13558011
The Bulge Radial Velocity Assay (BRAVA). II. Complete Sample And Data Release
We present new radial velocity measurements from the Bulge Radial Velocity Assay, a large-scale spectroscopic survey of M-type giants in the Galactic bulge/bar region. The sample of ~4500 new radial velocities, mostly in the region –10° < l < +10° and b ≈ –6°, more than doubles the existent published data set. Our new data extend our rotation curve and velocity dispersion profile to +20°, which is ~2.8 kpc from the Galactic center. The new data confirm the cylindrical rotation observed at –6° and –8° and are an excellent fit to the Shen et al. N-body bar model. We measure the strength of the TiOe molecular band as a first step toward a metallicity ranking of the stellar sample, from which we confirm the presence of a vertical abundance gradient. Our survey finds no strong evidence of previously unknown kinematic streams. We also publish our complete catalog of radial velocities, photometry, TiO band strengths, and spectra, which is available at the Infrared Science Archive as well as at UCLA.
5659355
SYSTEMATIC ERRORS IN THE DETERMINATION OF HUBBLE CONSTANT DUE TO THE ASPHERICITY AND NONISOTHERMALITY OF CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES
We present statistical studies on the systematic errors in the determination of the Hubble constant H0 from joint analyses of X-ray and the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect of clusters of galaxies. We focus on the effects of their triaxiality and nonisothermality. From the triaxial model of dark matter halos obtained from numerical simulations, we derive the distribution of the intracluster gas under the assumption of the hydrodynamic equilibrium. Both the isothermal and the polytropic gases are investigated. We run Monte Carlo simulations to generate samples of clusters according to the distributions of their masses, axial ratios, concentration parameters, and line-of-sight directions. The estimation of H0 is done by fitting X-ray and SZ profiles of a triaxial cluster with the isothermal and spherical β model. We find that for a sample of clusters with M = 1014 h-1 M☉ and z = 0.1, the estimated H0 is positively biased with H(estimated) ≈ 1.05H0(true) and H(estimated) ≈ 1.05H0(true) for the isothermal case. For the polytropic case with γ = 1.15, the bias is large with H(estimated) ≈ 1.35H0(true) and H(estimated) ≈ 3H0(true). For a mass-limited sample of clusters with Mlim = 1013 h-1 M☉, the results are similar. On the other hand, such a large overestimation has not been seen in real observations. It is noticed that the β-value for observed clusters is within the range of 0.5-0.8. Considering only the subsample in Monte Carlo simulations with β in the range of 0.5-0.8, we have H(estimated) = 1.002H0(true) and H(estimated) = 0.994H0(true) for the isothermal and polytropic cases, respectively. We further find that the value of β is more sensitive to the intrinsic asphericity of clusters than the axial ratio of two-dimensional X-ray images η is. Limiting to clusters with β ≥ 0.5 essentially excludes highly aspherical clusters from the sample. From this subsample of clusters, we can get a fair estimate on H0.
5692175
Effects of correlation between merging steps on the global halo formation
The excursion set theory of halo formation is modified by adopting the fractional Brownian motion, to account for possible correlation between merging steps. We worked out analytically the conditional mass function, halo merging rate and formation time distribution in the spherical collapse model. We also developed an approximation for the ellipsoidal collapse model and applied it to the calculation of the conditional mass function and the halo formation time distribution. For models in which the steps are positively correlated, the halo merger rate is enhanced when the accreted mass is less than similar to 25M*, while for the negatively correlated case this rate is reduced. Compared with the standard model in which the steps are uncorrelated, the models with positively correlated steps produce more aged population in small mass haloes and more younger population in large mass haloes, while for the models with negatively correlated steps the opposite is true. An examination of simulation results shows that a weakly positive correlation between successive merging steps appears to fit best. We have also found a systematic effect in the measured mass function due to the finite volume of simulations. In future work, this will be included in the halo model to accurately predict the three-point correlation function estimated from simulations.
