Low-mass Ones Research Articles

Dynamics of star clusters with tangentially anisotropic velocity distribution

Recent high-precision observations with HST and Gaia enabled new investigations of the internal kinematics of star clusters (SCs) and the dependence of kinematic properties on the stellar mass. These studies raised new questions about the dynamical evolution of self-gravitating stellar systems. We aim to develop a more complete theoretical understanding of how the various kinematical properties of stars affect the global dynamical development of their host SCs. We perform $N$-body simulations of globular clusters with isotropic, radially anisotropic, and tangentially anisotropic initial velocity distributions. We also study the effect of an external Galactic tidal field. We obtain three main results. First, compared to the conventional, isotropic case, the relaxation processes are accelerated in the tangentially anisotropic models and, in agreement with our previous investigations, are slower in the radially anisotropic ones. This leads to, for example, more rapid mass segregation in the central regions of the tangential models or their earlier core collapse. Second, although all SCs become isotropic in the inner regions after several relaxation times, we observe differences in the anisotropy profile evolution in the outer cluster regions --- all tidally filling models gain tangential anisotropy there, while the underfilling models become radially anisotropic. Third, we observe different rates of evolution towards energy equipartition (EEP). While all SCs evolve towards EEP in their inner regions (regardless of the filling factor), the outer regions of the tangentially anisotropic and isotropic models are evolving to an `inverted' EEP (i.e.\ with the high-mass stars having higher velocity dispersion than the low-mass ones). The extent (both spatial and temporal) of this inversion can be attributed to the initial velocity anisotropy --- it grows with increasing tangential anisotropy and decreases as the radial anisotropy rises.

Accessing the Host Galaxies of Long Gamma-Ray Bursts with Next-generation Telescopes

We present a method to estimate the detection expectations of host galaxies of long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs) in the grizJHKL bands. It is found that given the same limiting magnitude mgrizJHKL,lim in each band, the z band produces the largest number of overall LGRB hosts and low-mass hosts (M * ≤ 108 M ⊙) at mgrizJHKL,lim≳26 mag. For the detection of high-redshift LGRB hosts (redshift ≥5), it is recommended to prioritize the L band, due to its good performance at both low and high limiting magnitudes. We specifically estimate the expectation of LGRB host detection with mgrizJHKL,lim=28 mag, which the James Webb Space Telescope can partially attain. We find that there may exist 116, 259, 277, 439, 266, 294, 274, and 316 LGRB hosts, including 0.54, 31, 28, 143, 12, 20, 14, and 35 low-mass ones in the grizJHKL bands and 13, 14, 15, 14, and 15 high-redshift ones in the zJHKL bands, for 15 yr Swift LGRBs with S ≥ 10−6 erg cm−2. The results show that the study of LGRB hosts under next-generation observational conditions holds significant potential, especially for low-mass host studies. However, it appears that the deeper sensitivities of galaxy telescopes may not significantly enhance statistical studies of high-redshift hosts. Strategies aimed at increasing the number of distant LGRB hosts may require the expansion of high-redshift LGRB detections.

