Milky Way Center Research Articles

QPOs from charged particles around magnetized black holes in braneworlds

Quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) are a powerful tool for testing gravity theories, probing gravitational and electromagnetic field properties, and obtaining constraints on the black hole and field parameters. This work considers charged particle dynamics near uniformly magnetized black holes in braneworlds. First, we obtain the solution of the Maxwell equation for magnetic fields and calculate the radial and angular magnetic field components. We derive and analyze the effective potential of charged particles for circular orbits and investigate the energy and angular momentum for the circular orbits. We also analyze the combined effects of magnetic interaction and braneworlds on the charged particles’ innermost stable circular orbits (ISCOs). We calculate the angular momentum of charged particles in Keplerian orbits in the presence of an external magnetic field and braneworlds. Also, we investigate frequencies of the particle oscillations along vertical and angular directions. We applied our studies on particle oscillations to the QPO studies in the relativistic precession model. Finally, we obtain constraints on magnetic interaction and braneworld parameters together with the black hole mass and QPO orbits using Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) simulation in the four-dimensional parameter space for the QPOs observed in the microquasars XTE J1550-564, GRO J1655-40 & GRS 1915-105, and at the center of galaxies M82 and Milky Way.

Imprints of flavor anomalies on neutrino oscillations through dark matter halo

In this work we study the impact of new physics, stimulated by flavor anomalies, on neutrino oscillations through dense dark matter halo. Inspired by a model where a Majorana dark matter fermion and two new scalar fields contribute to b→sμ+μ− transition at the one loop level, we study the impact of neutrino-dark matter interaction on the oscillation patterns of ultra-high energy cosmic neutrinos passing through this muonphilic halo located near the center of Milky Way. We find that due to this interaction, the flavor ratios of neutrinos reaching earth would be different from that of vacuum oscillations. We also consider a Z′ model driven by Lμ−Lτ symmetry and containing a vector-like fermion as a dark matter candidate. It was previously shown that for such a model, the three flavors of neutrinos decouple from each other. This will render a flavor ratio similar to that of vacuum oscillations. Therefore, the interaction of neutrinos with dense dark matter halo can serve as an important tool to discriminate between flavor models with a dark connection.

Dark matter effect on the weak deflection angle by black holes at the center of Milky Way and M87 galaxies

In this paper, we investigated the effect of dark matter on the weak deflection angle by black holes at the galactic center. We consider three known dark matter density profiles such as the Cold Dark Matter, Scalar Field Dark Matter, and the Universal Rotation Curve from the Burkert profile. To achieve this goal, we used how the positional angles are measured by the Ishihara et al. method based on the Gauss–Bonnet theorem on the optical metric. With the help of the non-asymptotic form of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, the longitudinal angle difference is also calculated. First, we find the emergence of apparent divergent terms on the said profiles, which indicates that the spacetime describing the black hole-dark matter combination is non-asymptotic. We showed that these apparent divergent terms vanish when the distance of the source and receiver are astronomically distant from the black hole. Using the current observational data in the Milky Way and M87 galaxies, we find interesting behaviors of how the weak deflection angle varies with the impact parameter, which gives us some hint on how dark matter interacts with the null particles for each dark matter density profile. We conclude that since these deviations are evident near the dark matter core radius, the weak deflection angle offers a better alternative for dark matter detection than using the deviation from the black hole shadow. With the dark matter profiles explored in this study, we find that the variation of the values for weak deflection angle strongly depends on the dark matter mass on a particular profile.

Einstein quartic gravity: Shadows, signals, and stability

Using a continued fraction ansatz we obtain an analytic approximation for a spherically symmetric black hole solution to Einsteinian Quartic Gravity (EQG), the next simplest Generalized Quasi-Topological Gravity (GQTG) after Einsteinian Cubic Gravity (ECG). This approximate solution is valid everywhere outside of the horizon and we use it to investigate the orbit of massive test bodies near a black hole, specifically computing the innermost stable circular orbit. Using Shapiro time delay we calculate the constraints on the EQG coupling parameter. Finally we compute the shadow of an EQG black hole and figure out it to be larger than its Einsteinian counterpart in general relativity for the same value of the mass. By applying our results to Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) at the center of Milky Way we find, similar to ECG black holes, that departures from general relativity are small but distinguishable for EQG black holes.

