Environmental dependence of stellar mass and stellar velocity dispersion of CMASS galaxies

In this study, I attempt to apply for a new statistical method and investigate the environmental dependence of stellar mass and stellar velocity dispersion in the CMASS sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 9 (SDSS DR9). I divide the CMASS sample with redshifts 0.44 ≤ z ≤ 0.59 into many subsamples with a redshift binning size of Δz = 0.01, and analyze the environmental dependence of stellar mass and stellar velocity dispersion of subsamples in each redshift bin. It is found that stellar mass and stellar velocity dispersions of CMASS galaxies are very weakly correlated with the local environment. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The G‐dwarf problem in the solar neighbourhood: II. Halo subdwarfs

The oxygen abundance distribution in solar neighbourhood halo subdwarfs is deduced, using two alternative, known empirical relationships, involving the presence or the absence of [O/Fe] plateau for low [Fe/H] values, from a sample of 372 kinematically selected halo stars, for which the iron abundance distribution has been determined by Ryan & Norris (1991). The data are interpreted by a simple, either homogeneous or inhomogeneous model of chemical evolution, using an updated value of the solar oxygen abundance. The effect of changing the solar oxygen abundance, the power‐law exponent in the initial mass function, and the rate of oxygen nucleosyntesis, keeping the remaining input parameters unchanged, is investigated, and a theorem is stated. In all cases, part of the gas must necessarily be inhibited from forming stars, and no disk contamination has to be advocated for fitting the empirical oxygen abundance distribution in halo subdwarfs of the solar neighbourhood (EGD). Then a theorem is stated, which allows a one‐to‐one correspondence between simple, homogeneous models with and without inhibited gas, related to same independent parameters of chemical evolution, except lower stellar mass limit, real yield, and inhibition parameter. The mutual correlations between the latter parameters are also specified. In addition the starting point, and the point related to the first step, of the theoretical distribution of oxygen abundance (TGD) predicted by simple, inhomogeneous models, is calculated analytically. The mean oxygen abundance of the total and only inhibited gas, respectively, are also determined. Following the idea of a universal, initial mass function (IMF), a power‐law with both an exponent p = 2.9, which is acceptably close to Scalo IMF for m ≳ m_⊙, and an exponent p = 2.35, i.e. Salpeter IMF, have been considered. In general, both the age‐metallicity relationship and the empirical distribution of oxygen abundance in G dwarfs of the disk solar neighbourhood, are fitted by power‐law IMF exponents in the range 2.35 ≤ p ≤ 2.9. Acceptable models predict about 15% of the total mass in form of long‐lived stars and remnants, at the end of halo evolution, with a mean gas oxygen abundance which is substantially lower than the mean bulge and initial disk oxygen abundance. To avoid this discrepancy, either the existence of a still undetected, baryonic dark halo with about 15% of the total mass, or an equal amount of gas loss during bulge and disk formation, is necessary. The latter alternative implies a lower stellar mass limit close to 0.2 m_⊙, which is related to a power‐law IMF exponent close to 2.77. Acceptable models also imply a rapid halo formation, mainly during the first step, Δt = 0.5 Gyr, followed by a period (three steps) where small changes occur. Accordingly, statistical fluctuations are found to produce only minor effects on the evolution.     

A direct imaging search for close stellar and sub‐stellar companions to young nearby stars

A total of 28 young nearby stars (ages ≤60 Myr) have been observed in the K_s‐band with the adaptive optics imager Naos‐Conica of the Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. Among the targets are ten visual binaries and one triple system at distances between 10 and 130 pc, all previously known. During a first observing epoch a total of 20 faint stellar or sub‐stellar companion‐candidates were detected around seven of the targets. These fields, as well as most of the stellar binaries, were re‐observed with the same instrument during a second epoch, about one year later. We present the astrometric observations of all binaries. Their analysis revealed that all stellar binaries are co‐moving. In two cases (HD 119022 AB and FG Aqr B/C) indications for significant orbital motions were found. However, all sub‐stellar companion candidates turned out to be non‐moving background objects except PZ Tel which is part of this project but whose results were published elsewhere. Detection limits were determined for all targets, and limiting masses were derived adopting three different age values; they turn out to be less than 10 Jupiter masses in most cases, well below the brown dwarf mass range. The fraction of stellar multiplicity and of the sub‐stellar companion occurrence in the star forming regions in Chamaeleon are compared to the statistics of our search, and possible reasons for the observed differences are discussed. (© 2015 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Weighing the cusp at the Galactic Centre

