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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Ultradeep Atca Imaging Of 47 Tucanae Reveals A Central Compact Radio Source, Alessandro Paduano, Arash Bahramian, James C. A. Miller-Jones, Adela Kawka, Tim J. Galvin, Liliana E. Rivera Sandoval, Sebastian Kamann, Jay Strader, Laura Chomiuk, Craig O. Heinke Jan 2024

Ultradeep Atca Imaging Of 47 Tucanae Reveals A Central Compact Radio Source, Alessandro Paduano, Arash Bahramian, James C. A. Miller-Jones, Adela Kawka, Tim J. Galvin, Liliana E. Rivera Sandoval, Sebastian Kamann, Jay Strader, Laura Chomiuk, Craig O. Heinke

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present the results of an ultradeep radio continuum survey, containing ∼480 hr of observations, of the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tucanae with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. This comprehensive coverage of the cluster allows us to reach rms noise levels of 1.19 μJy beam−1 at 5.5 GHz, 940 nJy beam−1 at 9 GHz, and 790 nJy beam−1 in a stacked 7.25 GHz image. This is the deepest radio image of a globular cluster and the deepest image ever made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. We identify ATCA J002405.702-720452.361, a faint (6.3 ± 1.2 μJy at 5.5 …


Electromagnetic Detectability Of Binary Supermassive Black Holes, Kaylee Grace May 2022

Electromagnetic Detectability Of Binary Supermassive Black Holes, Kaylee Grace

Honors Scholar Theses

Supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries can be produced by galaxy mergers and are important sources of gravitational waves. Although several binary candidates have been identified in previous work, none have yet been fully confirmed. These pairs are difficult to detect, since single accreting SMBHs can have pseudo-periodic lightcurves due to stochastic noise that can mimic the signature of binary SMBHs. The aforementioned lightcurves are the detections we classify as ”false-positive.” The Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) will be a powerful new tool for detecting binary SMBHs. We determine the false-positive binary detection rate for VRO by attempting to recover sinusoidal binary …


Trapped Surfaces, Topology Of Black Holes, And The Positive Mass Theorem, Lan-Hsuan Huang, Dan A. Lee Jan 2022

Trapped Surfaces, Topology Of Black Holes, And The Positive Mass Theorem, Lan-Hsuan Huang, Dan A. Lee

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.


A Mildly Relativistic Outflow From The Energentic, Fast-Rising Blue Optical Transient Css161010 In A Dwarf Galaxy, Deanne L. Coppejans, R. Margutti, G. Terreran, A. J. Nayana, E. R. Coughlin, T. Laskar, K. D. Alexander, M. Bietenholz, D. Caprioli, P. Chandra, M. R. Drout, D. Frederiks, C. Frohmaier, K. H. Hurley, C. S. Kochanek, M. Macleod, A. Meisner, P. E. Nugent, A. Ridnaia, D. J. Sand, D. Svinkin, C. Ward, S. Yang, A. Baldeschi, I. V. Chilingarian, Y. Dong, C. Esquivia, W. Fong, C. Guidorzi, P. Lundqvist, D. Milisavljevic May 2020

A Mildly Relativistic Outflow From The Energentic, Fast-Rising Blue Optical Transient Css161010 In A Dwarf Galaxy, Deanne L. Coppejans, R. Margutti, G. Terreran, A. J. Nayana, E. R. Coughlin, T. Laskar, K. D. Alexander, M. Bietenholz, D. Caprioli, P. Chandra, M. R. Drout, D. Frederiks, C. Frohmaier, K. H. Hurley, C. S. Kochanek, M. Macleod, A. Meisner, P. E. Nugent, A. Ridnaia, D. J. Sand, D. Svinkin, C. Ward, S. Yang, A. Baldeschi, I. V. Chilingarian, Y. Dong, C. Esquivia, W. Fong, C. Guidorzi, P. Lundqvist, D. Milisavljevic

