Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “MASS”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 937 records · Page 52
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

DEUTERIUM BURNING IN MASSIVE GIANT PLANETS AND LOW-MASS BROWN DWARFS FORMED BY CORE-NUCLEATED ACCRETION

Using detailed numerical simulations, we study the formation of bodies near the deuterium-burning limit according to the core-nucleated giant planet accretion scenario. The objects, with heavy-element cores in the range 5-30 M{sub Circled-Plus }, are assumed to accrete gas up to final masses of 10-15 Jupiter masses (M{sub Jup}). After the formation process, which lasts 1-5 Myr and which ends with a ''cold-start'', low-entropy configuration, the bodies evolve at constant mass up to an age of several Gyr. Deuterium burning via proton capture is included in the calculation, and we determined the mass, M{sub 50}, above which more than 50% of the initial deuterium is burned. This often-quoted borderline between giant planets and brown dwarfs is found to depend only slightly on parameters, such as core mass, stellar mass, formation location, solid surface density in the protoplanetary disk, disk viscosity, and dust opacity. The values for M{sub 50} fall in the range 11.6-13.6 M{sub Jup}, in agreement with previous determinations that do not take the formation process into account. For a given opacity law during the formation process, objects with higher core masses form more quickly. The result is higher entropy in the envelope at the completion of accretion, yielding lower values of M{sub 50}. For masses above M{sub 50}, during the deuterium-burning phase, objects expand and increase in luminosity by one to three orders of magnitude. Evolutionary tracks in the luminosity versus time diagram are compared with the observed position of the companion to Beta Pictoris.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

EVOLUTION OF THE MASS-METALLICITY RELATIONS IN PASSIVE AND STAR-FORMING GALAXIES FROM SPH-COSMOLOGICAL SIMULATIONS

We present results from SPH-cosmological simulations, including self-consistent modeling of supernova feedback and chemical evolution, of galaxies belonging to two clusters and 12 groups. We reproduce the mass-metallicity (ZM) relation of galaxies classified in two samples according to their star-forming (SF) activity, as parameterized by their specific star formation rate (sSFR), across a redshift range up to z = 2. The overall ZM relation for the composite population evolves according to a redshift-dependent quadratic functional form that is consistent with other empirical estimates, provided that the highest mass bin of the brightest central galaxies is excluded. Its slope shows irrelevant evolution in the passive sample, being steeper in groups than in clusters. However, the subsample of high-mass passive galaxies only is characterized by a steep increase of the slope with redshift, from which it can be inferred that the bulk of the slope evolution of the ZM relation is driven by the more massive passive objects. The scatter of the passive sample is dominated by low-mass galaxies at all redshifts and keeps constant over cosmic times. The mean metallicity is highest in cluster cores and lowest in normal groups, following the same environmental sequence as that previously found in the red sequence building. The ZM relation for the SF sample reveals an increasing scatter with redshift, indicating that it is still being built at early epochs. The SF galaxies make up a tight sequence in the SFR-M{sub *} plane at high redshift, whose scatter increases with time alongside the consolidation of the passive sequence. We also confirm the anti-correlation between sSFR and stellar mass, pointing at a key role of the former in determining the galaxy downsizing, as the most significant means of diagnostics of the star formation efficiency. Likewise, an anti-correlation between sSFR and metallicity can be established for the SF galaxies, while on the contrary more active galaxies in terms of simple SFR are also metal-richer. Finally, the [O/Fe] abundance ratio is presented too: we report a strong increasing evolution with redshift at given mass, especially at z {approx}> 1. The expected increasing trend with mass is recovered when only considering the more massive galaxies. We discuss these results in terms of the mechanisms driving the evolution within the high- and low-mass regimes at different epochs: mergers, feedback-driven outflows, and the intrinsic variation of the star formation efficiency.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