125646338
Alignment between the host and the nearest neighbor Groups
We measure four different types of alignment signals using the galaxy groups of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4 to probe the impact of large scale environment on the distribution of satellite galaxies, on the the orientation of the central and satellite galaxies: (1) the alignment between the distributions of the satellites relative to the direction of the nearest neighbor group (NNG); (2) the alignment between the major axis direction of the central galaxy of the host group (HG) and the direction of the NNG; (3) the alignment between the two major axes of the central galaxies of the HG and NNG; and (4) the alignment between the major axes of the satellites of the HG and the direction of the NNG. We find strong alignment signals of satellite distribution and orientation of central galaxy relative to the direction of the NNG even when the NNG locates beyond $3r_{\rm vir}$ of the host group. The alignment signals are stronger for groups that are more massive and with early type central galaxies. For the orientation of satellite galaxies, however, we do not find any significant alignment signals relative to the direction of the NNG. From these four types of the alignment measures, we conclude that the large scale environment traced by the nearby group mainly impacts the shape of the host dark matter halo, hence impacts the distribution of satellite galaxies and the orientation of central galaxies. Apart from these, there is additional impacts by the large scale environment directly onto the distribution of satellite galaxies.
15633882
SELF-CONSISTENT MODELS OF TRIAXIAL GALAXIES IN MOND GRAVITY
The Bekenstein-Milgrom gravity theory with a modified Poisson equation is tested here for the existence of triaxial equilibrium solutions. Using the nonnegative least-square method, we show that self-consistent triaxial galaxies exist for baryonic models with a mild density cusp, -->ρ ~ Σ/r. Self-consistency is achieved for a wide range of central concentrations, -->Σ ~ 10-1000 M☉ pc−2, representing low to high surface brightness galaxies. Our results demonstrate for the first time that the orbit superposition technique is fruitful for constructing galaxy models beyond Newtonian gravity, and triaxial cuspy galaxies might exist without the help of cold dark matter.
119170453
A new model for the Milky Way bar
We use Schwarzschild's orbit-superposition technique to construct self-consistent models of the Galactic bar. Using χ2 minimization, we find that the best-fitting Galactic bar model has a pattern speed Ωp = 60 km s−1 kpc−1, disc mass Md = 1.0 × 1011 M⊙ and bar angle θbar = 20° for an adopted bar mass Mbar = 2 × 1010 M⊙. The model can reproduce not only the three-dimensional and projected density distributions but also velocity and velocity dispersion data from the Bulge Radial Velocity Assay (BRAVA) survey. We also predict the proper motions in the range l = [−12°, 12°], b = [−10°, 10°], which appear to be higher than observations in the longitudinal direction. The model is stable within a time-scale of 0.5 Gyr, but appears to deviate from steady state on longer time-scales. Our model can be further tested by future observations such as those from GAIA.
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.
119107513
Non-Gaussianity from false vacuum inflation: old curvaton scenario
We calculate the three-point correlation function of the comoving curvature perturbation generated during an inflationary epoch driven by false vacuum energy. We get a novel false vacuum shape bispectrum, which peaks in the equilateral limit. Using this result, we propose a scenario which we call ``old curvaton''. The shape of the resulting bispectrum lies between the local and the false vacuum shapes. In addition we have a large running of the spectral index.
119181888
LSST Science Book, Version 2.0
A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.
14088655
The Mock LISA data challenges: from challenge 1B to challenge 3
The Mock LISA Data Challenges are a programme to demonstrate and encourage the development of LISA data-analysis capabilities, tools and techniques. At the time of this workshop, three rounds of challenges had been completed, and the next was about to start. In this paper we provide a critical analysis of the entries to the latest completed round, Challenge 1B. The entries confirm the consolidation of a range of data-analysis techniques for galactic and massive-black-hole binaries, and they include the first convincing examples of detection and parameter estimation of extreme-mass-ratio inspiral sources. In this paper we also introduce the next round, Challenge 3. Its data sets feature more realistic waveform models (e.g., galactic binaries may now chirp, and massive-black-hole binaries may precess due to spin interactions), as well as new source classes (bursts from cosmic strings, isotropic stochastic backgrounds) and more complicated nonsymmetric instrument noise.
16829835
Prospect of a very long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment HIPA to Beijing
We discuss the prospects of a very long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment from HIPA to Beijing. The current understanding of neutrino oscillations, both theoretically and experimentally, are summarized. The figure of merits for interested physics measurements are defined and compared at different distances: 300 km, 700 km, 2100 km and 3000 km. We conclude that a baseline more than 2100 km is optimal. A large water cerenkov calorimeter was proposed and its performance is satisfactory from a Monte Carlo simulation study. Such a large detector can do many other measurements on cosmic-rays physics and astrophysics.