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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.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

METALLICITY IN THE GRB 100316D/SN 2010bh HOST COMPLEX

The recent long-duration GRB 100316D, associated with supernova SN 2010bh and detected by Swift, is one of the nearest gamma-ray burst (GRB)-supernovae (SNe) ever observed (z = 0.059). This provides us with a unique opportunity to study the explosion environment on {approx}kpc scale in relation to the host galaxy complex. Here we present spatially resolved spectrophotometry of the host galaxy, focusing on both the explosion site and the brightest star-forming regions. Using these data, we extract the spatial profiles of the relevant emission features (H{alpha}, H{beta}, [O III]{lambda}5007, and [N II]{lambda}6584) and use these profiles to examine variations in metallicity and star formation rate (SFR) as a function of position in the host galaxy. We conclude that GRB 100316D/SN2010bh occurred in a low-metallicity host galaxy, and that the GRB-SN explosion site corresponds to the region with the lowest metallicity and highest SFR sampled by our observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

SPECTRAL-TEMPORAL SIMULATIONS OF INTERNAL DISSIPATION MODELS OF GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

We present calculations of the time evolution of the prompt spectra of gamma-ray burst models involving generic internal dissipation regions, including internal shocks, either by itself or in the presence of an external photon source such as a photosphere. The method uses a newly developed time-dependent code involving synchrotron emission and absorption, inverse Compton scattering, and pair formation. The models reproduce the typically observed Band spectra and their generic time evolution, including the appearance of an extra keV-GeV component, whose delay in simple SSC models, however, is only partially able to explain the several seconds observed GeV delays. On the other hand, models involving both a photosphere and an internal dissipation region at a larger radius produce both an extra GeV component and time delays that are in the range of the observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

A SEARCH FOR LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES IN THE CHANDRA DEEP FIELD SOUTH USING SWIFT ULTRAVIOLET/OPTICAL TELESCOPE

While the Swift satellite is primarily designed to study gamma-ray bursts, its ultraviolet and optical imaging and spectroscopy capabilities are also being used for a variety of scientific programs. In this study, we use the UV/Optical Telescope (UVOT) instrument on board Swift to discover 0.5 < z < 2 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs). UVOT has covered {approx}266 arcmin{sup 2} at >60 ks exposure time, achieving a limiting magnitude of u < 24.5, in the Chandra Deep Field South (CDF-S). Applying UVOT near-ultraviolet color selection, we select 50 UV-dropouts from this UVOT CDF-S data. We match the selected sources with available multiwavelength data from Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) South, Multiwavelength Survey by Yale-Chile, and COMBO-17 to characterize the spectral energy distributions for these galaxies and determine stellar masses, star formation rates (SFRs), and dust attenuations. We compare these properties for LBGs selected in this paper versus z {approx} 3 LBGs and other CDF-S galaxies in the same redshift range (0.5 < z < 2), identified using photometric redshift techniques. The z {approx} 1 LBGs have stellar masses of (logM{sub *}/M{sub sun}) = 9.4 {+-} 0.6, which is slightly lower than z {approx} 3 LBGs ((logM{sub *}/Ms{sub un}) = 10.2 {+-} 0.4) and slightly higher compared with the z {approx} 1 CDF-S galaxies ((logM{sub *}/M{sub sun}) = 8.7 {+-} 0.7). Similarly, our sample of z {approx} 1 LBGs has SFRs (derived using both ultraviolet and infrared data, where available) of (logSFR/(M{sub sun} yr{sup -1})) = 0.7 {+-} 0.6, nearly an order of magnitude lower than z {approx} 3 LBGs ((logSFR/M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}) = 1.5 {+-} 0.4), but slightly higher than the comparison z {approx} 1 sample of CDF-S galaxies ((logSFR/M{sub sun} yr{sup -1}) = 0.2 {+-} 0.7). We find that our z {approx} 1 UV-dropouts have (A{sub FUV}) = 2.0 {+-} 1.0, which is higher than z {approx} 3 LBGs ((A{sub FUV}) = 1.0 {+-} 0.5), but similar to the distribution of dust attenuations in the other CDF-S galaxies ((A{sub FUV}) {approx} 2.8 {+-} 1.5). Using the GOODS-South multiwavelength catalog of galaxies, we simulate a larger and fainter sample of LBGs to compare their properties with those of the UVOT-selected LBG sample. We conclude that UVOT can be useful for finding and studying the bright end of 0.5 < z < 2.0 LBGs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Simons Observatory: Characterization of the Large Aperture Telescope Receiver

