118503079
Early Growth of Massive Black Holes in Quasars
Episodic activity of quasars is driving growth of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) via accretion of baryon gas. In this Letter, we develop a simple method to analyze the duty cycle of quasars up to the redshift -->z ~ 6 universe from luminosity functions (LFs). We find that the duty cycle below redshift -->z ~ 2 follows the cosmic history of star formation rate (SFR) density. Beyond -->z ~ 2, the evolutionary trends of the duty cycle are opposite to that of the cosmic SFR density history, implying the role of feedback from black hole activity. With the duty cycle, we get the net lifetime of quasars ( -->z ≤ 5) about ~109 yr. Based on the local SMBHs, the mean mass of SMBHs is obtained at any redshifts and their seeds are of -->105 M☉ at the reionization epoch ( -->zre) of the universe through the conservation of black hole number density in a comoving frame. We find that primordial black holes (~103 M☉) are able to grow up to the seeds via a moderate super-Eddington accretion of ~30 times the critical rate from -->z = 24 to -->zre. Highly super-Eddington accretion onto the primordial black holes is not necessary.
118466086
Autocorrelations of stellar light and mass at z∼ 0 and ∼1: from SDSS to DEEP2
We present measurements of projected autocorrelation functions wp(rp) for the stellar mass of galaxies and for their light in the U, B and V bands, using data from the third data release of the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey and the final data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We investigate the clustering bias of stellar mass and light by comparing these to projected autocorrelations of dark matter estimated from the Millennium Simulations (MS) at z = 1 and 0.07, the median redshifts of our galaxy samples. All of the autocorrelation and bias functions show systematic trends with spatial scale and waveband which are impressively similar at the two redshifts. This shows that the well-established environmental dependence of stellar populations in the local Universe is already in place at z = 1. The recent MS-based galaxy formation simulation of Guo et al. (2011) reproduces the scale-dependent clustering of luminosity to an accuracy better than 30% in all bands and at both redshifts, but substantially overpredicts mass autocorrelations at separations below about 2 Mpc. Further comparison of the shapes of our stellar mass bias functions with those predicted by the model suggests that both the SDSS and DEEP2 data prefer a fluctuation amplitude of σ8 � 0.8 rather than the σ8 = 0.9 assumed by the MS.
119299152
Spectral Classification and Redshift Measurement for the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey
We describe the automated spectral classification, redshift determination, and parameter measurement pipeline in use for the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) as of the survey's ninth data release (DR9), encompassing 831,000 moderate-resolution optical spectra. We give a review of the algorithms employed, and describe the changes to the pipeline that have been implemented for BOSS relative to previous SDSS-I/II versions, including new sets of stellar, galaxy, and quasar redshift templates. For the color-selected "CMASS" sample of massive galaxies at redshift 0.4 ≲ z ≲ 0.8 targeted by BOSS for the purposes of large-scale cosmological measurements, the pipeline achieves an automated classification success rate of 98.7% and confirms 95.4% of unique CMASS targets as galaxies (with the balance being mostly M stars). Based on visual inspections of a subset of BOSS galaxies, we find that approximately 0.2% of confidently reported CMASS sample classifications and redshifts are incorrect, and about 0.4% of all CMASS spectra are objects unclassified by the current algorithm which are potentially recoverable. The BOSS pipeline confirms that ~51.5% of the quasar targets have quasar spectra, with the balance mainly consisting of stars and low signal-to-noise spectra. Statistical (as opposed to systematic) redshift errors propagated from photon noise are typically a few tens of km s–1 for both galaxies and quasars, with a significant tail to a few hundreds of km s–1 for quasars. We test the accuracy of these statistical redshift error estimates using repeat observations, finding them underestimated by a factor of 1.19-1.34 for galaxies and by a factor of two for quasars. We assess the impact of sky-subtraction quality, signal-to-noise ratio, and other factors on galaxy redshift success. Finally, we document known issues with the BOSS DR9 spectroscopic data set and describe directions of ongoing development.