The proto-galaxy of Milky Way-mass haloes in the FIRE simulations

ABSTRACT Observational studies are finding stars believed to be relics of the earliest stages of hierarchical mass assembly of the Milky Way (i.e. proto-galaxy). In this work, we contextualize these findings by studying the masses, ages, spatial distributions, morphology, kinematics, and chemical compositions of proto-galaxy populations from the 13 Milky Way (MW)-mass galaxies from the FIRE-2 cosmological zoom-in simulations. Our findings indicate that proto-Milky Way populations: (i) can have a stellar mass range between 1 × 108 < M⋆ < 2 × 1010 [M⊙], a virial mass range between 3 × 1010 < M⋆ < 6 × 1011 [M⊙], and be as young as 8 ≲ Age ≲ 12.8 [Gyr] (1 ≲ z ≲ 6); (ii) are pre-dominantly centrally concentrated, with $\sim 50~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the stars contained within 5–10 kpc; (iii) on average show weak but systematic net rotation in the plane of the host’s disc at z = 0 (i.e. 0.25 ≲ 〈κ/κdisc〉 ≲ 0.8); (iv) present [α/Fe]-[Fe/H] compositions that overlap with the metal-poor tail of the host’s old disc; and (v) tend to assemble slightly earlier in Local Group-like environments than in systems in isolation. Interestingly, we find that $\sim 60~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ of the proto-Milky Way galaxies are comprised by 1 dominant system (1/5 ≲M⋆/M⋆, proto-MilkyWay≲ 4/5) and 4–5 lower mass systems (M⋆/M⋆, proto-MilkyWay≲ 1/10); the other $\sim 40~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ are comprised by 2 dominant systems and 3–4 lower mass systems. These massive/dominant proto-Milky Way fragments can be distinguished from the lower mass ones in chemical-kinematic samples, but appear (qualitatively) indistinguishable from one another. Our results could help observational studies disentangle if the Milky Way formed from one or two dominant systems.

ΣSFR–M ∗ Diagram: A Valuable Galaxy Evolution Diagnostic to Complement (s)SFR–M ∗ Diagrams

The specific star formation rate (sSFR) is commonly used to describe the level of galaxy star formation (SF) and to select quenched galaxies. However, since it is a relative measure of the young-to-old population, an ambiguity in its interpretation may arise because a low sSFR can be due to either a substantial previous mass buildup or SF activity that is low. We show, using large samples spanning 0 < z < 2, that the normalization of the star formation rate (SFR) by the physical extent over which SF is taking place (i.e., the SFR surface density, ΣSFR) overcomes this ambiguity. ΣSFR has a strong physical basis, being tied to the molecular gas density and the effectiveness of stellar feedback, so we propose ΣSFR–M * as an important galaxy evolution diagram to complement (s)SFR–M * diagrams. Using the ΣSFR–M * diagram we confirm the Schiminovich et al. result that the level of SF along the main sequence today is only weakly mass-dependent—high-mass galaxies, despite their redder colors, are as active as blue, low-mass ones. At higher redshift, the slope of the “ΣSFR main sequence” steepens, signaling the epoch of bulge buildup in massive galaxies. We also find that ΣSFR based on the optical isophotal radius more cleanly selects both starbursting and spheroid-dominated (early-type) galaxies than the sSFR. One implication of our analysis is that the assessment of the inside-out versus outside-in quenching scenarios should consider both sSFR and ΣSFR radial profiles, because ample SF may be present in bulges with low sSFRs (red color).

Physical Evolution of Dark Matter Halo around the Depletion Boundary

We investigate the buildup of the halo profile out to large scale in a cosmological simulation, focusing on the roles played by the recently proposed depletion radii. We explicitly show that halo growth is accompanied by the depletion of the environment, with the inner depletion radius demarcating the two. This evolution process is also observed via the formation of a trough in the bias profile, with the two depletion radii identifying key scales in the evolution. The ratio between the inner depletion radius and the virial radius is approximately a constant factor of 2 across redshifts and halo masses. The ratio between their enclosed densities is also close to a constant of 0.18. These simple scaling relations reflect the largely universal scaled mass profile on these scales, which only evolves weakly with redshift. The overall picture of the boundary evolution can be broadly divided into three stages according to the maturity of the depletion process, with cluster halos lagging behind low-mass ones in the evolution. We also show that the traditional slow and fast accretion dichotomy of halo growth can be identified as accelerated and decelerated depletion phases, respectively.

