Showing papers in "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2012"

parsec: stellar tracks and isochrones with the PAdova and TRieste Stellar Evolution Code

Abstract: We present the updated version of the code used to compute stellar evolutionary tracks in Padova. It is the result of a thorough revision of the major in put physics, together with the inclusion of the pre‐main sequence phase, not present in our previous releases of stellar models. Another innovative aspect is the possibility of prompt ly generating accurate opacity tables fully consistent with any selected initial chemical composition, by coupling the OPAL opacity data at high temperatures to the molecular opacities computed with our AESOPUS code (Marigo & Aringer 2009). In this work we present extended sets of stellar evolutionary models for various initial chemical compositions, while other set s with different metallicities and/or different distributions of heavy elements are being computed. For the present release of models we adopt the solar distribution of heavy elements from the recent revision by Caffau et al. (2011), corresponding to a Sun’s metallicity Z≃ 0.0152. From all computed sets of stellar tracks, we also derive isochrones in several photometric systems. The aim is to provide the community with the basic tools to model star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis techniques.

The clustering of galaxies in the sdss-iii baryon oscillation spectroscopic survey: Baryon acoustic oscillations in the data release 9 spectroscopic galaxy sample

Abstract: We present a one per cent measurement of the cosmic distance scale from the detections of the baryon acoustic oscillations in the clustering of galaxies from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which is part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III). Our results come from the Data Release 11 (DR11) sample, containing nearly one million galaxies and covering approximately $8\,500$ square degrees and the redshift range $0.2

The Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey: HerMES

Abstract: The Herschel Multi-tiered Extragalactic Survey (HerMES) is a legacy programme designed to map a set of nested fields totalling ∼380 deg^2. Fields range in size from 0.01 to ∼20 deg^2, using the Herschel-Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) (at 250, 350 and 500 μm) and the Herschel-Photodetector Array Camera and Spectrometer (PACS) (at 100 and 160 μm), with an additional wider component of 270 deg^2 with SPIRE alone. These bands cover the peak of the redshifted thermal spectral energy distribution from interstellar dust and thus capture the reprocessed optical and ultraviolet radiation from star formation that has been absorbed by dust, and are critical for forming a complete multiwavelength understanding of galaxy formation and evolution. The survey will detect of the order of 100 000 galaxies at 5σ in some of the best-studied fields in the sky. Additionally, HerMES is closely coordinated with the PACS Evolutionary Probe survey. Making maximum use of the full spectrum of ancillary data, from radio to X-ray wavelengths, it is designed to facilitate redshift determination, rapidly identify unusual objects and understand the relationships between thermal emission from dust and other processes. Scientific questions HerMES will be used to answer include the total infrared emission of galaxies, the evolution of the luminosity function, the clustering properties of dusty galaxies and the properties of populations of galaxies which lie below the confusion limit through lensing and statistical techniques. This paper defines the survey observations and data products, outlines the primary scientific goals of the HerMES team, and reviews some of the early results.

The WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey: joint measurements of the expansion and growth history at z < 1

Abstract: We perform a joint determination of the distance–redshift relation and cosmic expansion rate at redshifts z = 0.44, 0.6 and 0.73 by combining measurements of the baryon acoustic peak and Alcock–Paczynski distortion from galaxy clustering in the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey, using a large ensemble of mock catalogues to calculate the covariance between the measurements. We find that D_A(z) = (1205 ± 114, 1380 ± 95, 1534 ± 107) Mpc and H(z) = (82.6 ± 7.8, 87.9 ± 6.1, 97.3 ± 7.0) km s^(−1) Mpc^(−1) at these three redshifts. Further combining our results with other baryon acoustic oscillation and distant supernovae data sets, we use a Monte Carlo Markov Chain technique to determine the evolution of the Hubble parameter H(z) as a stepwise function in nine redshift bins of width Δz = 0.1, also marginalizing over the spatial curvature. Our measurements of H(z), which have precision better than 7 per cent in most redshift bins, are consistent with the expansion history predicted by a cosmological constant dark energy model, in which the expansion rate accelerates at redshift z < 0.7.

General relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of magnetically choked accretion flows around black holes

Abstract: Black hole (BH) accretion flows and jets are qualitatively affected by the presence of ordered magnetic fields. We study fully three-dimensional global general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of radially extended and thick (height H to cylindrical radius R ratio of |H/R| {approx} 0.2-1) accretion flows around BHs with various dimensionless spins (a/M, with BH mass M) and with initially toroidally-dominated ({phi}-directed) and poloidally-dominated (R-z directed) magnetic fields. Firstly, for toroidal field models and BHs with high enough |a/M|, coherent large-scale (i.e. >> H) dipolar poloidal magnetic flux patches emerge, thread the BH, and generate transient relativistic jets. Secondly, for poloidal field models, poloidal magnetic flux readily accretes through the disk from large radii and builds-up to a natural saturation point near the BH. While models with |H/R| {approx} 1 and |a/M| {le} 0.5 do not launch jets due to quenching by mass infall, for sufficiently high |a/M| or low |H/R| the polar magnetic field compresses the inflow into a geometrically thin highly non-axisymmetric 'magnetically choked accretion flow' (MCAF) within which the standard linear magneto-rotational instability is suppressed. The condition of a highly-magnetized state over most of the horizon is optimal for the Blandford-Znajek mechanism that generates persistent relativistic jets with and 100% efficiency for |a/M| {approx}> 0.9. A magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor and Kelvin-Helmholtz unstable magnetospheric interface forms between the compressed inflow and bulging jet magnetosphere, which drives a new jet-disk oscillation (JDO) type of quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) mechanism. The high-frequency QPO has spherical harmonic |m| = 1 mode period of {tau} {approx} 70GM/c{sup 3} for a/M {approx} 0.9 with coherence quality factors Q {approx}> 10. Overall, our models are qualitatively distinct from most prior MHD simulations (typically, |H/R| << 1 and poloidal flux is limited by initial conditions), so they should prove useful for testing accretion-jet theories and measuring a/M in systems such as SgrA* and M87.

