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At least 1,171 records · Page 65
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DOE OSTI2014

THE DISK WIND IN THE RAPIDLY SPINNING STELLAR-MASS BLACK HOLE 4U 1630–472 OBSERVED WITH NuSTAR

We present an analysis of a short NuSTAR observation of the stellar-mass black hole and low-mass X-ray binary 4U 1630–472. Reflection from the inner accretion disk is clearly detected for the first time in this source, owing to the sensitivity of NuSTAR. With fits to the reflection spectrum, we find evidence for a rapidly spinning black hole, a{sub ∗}=0.985{sub −0.014}{sup +0.005} (1σ statistical errors). However, archival data show that the source has relatively low radio luminosity. Recently claimed relationships between jet power and black hole spin would predict either a lower spin or a higher peak radio luminosity. We also report the clear detection of an absorption feature at 7.03 ± 0.03 keV, likely signaling a disk wind. If this line arises in dense, moderately ionized gas (log ξ=3.6{sub −0.3}{sup +0.2}) and is dominated by He-like Fe XXV, the wind has a velocity of v/c=0.043{sub −0.007}{sup +0.002} (12900{sub −2100}{sup +600} km s{sup –1}). If the line is instead associated with a more highly ionized gas (log ξ=6.1{sub −0.6}{sup +0.7}), and is dominated by Fe XXVI, evidence of a blueshift is only marginal, after taking systematic errors into account. Our analysis suggests the ionized wind may be launched within 200-1100 Rg, and may be magnetically driven.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

DENSE GAS TRACERS AND STAR FORMATION LAWS IN ACTIVE GALAXIES: APEX SURVEY OF HCN J = 4 → 3, HCO{sup +} J = 4 → 3, AND CS J = 7 → 6

We report HCN J = 4 → 3, HCO{sup +} J = 4 → 3, and CS J = 7 → 6 observations in 20 nearby star-forming galaxies with the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment 12 m telescope. Combined with four HCN, three HCO{sup +}, and four CS detections from the literature, we probe the empirical link between the luminosity of molecular gas (L{sub gas}{sup ′}) and that of infrared emission (L {sub IR}), up to the highest gas densities (∼10{sup 6} cm{sup –3}) that have been probed so far. For nearby galaxies with large radii, we measure the IR luminosity within the submillimeter beam size (14''-18'') to match the molecular emission. We find linear slopes for L{sub CS} {sub J=7--6}{sup ′}-L {sub IR} and L{sub HCN} {sub J=4--3}{sup ′}-L {sub IR}, and a slightly super-linear slope for L{sub HCO{sup +}} {sub J=4--3}{sup ′}-L {sub IR}. The correlation of L{sub CS} {sub J=7--6}{sup ′}-L {sub IR} even extends over eight orders of luminosity magnitude down to Galactic dense cores, with a fit of log(L {sub IR}) =1.00(± 0.01) ×log(L{sub CS} {sub J=7--6}{sup ′}) + 4.03(± 0.04). Such linear correlations appear to hold for all densities >10{sup 4} cm{sup –3}, and indicate that star formation rate is not related to the free-fall timescale for dense molecular gas.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