3661557
Stellar masses of SDSS-III/BOSS galaxies at z ∼ 0.5 and constraints to galaxy formation models
We calculate stellar masses for � 400,000 massive luminous galaxies at redshift � 0.2 0.7 using the first two years of data from the Baryon Oscillation S pectroscopic Survey (BOSS). Stellar masses are obtained by fitting model spec tral energy distributions to u,g,r,i,z magnitudes. Accurate BOSS spectroscopic redshifts are used to constrain the fits. We find that the distribution of stellar masses in BOSS is narr ow (� logM � 0.5 dex) and peaks at about log M/M⊙ � 11.3 (for a Kroupa initial stellar mass function), and that the mass sampling is uniform over the redshift range 0.2 to 0.6, in agreement with the intended BOSS target selection. The galaxy masses probed by BOSS extend over � 10 12 M⊙, providing unprecedented measurements of the high-mass end of the galaxy mass function. We find that the galaxy number density above � 2.5 · 10 11 M⊙ agrees with previous determinations within 2σ, but there is a slight offset towards lower number densities in BOSS. This alleviates a tension between the z �0.1 and the high-redshift mass function. We perform a comparison with semi-analytic galaxy formation models tailored to the BOSS target selection and volume, in order to contain incompleteness. The abundance of massive galaxies in the models compare well with the BOSS data. However, no evolution is detected from redshift � 0.6 to 0 in the data, whereas the abundance of massive galaxies in the models increases to redshift zero. BOSS data display colour-magnitude (mass) relations similar to those found in the local Universe, where the most massive galaxies are the reddest. On the other hand, the model colours do not display a dependence on stellar mass, span a narrower range and are typically bluer than the observations. We argue that the lack of a colour-mass relation in the models is mostly due to metallicity, which is too low in the models.
15744505
Radio Luminosity, Black Hole Mass and Eddington Ratio for Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We investigate the MBH-O''.relation for radio-loud quasars with redshift z＜0.83 in Data Release 3 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).The sample consists of 3772 quasars with better models of the H/~ and [O III] lines and available radio luminosity,including 306 radio-loud quasars,3466 radio-quiet quasars with measured radio luminosity or upper-limit of radio luminosity (181 radio-quiet quasars with measured radio luminosity).The virial supermassive black hole mass (MBH) is calculated from the broad H/line,and the host stellar velocity dispersion (σ*) is traced by the core [O III] gaseous velocity dispersion.The radio luminosity and radio loudness are derived from the FIRST catalog.Our results are as follows:(1) For radio-quiet quasars,we confirm that there is no obvious deviation from the MBH-O.relation defined for inactive galaxies when the uncertainties in MBH and the luminosity bias are concerned.(2) We find that the radio-loud quasars deviate more from the MBH-σ.relation than do the radio-quiet quasars.This deviation is only partly due to a possible cosmological evolution of the MBH-σ* relation and the luminosity bias.(3) The radioluminosity is proportional to M128+0.23-0.16 BH(LBol/LEdd)1.29+0.31-0.24 for radio-quiet quasars and to M3.10+0.6.-0.70(LBol.LEdd)4.18+1.40-1.10 for radio-loud quasars.The weaker dependence of the radio luminosity on the mass and the Eddington ratio for radio-loud quasars shows that other physical effects would account for their radio luminosities,such as the spin of the black hole.