How supernova feedback turns dark matter cusps into cores

Abstract: We propose and successfully test against new cosmological simulations a novel analytical description of the physical processes associated with the origin of cored dark matter density profiles. In the simulations, the potential in the central kiloparsec changes on sub-dynamical time-scales over the redshift interval 4 > z > 2, as repeated, energetic feedback generates large underdense bubbles of expanding gas from centrally concentrated bursts of star formation. The model demonstrates how fluctuations in the central potential irreversibly transfer energy into collisionless particles, thus generating a dark matter core. A supply of gas undergoing collapse and rapid expansion is therefore the essential ingredient. The framework, based on a novel impulsive approximation, breaks with the reliance on adiabatic approximations which are inappropriate in the rapidly changing limit. It shows that both outflows and galactic fountains can give rise to cusp flattening, even when only a few per cent of the baryons form stars. Dwarf galaxies maintain their core to the present time. The model suggests that constant density dark matter cores will be generated in systems of a wide mass range if central starbursts or active galactic nucleus phases are sufficiently frequent and energetic.

CFHTLenS: the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey

Abstract: We present the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope Lensing Survey (CFHTLenS) that accurately determines a weak gravitational lensing signal from the full 154 deg^2 of deep multicolour data obtained by the CFHT Legacy Survey. Weak gravitational lensing by large-scale structure is widely recognized as one of the most powerful but technically challenging probes of cosmology. We outline the CFHTLenS analysis pipeline, describing how and why every step of the chain from the raw pixel data to the lensing shear and photometric redshift measurement has been revised and improved compared to previous analyses of a subset of the same data. We present a novel method to identify data which contributes a non-negligible contamination to our sample and quantify the required level of calibration for the survey. Through a series of cosmology-insensitive tests we demonstrate the robustness of the resulting cosmic shear signal, presenting a science-ready shear and photometric redshift catalogue for future exploitation.

The Milky Way’s bright satellites as an apparent failure of ΛCDM

Abstract: We use the Aquarius simulations to show that the most massive subhaloes in galaxy-mass dark matter (DM) haloes in Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) are grossly inconsistent with the dynamics of the brightest Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies. While the best-fitting hosts of the dwarf spheroidals all have , ΛCDM simulations predict at least 10 subhaloes with Vmax > 25 km s−1. These subhaloes are also among the most massive at earlier times, and significantly exceed the reionization suppression mass back to z∼ 10. No ΛCDM-based model of the satellite population of the Milky Way explains this result. The problem lies in the satellites’ densities: it is straightforward to match the observed Milky Way luminosity function, but doing so requires the dwarf spheroidals to have DM haloes that are a factor of ∼5 more massive than is observed. Independent of the difficulty in explaining the absence of these dense, massive subhaloes, there is a basic tension between the derived properties of the bright Milky Way dwarf spheroidals and ΛCDM expectations. The inferred infall masses of these galaxies are all approximately equal and are much lower than standard ΛCDM predictions for systems with their luminosities. Consequently, their implied star formation efficiencies span over two orders of magnitude, from 0.2 to 20 per cent of baryons converted into stars, in stark contrast with expectations gleaned from more massive galaxies. We explore possible solutions to these problems within the context of ΛCDM and find them to be unconvincing. In particular, we use controlled simulations to demonstrate that the small stellar masses of the bright dwarf spheroidals make supernova feedback an unlikely explanation for their low inferred densities.

Cuspy no more: How outflows affect the central dark matter and baryon distribution in Λ cold dark matter galaxies

Abstract: We examine the evolution of the inner dark matter (DM) and baryonic density profile of a new sample of simulated field galaxies using fully cosmological, �CDM, high resolution SPH + N-Body simulations. These simulations include explicit H2 and metal cooling, star formation (SF) and supernovae (SNe) driven gas outflows. Starting at high redshift, rapid, repeated gas outflows following bursty SF transfer energy to the DM component and significantly flatten the originally ‘cuspy’ central DM mass profile of galaxies with present day stellar masses in the 10 4.5 – 10 9.8 M⊙ range. At z=0, the central slope of the DM density profile of our galaxies (measured between 0.3 and 0.7 kpc from their centre) is well fitted by ρDM ∝ r α with α ≃ −0.5 + 0.35log10 M⋆/10 8 M⊙ � where M⋆ is the stellar mass of the galaxy and 4 < logMstar < 9.4. These values imply DM profiles flatter than those obtained in DM–only simulations and in close agreement with those inferred in galaxies from the THINGS and LITTLE THINGS survey. Only in very small halos, where by z = 0 star formation has converted less than ∼ 0.03% of the original baryon abundance into stars, outflows do not flatten the original cuspy DM profile out to radii resolved by our simulations. The mass (DM and baryonic) measured within the inner 500 pc of each simulated galaxy remains nearly constant over four orders of magnitudes in stellar mass for Mstar < 10 9 M⊙. This finding is consistent with estimates for faint Local Group dwarfs and field galaxies. These results address one of the outstanding problems faced by the CDM model, namely the strong discrepancy between the original predictions of cuspy DM profiles and the shallower central DM distribution observed in galaxies.

