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Slepian, Zachary

Publications and source records attributed to Slepian, Zachary.

GTC Follow-up Observations of Very Metal-poor Star Candidates from DESI

Abstract The observations from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) will significantly increase the numbers of known extremely metal-poor stars by a factor of ∼10, improving the sample statistics to study the early chemical evolution of the Milky Way and the nature of the first stars. In this paper we report follow-up observations with high signal-to-noise ratio of nine metal-poor stars identified during the DESI commissioning with the Optical System for Imaging and Low-Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy (OSIRIS) instrument on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio Canarias. The analysis of the data using a well-vetted methodology confirms the quality of the DESI spectra and the performance of the pipelines developed for the data reduction and analysis of DESI data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Isotropic N-point basis functions and their properties

Isotropic functions of positions r 1 , r 2 ,..., r N , i.e. functions invariant under simultaneous rotations of all the coordinates, are conveniently formed using spherical harmonics and Clebsch–Gordan coefficients. An orthonormal basis of such functions provides a formalism suitable for analyzing isotropic distributions such as those that arise in cosmology, for instance in the clustering of galaxies as revealed by large-scale structure surveys. The algebraic properties of the basis functions are conveniently expressed in terms of 6-j and 9-j symbols. Finally, the calculation of relations among the basis functions is facilitated by 'Yutsis' diagrams for the addition and recoupling of angular momenta.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Test for Cosmological Parity Violation Using the 3D Distribution of Galaxies

Here we show how the galaxy four-point correlation function can test for cosmological parity violation. The detection of cosmological parity violation would reflect previously unknown forces present at the earliest moments of the Universe. Recent developments both in rapidly evaluating galaxy N-point correlation functions and in determining the corresponding covariance matrices make the search for parity violation in the four-point correlation function possible in current and upcoming surveys such as those undertaken by Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, the Euclid satellite, and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. We estimate the limits on cosmic parity violation that could be set with these data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

An idealized model for collapse of a molecular core within a filament

Here, we present an analytic treatment of the self-similar collapse of a uniform density ellipsoid to linear order in the deviations from sphericity. First we obtain a self-consistent closed-form solution for the evolution of an isolated ellipsoid and then impose the effects of an external forcing. This model describes the evolution under gravity of a pre-stellar core of molecular gas embedded in a much larger and lower-density filament. We compare with numerical solutions for the collapse without the limitation of small deviations. These show how the external perturbing force producing the initial deviation from sphericity is eventually surpassed by the anisotropic forces generated by the collapsing ellipsoid itself. This model should be useful in interpreting the way in which environment shapes the evolution of pre-stellar cores.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