16273589
Chemical composition of 90 F and G disk dwarfs
High resolution, high S/N spectra have been obtained for a sample of 90 F and G main-sequence disk stars covering the metallicity range 1:0 < (Fe/H) < +0:1, and have been analysed in a parallel way to the work of Edvardsson et al. (1993a) in order to re-inspect their re- sults and to reveal new information on the chemical evo- lution of the Galactic disk. Compared to Edvardsson et al. the present study in- cludes several improvements. Eective temperatures are based on the Alonso et al. (1996) calibration of color in- dices by the infrared flux method and surface gravities are calculated from Hipparcos parallaxes, which also allow more accurate ages to be calculated from a comparison of MV and Te with isochrones. In addition, more reli- able kinematical parameters are derived from Hipparcos distances and proper motions in combination with accu- rate radial velocities. Finally, a larger spectral coverage, 5600 8800 A, makes it possible to improve the abundance accuracy by studying more lines and to discuss several el- ements not included in the work of Edvardsson et al. The present paper provides the data and discusses some general results of the abundance survey. A group of stars in the metallicity range of 1:0 < (Fe/H) < 0:6 having a small mean Galactocentric distance in the stellar orbits, Rm < 7 kpc, are shown to be older than the other disk stars and probably belong to the thick disk. Excluding these stars, a slight decreasing trend of (Fe/H) with increasing Rm and age is found, but a large scatter in (Fe/H) (up to 0.5 dex) is present at a given age andRm. Abundance ratios with respect to Fe show, on the other hand, no signicant scatter at a given (Fe/H). The derived
118210434
Rod-structure classification of gravitational instantons with U(1)×U(1) isometry
Abstract The rod-structure formalism has played an important role in the study of black holes in D = 4 and 5 dimensions with R × U ( 1 ) D − 3 isometry. In this paper, we apply this formalism to the study of four-dimensional gravitational instantons with U ( 1 ) × U ( 1 ) isometry, which could serve as spatial backgrounds for five-dimensional black holes. We first introduce a stronger version of the rod structure with the rod directions appropriately normalised, and show how the regularity conditions can be read off from it. Requiring the absence of conical and orbifold singularities will in general impose periodicity conditions on the coordinates, and we illustrate this by considering known gravitational instantons in this class. Some previous results regarding certain gravitational instantons are clarified in the process. Finally, we show how the rod-structure formalism is able to provide a classification of gravitational instantons, and speculate on the existence of possible new gravitational instantons.
119247241
New form of the C metric with cosmological constant
The new form of the C-metric proposed by Hong and Teo, in which the two structure functions are factorised, has proved useful in its analysis. In this paper, we extend this form to the case when a cosmological constant is present. The new form of this solution has two structure functions which are partially factorised; moreover, the roots of the structure functions are now regarded as fundamental parameters. This leads to a natural representation of the solution in terms of its so-called domain structure, in which the allowed coordinate range can be visualised as a "box" in a two-dimensional plot. The solution is then completely parameterised by the locations of the edges of this box, at least in the uncharged case. We also briefly analyse other possible domain structures---in the shape of a triangle and trapezoid---that might describe physically interesting space-times within the AdS C-metric.
118555570
The Metallicity Gradient of the Thick Disk Based on Red Horizontal-branch Stars from SDSS DR8
Based on SDSS DR8, we have selected a sample of 1728 red horizontal-branch (RHB) stars with |Z| < 3 kpc by using a color-metallicity relation and stellar parameters. The sample stars clearly trace a typical thick disk population with peaks at |Z| = 1.26 kpc and [Fe/H] = –0.54. The vertical metallicity gradient of the thick disk is estimated in two ways. One is a fit to the Gaussian peaks of the metallicity histograms of the thick disk by subtracting minor contributions from the thin disk and the inner halo based on the Besancon Galaxy Model. The resulting gradient is –0.12 ± 0.01 dex kpc–1 for 0.5 < |Z| < 3 kpc. The other method is to linearly fit the data based on stars with 1 < |Z| < 3 kpc being the main component of the thick disk. Five subgroups are then selected in different directions in the X-|Z| plane to investigate the difference in the vertical metallicity gradient between the Galactocenter and anti-Galactocenter directions. We found that a vertical gradient of –0.22 ± 0.07 dex kpc–1 is detected for five directions except for one involving the pollution of stars from the bulge. The results indicate that the vertical gradient is dominant, but a radial gradient has a minor contribution for the thick disk population represented by RHB stars with 1 < |Z| < 3 kpc. The present work strongly suggests the existence of a metallicity gradient in the thick disk, which is thought to be negligible in most previous works in the literature.
119214150
Metallicity calibration for solar type stars based on red spectra
Based on a high resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) spectral analysis of 90 solar-type stars, we have established several new metallicity calibrations in the Teff range [5600, 6500] K based on red spectra with the wavelength range of 560–880 nm. The new metallicity calibrations are applied to determine the metallicity of solar analogs selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectra. There is a good consistent result with the adopted value presented in SDSS-DR7 and a small scatter of 0.26 dex for stars with S/N > 50 being obtained. This study provides a new reliable way to derive the metallicity for solar-like stars with low resolution spectra. In particular, our calibrations are useful for finding metal-rich stars, which are missing in the SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline.