We introduce the real space correlation function of $B$-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) as a probe of superhorizon tensor perturbations created by inflation. By causality, any non-inflationary mechanism for gravitational wave production after reheating, like global phase transitions or cosmic strings, must have vanishing correlations for angular separations greater than the angle subtended by the particle horizon at recombination, i.e. $\theta \gtrsim 2^\circ$. Since ordinary $B$-modes are defined non-locally in terms of the Stokes parameters $Q$ and $U$ and therefore don't have to respect causality, special care is taken to define `causal $\tilde B$-modes' for the analysis. We compute the real space $\tilde B$-mode correlation function for inflation and discuss its detectability on superhorizon scales where it provides an unambiguous test of inflationary gravitational waves. The correct identification of inflationary tensor modes is crucial since it relates directly to the energy scale of inflation. Wrongly associating tensor modes from causal seeds with inflation would imply an incorrect inference of the energy scale of inflation. We find that the superhorizon $\tilde B$-mode signal is above cosmic variance for the angular range $2^\circ < \theta < 4^\circ$ and is therefore in principle detectable. In practice, the signal will be challenging to measure since it requires accurately resolving the recombination peak of the $B$-mode power spectrum. However, a future CMB satellite (CMBPol), with noise level $\Delta_P \simeq 1\mu$K-arcmin and sufficient resolution to efficiently correct for lensing-induced $B$-modes, should be able to detect the signal at more than 3$\sigma$ if the tensor-to-scalar ratio isn't smaller than $r \simeq 0.01$.

The absorption of gamma-rays in the intergalactic medium due to the EBL (Extragalactic Background Light) causes the observed blazar spectrum to be fainter and softer than their intrinsic state. It could thus be expected to see an effective spectral-softening trend with redshift. No such trend is evident in the sample of VHE blazars currently observed. To check which distributions of the properties of the parent blazar population could reproduce the observations, various simulations are done. The resulting subsamples that satisfy a generic detection criterion for the current generation of ACTs (Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope) are checked to identify whether any inherent correlations (of spectral properties with redshift) are required to explain the current observations.

The remarkable astrometric capabilities of Chandra offer the possibility to measure proper motions of X-ray sources with an unprecedented accuracy in this wavelength range. We recently completed a proper motion survey of three of the seven thermally emitting radio-quiet isolated neutron stars (INSs) discovered in the ROSAT all-sky survey. These INSs (RX J0420.0-5022, RX J0806.4-4123, and RX J1308.6+2127) either lack an optical counterpart or have one so faint that ground based or space born optical observations push the current possibilities of the instrumentation to the limit. Pairs of ACIS observations were acquired 3 to 5 years apart to measure the displacement of the sources on the X-ray sky using as reference the background of extragalactic or remote Galactic X-ray sources. We derive 2 sigma upper limits of 123 mas/yr and 86 mas/yr on the proper motion of RX J0420.0-5022 and RX J0806.4-4123, respectively. RX J1308.6+2127 exhibits a very significant displacement (~ 9 sigma) yielding mu = 220 +/- 25 mas/yr, the second fastest measured among all ROSAT discovered INSs. The source is probably moving away rapidly from the Galactic plane at a speed which precludes any significant accretion of matter from the interstellar medium. Its transverse velocity of ~ 740 (d/700pc) km/s might be the largest of all ROSAT INSs and its corresponding spatial velocity stands among the fastest recorded for neutron stars. RX J1308.6+2127 is thus a middle-aged (age ~ 1 My) high velocity cooling neutron star. We investigate its possible origin in nearby OB associations or from a field OB star. In most cases, the flight time from birth place appears significantly shorter than the characteristic age derived from spin down rate. The distribution in transverse velocity of ROSAT INSs is not statistically different from that of normal radio pulsars.

The notion of death line of rotating pulsars is applied to model of oscillating neutron stars. It is shown that the magnetosphere of typical non-rotating oscillating stars may not contain secondary plasma to support the generation of radio emission in the region of open field lines of plasma magnetosphere.

In this article we present the preliminary results of an observational search for subdwarf B and white dwarf pulsators in the Kepler field of view, performed using the DOLORES camera attached to the 3.6m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG).

The role of gravity is crucial in astrophysics. It determines the evolution of any system, over an enormous range of time and space scales. Astronomical stellar systems as composed by N interacting bodies represent examples of self-gravitating systems, usually treatable with the aid of newtonian gravity but for particular cases. In this note I will briefly discuss some of the open problems in the dynamical study of classic self-gravitating N-body systems, over the astronomical range of N. I will also point out how modern research in this field compulsorily requires a heavy use of large scale computations, due to the contemporary requirement of high precision and high computational speed.

Up to 90% of the chemical reactions during star formation occurs on ice surfaces, probably including the formation of complex organics. Only the most abundant ice species are however observed directly by infrared spectroscopy. This study aims to develop an indirect observational method of ices based on non-thermal ice desorption in the colder part of protostellar envelopes. For that purpose the IRAM 30m telescope was employed to observe two molecules that can be detected both in the gas and the ice, CH3 OH and HNCO, toward 4 low mass embedded protostars. Their respective gas-phase column densities are determined using rotational diagrams. The relationship between ice and gas phase abundances is subsequently determined. The observed gas and ice abundances span several orders of magnitude. Most of the CH3OH and HNCO gas along the lines of sight is inferred to be quiescent from the measured line widths and the derived excitation temperatures, and hence not affected by thermal desorption close to the protostar or in outflow shocks. The measured gas to ice ratio of ~10-4 agrees well with model predictions for non-thermal desorption under cold envelope conditions and there is a tentative correlation between ice and gas phase abundances. This indicates that non-thermal desorption products can serve as a signature of the ice composition. A larger sample is however necessary to provide a conclusive proof of concept.

The Italian gamma-ray satellite AGILE has recently reported the detection of some variable high-energy sources likely of galactic origin. These sources do not have any obvious counterpart at lower energies. We propose that these sources are produced in proton-dominated jets of galactic microquasars. We develop a model for microquasar jets that takes into account both primary leptons and protons and all relevant radiative processes, including secondary particle emission and gamma-ray attenuation due to pair creation in the jet. We obtain spectral energy distributions that correspond to what is observed by AGILE, with most of the power concentrated between 100 MeV and 10 GeV and reaching luminosities of $10^{34-35}$ erg s$^{-1}$. We make detailed spectral predictions that can be tested by the Fermi gamma-ray telescope in the immediate future. We conclude that hadronic jets in galactic accreting sources can be responsible for the variable unidentified gamma-ray sources detected by AGILE.

We study a neutron star with a quark matter core under extremely strong magnetic fields. We investigate the possibility of an Urca process as a mechanism for the cooling of such a star. We found that apart from very particular cases, the Urca process cannot occur. We also study the stability of zero sound modes under the same conditions. We derive limits for the coupling constant of an effective theory, in order the zero sound to be undamped. We show that zero sound modes can help kinematically to facilitate a cooling process.

