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Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Perturbations Of Spherical Stellar Systems During Fly-By Encounters, E. Vesperini, Martin D. Weinberg
Perturbations Of Spherical Stellar Systems During Fly-By Encounters, E. Vesperini, Martin D. Weinberg
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We study the internal response of a galaxy to an unbound encounter and present a survey of orbital parameters covering typical encounters in different galactic environments. Overall, we conclude that relatively weak encounters by low-mass interloping galaxies can cause observable distortions in the primaries. The resulting asymmetries may persist long after the interloper is evident. We focus our attention on the production of structure in dark halos and in cluster ellipticals. Any distortion produced in a dark halo can distort the embedded stellar disk, possibly leading to the formation of lopsided and warped disks. We show that distant encounters with …
An Adaptive Algorithm For N-Body Field Expansions, Md Weinberg
An Adaptive Algorithm For N-Body Field Expansions, Md Weinberg
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
An expansion of a density field or particle distribution in basis functions that solve the Poisson equation both provides an easily parallelized N-body force algorithm and simplifies perturbation theories. The expansion converges quickly and provides the highest computational advantage if the lowest order potential-density pair in the basis looks like the unperturbed galaxy or stellar system. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of such bases in the literature that limit this advantage. This paper presents an algorithm for deriving these bases to match a wide variety of galaxy models. The method is based on efficient numerical solution of the Sturm-Liouville …
Closing In On Omega(M): The Amplitude Of Mass Fluctuations From Galaxy Clusters And The Ly Alpha Forest, Dh Weinberg, Rac Croft, L Hernquist, N Katz, M Pettini
Closing In On Omega(M): The Amplitude Of Mass Fluctuations From Galaxy Clusters And The Ly Alpha Forest, Dh Weinberg, Rac Croft, L Hernquist, N Katz, M Pettini
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We estimate the present-day value of the matter density parameter ΩM by combining constraints from the galaxy cluster mass function with Croft et al.'s recent measurement of the mass power spectrum, P(k), from Lyα forest data. The key assumption of the method is that cosmic structure formed by gravitational instability from Gaussian primordial fluctuations. For a specified value of ΩM, matching the observed cluster mass function then fixes the value of σ8, the rms amplitude of mass fluctuations in 8 h-1 Mpc spheres, and it thus determines the normalization of P …
Properties Of Galaxy Clusters: Mass And Correlation Functions, F Governato, A Babul, T Quinn, P Tozzi, Cm Baugh, N Katz, G Lake
Properties Of Galaxy Clusters: Mass And Correlation Functions, F Governato, A Babul, T Quinn, P Tozzi, Cm Baugh, N Katz, G Lake
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We analyse parallel N-body simulations of three cold dark matter (CDM) universes to study the abundance and clustering of galaxy clusters. The simulation boxes are 500 h−1 Mpc on a side and cover a volume comparable to that of the forthcoming Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The use of a treecode algorithm and 47 million particles allows us at the same time to achieve high mass and force resolution. We are thus able to make robust measurements of cluster properties with good number statistics up to a redshift larger than unity. We extract haloes using two independent, public domain …
The Clustering Of High-Redshift Galaxies In The Cold Dark Matter Scenario, N Katz, L Hernquist, Dh Weinberg
The Clustering Of High-Redshift Galaxies In The Cold Dark Matter Scenario, N Katz, L Hernquist, Dh Weinberg
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We investigate the clustering of high-redshift galaxies in five variants of the cold dark matter (CDM) scenario, using hydrodynamic cosmological simulations that resolve the formation of systems with circular velocities vc ≥ 100 km s-1 (Ω = 1) or vc ≥ 70 km s-1 (Ω = 0.4). Although the five models differ in their cosmological parameters and in the shapes and amplitudes of their mass power spectra, they predict remarkably similar galaxy clustering at z = 2, 3, and 4. The galaxy correlation functions show almost no evolution over this redshift range, even though the mass …
The Power Spectrum Of Mass Fluctuations Measured From The Ly Alpha Forest At Redshift Z=2.5, Rac Croft, Dh Weinberg, M Pettini, L Hernquist, N Katz
The Power Spectrum Of Mass Fluctuations Measured From The Ly Alpha Forest At Redshift Z=2.5, Rac Croft, Dh Weinberg, M Pettini, L Hernquist, N Katz
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We measure the linear power spectrum of mass-density fluctuations at redshift z = 2.5 from the Lyα forest absorption in a sample of 19 QSO spectra, using the method introduced by Croft et al. The P(k) measurement covers the range 2π/k ~ 450-2350 km s-1 (2-12 comoving h-1 Mpc for Ω = 1), limited on the upper end by uncertainty in fitting the unabsorbed QSO continuum and on the lower end by finite spectral resolution (0.8-2.3 Å FWHM) and by nonlinear dynamical effects. We examine a number of possible sources of systematic error and …
The Nature Of Lyman Break Galaxies In Cosmological Hydrodynamic Simulations, R Dave, J Gardner, L Hernquist, N Katz, D Weinberg
The Nature Of Lyman Break Galaxies In Cosmological Hydrodynamic Simulations, R Dave, J Gardner, L Hernquist, N Katz, D Weinberg