THE MASS-INDEPENDENCE OF SPECIFIC STAR FORMATION RATES IN GALACTIC DISKS

The slope of the star formation rate/stellar mass relation (the SFR {sup M}ain Sequence{sup ;} SFR-M {sub *}) is not quite unity: specific star formation rates (SFR/M {sub *}) are weakly but significantly anti-correlated with M {sub *}. Here we demonstrate that this trend may simply reflect the well-known increase in bulge mass-fractions—portions of a galaxy not forming stars—with M {sub *}. Using a large set of bulge/disk decompositions and SFR estimates derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we show that re-normalizing SFR by disk stellar mass (sSFR{sub disk} ≡ SFR/M {sub *,} {sub disk}) reduces the M {sub *} dependence of SF efficiency by ∼0.25 dex per dex, erasing it entirely in some subsamples. Quantitatively, we find log sSFR{sub disk}-log M {sub *} to have a slope β{sub disk} in [ – 0.20, 0.00] ± 0.02 (depending on the SFR estimator and Main Sequence definition) for star-forming galaxies with M {sub *} ≥ 10{sup 10} M {sub ☉} and bulge mass-fractions B/T ≲ 0.6, generally consistent with a pure-disk control sample (β{sub control} = –0.05 ± 0.04). That (SFR/M {sub *,} {sub disk}) is (largely) independent of host mass for star-forming disks has strong implications for aspects of galaxy evolution inferred from any SFR-M {sub *} relation, including manifestations of ''mass quenching'' (bulge growth), factors shaping the star-forming stellar mass function (uniform dlog M {sub *}/dt for low-mass, disk-dominated galaxies), and diversity in star formation histories (dispersion in SFR(M {sub *}, t)). Our results emphasize the need to treat galaxies as composite systems—not integrated masses—in observational and theoretical work.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

WARM MOLECULAR GAS IN LUMINOUS INFRARED GALAXIES

We present our initial results on the CO rotational spectral line energy distribution (SLED) of the J to J–1 transitions from J = 4 up to 13 from Herschel SPIRE spectroscopic observations of 65 luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) in the Great Observatories All-Sky LIRG Survey. The observed SLEDs change on average from one peaking at J ≤ 4 to a broad distribution peaking around J ∼ 6 to 7 as the IRAS 60-to-100 μm color, C(60/100), increases. However, the ratios of a CO line luminosity to the total infrared luminosity, L {sub IR}, show the smallest variation for J around 6 or 7. This suggests that, for most LIRGs, ongoing star formation (SF) is also responsible for a warm gas component that emits CO lines primarily in the mid-J regime (5 ≲ J ≲ 10). As a result, the logarithmic ratios of the CO line luminosity summed over CO (5–4), (6–5), (7–6), (8–7) and (10–9) transitions to L {sub IR}, log R {sub midCO}, remain largely independent of C(60/100), and show a mean value of –4.13 (≡log R{sub midCO}{sup SF}) and a sample standard deviation of only 0.10 for the SF-dominated galaxies. Including additional galaxies from the literature, we show, albeit with a small number of cases, the possibility that galaxies, which bear powerful interstellar shocks unrelated to the current SF, and galaxies, in which an energetic active galactic nucleus contributes significantly to the bolometric luminosity, have their R {sub midCO} higher and lower than R{sub midCO}{sup SF}, respectively.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

LARGER PLANET RADII INFERRED FROM STELLAR ''FLICKER'' BRIGHTNESS VARIATIONS OF BRIGHT PLANET-HOST STARS

Most extrasolar planets have been detected by their influence on their parent star, typically either gravitationally (the Doppler method) or by the small dip in brightness as the planet blocks a portion of the star (the transit method). Therefore, the accuracy with which we know the masses and radii of extrasolar planets depends directly on how well we know those of the stars, the latter usually determined from the measured stellar surface gravity, log g. Recent work has demonstrated that the short-timescale brightness variations ({sup f}licker{sup )} of stars can be used to measure log g to a high accuracy of ∼0.1-0.2 dex. Here, we use flicker measurements of 289 bright (Kepmag < 13) candidate planet-hosting stars with T {sub eff} = 4500-6650 K to re-assess the stellar parameters and determine the resulting impact on derived planet properties. This re-assessment reveals that for the brightest planet-host stars, Malmquist bias contaminates the stellar sample with evolved stars: nearly 50% of the bright planet-host stars are subgiants. As a result, the stellar radii, and hence the radii of the planets orbiting these stars, are on average 20%-30% larger than previous measurements had suggested.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