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) survey experiment that currently consists of three 0.42 m small-aperture telescopes and one 6 m large-aperture telescope (LAT), located at an elevation of 5200 m in the Atacama Desert in Chile. At the LAT’s focal plane, SO will install >62,000 transition-edge sensor detectors across 13 optics tubes (OTs) within the Large Aperture Telescope Receiver (LATR), the largest cryogenic camera ever built to observe the CMB. Furthermore we report on the validation of the LATR in the laboratory and the subsequent dark testing and validation within the LAT. We show that the LATR meets cryogenic, optical, and detector specifications required for high-sensitivity measurements of the CMB. At the time of writing, the LATR is installed in the LAT with six OTs (corresponding to >31,000 detectors), and the LAT mirrors and remaining seven OTs are undergoing development.

Astronomical instrumentation↗
NASA NTRS1982

A study of the diffuse galactic gamma radiation

Assuming cosmic rays pervade the Galaxy, they necessarily produced high energy gamma-rays as they interact with the instellar matter and photons. The cosmic ray nucleon interactions five rise to gamma rays primarily through the decay of pi mesons, giving a unique spectrum with a maximum at approximately 68 MeV. Cosmic ray electrons produce gamma rays through bremsstrahlung, but with a markedly different energy spectral shape, one which decreases monotonically with energy. Cosmic ray electrons also interact with the interstellar starlight, optical and infrared photons, and the blackbody radiation through the Compton process. A model of galactic gamma ray production is discussed, and the predicted spatial distribution and energy spectra are presented. Considering the uncertainty in the point source contributions, the agreement between the theoretical predictions and the gamma ray data seems quite reasonable.

Fichtel, C. E.↗
DOE OSTI2011

COMPONENTS OF THE EXTRAGALACTIC GAMMA-RAY BACKGROUND

We present new theoretical estimates of the relative contributions of unresolved blazars and star-forming galaxies to the extragalactic {gamma}-ray background (EGB) and discuss constraints on the contributions from alternative mechanisms such as dark matter annihilation and truly diffuse {gamma}-ray production. We find that the Fermi source count data do not rule out a scenario in which the EGB is dominated by emission from unresolved blazars, though unresolved star-forming galaxies may also contribute significantly to the background, within order-of-magnitude uncertainties. In addition, we find that the spectrum of the unresolved star-forming galaxy contribution cannot explain the EGB spectrum found by EGRET at energies between 50 and 200 MeV, whereas the spectrum of unresolved flat spectrum radio quasars, when accounting for the energy-dependent effects of source confusion, could be consistent with the combined spectrum of the low-energy EGRET EGB measurements and the Fermi-Large Area Telescope EGB measurements.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

TWO-STREAM-LIKE INSTABILITY IN DILUTE HOT RELATIVISTIC BEAMS AND ASTROPHYSICAL RELATIVISTIC SHOCKS

Relativistic collisionless shocks are believed to be efficient particle accelerators. Nonlinear outcome of the interaction of accelerated particles that run ahead of the shock, the so-called precursor, with the unperturbed plasma of the shock upstream, is thought to facilitate additional acceleration of these particles and to possibly modify the hydrodynamic structure of the shock. We explore here the linear growth of kinetic modes appearing in the precursor-upstream interaction in relativistic shocks propagating in non- and weakly magnetized plasmas: electrostatic two-stream parallel mode and electrostatic oblique modes. The physics of the parallel and oblique modes is similar, and thus, we refer to the entire spectrum of electrostatic modes as 'two-stream-like'. These modes are of particular interest because they are the fastest growing modes known in this type of system. Using a simplified distribution function for a dilute ultrarelativistic beam that is relativistically hot in its own rest frame, yet has momenta that are narrowly collimated in the frame of the cold upstream plasma into which it propagates, we identify the fastest growing mode in the full k-space and calculate its growth rate. We consider all types of plasma (pairs and ions-electrons) and beam (charged and charge-neutral). We find that unstable electrostatic modes are present in any type of plasma and for any shock parameters. We further find that two modes, one parallel (k{sub perpendicular} = 0) and the other one oblique (k{sub perpendicular} {approx} k{sub ||}), are competing for dominance and that either one may dominate the growth rate in different regions of the phase space. The dominant mode is determined mostly by the perpendicular spread of the accelerated particle momenta in the upstream frame, which reflects the shock Lorentz factor. The parallel mode becomes more dominant in shocks with lower Lorentz factors (i.e., with larger momentum spreads). We briefly discuss possible implications of our results for external shocks in gamma-ray burst sources.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

