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DOE OSTI2012

THE EXTREME SMALL SCALES: DO SATELLITE GALAXIES TRACE DARK MATTER?

We investigate the radial distribution of galaxies within their host dark matter halos as measured in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by modeling their small-scale clustering. Specifically, we model the Jiang et al. measurements of the galaxy two-point correlation function down to very small projected separations (10 h{sup -1} kpc {<=} r {<=} 400 h{sup -1} kpc), in a wide range of luminosity threshold samples (absolute r-band magnitudes of -18 up to -23). We use a halo occupation distribution framework with free parameters that specify both the number and spatial distribution of galaxies within their host dark matter halos. We assume one galaxy resides in the halo center and additional galaxies are considered satellites that follow a radial density profile similar to the dark matter Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) profile, except that the concentration and inner slope are allowed to vary. We find that in low luminosity samples (M{sub r} < -19.5 and lower), satellite galaxies have radial profiles that are consistent with NFW. M{sub r} < -20 and brighter satellite galaxies have radial profiles with significantly steeper inner slopes than NFW (we find inner logarithmic slopes ranging from -1.6 to -2.1, as opposed to -1 for NFW). We define a useful metric of concentration, M{sub 1/10}, which is the fraction of satellite galaxies (or mass) that are enclosed within one-tenth of the virial radius of a halo. We find that M{sub 1/10} for low-luminosity satellite galaxies agrees with NFW, whereas for luminous galaxies it is 2.5-4 times higher, demonstrating that these galaxies are substantially more centrally concentrated within their dark matter halos than the dark matter itself. Our results therefore suggest that the processes that govern the spatial distribution of galaxies, once they have merged into larger halos, must be luminosity dependent, such that luminous galaxies become poor tracers of the underlying dark matter.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

COLLISIONAL EXCITATION OF FAR-INFRARED LINE EMISSIONS FROM WARM INTERSTELLAR CARBON MONOXIDE (CO)

Motivated by recent observations with Herschel/PACS, and the availability of new rate coefficients for the collisional excitation of CO, the excitation of warm astrophysical CO is revisited with the use of numerical and analytic methods. For the case of an isothermal medium, results have been obtained for a wide range of gas temperatures (100-5000 K) and H{sub 2} densities (10{sup 3}-10{sup 9} cm{sup -3}), and presented in the form of rotational diagrams, in which the logarithm of the column density per magnetic substate, log (N{sub J} /g{sub J} ), is plotted for each state, as a function of its energy, E{sub J} . For rotational transitions in the wavelength range accessible to Herschel/PACS, such diagrams are nearly linear when n(H{sub 2}) {>=} 10{sup 8} cm{sup -3}. When n(H{sub 2}) {approx} 10{sup 6.8}-10{sup 8} cm{sup -3}, they exhibit significant negative curvature, whereas when n(H{sub 2}) {<=} 10{sup 4.8} cm{sup -3}, the curvature is uniformly positive throughout the PACS-accessible range. Thus, the observation of a positively curved CO rotational diagram does not necessarily require the presence of multiple temperature components. Indeed, for some sources observed with Herschel/PACS, the CO rotational diagrams show a modest positive curvature that can be explained by a single isothermal component. Typically, the required physical parameters are densities in the 10{sup 4}-10{sup 5} cm{sup -3} range and temperatures close to the maximum at which CO can survive. Other sources exhibit rotational diagrams with more curvature than can be accounted for by a single temperature component. For the case of a medium with a power-law distribution of gas temperatures, dN/dT{proportional_to}T{sup -b}, results have been obtained for H{sub 2} densities 10{sup 3}-10{sup 9} cm{sup -3} and power-law indices, b, in the range 1-5; such a medium can account for a CO rotational diagram that is more positively curved than any resulting from an isothermal medium.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

PSEUDO-NEWTONIAN POTENTIALS FOR NEARLY PARABOLIC ORBITS

We describe a pseudo-Newtonian potential which, to within 1% error at all angular momenta, reproduces the precession due to general relativity of particles whose specific orbital energy is small compared to c{sup 2} in the Schwarzschild metric. For bound orbits, the constraint of low energy is equivalent to requiring the apoapsis of a particle to be large compared to the Schwarzschild radius. Such low-energy orbits are ubiquitous close to supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei, but the potential is relevant in any context containing particles on low-energy orbits. Like the more complex post-Newtonian expressions, the potential correctly reproduces the precession in the far field, but also correctly reproduces the position and magnitude of the logarithmic divergence in precession for low angular momentum orbits. An additional advantage lies in its simplicity, both in computation and implementation. We also provide two simpler, but less accurate potentials, for cases where orbits always remain at large angular momenta, or when the extra accuracy is not needed. In all of the presented cases, the accuracy in precession in low-energy orbits exceeds that of the well-known potential of Paczynski and Wiita, which has {approx}30% error in the precession at all angular momenta.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

TOWARD TIGHT GAMMA-RAY BURST LUMINOSITY RELATIONS

The large scatters of luminosity relations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been one of the most important reasons preventing the extensive application of GRBs in cosmology. Many efforts have been made to seek tight luminosity relations. With the latest sample of 116 GRBs with measured redshift and spectral parameters, we investigate 6 two-dimensional (2D) correlations and 14 derived three-dimensional (3D) correlations of GRBs to explore the possibility of decreasing the intrinsic scatters of the luminosity relations of GRBs. We find the 3D correlation of E{sub peak}-{tau}{sub RT}-L to be evidently tighter (at the 2{sigma} confidence level) than its corresponding 2D correlations, i.e., the E{sub peak}-L and {tau}{sub RT}-L correlations. In addition, the coefficients before the logarithms of E{sub peak} and {tau}{sub RT} in the E{sub peak}-{tau}{sub RT}-L correlation are almost exact opposites of each other. Inputting this situation as a prior reduces the relation to L{proportional_to}(E'{sub peak}/{tau}{sub RT}'){sup 0.842{+-}0.064}, where E'{sub peak} and {tau}'{sub RT} denote the peak energy and minimum rise time in the GRB rest frame. We discuss how our findings can be interpreted/understood in the framework of the definition of the luminosity (energy released in units of time). Our argument about the connection between the luminosity relations of GRBs and the definition of the luminosity provides a clear direction for exploring tighter luminosity relations of GRBs in the future.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

FOREGROUND PREDICTIONS FOR THE COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND POWER SPECTRUM FROM MEASUREMENTS OF FAINT INVERTED RADIO SOURCES AT 5 GHz

We present measurements of a population of matched radio sources at 1.4 and 5 GHz down to a flux limit of 1.5 mJy in 7 deg{sup 2} of the NOAO Deep Field South. We find a significant fraction of sources with inverted spectral indices that all have 1.4 GHz fluxes less than 10 mJy and are therefore too faint to have been detected and included in previous radio source count models that are matched at multiple frequencies. Combined with the matched source population at 1.4 and 5 GHz in 1 deg{sup -2} in the ATESP survey, we update models for the 5 GHz differential number counts and distributions of spectral indices in 5 GHz flux bins that can be used to estimate the unresolved point source contribution to the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies. We find a shallower logarithmic slope in the 5 GHz differential counts than in previously published models for fluxes {approx}< 100 mJy as well as larger fractions of inverted spectral indices at these fluxes. Because the Planck flux limit for resolved sources is larger than 100 mJy in all channels, our modified number counts yield at most a 10% change in the predicted Poisson contribution to the Planck temperature power spectrum. For a flux cut of 5 mJy with the South Pole Telescope and a flux cut of 20 mJy with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, we predict a {approx}30% and {approx}10% increase, respectively, in the radio source Poisson power in the lowest frequency channels of each experiment relative to that predicted by previous models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

SIMULATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BURST JETS IN A STRATIFIED EXTERNAL MEDIUM: DYNAMICS, AFTERGLOW LIGHT CURVES, JET BREAKS, AND RADIO CALORIMETRY

The dynamics of gamma-ray burst (GRB) jets during the afterglow phase is most reliably and accurately modeled using hydrodynamic simulations. All published simulations so far, however, have considered only a uniform external medium, while a stratified external medium is expected around long duration GRB progenitors. Here, we present simulations of the dynamics of GRB jets and the resulting afterglow emission for both uniform and stratified external media with {rho}{sub ext}{proportional_to}r{sup -k} for k = 0, 1, 2. The simulations are performed in two dimensions using the special relativistic version of the Mezcal code. Common to all calculations is the initiation of the GRB jet as a conical wedge of half-opening angle {theta}{sub 0} = 0.2 whose radial profile is taken from the self-similar Blandford-McKee solution. The dynamics for stratified external media (k = 1, 2) are broadly similar to those derived for expansion into a uniform external medium (k = 0). The jet half-opening angle is observed to start increasing logarithmically with time (or radius) once the Lorentz factor {Gamma} drops below {theta}{sup -1}{sub 0}. For larger k values, however, the lateral expansion is faster at early times (when {Gamma} > {theta}{sup -1}{sub 0}) and slower at late times with the jet expansion becoming Newtonian and slowly approaching spherical symmetry over progressively longer timescales. We find that, contrary to analytic expectations, there is a reasonably sharp jet break in the light curve for k = 2 (a wind-like external medium), although the shape of the break is affected more by the viewing angle (for {theta}{sub obs} {<=} {theta}{sub 0}) than by the slope of the external density profile (for 0 {<=} k {<=} 2). Steeper density profiles (i.e., increasing k values) are found to produce more gradual jet breaks while larger viewing angles cause smoother and later appearing jet breaks. The counterjet becomes visible as it becomes sub-relativistic, and for k = 0 this results in a clear bump-like feature in the light curve. However, for larger k values the jet decelerates more gradually, causing only a mild flattening in the radio light curve that might be hard to discern when k = 2. Late-time radio calorimetry, which makes use of a spherical flow approximation near the non-relativistic transition, is likely to consistently overestimate the true energy by up to a factor of a few for k = 2, but likely to either overpredict or underpredict it by a smaller factor for k = 0, 1.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE SOLAR FLARE SULFUR ABUNDANCE FROM RESIK OBSERVATIONS

The RESIK instrument on CORONAS-F spacecraft observed several sulfur X-ray lines in three of its four channels covering the wavelength range 3.8-6.1 A during solar flares. The fluxes are analyzed to give the sulfur abundance. Data are chosen for when the instrument parameters were optimized. The measured fluxes of the S XV 1s{sup 2}-1s4p (w4) line at 4.089 A gives A(S) = 7.16 {+-} 0.17 (abundances on a logarithmic scale with A(H) = 12) which we consider to be the most reliable. Estimates from other lines range from 7.13 to 7.24. The preferred S abundance estimate is very close to recent photospheric abundance estimates and to quiet-Sun solar wind and meteoritic abundances. This implies no fractionation of sulfur by processes tending to enhance the coronal abundance from the photospheric that depend on the first ionization potential (FIP), or that sulfur, though its FIP has an intermediate value of 10.36 eV, acts like a 'high-FIP' element.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

OBSERVATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF GAMMA-RAY BURST AFTERGLOW JET SIMULATIONS AND NUMERICAL LIGHT CURVE CALCULATIONS

We discuss jet dynamics for narrow and wide gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow jets and the observational implications of numerical simulations of relativistic jets in two dimensions. We confirm earlier numerical results that sideways expansion of relativistic jets during the bulk of the afterglow emission phase is logarithmic in time and find that this also applies to narrow jets with half opening angle of 0.05 rad. As a result, afterglow jets remain highly nonspherical until after they have become nonrelativistic. Although sideways expansion steepens the afterglow light curve after the jet break, the jet edges becoming visible dominates the jet break, which means that the jet break is sensitive to the observer angle even for narrow jets. Failure to take the observer angle into account can lead to an overestimation of the jet energy by up to a factor of four. This weakens the challenge posed to the magneter energy limit by extreme events such as GRB090926A. Late-time radio calorimetry based on a spherical nonrelativistic outflow model remains relevant when the observer is approximately on-axis and where differences of a few in flux level between the model and the simulation are acceptable. However, this does not imply sphericity of the outflow and therefore does not translate to high observer angles relevant to orphan afterglows. For more accurate calorimetry and in order to model significant late-time features such as the rise of the counterjet, detailed jet simulations remain indispensable.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