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

We present X-ray and radio observations of the Fast Blue Optical Transient CRTS-CSS161010 J045834−081803 (CSS161010 hereafter) at t = 69–531 days. CSS161010 shows luminous X-ray (L x ~ 5 × 1039 erg s−1) and radio (L ν ~ 1029 erg s−1 Hz−1) emission. The radio emission peaked at ~100 days post-transient explosion and rapidly decayed. We interpret these observations in the context of synchrotron emission from an expanding blast wave. CSS161010 launched a mildly relativistic outflow with velocity Γβc ≥ 0.55c at ~100 days. This is faster than the non-relativistic AT 2018cow (Γβc ~ 0.1c) and closer to ZTF18abvkwla (Γβc …


Swift Spectroscopy Of The Accretion Disk Wind In The Black Hole Gro J1655-40, M. Balakrishnan, J. M. Miller, N. Trueba, M. Reynolds, J. Raymond, Daniel Proga, A. C. Fabian, T. Kallman, J. Kaastra Apr 2020

Swift Spectroscopy Of The Accretion Disk Wind In The Black Hole Gro J1655-40, M. Balakrishnan, J. M. Miller, N. Trueba, M. Reynolds, J. Raymond, Daniel Proga, A. C. Fabian, T. Kallman, J. Kaastra

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

Chandra obtained two High Energy Transmission Grating spectra of the stellar-mass black hole GRO J1655−40 during its 2005 outburst, revealing a rich and complex disk wind. Soon after its launch, the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory began monitoring the same outburst. Some X-ray Telescope (XRT) observations were obtained in a mode that makes it impossible to remove strong Mn calibration lines, so the Fe Kα line region in the spectra was previously neglected. However, these lines enable a precise calibration of the energy scale, facilitating studies of the absorption-dominated disk wind and its velocity shifts. Here we present fits to 15 …


Binary Black Hole Population Properties Inferred From The First And Second Observing Runs Of Advanced Ligo And Advanced Virgo, B. P. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, S. Abraham, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Malik Rakhmanov, Karla E. Ramirez, Satzhan Sitmukhambetov, D. Tuyenbayev, W. H. Wang, Adam Zadrozny Sep 2019

Binary Black Hole Population Properties Inferred From The First And Second Observing Runs Of Advanced Ligo And Advanced Virgo, B. P. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, S. Abraham, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Malik Rakhmanov, Karla E. Ramirez, Satzhan Sitmukhambetov, D. Tuyenbayev, W. H. Wang, Adam Zadrozny

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present results on the mass, spin, and redshift distributions with phenomenological population models using the 10 binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected in the first and second observing runs completed by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. We constrain properties of the BBH mass spectrum using models with a range of parameterizations of the BBH mass and spin distributions. We find that the mass distribution of the more massive BH in such binaries is well approximated by models with no more than 1% of BHs more massive than 45M(circle dot) and a power-law index of alpha = 1.3(-1.7)(+1.4) (90% credibility). …


An Acoustical Analogue Of A Galactic-Scale Gravitational-Wave Detector, Michael T. Lam, Joseph D. Romano, Joey Key, M. E. Normandin, ‪Jeffrey S. Hazboun Oct 2018

An Acoustical Analogue Of A Galactic-Scale Gravitational-Wave Detector, Michael T. Lam, Joseph D. Romano, Joey Key, M. E. Normandin, ‪Jeffrey S. Hazboun

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

By precisely monitoring the “ticks” of Nature's most precise clocks (millisecond pulsars), scientists are trying to detect the “ripples in spacetime” (gravitational waves) produced by the inspirals of supermassive black holes in the centers of distant merging galaxies. Here, we describe a relatively simple demonstration that uses two metronomes and a microphone to illustrate several techniques used by pulsar astronomers to search for and detect gravitational waves. An adapted version of this demonstration could be used as an instructional laboratory investigation at the undergraduate level.