Halo concentrations in the standard Λ cold dark matter cosmology

Abstract: We study the concentration of dark matter haloes and its evolution in N-body simulations of the standard Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology. The results presented in this paper are based on four large N-body simulations with ∼10 billion particles each: the Millennium-I and -II, Bolshoi and MultiDark simulations. The MultiDark (or BigBolshoi) simulation is introduced in this paper. This suite of simulations with high mass resolution over a large volume allows us to compute with unprecedented accuracy the concentration over a large range of scales (about six orders of magnitude in mass), which constitutes the state of the art of our current knowledge on this basic property of dark matter haloes in the ΛCDM cosmology. We find that there is consistency among the different simulation data sets, despite the different codes, numerical algorithms and halo/subhalo finders used in our analysis. We confirm a novel feature for halo concentrations at high redshifts: a flattening and upturn with increasing mass. The concentration c(M, z) as a function of mass and the redshift and for different cosmological parameters shows a remarkably complex pattern. However, when expressed in terms of the linear rms fluctuation of the density field σ(M, z), the halo concentration c(σ) shows a nearly universal simple U-shaped behaviour with a minimum at a well-defined scale at σ∼ 0.71. Yet, some small dependences with redshift and cosmology still remain. At the high-mass end (σ < 1), the median halo kinematic profiles show large signatures of infall and highly radial orbits. This c–σ(M, z) relation can be accurately parametrized and provides an analytical model for the dependence of concentration on halo mass. When applied to galaxy clusters, our estimates of concentrations are substantially larger – by a factor up to 1.5 – than previous results from smaller simulations, and are in much better agreement with results of observations.

The Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph

Abstract: We demonstrate a novel technology that combines the power of the multi-object spectrograph with the spatial multiplex advantage of an integral field spectrograph (IFS). The SydneyAAO (Australian Astronomical Observatory) Multi-object IFS (SAMI) is a prototype widefield system at the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) that allows 13 imaging fibre bundles (‘hexabundles’) to be deployed over a 1-degree diameter field of view. Each hexabundle comprises 61 lightly fused multi-mode fibres with reduced cladding and yields a 75 per cent filling factor. Each fibre core diameter subtends 1.6 arcsec on the sky and each hexabundle has a field of view of 15 arcsec diameter. The fibres are fed to the flexible AAOmega double-beam spectrograph, which can be used at a range of spectral resolutions (R = λ/δλ ≈ 1700–13 000) over the optical spectrum (3700–9500 A). We present the first spectroscopic results obtained with SAMI for a sample of galaxies at z ≈ 0.05. We discuss the prospects of implementing hexabundles at a much higher multiplex over wider fields of view in order to carry out spatially resolved spectroscopic surveys of 10 4 –10 5 galaxies.

A 2 per cent distance to $z$=0.35 by reconstructing baryon acoustic oscillations - I. Methods and application to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

Abstract: We apply the reconstruction technique to the clustering of galaxies from the SDSS DR7 LRG sample, sharpening the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) feature and achieving a 1.9% measurement of the distance to z=0.35. This is the first application of reconstruction of the BAO feature in a galaxy redshift survey. We update the reconstruction algorithm of Eisenstein et al, 2007 to account for the effects of survey geometry as well as redshift-space distortions and validate it on 160 LasDamas simulations. We demonstrate that reconstruction sharpens the BAO feature in the angle averaged galaxy correlation function, reducing the nonlinear smoothing scale \Sigma_nl from 8.1 Mpc/h to 4.4 Mpc/h. Reconstruction also significantly reduces the effects of redshift-space distortions at the BAO scale, isotropizing the correlation function. This sharpened BAO feature yields an unbiased distance estimate (< 0.2%) and reduces the scatter from 3.3% to 2.1%. We demonstrate the robustness of these results to the various reconstruction parameters, including the smoothing scale, the galaxy bias and the linear growth rate. Applying this reconstruction algorithm to the SDSS LRG DR7 sample improves the significance of the BAO feature in these data from 3.3 sigma for the unreconstructed correlation function, to 4.2 sigma after reconstruction. We estimate a relative distance scale D_V/r_s to z=0.35 of 8.88+/-0.17, where r_s is the sound horizon and D_V = (D_A^2/H)^{1/3} is a combination of the angular diameter distance D_A and Hubble parameter H. Assuming a sound horizon of 154.25 Mpc, this translates into a distance measurement D_V (z=0.35) = 1.356+/-0.025 Gpc. We find that reconstruction reduces the distance error in the DR7 sample from 3.5% to 1.9%, equivalent to a survey with three times the volume of SDSS.

On the astrophysical robustness of the neutron star merger r-process

Abstract: In this study we explore nucleosynthesis in the dynamic ejecta of compact binary mergers. We are particularly interested in the question how sensitive the resulting abundance patterns are to the parameters of the merging system. Therefore, we systematically investigate combinations of neutron star masses in the range from 1.0 to 2.0 M? and, for completeness, we compare the results with those from two simulations of a neutron star black hole merger. The ejecta masses vary by a factor of 5 for the studied systems, but all amounts are (within the uncertainties of the merger rates) compatible with being a major source of the cosmic r-process. The ejecta undergo robust r-process nucleosynthesis which produces all the elements from the second to the third peak in close-to-solar ratios. Most strikingly, this r-process is extremely robust, and all 23 investigated binary systems yield practically identical abundance patterns. This is mainly the result of the ejecta being extremely neutron rich (Ye similar to 0.04) and the r-process path meandering along the neutron drip line so that the abundances are determined entirely by nuclear rather than astrophysical properties. While further questions related to galactic chemical evolution need to be explored in future studies, we consider this robustness together with the ease with which both the second and third peak are reproduced as strong indications that compact binary mergers are prime candidates for the sources of the observed unique heavy r-process component.

Stellar Feedback in Galaxies and the Origin of Galaxy-scale Winds

Abstract: Feedback from massive stars is believed to play a critical role in driving galactic superwinds that enrich the intergalactic medium and shape the galaxy mass function, massmetallicity relation, and other global galaxy properties. In previous papers, we have introduced new numerical methods for implementing stellar feedback on sub-GMC through galactic scales in numerical simulations of galaxies; the key physical processes include radiation pressure in the UV through IR, supernovae (Type-I & II), stellar winds (“fast” O star through “slow” AGB winds), and HII photoionization. Here, we show that these feedback mechanisms drive galactic winds with outflow rates as high as 10 20 times the galaxy star formation rate. The mass-loading efficiency (wind mass loss rate divided by the star formation rate) scales roughly as _ Mwind= _ M / V 1 c (where Vc is the galaxy circular velocity), consistent with simple momentum-conservation expectations. We use our suite of simulations to study the relative contribution of each feedback mechanism to the generation of galactic winds in a range of galaxy models, from SMC-like dwarfs and Milky-way analogues to z 2 clumpy disks. In massive, gas-rich systems (local starbursts and high-z galaxies), radiation pressure dominates the wind generation. By contrast, for MW-like spirals and dwarf galaxies the gas densities are much lower and sources of shock-heated gas such as supernovae and stellar winds dominate the production of large-scale outflows. In all of our models, however, the winds have a complex multi-phase structure that depends on the interaction between multiple feedback mechanisms operating on different spatial and time scales: any single feedback mechanism fails to reproduce the winds observed. We use our simulations to provide fitting functions to the wind mass-loading and velocities as a function of galaxy properties, for use in cosmological simulations and semi-analytic models. These differ from typically-adopted formulae with an explicit dependence on the gas surface density that can be very important in both low-density dwarf galaxies and high-density gas-rich galaxies.

Stellar, brown dwarf and multiple star properties from a radiation hydrodynamical simulation of star cluster formation

Abstract: We report the statistical properties of stars, brown dwarfs and multiple systems obtained from the largest radiation hydrodynamical simulation of star cluster formation to date that resolves masses down to the opacity limit for fragmentation (a few Jupiter masses). The initial conditions are identical to those of previous barotropic calculations published by Bate, but this time the calculation is performed using a realistic equation of state and radiation hydrodynamics. The calculation uses sink particles to model 183 stars and brown dwarfs, including 28 binaries and 12 higher-order multiple systems, the properties of which are compared to the results from observational surveys. We find that the radiation hydrodynamical/sink particle simulation reproduces many observed stellar properties very well. In particular, whereas using a barotropic equation of state produces more brown dwarfs than stars, the inclusion of radiative feedback results in a stellar mass function and a ratio of brown dwarfs to stars in good agreement with observations of Galactic star-forming regions. In addition, many of the other statistical properties of the stars and brown dwarfs are in reasonable agreement with observations, including multiplicity as a function of primary mass, the frequency of very low mass binaries, and general trends for the mass ratio and separation distributions of binaries. We also examine the velocity dispersion of the stars, the distributions of disc truncation radii due to dynamical interactions, and coplanarity of orbits and sink particle spins in multiple systems. Overall, the calculation produces a cluster of stars whose statistical properties are difficult to distinguish from observed systems, implying that gravity, hydrodynamics and radiative feedback are the primary ingredients for determining the origin of the statistical properties of low-mass stars.

X-ray emission from star-forming galaxies – I. High-mass X-ray binaries

Abstract: Based on a homogeneous set of X-ray, infrared and ultraviolet observations from Chandra, Spitzer, GALEX and 2MASS archives, we study populations of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) in a sample of 29 nearby star-forming galaxies and their relation with the star formation rate (SFR). In agreement with previous results, we find that HMXBs are a good tracer of the recent star formation activity in the host galaxy and their collective luminosity and number scale with the SFR, in particular, LX � 2.6·10 39 ×SFR. However, the scaling relations still bear a rather large dispersion of rms � 0.4 dex, which we believe is of a physical origin. We present the catalog of 1057 X-ray sources detected within the D25 ellipse for galaxies of our sample and construct the average X-ray luminosity function (XLF) of HMXBs with substantially improved statistical accuracy and better control of systematic effects than achieved in previous studies. The XLF follows a power law with slope of 1.6 in the log(LX) � 35 40 luminosity range with a moderately significant evidence for a break or cut-off at LX � 10 40 erg/s. As before, we did not find any features at the Eddington limit for a neutron star or a stellar mass black hole. We discuss implications of our results for the theory of binary evolution. In particular we estimate the fraction of compact objects that once upon their lifetime experienced an X-ray active phase powered by accretion from a high mass companion and obtain a rather large number, fX � 0.2 ×(0.1 Myr/τX) (τX is the life time of the X-ray active phase). This is � 4 orders of magnitude more frequent than in LMXBs. We also derive constrains on the mass distribution of the secondary star in HMXBs.