TOWARD UNBIASED GALAXY CLUSTER MASSES FROM LINE-OF-SIGHT VELOCITY DISPERSIONS

We study the use of red-sequence-selected galaxy spectroscopy for unbiased estimation of galaxy cluster masses by using a publicly available simulated galaxy catalog. We explore the impact of selection using galaxy color, projected separation from the cluster center, galaxy luminosity, and spectroscopic redshift. We identify and characterize each of the following sources of bias and scatter in velocity dispersion at fixed mass: the intrinsic properties of halos in the form of halo triaxiality, sampling noise, the presence of multiple kinematic populations within the cluster, and the effect of interlopers. We show that even in red-sequence and spectroscopically selected galaxy samples, the interloper fraction is significant, and that the variations in the interloper population from cluster to cluster provide the dominant contribution to the velocity dispersion scatter at fixed mass. We present measurements of the total scatter in dispersion at fixed mass as a function of the number of redshifts. Results indicate that improvements in scatter are modest beyond samples of {approx}30 redshifts per cluster. Our results show that while cluster velocity dispersions extracted from a few dozen red-sequence-selected galaxies do not provide precise masses on a single cluster basis, an ensemble of cluster velocity dispersions can be combined to produce a precise calibration of a cluster survey-mass-observable relation. Currently, disagreements in the literature on simulated subhalo velocity dispersion-mass relations place a systematic floor on velocity dispersion mass calibration at the 5% level in dispersion.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE MASS-METALLICITY RELATION OF A z {approx} 2 PROTOCLUSTER WITH MOSFIRE

We present Keck/MOSFIRE observations of the role of environment in the formation of galaxies at z {approx} 2. Using K-band spectroscopy of H{alpha} and [N II] emission lines, we have analyzed the metallicities of galaxies within and around a z = 2.3 protocluster discovered in the HS1700+643 field. Our main sample consists of 23 protocluster and 20 field galaxies with estimates of stellar masses and gas-phase metallicities based on the N2 strong-line metallicity indicator. With these data we have examined the mass-metallicity relation with respect to environment at z {approx} 2. We find that field galaxies follow the well-established trend between stellar mass and metallicity, such that more massive galaxies have larger metallicities. The protocluster galaxies, however, do not exhibit a dependence of metallicity on mass, with the low-mass protocluster galaxies showing an enhancement in metallicity compared to field galaxies spanning the same mass range. A comparison with galaxy formation models suggests that the mass-dependent environmental trend we observed can be qualitatively explained in the context of the recycling of ''momentum-driven'' galaxy wind material. Accordingly, winds are recycled on a shorter timescale in denser environments, leading to an enhancement in metallicity at fixed mass for all but the most massive galaxies. Future hydrodynamical simulations of z {approx} 2 overdensities matching the one in the HS1700 field will be crucial for understanding the origin of the observed environmental trend in detail.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE ROLE OF CORE MASS IN CONTROLLING EVAPORATION: THE KEPLER RADIUS DISTRIBUTION AND THE KEPLER-36 DENSITY DICHOTOMY

We use models of coupled thermal evolution and photo-evaporative mass loss to understand the formation and evolution of the Kepler-36 system. We show that the large contrast in mean planetary density observed by Carter et al. can be explained as a natural consequence of photo-evaporation from planets that formed with similar initial compositions. However, rather than being due to differences in XUV irradiation between the planets, we find that this contrast is due to the difference in the masses of the planets' rock/iron cores and the impact that this has on mass-loss evolution. We explore in detail how our coupled models depend on irradiation, mass, age, composition, and the efficiency of mass loss. Based on fits to large numbers of coupled evolution and mass-loss runs, we provide analytic fits to understand threshold XUV fluxes for significant atmospheric loss, as a function of core mass and mass-loss efficiency. Finally we discuss these results in the context of recent studies of the radius distribution of Kepler candidates. Using our parameter study, we make testable predictions for the frequency of sub-Neptune-sized planets. We show that 1.8-4.0 R{sub ⊕} planets should become significantly less common on orbits within 10 days and discuss the possibility of a narrow 'occurrence valley' in the radius-flux distribution. Moreover, we describe how photo-evaporation provides a natural explanation for the recent observations of Ciardi et al. that inner planets are preferentially smaller within the systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

ON THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THEORETICAL AND X-RAY CONCENTRATION-MASS RELATIONS FOR GALAXY CLUSTERS