Does The Black Hole Shadow Probe The Event Horizon Geometry?, Pedro V. P. Cunha, Carlos A. R. Herdeiro, Maria J. Rodriguez Apr 2018

Does The Black Hole Shadow Probe The Event Horizon Geometry?, Pedro V. P. Cunha, Carlos A. R. Herdeiro, Maria J. Rodriguez

All Physics Faculty Publications

There is an exciting prospect of obtaining the shadow of astrophysical black holes (BHs) in the near future with the Event Horizon Telescope. As a matter of principle, this justifies asking how much one can learn about the BH horizon itself from such a measurement. Since the shadow is determined by a set of special photon orbits, rather than horizon properties, it is possible that different horizon geometries yield similar shadows. One may then ask how sensitive is the shadow to details of the horizon geometry? As a case study, we consider the double Schwarzschild BH and analyze the impact …


Gw170608: Observation Of A 19 Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence, B. P. Abbott, K. Aultoneal, S. Gaudio, K. Gill, E. M. Gretarsson, B. Hughey, M. Muratore, J. W. W. Pratt, S. G. Schwalbe, K. Staats, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al. Dec 2017

Gw170608: Observation Of A 19 Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence, B. P. Abbott, K. Aultoneal, S. Gaudio, K. Gill, E. M. Gretarsson, B. Hughey, M. Muratore, J. W. W. Pratt, S. G. Schwalbe, K. Staats, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al.

Publications

On 2017 June 8 at 02:01:16.49 UTC, a gravitational-wave (GW) signal from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes was observed by the two Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detectors with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13. This system is the lightest black hole binary so far observed, with component masses of 12 +7 -2 M⨀ and 7 +2 -2 M⨀ (90% credible intervals). These lie in the range of measured black hole masses in low-mass X-ray binaries, thus allowing us to compare black holes detected through GWs with electromagnetic observations. The source’s luminosity distance is 340 +140 -140 Mpc, …


Book Review: Chandra's Cosmos: Dark Matter, Black Holes, And Other Wonders Revealed By Nasa's Premier X-Ray Observatory, T. D. Oswalt Nov 2017

Book Review: Chandra's Cosmos: Dark Matter, Black Holes, And Other Wonders Revealed By Nasa's Premier X-Ray Observatory, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of Chandra's cosmos: dark matter, black holes, and other wonders revealed by NASA's premier X-ray observatory by Wallace H. Tucker. Smithsonian Books, 2017. 266p bibl index ISBN 9781588345875, $29.95; ISBN 9781588345882 ebook, contact publiser for price.


Almost-Bps Solutions In Multi-Center Taub-Nut, C. Rugina, A. Ludu Oct 2017

Almost-Bps Solutions In Multi-Center Taub-Nut, C. Rugina, A. Ludu

Publications

Microstates of multiple collinear black holes embedded in a non-collinear two-center Taub-NUT spacetime are sought in 4 dimensions. A set of coupled partial differential equations are obtained and solved for almost-BPS states, where some supersymmetry is preserved in the context of N = 2 supergravity in 4 dimensions. The regularity of solutions is carefully considered, and we ensure that no CTC (closed time-like curves) are present. The larger framework is that of 11-dimensional N = 2 supergravity, and the current theory is obtained by compactifying it down to 4 dimensions. This work is a generalization (to three non-collinear centers) of …


Magnetic Fields Threading Black Holes: Restrictions From General Relativity And Implications For Astrophysical Black Holes, David Garofalo Jun 2017

Magnetic Fields Threading Black Holes: Restrictions From General Relativity And Implications For Astrophysical Black Holes, David Garofalo