Context: An unexpectedly complex polyatomic chemistry exists in diffuse clouds, allowing detection of species such as C2H, C3H2, H2CO and NH3 which have relative abundances that are strikingly similar to those inferred toward the dark cloud TMC-1 Aims: We probe the limits of complexity of diffuse cloud polyatomic chemistry. Methods: We used the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer to search for galactic absorption from low-lying J=2-1 rotational transitions of A- and E-CH3OH near 96.740 GHz and used the VLA to search for the J=8-7 transition of HC5N at 21.3 GHz. Results: Neither CH3OH nor HC5N were detected at column densities well below those of all polyatomics known in diffuse clouds and somewhat below the levels expected from comparison with TMC-1. The HCN/HC5N ratio is at least 3-10 times higher in diffuse gas than toward TMC-1. Conclusions: It is possible to go to the well once (or more) too often

Near-infrared spectroscopic data for the five Seyfert galaxies with jet-gas interaction Mrk 348, Mrk 573, Mrk 1066, NGC 7212, and NGC 7465, taken with the LIRIS near-infrared camera/spectrometer at the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) are reported. The long-slit spectra reveal the characteristic strong emission lines of this type of objects. Many forbidden transitions and hydrogen recombination lines are employed here to study the excitation and ionization mechanisms that are dominating the narrow-line region emission of these objects, that is affected by the radio-jet interaction. Several absorption features are also detected in the H and K bands of these galaxies, allowing us to identify the spectral types that are producing them. We find that the continuum can be reproduced by a combination of late-type stellar templates plus a Blackbody component associated to host dust, mainly contributing to the K band emission. The detection of the permitted O I and Fe II lines and broad components of the hydrogen recombination lines in the spectra of Mrk 573 and NGC 7465 allows the reclassification of these two galaxies that are not canonical Type-2 Seyferts: Mrk 573 is confirmed to be an obscured Narrow-line Seyfert 1 and NGC 7465 is revealed for the first time as a Type-1 LINER through its near-infrared spectrum.

A number of microlensing dark-matter surveys have produced tens of millions of light curves of individual background stars. These data provide an unprecedented opportunity for systematic studies of whole classes of variable stars and their host galaxies. We aim to use the EROS-2 survey of the Magellanic Clouds to detect and study the population of beat Cepheids (BCs) in both Clouds. BCs pulsating simultaneously in the first overtone and fundamental modes (FO/F) or in the second and first overtone modes (SO/FO) are of particular interest. Using special software designed to search for periodic variables, we have scanned the EROS-2 data base for variables in the typical period range of Cepheids. Metallicities of FO/F objects were then calculated from linear nonadiabatic convective stellar models. We identify 74 FO/F BCs in the LMC and 41 in the SMC, and 173 and 129 SO/FO pulsators in the LMC and SMC, respectively; 185 of these stars are new discoveries. For nearly all the FO/F objects we determine minimum, mean, and maximum values of the metallicity. The EROS data have expanded the samples of known BCs in the LMC by 31%, in the SMC by 110%. The FO/F objects provide independent measures of metallicities in these galaxies. The mean value of metallicity is 0.0045 in the LMC and 0.0018 in the SMC.

We report on polarimetric observations of 100 pulsars centered on 774 MHz, made using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT), presenting their polarization profiles and polarized flux densities and comparing them with previous observations when possible. For 67 pulsars, these are the first such measurements made. Polarization profiles of 8 millisecond pulsars in our sample show wide profiles and flat position-angle curves. Strong linear polarization, sometimes approaching 100 of the total intensity, has been detected in all or a part of the average pulse profiles of some pulsars. In general, circular polarization is very weak, although it is observed to be extremely strong in the leading component of PSR J1920+2650. Sense reversal of circular polarization as a function of pulse phase has been detected from both core and other components of more than 20 pulsars. Any relationship between the spin-down luminosity and the percentage of linear polarization is not evident in our data at this frequency.

Three recent surveys of 21-cm line emission in the Galactic plane, combining single dish and interferometer observations to achieve resolution of 1 arcmin to 2 arcmin, 1 km/s, and good brightness sensitivity, have provided some 650 absorption spectra with corresponding emission spectra for study of the distribution of warm and cool phase H I in the interstellar medium. These emission-absorption spectrum pairs are used to study the temperature of the interstellar neutral hydrogen in the outer disk of the Milky Way, outside the solar circle, to a radius of 25 kpc. The cool neutral medium is distributed in radius and height above the plane with very similar parameters to the warm neutral medium. In particular, the ratio of the emission to the absorption, which gives the mean spin temperature of the gas, stays nearly constant with radius to 25 kpc radius. This suggests that the mixture of cool and warm phases is a robust quantity, and that the changes in the interstellar environment do not force the H I into a regime where there is only one temperature allowed. The mixture of atomic gas phases in the outer disk is roughly 15% to 20% cool (40 K to 60 K), the rest warm, corresponding to mean spin temperature 250 to 400 K. The Galactic warp appears clearly in the absorption data, and other features on the familiar longitude-velocity diagram have analogs in absorption with even higher contrast than for 21-cm emission. In the third and fourth Galactic quadrants the plane is quite flat, in absorption as in emission, in contrast to the strong warp in the first and second quadrants. The scale height of the cool gas is similar to that of the warm gas, and both increase with Galactic radius in the outer disk.

We have examined the physical conditions in the narrow-line region (NLR) of the Seyfert 2 galaxy Markarian 3, using long-slit spectra obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and photoionization models. We find three components of photoionized gas in the NLR. Two of these components, characterized by emission lines such as [NeV] 3426 and [OIII] 5007, lie within the envelope of the bi-conical region described in our previous kinematic study. A component of lower ionization gas, in which lines such as [OII] 3727 arise, is found to lie outside the bi-cone. Each of these components is irradiated by a power-law continuum which is attenuated by intervening gas, presumably closer to the central source. The radiation incident upon the low ionization gas, external to the bi-cone, is much more heavily absorbed. These absorbers are similar to the intrinsic UV and X-ray absorbers detected in many Seyfert 1 galaxies, which suggests that the collimation of the ionizing radiation occurs in a circumnuclear wind, rather than a thick, molecular torus. We estimate the mass for the observed NLR emitting gas to be 2 million solar-masses. It is likely that Markarian 3 acquired this gas through an on-going interaction with the spiral galaxy UGC 3422.

Spitzer Space Observatory IRAC and MIPS photometric observations are presented for 20 white dwarfs with T < 20,000 K and metal-contaminated photospheres. A warm circumstellar disk is detected at GD 16 and likely at PG 1457-086, while the remaining targets fail to reveal mid-infrared excess typical of dust disks, including a number of heavily polluted stars. Extending previous studies, over 50% of all single white dwarfs with implied metal accretion rates dM/dt > 3e8 g/s display a warm infrared excess from orbiting dust; the likely result of a tidally-destroyed minor planet. This benchmark accretion rate lies between the dust production rates of 1e6 g/s in the solar system zodiacal cloud and 1e10 g/s often inferred for debris disks at main sequence A-type stars. It is estimated that between 1% and 3% of all single white dwarfs with cooling ages less than around 0.5 Gyr possess circumstellar dust, signifying an underlying population of minor planets.

We investigate the metallicity of the broad line region (BLR) of a sample of 30 quasars in the redshift range 4<z<6.4, by using near-IR and optical spectra. We focus on the ratio of the broad lines (SiIV1397+OIV]1402)/CIV1549, which is a good metallicity tracer of the BLR. We find that the metallicity of the BLR is very high even in QSOs at z~6. The inferred metallicity of the BLR gas is so high (several times solar) that metal ejection or mixing with lower metallicity gas in the host galaxy is required to match the metallicities observed in local massive galaxies. On average, the observed metallicity changes neither among quasars in the observed redshift range 4<z<6.4, nor when compared with quasars at lower redshifts. We show that the apparent lack of metallicity evolution is a likely consequence of both the black hole-galaxy co-evolution and of selection effects. The data also suggest a lack of evolution in the carbon abundance, even among z>6 quasars. The latter result is puzzling, since the minimum enrichment timescale of carbon is about 1 Gyr, i.e. longer than the age of the universe at z~6.

In this, second paper of the sequel of two papers, we present five SPH simulations of fast head-on cloud collisions and study the evolution of the ram pressure confined gas slab. Anathpindika (2008) (hereafter paper I) considered highly supersonic cloud collisions and examined the effect of bending and shearing instabilities on the shocked gas slab. The post-collision shock here, as in paper I, is also modelled by a simple barotropic equation of state (EOS). However, a much stiffer EOS is used to model the shock resulting from a low velocity cloud collision. We explore the parameter space by varying the pre-collision velocity and the impact parameter. We observe that pressure confined gas slabs become Jeans unstable if the sound crossing time, $t_{cr}$, is much larger than the freefall time, $t_{ff}$, of putative clumps condensing out of them. Self gravitating clumps may spawn multiple/larger $N$-body star clusters. We also suggest that warmer gas slabs are unlikely to fragment and may end up as diffuse gas clouds.

We present the results of the EROS2 search for the hidden galactic matter of the halo through the gravitational microlensing of stars in the Magellanic clouds. Microlensing was also searched for and found in the Milky-Way plane, where foreground faint stars are expected to lens background stars. A total of 67 million of stars were monitored over a period of about 7 years. Hundreds of microlensing candidates have been found in the galactic plane, but only one was found towards the subsample of bright --well measured-- Magellanic stars. This result implies that massive compact halo objects (machos) in the mass range $10^{-7}M_\odot<M<5M_{\odot}$ are ruled out as a major component of the Milky Way Halo.

We investigate the generation of gravitational waves due to the gravitational instability of primordial density perturbations in an early matter-dominated era which could be detectable by experiments such as LIGO and LISA. We use relativistic perturbation theory to give analytic estimates of the tensor perturbations generated at second order by linear density perturbations. We find that large enhancement factors with respect to the naive second-order estimate are possible due to the growth of density perturbations on sub-Hubble scales. However very large enhancement factors coincide with a breakdown of linear theory for density perturbations on small scales. To produce a primordial gravitational wave background that would be detectable with LIGO or LISA from density perturbations in the linear regime requires primordial comoving curvature perturbations on small scales of order 0.02 for Advanced LIGO or 0.005 for LISA, otherwise numerical calculations of the non-linear evolution on sub-Hubble scales are required.

We present an overview and a status report of HYPERMUCHFUSS (HYPER velocity or Massive Unseen Companions of Hot Faint Underluminious Stars Survey) aiming at the detection of a population of high velocity subluminous B stars and white dwarfs. The first class of targets consists of hot subdwarf binaries with massive compact companions, which are expected to show huge radial velocity variations. The second class is formed by the recently discovered hyper-velocity stars, which are moving so fast that the dynamical ejection by a supermassive black hole seems to be the only explanation for their origin. Until now only one old hyper-velocity star has been found, but we expect a larger population. We applied an efficient selection technique for hot subdwarfs and white dwarfs with high galactic restframe velocities from the \emph{SDSS} spectral data base, which serve as first epoch observations for our campaign with the ESO VLT and NTT in Chile, the 3.5 m telescope at DSAZ observatory (Calar Alto) in Spain and the WHT on La Palma. The survey is nearing completion and provides us with promising candidates which will be followed up to measure their RV-curves to uncover massive companions or prove their nature as HVS.

Recent observations of astrophysical jets emanating from various galactic nuclei strongly suggest that a double layered structure, or a spine-sheath structure, is likely to be their common feature. We propose that such a sheath jet structure can be formed magnetohydrodynamically within a valley of the magnetic pressures, which is formed between the peaks due to the poloidal and toroidal components, with the centrifugal force acting on the rotating sheath plasma is balanced by the hoop stress of the toroidal field. The poloidal field concentrated near the polar axis is maintained by a converging plasma flow toward the jet region, and the toroidal field is developed outside the jet cone owing to the poloidal current circulating through the jet. Under such situations, the set of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations allows two main types of solutions, at least, in the region far from the footpoint. The first type solution describes the jets of marginally bound nature. This type is realized when the jet temperature decreases like viral one, and neither the pressure-gradient nor the MHD forces, which are both determined consistently, cannot completely overcome the gravity even at infinity. The second type is realized under an isothermal situation, and the gravity is cancelled exactly by the pressure-gradient force. Hence, the jets of this type are accelerated purely by the MHD force. It is suggested also that these two types correspond, respectively, to the jets from type I and II radio galaxies in the Fanaroff-Riley classification.

We present an analysis of late-O/early-B-powered, parsec-sized bubbles and associated star-formation using 2MASS, GLIMPSE, MIPSGAL and MAGPIS surveys. Three bubbles were selected from the Churchwell et al. (2007) catalog. We confirm that the structure identified in Watson et al. (2008) holds in less energetic bubbles, i.e. a PDR, identified by 8 um emission due to PAHs surrounds hot dust, identified by 24 um emission and ionized gas, identified by 20 cm continuum. We estimate the dynamical age of two bubbles by comparing bubble sizes to numerical models of Hosokawa & Inutsuka (2006). We also identify and analyze candidate young stellar objects (YSOs) using SED fitting and identify sites of possible triggered star-formation. Lastly, we identify likely ionizing sources for two sources based on SED fitting.

Aims. In this paper we model, in a self-consistent way, polarimetric, photometric, spectrophotometric and interferometric observations of the classical Be star $\zeta$ Tauri. Our primary goal is to conduct a critical quantitative test of the global oscillation scenario. Methods. We have carried out detailed three-dimensional, NLTE radiative transfer calculations using the radiative transfer code HDUST. For the input for the code we have used the most up-to-date research on Be stars to include a physically realistic description for the central star and the circumstellar disc. We adopt a rotationally deformed, gravity darkened central star, surrounded by a disc whose unperturbed state is given by a steady-state viscous decretion disc model. We further assume that disc is in vertical hydrostatic equilibrium. Results. By adopting a viscous decretion disc model for $\zeta$ Tauri and a rigorous solution of the radiative transfer, we have obtained a very good fit of the time-average properties of the disc. This provides strong theoretical evidence that the viscous decretion disc model is the mechanism responsible for disc formation. With the global oscillation model we have successfully fitted spatially resolved VLTI/AMBER observations and the temporal V/R variations of the H$\alpha$ and Br$\gamma$ lines. This result convincingly demonstrates that the oscillation pattern in the disc is a one-armed spiral. Possible model shortcomings, as well as suggestions for future improvements, are also discussed.