In the past 15 years, the concentration-mass relation has been investigated diffusely in theoretical studies. On the other hand, only recently has this relation been derived from X-ray observations. When that happened, the results caused a certain level of concern: the X-ray normalizations and slopes were found significantly dissimilar from those predicted by theory. We analyzed 52 galaxy clusters and groups, simulated with different descriptions of the physical processes that affect the baryonic component, with the purpose of determining whether these discrepancies are real or induced by biases in the computation of the concentration parameter or in the determination of the selection function of the cluster sample for which the analysis is carried out. In particular, we investigate how the simulated concentration-mass relation depends (1) on the radial range used to derive the concentration; (2) on the presence of baryons in the simulations, and on the effect of star formation and feedback from supernovae and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Finally, we evaluate (3) how the results differ when adopting an X-ray approach for the analysis and (4) how the selection function based on X-ray luminosity can impact the results. All effects studied go in the direction of alleviating the discrepancy between observations and simulations, although with different significance: while the choice of the radial range to fit the profiles and the inclusion of the baryonic component play only a minor role, the X-ray approach to reconstruct the mass profiles and the selection of the cluster sample have a strong impact on the resulting concentration-mass relation. Extending the fit to the most central regions or reducing the fitting radius from the virial boundary to the typical X-ray external radius causes an increase of the normalization in radiative simulations by 5%-10%. In the second case, we measure a slope that is up to twice steeper than that derived by using the typical theoretical radial range. Radiative simulations including only supernova feedback produce 30% higher concentrations than the dark matter case. Such a difference is largely reduced when including the effect of AGN feedback. The concentration-mass relation derived from the X-ray synthetic catalog is significantly steeper due to the combination of several different effects, such as environment, dynamical state and dynamical history of the clusters, bias in mass and temperature measurements, and their dependence on the radius and on the mass of the system. Finally, selecting clusters according to their X-ray luminosity produces a net increase in both normalization and slope of the relation, since at fixed mass, the most luminous clusters are also the most concentrated.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

THE GALEX ARECIBO SDSS SURVEY. VII. THE BIVARIATE NEUTRAL HYDROGEN-STELLAR MASS FUNCTION FOR MASSIVE GALAXIES

We present the bivariate neutral atomic hydrogen (H I)-stellar mass function (HISMF) φ(M{sub H{sub I}}, M{sub *}) for massive (log M{sub *}/M{sub ☉} \gt 10) galaxies derived from a sample of 480 local (0.025 < z < 0.050) galaxies observed in H I at Arecibo as part of the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey. We fit six different models to the HISMF and find that a Schechter function that extends down to a 1% H I gas fraction, with an additional fractional contribution below that limit, is the best parameterization of the HISMF. We calculate Ω{sub H{sub I,{sub M{sub *>10{sup 1}{sup 0}}}}} and find that massive galaxies contribute 41% of the H I density in the local universe. In addition to the binned HISMF, we derive a continuous bivariate fit, which reveals that the Schechter parameters only vary weakly with stellar mass: M{sub H{sub I}{sup *}}, the characteristic H I mass, scales as M{sub *}{sup 0.39}; α, the slope of the HISMF at moderate H I masses, scales as M{sub *}{sup 0.07}; and f, the fraction of galaxies with H I gas fraction greater than 1%, scales as M{sub *}{sup -0.24}. The variation of f with stellar mass should be a strong constraint for numerical simulations. To understand the physical mechanisms that produce the shape of the HISMF, we redefine the parameters of the Schechter function as explicit functions of stellar mass and star formation rate (SFR) to produce a trivariate fit. This analysis reveals strong trends with SFR. While M{sub H{sub I}{sup *}} varies weakly with stellar mass and SFR (M{sub H{sub I}{sup *}} ∝ M{sub *}{sup 0.22}, M{sub H{sub I}{sup *}} ∝ SFR{sup –0.03}), α is a stronger function of both stellar mass and especially SFR (α ∝ M{sub *}{sup 0.47}, α ∝ SFR{sup 0.95}). The HISMF is a crucial tool that can be used to constrain cosmological galaxy simulations, test observational predictions of the H I content of populations of galaxies, and identify galaxies whose properties deviate from average trends.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Formation of primordial supermassive stars by rapid mass accretion