Faculty and Research Publications

The idea that black hole spin is instrumental in the generation of powerful jets in active galactic nuclei and X-ray binaries is arguably the most contentious claim in black hole astrophysics. Because jets are thought to originate in the context of electromagnetism, and the modeling of Maxwell fields in curved spacetime around black holes is challenging, various approximations are made in numerical simulations that fall under the guise of ‘ideal magnetohydrodynamics’. But the simplifications of this framework may struggle to capture relevant details of real astrophysical environments near black holes. In this work, we highlight tension between analytic and numerical …


Gw170104: Observation Of A 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence At Redshift 0.2, B. P. Abbott, K. Aultoneal, S. Gaudio, K. Gill, B. Hughey, J. W. W. Pratt, E. Schmidt, G. Schwalbe, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al. Jun 2017

Gw170104: Observation Of A 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence At Redshift 0.2, B. P. Abbott, K. Aultoneal, S. Gaudio, K. Gill, B. Hughey, J. W. W. Pratt, E. Schmidt, G. Schwalbe, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al.

Publications

We describe the observation of GW170104, a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of a pair of stellar-mass black holes. The signal was measured on January 4, 2017 at 10∶11:58.6 UTC by the twin advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory during their second observing run, with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a false alarm rate less than 1 in 70 000 years. The inferred component black hole masses are 31.2 þ8.4 −6.0M⊙ and 19.4 þ5.3 −5.9M⊙ (at the 90% credible level). The black hole spins are best constrained through measurement of the effective inspiral spin parameter, …


Black Holes And Einstein: A Commentary Of The Types Of Black Holes That Produce Gravitational Waves, Sage A. Russell Jan 2017

Black Holes And Einstein: A Commentary Of The Types Of Black Holes That Produce Gravitational Waves, Sage A. Russell

A with Honors Projects

Perhaps the most the notorious player in the astronomical field, objects known as black holes captivate the imaginations of scientists and average folk the world over, but as much as we adore hypothesizing about what black holes are like, there is so much that we’re only just finding out about. From 1909 until 1918, famed physicist Albert Einstein predicted many characteristics of spacetime and the effect of massive objects on it, including the notion of an energy-carrying wave moving at the speed of light that causes ripples through the fabric of spacetime, otherwise known as gravitational waves. A relatively recent …


The Basic Physics Of The Binary Black Hole Merger Gw150914, B. P. Abbott, K. Gill, B. Hughey, J. Pratt, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al. Jan 2017

The Basic Physics Of The Binary Black Hole Merger Gw150914, B. P. Abbott, K. Gill, B. Hughey, J. Pratt, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al.

Publications

The first direct gravitational-wave detection was made by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory on September 14, 2015. The GW150914 signal was strong enough to be apparent, without using any waveform model, in the filtered detector strain data. Here, features of the signal visible in the data are analyzed using concepts from Newtonian physics and general relativity, accessible to anyone with a general physics background. The simple analysis presented here is consistent with the fully general-relativistic analyses published elsewhere, in showing that the signal was produced by the inspiral and subsequent merger of two black holes. The black holes …


The Rate Of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred From Advanced Ligo Observations Surrounding Gw150914, B. P. Abbott, K. Gill, B. Hughey, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al. Dec 2016

The Rate Of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred From Advanced Ligo Observations Surrounding Gw150914, B. P. Abbott, K. Gill, B. Hughey, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al.

Publications

A transient gravitational-wave signal, GW150914, was identified in the twin Advanced LIGO detectors on 2015 September 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC. To assess the implications of this discovery, the detectors remained in operation with unchanged configurations over a period of 39 days around the time of the signal. At the detection statistic threshold corresponding to that observed for GW150914, our search of the 16 days of simultaneous two-detector observational data is estimated to have a false-alarm rate (FAR) of


Supplement: The Rate Of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred From Advanced Ligo Observations Surrounding Gw150914, B. P. Abbott, K. Gill, B. Hughey, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al. Dec 2016

Supplement: The Rate Of Binary Black Hole Mergers Inferred From Advanced Ligo Observations Surrounding Gw150914, B. P. Abbott, K. Gill, B. Hughey, M. J. Szczepańczyk, M. Zanolin, Et Al.