The impact of environmental effects on active galactic nuclei: A decline in the incidence of ionized outflows

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) have generally been considered to be less frequent in denser environments due to a lower number of galaxy-galaxy interactions and/or the removal of their gas-rich reservoirs by the dense intergalactic medium. However, recent observational and theoretical works suggest that the effect of ram-pressure stripping acting on galaxies in dense environments might reduce the angular momentum of their gas, causing it to infall towards the super massive black hole at their centre, activating the AGN phase. In this work we explore the connection between environment and nuclear activity by evaluating the variation in the incidence of ionized outflows, a common phenomenon associated with nuclear activity, in AGNs across different environments. We select a sample of approximately 3300 optical AGNs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 13, which we match with a group catalogue to identify galaxies in isolation or residing in groups. We further probe their environments through the projected distance to the central galaxy of the group or cluster and the projected surface density to the fifth neighbour (δ5). The presence of ionized outflows is determined through the modelling of the [O III] λ5007 emission line. We find that at lower masses (&lt; 1010.3 M⊙), the fraction of ionized outflows is significantly lower in satellite AGNs (∼7%) than in isolated (∼22%) AGNs, probably due to their different AGN luminosity, L[O III], in this stellar mass range. The fraction of outflows decreases at distances closer to the central galaxy of the group or cluster for all satellite AGNs; however, only the lower-mass ones (109 − 1010.3 M⊙) display a significant decline with δ5. Although this study does not include AGNs in the densest regions of galaxy clusters, our findings suggest that AGNs in dense environments accrete less gas than those in the field, potentially due to the removal of the gas reservoirs via stripping or starvation, leading to a negative connection between environment and AGN activity. Based on our results, we propose that the observed change in the incidence of outflows when moving towards denser regions of groups and clusters could contribute to the higher gas metallicities of cluster galaxies compared to field galaxies, especially at lower masses.

Spatially resolved self-consistent spectral modelling of jellyfish galaxies from MUSE with FADO: trends with mass and stripping intensity

ABSTRACT We present a spatially resolved stellar population analysis of 61 jellyfish galaxies and 47 control galaxies observed with ESO/MUSE attempting to understand the general trends of the stellar populations as a function of the stripping intensity and mass. This is the public sample from the GASP programme, with 0.01 &amp;lt; z &amp;lt; 0.15 and 8.9 &amp;lt; log (M⋆/M⊙) &amp;lt; 12.0. We apply the spectral population synthesis code fado to fit self-consistently both the stellar and nebular contributions to the spectra of the sources. We present 2D morphological maps for mean stellar ages, metallicities, gas-phase oxygen abundances, and star formation rates for the galaxies with Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (inla), which is efficient in reconstructing spatial data of extended sources. We find that ‘extreme stripping’ and ‘stripping’ galaxies are typically younger than the other types. Regarding stellar and nebular metallicities, the ‘stripping’ and ‘control passive’ galaxies are the most metal-poor. Based on the phase space for jellyfish cluster members we find trends in ages, metallicities, and abundances with different regions of the diagram. We also compute radial profiles for the same quantities. We find that both the stripping and the stellar masses seem to influence the profiles, and we see differences between various groups and distinct mass bins. The radial profiles for different mass bins present relations already shown in the literature for undisturbed galaxies, i.e. profiles of ages and metallicities tend to increase with mass. However, beyond ∼0.75 effective radius, the ages of the most massive galaxies become similar to or lower than the ages of the lower mass ones.

Masers in accretion burst sources

AbstractRecently, remarkable progress has been made in understanding the formation of high mass stars. Observations provided direct evidence that massive young stellar objects (MYSOs), analogously to low-mass ones, form via disk-mediated accretion accompanied by episodic accretion bursts, possibly caused by disk fragmentation. In the case of MYSOs, the mechanism theoretically provides a means to overcome radiation pressure, but in practice it is poorly studied - only three accretion bursts in MYSOs have been caught in action to date. A significant contribution to the development of the theory has been made with the study of masers, which have proven to be a powerful tool for locating “bursting” MYSOs. This overview focuses on the exceptional role that masers play in the search and study of accretion bursts in massive protostars.