The relativistic pulsar-white dwarf binary PSR J1738+0333 - II. The most stringent test of scalar-tensor gravity

Abstract: We report the results of a 10-year timing campaign on PSR J1738+0333, a 5.85-ms pulsar in a low-eccentricity 8.5-h orbit with a low-mass white dwarf companion. We obtained 17 376 pulse times of arrival with a stated uncertainty smaller than s and weighted residual rms of s. The large number and precision of these measurements allow highly significant estimates of the proper motion μα, δ= (+7.037 ± 0.005, +5.073 ± 0.012) mas yr−1, parallax πx = (0.68 ± 0.05) mas and a measurement of the apparent orbital decay, (all 1σ uncertainties). The measurements of μα, δ and πx allow for a precise subtraction of the kinematic contribution to the observed orbital decay; this results in a significant measurement of the intrinsic orbital decay: . This is consistent with the orbital decay from the emission of gravitational waves predicted by general relativity, , i.e. general relativity passes the test represented by the orbital decay of this system. This agreement introduces a tight upper limit on dipolar gravitational wave emission, a prediction of most alternative theories of gravity for asymmetric binary systems such as this. We use this limit to derive the most stringent constraints ever on a wide class of gravity theories, where gravity involves a scalar-field contribution. When considering general scalar–tensor theories of gravity, our new bounds are more stringent than the best current Solar system limits over most of the parameter space, and constrain the matter–scalar coupling constant to be below the 10−5 level. For the special case of the Jordan–Fierz–Brans–Dicke, we obtain the 1σ bound , which is within a factor of 2 of the Cassini limit. We also use our limit on dipolar gravitational wave emission to constrain a wide class of theories of gravity which are based on a generalization of Bekenstein’s Tensor–Vector–Scalar gravity, a relativistic formulation of modified Newtonian dynamics.

On the fundamental dichotomy in the local radio-AGN population: accretion, evolution and host galaxy properties

Abstract: A sample of 18 286 radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) is presented, constructed by combining the seventh data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with the NRAO (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) VLA (Very Large Array) Sky Survey (NVSS) and the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty centimetres (FIRST) survey. Using this sample, the differences between radio galaxies of ‘high-excitation’ (‘quasar-mode’; hereafer HERG) and ‘low-excitation’ (‘radio-mode’; LERG) are investigated. A primary difference between the two radio source classes is the distinct nature of the Eddington-scaled accretion rate on to their central black holes: HERGs typically have accretion rates between one per cent and 10 per cent of their Eddington rate, whereas LERGs predominately accrete at a rate below one per cent Eddington. This is consistent with models whereby the population dichotomy is caused by a switch between radiatively efficient and radiatively inefficient accretion modes at low accretion rates. Local radio luminosity functions are derived separately for the two populations, for the first time, showing that although LERGs dominate at low radio luminosity and HERGs begin to take over at L1.4 GHz∼ 1026 W Hz−1, examples of both classes are found at all radio luminosities. Using the V/Vmax test it is shown that the two populations show differential cosmic evolution at fixed radio luminosity: HERGs evolve strongly at all radio luminosities, while LERGs show weak or no evolution. This suggests that the luminosity dependence of the evolution previously seen in the radio luminosity function is driven, at least in part, by the changing relative contributions of these two populations with luminosity. The host galaxies of the radio sources are also distinct: HERGs are typically of lower stellar mass, with lower black hole masses, bluer colours, lower concentration indices and less pronounced 4000 A breaks indicating younger stellar populations. Even if samples are matched in radio luminosity and stellar and black hole masses, significant differences still remain between the accretion rates, stellar populations and structural properties of the host galaxies of the two radio source classes. These results offer strong support to the developing picture of radio-loud AGN in which HERGs are fuelled at high rates through radiatively efficient standard accretion discs by cold gas, perhaps brought in through mergers and interactions, while LERGs are fuelled via radiatively inefficient flows at low accretion rates. In this picture, the gas supplying the LERGs is frequently associated with the hot X-ray haloes surrounding massive galaxies, groups and clusters, as part of a radio-AGN feedback loop.