HIGH PRECISION ABUNDANCES IN THE 16 Cyg BINARY SYSTEM: A SIGNATURE OF THE ROCKY CORE IN THE GIANT PLANET

We study the stars of the binary system 16 Cygni to determine with high precision their chemical composition. Knowing that the component B has a detected planet of at least 1.5 Jupiter masses, we investigate if there are chemical peculiarities that could be attributed to planet formation around this star. We perform a differential abundance analysis using high resolution (R = 81,000) and high S/N (∼700) CFHT/ESPaDOnS spectra of the 16 Cygni stars and the Sun; the latter was obtained from light reflected of asteroids. We determine differential abundances of the binary components relative to the Sun and between components A and B as well. We achieve a precision of σ ≲ 0.005 dex and a total error ∼0.01 dex for most elements. The effective temperatures and surface gravities found for 16 Cyg A and B are T {sub eff} = 5830 ± 7 K, log g = 4.30 ± 0.02 dex, and T {sub eff} = 5751 ± 6 K, log g = 4.35 ± 0.02 dex, respectively. The component 16 Cyg A has a metallicity ([Fe/H]) higher by 0.047 ± 0.005 dex than 16 Cyg B, as well as a microturbulence velocity higher by 0.08 km s{sup –1}. All elements show abundance differences between the binary components, but while the volatile difference is about 0.03 dex, the refractories differ by more and show a trend with condensation temperature, which could be interpreted as the signature of the rocky accretion core of the giant planet 16 Cyg Bb. We estimate a mass of about 1.5-6 M {sub ⊕} for this rocky core, in good agreement with estimates of Jupiter's core.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

TURBULENCE SETS THE INITIAL CONDITIONS FOR STAR FORMATION IN HIGH-PRESSURE ENVIRONMENTS

Despite the simplicity of theoretical models of supersonically turbulent, isothermal media, their predictions successfully match the observed gas structure and star formation activity within low-pressure (P/k < 10{sup 5} K cm{sup –3}) molecular clouds in the solar neighborhood. However, it is unknown whether or not these theories extend to clouds in high-pressure (P/k > 10{sup 7} K cm{sup –3}) environments, like those in the Galaxy's inner 200 pc central molecular zone (CMZ) and in the early universe. Here, we present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 3 mm dust continuum emission within a cloud, G0.253+0.016, which is immersed in the high-pressure environment of the CMZ. While the log-normal shape and dispersion of its column density probability distribution function (PDF) are strikingly similar to those of solar neighborhood clouds, there is one important quantitative difference: its mean column density is one to two orders of magnitude higher. Both the similarity and difference in the PDF compared to those derived from solar neighborhood clouds match predictions of turbulent cloud models given the high-pressure environment of the CMZ. The PDF shows a small deviation from log-normal at high column densities confirming the youth of G0.253+0.016. Its lack of star formation is consistent with the theoretically predicted, environmentally dependent volume density threshold for star formation which is orders of magnitude higher than that derived for solar neighborhood clouds. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that the current theoretical understanding of molecular cloud structure derived from the solar neighborhood also holds in high-pressure environments. We therefore suggest that these theories may be applicable to understand star formation in the early universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE FIRST H-BAND SPECTRUM OF THE GIANT PLANET β PICTORIS b

Using the recently installed Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), we have obtained the first H-band spectrum of the planetary companion to the nearby young star β Pictoris. GPI is designed to image and provide low-resolution spectra of Jupiter-sized, self-luminous planetary companions around young nearby stars. These observations were taken covering the H band (1.65 μm). The spectrum has a resolving power of ∼45 and demonstrates the distinctive triangular shape of a cool substellar object with low surface gravity. Using atmospheric models, we find an effective temperature of 1600-1700 K and a surface gravity of log (g) = 3.5-4.5 (cgs units). These values agree well with ''hot-start'' predictions from planetary evolution models for a gas giant with mass between 10 and 12 M {sub Jup} and age between 10 and 20 Myr.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Characterizing the uppermost 100 m structure of the San Jacinto fault zone southeast of Anza, California, through joint analysis of geological, topographic, seismic and resistivity data