Astrophysical parameters and dynamical evolution of open clusters: NGC 2587, Collinder 268 and Melotte 72, and Pismis 7

AbstractWe determined astrophysical and dynamical parameters of the open clusters (OCs) NGC 2587, Collinder 268 (Col 268), Melotte 72 (Mel 72), and Pismis 7 from Gaia DR2 photometric/astrometric data and a new technique, fitCMD. fitCMD provides (Z, Age(Gyr)) as (0.025, 0.45) for NGC 2587, (0.0025, 0.5) for Col 268, (0.011, 1.25) for Mel 72, and (0.008, 1.00) for Pismis 7, respectively. As compared to Gaia DR2 distances, the obtained photometric distances from fitCMD provide somewhat close distances. For NGC 2587 and Mel 72, both distances are in good concordance. Except for NGC 2587, the ages of the remaining OCs are higher than their relaxation times, which suggests that they are dynamically relaxed. NGC 2587 did not undergo dynamical evolution. Mel 72 and Pismis 7 with relatively flat MF slopes indicate signs of a somewhat advanced dynamical evolution, in the sense that they appear to have lost a significant fraction of their low‐mass stars to the field. Pismis 7's negative/flat mass function slope indicates that its high mass stars slightly outnumber its low mass ones. Given its mild dynamical evolution, the high mass stars move toward the central region, while low‐mass stars are continually being lost to the field. Col 268 presents small dimensions, which suggest a primordial origin. The outer parts of Mel 72 and Pismis 7—with large cluster radii expand with time, while Mel 72's core contracts because of dynamical relaxation.

Photoevaporative Dispersal of Protoplanetary Disks around Evolving Intermediate-mass Stars

Abstract We aim to understand the effect of stellar evolution on the evolution of protoplanetary disks. We focus in particular on the disk evolution around intermediate-mass (IM) stars, which evolve more rapidly than low-mass ones. We numerically solve the long-term evolution of disks around 0.5–5 M ☉ stars considering viscous accretion and photoevaporation (PE) driven by stellar far-ultraviolet (FUV), extreme-ultraviolet (EUV), and X-ray emission. We also take stellar evolution into account and consider the time evolution of the PE rate. We find that the FUV, EUV, and X-ray luminosities of IM stars evolve by orders of magnitude within a few million years, along with the time evolution of stellar structure, stellar effective temperature, or accretion rate. Therefore, the PE rate also evolves with time by orders of magnitude, and we conclude that stellar evolution is crucial for the disk evolution around IM stars.

Predicted spatial and velocity distributions of ejected companion stars of helium accretion-induced thermonuclear supernovae

Context. Thermonuclear supernovae (SNe), a subset of which are the highly important SNe Type Ia, remain one of the more poorly understood phenomena known to modern astrophysics. In recent years, the single degenerate helium (He) donor channel, where a white dwarf star accretes He-rich matter from a hydrogen-depleted companion, has emerged as a promising candidate progenitor scenario for these events. An unresolved question in this scenario is the fate of the companion star, which would be evident as a runaway hot subdwarf O/B stars (He sdO/B) in the aftermath of the SN event. Aims. Previous studies have shown that the kinematic properties of an ejected companion provide an opportunity to closer examine the properties of an SN progenitor system. However, with the number of observed objects not matching predictions by theory, the viability of this mechanism is called into question. In this study, we first synthesize a population of companion stars ejected by the aforementioned mechanism, taking into account predicted ejection velocities, the inferred population density in the Galactic mass distribution, and subsequent kinematics in the Galactic potential. We then discuss the astrometric properties of this population. Methods. We present 106 individual ejection trajectories, which were numerically computed with a newly developed, lightweight simulation framework. Initial conditions were randomly generated, but weighted according to the Galactic mass density and ejection velocity data. We then discuss the bulk properties (Galactic distribution and observational parameters) of our sample. Results. Our synthetic population reflects the Galactic mass distribution. A peak in the density distribution for close objects is expected in the direction of the Galactic centre. Higher mass runaways should outnumber lower mass ones. If the entire considered mass range is realised, the radial velocity distribution should show a peak at 500 km s−1. If only close US 708 analogues are considered, there should be a peak at (∼750 − 850) km s−1. In either case, US 708 should be a member of the high-velocity tail of the distribution. Conclusions. We show that the puzzling lack of confirmed surviving companion stars of thermonuclear SNe, though possibly an observation-related selection effect, may indicate a selection against high mass donors in the SD He donor channel.

