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  • Determining the observation epochs of star catalogs from ancient China using the Generalized Hough Transform method

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学史 分类: 天文学 >> 天文仪器与技术 提交时间: 2024-04-10

    摘要: 中国古代保留着丰富的天文观测记录,其中尤为宝贵的是大量实测的恒星观测数据。然而,确定这些观测数据的年代是一个相当复杂的问题。本文以宋元时代的两组观测数据为基础,运用广义霍夫变换的技术手段对数据进行计算和分析。我们成功地获得了对恒星观测年代的较为准确的估算结果。这一方法为未来分析更多古代天文星表数据提供了新的途径和视角。

  • Detecting Cosmic Strings with Lensed Fast Radio Bursts

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Correlated red noise recently reported from pulsar timing observations may be an indication of stochastic gravitational waves emitted by cosmic strings that formed during a primordial phase transition near the Grand Unification energy scale. Unfortunately, known probes of cosmic strings, namely the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies and string lensing of extragalactic galaxies, are not sensitive enough for low string tensions of $G\mu = 10^{-10}-10^{-7}$ that are needed to explain this putative signal. We show that strong gravitational lensing of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) by cosmic strings is a potentially unambiguous avenue to probe that range of string tension values. The image pair of string lensing are expected to have identical magnification factor and parity, and have a typical time delay of $\sim 10^2\,\,(G\,\mu/10^{-8})^2$ seconds. The unique spectral fingerprint of each FRB, as well as the possibility to detect correlations in the time series of the electric field of the radio waves, will enable verification of the string lensing interpretation. Very-Long-Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations can spatially resolve the image pair and provide a lower bound on the string tension based on the image separation. We calculate the FRB lensing rate as a function of FRB detection number for several different models of the FRB redshift distribution. We find that a survey detecting $\sim 10^5$ FRBs, in line with estimates for the detection rate of the forthcoming survey CHORD, can uncover a strong lensing event for a string tension of $G\mu \simeq 10^{-7}$. Larger FRB surveys, such as Phase 2 of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), have the potential to significantly improve the sensitivity on the string tension to $G\mu \simeq 10^{-9}$.

  • The outermost edges of the Milky Way halo from galaxy kinematics

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We measure for the first time the outermost edges of the Milky Way (MW) halo in terms of the depletion and turnaround radii. The inner depletion radius, $r_\mathrm{id}$, identified at the location of maximum infall velocity, separates a growing halo from the draining environment, while the turnaround radius, $r_\mathrm{ta}$, marks the outermost edge of infalling material towards the halo, both of which are located well outside the virial radius. Using the motions of nearby dwarf galaxies within $3\mathrm{Mpc}$, we obtain a marginal detection of the infall zone around the MW with a maximum velocity of $v_\mathrm{inf, max}=-46_{-39}^{+24}\mathrm{km s^{-1}}$. This enables us to measure $r_\mathrm{id}=559\pm 107 \mathrm{kpc}$ and $r_\mathrm{ta}=839\pm 121 \mathrm{kpc}$. The measured depletion radius is about 1.5 times the MW virial radius ($R_\mathrm{200m}$) measured from internal dynamics. Compared with halos in the cosmological simulation Illustris TNG100, the factor 1.5 is consistent with that of halos with similar masses and dynamical environments to the MW but slightly smaller than typical values of Local Group analogs, potentially indicating the unique evolution history of the MW. These measurements of halo edges directly quantify the ongoing evolution of the MW outer halo and provide constraints on the current dynamical state of the MW that are independent from internal dynamics.

  • Early Solar System instability triggered by dispersal of the gaseous disk

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The Solar System's orbital structure is thought to have been sculpted by an episode of dynamical instability among the giant planets. However, the instability trigger and timing have not been clearly established. Hydrodynamical modeling has shown that while the Sun's gaseous protoplanetary disk was present the giant planets migrated into a compact orbital configuration in a chain of resonances. Here we use dynamical simulations to show that the giant planets' instability was likely triggered by the dispersal of the gaseous disk. As the disk evaporated from the inside-out, its inner edge swept successively across and dynamically perturbed each planet's orbit in turn. The associated orbital shift caused a dynamical compression of the exterior part of the system, ultimately triggering instability. The final orbits of our simulated systems match those of the Solar System for a viable range of astrophysical parameters. The giant planet instability therefore took place as the gaseous disk dissipated, constrained by astronomical observations to be a few to ten million years after the birth of the Solar System. Terrestrial planet formation would not complete until after such an early giant planet instability; the growing terrestrial planets may even have been sculpted by its perturbations, explaining the small mass of Mars relative to Earth.