SPIRAL FLOWS IN COOL-CORE GALAXY CLUSTERS

We argue that bulk spiral flows are ubiquitous in the cool cores (CCs) of clusters and groups of galaxies. Such flows are gauged by spiral features in the thermal and chemical properties of the intracluster medium, by the multiphase properties of CCs, and by X-ray edges known as cold fronts. We analytically show that observations of piecewise-spiral fronts impose strong constraints on the CC, implying the presence of a cold, fast flow, which propagates below a hot, slow inflow, separated by a slowly rotating, trailing, quasi-spiral, tangential discontinuity surface. This leads to the nearly logarithmic spiral pattern, two-phase plasma, {rho} {approx} r{sup -1} density (or T {approx} r{sup 0.4} temperature) radial profile, and {approx}100 kpc size, characteristic of CCs. By advecting heat and mixing the gas, such flows can eliminate the cooling problem, provided that a feedback mechanism regulates the flow. In particular, we present a quasi-steady-state model for an accretion-quenched, composite flow, in which the fast phase is an outflow, regulated by active galactic nucleus bubbles, reproducing the observed low star formation rates and explaining some features of bubbles such as their R{sub b} {proportional_to}r size. The simplest two-component model reproduces several key properties of CCs, so we propose that all such cores harbor a spiral flow. Our results can be tested directly in the next few years, for example by ASTRO-H.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

FORMING EARLY-TYPE GALAXIES IN {Lambda}CDM SIMULATIONS. I. ASSEMBLY HISTORIES

We present a sample of nine high-resolution cosmological simulations in the mass range of M{sub vir} = 7 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 11}-4 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 12} M{sub Sun} starting from {Lambda}CDM initial conditions. Our simulations include primordial radiative cooling, photoionization, star formation, supernova II feedback, but exclude supernova-driven winds and active galactic nucleus feedback. The simulated galaxies assemble in two phases, with the initial growth dominated by compact (r < r{sub eff}) in situ star formation fueled by cold, low-entropy gas streams resulting in a very similar mean assembly redshift of z{sub f,ins} {approx} 2.5 for the in situ stellar component in all galaxies. The late growth is dominated by accretion of old stars formed in subunits outside the main galaxy (r > r{sub eff}) resulting in an assembly redshift of z{sub f,acc} {approx} 0.5-1.5 with much larger scatter. We find a positive correlation between the fraction of accreted stars and the final mass of our galaxies. We show that gravitational feedback strongly suppresses late star formation in massive galaxies contributing to the observed galaxy color bimodality. The accretion of stellar material is also responsible for the observed size growth of early-type galaxies. In addition, we find that the dark matter fractions within the stellar half-mass radii continuously increase toward lower redshift from about f{sub DM} {approx} 0.05 at z {approx} 3 to f{sub DM} {approx} 0.1-0.3 at z = 0. Furthermore, the logarithmic slope of the total density profile is nearly isothermal at the present day ({gamma}' {approx} 1.9-2.2). Finally, the input of gravitational heating lowers the central dark matter densities in the galaxies, with the effect being smaller compared to simulations without supernova feedback.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