We present results from complementary geological, topographic, seismic and electrical resistivity surveys at the Sagebrush Flat (SGB) site along the Clark fault (CF) strand of the San Jacinto fault zone trifurcation area southeast of Anza, California. Joint interpretation of these data sets, each with unique spatiotemporal sensitivities, allow us to better characterize the shallow (<100 m) fault zone at this structurally complex site. Geological mapping at the surface shows the CF has three main subparallel strands within a <100 m zone with varying degrees of rock damage. These strands intersect units of banded gneiss and tonalite, and various sedimentary units. Near the surface, the weathered but more intact tonalite and gneiss to the southwest have relatively high VP. The low-lying flat sedimentary basins around the two southwestern-most CF strands and elevated damaged gneiss to the northeast have lowest VP <500 m s–1. The high relief of the northeast gneiss unit may in part be explained by its extensive damage and inferred increased relative rock uplift. Resistivity imaging shows the unconsolidated dry basin sediments (maximum >1300 Ohm.m) contrasted against the compacted fine-grained (potentially wet) materials within the CF core and the Bautista Formation (minimum <40 Ohm.m), which is slightly elevated above the flat basins. The inverse relationship between VP (increases) and resistivity (decreases) in the uppermost ~15 m can be characterized as log–log linear with slopes of –2.6 to –4. At depths >30 m, the velocity heterogeneity near the surface merges into larger-scale structures that are generally slower on the northeast side of the CF core compared to the southwest side (as much as ~40 per cent reduction in average VP). A previous study revealed a 20–37 per cent variability in peak ground velocities across the SGB site from local earthquakes. The upper end of that range is associated with the near-surface unconsolidated sedimentary basins and northeast damaged gneiss unit. Preliminary analysis of time-dependent topography mostly shows effects of changing vegetation and anthropogenic activity.

Geochemistry & Geophysics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Faster Johnson–Lindenstrauss transforms via Kronecker products

The Kronecker product is an important matrix operation with a wide range of applications in signal processing, graph theory, quantum computing and deep learning. In this work, we introduce a generalization of the fast Johnson–Lindenstrauss projection for embedding vectors with Kronecker product structure, the Kronecker fast Johnson–Lindenstrauss transform (KFJLT). The KFJLT reduces the embedding cost by an exponential factor of the standard fast Johnson–Lindenstrauss transform’s cost when applied to vectors with Kronecker structure, by avoiding explicitly forming the full Kronecker products. Here, we prove that this computational gain comes with only a small price in embedding power: consider a finite set of $p$ points in a tensor product of $d$ constituent Euclidean spaces $\bigotimes _{k=d}^{1}{\mathbb{R}}^{n_k}$, and let $N = \prod _{k=1}^{d}n_k$. With high probability, a random KFJLT matrix of dimension $m \times N$ embeds the set of points up to multiplicative distortion $(1\pm \varepsilon )$ provided $m \gtrsim \varepsilon ^{-2} \, \log ^{2d - 1} (p) \, \log N$. We conclude by describing a direct application of the KFJLT to the efficient solution of large-scale Kronecker-structured least squares problems for fitting the CP tensor decomposition.

Kronecker structure↗
DOE OSTI2025

The ability of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica strains to form biofilms on abiotic surfaces and their susceptibility to selected essential oil components

Abstract The ability of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica to persist and form biofilms on different surfaces can constitute a source of food contamination, being an issue of global concern. The objective of this study was to understand the biofilm formation profile of 14 S. enterica strains among different serovars and sources and to evaluate the ability of essential oil (EO) components (carveol, citronellol, and citronellal) to disinfect the biofilms formed on stainless steel and polypropylene surfaces. All the strains were able to form biofilms with counts between 5.34 to 6.78 log CFU cm−2. Then, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of EO components were evaluated on two selected strains. All compounds inhibited the growth of Salmonella Typhimurium (strain 1; MIC = 800–1000 µg ml−1) and Salmonella Enteritidis (strain 5; MIC = 400–1000 µg ml−1) and only carveol showed bactericidal activity against strains 1 and 5 (MBC = 1200 µg ml−1). Biofilms were exposed to the EO components at 10 × MIC for 30 min and polypropylene surfaces were more difficult to disinfect showing reductions between 0.9 and <1.2 log CFU cm−2. In general, the S. enterica biofilms demonstrated a significant tolerance to disinfection, demonstrating their high degree of recalcitrance on food processing surfaces.

