Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 18 of 18

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Finite-Temperature Properties Of Strongly Correlated Fermions In The Honeycomb Lattice, Baoming Tang, Thereza Paiva, Ehsan Khatami, Marchos Rigol Sep 2013

Finite-Temperature Properties Of Strongly Correlated Fermions In The Honeycomb Lattice, Baoming Tang, Thereza Paiva, Ehsan Khatami, Marchos Rigol

Ehsan Khatami

We study finite-temperature properties of strongly interacting fermions in the honeycomb lattice using numerical linked-cluster expansions and determinantal quantum Monte Carlo simulations. We analyze a number of thermodynamic quantities, including the entropy, the specific heat, uniform and staggered spin susceptibilities, short-range spin correlations, and the double occupancy at and away from half filling. We examine the viability of adiabatic cooling by increasing the interaction strength for homogeneous as well as for trapped systems. For the homogeneous case, this process is found to be more efficient at finite doping than at half filling. That, in turn, leads to an efficient adiabatic …


The Planetary Nebula Spectrograph Survey Of S0 Galaxy Kinematics. Data And Overview, A. Cortesi, M. Arnaboldi, L. Coccato, M. R. Merrifield, O. Gerhard, S. Bamford, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. R. Napolitano, N. G. Douglas, K. Kuiijken, M. Capaccioli, K. C. Freeman, A. L. Chies-Santos, V. Pota Jan 2013

The Planetary Nebula Spectrograph Survey Of S0 Galaxy Kinematics. Data And Overview, A. Cortesi, M. Arnaboldi, L. Coccato, M. R. Merrifield, O. Gerhard, S. Bamford, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. R. Napolitano, N. G. Douglas, K. Kuiijken, M. Capaccioli, K. C. Freeman, A. L. Chies-Santos, V. Pota

Aaron J. Romanowsky

The origins of S0 galaxies remain obscure, with various mechanisms proposed for their formation, likely depending on environment. These mechanisms would imprint different signatures in the galaxies' stellar kinematics out to large radii, offering a method for distinguishing between them. We aim to study a sample of six S0 galaxies from a range of environments, and use planetary nebulae (PNe) as tracers of their stellar populations out to very large radii, to determine their kinematics in order to understand their origins. Using a special-purpose instrument, the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph, we observe and extract PNe catalogues for these six systems*. We …


Planetary Nebula Spectrograph Survey Of S0 Galaxy Kinematics – Ii. Clues To The Origins Of S0 Galaxies, A. Cortesi, M. R. Merrifield, L. Coccato, M. Arnaboldi, O. Gerhard, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. G. Douglass, K. Kuiijken, M. Capaccioli, K. C. Freeman, K. Saha, A. L. Chies-Santos Jan 2013

Planetary Nebula Spectrograph Survey Of S0 Galaxy Kinematics – Ii. Clues To The Origins Of S0 Galaxies, A. Cortesi, M. R. Merrifield, L. Coccato, M. Arnaboldi, O. Gerhard, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. G. Douglass, K. Kuiijken, M. Capaccioli, K. C. Freeman, K. Saha, A. L. Chies-Santos

Aaron J. Romanowsky

The stellar kinematics of the spheroids and discs of S0 galaxies contain clues to their formation histories. Unfortunately, it is difficult to disentangle the two components and to recover their stellar kinematics in the faint outer parts of the galaxies using conventional absorption line spectroscopy. This paper therefore presents the stellar kinematics of six S0 galaxies derived from observations of planetary nebulae, obtained using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph. To separate the kinematics of the two components, we use a maximum-likelihood method that combines the discrete kinematic data with a photometric component decomposition. The results of this analysis reveal that: the …


Mond And Imf Variations In Early-Type Galaxies From Atlas3d, C. Tortora, Aaron J. Romanowsky, V. F. Cardone, N. R. Napolitano, Ph Jetzer Jan 2013

Mond And Imf Variations In Early-Type Galaxies From Atlas3d, C. Tortora, Aaron J. Romanowsky, V. F. Cardone, N. R. Napolitano, Ph Jetzer

Aaron J. Romanowsky

No abstract provided.