We present the surface density of luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN) associated with a uniformly selected galaxy cluster sample identified in the 8.5 square degree Bootes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. The clusters are distributed over a large range of redshift (0 < z < 1.5) and we identify AGN using three different selection criteria: mid-IR color, radio luminosity, and X-ray luminosity. Relative to the field, we note a clear overdensity of the number of AGN within 0.5 Mpc of the cluster centers at z > 0.5. The amplitude of this AGN overdensity increases with redshift. Although there are significant differences between the AGN populations probed by each selection technique, the rise in cluster AGN surface density generally increases more steeply than that of field quasars. In particular, X-ray selected AGN are at least three times more prevalent in clusters at 1 < z < 1.5 compared to clusters at 0.5 < z < 1. This effect is stronger than can be explained by the evolving median richness of our cluster sample. We thus confirm the existence of a Butcher-Oemler type effect for AGN in galaxy clusters, with the number of AGN in clusters increasing with redshift.

We consider a PDE system comprising compressible hydrodynamics, flux-limited diffusion radiation transport and chemical ionization kinetics in a cosmologically-expanding universe. Under an operator-split framework, the cosmological hydrodynamics equations are solved through the Piecewise Parabolic Method, as implemented in the Enzo community hydrodynamics code. The remainder of the model, comprised of radiation transport, chemical ionization kinetics, and gas energy feedback form a stiff coupled PDE system, which we solve using a fully-implicit inexact Newton approach, and which forms the crux of this paper. The inner linear Newton systems are solved using a Schur complement formulation, and employ a multigrid-preconditioned conjugate gradient solver for the inner Schur systems. We describe this approach and provide results on a suite of test problems, demonstrating its accuracy, robustness, and scalability to very large problems.

Methods: 12CO emission is imaged in position and position-velocity space analyzed statistically, and then compared with maps of total reddening and with models of the C+ - CO transition in H2-bearing diffuse clouds. Results: Around Zeta Oph, 12CO emission appears in two distinct intervals of reddening centered near EBV = 0.4 and 0.65 mag, of which < 0.2 mag is background material. Within either interval, the integrated 12CO intensity varies up to 6-12 K-km/s compared to 1.5 K-km/s toward Zeta Oph. Nearly 80% of the individual profiles have velocity dispersions < 0.6 km/s, which are subsonic at the kinetic temperature derived from H2 toward Zeta Oph, 55 K. Partly as a result, 12CO emission exposes the internal, turbulent, supersonic (1-3 km/s) gas flows with especial clarity in the cores of strong lines. The flows are manifested as resolved velocity gradients in narrow, subsonically-broadened line cores. Conclusions: The scatter between N(CO) and EBV in global, CO absorption line surveys toward bright stars is present in the gas seen around Zeta Oph, reflecting the extreme sensitivity of N(12CO) to ambient conditions. The two-component nature of the optical absorption toward Zeta Oph is coincidental and the star is occulted by a single body of gas with a complex internal structure, not by two distinct clouds. The very bright 12CO lines in diffuse gas arise at N(H2) ~ 10^21/cm^2 in regions of modest density n(H) ~ 200-500/cc and somewhat more complete C+-CO conversion. Given the variety of structure in the foreground gas, it is apparent that only large surveys of absorption sightlines can hope to capture the intrinsic behavior of diffuse gas.

Aims: We show the existence of a small family of inner-galaxy dust lanes and dust lane standing shocks beyond the two major ones that were previously known to exist Methods: We analyze images of CO emission in the inner regions of the Galaxy Results: The peculiar kinematics of the major dust lane features are repeated in several other distinct instances at l > 0deg, in one case at a contrary location 100 pc above the galactic equator at l > 3degr at the upper extremity of Clump 2. Like the previously-known dust lanes, these new examples are alsoassociated with localized, exceptionally broad line profiles believed to be characteristic of the shredding of neutral gas at the standing dust lane shocks. Conclusions: There may be secondary dust lane and standing shocks in the Milky Way bulge. The vertical structure provides a temporal sequence for understanding the secular evolution of gas flow in the bar.

Context: Over the past thirty years a wealth of observations of CO and other molecules in optical/uv absorption in diffuse clouds has accumulated for which no comparable CO emission line data exist. Aims: To acquire mm-wave J=1-0 CO emission line profiles toward a substantial sample of commonly-studied optical/uv absorption line targets and to compare with the properties of the absorbing gas, especially the predicted emission line strengths. Methods: Using the ARO 12m telescope we observed mm-wavelength J=1-0 CO emission with spectral resolution R ~ 3x10^6 and spatial resolution 1' toward a sample of 110 lines of sight previously studied in optical/uv absorption lines of CO, \HH, CH, etc. Results: Interstellar CO emission was detected along 65 of the 110 lines of sight surveyed and there is a general superabundance of CO emission given the distribution of galactic latitudes in the survey sample. Much of the emission is optically thick or very intense and must emanate from dark clouds or warm dense gas near HII regions. Conclusions: Judging from the statistical superabundance of CO emission, seen also in the total line of sight reddening, the OB star optical/uv absorption line targets must be physically associated with the large quantities of neutral gas whose CO emission was detected, in which case they are probably influencing the absorbing gas by heating and/or photoionizing it. This explains why CO/H2 and 12CO/13CO ratios differ somewhat between $uv$ and mm-wave absorption line studies. Because the lines of sight have been preselected to have AV < 1 mag, relatively little of the associated material actually occults the targets, making it difficult for CO emission line observations to isolate the foreground gas contribution.

We investigate magnetized solar-like stellar winds by means of self-consistent three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) numerical simulations. We analyze winds with different magnetic field intensities and densities as to explore the dependence on the plasma-beta parameter. By solving the fully ideal 3D MHD equations, we show that the plasma-beta parameter is the crucial parameter in the configuration of the steady-state wind. Therefore, there is a group of magnetized flows that would present the same terminal velocity despite of its thermal and magnetic energy densities, as long as the plasma-beta parameter is the same.

We derive a strong upper bound on the amount of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) that can still be present in the Universe. Gravitational capture of PBHs by the Milky Way stars and subsequent accretion would produce a dramatic depletion of Sun-like stars and especially of white dwarfs, unless the average cosmic density and mass of PBHs are severely constrained. Our finding also helps to discriminate among the various production mechanisms of PBHs. Moreover, we show that a star becomes overluminous before its disappearance into a PBH for a time span independent of its mass, thereby providing a characteristic observational signature of the considered scenario. We stress that our result allows for the existence of stellar-mass black holes in a mass range that is forbidden by standard stellar evolution.

The colour-magnitude diagrams of resolved stellar populations are the best tool to study the star formation histories of the host galactic regions. In this review the method to derive star formation histories by means of synthetic colour-magnitude diagrams is briefly outlined, and the results of its application to resolved galaxies of various morphological types are summarized. It is shown that all the galaxies studied so far were already forming stars at the lookback time reached by the observational data, independently of morphological type and metallicity. Early-type galaxies have formed stars predominantly, but in several cases not exclusively, at the earliest epochs. All the other galaxies appear to have experienced rather continuous star formation activities throughout their lifetimes, although with significant rate variations and, sometimes, short quiescent phases.

