2005 (IPP)
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Item VLT-UVES survey for molecular hydrogen in high-redshift damped Lyman-alpha systems: Physical conditions in the neutral gas(2005-06-01) Srianand, R.; Petitjean, Patrick; Ledoux, C´edric; et al.We study the physical conditions in damped Lyman-α systems (DLAs), using a sample of 33 systems toward 26 QSOs acquired for a recently completed survey of H2 by Ledoux et al. (2003). We use the column densities of H2 in different rotational levels, together with those of C i, C i ∗, C i ∗∗, C ii ∗ and singly ionized atomic species to discuss the kinetic temperature, the density of hydrogen and the electronic density in the gas together with the ambient UV radiation field. Detailed comparisons are made between the observed properties in DLAs, the interstellar medium (ISM) of the Galaxy, the large and small Magellanic clouds (LMC and SMC).The mean kinetic temperature of the gas corresponding to DLA subcomponents in which H2 absorption line is detected, derived from the ortho-to-para ratio (153±78 K), is higher than that measured in the ISM (77±17 K) and the Magellanic clouds (82±21 K). Typical pressure in these components (corresponding to T = 100−300 K and nH = 10−200 cm−3), measured using C i fine-structure excitation, are higher than what is measured along ISM sightlines. This is consistent with the corresponding higher values for N(H2,J=2)/N(H2,J=0) seen in DLAs. From the column densities of the high-J rotational levels, we derive that the typical radiation field in the H2 bearing components is of the order of or slightly higher than the mean UV field in the Galactic ISM. Determination of electron density in the gas with H2 and C i show the ionization rate is similar to that of a cold neutral medium (CNM) in a moderate radiation field. This, together with the fact that we see H2 in 13-20% of the DLAs, can be used to conclude that DLAs at z > 1.9 could contribute as much as 50% star formation rate density seen in Lyman break galaxies (LBGs).C ii ∗ absorption line is detected in all the components where H2 absorption line is seen. The excitation of C ii in these systems is consistent with the physical parameters derived from the excitation of H2 and C i. We detect C ii ∗ in about 50% of the DLAs and therefore in a considerable fraction of DLAs that do not show H2. In part of the later systems, physical conditions could be similar to that in the CNM gas of the Galaxy. However, the absence of C i absorption line and the presence of Al iii absorption lines with a profile similar to the profiles of singly ionized species suggest an appreciable contribution from warm (WNM) and/or partially ionized gas. The absence of H2, for the level of metallicity and dust depletion seen in these systems, are consistent with low densities (i.e nH 6 1 cm−3) for a radiation field similar to the mean Galactic UV field.Item Scattering properties and composition of cometary dust(2005-04-01) Gupta, Ranjan; Vaidya, D.B.; Dobbie, J.S.; et al.Composition of the Comet dust obtained by the dust impact analyzer on the Halley probes indicated that the comet dust is a mixture of silicate and carbonaceous material. The collected interplanetary dust particles (IDP’s) are fluffy and composite, having grains of several different types stuck together. Using Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA) we study the scattering properties of composite grains. In particular, we study the angular distribution of the scattered intensity and linear polarization of composite grains. We assume that the composite grains are made up of a host silicate sphere/spheroid with the inclusions of graphite. Results of our calculations on the composite grains show that the angle of maximum polarization shifts, and the degree of polarization varies with the volume fraction of the inclusions. We use these results on the composite grains to interpret the observed scattering in cometary dust.Item Relative abundance pattern along the profile of high redshift damped Lyman-alpha systems(2005-09-01) Rodriguez, E.; Ledoux, C.; Aracil, Bastien; et al.We investigate abundance ratios along the profiles of six high-redshift Damped Lyman-α systems, three of them beeing associated with H2 absorption. We use a new method to derive optical depths in each velocity pixel. The variations