Near-infrared Search for Fundamental-mode RR Lyrae Stars toward the Inner Bulge by Deep Learning

Abstract Aiming to extend the census of RR Lyrae stars to highly reddened low-latitude regions of the central Milky Way, we performed a deep near-IR variability search using data from the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) survey of the bulge, analyzing the photometric time series of over a hundred million point sources. In order to separate fundamental-mode RR Lyrae (RRab) stars from other periodically variable sources, we trained a deep bidirectional long short-term memory recurrent neural network (RNN) classifier using VVV survey data and catalogs of RRab stars discovered and classified by optical surveys. Our classifier attained a ∼99% precision and recall for light curves with signal-to-noise ratio above 60, and is comparable to the best-performing classifiers trained on accurate optical data. Using our RNN classifier, we identified over 4300 hitherto unknown bona fide RRab stars toward the inner bulge. We provide their photometric catalog and VVV photometric time series.

Ml Driven Prediction of Collision of Milky Way & Andromeda

The 3D position of Sun with respect to the galactic center of Milky Way can be used to understand its evolution. After Milky Way collides with Andromeda(M31), the same will hold true. Ensuing sections deal with the implementation of Regressive Analysis to predict the location of Sun in the galactic center after Galactic collision. This model utilizes results of previous studies of black hole mergers to predict the resultant mass of Sagittarius A* and M31’s black hole, which had been found to be (1.49±0.16) × 108 M☉. This mass has been used to calculate the centrifugal force that Sun might experience during and after the galactic collision. The current position, inclination, and velocity of Sun (derived from aforementioned predictions) have been used to predict its distance and inclination after the collision which has been predicted as 63,362.83 ly and 32.75o, from the new galactic center and its plane (97.48% and 96.32% accurate) respectively.

Gravitational redshift in the Galactic Center

Gravitation General relativity predicts that light emitted by an object in a strong gravitational field—for example, close to a black hole—should be shifted to longer wavelengths. This gravitational redshift does not exist in the Newtonian theory of gravity. Do et al. monitored the position and spectrum of the star S0-2 as it passed Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. Around the closest part of S0-2's 16-year orbit, they detected the effect of gravitational redshift on its spectrum. These results are more consistent with general relativity than Newtonian gravity at the 5σ level. Science , this issue p. [664][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aav8137

How low does it go? Too few Galactic satellites with standard reionization quenching

ABSTRACT A standard prediction of galaxy formation theory is that the ionizing background suppresses galaxy formation in haloes with peak circular velocities smaller than $V_{\rm peak}\simeq 20 \, \rm km \, s^{-1}$, rendering the majority of haloes below this scale completely dark. We use a suite of cosmological zoom simulations of Milky Way-like haloes that include central Milky Way disc galaxy potentials to investigate the relationship between subhaloes and ultrafaint galaxies. We find that there are far too few subhaloes within 50 kpc of the Milky Way that had $V_{\rm peak}\gtrsim 20\, \rm km \, s^{-1}$ to account for the number of ultrafaint galaxies already known within that volume today. In order to match the observed count, we must populate subhaloes down to $V_{\rm peak}\simeq 6\, \rm km \, s^{-1}$ with ultrafaint dwarfs. The required haloes have peak virial temperatures as low as 1500 K, well below the atomic hydrogen cooling limit of 104 K. Allowing for the possibility that the Large Magellanic Cloud contributes several of the satellites within 50 kpc could potentially raise this threshold to $10\, \rm km \, s^{-1}$ (4000 K), still below the atomic cooling limit and far below the nominal reionization threshold.

Astrophysical signatures of black holes in generalized Proca theories

Explaining the late time acceleration is one of the most challenging tasks for theoretical physicists today. Infra-red modification of Einstein's general theory of relativity (GR) is a possible route to model late time acceleration. In this regard, vector-tensor theory as a part of gravitational interactions on large cosmological scales, has been proposed recently. This involves generalization of massive Proca lagrangian in curved space time. Black hole solutions in such theories have also been constructed. In this paper, we study different astrophysical signatures of such black holes. We first study the strong lensing and time delay effect of such static spherically symmetric black hole solutions, in particular for the case of gravitational lensing of the star S2 by Sagittarius A* at the centre of Milky Way. We also construct the rotating black hole solution from this static spherically symmetric solution in Proca theories using the Newman-Janis algorithm and subsequently study lensing, time delay and black hole shadow effect in this rotating black hole space time. We discuss the possibility of detecting Proca hair in future observations.