The Aquila comparison project: the effects of feedback and numerical methods on simulations of galaxy formation

Abstract: We compare the results of various cosmological gas-dynamical codes used to simulate the formation of a galaxy in the Λ cold dark matter structure formation paradigm. The various runs (13 in total) differ in their numerical hydrodynamical treatment [smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), moving mesh and adaptive mesh refinement] but share the same initial conditions and adopt in each case their latest published model of gas cooling, star formation and feedback. Despite the common halo assembly history, we find large code-to-code variations in the stellar mass, size, morphology and gas content of the galaxy at z= 0, due mainly to the different implementations of star formation and feedback. Compared with observation, most codes tend to produce an overly massive galaxy, smaller and less gas rich than typical spirals, with a massive bulge and a declining rotation curve. A stellar disc is discernible in most simulations, although its prominence varies widely from code to code. There is a well-defined trend between the effects of feedback and the severity of the disagreement with observed spirals. In general, models that are more effective at limiting the baryonic mass of the galaxy come closer to matching observed galaxy scaling laws, but often to the detriment of the disc component. Although numerical convergence is not particularly good for any of the codes, our conclusions hold at two different numerical resolutions. Some differences can also be traced to the different numerical techniques; for example, more gas seems able to cool and become available for star formation in grid-based codes than in SPH. However, this effect is small compared to the variations induced by different feedback prescriptions. We conclude that state-of-the-art simulations cannot yet uniquely predict the properties of the baryonic component of a galaxy, even when the assembly history of its host halo is fully specified. Developing feedback algorithms that can effectively regulate the mass of a galaxy without hindering the formation of high angular momentum stellar discs remains a challenge.

Subhaloes in self-interacting galactic dark matter haloes

Abstract: We present N-body simulations of a new class of self-interacting dark matter models, which do not violate any astrophysical constraints due to a non-power-law velocity dependence of the transfer cross-section which is motivated by a Yukawa-like new gauge boson interaction. Specifically, we focus on the formation of a Milky-Way-like dark matter halo taken from the Aquarius project and resimulate it for a couple of representative cases in the allowed parameter space of this new model. We find that for these cases, the main halo only develops a small core (∼1 kpc) followed by a density profile identical to that of the standard cold dark matter scenario outside of that radius. Neither the subhalo mass function nor the radial number density of subhaloes is altered in these models but there is a significant change in the inner density structure of subhaloes resulting in the formation of a large density core. As a consequence, the inner circular velocity profiles of the most massive subhaloes differ significantly from the cold dark matter predictions and we demonstrate that they are compatible with the observational data of the brightest Milky Way dwarf spheroidals (dSphs) in such a velocity-dependent self-interacting dark matter scenario. Specifically, and contrary to the cold dark matter case, there are no subhaloes that are more concentrated than what is inferred from the kinematics of the Milky Way dSphs. We conclude that these models offer an interesting alternative to the cold dark matter model that can reduce the recently reported tension between the brightest Milky Way satellites and the dense subhaloes found in cold dark matter simulations.

Intrinsic disc emission and the soft X‐ray excess in active galactic nuclei

Abstract: Narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies have low-mass black holes and mass accretion rates close to (or exceeding) Eddington, so a standard blackbody accretion disc should peak in the extreme ultraviolet. However, the lack of true absorption opacity in the disc means that the emission is better approximated by a colour temperature corrected blackbody, and this colour temperature correction is large enough (∼2.4) that the bare disc emission from a zero spin black hole can extend into the soft X-ray bandpass. Part of the soft X-ray excess seen in these objects must be intrinsic emission from the disc unless the vertical structure is very different to that predicted. None the less, this is not the whole story even for the extreme NLS1 as the shape of the soft excess is much broader than predicted by a bare disc spectrum, indicating some Compton upscattering by warm, optically thick material. We associate this with the disc itself, so it must ultimately be powered by mass accretion. We build an energetically self-consistent model assuming that the emission thermalizes to a (colour temperature corrected) blackbody only at large radii. At smaller radii the gravitational energy is split between powering optically thick Comptonized disc emission (forming the soft X-ray excess) and an optically thin corona above the disc (forming the tail to higher energies). We show examples of this model fit to the extreme NLS1 RE J1034+396, and to the much lower Eddington fraction broad-line Seyfert 1 PG 1048+231. We use these to guide our fits and interpretations of three template spectra made from co-adding multiple sources to track out a sequence of active galactic nucleus (AGN) spectra as a function of L/LEdd. Both the individual objects and template spectra show the surprising result that the Compton upscattered soft X-ray excess decreases in importance with increasing L/LEdd. The strongest soft excesses are associated with low mass accretion rate AGN rather than being tied to some change in disc structure around Eddington. We argue that this suggests a true break in accretion flow properties between stellar and supermassive black holes. The new model is publicly available within the XSPEC spectral fitting package.

Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the galaxy stellar mass function at z < 0.06

Abstract: We determine the low-redshift field galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF) using an area of 143 deg 2 from the first three years of the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) survey. The magnitude limits of this redshift survey are r < 19.4 mag over two-thirds and 19.8 mag over one-third of the area. The GSMF is determined from a sample of 5210 galaxies using a densitycorrected maximum volume method. This efficiently overcomes the issue of fluctuations in the number density versus redshift. With H0 = 70 km s −1 Mpc −1 , the GSMF is well described

Simulating galactic outflows with thermal supernova feedback

Abstract: Cosmological simulations make use of sub-grid recipes for the implementation of galactic winds driven by massive stars because direct injection of supernova energy in thermal form leads to strong radiative losses, rendering the feedback inefficient. We argue that the main cause of the catastrophic cooling is a mismatch between the mass of the gas in which the energy is injected and the mass of the parent stellar population. Because too much mass is heated, the temperatures are too low and the cooling times too short. We use analytic arguments to estimate, as a function of the gas density and the numerical resolution, the minimum heating temperature that is required for the injected thermal energy to be efficiently converted into kinetic energy. We then propose and test a stochastic implementation of thermal feedback that uses this minimum temperature increase as an input parameter and that can be employed in both particle-based and grid-based codes. We use smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations to test the method on models of isolated disc galaxies in dark matter haloes with total mass 1010 and 1012 h−1 M⊙. The thermal feedback strongly suppresses the star formation rate and can drive massive, large-scale outflows without the need to turn off radiative cooling temporarily. In accordance with expectations derived from analytic arguments, for sufficiently high resolution the results become insensitive to the imposed temperature jump and also agree with high-resolution simulations employing kinetic feedback.