Pérez-Lavalle, Liliana (ORCID:0000000344825031)↗
DOE OSTI2020

The host galaxies of 106 rapidly evolving transients discovered by the Dark Energy Survey

Rapidly evolving transients (RETs), also termed fast blue optical transients, are a recently discovered group of astrophysical events that display rapid luminosity evolution. RETs typically rise to peak in less than 10 d and fade within 30, a time-scale unlikely to be compatible with the decay of Nickel-56 that drives conventional supernovae (SNe). Their peak luminosity spans a range of -15 < Mg < -22.5, with some events observed at redshifts greater than 1. Their evolution on fast time-scales has hindered high-quality follow-up observations, and thus their origin and explosion/emission mechanism remains unexplained. In this paper, we present the largest sample of RETs to date, comprising 106 objects discovered by the Dark Energy Survey, and perform the most comprehensive analysis of RET host galaxies. Using deep-stacked photometry and emission lines from OzDES spectroscopy, we derive stellar masses and star formation rates (SFRs) for 49 host galaxies, and metallicities ([O/H]) for 37. Here, we find that RETs explode exclusively in star-forming galaxies and are thus likely associated with massive stars. Comparing RET hosts to samples of host galaxies of other explosive transients as well as field galaxies, we find that RETs prefer galaxies with high specific SFRs ($\langle$log(sSFR)$\rangle$ ~ -9.6), indicating a link to young stellar populations, similar to stripped-envelope SNe. RET hosts appear to show a lack of chemical enrichment, their metallicities akin to long-duration gamma-ray bursts and superluminous SN host galaxies ($\langle$12+ log (O/H)$\rangle$ ~ 9.4). There are no clear relationships between mass or SFR of the host galaxies and the peak magnitudes or decline rates of the transients themselves.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

First discovery of an ultra-cool white dwarf benchmark in common proper motion with an M dwarf

Ultra-cool white dwarfs are among the oldest stellar remnants in the Universe. Their efficient gravitational settling and low effective temperatures are responsible for the smooth spectra they exhibit. For that reason, it is not possible to derive their radial velocities or to find the chemistry of the progenitors. The best that can be done is to infer such properties from associated sources, which are coeval. The simplest form of such a system is a common proper motion pair where one star is an evolved degenerate and the other a main-sequence star. Herein, we present the discovery of the first of such a system, the M dwarf LHS 6328 and the ultra-cool white dwarf PSO J1801+625, from the Pan-STARRS 1 3π survey and the Gaia Data Release 2. Follow-up spectra were collected covering a usable wavelength range of 3750–24 500 Å. Their spectra show that the white dwarf has an effective temperature of 3550 K and surface gravity of log $g$ = 7.45 ± 0.13 or log $g$ = 7.49 ± 0.13 for a CO or He core, respectively, when compared against synthetic spectra of ultra-cool white dwarf atmosphere models. The system has slightly subsolar metallicity with -0.25 < [Fe/H] < 0.0, and a spatial velocity of (U, V, W) = (-114.26 ± 0.24, 222.94 ± 0.60, 10.25 ± 0.34) km s -1 , the first radial velocity and metallicity measurements of an ultra-cool white dwarf. This makes it the first and only benchmark of its kind to date.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

New insights on the nebular emission, ionizing radiation, and low metallicity of Green Peas from advanced modelling

