Barycentric Velocities Research Articles

On the Use of Field RR Lyrae as Galactic Probes. V. Optical and Radial Velocity Curve Templates

Abstract We collected the largest spectroscopic catalog of RR Lyrae (RRLs) including ≈20,000 high-, medium-, and low-resolution spectra for ≈10,000 RRLs. We provide the analytical forms of radial velocity curve (RVC) templates. These were built using 36 RRLs (31 fundamental—split into three period bins—and five first-overtone pulsators) with well-sampled RVCs based on three groups of metallic lines (Fe, Mg, Na) and four Balmer lines (H α , H β , H γ , H δ ). We tackled the long-standing problem of the reference epoch to anchor light-curve and RVC templates. For the V-band, we found that the residuals of the templates anchored to the phase of the mean magnitude along the rising branch are ∼35% to ∼45% smaller than those anchored to the phase of maximum light. For the RVC, we used two independent reference epochs for metallic and Balmer lines and we verified that the residuals of the RVC templates anchored to the phase of mean RV are from 30% (metallic lines) up to 45% (Balmer lines) smaller than those anchored to the phase of minimum RV. We validated our RVC templates by using both the single-point and the three phase point approaches. We found that barycentric velocities based on our RVC templates are two to three times more accurate than those available in the literature. We applied the current RVC templates to Balmer lines RVs of RRLs in the globular NGC 3201 collected with MUSE at VLT. We found the cluster barycentric RV of V γ = 496.89 ± 8.37(error) ± 3.43 (standard deviation) km s−1, which agrees well with literature estimates.

Chemo-kinematics of the Milky Way from the SDSS-III MARVELS survey

Combining stellar atmospheric parameters, such as effective temperature, surface gravity, and metallicity, with barycentric radial velocity data provides insight into the chemo-dynamics of the Milky Way and our local Galactic environment. We analyze 3075 stars with spectroscopic data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) MARVELS radial velocity survey and present atmospheric parameters for 2343 dwarf stars using the spectral indices method, a modified version of the equivalent width method. We present barycentric radial velocities for a sample of 2610 stars with a median uncertainty of 0.3 km s$^{-1}$. We determine stellar ages using two independent methods and calculate ages for 2335 stars with a maximum-likelihood isochronal age-dating method and for 2194 stars with a Bayesian age-dating method. Using previously published parallax data we compute Galactic orbits and space velocities for 2504 stars to explore stellar populations based on kinematic and age parameters. This study combines good ages and exquisite velocities to explore local chemo-kinematics of the Milky Way, which complements many of the recent studies of giant stars with the APOGEE survey, and we find our results to be in agreement with current chemo-dynamical models of the Milky Way. Particularly, we find from our metallicity distributions and velocity-age relations of a kinematically-defined thin disk that the metal rich end has stars of all ages, even after we clean the sample of highly eccentric stars, suggesting that radial migration plays a key role in the metallicity scatter of the thin disk. All stellar parameters and kinematic data derived in this work are catalogued and published online in machine-readable form.

The Effects of Barycentric and Asymmetric Transverse Velocities on Eclipse and Transit Times

Abstract It has long been recognized that the finite speed of light can affect the observed time of an event. For example, as a source moves radially toward or away from an observer, the path length and therefore the light travel time to the observer decreases or increases, causing the event to appear earlier or later than otherwise expected, respectively. This light travel time effect has been applied to transits and eclipses for a variety of purposes, including studies of eclipse timing variations and transit timing variations that reveal the presence of additional bodies in the system. Here we highlight another non-relativistic effect on eclipse or transit times arising from the finite speed of light—caused by an asymmetry in the transverse velocity of the two eclipsing objects, relative to the observer. This asymmetry can be due to a non-unity mass ratio or to the presence of external barycentric motion. Although usually constant, this barycentric and asymmetric transverse velocity (BATV) effect can vary between sequential eclipses if either the path length between the two objects or the barycentric transverse velocity varies in time. We discuss this BATV effect and estimate its magnitude for both time-dependent and time-independent cases. For the time-dependent cases, we consider binaries that experience a change in orbital inclination, eccentric systems with and without apsidal motion, and hierarchical triple systems. We also consider the time-independent case which, by affecting the primary and secondary eclipses differently, can influence the inferred system parameters, such as the orbital eccentricity.