Gravitational lensing by black holes in Einsteinian cubic gravity

We investigate the predictions of Einsteinian Cubic Gravity (ECG) for the lensing effects due to supermassive black holes at the center of Milky Way and other galaxies. Working in the context of spherical symmetry, we obtain the metric function from a continued fraction method and find that both time delays and the angular positions of images considerably deviate from general relativity, as large as milliarcseconds. This suggests that observational tests of ECG are indeed feasible.

Relieving Tensions Related to the Dark Matter Interpretation of the Fermi-LAT Data

Recently, many studies indicate that the GeV gamma ray excess signal from the central Milky Way can be best explained by ∼40–50 GeV dark matter annihilating via the b b ¯ channel. However, this model appears to be disfavored by the recent Fermi-LAT data for dwarf spheroidal galaxies and the constraint from synchrotron radiation. In this article, we describe a consistent picture to relieve the tensions between the dark matter annihilation model and the observations. We show that a baryonic feedback process is the key to alleviate the tensions and the ∼40–50 GeV dark matter model is still the best one to account for the GeV gamma ray excess in the Milky Way.

A Near-infrared RR Lyrae Census along the Southern Galactic Plane: The Milky Way’s Stellar Fossil Brought to Light

Abstract RR Lyrae stars (RRLs) are tracers of the Milky Way’s fossil record, holding valuable information on its formation and early evolution. Owing to the high interstellar extinction endemic to the Galactic plane, distant RRLs lying at low Galactic latitudes have been elusive. We attained a census of 1892 high-confidence RRLs by exploiting the near-infrared photometric database of the VVV survey’s disk footprint spanning ∼70° of Galactic longitude, using a machine-learned classifier. Novel data-driven methods were employed to accurately characterize their spatial distribution using sparsely sampled multi-band photometry. The RRL metallicity distribution function (MDF) was derived from their K s -band light-curve parameters using machine-learning methods. The MDF shows remarkable structural similarities to both the spectroscopic MDF of red clump giants and the MDF of bulge RRLs. We model the MDF with a multi-component density distribution and find that the number density of stars associated with the different model components systematically changes with both the Galactocentric radius and vertical distance from the Galactic plane, equivalent to weak metallicity gradients. Based on the consistency with results from the ARGOS survey, three MDF modes are attributed to the old disk populations, while the most metal-poor RRLs are probably halo interlopers. We propose that the dominant [Fe/H] component with a mean of −1 dex might correspond to the outskirts of an ancient Galactic spheroid or classical bulge component residing in the central Milky Way. The physical origins of the RRLs in this study need to be verified by kinematical information.

Does the gamma-ray signal from the central Milky Way indicate Sommerfeld enhancement of dark matter annihilation?

Recently, some studies showed that the GeV gamma-ray excess signal from the central Milky Way can be explained by the annihilation of ∼ 40 GeV dark matter through the bb̄ channel. Based on the morphology of the gamma-ray flux, the best-fit inner slope of the dark matter density profile is γ = 1.26. However, recent analyses of the Milky Way dark matter profile favor γ = 0.6 – 0.8. In this article, we show that the GeV gamma-ray excess can also be explained by the Sommerfeld-enhanced dark matter annihilation through the bb̄ channel with γ = 0.85 – 1.05. We constrain the parameters of the Sommerfeld-enhanced annihilation by using data from Fermi-LAT. We also show that the predicted gamma-ray fluxes emitted from dwarf galaxies generally satisfy recent upper limits on gamma-ray fluxes detected by Fermi-LAT.