ABSTRACT Low-metallicity, compact starburst galaxies referred to as Green Peas (GPs) provide a unique window to study galactic evolution across cosmic epochs. In this work, we present new deep optical spectra for three GPs from OSIRIS at the 10-m Gran Telescopio Canarias, which are studied using a state-of-the-art methodology. A stellar population synthesis is conducted with 1098 spectral templates. The methodology succeeds at characterizing stellar populations from 0.5 Myr to 10 Gyr. The light distribution shows a large red excess from a single population with ${log}\left({age}\right) \gt 8.5\, \mathrm{yr}$ in the GP sample analysed. This points towards an incomplete characterization of the gas luminosity, whose continuum already accounts between 7.4 and $27.6{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ in the galaxy sample. The emission spectra are fitted with the largest Bayesian chemical model consisting of an electron temperature, an electron density, the logarithmic extinction coefficient and eleven ionic species under the direct method paradigm. Additionally, building on previous work, we propose a neural networks sampler to constrain the effective temperature and ionization parameter of each source from photoionization model grids. Finally, we combine both methodologies into a 16-dimensional model, which for the first time, simultaneously explores the direct method and photoionization parameter spaces. Both techniques consistently indicate a low-metallicity gas, $7.76\lt 12+{\rm log}\left(O/H \right)\lt 8.04$, ionized by strong radiation fields, in agreement with previous works.

Fernández, V. (ORCID:0000000305315450)↗
DOE OSTI2021

SDSS-IV MaStar: theoretical atmospheric parameters for the MaNGA stellar library

ABSTRACT We calculate the fundamental stellar parameters effective temperature, surface gravity, and iron abundance – Teff, log g, [Fe/H] – for the final release of the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) Stellar Library (MaStar), containing 59 266 per-visit-spectra for 24 290 unique stars at intermediate resolution (R ∼ 1800) and high S/N (median = 96). We fit theoretical spectra from model atmospheres by both MARCS and BOSZ-ATLAS9 to the observed MaStar spectra, using the full spectral fitting code pPXF. We further employ a Bayesian approach, using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique to map the parameter space and obtain uncertainties. Originally in this paper, we cross match MaStar observations with Gaia photometry, which enable us to set reliable priors and identify outliers according to stellar evolution. In parallel to the parameter determination, we calculate corresponding stellar population models to test the reliability of the parameters for each stellar evolutionary phase. We further assess our procedure by determining parameters for standard stars such as the Sun and Vega and by comparing our parameters with those determined in the literature from high-resolution spectroscopy (APOGEE and SEGUE) and from lower resolution matching template (LAMOST). The comparisons, considering the different methodologies and S/N of the literature surveys, are favourable in all cases. Our final parameter catalogue for MaStar cover the following ranges: 2592 ≤ Teff ≤ 32 983 K; −0.7 ≤ log g ≤ 5.4 dex; −2.9 ≤ [Fe/H] ≤ 1.0 dex and will be available with the last SDSS-IV Data Release, in 2021 December.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

The role of radio loudness in Eigenvector 1 and the Baldwin Effect of [O iii ] λ5007

ABSTRACT The radio emission is an important observable of quasars, but its relationship to Eigenvector 1 and the [O iii] λ5007 Baldwin Effect is not fully understood. We explore these issues based on a sample of 1800 quasars taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. We employ a new approach of selecting subsamples in the plane of fundamental physical parameters of the black hole mass and Eddington ratio, so as to reduce variables and complexity in analyses. Based on these subsamples, we investigate the relationship between radio loudness R and Eigenvector 1 and find that radio loudness is correlated with [O iii] λ5007 emission, but has no clear relationship with optical Fe ii emission, which indicates that the radio power is probably not a driver of Eigenvector 1 but merely a secondary process. In addition, we also investigate the impact of radio loudness on the Baldwin Effect of [O iii] λ5007. We find that when the radio loudness is not strong (log R < 2), the Baldwin Effect of [O iii] λ5007 is clear, while in the samples of extreme radio loudness (log R ≥ 2), the Baldwin Effect of [O iii] λ5007 becomes weaker or even disappears. We suggest that both radio loudness and luminosity influence the relative strength of [O iii].