The Sluggs Survey: Wide Field Imaging Of The Globular Cluster System Of Ngc 4278, C. Usher, D. A. Forbes, L. R. Spitler, J. P. Brodie, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. Strader, K. A. Woodley Jan 2013

The Sluggs Survey: Wide Field Imaging Of The Globular Cluster System Of Ngc 4278, C. Usher, D. A. Forbes, L. R. Spitler, J. P. Brodie, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. Strader, K. A. Woodley

Aaron J. Romanowsky

We use multipointing Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys and wide field Subaru Suprime-Cam imaging to study the globular cluster system of the L* elliptical galaxy NGC 4278. We have also obtained a handful of new globular cluster spectra with the Keck Deep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph. We determine the globular cluster surface density profile and use it to calculate the total number of globular clusters, finding the system to be slightly more populous than average for galaxies of its luminosity. We find clear evidence for bimodality in the globular cluster colour distribution and for a colour–magnitude relation in the …


Students Talk About Energy In Project- Based Inquiry Science, Benedikt W. Harrer, Virginia J. Flood, Michael C. Wittmann Jan 2013

Students Talk About Energy In Project- Based Inquiry Science, Benedikt W. Harrer, Virginia J. Flood, Michael C. Wittmann

Benedikt W. Harrer

We examine the types of emergent language eighth grade students in rural Maine middle schools use when they discuss energy in their first experiences with Project-Based Inquiry Science: Energy, a research-based curriculum that uses a specific language for talking about energy. By comparative analysis of the language used by the curriculum materials to students’ language, we find that students’ talk is at times more aligned with a Stores and Transfer model of energy than the Forms model supported by the curriculum.


Angular Momentum And Galaxy Formation Revisited: Effects Of Variable Mass-To-Light Ratios, S. M. Fall, Aaron J. Romanowsky Jan 2013

Angular Momentum And Galaxy Formation Revisited: Effects Of Variable Mass-To-Light Ratios, S. M. Fall, Aaron J. Romanowsky

Aaron J. Romanowsky

We rederive the relation between the specific angular momentum j sstarf and the mass M sstarf of the stellar matter in galaxies of different morphological types. This is a revision of the j sstarf-M sstarf diagram presented in our recent comprehensive study of galactic angular momentum. In that work, we estimated j sstarf from kinematic and photometric data that extended to large radii and M sstarf from near-infrared luminosities LK with an assumed universal mass-to-light ratio M sstarf/LK . However, recent stellar population models show large variations in M sstarf/LK correlated with B – V color. In the present work, …


Filling The Gap: A New Class Of Old Star Cluster?, D. A. Forbes, V. Pota, C. Usher, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. Strader, J. P. Brodie, J. A. Arnold, L. R. Spitler Jan 2013

Filling The Gap: A New Class Of Old Star Cluster?, D. A. Forbes, V. Pota, C. Usher, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. Strader, J. P. Brodie, J. A. Arnold, L. R. Spitler

Aaron J. Romanowsky

It is not understood whether long-lived star clusters possess a continuous range of sizes and masses (and hence densities) or if rather, they should be considered as distinct types with different origins. Utilizing the Hubble Space Telescope to measure sizes and long exposures on the Keck 10 m telescope to obtain distances, we have discovered the first confirmed star clusters that lie within a previously claimed size–luminosity gap dubbed the ‘avoidance zone’ by Hwang et al. The existence of these star clusters extends the range of sizes, masses and densities for star clusters, and argues against current formation models that …


The Sluggs Survey: Wide-Field Stellar Kinematics Of Earlytype Galaxies, J. A. Arnold, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. P. Brodie, D. A. Forbes, J. Strader, C. Foster, S. S. Kartha, N. Pastorello, V. Pota, C. Usher, K. A. Woodley Jan 2013

The Sluggs Survey: Wide-Field Stellar Kinematics Of Earlytype Galaxies, J. A. Arnold, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. P. Brodie, D. A. Forbes, J. Strader, C. Foster, S. S. Kartha, N. Pastorello, V. Pota, C. Usher, K. A. Woodley

Aaron J. Romanowsky

No abstract provided.


The Sluggs Survey: Outer Triaxiality In The Fast Rotator Elliptical Ngc 4473, C. Foster, J. A. Arnold, D. A. Forbes, N. Pastorello, Aaron J. Romanowsky, L. R. Spitler, J. Strader, J. P. Brodie Jan 2013

The Sluggs Survey: Outer Triaxiality In The Fast Rotator Elliptical Ngc 4473, C. Foster, J. A. Arnold, D. A. Forbes, N. Pastorello, Aaron J. Romanowsky, L. R. Spitler, J. Strader, J. P. Brodie