of the pixel abundance ratios are found to be remarquably small and usually smaller than a factor of two within a profile. This results holds when considering independent sub-clumps in the same system. Only in the components where H2 is detected is the depletion factor significantly enhanced. There is a strong correlation between [Fe/S] and [Si/S] ratios showing that the abundance ratio patterns are definitely related to the presence of dust. The depletion pattern is usually close to that seen in warm halo gas of our Galaxy.Item Reducing the flexing of the arms of LISA(2005-07-01) Nayak, K. R.; Koshti, S.; Dhurandhar, Sanjeev; et al.The joint NASA-ESA mission LISA relies crucially on the stability of the three spacecraft constellation. All three spacecraft are on heliocentric and weakly eccentric orbits forming a stable triangle. It has been shown that for certain spacecraft orbits, the arms keep constant distances to the first order in the eccentricities. However, exact orbitography shows the so-called ‘breathing modes’ of the arms where the arms slowly change their lengths over the time-scale of a year. In this paper we analyse the breathing modes (the flexing of the arms) with the help of the geodesic deviation equations to octupole order which are shown to be equivalent to higher order Clohessy-Wiltshire equations. We show that the flexing of the arms of LISA as given by the ‘exact’ solution of Keplerian orbits, which gives constant armlengths to the first order in eccentricity and whose maximum flexing amplitude is ∼ 115, 000 km, can be improved, by tilting the plane of the LISA triangle slightly from the proposed orientation of 60◦ with the ecliptic to obtain a maximum flexing amplitude of ∼ 48, 000 km, reducing it by a factor of ∼ 2.4. The reduction factor is even larger if we consider the corresponding Doppler shifts, for which the reduction factor reaches almost a factor of 6. We solve the second order equations and obtain the general solution. We then use the general solution to establish the optimality of the solutions that we have found.Item Physical properties of Tolman-Bayin solutions: Some cases of static charged fluid spheres in general relativity(2005-05-01) Ray, Saibal; Rahaman, Farook; Ray, Subharthi; et al.In this article, Einstein-Maxwell space-time has been considered in connection to some of the astrophysical solutions as previously obtained by Tolman (1939) and Bayin (1978). The effect of inclusion of charge into these solutions has been investigated thoroughly and also the nature of fluid pressure and mass density throughout the sphere have been discussed. Mass-radius and mass-charge relations have been derived for various cases of the charged matter distribution. Two cases are obtained where perfect fluid with positive pressures give rise to electromagnetic mass models such that gravitational mass is of purely electromagnetic origin.Item Photometric Scaling Relations for Bulges of Galaxies(2005-09-01) Ravikumar, C. D.; Kembhavi, A.K.; Barway, Sudhanshu; et al.We study the photometric parameters of the bulges of galaxies of different Hubble types including ellipticals, lenticulars, early and late type spirals and early type dwarf galaxies. Analyzing the distributions of various photometric parameters, and two and three-dimensional correlations between them, we find that there is a difference in the correlations exhibited by bright (MK < −22) and faint bulges, irrespective of their Hubble type. Importantly, the bright bulges, which include typically E/S0 galaxies and bulges of early type spirals, are tightly distributed around a common photometric plane (PP), while their fainter counter parts, mainly bulges of late type spirals and dwarf galaxies show significant deviation from the planar distribution. We show that the specific entropy, determined from the bulge structural parameters, systematically increases as we move from late to early Hubble types. We interpret this as evidence for hierarchical merging and passive evolution scenarios for bright and faint bulges respectively.Item Kinematics and star formation activity in the z=2.03954 damped Lyman-alpha system towards PKS 0458-020(2005-12-01) Heinmuller, Janine; Srianand, R.; Petitjean, Patrick; et al.We present UVES observations of the log N(H ) = 21.7 damped Lyman-α system at zabs = 2.03954 