Quantum nucleation of up-down quark matter and astrophysical implications

Quark matter with only $u$ and $d$ quarks ($ud$QM) might be the ground state of baryonic matter at large baryon number $A>A_{\rm min}$. With $A_{\rm min}\gtrsim 300$, this has no direct conflict with the stability of ordinary nuclei. An intriguing test of this scenario is to look for quantum nucleation of $ud$QM inside neutron stars due to their large baryon densities. In this paper, we study the transition rate of cold neutron stars to $ud$ quark stars ($ud$QSs) and the astrophysical implications, considering the relevant theoretical uncertainties and observational constraints. It turns out that a large portion of parameter space predicts an instantaneous transition, and so the observed neutron stars are mostly $ud$QSs. We find this possibility still viable under the recent gravitational wave and pulsar observations, although there are debates on its compatibility with some observations that involve complicated structure of quark matter. The tension could be partially relieved in the two-families scenario, where the high-mass stars ($M\gtrsim2 M_{\odot}$) are all $ud$QSs and the low-mass ones ($M\sim1.4\, M_{\odot}$) are mostly hadronic stars. In this case, the slow transition of the low-mass hadronic stars points to a very specific class of hadronic models with moderately stiff EOSs, and $ud$QM properties are also strongly constrained.

Automated Mining of the ALMA Archive in the COSMOS Field (A3COSMOS). II. Cold Molecular Gas Evolution out to Redshift 6

Abstract We present new measurements of the cosmic cold molecular gas evolution out to redshift 6 based on systematic mining of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) public archive in the COSMOS deep field (A3COSMOS). Our A3COSMOS data set contains ∼700 galaxies (0.3 ≲ z ≲ 6) with high-confidence ALMA detections in the (sub)millimeter continuum and multiwavelength spectral energy distributions. Multiple gas mass calibration methods are compared, and biases in band conversions (from observed ALMA wavelength to rest-frame Rayleigh–Jeans tail continuum) have been tested. Combining our A3COSMOS sample with ∼1000 CO-observed galaxies at 0 ≲ z ≲ 4 (75% at z &lt; 0.1), we parameterize galaxies’ molecular gas depletion time ( ) and molecular gas to stellar mass ratio ( ) each as a function of the stellar mass ( ), offset from the star-forming main sequence ( ) and cosmic age (or redshift). Our proposed functional form provides a statistically better fit to current data (than functional forms in the literature) and implies a “downsizing” effect (i.e., more-massive galaxies evolve earlier than less-massive ones) and “mass quenching” (gas consumption slows down with cosmic time for massive galaxies but speeds up for low-mass ones). Adopting galaxy stellar mass functions and applying our function for gas mass calculation, we for the first time infer the cosmic cold molecular gas density evolution out to redshift 6 and find agreement with CO blind surveys as well as semianalytic modeling. These together provide a coherent picture of cold molecular gas, star formation rate, and stellar mass evolution in galaxies across cosmic time.

The Fundamental Plane of cluster spheroidal galaxies at z ∼ 1.3: evidence for mass-dependent evolution