As stars close to the galactic centre have short orbital periods it has been possible to trace large fractions of their orbits in the recent years. Previously the data of the orbit of the star S2 have been fitted with Keplerian orbits corresponding to a massive black hole (MBH) with a mass of M_BH = 3–4 × 10⁶M_⊙ implying an insignificant cusp mass. However, it has also been shown that the central black hole resides in a ∼1″ diameter stellar cluster of a priori unknown mass. In a spherical potential which is neither Keplerian nor harmonic, orbits will precess resulting in inclined rosetta shaped trajectories on the sky. In this case, the assumption of non‐Keplerian orbits is a more physical approach. It is also the only approach through which cusp mass information can be obtained via stellar dynamics of the cusp members. This paper presents the first exemplary modelling efforts in this direction. Using positional and radial data of star S2, we find that there could exist an unobserved extended mass component of several 10⁵M_⊙ forming a so‐called ‘cusp’ centered on the black hole position. Considering only the fraction of the cusp mass Mequation/tex2gif-inf-4.gif within the apo‐center of the S2 orbit we find as an upper limit that Mequation/tex2gif-inf-6.gif/(M_BH + Mequation/tex2gif-inf-9.gif) ≤ 0.05. A large extended cusp mass, if present, is unlikely to be composed of sub‐solar mass constituents, but could be explained rather well by a cluster of high M/L stellar remnants, which we find to form a stable configuration. (© 2005 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Neutron stars in the multidimensional einstein theory of gravitation

The radius, mass, total number of baryons, and other parameters of static, spherically symmetric, superdense stars are calculated. A model with one Ricci-flat inner space of arbitrary dimensionality and the approximation p₁=?0.5ε + ap for additional components of the energy — momentum tensor are used (ε and ρ are the total energy density and the pressure of the stellar matter and a is a fitting parameter). In the case of white dwarfs, the results of the multidimensional theory do not depend on the dimensionality D of space-time for ?10 ? a ? 10 and coincide with the analogous data of the general theory of relativity (GTR). For neutron stars there is a dependence on D and a. For D>4, in particular, the greatest mass M_max of a neutron star as a function of a has a maximum at 3<a(D) ? 4, which exceeds the greatest mass M _max ⁰ =2.14 M_⊙ in the GTR. A comparison of theoretical results with observational data determines the allowable values of a. Data for PSR 1913 + 16 lead to 0.2 ≤ a ≤ 9.2 in the case of D=26, while the results of [P. C. Joss and S. A. Rappaport, Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys.,22, 537 (1984)] lead to the stricter limits 1 ≤ a ≤ 7.4.     

Some special restricted four-body problems—II. From Caledonia to Copenhagen

Special analytical solutions are determined for restricted, coplanar, four-body equal mass problems, including the Caledonian problem, where the masses M_i = M for i = 1,2,3,4. Most of these solutions are shown to reduce to the Lagrange solutions of the Copenhagen problem of three bodies by reducing two of the masses (m_i = m for i = 1,2) in the four-body equal mass problem to zero while maintaining their equality of mass. In so doing, families of special solutions to the four-body problem are shown to exist for any value of the mass ratio μ = m/M.     

Existence and Stability of L4,5 In The Relativistic Restricted Three-Body Problem

The existence and stability of triangular libration points in the relativistic restricted three-body problem has been studied. It is found that L_4,5 are unstable in the whole range 0 ≤ μ ≤ 1/2 in contrast to the classical restricted three-body problem where they are stable for 0 < μ < μ₀, where μ is the mass parameter and μ₀ = 0.03852.... This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mass—luminosity relation and pulsational properties of Wolf—Rayet stars