Supermassive stars (SMSs) forming via very rapid mass accretion ( M-dot {sub ∗}≳0.1 M{sub ⊙} yr{sup −1}) could be precursors of supermassive black holes observed beyond a redshift of about six. Extending our previous work, here we study the evolution of primordial stars growing under such rapid mass accretion until the stellar mass reaches 10{sup 4–5} M {sub ☉}. Our stellar evolution calculations show that a star becomes supermassive while passing through the 'supergiant protostar' stage, whereby the star has a very bloated envelope and a contracting inner core. The stellar radius increases monotonically with the stellar mass until ≅ 100 AU for M {sub *} ≳ 10{sup 4} M {sub ☉}, after which the star begins to slowly contract. Because of the large radius, the effective temperature is always less than 10{sup 4} K during rapid accretion. The accreting material is thus almost completely transparent to the stellar radiation. Only for M {sub *} ≳ 10{sup 5} M {sub ☉} can stellar UV feedback operate and disturb the mass accretion flow. We also examine the pulsation stability of accreting SMSs, showing that the pulsation-driven mass loss does not prevent stellar mass growth. Observational signatures of bloated SMSs should be detectable with future observational facilities such as the James Webb Space Telescope. Our results predict that an inner core of the accreting SMS should suffer from the general relativistic instability soon after the stellar mass exceeds 10{sup 5} M {sub ☉}. An extremely massive black hole should form after the collapse of the inner core.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

No evidence for a dependence of the mass-size relation of early-type galaxies on environment in the local universe

The early-type galaxy (ETG) mass-size relation has largely been studied to understand how these galaxies assembled their mass. One key observational result of the last years is that massive galaxies increased their size by a factor of a few at fixed stellar mass from z ∼ 2. Hierarchical models favor minor mergers as a plausible driver of this size growth. Some of these models predict a significant environmental dependence in the sense that galaxies residing in more massive halos tend to be larger than galaxies in lower mass halos, at fixed stellar mass and redshift. At present, observational results of this environmental dependence are contradictory. In this paper we revisit this issue in the local universe, by investigating how the sizes of massive ETGs depend on a large-scale environment using an updated and accurate sample of ETGs in different environments—field, group, and clusters—from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7. Our analysis does not show any significant environmental dependence of the sizes of central and satellite ETGs at fixed stellar mass at z ∼ 0. The size-mass relation of early-type galaxies at z ∼ 0 seems to be universal, i.e., independent of the mass of the host halo and of the position of the galaxy in that halo (central or satellite). The result is robust to different galaxy selections based on star formation, morphology, or central density. Considering our observational errors and the size of the sample, any size ratio larger than 30%-40% between massive galaxies (log(M {sub *}/M {sub ☉}) > 11) living in clusters and in the field can be ruled out at 3σ level.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Stellar mass and color dependence of the three-point correlation function of galaxies in the local universe

The three-point correlation function (3PCF) for galaxies provides an opportunity to measure the non-Gaussianity generated from nonlinear structure formation and also probes information about galaxy formation and evolution that is generally not available from the two-point correlation function (2PCF). We measure the 3PCF of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 main sample galaxies in both redshift and projected spaces on scales up to 40 h {sup –1} Mpc. We explore the dependence of the 3PCF on galaxy stellar mass and color in order to constrain the formation and evolution for galaxies of different properties. The study of the dependence on these properties also helps better constrain the relation between galaxy stellar mass and color and the properties of their hosting dark-matter halos. We focus on the study of the reduced 3PCF, Q, defined as the ratio between the 3PCF and the sum of the products of the 2PCFs. We find a very weak stellar-mass dependence of Q in both redshift and projected spaces. On small scales, more massive galaxies tend to have slightly higher amplitudes of Q. The shape dependence of Q is also weak on these small scales, regardless of stellar mass and color. The reduced 3PCF has a strong color dependence for the low-mass galaxies, while no significant dependence on color is found for the high-mass galaxies. Low-mass red galaxies have higher amplitudes and stronger shape dependence of the reduced 3PCF than the blue galaxies, implying that these low-mass red galaxies tend to populate filamentary structures. The linear galaxy bias model fails to interpret the color dependence of Q, emphasizing the importance of a nonvanishing quadratic bias parameter in the correct modeling of the galaxy color distribution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Failed supernovae explain the compact remnant mass function