towards the quasar PKS 0458−020. H Lyman-α emission is detected in the center of the damped Lyman-α absorption trough. Metallicities are derived for Mg , Si , P , Cr , Mn , Fe and Zn and are found to be −1.21 ± 0.12, −1.28 ± 0.20, −1.54 ± 0.11, −1.66 ± 0.10, −2.05 ± 0.11, −1.87 ± 0.11, −1.22 ± 0.10, respectively, relative to solar. The depletion factor is therefore of the order of [Zn/Fe] = 0.65. We observe metal absorption lines to be blueshifted compared to the Lyman-α emission up to a maximum of ∼100 and 200 km s−1 for low and high-ionization species respectively. This can be interpreted either as the consequence of rotation in a large (∼7 kpc) disk or as the imprint of a galactic wind. The star formation rate (SFR) derived from the Lyman-α emission, 1.6M⊙yr −1 , is compared with that estimated from the observed C ∗ absorption. No molecular hydrogen is detected in our data, yielding a molecular fraction log f < −6.52. This absence of H2 can be explained as the consequence of a high ambient UV flux which is one order of magnitude larger than the radiation field in the ISM of our Galaxy and originates in the observed emitting region.Item High & ultra-high energy cosmic ray acceleration in structure-formation shocks in Abell 3376 galaxy cluster(2005-09-01) Bagchi, Joydeep; Paul, Surajit; Durret, Florence; et al.We describemultiwavelength optical, X-ray and radio evidences of energeticmergers in southern galaxy cluster Abell 3376 (A3376, redshift z=0.046, X-ray luminosity "#$&'($' ( ). Here we report the rare discovery of gigantic, Mpc-scale non-thermal radio structures (‘radio-arcs’), shaped like a pair of bow-shock fronts on the merger axis. We argue for the shock acceleration origin of the radio emission and discuss the possibilty of acceleration of very high energy cosmic ray particles in this and similar clustersItem Fate of (phantom) dark energy universe with string curvature corrections(2005-01-01) Sami, M.; Tsujikawa, Shinji; Tretjakov, P. V.; et al.We study the evolution of (phantom) dark energy universe by taking into account the higher-order string corrections to Einstein-Hilbert action with fixed dilaton and modulus fields. While the presence of a cosmological constant gives stable de-Sitter fixed points in the cases of heterotic and bosonic strings, no stable de-Sitter solutions exist when a phantom fluid is present. We find that the universe can exhibit a Big Crunch singularity with a finite time for type II string, whereas it reaches a Big Rip singularity for heterotic and bosonic strings. Thus the fate of dark energy universe crucially depends upon the type of string theory under consideration.Item Density structure around quasars from optical depth statistics(2005-05-01) Rollinde, Emmanuel; Srianand, R.; Chand, Hum; et al.We present a method for studying the proximity effect and the density structure around redshift z=2-3 quasars. It is based on the probability distribution of Lyman-α pixel optical depths and its evolution with redshift. We validate the method using mock spectra obtained from hydrodynamical simulations, and then apply it to a sample of 12 bright quasars at redshifts 2-3 observed with UVES at the VLT-UT2 Kueyen ESO telescope. These quasars do not show signatures of associated absorption and have a mean monochromatic luminosity of 5.4 × 1031 h−2 erg s−1 Hz−1 at the Lyman limit. The observed distribution of optical depth within 10 h−1Mpc from the QSO is statistically different from that measured in the general intergalacticmedium at the same redshift. Such a change will result from the combined effects of the increase in photoionisation rate above the mean UV-background due to the extra ionizing photons from the quasar radiation (proximity effect), and the higher density of the IGM if the quasars reside in overdense regions (as expected from biased galaxy formation). The first factor decreases the optical depth whereas the second one increases the optical depth, but our measurement cannot distinguish a high background from a low overdensity. An overdensity of the order of a few is required if we use the amplitude of the UV-background inferred from the mean Lyman-α opacity. If no overdensity is present, then we require the UV-background to be higher, and consistent with the existing measurements based on standard analysis of the proximity effect.