Mixed finite element – discontinuous finite volume element discretization of a general class of multicontinuum models

We present a novel discretization scheme tailored to a class of multiphase models that regard the physical system as consisting of multiple interacting continua. In the framework of mixture theory, we consider a general mathematical model that entails solving a system of mass and momentum equations for both the mixture and one of the phases. The model results in a strongly coupled and nonlinear system of partial differential equations that are written in terms of phase and mixture (barycentric) velocities, phase pressure, and saturation. We construct an accurate, robust and reliable hybrid method that combines a mixed finite element discretization of the momentum equations with a primal discontinuous finite volume-element discretization of the mass (or transport) equations. The scheme is devised for unstructured meshes and relies on mixed Brezzi–Douglas–Marini approximations of phase and total velocities, on piecewise constant elements for the approximation of phase or total pressures, as well as on a primal formulation that employs discontinuous finite volume elements defined on a dual diamond mesh to approximate scalar fields of interest (such as volume fraction, total density, saturation, etc.). As the discretization scheme is derived for a general formulation of multicontinuum physical systems, it can be readily applied to a large class of simplified multiphase models; on the other, the approach can be seen as a generalization of these models that are commonly encountered in the literature and employed when the latter are not sufficiently accurate. An extensive set of numerical test cases involving two- and three-dimensional porous media are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of the method (displaying an optimal convergence rate), the physics-preserving properties of the mixed–primal scheme, as well as the robustness of the method (which is successfully used to simulate diverse physical phenomena such as density fingering, Terzaghi's consolidation, deformation of a cantilever bracket, and Boycott effects). The applicability of the method is not limited to flow in porous media, but can also be employed to describe many other physical systems governed by a similar set of equations, including e.g. multi-component materials.

Interacting Brownian Swarms: Some Analytical Results

We consider the dynamics of swarms of scalar Brownian agents subject to local imitation mechanisms implemented using mutual rank-based interactions. For appropriate values of the underlying control parameters, the swarm propagates tightly and the distances separating successive agents are iid exponential random variables. Implicitly, the implementation of rank-based mutual interactions, requires that agents have infinite interaction ranges. Using the probabilistic size of the swarm’s support, we analytically estimate the critical interaction range below that flocked swarms cannot survive. In the second part of the paper, we consider the interactions between two flocked swarms of Brownian agents with finite interaction ranges. Both swarms travel with different barycentric velocities, and agents from both swarms indifferently interact with each other. For appropriate initial configurations, both swarms eventually collide (i.e., all agents interact). Depending on the values of the control parameters, one of the following patterns emerges after collision: (i) Both swarms remain essentially flocked, or (ii) the swarms become ultimately quasi-free and recover their nominal barycentric speeds. We derive a set of analytical flocking conditions based on the generalized rank-based Brownian motion. An extensive set of numerical simulations corroborates our analytical findings.

Reanalysis of the FEROS observations of HIP 11952

Aims. We reanalyze FEROS observations of the star HIP 11952 to reassess the existence of the proposed planetary system. Methods. The radial velocity of the spectra were measured by cross-correlating the observed spectrum with a synthetic template. We also analyzed a large dataset of FEROS and HARPS archival data of the calibrator HD 10700 spanning over more than five years. We compared the barycentric velocities computed by the FEROS and HARPS pipelines. Results. The barycentric correction of the FEROS-DRS pipeline was found to be inaccurate and to introduce an artificial one-year period with a semi-amplitude of 62 m/s. Thus the reanalysis of the FEROS data does not support the existence of planets around HIP 11952.