One explanation for the absence of higher mass red supergiants (16.5 M {sub ☉} ≲ M ≲ 25 M {sub ☉}) as the progenitors of Type IIP supernovae (SNe) is that they die in failed SNe creating black holes. Simulations show that such failed SNe still eject their hydrogen envelopes in a weak transient, leaving a black hole with the mass of the star's helium core (5-8 M {sub ☉}). Here we show that this naturally explains the typical masses of observed black holes and the gap between neutron star and black hole masses without any fine-tuning of stellar mass loss, binary mass transfer, or the SN mechanism, beyond having it fail in a mass range where many progenitor models have density structures that make the explosions more likely to fail. There is no difficulty including this ∼20% population of failed SNe in any accounting of SN types over the progenitor mass function. And, other than patience, there is no observational barrier to either detecting these black hole formation events or limiting their rates to be well below this prediction.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

MOA-2011-BLG-262Lb: A sub-Earth-mass moon orbiting a gas giant primary or a high velocity planetary system in the galactic Bulge

We present the first microlensing candidate for a free-floating exoplanet-exomoon system, MOA-2011-BLG-262, with a primary lens mass of M {sub host} ∼ 4 Jupiter masses hosting a sub-Earth mass moon. The argument for an exomoon hinges on the system being relatively close to the Sun. The data constrain the product M{sub L} π{sub rel} where M{sub L} is the lens system mass and π{sub rel} is the lens-source relative parallax. If the lens system is nearby (large π{sub rel}), then M{sub L} is small (a few Jupiter masses) and the companion is a sub-Earth-mass exomoon. The best-fit solution has a large lens-source relative proper motion, μ{sub rel} = 19.6 ± 1.6 mas yr{sup –1}, which would rule out a distant lens system unless the source star has an unusually high proper motion. However, data from the OGLE collaboration nearly rule out a high source proper motion, so the exoplanet+exomoon model is the favored interpretation for the best fit model. However, there is an alternate solution that has a lower proper motion and fits the data almost as well. This solution is compatible with a distant (so stellar) host. A Bayesian analysis does not favor the exoplanet+exomoon interpretation, so Occam's razor favors a lens system in the bulge with host and companion masses of M{sub host}=0.12{sub −0.06}{sup +0.19} M{sub ⊙} and m{sub comp}=18{sub −10}{sup +28} M{sub ⊕}, at a projected separation of a{sub ⊥}=0.84{sub −0.14}{sup +0.25} AU. The existence of this degeneracy is an unlucky accident, so current microlensing experiments are in principle sensitive to exomoons. In some circumstances, it will be possible to definitively establish the mass of such lens systems through the microlensing parallax effect. Future experiments will be sensitive to less extreme exomoons.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The black hole mass of NGC 4151. II. Stellar dynamical measurement from near-infrared integral field spectroscopy

We present a revised measurement of the mass of the central black hole (M{sub BH} ) in the Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4151. The new stellar dynamical mass measurement is derived by applying an axisymmetric orbit-superposition code to near-infrared integral field data obtained using adaptive optics with the Gemini Near-infrared Integral Field Spectrograph (NIFS). When our models attempt to fit both the NIFS kinematics and additional low spatial resolution kinematics, our results depend sensitively on how χ{sup 2} is computed—probably a consequence of complex bar kinematics that manifest immediately outside the nuclear region. The most robust results are obtained when only the high spatial resolution kinematic constraints in the nuclear region are included in the fit. Our best estimates for the black hole mass and H-band mass-to-light ratio are M{sub BH} ∼ 3.76 ± 1.15 × 10{sup 7} M{sub ☉} (1σ error) and Y{sub H} ∼ 0.34 ± 0.03 M{sub ☉}/L{sub ☉} (3σ error), respectively (the quoted errors reflect the model uncertainties). Our black hole mass measurement is consistent with estimates from both reverberation mapping (3.57{sub −0.37}{sup +0.45}×10{sup 7} M{sub ⊙}) and gas kinematics (3.0{sub −2.2}{sup +0.75}×10{sup 7} M{sub ⊙}; 1σ errors), and our best-fit mass-to-light ratio is consistent with the photometric estimate of Y{sub H} = 0.4 ± 0.2 M{sub ☉}/L{sub ☉}. The NIFS kinematics give a central bulge velocity dispersion σ{sub c} = 116 ± 3 km s{sup –1}, bringing this object slightly closer to the M{sub BH}-σ relation for quiescent galaxies. Although NGC 4151 is one of only a few Seyfert 1 galaxies in which it is possible to obtain a direct dynamical black hole mass measurement—and thus, an independent calibration of the reverberation mapping mass scale—the complex bar kinematics makes it less than ideally suited for this purpose.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