Aaron J. Romanowsky

Systematic surveys of nearby early-type galaxies using integral field unit (IFU) spectrograph data have revealed that galaxies can hide interesting structures only visible through kinematic studies. As part of their pioneering work, the ATLAS3D team have shown that most morphologically elliptical galaxies are centrally kinematically disc like. Hence, while global morphology suggests that ellipticals are ellipsoidal/triaxial in shape, their central kinematics may be consistent with (inclined) oblate systems. Here, we study the fast rotator elliptical galaxy: NGC 4473. Using slitlets, we obtain galaxy light kinematics out to unprecedentedly large galactocentric radii (2.5 effective radii). While we confirm the IFU results …


The Densest Galaxy, J. Strader, A. C. Seth, J. P. Brodie, D. A. Forbes, G. Fabbiano, Aaron J. Romanowsky, C. Conroy, N. Caldwell, V. Pota, C. Usher, J. A. Arnold Jan 2013

The Densest Galaxy, J. Strader, A. C. Seth, J. P. Brodie, D. A. Forbes, G. Fabbiano, Aaron J. Romanowsky, C. Conroy, N. Caldwell, V. Pota, C. Usher, J. A. Arnold

Aaron J. Romanowsky

We report the discovery of a remarkable ultra-compact dwarf galaxy around the massive Virgo elliptical galaxy NGC 4649 (M60), which we call M60-UCD1. With a dynamical mass of 2.0 × 108 M ☉ but a half-light radius of only ~24 pc, M60-UCD1 is more massive than any ultra-compact dwarfs of comparable size, and is arguably the densest galaxy known in the local universe. It has a two-component structure well fit by a sum of Sérsic functions, with an elliptical, compact (rh = 14 pc; n ~ 3.3) inner component and a round, exponential, extended (rh = 49 pc) outer component. …


The Sluggs Survey: The Globular Cluster Systems Of Three Early-Type Galaxies Using Wide-Field Imaging, S. S. Kartha, D. A. Forbes, L. R. Spitler, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. A. Arnold, J. P. Brodie Jan 2013

The Sluggs Survey: The Globular Cluster Systems Of Three Early-Type Galaxies Using Wide-Field Imaging, S. S. Kartha, D. A. Forbes, L. R. Spitler, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. A. Arnold, J. P. Brodie

Aaron J. Romanowsky

We present the results from a wide-field imaging study of globular cluster (GC) systems in three early-type galaxies. Combinations of Subaru/Suprime-Cam, CFHT/MegaCam and HST/WFPC2/ACS data were used to determine the GC system properties of three highly flattened galaxies NGC 720, NGC 1023 and NGC 2768. This work is the first investigation of the GC system in NGC 720 and NGC 2768 to very large galactocentric radius (∼ 100 kpc). The three galaxies have clear blue and red GC subpopulations. The radial surface densities of the GC systems are fitted with Sersic profiles, and detected out to 15, 8 and 10 …


The Sluggs Survey: Probing The Supermassive Blackhole Connection With Bulges And Haloes Using Red And Blue Globular Cluster Systems, V. Pota, A. W. Graham, D. A. Forbes, Aaron J. Romanowsky, A. J. Brodie, J. Strader Jan 2013

The Sluggs Survey: Probing The Supermassive Blackhole Connection With Bulges And Haloes Using Red And Blue Globular Cluster Systems, V. Pota, A. W. Graham, D. A. Forbes, Aaron J. Romanowsky, A. J. Brodie, J. Strader

Aaron J. Romanowsky

Understanding whether the bulge or the halo provides the primary link to the growth of supermassive black holes has strong implications for galaxy evolution and supermassive black hole formation itself. In this paper, we approach this issue by investigating extragalactic globular cluster (GC) systems, which can be used to probe the physics of both the bulge and the halo of the host galaxy. We study the relation between the supermassive black hole masses (MBH) and the GC system velocity dispersions (σGC) using an updated and improved sample of 21 galaxies. We exploit the dichotomy of GC system colours, to test …


An Inventory Of The Stellar Initial Mass Function In Early-Type Galaxies, C. Tortora, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. R. Napolitano Jan 2013

An Inventory Of The Stellar Initial Mass Function In Early-Type Galaxies, C. Tortora, Aaron J. Romanowsky, N. R. Napolitano

Aaron J. Romanowsky

Given a flurry of recent claims for systematic variations in the stellar initial mass function (IMF), we carry out the first inventory of the observational evidence using different approaches. This includes literature results, as well as our own new findings from combined stellar population synthesis (SPS) and Jeans dynamical analyses of data on ~4500 early-type galaxies (ETGs) from the SPIDER project. We focus on the mass-to-light ratio mismatch relative to the Milky Way IMF, δIMF, correlated against the central stellar velocity dispersion, σsstarf. We find a strong correlation between δIMF and σsstarf, for a wide set of dark matter (DM) …