Nanosecond simulations of the dynamics of C60 excited by intense near-infrared laser pulses: Impulsive Raman excitation, rearrangement, and fragmentation

Impulsive Raman excitation of C(60) by single or double pulses of near-infrared wavelength λ = 1800 nm was investigated by using a time-dependent adiabatic state approach combined with the density functional theory method. We confirmed that the vibrational energy stored in a Raman active mode of C(60) is maximized when T(p) ~ T(vib)/2 in the case of a single pulse, where T(p) is the pulse length and T(vib) is the vibrational period of the mode. In the case of a double pulse, mode selective excitation can be achieved by adjusting the pulse interval τ. The energy of a Raman active mode is maximized if τ is chosen to equal an integer multiple of T(vib) and it is minimized if τ is equal to a half-integer multiple of T(vib). We also investigated the subsequent picosecond or nanosecond dynamics of Stone-Wales rearrangement (SWR) and fragmentation by using the density-functional based tight-binding semiempirical method. We present how SWRs are caused by the flow of vibrational kinetic energy on the carbon bond network of C(60). In the case where the h(g)(1) prolate-oblate mode is initially excited, the number of SWRs before fragmentation is larger than in the case of a(g)(1) mode excitation for the same excess vibrational energy. Fragmentation by C(2) ejection C(60) → C(58) + C(2) is found to occur from strained, fused pentagon/pentagon defects produced by a preceding SWR, which confirms the earliest mechanistic speculations of Smalley et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 88, 220 (1988)]. The fragmentation rate of C(2) ejection in the case of h(g)(1) mode excitation does not follow a statistical description as employed for instance in the Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel (RRK) theory, whereas the rate for a(g)(1) mode excitation does follow the prediction by RRK. We also found for the h(g)(1) mode excitation that the nonstatistical nature affects the distribution of barycentric velocities of fragments C(58) and C(2). This result suggests that it is possible to control rearrangement and subsequent bond breaking in a "nonstatistical" way by initial selective mode excitation.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF COALESCING COMPACT BINARIES IN THE LOCAL UNIVERSE: PROSPECTS FOR GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE OBSERVATIONS

Merging compact binaries are the most viable and best studied candidates for gravitational wave (GW) detection by the fully operational network of ground-based observatories. In anticipation of the first detections, the expected distribution of GW sources in the local universe is of considerable interest. Here we investigate the full phase space distribution of coalescing compact binaries at $z = 0$ using dark matter simulations of structure formation. The fact that these binary systems acquire large barycentric velocities at birth ("kicks") results in merger site distributions that are more diffusely distributed with respect to their putative hosts, with mergers occurring out to distances of a few Mpc from the host halo. Redshift estimates based solely on the nearest galaxy in projection can, as a result, be inaccurate. On the other hand, large offsets from the host galaxy could aid the detection of faint optical counterparts and should be considered when designing strategies for follow-up observations. The degree of isotropy in the projected sky distributions of GW sources is found to be augmented with increasing kick velocity and to be severely enhanced if progenitor systems possess large kicks as inferred from the known population of pulsars and double compact binaries. Even in the absence of observed electromagnetic counterparts, the differences in sky distributions of binaries produced by disparate kick-velocity models could be discerned by GW observatories, within the expected accuracies and detection rates of advanced LIGO--in particular with the addition of more interferometers.

Stellar characterization ofCoRoT/Exoplanet fields withMATISSE

The homogeneous spectroscopic determination of the stellar parameters is a mandatory step for transit detections from space. Knowledge of which population the planet hosting stars belong to places constraints on the formation and evolution of exoplanetary systems. We used the FLAMES/GIRAFFE multi-fiber instrument at ESO to spectroscopically observe samples of stars in three CoRoT/Exoplanet fields, namely the LRa01, LRc01, and SRc01 fields, and characterize their stellar populations. We present accurate atmospheric parameters, Teff, logg, [M/H], and [$\alpha$/Fe]\ derived for 1227 stars in these fields using the \matisse algorithm. The latter is based on the spectral synthesis methodology and automatically provides stellar parameters for large samples of observed spectra. We trained and applied this algorithm to \flames observations covering the Mg \textsc{i} b spectral range. It was calibrated on reference stars and tested on spectroscopic samples from other studies in the literature. The barycentric radial velocities and an estimate of the Vsini values were measured using cross-correlation techniques. We corrected our samples in the LRc01 and LRa01 CoRoT fields for selection effects to characterize their FGK dwarf stars population, and compiled the first unbiased reference sample for the in-depth study of planet metallicity relationship in these CoRoT fields. We conclude that the FGK dwarf population in these fields mainly exhibit solar metallicity. We show that for transiting planet finding missions, the probability of finding planets as a function of metallicity could explain the number of planets found in the LRa01 and LRc01 CoRoT fields. This study demonstrates the potential of multi-fiber observations combined with an automated classifier such as MATISSE for massive spectral classification.