XRF 100316D/SN 2010bh AND THE NATURE OF GAMMA-RAY BURST SUPERNOVAE

We present ground-based and Hubble Space Telescope optical and infrared observations of Swift XRF 100316D/SN 2010bh. It is seen that the optical light curves of SN 2010bh evolve at a faster rate than the archetype gamma-ray burst supernova (GRB-SN) 1998bw, but at a similar rate to SN 2006aj, an SN that was spectroscopically linked with XRF 060218, and at a similar rate to the non-GRB associated Type Ic SN 1994I. We estimate the rest-frame extinction of this event from our optical data to be E(B - V) = 0.18 {+-} 0.08 mag. We find the V-band absolute magnitude of SN 2010bh to be M{sub V} = -18.62 {+-} 0.08, which is the faintest peak V-band magnitude observed to date for spectroscopically confirmed GRB-SNe. When we investigate the origin of the flux at t - t{sub 0} = 0.598 days, it is shown that the light is not synchrotron in origin, but is likely coming from the SN shock breakout. We then use our optical and infrared data to create a quasi-bolometric light curve of SN 2010bh, which we model with a simple analytical formula. The results of our modeling imply that SN 2010bh synthesized a nickel mass of M{sub Ni} {approx} 0.1 M{sub sun}, ejected M{sub ej} {approx} 2.2 M{sub sun}, and has an explosion energy of E{sub k} {approx} 1.4 x 10{sup 52} erg. Thus, while SN 2010bh is an energetic explosion, the amount of nickel created during the explosion is much less than that of SN 1998bw and only marginally more than SN 1994I. Finally, for a sample of 22 GRB-SNe we check for a correlation between the stretch factors and luminosity factors in the R band and conclude that no statistically significant correlation exists.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

ACCELERATING COMPACT OBJECT MERGERS IN TRIPLE SYSTEMS WITH THE KOZAI RESONANCE: A MECHANISM FOR 'PROMPT' TYPE Ia SUPERNOVAE, GAMMA-RAY BURSTS, AND OTHER EXOTICA

White dwarf-white dwarf (WD-WD) and neutron star-neutron star (NS-NS) mergers may produce Type Ia supernovae and gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), respectively. A general problem is how to produce binaries with semi-major axes small enough to merge in significantly less than the Hubble time (t{sub H}), and thus accommodate the observation that these events closely follow episodes of star formation. I explore the possibility that such systems are not binaries at all, but actually coeval, or dynamical formed, triple systems. The tertiary induces Kozai oscillations in the inner binary, driving it to high eccentricity, and reducing its gravitational wave (GW) merger timescale. This effect significantly increases the allowed range of binary period P such that the merger time is t{sub merge} < t{sub H}. In principle, Chandrasekhar-mass binaries with P {approx} 300 days can merge in {approx}< t{sub H} if they contain a prograde solar-mass tertiary at high enough inclination. For retrograde tertiaries, the maximum P such that t{sub merge} {approx}< t{sub H} is yet larger. In contrast, P {approx}< 0.3 days is required in the absence of a tertiary. I discuss implications of these findings for the production of transients formed via compact object binary mergers. Based on the statistics of solar-type binaries, I argue that many such binaries should be in triple systems affected by the Kozai resonance. If true, expectations for the mHz GW signal from individual sources, the diffuse background, and the foreground for GW experiments like LISA are modified. This work motivates future studies of triples systems of A, B, and O stars, and new types of searches for WD-WD binaries in triple systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Extended carbon line emission in the galaxy: Searching for dark molecular gas along the G328 sightline

We present spectral data cubes of the [CI] 809 GHz, {sup 12}CO 115 GHz, {sup 13}CO 110 GHz, and HI 1.4 GHz line emission from a ∼1 square degree region along the l=328{sup ∘} (G328) sightline in the Galactic Plane. Emission arises principally from gas in three spiral arm crossings along the sightline. The distribution of emission in the CO and [CI] lines is found to be similar, with the [CI] slightly more extended, and both are enveloped in extensive HI. Spectral line ratios per voxel in the data cubes are found to be similar across the entire extent of the Galaxy. However, toward the edges of the molecular clouds the [CI]/{sup 13}CO and {sup 12}CO/{sup 13}CO line ratios rise by ∼50%, and the [CI]/HI ratio falls by ∼10%. We attribute this to these sightlines passing predominantly through the surfaces of photodissociation regions (PDRs), where the carbon is found mainly as C or C{sup +}, while the H{sub 2} is mostly molecular, and the proportion of atomic gas also increases. We undertake modeling of the PDR emission from low density molecular clouds excited by average interstellar radiation fields and cosmic-ray ionization to quantify this comparison, finding that depletion of sulfur and reduced PAH abundance is needed to match line fluxes and ratios. Roughly one-third of the molecular gas along the sightline is found to be associated with this surface region, where the carbon is largely not to be found in CO. Approximately 10% of the atomic hydrogen along the sightline is cold gas within PDRs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Pattern of perturbations from a coherent quantum inflationary horizon