The evolution of Population I stars with initial masses 70M _⊙ ≤ M _ZAMS ≤ 130M _⊙ is considered. The computations were performed under various assumptions about the mass loss rate and were terminated at the phase of gravitational contraction after core helium exhaustion. The mass loss rate at the helium burning phase, ?_3α , is shown to be the main parameter that determines the coefficients of the mass—luminosity relation for Wolf—Rayet stars. Several more accurate mass—luminosity relations for mass loss rates ? = f _3α ?_3α , where 0.5 ≤ f _3α ≤ 3, are suggested, along with the mass—luminosity relation that combines all of the evolutionary sequences considered. The results of the stellar evolution computations were used as initial conditions in solving the hydrodynamic equations describing the spherically symmetric motions of a self-gravitating gas. The outer layers of massive Population I stars are unstable against radial oscillations throughout the helium burning phase. The oscillation amplitude is largest at enhanced carbon and oxygen abundances in the outer stellar layers, i.e., at a lower initial stellar mass M _ZAMS or a lower mass loss rate during the entire preceding evolution. In the course of evolution, the radial oscillation amplitude decreases and the small nonlinearity of the oscillations at M < 10M _⊙ allow the integral of mechanical work W done by an elementary spherical layer of gas in a closed thermodynamic cycle to be calculated with the necessary accuracy. The maximum of the radial dependence of W is shown to be located in layers with a gas temperature T ～ 2 × 10⁵ K, where the oscillations are excited by the iron Z-bump κ-mechanism. Comparison of the radial dependences of the integral of mechanical work W and the amplitude of the radiative flux variations suggests that the nonlinear radial oscillations of more massive Wolf—Rayet stars are also excited by the κ-mechanism.     

Asymptotic solutions in the many-body problem

A three-body problem is considered in which two masses, forming a close binary, orbit a comparatively distant mass. An asymptotic solution of this problem is presented, where the small parameter is related to the distance separating the binary and the remaining mass. Accepting certain model constraints, this solution is accurate within a constant errorO(¹¹) and uniformly valid for time intervalsO(^–3). Two specific examples are chosen to verify the literal solution: one relating to the Sun-Earth-Moon configuration of the solar system, the other to an idealized stellar system where the three masses are in the ratio 20:1:1. In both cases close agreement is found when the analytical solution is compared with an equivalent numerically-generated orbit.     

Modeling the linear polarization of optical emission from red giants

We present the results of solving the radiative transfer equation for the Stokes vector in the case of light scattering by spherical forsterite dust particles in an axisymmetric circumstellar envelope of a red giant. We have assumed that the surfaces of constant scattering-particle density are prolate or oblate spheroids, the particle density decreases with radius as N _d ∝ r ⁻², and the dust particles at the inner boundary of the envelope are in thermal equilibrium with the stellar emission at solid-phase evaporation temperature T _ev = 800 K. In the wavelength range 0.27 μm ≤ λ ≤ 1 μm, particles with radii 0.03 μm ≲ a ≲ 0.2 μm make a major contribution to the linear polarization of the stellar emission. The increase in scattering efficiency factor with decreasing wavelength λ is mainly responsible for the growth of polarization toward the short wavelengths known from observations. However, at a mean number of scatterings 1.2 ≤ N _sca ≤ 1.6, the polarization ceases to grow due to depolarization effects and decreases rapidly as the wavelength decreases further. The wavelength of the polarization maximum is determined mainly by two quantities: the particle radius and the mass loss rate. The upper limits for the degree of linear polarization in the case of light scattering in circumstellar dust envelopes with the geometries of prolate and oblate spheroids are p ≈ 3 and 5%, respectively. The polarization for light scattering by enstatite particles is higher than that for light scattering by forsterite particles approximately by 0.3%. Original Russian Text ? Yu.A. Fadeyev, 2007, published in Pis’ma v Astronomicheskiĭ Zhurnal, 2007, Vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 123–133.     

Instability of radial modes at the Wolf-Rayet evolutionary stage

The evolution of a Population-I star with an initial mass M _ZAMS = 60 M _⊙ has been calculated. At the stage when a red giant turns into an early-type helium star, the vast bulk of the stellar mass is concentrated in a compact core surrounded by an extended envelope that is unstable with respect to radial oscillations. The range of effective temperatures within which the instability arises extends to T _eff ? 10⁵ K. For the models corresponding to the Wolf-Rayet evolutionary stage (5 × 10⁴ K ≤ T _eff ≤ 1.05 × 10⁵ K), hydrodynamic calculations of self-exciting radial stellar pulsations have been performed. The pulsational instability develops in a time interval comparable to the dynamic timescale. Once the amplitude has ceased to grow, the pulsational motions are nonlinear traveling waves propagating from the core boundary to the stellar surface. The velocity amplitude of the outer layers is 500 km s^?1 < ΔU < 10³ km s^?1, depending on the effective temperature. During the evolution of a helium star, the mean ratio of the maximum expansion velocity of the outer layers to the local escape velocity decreases and lies within the range 0.25 < U _max/v _esc < 0.6 for the models considered. The nonlinearity of the stellar pulsations is responsible for the increase in the mean radius \(\bar r\) of the Lagrangian layers compared to the equilibrium radius r _eq. The effect of the increase in mean radius decreases with rising effective temperature from\(\bar r\)/r ～ 10 at T _eff = 7 × 10⁴ K to \(\bar r\)/r ≈ 2 at T _eff = 10⁵ K. The radial pulsation periods for the models considered lie within the range 0.1 day ≤ Π ≤ 1.6 day and the amplitude of the bolometric magnitude variations does not exceed 0 _. ^m 2.     