Publications

This article provides supplemental information for a Letter reporting the rate of (BBH) coalescences inferred from 16 days of coincident Advanced LIGO observations surrounding the transient (GW) signal GW150914. In that work we reported various rate estimates whose 90% confidence intervals fell in the range 2–600 Gpc−3 yr−1. Here we give details on our method and computations, including information about our search pipelines, a derivation of our likelihood function for the analysis, a description of the astrophysical search trigger distribution expected from merging BBHs, details on our computational methods, a description of the effects and our model for calibration uncertainty, …


Peering Through The Dust: Nustar Observations Of Two First-2mass Red Quasars, Stephanie M. Lamassa, Angelo Ricarte, Eilat Glikman, C. Megan Urry, Daniel Stern, Tahir Yaqoob, George B. Lansbury, Francesca Civano Mar 2016

Peering Through The Dust: Nustar Observations Of Two First-2mass Red Quasars, Stephanie M. Lamassa, Angelo Ricarte, Eilat Glikman, C. Megan Urry, Daniel Stern, Tahir Yaqoob, George B. Lansbury, Francesca Civano

Dartmouth Scholarship

Some reddened quasars appear to be transitional objects in the merger-induced black hole growth/galaxy evolution paradigm, where a heavily obscured nucleus starts to be unveiled by powerful quasar winds evacuating the surrounding cocoon of dust and gas. Hard X-ray observations are able to peer through this gas and dust, revealing the properties of circumnuclear obscuration. Here, we present NuSTAR and XMM-Newton/Chandra observations of FIRST-2MASS selected red quasars F2M 0830+3759 and F2M 1227+3214. We find that though F2M 0830+3759 is moderately obscured (NH,Z=2.1±0.2×1022 cm−2) and F2M 1227+3214 is mildly absorbed (NH,Z=3.4+0.8−0.7×1021 cm−2 …


Applying Hierarchical Clustering To Broad Absorption Line Profiles For Quasar Classification, Nathalie Chantal Marie Thibert Jan 2016

Applying Hierarchical Clustering To Broad Absorption Line Profiles For Quasar Classification, Nathalie Chantal Marie Thibert

2016 Undergraduate Awards

The region immediately surrounding an actively accreting supermassive black hole at the centre of a massive galaxy, the accretion disk, produces an enormous amount of radiation resulting in a luminous, short-lived phenomenon called a quasar. About 20% of quasars show broad, blue-shifted absorption features in their UV spectra, indicative of an outflowing wind from the accretion disk. These winds can remove angular momentum from the accretion disk, thereby contributing to the growth of the central black hole. Understanding these winds will help us to better constrain the details of how black holes grow during the quasar phase. The structures of …


The Broad-Lined Type Ic Sn 2012ap And The Nature Of Relativistic Supernovae Lacking A Gamma-Ray Burst Detection, D. Milisavljevic, R. Margutti, J. T. Parrent, A. M. Soderberg, R. A. Fesen Jan 2015

The Broad-Lined Type Ic Sn 2012ap And The Nature Of Relativistic Supernovae Lacking A Gamma-Ray Burst Detection, D. Milisavljevic, R. Margutti, J. T. Parrent, A. M. Soderberg, R. A. Fesen

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present ultraviolet, optical, and near-infrared observations of SN 2012ap, a broad-lined Type Ic supernova in the galaxy NGC 1729 that produced a relativistic and rapidly decelerating outflow without a gamma-ray burst signature. Photometry and spectroscopy follow the flux evolution from –13 to +272 days past the B-band maximum of –17.4 ± 0.5 mag. The spectra are dominated by Fe II, O I, and Ca II absorption lines at ejecta velocities of v ≈ 20,000 km s–1 that change slowly over time. Other spectral absorption lines are consistent with contributions from photospheric He I, and hydrogen may also …