ABSTRACT We present spectroscopic observations obtained at the Large Binocular Telescope in the field of the cluster XLSSJ0223−0436 at z = 1.22. We confirm 12 spheroids cluster members and determine stellar velocity dispersion for 7 of them. We combine these data with those in the literature for clusters RXJ0848+4453 at z = 1.27 (8 galaxies) and XMMJ2235−2557 at z = 1.39 (7 galaxies) to determine the Fundamental Plane (FP) of cluster spheroids. We find that the FP at z ∼ 1.3 is offset and rotated (∼3σ) with respect to the local FP. The offset corresponds to a mean evolution Δlog(Mdyn/LB) = (−0.5 ± 0.1)z. High-redshift galaxies follow a steeper mass-dependent Mdyn/LB–Mdyn relation than local ones. Assuming Δ log(Mdyn/LB) = Δ log(M*/LB), higher mass galaxies [log(Mdyn/M⊙) ≥ 11.5] have a higher formation redshift (zf ≥ 6.5) than lower mass ones [zf ≤2 for log(Mdyn/M⊙ ≤ 10)], with a median zf ≃ 2.5 for the whole sample. Also, galaxies with higher stellar mass density host stellar populations formed earlier than those in lower density galaxies. At fixed initial mass function, Mdyn/M* varies systematically with mass and mass density. It follows that the evolution of the stellar populations (M*/LB) accounts for the observed evolution of Mdyn/LB for Mdyn &gt; 1011 M⊙ galaxies, while accounts for ∼85 per cent of the evolution at Mdyn &lt; 1011 M⊙. We find no evidence in favour of structural evolution of individual galaxies, while we find evidences that spheroids later added to the population may account for the observed discrepancy between Δlog(Mdyn/LB) and Δ log(M*/LB) at masses &lt;1011 M⊙. Thus, the evolution of the FP of cluster spheroids is consistent with the mass-dependent and mass density-dependent evolution of their stellar populations superimposed to a minor contribution of spheroids joining the population at later times.

Evolution of the Three-dimensional Shape of Passively Evolving and Star-forming Galaxies at z &lt; 1

Abstract Using the HST/ACS I F814W-band data, we investigated the distribution of apparent axial ratios of ∼21,000 galaxies with M V &lt; −20 at 0.2 &lt; z &lt; 1.0 in the COSMOS field as a function of stellar mass, specific star formation rate (sSFR), and redshift. We statistically estimated intrinsic 3D shapes of these galaxies by fitting the axial-ratio distribution with triaxial ellipsoid models characterized by face-on (middle-to-long) and edge-on (short-to-long) axial ratios B/A and C/A. We found that the transition from thin disk to thick spheroid occurs at ΔMS ∼ −1 dex, i.e., 10 times lower sSFR than that of the main sequence for galaxies with M star = 1010–1011 M ⊙ at 0.2 &lt; z &lt; 1.0. Furthermore, the intrinsic thickness (C/A) of passively evolving galaxies with M star = 1010–1011 M ⊙ significantly decreases with time from C/A ∼ 0.40–0.50 at z ∼ 0.8 to C/A ∼ 0.33–0.37 at z ∼ 0.4, while those galaxies with M star &gt; 1011 M ⊙ have C/A ∼ 0.5 irrespective of redshift. On the other hand, star-forming galaxies on the main sequence with 109.5–1011 M ⊙ show no significant evolution in their shape at 0.2 &lt; z &lt; 1.0, but their thickness depends on stellar mass; more massive star-forming galaxies tend to have lower C/A (thinner shape) than low-mass ones. These results suggest that some fraction of star-forming galaxies with a thin disk, which started to appear around z ∼ 1, quench their star formation without violent morphological change, and these newly added quiescent galaxies with a relatively thin shape cause the significant evolution in the axial-ratio distribution of passively evolving galaxies with M star &lt; 1011 M ⊙ at z &lt; 1.

Dragonfly Imaging of the Galaxy NGC 5907: A Different View of the Iconic Stellar Stream