RADIO DETECTION PROSPECTS FOR A BULGE POPULATION OF MILLISECOND PULSARS AS SUGGESTED BY FERMI-LAT OBSERVATIONS OF THE INNER GALAXY

ABSTRACT The dense stellar environment of the Galactic center has been proposed to host a large population of as-yet undetected millisecond pulsars (MSPs). Recently, this hypothesis has found support in an analysis of gamma-rays detected using the Large Area Telescope onboard the Fermi satellite, which revealed an excess of diffuse GeV photons in the inner 15 deg about the Galactic center. The excess can be interpreted as the collective emission of thousands of MSPs in the Galactic bulge, with a spherical distribution strongly peaked toward the Galactic center. In order to fully establish the MSP interpretation, it is essential to find corroborating evidence in multi-wavelength searches, most notably through the detection of radio pulsations from individual bulge MSPs. Based on globular cluster observations and gamma-ray emission from the inner Galaxy, we investigate the prospects for detecting MSPs in the Galactic bulge. While previous pulsar surveys failed to identify this population, we demonstrate that upcoming large-area surveys of this region should lead to the detection of dozens of bulge MSPs. Additionally, we show that deep targeted searches of unassociated Fermi sources should be able to detect the first few MSPs in the bulge. The prospects for these deep searches are enhanced by a tentative gamma-ray/radio correlation that we infer from high-latitude gamma-ray MSPs. Such detections would constitute the first clear discoveries of field MSPs in the Galactic bulge, with far-reaching implications for gamma-ray observations, the formation history of the central Milky Way, and strategy optimization for future deep radio pulsar surveys.

Quark nugget dark matter: Comparison with radio observations of nearby galaxies

It has been recently claimed that radio observations of nearby spiral galaxies essentially rule out a dark matter source for the galactic haze. Here we consider the low energy thermal emission from a quark nugget dark matter model in the context of microwave emission from the galactic centre and radio observations of nearby Milky Way like galaxies. We demonstrate that observed emission levels do not strongly constrain this specific dark matter candidate across a broad range of the allowed parameter space in drastic contrast with conventional dark matter models based on the WIMP paradigm.

The characterization of the gamma-ray signal from the central Milky Way: A case for annihilating dark matter

Past studies have identified a spatially extended excess of $\sim$1-3 GeV gamma rays from the region surrounding the Galactic Center, consistent with the emission expected from annihilating dark matter. We revisit and scrutinize this signal with the intention of further constraining its characteristics and origin. By applying cuts to the \textit{Fermi} event parameter CTBCORE, we suppress the tails of the point spread function and generate high resolution gamma-ray maps, enabling us to more easily separate the various gamma-ray components. Within these maps, we find the GeV excess to be robust and highly statistically significant, with a spectrum, angular distribution, and overall normalization that is in good agreement with that predicted by simple annihilating dark matter models. For example, the signal is very well fit by a 36-51 GeV dark matter particle annihilating to $b\bar{b}$ with an annihilation cross section of $\sigma v = (1-3)\times 10^{-26}$ cm$^3$/s (normalized to a local dark matter density of 0.4 GeV/cm$^3$). Furthermore, we confirm that the angular distribution of the excess is approximately spherically symmetric and centered around the dynamical center of the Milky Way (within $\sim$$0.05^{\circ}$ of Sgr A$^*$), showing no sign of elongation along the Galactic Plane. The signal is observed to extend to at least $\simeq10^{\circ}$ from the Galactic Center, disfavoring the possibility that this emission originates from millisecond pulsars.