EXPLORING THE DIVERSITY OF GROUPS AT 0.1 < z < 0.8 WITH X-RAY AND OPTICALLY SELECTED SAMPLES

We present the global group properties of two samples of galaxy groups containing 39 high-quality X-ray-selected systems and 38 optically (spectroscopically) selected systems in coincident spatial regions at 0.12 < z < 0.79. The total mass range of the combined sample is {approx}(10{sup 12}-5) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 14} M{sub Sun }. Only nine optical systems are associable with X-ray systems. We discuss the confusion inherent in the matching of both galaxies to extended X-ray emission and of X-ray emission to already identified optical systems. Extensive spectroscopy has been obtained and the resultant redshift catalog and group membership are provided here. X-ray, dynamical, and total stellar masses of the groups are also derived and presented. We explore the effects of utilizing different centers and applying three different kinds of radial cut to our systems: a constant cut of 1 Mpc and two r{sub 200} cuts, one based on the velocity dispersion of the system and the other on the X-ray emission. We find that an X-ray-based r{sub 200} results in less scatter in scaling relations and less dynamical complexity as evidenced by results of the Anderson-Darling and Dressler-Schectman tests, indicating that this radius tends to isolate the virialized part of the system. The constant and velocity dispersion based cuts can overestimate membership and can work to inflate velocity dispersion and dynamical and stellar mass. We find L{sub X} -{sigma} and M{sub stellar}-L{sub X} scaling relations for X-ray and optically selected systems are not dissimilar. The mean fraction of mass found in stars, excluding intracluster light, for our systems is {approx}0.014 with a logarithmic standard deviation of 0.398 dex. We also define and investigate a sample of groups which are X-ray underluminous given the total group stellar mass. For these systems the fraction of stellar mass contributed by the most massive galaxy is typically lower than that found for the total population of groups implying that there may be less intragroup medium contributed from the most massive member in these systems. Eighty percent of 15 underluminous groups have less than 40% of their stellar mass in the most massive galaxy which happens in less than 1% of cases with samples matched in stellar mass, taken from the combined group catalog.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

ABRUPT CHANGES OF THE PHOTOSPHERIC MAGNETIC FIELD IN ACTIVE REGIONS AND THE IMPULSIVE PHASE OF SOLAR FLARES

We compared time profiles of changes of the unsigned photospheric magnetic flux in active regions with those of their associated soft X-ray (SXR) bursts for a sample of 75 {>=} M5 flares well observed by Global Oscillation Network Group longitudinal magnetographs. Sixty-six of these events had stepwise changes in the spatially integrated unsigned flux during the SXR flares. In superposed epoch plots for these 66 events, there is a sharp increase in the unsigned magnetic flux coincident with the onset of the flare impulsive phase while the end of the stepwise change corresponds to the time of peak SXR emission. We substantiated this result with a histogram-based comparison of the timing of flux steps (onset, midpoint of step, and end) for representative points in the flaring regions with their associated SXR event time markers (flare onset, onset of impulsive phase, time of peak logarithmic derivative, maximum). On an individual event basis, the principal part of the stepwise magnetic flux change occurred during the main rise phase of the SXR burst (impulsive phase onset to SXR peak) for {approx}60% of the 66 cases. We find a close timing agreement between magnetic flux steps and >100 keV emission for the three largest hard X-ray (>100 keV) bursts in our sample. These results identify the abrupt changes in photospheric magnetic fields as an impulsive phase phenomenon and indicate that the coronal magnetic field changes that drive flares are rapidly transmitted to the photosphere.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND INDUCED POLARIZATION FROM SINGLE SCATTERING BY CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES AND FILAMENTS