The convection zone in stars with radiation pressure in the presence of magnetic field

The effect of a uniform magnetic field on the envelope convection zone of an 8.8M star has been studied. The adiabatic exponents _i (i=1, 2, 3), adiabatic temperature gradient and specific heat of stellar matter has been computed. It is shown that the magnetic field tends to increase the values of adiabatic temperature gradient and specific heats of stellar matter in the envelope convection zone.     

Stellar parameters of young brown dwarfs

We present X‐shooter observations of two brown dwarf candidates. We focus on the determination of stellar parameters and their errors. The targets, an accreting class II and a non‐accreting class III objects, are members of the σ Orionis star‐forming region. We derive the spectroscopic spectral types from the VIS spectrum and the stellar parameters. We find that the uncertainties on the stellar parameters have a minor effect on the determination of the mass accretion rate for the accreting star, thus confirming that the discrepancies between the mass accretion rate estimates found with different (simultaneous) tracers are probably due to different physical conditions where the accretion/wind indicators are produced (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The Restricted Three-Body Problem: Comments on the Rotational Effect

The synchronization between the orbital motion and axial rotation of the two component stars of a binary system is reviewed. Some previous published papers are mentioned and the general conclusion is outlined: If we shall use a rotating coordinate system synchronous with one of the two stellar axial rotations, it is not possible to obtain a Jacobi integral and the Roche geometry cannot be further analyzed. In addition, a theoretical approach is summarized in order to use the axial rotations of the two component stars, even if the constants of the stellar structure (k₂)₁, (k₂)₂must be taken into consideration. So it is found that if the stellar angular velocities are higher than the corresponding Keplerian angular velocity (ω_i≫ ω_k, i= ), the problem of the rotational effect could be of practical consideration. Finally, a theoretical relationship between the two constants (k₂)₁and (k₂)₂of the stellar structure is established.     

Structure of the region of solar wind—Interstellar medium interaction and its influence on H atoms penetrating the solar wind

The structure of the region of interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium in the two-shocks model (TSM), first suggested by Baranovet al. (1970), is numerically calculated.For this problem our model is true only for charged particles of the interstellar medium interacting with the solar wind, since the free paths of neutral particles are very long and any hydrodynamical approximation would be incorrect.The shapes of the outer and inner shocks, the shape of the contact surface and the distribution of the parameters inside the interaction region are calculated, and are universal and correct for other astrophysical applications such as interstellar bubbles (Weaveret al., 1977), the stellar wind flow around a globule (Dyson, 1975), the interaction of stellar winds in binaries (Prilutzky and Usov, 1976), and so on.The problem of the effect of the charge exchange of H atoms with interstellar gas protons decelerated by an outer shock on H atoms penetrating the solar system is considered using the calculated results (Wallis, 1975). This effect is shown to influence essentially the estimate of H-atom concentration in the interstellar medium based on theL -scattering data.     

Spectral lag of gamma‐ray bursts caused by the intrinsic spectral evolution and the curvature effect

Assuming an intrinsic ‘Band’ shape spectrum and an intrinsic energy‐independent emission profile we have investigated the connection between the evolution of the rest‐frame spectral parameters and the spectral lags measured in gamma‐ray burst (GRB) pulses by using a pulse model. We first focus our attention on the evolution of the peak energy, E_0,p, and neglect the effect of the curvature effect. It is found that the evolution of E_0,p alone can produce the observed lags. When E_0,p varies from hard to soft only the positive lags can be observed. The negative lags would occur in the case of E_0,p varying from soft to hard. When the evolution of E_0,p and the low‐energy spectral index α₀ varying from soft to hard then to soft we can find the aforesaid two sorts of lags. We then examine the combined case of the spectral evolution and the curvature effect of fireball and find the observed spectral lags would increase. A sample including 15 single pulses whose spectral evolution follows hard to soft has been investigated. All the lags of these pulses are positive, which is in good agreement with our theoretical predictions. Our analysis shows that only the intrinsic spectral evolution can produce the spectral lags and the observed lags should be contributed by the intrinsic spectral evolution and the curvature effect. But it is still unclear what cause the spectral evolution (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mass loss from coronae and its effect upon stellar rotation

