The build-up of haloes within Press–Schechter theory

Modelling the build-up of haloes is important for linking the formation of galaxies with cosmological models. A simple model of halo growth is provided by Press–Schechter (PS) theory, where the initial field of density fluctuations is smoothed using spherically symmetric filters centred on a given position to obtain information about the likelihood of later collapse on varying scales. In this paper the predicted halo mass growth is compared for three filter shapes: Gaussian, top-hat and sharp k -space. Preliminary work is also presented analysing the build-up of haloes within numerical simulations using a friends-of-friends group finder. The best-fit to the simulation mass function was obtained using PS theory with a top-hat filter. By comparing both the backwards conditional mass function, which gives the distribution of halo progenitors, and the distribution of halo mergers in time, the build-up of haloes in the simulations is shown to be better fitted by PS theory with a sharp k -space filter. This strengthens previous work, which also found the build-up of haloes in simulations to be well matched to PS theory with a sharp k -space filter by providing a direct comparison of different filters and by extending the statistical tools used to analyse halo mass growth. The usefulness of this work is illustrated by showing that the cosmological evolution in the proportion of haloes that have undergone recent merger is predicted to be independent of mass and power spectrum and to only depend upon cosmology. Recent results from observations of field galaxies are shown to match the evolution expected, but are not sufficiently accurate to distinguish usefully between cosmological parameters.     

Star formation in galaxies along the Pisces-Cetus Supercluster filaments

We investigate the variation of current star formation in galaxies as a function of distance along three supercluster filaments, each joining pairs of rich clusters, in the Pisces-Cetus supercluster, which is part of the two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS). We find that even though there is a steady decline in the rate of star formation, as well as in the fraction of star-forming galaxies, as one approaches the core of a cluster at an extremity of such a filament, there is an increased activity of star formation in a narrow distance range between 3 and  4  h ⁻¹₇₀ Mpc  , which is 1.5–2 times the virial radius of the clusters involved. This peak in star formation is seen to be entirely due to the dwarf galaxies  (−20 < M _B ≤−17.5)  . The position of the peak does not seem to depend on the velocity dispersion of the nearest cluster, undermining the importance of the gravitational effect of the clusters involved. We find that this enhancement in star formation occurs at the same place for galaxies which belong to groups within these filaments, while group members elsewhere in the 2dFGRS do not show this effect. We conclude that the most likely mechanism for this enhanced star formation is galaxy–galaxy harassment, in the crowded infalling region of rich clusters at the extremities of filaments, which induces a burst of star formation in galaxies, before they have been stripped of their gas in the denser cores of clusters. The effects of strangulation in the cores of clusters, as well as excess star formation in the infalling regions along the filaments, are more pronounced in dwarfs since they more vulnerable to the effects of strangulation and harassment than giant galaxies.     

Can the ten-dimensional phase prior to Calabi-Yau splitting of the super-string phase generate the primordial entropy of the universe?

It is shown that the primordial entropy of the universe can be generated in the residual phase prior to Calabi-Yau splitting and following the passing to the field theory limit of the heterotic super-string in ten space-time dimensions, wherein matter is represented by either a radiative equation of state or the equation of state for stiff matter.     

Redshift-space bias and β from the halo model

We analyse scale dependence of redshift-space bias b and β  ≡ Ω_m^0.6/ b in the context of the halo model. We show that linear bias is a good approximation only on large scales, for k <0.1  h  Mpc⁻¹ . On intermediate scales the virial motions of galaxies cause a suppression of the power spectrum relative to the linear one and the suppression differs from the same effect in dark matter. This can potentially mimic the effect of massive neutrinos, and the degeneracy can only be broken if the power spectrum is measured for k ≪0.1  h  Mpc⁻¹ . Different methods to determine β converge for k <0.1  h  Mpc⁻¹ , but give drastically different results on smaller scales, which explains some of the trends observed in the real data. We also assess the level of stochasticity by calculating the cross-correlation coefficient between the reconstructed velocity field divergence and the galaxies, and show that the two fields decorrelate for k >0.1  h  Mpc⁻¹ . Most problematic are galaxies predominantly found in groups and clusters, such as bright, red or elliptical galaxies, where we find poor convergence to a constant bias or β even on large scales.     

Proper motions and variability of the H2 knots in the HH 111 and 121 protostellar outflows

We discuss the formation of spectral features in the decelerating ejecta of gamma-ray bursts, including the possible effect of inhomogeneities. These should lead to blueshifted and broadened absorption edges and resonant features, especially from H and He. An external neutral ISM could produce detectable H and He, as well as Fe X-ray absorption edges and lines. Hypernova scenarios may be diagnosed by Fe Kα and H Lyα emission lines.     

Period–luminosity relations for red supergiant variables – I.The calibration

We present CCD photometry of red supergiant long-period variables (LPVs) in the Per OB1 association, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and M33. The photometry was obtained in the Kron–Cousins R and I bandpasses and in a narrow bandpass ( λ ₀=8250 Å, FWHM=300 Å) chosen to avoid TiO bands in the spectral energy distribution of the LPVs. Because the strength of the TiO bands varies greatly with temperature, which varies with the phase of an LPV, avoiding TiO reduces the amplitude of the photometric variations seen in LPVs. The result is a lower dispersion and a well defined period–luminosity (PL) relation.
For the LMC sample we find an rms dispersion of 0.27 mag in the narrow-band PL relation and slightly larger dispersions for the LPVs in Per OB1 and M33. This dispersion is comparable to that of the Cepheid PL relation at similar wavelengths. Adopting a distance modulus of 18.5±0.1 mag for the LMC, we obtain distance moduli of 11.68±0.15 mag for Per OB1 and 24.85±0.13 mag for M33. These distances agree well with those based on main sequence fitting for Per OB1 and the Cepheid distance for M33. Since LPVs are ∼ 5 times more common than Cepheids and have a well defined PL relation, LPVs provide a promising method for estimating Galactic and extra galactic distances.     

The Pioneer anomaly and new physics

The Pioneer anomaly is one of the most important problems in modern physics. The observed blueshift of the Doppler signals coming back from the space probes Pioneer 10 and 11 is interpreted as being due to an anomalous acceleration a_p = (8.74 ± 1.33) × 10^–8 cm s^–2 towards the Sun. In this paper the blueshift is explained by the frequency shifts of the receivers. These frequency shifts result from an increase in elementary particle masses in time, the rate of increase being tied up with the present‐day Hubble parameter H₀. The result is that the seeming acceleration a_p is the product of H₀ and the velocity of light. Taking new physics into consideration, this paper presents a new explanation of the Pioneer anomaly based on the assumption that the Universe is eternal and infinite without expansion or contraction (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)