The importance of the radiative feedback from SMBHs at the centers of elliptical galaxies is not in doubt, given the well established relations among electromagnetic output, black hole mass and galaxy optical luminosity. In addition, feedback due to mechanical and thermal deposition of energy from jets and winds emitted by the accretion disk around the central SMBH is also expected to occur. In this paper we improve and extend the accretion and feedback physics explored in our previous papers to include also a physically motivated mechanical feedback. We study the evolution of an isolated elliptical galaxy with the aid of a high-resolution 1-D hydrodynamical code, where the cooling and heating functions include photoionization and Compton effects, and restricting to models which include only radiative or only mechanical feedback. We confirm that for Eddington ratios above 0.01 both the accretion and radiative output are forced by feedback effects to be in burst mode, so that strong intermittencies are expected at early times, while at low redshift the explored models are characterized by smooth, very sub-Eddington mass accretion rates punctuated by rare outbursts. However, the explored models always fail some observational tests. If we assume the high mechanical efficiency of 10^{-2.3}, we find that most of the gas is ejected from the galaxy, the resulting X-ray luminosity is far less than is typically observed and little SMBH growth occurs. But models with low enough mechanical efficiency to accomodate satisfactory SMBH growth tend to allow too strong cooling flows and leave galaxies at z=0 with E+A spectra more frequently than is observed. We conclude that both types of feedback are required. Models with combined feedback are explored in a forthcoming paper [abridged]

Superdense massive galaxies (r_e~1 kpc; M~10^{11} Msun) were common in the early universe (z>1.5). Within some hierarchical merging scenarios, a non-negligible fraction (1-10%) of these galaxies is expected to survive since that epoch retaining their compactness and presenting old stellar populations in the present universe. Using the NYU Value-Added Galaxy Catalog from the SDSS Data Release 6 we find only a tiny fraction of galaxies (~0.03%) with r_e<1.5 kpc and M_*>8x10^{10} Msun in the local Universe (z<0.2). Surprinsingly, they are relatively young (~2 Gyr) and metal-rich ([Z/H]~0.2). The consequences of these findings within the current two competing size evolution scenarios for the most massive galaxies ("dry" mergers vs "puffing up" due to quasar activity) are discussed.

X-rays from planetary nebulae (PNs) are believed to originate from a shock driven into the fast stellar wind (v ~ 1000 km/s) as it collides with an earlier circumstellar slow wind (v ~ 10 km/s). In theory, the shocked fast wind (hot bubble) and the ambient cold nebula can remain separated by magnetic fields along a surface referred to as the contact discontinuity (CD) that inhibits diffusion and heat conduction. The CD region is extremely difficult to probe directly owing to its small size and faint emission. This has largely left the study of CDs, stellar-shocks, and the associated micro-physics in the realm of theory. This paper presents spectroscopic evidence for ions from the hot bubble (kT ~ 100 eV) crossing the CD and penetrating the cold nebular gas (kT ~ 1 eV). Specifically, a narrow radiative recombination continuum (RRC) emission feature is identified in the high resolution X-ray spectrum of the PN BD+30 3639 indicating bare C VII ions are recombining with cool electrons at kT_e=1.7+-1.3 eV. An upper limit to the flux of the narrow RRC of H-like C VI is obtained as well. The RRCs are interpreted as due to C ions from the hot bubble of BD+30 3639 crossing the CD into the cold nebula, where they ultimately recombine with its cool electrons. The RRC flux ratio of C VII to C VI constrains the temperature jump across the CD to Delta kT > 80 eV, providing for the first time direct evidence for the stark temperature disparity between the two sides of an astrophysical CD, and constraining the role of magnetic fields and heat conduction accordingly. Two colliding-wind binaries are noted to have similar RRCs suggesting a temperature jump and CD crossing by ions may be a common feature of stellar wind shocks.

IceCube is a cubic-kilometer neutrino telescope under construction at the geographic South Pole. Once completed it will comprise 4800 optical sensors deployed on 80 vertical strings at depths in the ice between 1450 and 2450 meters. Part of the array is already operational and data was recorded in the configurations with 9 (year 2006/2007), 22 (year 2007/2008) and 40-strings (year 2008/2009) respectively. Here we report preliminary results on the search for point-like neutrino sources using data collected with the first 22 strings (IC-22).

The role of binary progenitors of neutron stars in the apparent distribution of space velocities and spin-velocity alignment observed in young pulsars is studied. A Monte-Carlo synthesis of pulsar population from single and binary stars with different assumptions about the NS natal kick model (direction distribution, amplitude, and kick reduction in binary progenitors which experienced mass exchange due to Roche lobe overflow with initial masses on the main sequence from the range 8-11 $M_\odot$) is performed. The calculated spin-velocity alignment distributions are compared with observational data obtained from radio polarization measurements. The observed space velocity of pulsars is found to be mostly shaped by the natal kick velocity form and its amplitude; the fraction of binaries is not important here for reasonably large kicks. The distribution of kick direction relative to the spin axis during the formation of a NS is found to affect strongly the spin-velocity correlation of pulsars. Comparison with observed pulsar spin-velocity angles favours a sizeable fraction of binary progenitors and the kick-spin angle $\sim 5-20^\circ$. The form of the initial binary mass ratio distribution does not affect our results.

Abreg: We investigate the impact of polarized foreground emission on the performances of future CMB experiments in measuring the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. We design a component separation pipeline, based on the Smica method, aimed at estimating r and the foreground contamination from the data with no prior assumption on the frequency dependence or spatial distribution of the foregrounds. We derive error bars accounting for the uncertainty on foreground contribution. We use the current knowledge of galactic and extra-galactic foregrounds as implemented in the Planck Sky Model (PSM), to build simulations of the sky emission for various experimental setups. Our method, permits us to detect r = 0.1 at more than 3 sigma from B-modes only with Planck data, and r = 0.001 at 6 sigma for the most ambitious designs of the future EPIC probe. We find that all-sky experiments permit a proper measurement of the reionization bump despite the large scale foreground emission and are nearly insensitive to contamination from point sources and lensing if their statistical contribution can be modelled accurately. Investigating the observation of a small but clean part of the sky, we show that diffuse foregrounds remain a concern for a sensitive ground-based experiment with a limited frequency coverage when measuring r < 0.1, but are dealt with efficiently by a deep field space mission which is in return quite sensitive to lensing. Our results do not significantly depend on the overall level and frequency dependence of the diffused foreground model.

We describe a new sample of 226 GPS (GHz-Peaked Spectrum) source candidates selected using simultaneous 1-22 GHz multi-frequency observations with the RATAN-600 radio telescope. Sixty objects in our sample are identified as GPS source candidates for the first time. The candidates were selected on the basis of their broad-band radio spectra only. We discuss the spectral and variability properties of selected objects of different optical classes.

The relationships among coronal loop structures at different temperatures is not settled. Previous studies have suggested that coronal loops in the core of an active region are not seen cooling through lower temperatures and therefore are steadily heated. If loops were cooling, the transition region would be an ideal temperature regime to look for a signature of their evolution. The Extreme-ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) on Hinode provides monochromatic images of the solar transition region and corona at an unprecedented cadence and spatial resolution, making it an ideal instrument to shed light on this issue. Analysis of observations of active region 10978 taken in 2007 December 8 -- 19 indicates that there are two dominant loop populations in the active region: core multi-temperature loops that undergo a continuous process of heating and cooling in the full observed temperature range 0.4-2.5 MK and even higher as shown by the X-Ray Telescope (XRT); and peripheral loops which evolve mostly in the temperature range 0.4-1.3 MK. Loops at transition region temperatures can reach heights of 150 Mm in the corona above the limb and develop downflows with velocities in the range of 39-105 km/s.