  • An effective field theory of holographic dark energy

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: A general covariant local field theory of the holographic dark energy model is presented. It turns out the low energy effective theory of the holographic dark energy is the massive gravity theory whose graviton has 3 polarisations, including one scalar mode and two tensor modes. The Compton wavelength is the size of the future event horizon of the universe. The UV-IR correspondence in the holographic dark energy model stems from the scalar graviton's strong coupling at the energy scale that marks the breaking down of the effective field theory.

  • Strategies to reduce the thermoelastic loss of multimaterial coated finite substrates

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Thermoelastic loss is one of the main energy dissipation mechanisms in resonant systems. A careful analysis of the thermoelastic loss is critical to design low-noise resonators for high-precision applications, such as gravitational-wave detectors. This paper presents an analytical solution to the thermoelastic loss in multimaterial coated finite substrates with realistic assumptions on the model structure and the elastic fields. The mechanism responsible for thermoelastic loss is taken as a function of material properties, operating temperature and frequency, and other design parameters. We calculate the thermoelastic loss for specific applications over a wide range of frequencies (1 Hz to 10 GHz) and temperatures (1 K to 300 K), and for a variety of substrate and coating materials. The result is relevant for gravitational-wave detectors and for experiments sensitive to mechanical dissipation.

  • Nonlinear reconstruction of features in the primordial power spectrum from large-scale structure

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Potential features in the primordial power spectrum have been searched for in galaxy surveys in recent years since these features can assist in understanding the nature of inflation. The null detection to date suggests that any such features should be fairly weak, and next-generation galaxy surveys, with their unprecedented sizes and precisions, are in a position to place stronger constraints than before. However, even if such primordial features once existed in the early Universe, they would have been significantly damped in the nonlinear regime at low redshift due to structure formation, which makes them difficult to be directly detected in real observations. A potential way to tackle this challenge for probing the features is to undo the cosmological evolution, i.e., using reconstruction to obtain an approximate linear density field. By employing a set of N-body simulations, here we show that a recently-proposed nonlinear reconstruction algorithm can effectively retrieve damped oscillatory features from halo catalogues and improve the accuracy of the measurement of feature parameters (assuming that such primordial features do exist). We do a Fisher analysis to forecast how nonlinear reconstruction affects the constraining power, and find that it can lead to significantly more robust constraints on the feature amplitude for a DESI-like survey. Comparing nonlinear reconstruction with other ways of improving constraints, such as increasing the survey volume and range of scales, this shows that it is possible to achieve what the latter do, but at a lower cost.

  • Machine Learning for Discovering Effective Interaction Kernels between Celestial Bodies from Ephemerides

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Building accurate and predictive models of the underlying mechanisms of celestial motion has inspired fundamental developments in theoretical physics. Candidate theories seek to explain observations and predict future positions of planets, stars, and other astronomical bodies as faithfully as possible. We use a data-driven learning approach, extending that developed in Lu et al. ($2019$) and extended in Zhong et al. ($2020$), to a derive stable and accurate model for the motion of celestial bodies in our Solar System. Our model is based on a collective dynamics framework, and is learned from the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab's development ephemerides. By modeling the major astronomical bodies in the Solar System as pairwise interacting agents, our learned model generate extremely accurate dynamics that preserve not only intrinsic geometric properties of the orbits, but also highly sensitive features of the dynamics, such as perihelion precession rates. Our learned model can provide a unified explanation to the observation data, especially in terms of reproducing the perihelion precession of Mars, Mercury, and the Moon. Moreover, Our model outperforms Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation in all cases and performs similarly to, and exceeds on the Moon, the Einstein-Infeld-Hoffman equations derived from Einstein's theory of general relativity.

  • Slow Neutron-Capture Process: Low-mass AGB stars and presolar silicon carbide grains

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Presolar grains are microscopic dust grains that formed in the stellar winds or explosions of ancient stars that died before the formation of the solar system. The majority (~90% in number) of presolar silicon carbide (SiC) grains, including types mainstream (MS), Y, and Z, came from low-mass C-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, which is supported by the ubiquitous presence of SiC dust observed in the circumstellar envelope of AGB stars and the signatures of slow neutron-capture process preserved in these grains. Here, we review the status of isotope studies of presolar AGB SiC grains with an emphasis on heavy-element isotopes and highlight the importance of presolar grain studies for nuclear astrophysics. We discuss the sensitives of different types of nuclei to varying AGB stellar parameters and how their abundances in presolar AGB SiC grains can be used to provide independent, detailed constraints on stellar parameters, including 13C formation, stellar temperature, and nuclear reaction rates.

