14759979
Reddening Behaviors of Galaxies in the SDSS Photometric System
ABSTRACT. We analyze the behaviors of reddening vectors in the SDSS photometric system for galaxies of different morphologies, ages, and redshifts. As seen in other photometric systems, the dependence of reddening on the spectral energy distribution (SED) and the nonlinearity of reddening are likewise nonnegligible for the SDSS system if extinction is significant (1mag 1 mag ). These behaviors are most significant for the g g filter, which has the largest bandwidthtocentral-wavelength ratio among SDSS filters. The SDSS colors involving adjacent filters show greater SED dependence and nonlinearity. A procedure for calculating the correct amount of extinction from an observed color excess is provided. The relative extinctions between (i.e., the extinction law for) SDSS filters given by Schlegel etal., which were calculated with an older version of filter response functions, would underestimate the amount of extinction in most cases by 5% 5 % to 10% (maximum 20% 20 % ). We recommend A/A5500 A / A 5500 values...
118942465
The Arches Cluster Mass Function
We have analyzed H- and Ks-band images of the Arches cluster obtained using the NIRC2 instrument on Keck with the laser guide star adaptive optics (LGS AO) system. With the help of the LGS AO system, we were able to obtain the deepest ever photometry for this cluster and its neighborhood and derive the background-subtracted present-day mass function down to 1.3 M☉ for the 5''-9'' annulus of the cluster. We find that the previously reported turnover at 6 M☉ is simply due to a local bump in the mass function (MF), and that the MF continues to increase down to our 50% completeness limit (1.3 M☉) with a power-law exponent of Γ = -0.91 for the mass range of 1.3 < M/M☉ < 50. Our numerical calculations for the evolution of the Arches cluster show that the Γ-values for our annulus increase by 0.1-0.2 during the lifetime of the cluster and thus suggest that the Arches cluster initially had Γ of -1.0 to 1.1, which is only slightly shallower than the Salpeter value.
119489565
Core-Collapse Times of Two-Component Clusters
We examine the corecollapse times of isolated, two-mass-component star clusters using Fokker-Planck models. With initial condition of Plummer models, we find that the corecollapse times of clusters with M_1/M_2 >> 1 are well correlated with (N_1/N_2)^{1/2}(m_1/m_2)^{2} t_{rh}, where M_1/M_2 and m_1/m_2 are the light to heavy component total and individual mass ratios, respectively, N_1/N_2 is the number ratio, and t_{rh} is the initial half-mass relaxation time scale. We also find two-component cluster parameters that best match multi-component (thus more realistic) clusters with power-law mass functions.
13909300
The Stream-Stream Collision after the Tidal Disruption of a Star around a Massive Black Hole
A star can be tidally disrupted around a massive black hole. It is known that the debris forms a precessing stream, which may collide with itself. The stream collision is a key process in determining the subsequent evolution of the stellar debris: if the orbital energy is efficiently dissipated, the debris will eventually form a circular disk (or torus). In this paper, we have numerically studied such a stream collision resulting from the encounter between a 106 M☉ black hole and a 1 M☉ normal star with a pericenter radius of 100 R☉. A simple treatment for radiative cooling has been adopted for both optically thick and optically thin regions. We have found that approximately 10% to 15% of the initial kinetic energy of the streams is converted into thermal energy during the collision. The spread in angular momentum of the incoming stream is increased by a factor of 2 to 3, and such an increase, together with the decrease in kinetic energy, significantly helps the circularization process. The initial luminosity burst produced by the collision may reach as high as 1041 ergs s-1 in 104 s, after which the luminosity increases again (but slowly this time) to a steady value of a few 1040 ergs s-1 in a few times 105 s. The radiation from the system is expected to be close to Planckian, with an effective temperature of ~105 K.
119456102
Theoretical isochrones with extinction in the K band. II. J - K versus K
ABSTRACT We calculate theoretical isochrones in a consistent way for five filter pairs near the J and K band atmospheric windows ( \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcommand\sfdefault{wncyss} \renewcommand\encodingdefault{OT2} \normalfont \selectfont} \DeclareTextFontCommand{\textcyr}{\cyr} \pagestyle{empty} \DeclareMathSizes{10}{9}{7}{6} \begin{document} \landscape $J-K$ \end{document} , \documentclass{aastex} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{bm} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{pifont} \usepackage{stmaryrd} \usepackage{textcomp} \usepackage{portland,xspace} \usepackage{amsmath,amsxtra} \usepackage[OT2,OT1]{fontenc} \newcommand\cyr{ \renewcommand\rmdefault{wncyr} \renewcom...
