“萤火一号”火星探测计划进展和Mars-SST火星卫星重力测量计划研究

本文回顾了国际火星探测计划的历史进程和科学意义,介绍了中国"萤火一号"火星探测计划的基本参数、发射过程、科学目标、核心载荷和关键技术,并且提出了中国将来Mars-SST火星卫星重力测量计划的实施建议:①基于探测精度较高、技术需求较少、测定速度较快、定轨要求较低、可借鉴GRACE的成功经验等优点,采用SST-LL-Doppler-VLBI系统观测模式;②先期开展高精度激光干涉星间测距仪、非保守力补偿系统等关键载荷和地面Doppler-VLBI系统的研制;③卫星轨道高度和星间距离分别设计为50～100 km和100±50 km;④先期开展仿真模拟研究。     

社区人居环境吸引力研究——以大连市为例

城市人居环境研究中一个重要的理论问题就是人居环境吸引力。本文提出人居环境吸引力和引力场的概念,构建了社区人居环境满意度指标体系,运用引力势能模型计算出184个社区的人居环境引力势能,借助MapInfo软件中的Vertical Mapper工具得到大连市人居环境引力势能等值线图和空间分布图,研究表明:(1)运用引力场理论对人居环境评价研究,是一种有效的评价方法;(2)大连市社区人居环境供求关系在空间上形成了"两心一带"分布格局;(3)大连市社区人居环境引力势能空间分异明显,大致呈东北西南向"带状"分布,在中心广场、西安路锦辉商场等值线由同心圆状向外逐渐递减;(4)社区人居环境供求关系与引力势能成正比,与社区与引力势能中心的距离呈反比,城市空间发展结构、海岸带是大连人居环境引力势能空间分布的驱动机制。     

Perturbation theory of N point-mass gravitational lens systems without symmetry: small mass-ratio approximation

This paper makes the first systematic attempt to determine using perturbation theory the positions of images by gravitational lensing due to arbitrary number of coplanar masses without any symmetry on a plane, as a function of lens and source parameters. We present a method of Taylor-series expansion to solve the lens equation under a small mass-ratio approximation. First, we investigate perturbative structures of a single-complex-variable polynomial, which has been commonly used. Perturbative roots are found. Some roots represent positions of lensed images, while the others are unphysical because they do not satisfy the lens equation. This is consistent with a fact that the degree of the polynomial, namely the number of zeros, exceeds the maximum number of lensed images if   N = 3  (or more). The theorem never tells which roots are physical (or unphysical). In this paper, unphysical ones are identified. Secondly, to avoid unphysical roots, we re-examine the lens equation. The advantage of our method is that it allows a systematic iterative analysis. We determine image positions for binary lens systems up to the third order in mass ratios and for arbitrary N point masses up to the second order. This clarifies the dependence on parameters. Thirdly, the number of the images that admit a small mass-ratio limit is less than the maximum number. It is suggested that positions of extra images could not be expressed as Maclaurin series in mass ratios. Magnifications are finally discussed.     

Gravitational waves from resolvable massive black hole binary systems and observations with Pulsar Timing Arrays

Massive black holes are key components of the assembly and evolution of cosmic structures, and a number of surveys are currently on going or planned to probe the demographics of these objects and to gain insight into the relevant physical processes. Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) currently provide the only means to observe gravitational radiation from massive black hole binary systems with masses  ≳10⁷ M_⊙  . The whole cosmic population produces a stochastic background that could be detectable with upcoming PTAs. Sources sufficiently close and/or massive generate gravitational radiation that significantly exceeds the level of the background and could be individually resolved. We consider a wide range of massive black hole binary assembly scenarios, investigate the distribution of the main physical parameters of the sources, such as masses and redshift, and explore the consequences for PTAs observations. Depending on the specific massive black hole population model, we estimate that on average at least one resolvable source produces timing residuals in the range  ∼5–50 ns  . PTAs, and in particular the future Square Kilometre Array, can plausibly detect these unique systems, although the events are likely to be rare. These observations would naturally complement on the high-mass end of the massive black hole distribution function future surveys carried out by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna .     

A systematic fitting scheme for caustic-crossing microlensing events

We outline a method for fitting binary-lens caustic-crossing microlensing events based on the alternative model parametrization proposed and detailed by Cassan. As an illustration of our methodology, we present an analysis of OGLE-2007-BLG-472, a double-peaked Galactic microlensing event with a source crossing the whole caustic structure in less than three days. In order to identify all possible models we conduct an extensive search of the parameter space, followed by a refinement of the parameters with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm. We find a number of low-  χ²  regions in the parameter space, which lead to several distinct competitive best models. We examine the parameters for each of them, and estimate their physical properties. We find that our fitting strategy locates several minima that are difficult to find with other modelling strategies and is therefore a more appropriate method to fit this type of event.     

Strong lensing of submillimetre galaxies: a tracer of foreground structure?

The steep source counts and negative K -corrections of bright submillimetre galaxies (SMGs) suggest that a significant fraction of those observed at high flux densities may be gravitationally lensed, and that the lensing objects may often lie at redshifts above 1, where clusters of galaxies are difficult to detect through other means. In this case, follow-up of bright SMGs may be used to identify dense structures along the line-of-sight. Here, we investigate the probability for SMGs to experience strong lensing, using the latest N -body simulations and observed source flux and redshift distributions. We find that almost all high-redshift sources with a flux density above 100 mJy will be lensed if they are not relatively local galaxies. We also give estimates of the fraction of sources experiencing strong lensing as a function of observed flux density. This has implications for planning follow-up observations for bright SMGs discovered in future surveys with the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array 2 and other instruments. The largest uncertainty in these calculations is the maximum allowed lensing amplification, which is dominated by the presently unknown spatial extent of SMGs.     

Sérsiclets – a matched filter extension of Shapelets for weak lensing studies

The precision study of dark matter using weak lensing by large-scale structure is strongly constrained by the accuracy with which one can measure galaxy shapes. Several methods have been devised but none has demonstrated the ability to reach the level of precision required by future weak lensing surveys. In this paper, we explore new avenues to the existing 'Shapelets' approach, combining a priori knowledge of the galaxy profile with the power of orthogonal basis function decomposition. This paper discusses the new issues raised by this matched filter approach and proposes promising alternatives to shape measurement techniques. In particular, it appears that the use of a matched filter (e.g. Sérsic profile) restricted to elliptical radial fitting functions resolves several well-known Shapelet issues.     

The bending of light and lensing in modified gravity

Our modified gravity theory (MOG) was used successfully in the past to explain a range of astronomical and cosmological observations, including galaxy rotation curves, the cosmic microwave background acoustic peaks, and the galaxy mass power spectrum. MOG was also used successfully to explain the unusual features of the Bullet Cluster  1E0657−558  without exotic dark matter. In the present work, we derive the relativistic equations of motion in the spherically symmetric field of a point source in MOG and, in particular, we derive equations for light bending and lensing. Our results also have broader applications in the case of extended distributions of matter, and they can be used to validate the Bullet Cluster results and provide a possible explanation for the merging clusters in Abell 520.