Tracing The Evolution Of Active Galactic Nuclei Host Galaxies Over The Last 9 Gyr Of Cosmic Time, A. D. Goulding, W. R. Forman, R. C. Hickox, C. Jones Feb 2014

Tracing The Evolution Of Active Galactic Nuclei Host Galaxies Over The Last 9 Gyr Of Cosmic Time, A. D. Goulding, W. R. Forman, R. C. Hickox, C. Jones

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present the results of a combined galaxy population analysis for the host galaxies of active galactic nuclei (AGN) identified at 0 < z < 1.4 within the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Boötes, and DEEP2 surveys. We identified AGN in a uniform and unbiased manner at X-ray, infrared, and radio wavelengths. Supermassive black holes undergoing radiatively efficient accretion (detected as X-ray and/or infrared AGN) appear to be hosted in a separate and distinct galaxy population than AGN undergoing powerful mechanically dominated accretion (radio AGN). Consistent with some previous studies, radiatively efficient AGN appear to be preferentially hosted in modest star-forming galaxies, with little dependence on AGN or galaxy luminosity. AGN exhibiting radio-emitting jets due to mechanically dominated accretion are almost exclusively observed in massive, passive galaxies. Crucially, we now provide strong evidence that the observed host-galaxy trends are independent of redshift. In particular, these different accretion-mode AGN have remained as separate galaxy populations throughout the last 9 Gyr. Furthermore, it appears that galaxies hosting AGN have evolved along the same path as galaxies that are not hosting AGN with little evidence for distinctly separate evolution.


Black Hole Variability And The Star Formation-Active Galactic Nucleus Connection: Do All Star-Forming Galaxies Host An Active Galactic Nucleus?, Ryan C. Hickox, James R. Mullaney, David M. Alexander, Chien-Ting J. Chen, Francesca M. Civano, Andy D. Goulding, Kevin N. Hainline Jan 2014

Black Hole Variability And The Star Formation-Active Galactic Nucleus Connection: Do All Star-Forming Galaxies Host An Active Galactic Nucleus?, Ryan C. Hickox, James R. Mullaney, David M. Alexander, Chien-Ting J. Chen, Francesca M. Civano, Andy D. Goulding, Kevin N. Hainline

Dartmouth Scholarship

We investigate the effect of active galactic nucleus (AGN) variability on the observed connection between star formation and black hole accretion in extragalactic surveys. Recent studies have reported relatively weak correlations between observed AGN luminosities and the properties of AGN hosts, which has been interpreted to imply that there is no direct connection between AGN activity and star formation. However, AGNs may be expected to vary significantly on a wide range of timescales (from hours to Myr) that are far shorter than the typical timescale for star formation (100 Myr). This variability can have important consequences for observed correlations. We …


The Xmm-Newton Spectrum Of A Candidate Recoiling Supermassive Black Hole: An Elusive Inverted P-Cygni Profile, G. Lanzuisi, F. Civano, S. Marchesi, A. Comastri Nov 2013

The Xmm-Newton Spectrum Of A Candidate Recoiling Supermassive Black Hole: An Elusive Inverted P-Cygni Profile, G. Lanzuisi, F. Civano, S. Marchesi, A. Comastri

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present a detailed spectral analysis of new XMM-Newton data of the source CXOC J100043.1+020637, also known as CID-42, detected in the COSMOS survey at z = 0.359. Previous works suggested that CID-42 is a candidate recoiling supermassive black hole (SMBH) showing also an inverted P-Cygni profile in the X-ray spectra at ~6 keV (rest) with an iron emission line plus a redshifted absorption line (detected at 3σ in previous XMM-Newton and Chandra observations). Detailed analysis of the absorption line suggested the presence of ionized material flowing into the black hole at high velocity. In the …