Abstract In 2008 it was reported that the stellar stream of the edge-on spiral NGC 5907 loops twice around the galaxy, enveloping it in a giant corkscrew-like structure. Here we present imaging of this iconic object with the Dragonfly Telephoto Array, reaching a 1σ surface brightness level of μ g = 30.3 mag arcsec−2 on spatial scales of 1′ (the approximate width of the stream). We find a qualitatively different morphology from that reported in the 2008 study. The Dragonfly data do not show two loops but a single curved stream with a total length of 45′ (220 kpc). The surface brightness of the stream ranges from μ g ≈ 27.6 mag arcsec−2 to μ g ≈ 28.8 mag arcsec−2, and it extends significantly beyond the region where tidal features had previously been detected. We find a density enhancement near the luminosity-weighted midpoint of the stream which we identify as the likely remnant of a nearly disrupted progenitor galaxy. A restricted N-body simulation provides a qualitative match to the detected features. In terms of its spatial extent and stellar mass the stream is similar to Sagittarius, and our results demonstrate the efficacy of low surface brightness-optimized telescopes for obtaining maps of such large streams outside the Local Group. The census of these rare, relatively high mass events complements the census of common, low-mass ones that is provided by studies of streams in the Milky Way halo.

Testing multimass dynamical models of star clusters with real data: mass segregation in three Galactic globular clusters

We present the results of the analysis of deep photometric data for a sample of three Galactic globular clusters (NGC5466, NGC6218 and NGC6981) with the aim of estimating their degree of mass segregation and testing the predictions of analytic dynamical models. The adopted dataset, composed by both Hubble Space Telescope and ground based data, reaches the low-mass end of the mass functions of these clusters from the center up to their tidal radii allowing to derive their radial distribution of stars with different masses. All the analysed clusters show evidence of mass segregation with the most massive stars more concentrated than low-mass ones. The structures of NGC5466 and NGC6981 are well reproduced by multimass dynamical models adopting a lowered-Maxwellian distribution function and the prescription for mass segregation given by Gunn & Griffin (1979). Instead, NGC6218 appears to be more mass segregated than model predictions. By applying the same technique to mock observations derived from snapshots selected from suitable N-body simulations we show that the deviation from the behaviour predicted by these models depends on the particular stage of dynamical evolution regardless of initial conditions.

The thermal dilepton rate at NLO at small and large invariant mass

We report on a recent next-to-leading order perturbative determination of the dilepton rate from a hot QCD plasma for frequency and momentum of the order of the temperature and for much smaller invariant mass M∼gT. We briefly review the calculation, which generalizes the previous one for the photon case (M=0). We then analyze the consequences of the new calculation for the extraction of the photon rate from the small mass dilepton measurements. We then review a recent NLO determination at large M and we show how to match and merge its results with the low-mass ones, resulting in a single rate which is NLO-accurate over the phenomenologically relevant region.

Exploring the connection between stellar halo profiles and accretion histories in L* galaxies

AbstractI use a library of controlled minor merger N-body simulations, a particle tagging technique and Monte Carlo generated ΛCDM accretion histories to study the highly stochastic process of stellar deposition onto the accreted stellar halos (ASHs) of L* galaxies. I explore the main physical mechanisms that drive the connection between the accretion history and the density profile of the ASH. I find that: i) through dynamical friction, more massive satellites are more effective at delivering their stars deeper into the host; ii) as a consequence, ASHs feature a negative gradient between radius and the local mass-weighed virial satellite-to-host mass ratio; iii) in L* galaxies, most ASHs feature a density profile that steepens towards sharper logarithmic slopes at increasing radii, though with significant halo-to-halo scatter; iv) the ASHs with the largest total ex-situ mass are such because of the chance accretion of a small number of massive satellites (rather than of a large number of low-mass ones).

Properties of Dwarf Stars in Cygnus OB2

AbstractWe present the results of investigation of five stars, originally classified as dwarfs, belonging to Cyg OB2 association, their stellar, and wind properties. Using both tlusty and cmfgen codes, we derived effective temperatures, surface gravities, chemical abundances, mass-loss rates, and projected rotation velocities. Due to the fact that distance to the stars is well known, we were able to estimate their luminosities. Using evolutionary models, we estimated the ages of these sample stars and find that lower mass ones—MT282 and MT343—belong to older population of the association. Their ages are greater than 10 Myr. The ages of three other stars—MT317, MT299, MT259—are between 4 and 6 Myr.