The outcome of supernovae in massive binaries; removed mass, and its separation dependence

The majority of massive stars are formed in binary systems. It is hence reasonable to expect that most core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) take place in binaries and the existence of a companion star may leave some imprints in observed features. Having this in mind, we have conducted two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations of the collisions of CCSNe ejecta with the companion star in an almost-equal-mass (∼10 M {sub ☉}) binary to find out possible consequences of such events. In particular we pay attention to the amount of mass removed and its dependence on the binary separation. In contrast to the previous surmise, we find that the companion mass is stripped not by momentum transfer but by shock heating. Up to 25% of the original mass can be removed for the closest separations and the removed mass decreases as M {sub ub}∝a {sup –4.3} with the binary separation a. By performing some experimental computations with artificially modified densities of incident ejecta, we show that if the velocity of ejecta is fixed, the density of incident ejecta is the single important parameter that actually determines the removed mass as M{sub ub}∝ρ{sub ej}{sup 1.4}. On the other hand, another set of simulations with modified velocities of incident ejecta demonstrate that the strength of the forward shock, which heats up the stellar material and causes the mass loss of the companion star, is actually the key parameter for the removed mass.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Single-epoch black hole mass estimators for broad-line active galactic nuclei: recalibrating Hβ with a new approach

Based on an updated Hβ reverberation mapping (RM) sample of 44 nearby active galactic nuclei (AGNs), we propose a novel approach for black hole (BH) mass estimation using two filtered luminosities computed from single-epoch (SE) AGN spectra around the Hβ region. We found that the two optimal-filter luminosities extract virial information (size and virial velocity of the broad-line region, BLR) from the spectra, justifying their usage in this empirical BH mass estimator. The major advantages of this new recipe over traditional SE BH mass estimators utilizing continuum luminosity and broad-line width are (1) it has a smaller intrinsic scatter of 0.28 dex calibrated against RM masses, (2) it is extremely simple to use in practice, without any need to decompose the spectrum, and (3) it produces unambiguous and highly repeatable results even with low signal-to-noise spectra. The combination of the two luminosities can also cancel out, to some extent, systematic luminosity errors potentially introduced by uncertainties in distance or flux calibration. In addition, we recalibrated the traditional SE mass estimators using broad Hβ FWHM and monochromatic continuum luminosity at 5100 Å (L {sub 5100}). We found that using the best-fit slopes on FWHM and L {sub 5100} (derived from fitting the BLR radius-luminosity relation and the correlation between rms line dispersion and SE FWHM, respectively) rather than simple assumptions (e.g., 0.5 for L {sub 5100} and 2 for FWHM) leads to more precise SE mass estimates, improving the intrinsic scatter from 0.41 dex to 0.36 dex with respect to the RM masses. We compared different estimators and discussed their applications to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey quasar sample. Due to the limitations of the current RM sample, application of any SE recipe calibrated against RM masses to distant quasars should be treated with caution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Constraining the low-mass Slope of the star formation sequence at 0.5 < z < 2.5