We present light-cone-integrated simulations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization signal induced by a single scattering in the direction of clusters of galaxies and filaments. We characterize the statistical properties of the induced polarization signals from the presence of the CMB quadrupole component (pqiCMB) and as the result of the transverse motion of ionized gas clouds with respect to the CMB rest frame (p{beta}{sup 2}{sub t}SZ). From adiabatic N-body/hydrodynamic simulations, we generated 28 random sky patches integrated along the light cone, each with about 0.86 deg{sup 2} and angular resolution of 6''. Our simulation method involves a box-stacking scheme that allows to reconstruct the CMB quadrupole component and the gas physical properties along the line of sight. We find that the linear polarization degree in the logarithmic scale of both effects follows approximately a Gaussian distribution and the mean total signal is about 10{sup -8} and 10{sup -10} for the pqiCMB and p{beta}{sup 2}{sub t}SZ effects, respectively. The polarization angle is consistent with a flat distribution in both cases. From the mean distributions of the polarization degree with redshift, the highest peak is found at z {approx_equal} 1 for the induced CMB quadrupole and at z {approx_equal} 0.5 for the kinematic component. Our results suggest that most of the contribution for the total polarization signal arises from z {approx}< 4 for the pqiCMB and z {approx}< 3 for p{beta}{sup 2}{sub t}SZ. The spectral dependency of both integrated signals is strong, increasing with the frequency, especially in the case of the p{beta}{sup 2}{sub t}SZ signal, which increases by a factor of 100 from 30 GHz to 675 GHz. The maxima values found at the highest frequency are about 3 {mu}K and 13 {mu}K for the pqiCMB and p{beta}{sup 2}{sub t}SZ, respectively. The angular power spectra of these effects peak at large multipoles l > 10{sup 4}, being of the order of 10{sup -5} {mu}K{sup 2} for pqiCMB polarization and 10{sup -7} {mu}K{sup 2} for the p{beta}{sup 2}{sub t}SZ effect. Therefore, these effects will not be a relevant source of contamination for measurements of the primary polarization modes, and at larger multipoles of roughly l > 40, 000, pqiCMB may be the dominant component over the primary and lensing signals.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE STELLAR POPULATION AND STAR FORMATION RATES OF z Almost-Equal-To 1.5-1.6 [O II]-EMITTING GALAXIES SELECTED FROM NARROWBAND EMISSION-LINE SURVEYS

We present the first detailed study of the stellar populations of star-forming galaxies at z {approx} 1.5, which are selected by their [O II] emission line, detected in narrowband surveys. We identified {approx}1300 [O II] emitters at z = 1.47 and z = 1.62 in the Subaru Deep Field with rest-frame equivalent widths (EWs) above 13 A. Optical and near-infrared spectroscopic observations for Almost-Equal-To 10% of our samples show that our separation of [O II] from [O III] emission-line galaxies in two-color space is 99% successful. We analyze the multi-wavelength properties of a subset of {approx}1200 galaxies with the best photometry. They have average rest-frame EW of 45 A, stellar mass of 3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 9} M{sub Sun }, and stellar age of 100 Myr. In addition, our spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting and broadband colors indicate that [O II] emitters span the full range of galaxy populations at z {approx} 1.5. We also find that 80% of [O II] emitters are also photometrically classified as 'BX/BM' (UV) galaxies and/or the star-forming 'BzK' (near-IR) galaxies. Our [O II] emission line survey produces a far more complete and somewhat deeper sample of z {approx} 1.5 galaxies than either the BX/BM or sBzK selection alone. We constructed average SEDs and find that higher [O II] EW galaxies have somewhat bluer continua. SED model-fitting shows that they have on average half the stellar mass of galaxies with lower [O II] EW. The observed [O II] luminosity is well correlated with the far-UV continuum with a logarithmic slope of 0.89 {+-} 0.22. The scatter of the [O II] luminosity against the far-UV continuum suggests that [O II] can be used as a star formation rate indicator with a reliability of 0.23 dex.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

A BAYESIAN MONTE CARLO ANALYSIS OF THE M-{sigma} RELATION

We present an analysis of selection biases in the M{sub bh}-{sigma} relation using Monte Carlo simulations including the sphere of influence resolution selection bias and a selection bias in the velocity dispersion distribution. We find that the sphere of influence selection bias has a significant effect on the measured slope of the M{sub bh}-{sigma} relation, modeled as {beta}{sub intrinsic} = -4.69 + 2.22{beta}{sub measured}, where the measured slope is shallower than the model slope in the parameter range of {beta} > 4, with larger corrections for steeper model slopes. Therefore, when the sphere of influence is used as a criterion to exclude unreliable measurements, it also introduces a selection bias that needs to be modeled to restore the intrinsic slope of the relation. We find that the selection effect due to the velocity dispersion distribution of the sample, which might not follow the overall distribution of the population, is not important for slopes of {beta} {approx} 4-6 of a logarithmically linear M{sub bh}-{sigma} relation, which could impact some studies that measure low (e.g., {beta} < 4) slopes. Combining the selection biases in velocity dispersions and the sphere of influence cut, we find that the uncertainty of the slope is larger than the value without modeling these effects and estimate an intrinsic slope of {beta} = 5.28{sup +0.84}{sub -0.55}.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE DISTRIBUTION OF FAINT SATELLITES AROUND CENTRAL GALAXIES IN THE CANADA-FRANCE-HAWAII TELESCOPE LEGACY SURVEY