We describe Monte Carlo models for the dynamical evolution of the nearby globular cluster NGC 6397. The code includes treatments of two-body relaxation, most kinds of three- and four-body interactions involving primordial binaries and those formed dynamically, the Galactic tide, and the internal evolution of both single and binary stars. We arrive at a set of initial parameters for the cluster which, after 12Gyr of evolution, gives a model with a fairly satisfactory match to the surface brightness profile, the velocity dispersion profile, and the luminosity function in two fields. We describe in particular those aspects of the evolution which distinguish this cluster from M4, which has a roughly similar mass and Galactocentric distance, but a qualitatively different surface brightness profile. Within the limitations of our modelling, we conclude that the most plausible explanation for the difference is fluctuations: both clusters are post-collapse objects, but sometimes have resolvable cores and sometimes not.

We have obtained deep multi-object optical spectra of 49 HII regions in the outer disk of the spiral galaxy M83 (=NGC 5236) with the FORS2 spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope. The targets span the range in galactocentric distance between 0.64 and 2.64 times the R25 isophotal radius (5.4-22.3 kpc), and 31 of them are located at R>R25, thus belonging to the extreme outer disk of the galaxy, populated by UV complexes revealed recently by the GALEX satellite. In order to derive the nebular chemical abundances, we apply several diagnostics of the oxygen abundance, including R23, [NII]/[OII] and the [OIII]4363 auroral line, which was detected in four HII regions. We find that, while inwards of the optical edge the O/H ratio follows the radial gradient known from previous investigations, the outer abundance trend flattens out to an approximately constant value. The latter varies, according to the adopted diagnostic, between 12+log(O/H)=8.2 and 12+log(O/H)=8.6 (i.e. from approximately 1/3 the solar oxygen abundance to nearly the solar value). An abrupt discontinuity in the radial oxygen abundance trend is also detected near the optical edge of the disk. These results are tentatively linked to the flat gas surface density in the outskirts of the galaxy, the relatively unevolved state of the extended disk of M83, and the redistribution of chemically enriched gas following a past galaxy encounter.

This article reviews observations and models of the diffuse ionized gas that permeates the disk and halo of our Galaxy and others. It was inspired by a series of invited talks presented during an afternoon scientific session of the 65th birthday celebration for Professor Carl Heiles held at Arecibo Observatory in August 2004. This review is in recognition of Carl's long standing interest in and advocacy for studies of the ionized as well as the neutral components of the interstellar medium.

The first extragalactic X-ray binary, LMC X-1, was discovered in 1969. In the 1980s, its compact primary was established as the fourth dynamical black-hole candidate. Recently, we published accurate values for the mass of the black hole and the orbital inclination angle of the binary system. Building on these results, we have analyzed 53 X-ray spectra obtained by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and, using a selected sample of 18 of these spectra, we have determined the dimensionless spin parameter of the black hole to be a* = 0.90(-0.09, +0.04). This result takes into account all sources of observational and model-parameter uncertainties. The standard deviation around the mean value of a* for these 18 X-ray spectra, which were obtained over a span of several years, is only 0.02. When we consider our complete sample of 53 RXTE spectra, we find a somewhat higher value of the spin parameter and a larger standard deviation.

We present in these proceedings some preliminary results we have obtained studying the evolution of the specific star formation rate as a function of surface mass density and Sersic indices at z<0.7. These results are based on the consistent comparison of the properties of ~ 650 massive zCOSMOS galaxies in a mass-complete sample at 0.5<z<0.7 with a mass-complete sample of ~ 21500 SDSS local galaxies.

We present a model independent analysis of dark matter (DM) both decoupling ultra relativistic (UR) and non-relativistic (NR) based in the phase-space density. We derive explicit formulas for the DM particle mass m and for the number of ultra relativistic degrees of freedom g_d at decoupling. We find that for DM particles decoupling UR both at local thermal equilibrium (LTE) and out of LTE, m turns to be at the keV scale. For example, for DM Majorana fermions decoupling at LTE the mass results m ~ 0.85 keV. For DM particles decoupling NR, \sqrt{m T_d} results in the keV scale (T_d is the decoupling temperature) and the m value is consistent with the keV scale. In all cases, DM turns to be cold DM (CDM). Also, lower and upper bounds on the DM annihilation cross-section for NR decoupling are derived. We evaluate the free-streaming (Jeans') length and Jeans' mass: they result independent of the type of DM except for the DM self-gravity dynamics. The free-streaming length today results in the kpc range. These results are based on our theoretical analysis, astronomical observations of dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies in the Milky Way and N-body numerical simulations.

We present Chandra observations of the hybrid morphology radio sources 3C 433 and 4C 65.15, two members of the rare class of objects possessing an FR I jet on one side of the core and an FR II lobe on the other. The X-ray spectrum of 3C 433 shows intrinsic absorption (with a column density of N_H=8e22 cm-2), such as is typical of FR II narrow-line radio galaxies. There is excess X-ray emission below 2 keV containing contributions from diffuse soft X-ray emission (likely hot gas with kT~1.2 keV) as well as from the nucleus. The core of 3C 433 is extended in hard X-rays, presumably due to X-ray emission from the inner-jet knot on the FR I side that is apparent in the radio map. It is possible that the X-ray emission from this inner-jet knot is absorbed by the dust known to be present in the host galaxy. The spectrum of 4C 65.15 can be modeled with a simple power law with perhaps mild intrinsic absorption (N_H=1.3e21 cm-2). X-ray emission is detected at the bend in the FR I jet. This X-ray jet emission lies above the extrapolation from the high-frequency radio synchrotron emission and has a spectral slope flatter than alpha_rx, indicating that the jet spectral energy distribution is concave as with other FR II quasar jets. Both 3C 433 and 4C 65.15 have unabsorbed X-ray luminosities, radio luminosities, and optical spectra typically seen in comparable sources with FR II morphologies. Presumably the FR I structure seen on one side in these hybrid sources is generated by a powerful jet interacting with a relatively dense environment.

Cosmological simulations of dark matter structures have shown that the equilibrated dark matter structures have a fairly small angular momentum. It appears from these N-body simulations that the radial profile of the angular momentum has an almost universal behavior, even if the different dark matter structures have experienced very different formation and merger histories. We suggest a perturbed Jeans equation, which includes a rotational term. This is done under a reasonable assumed form of the change in the distribution function. By conjecturing that the (new) subdominant rotation term must be proportional to the (old) dominant mass term, we find a clear connection, which is in rather good agreement with the results of recent high resolution simulations. We also present a new connection between the radial profiles of the angular momentum and the velocity anisotropy, which is also in fair agreement with numerical findings. Finally we show how the spin parameter $\lambda$ increases as a function of radius.

