrum of the low-frequency sky. We incorporate a phenomenological model, which is characterized by the fraction (f) of radio sources with turnover frequencies in the range of 100–1000 MHz and by a broken power law for the spectral transition around the turnover frequencies νm, into simulated radio sources over a small sky area of 10° × 10°. We compare statistically the changes in their residual maps with and without the inclusion of the synchrotron self-absorption of extragalactic radio sources after the bright sources of  mJy are excised. Furthermore, the best-fitting polynomials in the frequency domain on each pixel are subtracted. It has been shown that the effect of synchrotron self-absorption on the detection of the EoR depends sensitively on the spectral profiles of the radio sources around the turnover frequencies νm. A hard transition model, described by the broken power law with the turnover of spectral index at νm, would leave pronounced imprints on the residual background and would therefore cause serious confusion with the cosmic EoR signal. However, the spectral signatures on the angular power spectrum of the extragalactic foreground, generated by a soft transition model in which the rising and falling power laws of the spectral distribution around νm are connected through a smooth transition spanning ≥200 MHz in a characteristic width, can be fitted and consequently subtracted by the use of polynomials to an acceptable degree (δT < 1 mK). As this latter scenario seems to be favoured in both theoretical expectations and radio spectral observations, we conclude that the contamination of extragalactic radio sources by synchrotron self-absorption in 21-cm experiments is probably very minor.
118712522
EXPLORING THE COSMIC REIONIZATION EPOCH IN FREQUENCY SPACE: AN IMPROVED APPROACH TO REMOVE THE FOREGROUND IN 21 cm TOMOGRAPHY
With the intent of correctly restoring the redshifted 21 cm signals emitted by neutral hydrogen during the cosmic reionization processes, we re-examine the separation approaches based on the quadratic polynomial fitting technique in frequency space in order to investigate whether they work satisfactorily with complex foreground by quantitatively evaluating the quality of restored 21 cm signals in terms of sample statistics. We construct the foreground model to characterize both spatial and spectral substructures of the real sky, and use it to simulate the observed radio spectra. By comparing between different separation approaches through statistical analysis of restored 21 cm spectra and corresponding power spectra, as well as their constraints on the mean halo bias b and average ionization fraction x(e) of the reionization processes, at z = 8 and the noise level of 60 mK we find that although the complex foreground can be well approximated with quadratic polynomial expansion, a significant part of the Mpc-scale components of the 21 cm signals (75% for greater than or similar to 6 h(-1) Mpc scales and 34% for greater than or similar to 1 h(-1) Mpc scales) is lost because it tends to be misidentified as part of the foreground when the single-narrow-segment separation approach is applied. The best restoration of the 21 cm signals and the tightest determination of b and xe can be obtained with the three-narrow-segment fitting technique as proposed in this paper. Similar results can be obtained at other redshifts.
118831918
HOW TO IDENTIFY AND SEPARATE BRIGHT GALAXY CLUSTERS FROM THE LOW-FREQUENCY RADIO SKY
In this work, we simulate the 50-200 MHz radio sky that is constrained in the field of view (5 degrees radius) of the 21 Centimeter Array (21CMA), a low-frequency radio interferometric array constructed in the remote area of Xinjiang, China, by carrying out Monte Carlo simulations to model the strong contaminating foreground of the redshifted cosmological reionization signals, including emissions from our Galaxy, galaxy clusters, and extragalactic discrete sources (i.e., star-forming galaxies, radio-quiet active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and radio-loud AGNs). As an improvement over previous works, we consider in detail not only random variations of morphological and spectroscopic parameters within the ranges allowed by multi-band observations, but also the evolution of radio halos in galaxy clusters, assuming that relativistic electrons are re-accelerated in the intracluster medium (ICM) in merger events and lose energy via both synchrotron emission and inverse Compton scattering with cosmic microwave background photons. By introducing a new approach designed on the basis of independent component analysis and wavelet detection algorithm, we prove that, with a cumulative observation of one month with the 21CMA array, about 80% of galaxy clusters (37 out of 48 clusters assuming a mean magnetic field of B = 2 mu G in the ICM, or 15 out of 18 clusters assuming B = 0.2 mu G) with central brightness temperatures of > 10 K at 65 MHz can be safely identified and separated from the overwhelmingly bright foreground. By examining the brightness temperature images and spectra extracted from these identified clusters, we find that the morphological and spectroscopic distortions are extremely small compared to the input simulated clusters, and the reduced chi(2) of brightness temperature profiles and spectra are controlled to be less than or similar to 0.5 and less than or similar to 1.3, respectively. These results robustly indicate that in the near future a sample of dozens of bright galaxy clusters will be disentangled from the foreground in 21CMA observations, the study of which will greatly improve our knowledge about cluster merger rates, electron acceleration mechanisms in cluster radio halos, and magnetic field in the ICM.
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.