17473739
Stellar collisions and mergers in the galactic center
Stars are most likely to merge or collide in regions of the highest stellar densities, and our own Galactic Center contains many stars packed into a relatively small volume -- even the ambient stellar number density in the central 50 pc is quite high, ~10^3 stars pc^{-3}. More striking, the three compact young clusters in this region have central densities as high as 10^6 stars pc^{-3}. We discuss these extreme environments and the possibility that stellar mergers and collisions have recently occured there. In particular, we predict that at least one massive star in the Arches cluster has already experienced a stellar merger in its short lifetime. Further, the Pistol Star, in the nearby Quintuplet cluster, might owe its apparent relative youth to a rejuvinating stellar merger. Finally, the apparently young stars in the central arcsecond could be products of either collisions, inducing atmospheric stripping, or mergers.
44214844
Abelian decomposition of Einstein's theory: Reformulation of general relativity
We propose a reformulation of general relativity by making the Abelian decomposition of Einstein's theory. Based on the view that Einstein's theory can be interpreted as a gauge theory of Lorentz group, we decompose the Einstein's gravitational connection (the gauge potential of Lorentz group $\vGm_\mu$) into the restricted connection made of the potential of the maximal Abelian subgroup $H$ of Lorentz group $G$ and the valence connection made of $G/H$ part of the potential which transforms covariantly under Lorentz group. With this decomposition we show that the Einstein's theory can be decomposed into the restricted part made of the restricted connection which has the full Lorentz gauge invariance and the valence part made of the valence connection which plays the role of gravitational source of the restricted gravity. We show that there are two different Abelian decomposition of Einstein's theory, because Lorentz group has two maximal Abelian subgroups. In this decomposition the role of the space-time metric $g_\mn$ is replaced by a four-index metric tensor $\vg_\mn$ which transforms covariantly under the Lorentz group, and the metric-compatibility condition $\nabla_\alpha g_\mn=0$ of the connection is replaced by the gauge covariant condition $D_\mu \vg^\mn$ which tells that $\vg_\mn$ is invariant under the parallel transport along the $\pro_\mu$-direction defined by $\vGm_\mu$. We discuss the physical implications of the Abelian decomposition. In particular, we argue that the decomposition implies the existence of a restricted theory of gravitation which has the full general invariance but has less physical degrees of freedom.
122859309
Electromagnetic calorimeter trigger at Belle
The performance of CsI(Tl) electromagnetic calorimeter trigger system in the Belle experiment is described. Two kinds of trigger schemes have been taken into account, namely a total energy trigger and a cluster counting trigger which are complementary to each other. In addition, the system has provided the online/offline luminosity information using the Bhabha event trigger scheme. An upgrade of the trigger is discussed.
17082200
N-flation: Multifield inflationary dynamics and perturbations
We carry out numerical investigations of the dynamics and perturbations in the Nflation model of Dimopoulos et al. (2005). This model features large numbers of scalar fields with different masses, which can cooperate to drive inflation according to the assisted inflation mechanism. We extend previous work to include random initial conditions for the scalar fields, and explore the predictions for density perturbations and the tensor-to-scalar ratio. The tensor-to-scalar ratio depends only on the number of e-foldings and is independent of the number of fields, their masses, and their initial conditions. It therefore always has the same value as for a single massive field. By contrast, the scalar spectral index has significant dependence on model parameters. While normally multi-field inflation models make predictions for observable quantities which depend also on the unknown field initial conditions, we find evidence of a ‘thermodynamic’ regime whereby the predicted spectral index becomes independent of initial conditions if there are enough fields. Only in parts of parameter space where the mass spectrum of the fields is extremely densely packed is the model capable of satisfying the tight observational constraints from WMAP3 observations.
119097342
Torsion as a dynamic degree of freedom of quantum gravity
The gauge approach to gravity based on the local Lorentz group with a general independent affine connection A?cd is developed. We consider SO(1, 3) gauge theory with a Lagrangian quadratic in curvature as a simple model of quantum gravity. The torsion is proposed to represent a dynamic degree of freedom of quantum gravity at scales above the Planckian energy. The Einstein?Hilbert theory is induced as an effective theory due to quantum corrections of torsion via generating a stable gravito-magnetic condensate. We conjecture that torsion possesses an intrinsic quantum nature and can be confined.
119276928
Measurement of central exclusive $\pi^+ \pi^-$ production in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 0.9$ and 1.96 TeV at CDF
We measure exclusive π+π- production in proton-antiproton collisions at center-of-mass energies s=0.9 and 1.96 TeV in the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We select events with two oppositely charged particles, assumed to be pions, with pseudorapidity |η|<1.3 and with no other particles detected in |η|<5.9. We require the π+π- system to have rapidity |y|<1.0. The production mechanism of these events is expected to be dominated by double pomeron exchange, which constrains the quantum numbers of the central state. The data are potentially valuable for isoscalar meson spectroscopy and for understanding the pomeron in a region of transition between nonperturbative and perturbative quantum chromodynamics. The data extend up to dipion mass M(π+π-)=5000  MeV/c2 and show resonance structures attributed to f0 and f2(1270) mesons. From the π+π- and K+K- spectra, we place upper limits on exclusive χc0(3415) production.