This paper is a follow-up of the vast effort to collect radial velocity data for stars belonging to the Hipparcos survey. We aim at extending the orbital data available for binaries with M giant primaries. The data will be used in the companion papers of this series to (i) derive the binary frequency among M giants and compare it to that of K giants (Paper II), and (ii) analyse the eccentricity-period diagram and the mass-function distribution (Paper III). Keplerian solutions are fitted to radial-velocity data. However, for several stars, no satisfactory solution could be found, despite the fact that the radial-velocity standard deviation is larger than the instrumental error, because M giants suffer from intrinsic radial-velocity variations due to pulsations. We show that these intrinsic radial-velocity variations can be linked with both the average spectral-line width and the photometric variability. We present an extensive collection of spectroscopic orbits for M giants, with 12 new orbits, plus 17 from the literature. Moreover, to illustrate the fact that the large radial-velocity jitter present in Mira and semi-regular variables may easily be confused with orbital variations, we also present examples of pseudo-orbital variations (in S UMa, X Cnc and possibly in HD 115521, a former IAU radial-velocity standard). Because of this difficulty, M giants involving Mira variables were excluded from our monitored sample. We finally show that the majority of M giants detected as X-ray sources are actually binaries.

This paper is the second one in a series devoted to the study of properties of binaries involving M giants. The binary frequency of field M giants is derived and compared with the binary fraction of K giants. Diagrams of the CORAVEL spectroscopic parameter Sb (measuring the average line-width) vs. radial-velocity standard deviation for our samples are used to define appropriate binarity criteria. These then serve to extract the binarity fraction among the M giants. Comparison is made to earlier data on K giants binarity frequency. The Sb parameter is discussed in relation to global stellar parameters and the Sb vs. stellar radius relation is used to identify fast rotators. We find that the spectroscopic binary detection rate among field M giants, in a sample with a low number of velocity measurements (~2), unbiased toward earlier known binaries, is 6.3%. This is less than half of the analogous rate for field K giants, likely resulting from a real difference. This difference originates in the greater difficulty of finding binaries among M giants because of their smaller orbital velocity amplitudes and larger intrinsic jitter and in the different distributions of K and M giants in the eccentricity-period diagram. A larger detection rate was obtained in a smaller M giant sample with more radial velocity measurements per object: 11.1% confirmed plus 2.7% possible binaries. The CORAVEL spectroscopic parameter Sb was found to correlate better with the stellar radius than with either luminosity or effective temperature separately. Two outliers of the Sb vs. stellar radius relation, HD 190658 and HD 219654, have been recognized as fast rotators. The rotation is companion-induced, as both objects turn out to be spectroscopic binaries.

This paper is the third one in a series devoted to studying the properties of binaries involving M giants. We use a new set of orbits to construct the first (e-logP) diagram of an extensive sample of M giant binaries, to obtain their mass-function distribution, and to derive evolutionary constraints for this class of binaries and related systems. The orbital properties of binaries involving M giants were analysed and compared with those of related families of binaries (K giants, post-AGB stars, barium stars, Tc-poor S stars). The orbital elements of post-AGB stars and M giants are not different, which may very indicate that, for the considered sample of post-AGB binaries, the post-AGB star left the AGB at quite an early stage (M4 or so). Neither are the orbital elements of post-mass-transfer binaries like barium stars very different from those of M giants, suggesting that the mass transfer did not alter the orbital elements much, contrary to current belief. Finally, we show that binary systems with e < 0.4 log P - 1 (with periods expressed in days) are predominantly post-mass-transfer systems, because (i) the vast majority of barium and S systems match this condition, and (ii) these systems have companion masses peaking around 0.6 solar mass, as expected for white dwarfs. The latter property has been shown to hold as well for open-cluster binaries involving K giants, for which a lower bound on the companion mass may easily be set.

A detailed analysis of gravitational slip, a new post-general relativity cosmological parameter characterizing the degree of departure of the laws of gravitation from general relativity on cosmological scales, is presented. This phenomenological approach assumes that cosmic acceleration is due to new gravitational effects; the amount of spacetime curvature produced per unit mass is changed in such a way that a universe containing only matter and radiation begins to accelerate as if under the influence of a cosmological constant. Changes in the law of gravitation are further manifest in the behavior of the inhomogeneous gravitational field, as reflected in the cosmic microwave background, weak lensing, and evolution of large-scale structure. The new parameter, $\varpi_0$, is naively expected to be of order unity. However, a multiparameter analysis, allowing for variation of all the standard cosmological parameters, finds that $\varpi_0 = 0.09^{+0.74}_{-0.59} (2\sigma)$ where $\varpi_0=0$ corresponds to a $\Lambda$CDM universe under general relativity. Future probes of the cosmic microwave background (Planck) and large-scale structure (Euclid) may improve the limits by a factor of four.

The gravitational growth index formalism provides a model independent way to look for deviations from general relativity by testing dark energy physics distinct from its effects on the cosmic expansion history. Here we extend the approach to incorporate an early time parameter g_star in addition to the growth index in describing the growth of large scale structure. We illustrate its utility for models with modified gravity at high redshift, early acceleration, or early dark energy. Future data will have the capability to constrain the dark energy equation of state, the growth index gamma, and g_star simultaneously, with no degradation in the equation of state determination.

The constraints on departures from general relativity (GR) at cosmological length scales due to cosmic microwave background (CMB) data are discussed. The departure from GR is measured by the ratio, parameterized as $1 +\varpi_0 (1 + z)^{-S}$, between the gravitational potentials conventionally appearing in the geodesic equation and the Poisson equation. Current CMB data indicate $\varpi_0=1.67^{+3.07}_{-1.87}$ at the 2$\sigma$ confidence level, while $S$ remains unconstrained. The departure from GR affects the lensing conversion of E-mode into B-mode polarization. Hence, the lensing measurements from a future CMBpol experiment should be able to improve the constraints to $\varpi_0< 0.30$ for a fiducial $\varpi_0=0$ model and independent of $S$.

We present the results of a parsec-scale polarization study of three FRI radio galaxies - 3C66B, 3C78 and 3C264 - obtained with the Very Long Baseline Array at 5, 8 and 15 GHz. Parsec-scale polarization has been detected in a large number of beamed radio-loud active galactic nuclei, but in only a handful of the relatively unbeamed radio galaxies. We report here the detection of parsec-scale polarization at one or more frequencies in all three FRI galaxies studied. We detect Faraday rotation measures of the order of a few hundred rad/m^2 in the nuclear jet regions of 3C78 and 3C264. In 3C66B polarization was detected at 8 GHz only. A transverse rotation measure gradient is observed across the jet of 3C78. The inner-jet magnetic field, corrected for Faraday rotation, is found to be aligned along the jet in both 3C78 and 3C264, although the field becomes orthogonal further from the core in 3C78. The RM values in 3C78 and 3C264 are similar to those previously observed in nearby radio galaxies. The transverse RM gradient in 3C78, the increase in the degree of polarization at the jet edge, the large rotation in the polarization angles due to Faraday rotation and the low depolarization between frequencies, suggests that a layer surrounding the jet with a sufficient number of thermal electrons and threaded by a toroidal or helical magnetic field is a good candidate for the Faraday rotating medium. This suggestion is tentatively supported by Hubble Space Telescope optical polarimetry but needs to be examined in a greater number of sources.