We investigate the radial number density profile and the abundance distribution of faint satellites around central galaxies in the low-redshift universe using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) Legacy Survey. We consider three samples of central galaxies with magnitudes of M {sub r} = -21, -22, and -23 selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey group catalog of Yang et al. The satellite distribution around these central galaxies is obtained by cross-correlating these galaxies with the photometric catalog of the CFHT Legacy Survey. The projected radial number density of the satellites obeys a power-law form with the best-fit logarithmic slope of -1.05, independent of both the central galaxy luminosity and the satellite luminosity. The projected cross-correlation function between central and satellite galaxies exhibits a non-monotonic trend with satellite luminosity. It is most pronounced for central galaxies with M {sub r} = -21, where the decreasing trend of clustering amplitude with satellite luminosity is reversed when satellites are fainter than central galaxies by more than 2 mag. A comparison with the satellite luminosity functions in the Milky Way (MW) and M31 shows that the MW/M31 system has about twice as many satellites as around a typical central galaxy of similar luminosity. The implications for theoretical models are briefly discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

NEW SCALING FOR THE ALPHA EFFECT IN SLOWLY ROTATING TURBULENCE

Using simulations of slowly rotating stratified turbulence, we show that the {alpha} effect responsible for the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields is proportional to the logarithmic gradient of kinetic energy density rather than that of momentum, as was previously thought. This result is in agreement with a new analytic theory developed in this paper for large Reynolds numbers and slow rotation. Thus, the contribution of density stratification is less important than that of turbulent velocity. The {alpha} effect and other turbulent transport coefficients are determined by means of the test-field method. In addition to forced turbulence, we also investigate supernova-driven turbulence and stellar convection. In some cases (intermediate rotation rate for forced turbulence, convection with intermediate temperature stratification, and supernova-driven turbulence), we find that the contribution of density stratification might be even less important than suggested by the analytic theory.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

STELLAR ENERGY RELAXATION AROUND A MASSIVE BLACK HOLE

Orbital energy relaxation around a massive black hole (MBH) plays a key role in the dynamics of galactic nuclei. Its standard description as diffusion provides a perturbative solution in the weak two-body interaction limit. Our N-body simulations show this fails to describe the short-timescale evolution, which is impacted by extreme events even in the weak limit, and is thus difficult to characterize and measure. We derive a non-perturbative solution for energy relaxation as an anomalous diffusion process, and a robust estimation technique to measure it in N-body simulations, and use these to analyze our numerical results. We empirically validate, for the first time, this theoretical description of energy relaxation around an MBH on all timescales. We constrain the modest contribution from strong encounters, and precisely measure that from the weakest encounters, and thereby calibrate the Coulomb logarithm. This yields a robust analytical estimate for the energy diffusion time, t{sub E} . We relate t{sub E} to the time t{sub r} it takes a small density perturbation to return to steady state in a relaxed, single mass stellar cusp, t{sub r} {approx_equal} 10t{sub E} {approx_equal} (5/32)Q {sup 2} P{sub h} /N{sub h} log Q, where Q = M {sub .}/M {sub *} is the MBH to star mass ratio, and the orbital period P{sub h} and star number N{sub h} are evaluated at the energy scale of the MBH's sphere of influence, E{sub h} = {sigma}{sup 2} {sub {infinity}}, where {sigma}{sub {infinity}} is the velocity dispersion at infinity. The observed M {sub .}/{sigma}{sub {infinity}} correlation then implies that passively evolving stellar cusps around lower-mass MBHs (M {sub .} {approx}< 10{sup 7} M {sub Sun }) should be dynamically relaxed by the Hubble time. We briefly consider the implications of anomalous diffusion for stars near the Galactic MBH.

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