It is proposed that if quantum states of space-time are coherent on null surfaces, holographic Planck-scale fluctuations of inflationary horizons dominate the formation of primordial scalar curvature perturbations. It is shown that the reduction of quantum states on nearly-spherical emergent horizon surfaces around each observer creates a distinctive pattern whose correlations in the angular domain differ from the standard quantum theory of inflation. Causal constraints are used in a semiclassical model to formulate candidate directional symmetries. It is suggested that this hypothesis could provide a physical explanation for several well known anomalies measured in CMB anisotropy. New exact symmetries are predicted, such as a vanishing temperature correlation function at 90 degrees angular separation, that can be tested with current data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

ECCENTRIC BLACK-HOLE-NEUTRON-STAR MERGERS

Within the next few years gravitational waves (GWs) from merging black holes (BHs) and neutron stars (NSs) may be directly detected, making a thorough theoretical understanding of these systems a high priority. As an additional motivation, these systems may represent a subset of short-duration gamma-ray burst progenitors. BH-NS mergers are expected to result from primordial, quasi-circular inspiral as well as dynamically formed capture binaries. The latter channel allows mergers with high eccentricity, resulting in a richer variety of outcomes. We perform general relativistic simulations of BH-NS interactions with a range of impact parameters, and find significant variation in the properties of these events that have potentially observable consequences, namely, the GW signature, remnant accretion disk mass, and amount of unbound material.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

The DES view of the Eridanus supervoid and the CMB cold spot

ABSTRACT The Cold Spot is a puzzling large-scale feature in the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature maps and its origin has been subject to active debate. As an important foreground structure at low redshift, the Eridanus supervoid was recently detected, but it was subsequently determined that, assuming the standard ΛCDM model, only about 10–20 per cent of the observed temperature depression can be accounted for via its Integrated Sachs–Wolfe imprint. However, R ≳ 100 h−1Mpc supervoids elsewhere in the sky have shown ISW imprints AISW ≈ 5.2 ± 1.6 times stronger than expected from ΛCDM (AISW = 1), which warrants further inspection. Using the Year-3 redMaGiC catalogue of luminous red galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey, here we confirm the detection of the Eridanus supervoid as a significant underdensity in the Cold Spot’s direction at z < 0.2. We also show, with S/N ≳ 5 significance, that the Eridanus supervoid appears as the most prominent large-scale underdensity in the dark matter mass maps that we reconstructed from DES Year-3 gravitational lensing data. While we report no significant anomalies, an interesting aspect is that the amplitude of the lensing signal from the Eridanus supervoid at the Cold Spot centre is about 30 per cent lower than expected from similar peaks found in N-body simulations based on the standard ΛCDM model with parameters Ωm = 0.279 and σ8 = 0.82. Overall, our results confirm the causal relation between these individually rare structures in the cosmic web and in the CMB, motivating more detailed future surveys in the Cold Spot region.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

CMB/kSZ and Compton-y Maps from 2500 deg 2 of SPT-SZ and Planck Survey Data

Abstract We present component-separated maps of the primary cosmic microwave background/kinematic Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ) amplitude and the thermal SZ Compton- y parameter, created using data from the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and the Planck satellite. These maps, which cover the ∼2500 deg 2 of the southern sky imaged by the SPT-SZ survey, represent a significant improvement over previous such products available in this region by virtue of their higher angular resolution ( 1 .′ 25 for our highest-resolution Compton- y maps) and lower noise at small angular scales. In this work we detail the construction of these maps using linear combination techniques, including our method for limiting the correlation of our lowest-noise Compton- y map products with the cosmic infrared background. We perform a range of validation tests on these data products to test our sky modeling and combination algorithms, and we find good performance in all of these tests. Recognizing the potential utility of these data products for a wide range of astrophysical and cosmological analyses, including studies of the gas properties of galaxies, groups, and clusters, we make these products publicly available at http://pole.uchicago.edu/public/data/sptsz_ymap and on the NASA/LAMBDA website.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