We constrain the slope of the star formation rate (SFR; log Ψ) to stellar mass (log M {sub *}) relation down to log (M {sub *}/M {sub ☉}) = 8.4 (log (M {sub *}/M {sub ☉}) = 9.2) at z = 0.5 (z = 2.5) with a mass-complete sample of 39,106 star-forming galaxies selected from the 3D-HST photometric catalogs, using deep photometry in the CANDELS fields. For the first time, we find that the slope is dependent on stellar mass, such that it is steeper at low masses (log Ψ∝log M {sub *}) than at high masses (log Ψ∝(0.3-0.6)log M {sub *}). These steeper low-mass slopes are found for three different star formation indicators: the combination of the ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR), calibrated from a stacking analysis of Spitzer/MIPS 24 μm imaging; β-corrected UV SFRs; and Hα SFRs. The normalization of the sequence evolves differently in distinct mass regimes as well: for galaxies less massive than log (M {sub *}/M {sub ☉}) < 10 the specific SFR (Ψ/M {sub *}) is observed to be roughly self-similar with Ψ/M {sub *}∝(1 + z){sup 1.9}, whereas more massive galaxies show a stronger evolution with Ψ/M {sub *}∝(1 + z){sup 2.2-3.5} for log (M {sub *}/M {sub ☉}) = 10.2-11.2. The fact that we find a steep slope of the star formation sequence for the lower mass galaxies will help reconcile theoretical galaxy formation models with the observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

DUST CONTINUUM EMISSION AS A TRACER OF GAS MASS IN GALAXIES

We use a sample of 36 galaxies from the KINGFISH (Herschel IR), HERACLES (IRAM CO), and THINGS (Very Large Array H I) surveys to study empirical relations between Herschel infrared (IR) luminosities and the total mass of the interstellar gas (H{sub 2} + H I). Such a comparison provides a simple empirical relationship without introducing the uncertainty of dust model fitting. We find tight correlations, and provide fits to these relations, between Herschel luminosities and the total gas mass integrated over entire galaxies, with the tightest, almost linear, correlation found for the longest wavelength data (SPIRE 500). However, we find that accounting for the gas-phase metallicity (affecting the dust to gas ratio) is crucial when applying these relations to low-mass, and presumably high-redshift, galaxies. The molecular (H{sub 2}) gas mass is found to be better correlated with the peak of the IR emission (e.g., PACS160), driven mostly by the correlation of stellar mass and mean dust temperature. When examining these relations as a function of galactocentric radius, we find the same correlations, albeit with a larger scatter, up to a radius of r ∼ 0.7 r {sub 25} (containing most of a galaxy's baryonic mass). However, beyond that radius, the same correlations no longer hold, with increasing gas (predominantly H I) mass relative to the infrared emission. The tight relations found for the bulk of the galaxy's baryonic content suggest that total gas masses of disk-like (non-merging/ULIRG) galaxies can be inferred from far-infrared continuum measurements in situations where only the latter are available, e.g., in ALMA continuum observations of high-redshift galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

CHARACTERIZING THE BROWN DWARF FORMATION CHANNELS FROM THE INITIAL MASS FUNCTION AND BINARY-STAR DYNAMICS

The stellar initial mass function (IMF) is a key property of stellar populations. There is growing evidence that the classical star-formation mechanism by the direct cloud fragmentation process has difficulties reproducing the observed abundance and binary properties of brown dwarfs and very-low-mass stars. In particular, recent analytical derivations of the stellar IMF exhibit a deficit of brown dwarfs compared to observational data. Here we derive the residual mass function of brown dwarfs as an empirical measure of the brown dwarf deficiency in recent star-formation models with respect to observations and show that it is compatible with the substellar part of the Thies-Kroupa IMF and the mass function obtained by numerical simulations. We conclude that the existing models may be further improved by including a substellar correction term that accounts for additional formation channels like disk or filament fragmentation. The term ''peripheral fragmentation'' is introduced here for such additional formation channels. In addition, we present an updated analytical model of stellar and substellar binarity. The resulting binary fraction and the dynamically evolved companion mass-ratio distribution are in good agreement with observational data on stellar and very-low-mass binaries in the Galactic field, in clusters, and in dynamically unprocessed groups of stars if all stars form as binaries with stellar companions. Cautionary notes are given on the proper analysis of mass functions and the companion mass-ratio distribution and the interpretation of the results. The existence of accretion disks around young brown dwarfs does not imply that these form just like stars in direct fragmentation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