119266124
A DEEP CHANDRA ACIS STUDY OF NGC 4151. I. THE X-RAY MORPHOLOGY OF THE 3 kpc DIAMETER CIRCUM-NUCLEAR REGION AND RELATION TO THE COLD INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM
We report on the imaging analysis of ~200 ks sub-arcsecond resolution Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS-S) observations of the nearby Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4151. Bright, structured soft X-ray emission is observed to extend from 30 pc to 1.3 kpc in the southwest from the nucleus, much farther than seen in earlier X-ray studies. The terminus of the northeastern X-ray emission is spatially coincident with a CO gas lane, where the outflow likely encounters dense gas in the host galactic disk. X-ray emission is also detected outside the boundaries of the ionization cone, which indicates that the gas there is not completely shielded from the nuclear continuum, as would be the case for a molecular torus collimating the bicone. In the central r < 200 pc region, the subpixel processing of the ACIS data recovers the morphological details on scales of <30 pc (<05) first discovered in Chandra High Resolution Camera images. The X-ray emission is more absorbed toward the boundaries of the ionization cone, as well as perpendicular to the bicone along the direction of a putative torus in NGC 4151. The innermost region where X-ray emission shows the highest hardness ratio is spatially coincident with the near-infrared-resolved H2 emission and dusty spirals we find in an Hubble Space Telescope V – H color image. The agreement between the observed H2 line flux and the value predicted from X-ray-irradiated molecular cloud models supports photo-excitation by X-rays from the active nucleus as the origin of the H2 line, although contribution from UV fluorescence or collisional excitation cannot be ruled out with current data. The discrepancy between the mass of cold molecular gas inferred from recent CO and near-infrared H2 observations may be explained by the anomalous CO abundance in this X-ray-dominated region. The total H2 mass derived from the X-ray observation agrees with the recent measurement by Storchi-Bergmann et al.
119242318
A DEEP CHANDRA ACIS STUDY OF NGC 4151. II. THE INNERMOST EMISSION LINE REGION AND STRONG EVIDENCE FOR RADIO JET–NLR CLOUD COLLISION
We have studied the X-ray emission within the inner {approx}150 pc radius of NGC 4151 by constructing high spatial resolution emission line images of blended O VII, O VIII, and Ne IX. These maps show extended structures that are spatially correlated with the radio outflow and optical [O III] emission. We find strong evidence for jet-gas cloud interaction, including morphological correspondences with regions of X-ray enhancement, peaks of near-infrared [Fe II] emission, and optical clouds. In these regions, moreover, we find evidence of elevated Ne IX/O VII ratios; the X-ray emission of these regions also exceeds that expected from nuclear photoionization. Spectral fitting reveals the presence of a collisionally ionized component. The thermal energy of the hot gas suggests that {approx}> 0.1% of the estimated jet power is deposited into the host interstellar medium through interaction between the radio jet and the dense medium of the circumnuclear region. We find possible pressure equilibrium between the collisionally ionized hot gas and the photoionized line-emitting cool clouds. We also obtain constraints on the extended iron and silicon fluorescent emission. Both lines are spatially unresolved. The upper limit on the contribution of an extended emission region to the Fe K{alpha} emission is {approx}<more » 5% of the total, in disagreement with a previous claim that 65% of the Fe K{alpha} emission originates in the extended narrow line region.« less
117369105
Search in leptonic channels for heavy resonances decaying to long-lived neutral particles
A bstractA search is performed for heavy resonances decaying to two long-lived massive neutral particles, each decaying to leptons. The experimental signature is a distinctive topology consisting of a pair of oppositely charged leptons originating at a separated secondary vertex. Events were collected by the CMS detector at the LHC during pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s}=7 $ TeV, and selected from data samples corresponding to 4.1 (5.1) fb−1 of integrated luminosity in the electron (muon) channel. No significant excess is observed above standard model expectations, and an upper limit is set with 95% confidence level on the production cross section times the branching fraction to leptons, as a function of the long-lived massive neutral particle lifetime.
16287451
Ultraviolet Broad Absorption Features and the Spectral Energy Distribution of the Qso Pg 1351+64; 3.1
We present a moderate-resolution (~20 km s-1) spectrum of the mini-broad absorption line quasar (QSO) PG 1351+64 between 915 and 1180 A, obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE). Additional low-resolution spectra at longer wavelengths were also obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and ground-based telescopes. Broad absorption is present on the blue wings of C III λ977, Lyβ, O VI λλ1032, 1038, Lyα, N V λλ1238, 1242, Si IV λλ1393, 1402, and C IV λλ1548, 1550. The absorption profile can be fitted with five components at velocities of ~-780, -1049, -1629, -1833, and -3054 km s-1 with respect to the emission-line redshift of z = 0.088. All the absorption components cover a large fraction of the continuum source, as well as the broad-line region. The O VI emission feature is very weak, and the O VI/Lyα flux ratio is 0.08, one of the lowest among low-redshift active galaxies and QSOs. The UV continuum shows a significant change in slope near 1050 A in the rest frame. The steeper continuum shortward of the Lyman limit extrapolates well to the observed weak X-ray flux level. The absorbers' properties are similar to those of high-redshift broad absorption line QSOs. The derived total column density of the UV absorbers is on the order of 1021 cm-2, unlikely to produce significant opacity above 1 keV in the X-ray. Unless there is a separate, high-ionization X-ray absorber, the QSO's weak X-ray flux may be intrinsic. The ionization level of the absorbing components is comparable to that anticipated in the broad-line region; therefore, the absorbers may be related to broad-line clouds along the line of sight.