The local far-infrared galaxy colour–luminosity distribution: a reference for BLAST and Herschel/SPIRE submillimetre surveys

We measure the local galaxy far-infrared (FIR) 60 to 100 μm colour–luminosity distribution using an all-sky IRAS survey. This distribution is an important reference for the next generation of FIR–submillimetre surveys that have and will conduct deep extragalactic surveys at 250–500 μm. With the peak in dust-obscured star-forming activity leading to present-day giant ellipticals now believed to occur in submillimetre galaxies near   z ∼ 2.5  , these new FIR–submillimetre surveys will directly sample the spectral energy distributions of these distant objects at rest-frame FIR wavelengths similar to those at which local galaxies were observed by IRAS . We have taken care to correct for the temperature bias and the evolution effects in our IRAS 60-μm-selected sample. We verify that our colour–luminosity distribution is consistent with the measurements of the local FIR luminosity function, before applying it to the higher redshift Universe. We compare our colour–luminosity correlation with recent dust–temperature measurements of submillimetre galaxies and find evidence for pure luminosity evolution of the form  (1 + z )³  . This distribution will be useful for the development of evolutionary models for Balloon-borne Large Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST) and Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver (SPIRE) surveys as it provides a statistical distribution of the rest-frame dust temperatures for galaxies as a function of luminosity.     

Red companions to a z=2.15 radio-loud quasar

We have conducted observations of the environment around the z =2.15 radio-loud quasar 1550–269 in search of distant galaxies associated either with it or the z =2.09 C  iv absorber along its line of sight. Such objects will be distinguished by their red colours, R − K >4.5. We find five such objects in a 1.5 arcmin² field around the quasar, with typical K ' magnitudes of ∼20.4 and no detected R -band emission. We also find a sixth object with K =19.6±0.3, and undetected at R , just two arcsec from the quasar. The nature of all these objects is currently unclear, and will remain so until we have determined their redshifts. We suggest that it is likely that they are associated with either the quasar or the C  iv absorber, in which case their properties might be similar to those of the z =2.38 red Ly α emitting galaxies discovered by Francis et al. The small separation between the quasar and the brightest of our objects suggests that it may be the galaxy responsible for the C  iv metal line absorption system. The closeness to the quasar and the red colour might have precluded similar objects from being uncovered in previous searches for emission from C  iv and damped absorbers.     

Application of the global modal approach to the spiral galaxies

We have tested the applicability of the global modal approach in the density wave theory of spiral structure for a sample of spiral galaxies with measured axisymmetric background properties. We report here the results of the simulations for four galaxies: NGC 488, NGC 628, NGC 1566, and NGC 3938. Using the observed radial distributions for the stellar velocity dispersions and the rotation velocities we have constructed the equilibrium models for the galactic disks in each galaxy and implemented two kinds of stability analyses - the linear global analysis and 2D-nonlinear simulations. In general, the global modal approach is able to reproduce the observed properties of the spiral arms in the galactic disks. The growth of spirals in the galactic disks can be physically understood in terms of amplification by over-reflection at the corotation resonance. Our results support the global modal approach as a theoretical explanation of spiral structure in galaxies. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On the global structure of self-gravitating discs for softened gravity

The effects of gravitational softening on the global structure of self-gravitating discs in centrifugal equilibrium are examined in relation to hydrodynamical/gravitational simulations. The one-parameter spline softening proposed by Hernquist & Katz is used.
It is found that if the characteristic size of a disc, r , is comparable to or less than the gravitational softening length, ε, then the cross-section of the simulated disc is significantly larger than that of a no-softening (Newtonian) disc with the same mass and angular momentum.
We demonstrate, furthermore, that if r ≲ε/2 then the scaling relation r ∝ε^3/4 holds for a given mass and specific angular momentum distribution with mass. Finally, we compare some of the theoretical results obtained in this paper and a previous one with the results of numerical Tree-SPH simulations and find qualitative agreement.     

The evolution of the z distribution of normal neutron stars in the Galaxy

Under the two initial 1‐D one parameter velocity distribution forms (one is normal, the other is exponential), the z direction scale height evolution of normal neutron stars in the Galaxy is studied by numerical simulation. We do statistics for the cases at different time segments, also do statistics for the cumulative cases made of each time segment. The results show in the cumulative cases the evolution curves of the scale heights are smoother than in the each time segment, i.e., the cumulation improve the signal‐to‐noise ratio. Certainly the evolution cases are different at different Galactic disk locations, which also have very large difference from the average cases in the whole disk. In the initial stages of z evolution of normal neutron stars, after the beginning transient states, the cumulative scale heights increase linearly with time, and the cumulative scale height increasing rates have linear relationship with the initial velocity distribution parameters, which have larger fluctuation in the vicinity of the Sun than in the whole disk. We utilize the linear relationship of the cumulative scale height increasing rates vs. the initial velocity distribution parameters in the vicinity of the Sun to make comparison with the observation near the Sun. The results show if there is no magnetic decay, then the deserved initial velocity parameters are obvious lower than the present well known results from some authors; whereas if introducing magnetic decay, for the 1‐D normal case we can make consistence among concerning results using magnetic decay time values which are supported by some authors, while for the 1‐D exponential case the results show the lackness of young pulsar samples in the larger z in the vicinity of the Sun (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

遗传算法优化的BP神经网络卫星钟差预报

针对BP (Back Propagation)神经网络模型预测卫星钟差中权值和阈值的最优化问题, 提出了基于遗传算法优化的BP神经网络卫星钟差短期预报模型, 给出了遗传算法优化BP神经网络的基本思想、具体方法和实施步骤. 为验证该优化模型的有效性和可行性, 利用北斗卫星导航系统(BeiDou navigation satellite system, BDS)卫星钟差数据进行钟差预报精度分析, 并将其与灰色模型(GM(1,1))和BP神经网络模型预报的结果比较分析. 结果表明: 该模型在短期钟差预报中具有较好的精度, 优于GM(1,1)模型和BP神经网络模型.