The 6dF Galaxy Survey: z≈ 0 measurements of the growth rate and σ 8

Abstract: We present a detailed analysis of redshift-space distortions in the two-point correlation function of the 6dF Galaxy Survey (6dFGS). The K-band selected subsample which we employ in this study contains 81 971 galaxies distributed over 17 000 degree2 with an effective redshift zeff= 0.067. By modelling the 2D galaxy correlation function, , we measure the parameter combination f(zeff)σ8(zeff) = 0.423 ± 0.055, where is the growth rate of cosmic structure and σ8 is the rms of matter fluctuations in 8 h−1 Mpc spheres. Alternatively, by assuming standard gravity we can break the degeneracy between σ8 and the galaxy bias parameter b. Combining our data with the Hubble constant prior from Riess et al., we measure σ8= 0.76 ± 0.11 and Ωm= 0.250 ± 0.022, consistent with constraints from other galaxy surveys and the cosmic microwave background data from Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7 (WMAP7). Combining our measurement of fσ8 with WMAP7 allows us to test the cosmic growth history and the relationship between matter and gravity on cosmic scales by constraining the growth index of density fluctuations, γ. Using only 6dFGS and WMAP7 data we find γ= 0.547 ± 0.088, consistent with the prediction of General Relativity. We note that because of the low effective redshift of the 6dFGS our measurement of the growth rate is independent of the fiducial cosmological model (Alcock–Paczynski effect). We also show that our conclusions are not sensitive to the model adopted for non-linear redshift-space distortions. Using a Fisher matrix analysis we report predictions for constraints on fσ8 for the Wide-field Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope L-band Legacy All-sky Blind surveY (WALLABY) and the proposed Transforming Astronomical Imaging surveys through Polychromatic Analysis of Nebulae (TAIPAN) survey. The WALLABY survey will be able to measure fσ8 with a precision of 4–10 per cent, depending on the modelling of non-linear structure formation. This is comparable to the predicted precision for the best redshift bins of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, demonstrating that low-redshift surveys have a significant role to play in future tests of dark energy and modified gravity.

Semi-analytic modelling of the extragalactic background light and consequences for extragalactic gamma-ray spectra

Abstract: Attenuation of high-energy gamma rays by pair-production with UV, op- tical and IR extragalactic background light (EBL) photons provides a link between the history of galaxy formation and high-energy astrophysics. We present results from our latest semi-analytic models (SAMs), which employ the main ingredients thought to be important to galaxy formation and evo- lution, as well as an improved model for reprocessing of starlight by dust to mid- and far-IR wavelengths. These SAMs are based upon aCDM hi- erarchical structural formation scenario, and are successful in reproducing a large variety of observational constraints such as number counts, luminosity and mass functions, and color bimodality. Our fiducial model is based upon a WMAP5 cosmology, and treats dust emission using empirical templates. This model predicts a background flux considerably lower than optical and near -IR measurements that rely on subtraction of zodiacal and galactic foregrounds, and near the lower bounds set by number counts of resolvable sources at a large number of wavelengths. We also show the results of varying several ingredi- ents of our SAM, including the cosmological parameters, the dust attenuation model, and the dust emission templates. For each of these we show how the optical depth from pair-production is affected by redshift and gamma-ray en- ergy, and the effect of gamma-ray absorption on the spectra of a variety of extragalactic sources. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our work, comparisons to other models and key measurements of the EBL and a discussion of how the burgeoning science of gamma-ray astronomy will con- tinue to help constrain cosmology. The low EBL flux predicted by our fiducial model suggests an optimistic future for further studies of distant gamma-ray sources.

Scaling relations for galaxy clusters in the Millennium-XXL simulation

Abstract: We present a very large high-resolution cosmological N-body simulation, the Millennium-XXL or MXXL, which uses 303 billion particles to represent the formation of dark matter structures throughout a 4.1 Gpc box in a Λ cold dark matter cosmology. We create sky maps and identify large samples of galaxy clusters using surrogates for four different observables: richness estimated from galaxy surveys, X-ray luminosity, integrated Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) signal and lensing mass. The unprecedented combination of volume and resolution allows us to explore in detail how these observables scale with each other and with cluster mass. The scatter correlates between different mass–observable relations because of common sensitivities to the internal structure, orientation and environment of clusters, as well as to line-of-sight superposition of uncorrelated structure. We show that this can account for the apparent discrepancies uncovered recently between the mean thermal SZ signals measured for optically and X-ray selected clusters by stacking data from the Planck satellite. Related systematics can also affect inferences from extreme clusters detected at high redshift. Our results illustrate that cosmological conclusions from galaxy cluster surveys depend critically on proper modelling, not only of the relevant physics, but also of the full distribution of the observables and of the selection biases induced by cluster identification procedures.