Measuring Stellar Radial Velocities with a Dispersed Fixed‐Delay Interferometer

We demonstrate the ability to measure precise stellar barycentric radial velocities with the dispersed fixed-delay interferometer technique using the Exoplanet Tracker (ET), an instrument primarily designed for precision differential Doppler velocity measurements using this technique. Our barycentric radial velocities, derived from observations taken at the KPNO 2.1 meter telescope, differ from those of Nidever et al. by 0.047 km/s (rms) when simultaneous iodine calibration is used, and by 0.120 km/s (rms) without simultaneous iodine calibration. Our results effectively show that a Michelson interferometer coupled to a spectrograph allows precise measurements of barycentric radial velocities even at a modest spectral resolution of R ~ 5100. A multi-object version of the ET instrument capable of observing ~500 stars per night is being used at the Sloan 2.5 m telescope at Apache Point Observatory for the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS), a wide-field radial velocity survey for extrasolar planets around TYCHO-2 stars in the magnitude range 7.6<V<12. In addition to precise differential velocities, this survey will also yield precise barycentric radial velocities for many thousands of stars using the data analysis techniques reported here. Such a large kinematic survey at high velocity precision will be useful in identifying the signature of accretion events in the Milky Way and understanding local stellar kinematics in addition to discovering exoplanets, brown dwarfs and spectroscopic binaries.

THE ROSSITER-MCLAUGHLIN ROTATION EFFECT OBSERVED FOR AI DRACONIS AND V505 SAGITTARII

ABSTRACT CCD spectra were obtained for the late B and early A type Algol binaries Ai Draconis and V505 Sagittarii during their May 1991 primary eclipses. With these spectra, the Rossiter-McLaughlin rotation effect was observed. The least-squares fit to the rotation effect yielded projected rotational velocities of 85.6 ± 2.1 and 131.8 ± 2.8 km s-1 and barycentric velocities of +5.5 ± 0.4 and -0.8 ± 0.6 km s-1 for Ai Dra and V505 Sgr, respectively. Compared to their synchronous values, AI Dra appears to be rotating slightly slower while V505 Sgr is rotating considerably fastr than expected. The eclipse spectra were also examined for signs of secondary and/or tertiary companions. The third star belonging to the V505 Sgr system which was discovered by Tomkin (ApJ, 387, 631 (1992)) was easily recognized by no absorption features were found that could be directly attributed with any certainty to the secondary in either system. However, the Ca II K line in AI Dra was at times distorted and several weak, broad features were noted in V505 Sgr.

On the theory of reciprocal relations between irreversible processes: Statistical foundations of thermodynamical fluctuation theory in moving media

Recently S. R. de Groot and P. Mazur have extended Onsager's proof of reciprocal relations between irreversible processes to the case of vectorial and tensorial phenomena. In the derivation expressions are used for certain averages of fluctuations of the variables a μ i and β μ k , which describe the state of a great number of cells μ , into which the system is divided. These averages are calculated with the help of the probability distribution P ~ exp { Δ S ( a i μ , β k μ ) / k }, ( a ) where ΔS is the deviation of the entropy from its equilibrium value. The use of formula ( a ) in the case, where the state variables include barycentric velocities of the material elements, should be justified. This is possible, but in the present paper we preferred a slightly simpler method to find the averages of the fluctuations, necessary for the proof of reciprocal relations. It turns out, that for their derivation distribution functions for the state variables of one or two cells suffice. From statistical calculations these are found to be P 1 ~ exp ( Δ S 1 0 / k ) , ( b ) P 12 ~ exp { ( Δ S 1 0 + Δ S 2 0 ) / k }, ( c ) where Δ 0 i is the quadratic form in the state variables of the cell i (= 1, 2), including barycentric velocities. In the theory independent state variables are used in a natural way, in contrast with De Groot and Mazur's (and Casimir's) treatment, where dependencies exist amongst the state variables as a consequence of the conservation of mass and energy. One could of course eliminate a number of variables, so as to obtain a set of independent state variables, but this complication can be avoided by using the distribution functions ( b ) and ( c ) instead of ( a ), as is done in this paper.