The Sluggs Survey: Kinematics For Over 2500 Globular Clusters In Twelve Early-Type Galaxies, V. Pota, D. A. Forbes, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. P. Brodie, L. R. Spitler, J. Strader, C. Foster, J. A. Arnold, A. Benson, C. Blom, J. R. Hargis, K. L. Rhode, C. Usher Jan 2013

The Sluggs Survey: Kinematics For Over 2500 Globular Clusters In Twelve Early-Type Galaxies, V. Pota, D. A. Forbes, Aaron J. Romanowsky, J. P. Brodie, L. R. Spitler, J. Strader, C. Foster, J. A. Arnold, A. Benson, C. Blom, J. R. Hargis, K. L. Rhode, C. Usher

Aaron J. Romanowsky

We present a spectrophotometric survey of 2522 extragalactic globular clusters (GCs) around 12 early-type galaxies, nine of which have not been published previously. Combining space-based and multicolour wide-field ground-based imaging, with spectra from the Keck/DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph (DEIMOS) instrument, we obtain an average of 160 GC radial velocities per galaxy, with a high-velocity precision of ∼15 km s−1 per GC. After studying the photometric properties of the GC systems, such as their spatial and colour distributions, we focus on the kinematics of metal-poor (blue) and metal-rich (red) GC subpopulations to an average distance of ∼8 effective radii from the …


The Paucity Of Globular Clusters Around The Field Elliptical Ngc 7507, J. P. Caso, T. Richtler, L. P. Bassino, R. Salinas, R. R. Lane, Aaron J. Romanowsky Jan 2013

The Paucity Of Globular Clusters Around The Field Elliptical Ngc 7507, J. P. Caso, T. Richtler, L. P. Bassino, R. Salinas, R. R. Lane, Aaron J. Romanowsky

Aaron J. Romanowsky

There is strong evidence that globular cluster systems (GCSs) of massive galaxies are largely assembled by infall/accretion processes. Therefore, we expect the GCSs of isolated elliptical galaxies to be poor. Alhough not completely isolated, NGC 7507 is a massive field elliptical galaxy with an apparently very low dark matter content. Aims: We determine the richness, the colour distribution, and the structural properties of the GCS of NGC 7507. Methods: We perform wide-field Washington photometry with data obtained with the MOSAIC II camera at the 4m-Blanco telescope, CTIO. Results: The GCS is very poor with S_N ~ 0.6. We identify three …


Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem In An Isolated System Of Quantum Dipolar Bosons After A Quench, Ehsan Khatami, Guido Pupillo, Mark Srednicki, Marcos Rigol Jan 2013

Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorem In An Isolated System Of Quantum Dipolar Bosons After A Quench, Ehsan Khatami, Guido Pupillo, Mark Srednicki, Marcos Rigol

Ehsan Khatami

We examine the validity of fluctuation-dissipation relations in isolated quantum systems taken out of equilibrium by a sudden quench. We focus on the dynamics of trapped hard-core bosons in one-dimensional lattices with dipolar interactions whose strength is changed during the quench. We find indications that fluctuation-dissipation relations hold if the system is nonintegrable after the quench, as well as if it is integrable after the quench if the initial state is an equilibrium state of a nonintegrable Hamiltonian. On the other hand, we find indications that they fail if the system is integrable both before and after quenching.


Productive Resources In Students’ Ideas About Energy: An Alternative Analysis Of Watts’ Original Interview Transcripts, Benedikt W. Harrer, Virginia J. Flood, Michael C. Wittmann Jan 2013

Productive Resources In Students’ Ideas About Energy: An Alternative Analysis Of Watts’ Original Interview Transcripts, Benedikt W. Harrer, Virginia J. Flood, Michael C. Wittmann

Benedikt W. Harrer

For over 30 years, researchers have investigated students’ ideas about energy with the intent of reforming instructional practice. In this pursuit, Watts contributed an influential study with his 1983 paper “Some alternative views of energy” [Phys. Educ. 18, 213 (1983)]. Watts’ “alternative frameworks” continue to be used for categorizing students’ non-normative ideas about energy. Using a resources framework, we propose an alternate analysis of student responses from Watts’ interviews. In our analysis, we show how students’ activated resources about energy are disciplinarily productive. We suggest that fostering seeds of scientific understandings in students’ ideas about energy may play an important …