Salt Long-Slit Spectroscopy Of Luminous Obscured Quasars: An Upper Limit On The Size Of The Narrow-Line Region?, Kevin N. Hainline, Ryan Hickox, Jenny E. Greene, Adam D. Myers, Nadia L. Zakamska Aug 2013

Salt Long-Slit Spectroscopy Of Luminous Obscured Quasars: An Upper Limit On The Size Of The Narrow-Line Region?, Kevin N. Hainline, Ryan Hickox, Jenny E. Greene, Adam D. Myers, Nadia L. Zakamska

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present spatially resolved long-slit spectroscopy from the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) to examine the spatial extent of the narrow-line regions (NLRs) of a sample of 8 luminous obscured quasars at 0.10 < z < 0.43. Our results are consistent with an observed shallow slope in the relationship between NLR size and L_[OIII], which has been interpreted to indicate that NLR size is limited by the density and ionization state of the NLR gas rather than the availability of ionizing photons. We also explore how the NLR size scales with a more direct measure of instantaneous AGN power using mid-IR photometry from WISE, which probes warm to hot dust near the central black hole and so, unlike [OIII], does not depend on the properties of the NLR. Using our results as well as samples from the literature, we obtain a power-law relationship between NLR size and L_8micron that is significantly steeper than that observed for NLR size and L_[OIII]. We find that the size of the NLR goes approximately as L^(1/2)_8micron, as expected from the simple scenario of constant-density clouds illuminated by a central ionizing source. We further see tentative evidence for a flattening of the relationship between NLR size and L_8micron at the high luminosity end, and propose that we are seeing a limiting NLR size of 10 - 20 kpc, beyond which the availability of gas to ionize becomes too low. We find that L_[OIII] ~ L_8micron^(1.4), consistent with a picture in which the L_[OIII] is dependent on the volume of the NLR. These results indicate that high-luminosity quasars have a strong effect in ionizing the available gas in a galaxy.


Contribution Of The Accretion Disk, Hot Corona, And Obscuring Torus To The Luminosity Of Seyfert Galaxies: Integral And Spitzer Observations, S. Sazonov, S. P. Willner, A. D. Goulding, R. C. Hickox Sep 2012

Contribution Of The Accretion Disk, Hot Corona, And Obscuring Torus To The Luminosity Of Seyfert Galaxies: Integral And Spitzer Observations, S. Sazonov, S. P. Willner, A. D. Goulding, R. C. Hickox

Dartmouth Scholarship

We estimate the relative contributions of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) accretion disk, corona, and obscuring torus to the bolometric luminosity of Seyfert galaxies, using Spitzer mid-infrared (MIR) observations of a complete sample of 68 nearby active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from the INTEGRAL all-sky hard X-ray (HX) survey. This is the first HX-selected (above 15 keV) sample of AGNs with complementary high angular resolution, high signal-to-noise, MIR data. Correcting for the host galaxy contribution, we find a correlation between HX and MIR luminosities: L 15 μm∝L0.74 ± 0.06 HX. Assuming that the observed MIR emission is radiation …


The Hidden “Agn Main Sequence”: Evidence For A Universal Black Hole Accretion To Star Formation Rate Ratio Since Z ∼ 2 Producing An M Bh - M * Relation, J. R. Mullaney, E. Daddi, M. Béthermin, D. Elbaz, S. Juneau, M. Pannella, M. T. Sargent, D. M. Alexander, R. C. Hickox Jun 2012

The Hidden “Agn Main Sequence”: Evidence For A Universal Black Hole Accretion To Star Formation Rate Ratio Since Z ∼ 2 Producing An M Bh - M * Relation, J. R. Mullaney, E. Daddi, M. Béthermin, D. Elbaz, S. Juneau, M. Pannella, M. T. Sargent, D. M. Alexander, R. C. Hickox