  • Using the Climate App to learn about Planetary Habitability and Climate Change

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Simple climate models have been around for more than a century but have recently come back into fashion: they are useful for explaining global warming and the habitability of extrasolar planets. The Climate App (https://www.climateapp.ca) is an interactive web-based application that describes the radiative transfer governing planetary climate. The App is currently available in French and English and is suitable for teaching high-school through college students, or public outreach. The beginner version can be used to explore the greenhouse effect and planetary albedo, sufficient for explaining anthropogenic climate change, the Faint Young Sun Paradox, the habitability of TRAPPIST planets and other simple scenarios. There is also an advanced option with more atmospheric layers and incorporating the absorption and scattering of shortwave radiation for students and educators wishing a deeper dive into atmospheric radiative transfer. A number of pedagogical activities are being beta tested and rolled out.

  • Messenger Monte-Carlo MAPPINGS V (M^3) -- A self-consistent three-dimensional photoionization code

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The Messenger Interface Monte-Carlo Mappings V (M^3) is a photoionization code adopting the fully self-consistent Monte-Carlo radiative transfer technique, which presents a major advance over previous photoionization models with simple geometries. M^3 is designed for modeling nebulae in arbitrary three-dimensional geometries. In this paper, we describe the Monte-Carlo radiative transfer technique and the microphysics implemented in M^3, including the photoionization, collisional ionization, the free-free and free-bound recombination, and two-photon radiation. We put M^3 through the Lexington/Meudon benchmarks to test the reliability of the new code. We apply M^3 to three HII region models with fiducial geometries, demonstrating that M^3 is capable of dealing with nebulae with complex geometries. M^3 is a promising tool for understanding emission-line behavior in the era of SDSS-V/LVM and JWST, which will provide high-quality data of spatially-resolved nearby HII regions and highly turbulent local and high-redshift HII regions.

  • Fingerprints of the Cosmic Ray Driven Mechanism of the Ozone Hole

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: There is long research interest in electron-induced reactions of halogenated molecules. It has been two decades since the cosmic-ray (CR) driven electron-induced reaction (CRE) mechanism for the ozone hole formation was proposed. The derived CRE equation with stratospheric equivalent chlorine level and CR intensity as only two variables has well reproduced the observed data of stratospheric O3 and temperatures over the past 40 years. The CRE predictions of 11-year cyclic variations of the Antarctic O3 hole and associated stratospheric cooling have also been well confirmed. Measured altitude profiles of ozone and temperatures in Antarctic ozone holes provide convincing fingerprints of the CRE mechanism. A quantitative estimate indicates that the CRE-produced Cl atoms could completely deplete or even over-kill ozone in the CR-peak polar stratospheric region, consistent with observed altitude profiles of severest Antarctic ozone holes. After removing the natural CR effect, the hidden recovery in the Antarctic O3 hole since around 1995 is clearly discovered, while the recovery of O3 loss at mid-latitudes is being delayed by >=10 years. These results have provided strong evidence of the CRE mechanism. If the CR intensity keeps the current rising trend, the Antarctic O3 hole will return to the 1980 level by around 2060, while the returning of the O3 layer at mid-latitudes to the 1980 level will largely be delayed or will not even occur by the end of this century. The results strongly indicate that the CRE mechanism must be considered as a key factor in evaluating the O3 hole.

  • Disruption of Hierarchical Clustering in the Vela OB2 Complex and the Cluster Pair Collinder 135 and UBC7 with Gaia EDR3: Evidence of Supernova Quenching