Science and Poetry as Allies in School Learning

The CallNo words, no words ...Poetry!They should have sent poet.So beautiful... so beautiful.I had no idea ... no idea. (Zemeckis & Starkey, 1997)In the 1997 film adaption of Carl Sagan's (1985) novel, Contact, an astronomer on scientific mission drifts wide-eyed with awe in the centre of the wondrous Milky Way, calling for poet to express the glittering grandeur that surrounds her. This reminds the authors of experiences that we had as aspirant scientists, separated by decades and continents: Claire in South Africa in the 1980s, and Miles in New Zealand in the 1960s.Miles remembers, as faculty member on an ornithological field trip, being with tertiary students in the Kauaeranga Valley, near Thames, in New Zealand's North Island. Early sunlight streamed through his tent's green canvas onto his sleeping bag as he listened to the dawn chorus of bellbirds and tui in the ancient podocarp forest across the river. To his ear, the music was swelling into mighty penultimate chord. But the seemingly irresistible resolution never happened. Rather, the music flowed without pause into some other anarchical, avian direction that defied his imagination.Similarly, Claire recalls, as university student, standing knee deep in rock pool on the South African Cape coast assisting her phycology professor record seaweed samples beneath black velvet sky draped in brilliant splendour. An apprentice scientist, she too searched for means to describe what she saw, to bear faithful witness for others not there. Scratching stick figure digits in columns on her clipboard in the darkness, she flipped the page to scribble words she could not see, trying to describe the stars afloat in crystal water, swirling with the tide to the delicate caress of seaweed tendrils as they released their reproductive structures, slippery, yet encrusted with diamonds. Her scientific report would not nearly capture the reality of this lunar-cyclic phenomenon. Or could it?In this paper, we propose that the writing of poetry and of reports can sometimes be profitably addressed together in school classrooms. Why do we suggest this? Surely, is about faithfulness to evidence, laudable scepticism, and sober caution; by contrast, poetry embraces flights of fancy, the unrestrained juggling of language, and the proposing and exploring of delicious ambiguities. So, shouldn't it follow that to blend the objective world of knowledge and the subjective life of the poet-Ernest Rutherford's buzzing laboratory and Dylan Thomas's inimitable cadences-would only blur and confuse both in students' minds?Science and Poetry: Going DeeperThe tide of history, we argue, is on the side of seeking synergies between poetry and writing. Two hundred years ago, it was generally fashionable to consider and poetry as being poles apart. For example, in the 1790s Erasmus Darwin, Charles's grandfather and an early proponent of biological evolution, tried to distance himself from inevitable public odium by publishing his heretical ideas buried in footnotes to mock-heroic poetry (Stott, 2012). Indeed, in 1825 the German poet and critic Friedrich von Schlegel proclaimed frostily that strictly understood, the concept of scientific poem is quite as absurd as that of poetical science (Von Schlegal, quoted in Gaither & CavazosGaither, 2000, p. 274).By contrast, the Romantics in early 19th century Europe were seeing new common ideal of intense, even reckless, personal commitment to discovery, which was drawing and poetry together into a single whole which might best be understood by attending to its middle term, (Midgley, 2001, p. 55). The Romantic imagination was being inspired, not alienated, by scientific advances. Richard Holmes (2011) noted that, in an age of hope and wonder, Shelley was writing speculative essays, mixing scientific ideas with psychology (p. …

Astronomers find disk of young stars near center of Milky Way

Astronomers find disk of young stars near center of Milky Way

MID-INFRARED PERIOD-METALLICITY-LUMINOSITY RELATIONS AND KINEMATICS OF RR LYRAE VARIABLES

We use ALLWISE data release W1- and W2-band epoch photometry collected by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to determine slopes of the period-luminosity relations for RR Lyrae stars in 15 globular clusters in the corresponding bands. We further combine these results with V- and K-band photometry of Galactic eld RR Lyrae stars to determine the metallicity slopes of the log P F -[Fe/H]-M K , log P F - [Fe/H]-M W1 , and log P F - [Fe/H]- M W2 period-metallicity-luminosity relations. We infer the zero points of these relations and determine the kinematical parameters of thick-disk and halo RR Lyraes via statistical parallax, and estimate the RR Lyrae-based distances to 18 Local-Group galaxies including the center of the Milky Way.

The new Milky Way satellites: alignment with the VPOS and predictions for proper motions and velocity dispersions

The evidence that stellar systems surrounding the Milky Way (MW) are distributed in a Vast Polar Structure (VPOS) may be observationally biased by satellites detected in surveys of the northern sky. The recent discoveries of more than a dozen new systems in the southern hemisphere thus constitute a critical test of the VPOS phenomenon. We report that the new objects are located close to the original VPOS, with half of the sample having offsets less than 20 kpc. The positions of the new satellite galaxy candidates are so well aligned that the orientation of the revised best-fitting VPOS structure is preserved to within 9 degrees and the VPOS flattening is almost unchanged (31 kpc height). Interestingly, the shortest distance of the VPOS plane from the MW center is now only 2.5 kpc, indicating that the new discoveries balance out the VPOS at the Galactic center. The vast majority of the MW satellites are thus consistent with sharing a similar orbital plane as the Magellanic Clouds, confirming a hypothesis proposed by Kunkel & Demers and Lynden-Bell almost 40 years ago. We predict the absolute proper motions of the new objects assuming they orbit within the VPOS. Independent of the VPOS results we also predict the velocity dispersions of the new systems under three distinct assumptions: that they (i) are dark-matter-free star clusters obeying Newtonian dynamics, (ii) are dwarf satellites lying on empirical scaling relations of galaxies in dark matter halos, and (iii) obey MOND.