The acoustic energy-generation rate from the convective zone was calculated for various models. Results show that chromosphere and corona can be expected around stars with temperature lower than 8000K at the main sequence, and lower than 6500K at logg=2.When a star is rotating rapidly, mass loss from its corona is large, and can be an effective mechanism of braking the stellar rotation. If this mechanism is effective, we can explain the slow rotation of stars later than F2 to be the result of the loss of the angular momentum through a stellar wind that is effective in their main sequence phase. Stars with massM>1.5M lose mass through a stellar wind during their contraction phase. The mass-loss rate is larger than the solar value because of the larger energy input into the chromosphere-corona system and because of the smaller gravitational potential at the surface. T Tauri stars may be the observational counterparts for such stars. As the duration of contraction phase is very short (less than 10⁷ years), the braking mechanism works only in the presence of a strong magnetic field (Ap) or in the presence of a companion (Am).Presented at the Trieste Colloquium on Mass Loss from Stars, September 12–16, 1968.     

Photometric variability and evolutionary status of the supergiant with an infrared excess HD 179821=V1427 aquilae

We present new results of our UBV photometry for HD 179821=V1427 Aql, an F supergiant with an infrared excess, from 2000 to 2008. The semiregular low-amplitude (ΔV = 0_. ^m 05−0_. ^m 20) photometric variability of the star with a cycle period from 130 to 200 days is caused by pulsations, along with the instability of a variable stellar wind. V1427 Aql also exhibits a long-term trend in the brightness and colors that is probably attributable to a change in the stellar temperature as a result of mass loss episodes, which cause variations in the continuum formation level. We present the results of our JHKLM photometry for V1427 Aql in 1992–2008. We trace the trend in the near-infrared brightness, which agrees with the long-term variability in the V band. Based on broadband photometry, we have determined the color excess for V1427 Aql: E(B−V) = 0.7. Based on low-resolution spectroscopy, we have estimated the stellar temperature and revealed variability of the Hα line caused by a change in the contribution from the emission component. The hypotheses of whether the star belongs to post-AGB objects or to massive yellow hypergiants are discussed.     

On the instability of weakly radially anisotropic star clusters

We discuss contradictions existing in the literature in the problem on the stability of collisionless spherical stellar systems, which are the simplest anisotropic generalization of the well-known polytropic models. On the one hand, calculations of the growth rates within the framework of a linear stability theory and N-body simulations suggest that these systems should become stable when the parameter s characterizing the degree of anisotropy of the stellar velocity distribution becomes lower than some critical value s _crit > 0. On the other hand, according to Palmer and Papaloizou, the growth rate should be nonzero up to the isotropic limit s = 0. Using our method of determining the eigenmodes of stellar systems, we show that even though the mode growth rates in weakly radially anisotropic systems of this type are nonzero, they are exponentially small, i.e., decrease as γ ∝ exp(−a/s) when s → 0. For slightly radially anisotropic systems with a finite lifetime, this actually implies stability.     

Physical properties of solar chromospheric plages

We compute a new grid of plage models to determine the difference in temperature versus mass column density structure T(m) between plage regions and the quiet solar chromosphere, and to test whether the solar chromosphere is geometrically thinner in plages. We compare partial redistribution calculations of Mg ii h and k and Ca ii K to NRL Skylab observations of Mg ii h and k in six active regions and Ca ii K intensities obtained from spectroheliograms taken at approximately the same time as the Mg ii observations. We find that the plage observations are better matched by models with linear (in log m) temperature distributions and larger values of m ₀ (the mass column density at the 8000 K layer in the chromosphere), than by models with larger low chromosphere temperature gradients but values of m ₀ similar to the quiet Sun. Our derived temperature structures are in agreement with the grid originally proposed by Shine and Linsky, but our analysis is in contrast to the study by Kelch which implies that stellar chromospheric geometrical thickness is not affected by chromospheric activity. We conclude that either the stellar Mg ii observations upon which the Kelch study was based are of poorer quality than had been assumed, or that the spatial averaging of inhomogeneous structures, which is inherent in the stellar data, does not lead to a best fit one-component model similar in detail to that of a stellar or a solar plage.Visiting Astronomer at Kitt Peak National Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under contract with the National Science Foundation.Staff member, Quantum Physics Division, National Bureau of Standards.