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
What type of objects are being detected as $z\sim 3$ "Lyman break galaxies"? Are they predominantly the most massive galaxies at that epoch, or are many of them smaller galaxies undergoing a short-lived burst of merger-induced star formation? We attempt to address this question using high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamic simulations including star formation and feedback. Our $\Lambda$CDM simulation, together with Bruzual-Charlot population synthesis models, reproduces the observed number density and luminosity function of Lyman break galaxies when dust is incorporated. The inclusion of dust is crucial for this agreement. In our simulation, these galaxies are predominantly the most massive objects at …
The Low-Redshift Ly Alpha Forest In Cold Dark Matter Cosmologies, R Dave, L Hernquist, N Katz, Dh Weinberg
The Low-Redshift Ly Alpha Forest In Cold Dark Matter Cosmologies, R Dave, L Hernquist, N Katz, Dh Weinberg
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We study the physical origin of the low-redshift Lyα forest in hydrodynamic simulations of four cosmological models, all variants of the cold dark matter scenario. Our most important conclusions are insensitive to the cosmological model, but they depend on our assumption that the UV background declines at low redshift in concert with the declining population of quasar sources. We find that the expansion of the universe drives rapid evolution of dN/dz (the number of absorbers per unit redshift above a specified equivalent width threshold) at z1.7, but that at lower redshift the fading of the UV background …
Evolution Of Clustering And Bias In A Lambda-Cdm Universe, R Dave, L Hernquist, N Katz, Dh Weinberg
Evolution Of Clustering And Bias In A Lambda-Cdm Universe, R Dave, L Hernquist, N Katz, Dh Weinberg
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We determine the evolution from $z=3\to 0$ of the galaxy and mass correlation functions and bias factor in a $50h^{-1}$Mpc $\Lambda$CDM hydrodynamic simulation with $10h^{-1}$kpc resolution. The mass correlation function grows with time, but the galaxy correlation function shows little evolution and is well described by a power law. At early times, galaxies are biased traces of mass, with bias being higher on smaller scales. By z=0, galaxies trace the mass, and the bias shows little scale dependence.
Effect Of The Magellanic Clouds On The Milky Way Disk And Vice Versa, Martin D. Weinberg
Effect Of The Magellanic Clouds On The Milky Way Disk And Vice Versa, Martin D. Weinberg
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We introduce a new galaxy image decomposition tool, GALPHAT (GALaxy PHotometric ATtributes), to provide full posterior probability distributions and reliable confidence intervals for all model parameters. GALPHAT is designed to yield a high speed and accurate likelihood computation, using grid interpolation and Fourier rotation. We benchmark this approach using an ensemble of simulated Sersic model galaxies over a wide range of observational conditions: the signal-to-noise ratio S/N, the ratio of galaxy size to the PSF and the image size, and errors in the assumed PSF; and a range of structural parameters: the half-light radius $r_e$ and the Sersic index $n$. …
Discovery Of Four Field Methane (T-Type) Dwarfs With The Two Micron All-Sky Survey, Adam J. Burgasser, J. Davy Kirkpatrick, Michael E. Brown, I. Neill Reid, John E. Gizis, Conard C. Dahn, David G. Monet, Charles A. Beichman, James Liebert, Roc M. Cutri, Michael F. Skrutskie
Discovery Of Four Field Methane (T-Type) Dwarfs With The Two Micron All-Sky Survey, Adam J. Burgasser, J. Davy Kirkpatrick, Michael E. Brown, I. Neill Reid, John E. Gizis, Conard C. Dahn, David G. Monet, Charles A. Beichman, James Liebert, Roc M. Cutri, Michael F. Skrutskie
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
We report the discovery of four field methane ("T"-type) brown dwarfs using Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) data. One additional methane dwarf, previously discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, was also identified. Near-infrared spectra clearly show the 1.6 and 2.2 m CH4 absorption bands characteristic of objects with Teff 1300 K as well as broadened H2O bands at 1.4 and 1.9 m. Comparing the spectra of these objects with that of Gl 229B, we propose that all new 2MASS T dwarfs are warmer than 950 K, in order from warmest to coolest: 2MASS J1217-03, 2MASS J1225-27, 2MASS J1047+21, and …
L Dwarfs And The Substellar Mass Function, I. Neill Reid, J. Davy Kirkpatrick, J. Liebert, A. Burrows, J. E. Gizis, A. Burgasser, C. C. Dahn, D. Monet, R. Cutri, C. A. Beichman, M. Skrutskie
L Dwarfs And The Substellar Mass Function, I. Neill Reid, J. Davy Kirkpatrick, J. Liebert, A. Burrows, J. E. Gizis, A. Burgasser, C. C. Dahn, D. Monet, R. Cutri, C. A. Beichman, M. Skrutskie
Astronomy Department Faculty Publication Series
Analysis of initial observations sky surveys has shown that the resulting photometric catalogs, combined with far-red optical data, provide an extremely effective method of finding isolated, very low-temperature objects in the general field. Follow-up observations have already identified more than 25 sources with temperatures cooler than the latest M dwarfs. A comparison with detailed model predictions (Burrows & Sharp 1999) indicates that these L dwarfs have effective temperatures between 2000 ± 100 K and 1500 ± 100 K, while the available trigonometric parallax data place their luminosities at between 10-3.5 and 10. Those properties, together with the detection of lithium …