Dartmouth Scholarship

Using X-ray stacking analyses we estimate the average amounts of supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth taking place in star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1 and z ~ 2 as a function of galaxy stellar mass (M *). We find that the average SMBH growth rate follows remarkably similar trends with M * and redshift as the average star formation rates (SFRs) of their host galaxies (i.e., \dot{M}_BH vprop M * 0.86 ± 0.39 for the z ~ 1 sample and \dot{M}_BH vprop M * 1.05 ± 0.36 for the z ~ 2 sample). It follows that the ratio of …


A Reverberation Lag For The High-Ionization Component Of The Broad-Line Region In The Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Mrk 335, C. J. Grier, B. M. Peterson, R. W. Pogge, K. D. Denney, M. C. Bentz, Paul Martini, S. G. Sergeev, S. Kaspi, Y. Zu, C. S. Kochanek, B. J. Shappee, C. Araya Salvo, T G. Beatty, J. C. Bird, D. J. Bord, G. A. Borman, X. Che, C. Chen Jan 2012

A Reverberation Lag For The High-Ionization Component Of The Broad-Line Region In The Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Mrk 335, C. J. Grier, B. M. Peterson, R. W. Pogge, K. D. Denney, M. C. Bentz, Paul Martini, S. G. Sergeev, S. Kaspi, Y. Zu, C. S. Kochanek, B. J. Shappee, C. Araya Salvo, T G. Beatty, J. C. Bird, D. J. Bord, G. A. Borman, X. Che, C. Chen

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present the first results from a detailed analysis of photometric and spectrophotometric data on the narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy Mrk 335, collected over a 120 day span in the fall of 2010. From these data we measure the lag in the He ii λ 4686 broad emission line relative to the optical continuum to be 2.7 °æ 0.6 days and the lag in the Hβλ 4861 broad emission line to be 13.9 °æ 0.9 days. Combined with the line width, the He ii lag yields a black hole mass MBH = (2. 6 °æ 0. 8) °ø 107M …


Black Holes: Myths, Legends And Truths, Shane L. Larson Jun 2010

Black Holes: Myths, Legends And Truths, Shane L. Larson

Public Talks

No abstract provided.


Condensates In The Cosmos: Quantum Stabilization Of The Collapse Of Relativistic Degenerate Stars To Black Holes [Post-Print], Mark P. Silverman Jan 2007

Condensates In The Cosmos: Quantum Stabilization Of The Collapse Of Relativistic Degenerate Stars To Black Holes [Post-Print], Mark P. Silverman

Faculty Scholarship

According to prevailing theory, relativistic degenerate stars with masses beyond the Chandrasekhar and Oppenheimer–Volkoff (OV) limits cannot achieve hydrostatic equilibrium through either electron or neutron degeneracy pressure and must collapse to form stellar black holes. In such end states, all matter and energy within the Schwarzschild horizon descend into a central singularity. Avoidance of this fate is a hoped-for outcome of the quantization of gravity, an as-yet incomplete undertaking. Recent studies, however, suggest the possibility that known quantum processes may intervene to arrest complete collapse, thereby leading to equilibrium states of macroscopic size and finite density. I describe here one …


Fermion Condensation In A Relativistic Degenerate Star: Arrested Collapse And Macroscopic Equilibrium [Post-Print], Mark P. Silverman Jan 2006

Fermion Condensation In A Relativistic Degenerate Star: Arrested Collapse And Macroscopic Equilibrium [Post-Print], Mark P. Silverman

Faculty Scholarship

Fermionic Cooper pairing leading to the BCS-type hadronic superfluidity is believed to account for periodic variations ("glitches") and subsequent slow relaxation in spin rates of neutron stars. Under appropriate conditions, however, fermions can also form a Bose–Einstein condensate of composite bosons. Both types of behavior have recently been observed in tabletop experiments with ultra-cold fermionic atomic gases. Since the behavior is universal (i.e., independent of atomic potential) when the modulus of the scattering length greatly exceeds the separation between particles, one can expect analogous processes to occur within the supradense matter of neutron stars. In this paper, I show how …