The physics of galactic winds driven by active galactic nuclei

Abstract: Active galactic nuclei (AGN) drive fast winds in the interstellar medium of their host galaxies. It is commonly assumed that the high ambient densities and intense radiation fields in galactic nuclei imply short cooling times, thus making the outflows momentum conserving. We show that cooling of high-velocity shocked winds in AGN is in fact inefficient in a wide range of circumstances, including conditions relevant to ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), resulting in energy-conserving outflows. We further show that fast energy-conserving outflows can tolerate a large amount of mixing with cooler gas before radiative losses become important. For winds with initial velocity vin ≳ 10 000 km s−1, as observed in ultraviolet and X-ray absorption, the shocked wind develops a two-temperature structure. While most of the thermal pressure support is provided by the protons, the cooling processes operate directly only on the electrons. This significantly slows down inverse Compton cooling, while free–free cooling is negligible. Slower winds with vin ∼ 1000 km s−1, such as may be driven by radiation pressure on dust, can also experience energy-conserving phases but under more restrictive conditions. During the energy-conserving phase, the momentum flux of an outflow is boosted by a factor ∼vin/2vs by work done by the hot post-shock gas, where vs is the velocity of the swept-up material. Energy-conserving outflows driven by fast AGN winds (vin ∼ 0.1c) may therefore explain the momentum fluxes of galaxy-scale outflows recently measured in luminous quasars and ULIRGs. Shocked wind bubbles expanding normal to galactic discs may also explain the large-scale bipolar structures observed in some systems, including around the Galactic Centre, and can produce significant radio, X-ray and γ-ray emission. The analytic solutions presented here will inform implementations of AGN feedback in numerical simulations, which typically do not include all the important physics.

Bolometric luminosities and Eddington ratios of X-ray selected active galactic nuclei in the XMM-COSMOS survey

Abstract: Bolometric luminosities and Eddington ratios of both X-ray selected broad-line (Type-1) and narrow-line (Type-2) active galactic nuclei (AGN) from the XMM–Newton survey in the Cosmic Evolution Survey field are presented. The sample is composed of 929 AGN (382 Type-1 AGN and 547 Type-2 AGN) and it covers a wide range of redshifts, X-ray luminosities and absorbing column densities. About 65 per cent of the sources are spectroscopically identified as either Type-1 or Type-2 AGN (83 and 52 per cent, respectively), while accurate photometric redshifts are available for the rest of the sample. The study of such a large sample of X-ray selected AGN with a high-quality multiwavelength coverage from the far-infrared (now with the inclusion of Herschel data at 100 and 160 μm) to the optical–ultraviolet allows us to obtain accurate estimates of bolometric luminosities, bolometric corrections and Eddington ratios. The kbol- Lbol relations derived in this work are calibrated for the first time against a sizable AGN sample, and rely on observed redshifts, X-ray luminosities and column density distributions. We find that kbol is significantly lower at high Lbol with respect to previous estimates by Marconi et al. and Hopkins et al. Black hole (BH) masses and Eddington ratios are available for 170 Type-1 AGN, while BH masses for Type-2 AGN are computed for 481 objects using the BH mass–stellar mass relation and the morphological information. We confirm a trend between kbol and λEdd, with lower hard X-ray bolometric corrections at lower Eddington ratios for both Type-1 and Type-2 AGN. We find that, on average, the Eddington ratio increases with redshift for all types of AGN at any given MBH, while no clear evolution with redshift is seen at any given Lbol.

The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: Measurements of the growth of structure and expansion rate at z = 0.57 from anisotropic clustering

Abstract: We analyse the anisotropic clustering of massive galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) Data Release 9 (DR9) sample, which consists of 264 283 galaxies in the redshift range 0.43 0.57, and when combined imply ΩΛ = 0.74 ± 0.016, independent of the Universe's evolution at z < 0.57. All of these constraints assume scale-independent linear growth, and assume general relativity to compute both (10 per cent) non-linear model corrections and our errors. In our companion paper, Samushia et al., we explore further cosmological implications of these observations.

Interpreting large-scale redshift-space distortion measurements

Abstract: The simplest theory describing large-scale redshift-space distortions (RSD), based on linear theory and distant galaxies, depends on the growth of cosmological structure, suggesting that strong tests of general relativity can be constructed from galaxy surveys. As data sets become larger and the expected constraints more precise, the extent to which the RSD follow the simple theory needs to be assessed in order that we do not introduce systematic errors into the tests by introducing inaccurate simplifying assumptions. We study the impact of the sample geometry, non-linear processes and biases induced by our lack of understanding of the radial galaxy distribution on RSD measurements. Using Large Suite of Dark Matter Simulations of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey II (SDSS-II) luminous red galaxy data, these effects are shown to be important at the level of 20 per cent. Including them, we can accurately model the recovered clustering in these mock catalogues on scales 30–200 h−1 Mpc. Applying this analysis to robustly measure parameters describing the growth history of the Universe from the SDSS-II data gives f(z= 0.25)σ8(z= 0.25) = 0.3512 ± 0.0583 and f(z= 0.37)σ8(z= 0.37) = 0.4602 ± 0.0378 when no prior is imposed on the growth rate, and the background geometry is assumed to follow a Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP)+Type Ia supernova priors. The standard WMAP constrained ΛCDM model with general relativity predicts f(z= 0.25)σ8(z= 0.25) = 0.4260 ± 0.0141 and f(z= 0.37)σ8(z= 0.37) = 0.4367 ± 0.0136, which is fully consistent with these measurements.