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We identify hierarchical structures in the Vela OB2 complex and the cluster pair Collinder 135 and UBC 7 with Gaia EDR3 using the neural network machine learning algorithm StarGO. Five second-level substructures are disentangled in Vela OB2, which are referred to as Huluwa 1 (Gamma Velorum), Huluwa 2, Huluwa 3, Huluwa 4 and Huluwa 5. For the first time, Collinder 135 and UBC 7 are simultaneously identified as constituent clusters of the pair with minimal manual intervention. We propose an alternative scenario in which Huluwa 1-5 have originated from sequential star formation. The older clusters Huluwa 1-3 with an age of 10-22 Myr, generated stellar feedback to cause turbulence that fostered the formation of the younger-generation Huluwa 4-5 (7-20 Myr). A supernova explosion located inside the Vela IRAS shell quenched star formation in Huluwa 4-5 and rapidly expelled the remaining gas from the clusters. This resulted in global mass stratification across the shell, which is confirmed by the regression discontinuity method. The stellar mass in the lower rim of the shell is $0.32\pm0.14$ $\rm M_\odot$ higher than in the upper rim. Local, cluster-scale mass segregation is observed in the lowest-mass cluster Huluwa 5. Huluwa 1-5 (in Vela OB2) are experiencing significant expansion, while the cluster pair suffers from moderate expansion. The velocity dispersions suggest that all five groups (including Huluwa 1A and Huluwa 1B) in Vela OB2 and the cluster pair are supervirial and are undergoing disruption, and also that Huluwa 1A and Huluwa 1B may be a coeval young cluster pair. N-body simulations predict that Huluwa 1-5 in Vela OB2 and the cluster pair will continue to expand in the future 100 Myr and eventually dissolve.

  • On the short-range behavior of neutrino forces beyond the Standard Model: from $1/r^5$ to $1/r^4$, $1/r^2$, and $1/r$

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: The exchange of a pair of neutrinos between two objects, seperated by a distance $r$, leads to a long-range effective potential proportional to $1/r_{}^5$, assuming massless neutrinos and four-fermion contact interactions. In this paper, we investigate how this known form of neutrino-mediated potentials might be altered if the distance $r$ is sufficiently short, corresponding to a sufficiently large momentum transfer which could invalidate the contact interactions. We consider two possible scenarios to open up the contact interactions by introducing a $t$-channel or an $s$-channel mediator. We derive a general formula that is valid to describe the potential in all regimes as long as the external particles remain non-relativistic. In both scenarios, the potential decreases as $1/r_{}^5$ in the long-range limit as expected. In the short-range limit, the $t$-channel potential exhibits the Coulomb-like behavior (i.e. proportional to $1/r$), while the $s$-channel potential exhibits $1/r_{}^4$ and $1/r_{}^2$ behaviors.

  • Detectability of Primordial Black Hole Binaries at High Redshift

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We show that the gravitational wave signals from primordial black hole (PBH) binaries at high redshift can be detected. The detectability of PBH binaries is enhanced by redshift bias and more PBH binaries at high redshift. The initial clustering of PBHs is also included and enhances the effectively detectable mass ranges of PBHs at high redshift. Future observations on the gravitational wave at high redshift by space-based detectors such as LISA and SKA can constrain the fraction of PBHs in dark matter and PBHs initial distribution.

  • Performance of the New FlashCam-based Camera in the 28\,m Telescope of H.E.S.S

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: In October 2019, the central 28 m telescope of the H.E.S.S. experiment has been upgraded with a new camera. The camera is based on the FlashCam design which has been developed in view of a possible future implementation in the Medium-Sized Telescopes of the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), with emphasis on cost and performance optimization and on reliability. The fully digital design of the trigger and readout system makes it possible to operate the camera at high event rates and to precisely adjust and understand the trigger system. The novel design of the front-end electronics achieves a dynamic range of over 3,000 photoelectrons with only one electronics readout circuit per pixel. Here we report on the performance parameters of the camera obtained during the first year of operation in the field, including operational stability and optimization of calibration algorithms.