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

SDSS-IV MaNGA: Identification and multiwavelength properties of Type-1 AGN in the DR15 sample

ABSTRACT We present a method to identify type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the central 3 arcsec integrated spectra of galaxies in the MaNGA DR15 sample. It is based on flux ratios estimates in spectral bands flanking the expected h α broad component h αBC. The high signal-to-noise ratio obtained (mean S/N = 84) permits the identification of h αBC without prior subtraction of the host galaxy (HG) stellar component. A final sample of 47 type-1 AGN is reported out of 4700 galaxies at z < 0.15. The results were compared with those from other methods based on the SDSS DR7 and MaNGA data. Detection of type-1 AGN in those works compared to our method goes from 26 per cent to 81 per cent. Spectral indexes were used to classify the type-1 AGN spectra according to different levels of AGN-HG contribution, finding 9 AGN-dominated, 14 intermediate, and 24 HG-dominated objects. Complementary data in NIR-MIR allowed us to identify type I AGN-dominated objects as blue and HG-dominated as red in the WISE colours. From NVSS and FIRST radio continuum data, we identify 5 HERGs (high-excitation radio galaxies) and 4 LERGs (low-excitation radio galaxies), three showing evidence of radio-jets in the FIRST maps. Additional X-ray data from ROSAT allowed us to build [O iii] and h αBC versus X-ray, NIR-MIR, and radio continuum diagrams, showing that L(h αBC) and L([O iii]) provide good correlations. The range in h αBC luminosity is wide 38 < logL(h αBC) < 44, with log FWHM(h αBC) ∼ 3–4, covering a range of Eddington ratios of −5.15 < log Lbol/LEdd < 0.70. Finally, we also identify and report ten possible changing-look AGN candidates.

Cortes-Suárez, Edgar↗
DOE OSTI2022

Measuring the thermal and ionization state of the low- z IGM using likelihood free inference

ABSTRACT We present a new approach to measure the power-law temperature density relationship $T=T_0 (\rho/ \bar{\rho })^{\gamma -1}$ and the UV background photoionization rate $\Gamma _{{{{\rm H\, {\small I}}}}{}}$ of the intergalactic medium (IGM) based on the Voigt profile decomposition of the Ly α forest into a set of discrete absorption lines with Doppler parameter b and the neutral hydrogen column density $N_{\rm H\, {\small I}}$. Previous work demonstrated that the shape of the $b-N_{{{{\rm H\, {\small I}}}}{}}$ distribution is sensitive to the IGM thermal parameters T0 and γ, whereas our new inference algorithm also takes into account the normalization of the distribution, i.e. the line-density dN/dz, and we demonstrate that precise constraints can also be obtained on $\Gamma _{{{{\rm H\, {\small I}}}}{}}$. We use density-estimation likelihood-free inference (DELFI) to emulate the dependence of the $b-N_{{{{\rm H\, {\small I}}}}{}}$ distribution on IGM parameters trained on an ensemble of 624 nyx hydrodynamical simulations at z = 0.1, which we combine with a Gaussian process emulator of the normalization. To demonstrate the efficacy of this approach, we generate hundreds of realizations of realistic mock HST/COS data sets, each comprising 34 quasar sightlines, and forward model the noise and resolution to match the real data. We use this large ensemble of mocks to extensively test our inference and empirically demonstrate that our posterior distributions are robust. Our analysis shows that by applying our new approach to existing Ly α forest spectra at z ≃ 0.1, one can measure the thermal and ionization state of the IGM with very high precision ($\sigma _{\log T_0} \sim 0.08$ dex, σγ ∼ 0.06, and $\sigma _{\log \Gamma _{{{{\rm H\, {\small I}}}}{}}} \sim 0.07$ dex).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