  • Inverse mass cascade in dark matter flow and effects on halo mass functions

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: Inverse mass cascade is a key feature of statistically steady state for self-gravitating collisionless dark matter flow (SG-CFD). Continuous mass transfer from small to large mass scales (inverse) is formulated. Direct effect of mass cascade on halo mass function is presented. Mass cascade is local, two-way, and asymmetric in mass space. Halos inherit/pass their mass from/to halos of similar size. Two regimes are identified: a propagation range with scale-independent rate of mass transfer and a deposition range with cascaded mass consumed to grow halos. Dimensional analysis leads to a power-law mass function in propagation range with a geometry exponent ${\lambda}$. A fundamental merging frequency $f_0{\sim}m_p^{\lambda-1}a^{-1}$ is identified, where $a$ is scale factor. Particle mass $m_p$ can be determined if that frequency is known. Rate of mass transfer ${\epsilon}_m{\sim}a^{-1}$ is independent of halo mass, a key feature of propagation range. Typical halos grow as $m_h{\sim}a^{3/2}$ and halo lifespan scales as ${\sim}m_h^{-\lambda}$. Chain reaction of mass cascade provides non-equilibrium dark matter flow a mechanism to continuously release energy and maximize entropy. Continuous injection of mass ("free radicals") at the smallest scale is required to sustain the everlasting inverse mass cascade such that total halo mass $M_h$ increases as $a^{1/2}$. These "radicals" might be directly generated at the smallest Planck scale or by a direct cascade from large to small scales. Entire mass cascade can be formulated by random walk in mass space, where halos migrate with an exponential distribution of waiting time. This results in a heterogeneous diffusion model, where Press-Schechter mass function can be fully derived without relying on any specific collapse models. A double-$\lambda$ mass function is proposed with different $\lambda$ for two ranges and agrees with N-body simulations.

  • Dynamical Friction From Ultralight Dark Matter

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We simulate the gravitational dynamics of a massive object interacting with Ultralight / Fuzzy Dark Matter (ULDM/FDM), non-relativistic quantum matter described by the Schrodinger-Poisson equation. We first consider a point mass moving in a uniform background, and then a supermassive black hole (SMBH) moving within a ULDM soliton. After replicating simple dynamical friction scenarios to verify our numerical strategies, we demonstrate that the wake induced by a moving mass in a uniform medium may undergo gravitational collapse that dramatically increases the drag force, albeit in a scenario unlikely to be encountered astrophysically. We broadly confirm simple estimates of dynamical friction timescales for a black hole at the center of a halo but see that a large moving point mass excites coherent "breathing modes" in a ULDM soliton. These can lead to "stone skipping" trajectories for point masses which do not sink uniformly toward the center of the soliton, as well as stochastic motion near the center itself. These effects will add complexity to SMBH-ULDM interactions and to SMBH mergers in a ULDM universe.

  • Machine Learning Solar Wind Driving Magnetospheric Convection in Tail Lobes

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: To quantitatively study the driving mechanisms of magnetospheric convection in the magnetotail lobes on a global scale, we utilize data from the ARTEMIS spacecraft in the deep tail and the Cluster spacecraft in the near tail. Previous work demonstrated that, in the lobes near the Moon, we can estimate the convection by utilizing ARTEMIS measurements of lunar ions velocity. In this paper, we analyze these datasets with machine learning models to determine what upstream factors drive the lobe convection in different magnetotail regions and thereby understand the mechanisms that control the dynamics of the tail lobes. Our results show that the correlations between the predicted and test convection velocities for the machine learning models (>0.75) are much better than those of the multiple linear regression model (~ 0.23 - 0.43). The systematic analysis reveals that the IMF and magnetospheric activity play an important role in influencing plasma convection in the global magnetotail lobes.

  • Precise Dynamical Masses of Epsilon Indi Ba and Bb: Evidence of Slowed Cooling at the L/T Transition

    分类: 天文学 >> 天文学 提交时间: 2023-02-19

    摘要: We report individual dynamical masses of $66.92 \pm 0.36 \; M_{Jup}$ and $53.25 \pm 0.29 \; M_{Jup}$ for the binary brown dwarfs $\varepsilon$ Indi Ba and Bb, measured from long term ($\approx 10$ yr) relative orbit monitoring and absolute astrometry monitoring data on the VLT. Relative astrometry with NACO fully constrains the Keplerian orbit of the binary pair, while absolute astrometry with FORS2 measures the system's parallax and mass ratio. We find a parallax consistent with the Hipparcos and Gaia values for $\varepsilon$ Indi A, and a mass ratio for $\varepsilon$ Indi Ba to Bb precise to better than $0.2\%$. $\varepsilon$ Indi Ba and Bb have spectral types T1-1.5 and T6, respectively. With an age of $3.5^{+0.8}_{-1.0}$ Gyr from $\varepsilon$ Indi A's activity, these brown dwarfs provide some of the most precise benchmarks for substellar cooling models. Assuming coevality, the very different luminosities of the two brown dwarfs and our moderate mass ratio imply a steep mass-luminosity relationship $L \propto M^{5.37 \pm 0.08}$ that can be explained by a slowed cooling rate in the L/T transition, as previously observed for other L/T binaries. Finally, we present a periodogram analysis of the near-infrared photometric data, but find no definitive evidence of periodic signals with a coherent phase.