We follow numerically the nonlinear evolution of the Parker instability in the presence of phase transitions from a warm to a cold HI interstellar medium in two spatial dimensions. The nonlinear evolution of the system favors modes that allow the magnetic field lines to cross the galactic plane. Cold HI clouds form with typical masses ~= 10^5 M_sun, mean densities ~= 20 cm^-3, mean magnetic field strengths ~= 4.3 muG (rms field strengths ~= 6.4 muG), mass-to-flux ratios ~= 0.1 - 0.3 relative to critical, temperatures ~= 50 K, (two-dimensional) turbulent velocity dispersions ~= 1.6 km s^-1, and separations ~= 500 pc, in agreement with observations. The maximum density and magnetic field strength are ~= 10^3 cm^-3 and ~= 20 muG, respectively. Approximately 60% of all HI mass is in the warm neutral medium. The cold neutral medium is arranged into sheet-like structures both perpendicular and parallel to the galactic plane, but it is also found almost everywhere in the galactic plane, with the density being highest in valleys of the magnetic field lines. `Cloudlets' also form whose physical properties are in quantitative agreement with those observed for such objects by Heiles (1967). The nonlinear phase of the evolution takes ~< 30 Myr, so that, if the instability is triggered by a nonlinear perturbation such as a spiral density shock wave, interstellar clouds can form within a time suggested by observations.

It has been shown recently that the dynamical V-band mass-to-light ratios of compact stellar systems with masses from 10^6 to 10^8 Solar masses are not consistent with the predictions from simple stellar population (SSP) models. Top-heavy stellar initial mass functions (IMFs) in these so-called ultra compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs) offer an attractive explanation for this finding, the stellar remnants and retained stellar envelopes providing the unseen mass. We therefore construct a model which quantifies by how much the IMFs of UCDs would have to deviate in the intermediate-mass and high-mass range from the canonical IMF in order to account for the enhanced M/L_V ratio of the UCDs. The deduced high-mass IMF in the UCDs depends on the age of the UCDs and the number of faint products of stellar evolution retained by them. Assuming that the IMF in the UCDs is a three-part power-law equal to the canonical IMF in the low-mass range and taking 20% as a plausible choice for the fraction of the remnants of high-mass stars retained by UCDs, the model suggests the exponent of the high-mass IMF to be approximately 1.6 if the UCDs are 13 Gyr old (i.e. almost as old as the universe) or approximately 1.0 if the UCDs are 7 Gyr old, in contrast to 2.3 for the Salpeter-Massey IMF. If the IMF was as top-heavy as suggested here, the stability of the UCDs might have been threatened by heavy mass loss induced by the radiation and evolution of massive stars. The central densities of UCDs must have been in the range 10^6 to 10^7 Solar masses per cubic parsec when they formed with star formation rates of 10 to 100 Solar masses per year.

Signatures of lensing of the cosmic microwave background radiation by gravitational potentials along the line of sight carry with them information on the matter distribution, neutrino masses, and dark energy properties. We examine the constraints that Planck, PolarBear, and CMBpol future data, including from the B-mode polarization or the lensing potential, will be able to place on these quantities. We simultaneously fit for neutrino mass and dark energy equation of state including time variation and early dark energy density, and compare the use of polarization power spectra with an optimal quadratic estimator of the lensing. Results are given as a function of systematics level from residual foreground contamination. A realistic CMBpol experiment can effectively constrain the sum of neutrino masses to within 0.05 eV and the fraction of early dark energy to 0.002. We also present a surprisingly simple prescription for calculating dark energy equation of state constraints in combination with supernova distances from JDEM.

H-alpha emission from neutral halo clouds probes the radiation and hydrodynamic conditions in the halo. Armed with such measurements, we can explore how radiation escapes from the Galactic plane and how infalling gas can survive a trip through the halo. The Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) is one of the most sensitive instruments for detecting and mapping optical emission from the ISM. Here, we present recent results exploring the ionization of two infallling high-velocity complexes. First, we report on our progress mapping H-alpha emission covering the full extent of Complex A. Intensities are faint (<100 mR; EM <0.2 pc cm^-6 but correlate on the sky and in velocity with 21-cm emission. Second, we explore the ionized component of some Anti-Center Complex clouds studied by Peek et al. (2007) that show dynamic shaping from interaction with the Galactic halo.

We compute the gravitational waveform produced by cosmic superstring reconnections. This is done by first constructing the superstring reconnection trajectory, which closely resembles that of classical, instantaneous reconnection but with the singularities smoothed out due to the string path integral. We then evaluate the graviton vertex operator in this background to obtain the burst amplitude. The result is compared to the detection threshold for current and future gravitational wave detectors, finding that neither bursts nor the stochastic background would be detectable by Advanced LIGO. This disappointing but anticipated conclusion holds even for the most optimistic values of the reconnection probability and loop sizes.

We study Einstein static universes in the context of generic f(R) models. It is shown that Einstein static solutions exist for a wide variety of modified gravity models, but these solutions are always unstable to either homogeneous or inhomogeneous perturbations. Our general results are in agreement with specific models investigated in that past. We also discuss how our techniques can be applied to other scenarios in f(R) gravity.

Unstable modes growing when two plasma shells cross over a background plasma at arbitrary angle $\theta$, are investigated using a non-relativistic three cold fluids model. Parallel flows with $\theta=0$ are slightly more unstable than anti-parallel ones with $\theta=\pi$. The case $\theta=\pi/2$ is as unstable as the $\theta=0$ one, but the fastest growing modes are oblique. While the most unstable wave vector varies with orientation, its growth rate slightly evolves and there is no such thing as a stable configuration. A number of exact results can be derived, especially for the $\theta=\pi/2$ case.

We give a very brief overview of collective effects in neutrino oscillations in core collapse supernovae where refractive effects of neutrinos on themselves can considerably modify flavor oscillations, with possible repercussions for future supernova neutrino detection. We discuss synchronized and bipolar oscillations, the role of energy and angular neutrino modes, as well as three-flavor effects. We close with a short summary and some open questions.

We study the spectrum of gravitational perturbations around a vacuum de Sitter brane in a 5D asymmetric braneworld model, with induced curvature on the brane. This generalises the stealth acceleration model proposed by Charmousis, Gregory and Padilla (CGP) which realises the Cardassian cosmology in which power law cosmic acceleration can be driven by ordinary matter. Whenever the bulk has infinite volume we find that there is always a perturbative ghost propagating on the de Sitter brane, in contrast to the Minkowski brane case analysed by CGP. We discuss the implication of this ghost for the stealth acceleration model, and identify a limiting case where the ghost decouples as the de Sitter curvature vanishes.

We have identified 17 A-type stars in the Galactic Plane that have mid-IR excesses at 8 micron. From the observed colors in the (r'-H_alpha)-(r'-i') plane, we first identified 23050 early A-type main sequence (MS) star candidates in the Isaac Newton Photometric H-Alpha Survey (IPHAS) point source database that are located in Spitzer GLIMPSE Galactic Plane fields. Imposing the requirement that they be detected in all seven 2MASS and IRAC bands led to a sample of 2692 candidate A-type stars with fully sampled 0.6 to 8 micron SEDs. Optical classification spectra of 18 of the IPHAS candidate A-type MS stars showed that all but one could be well fitted using main sequence A-type templates, with the other being an A-type supergiant. Out of the 2692 A-type candidates 17 (0.6%) were found to have 8-micron excesses above the expected photospheric values. Taking into account non-A-Type contamination estimates, the 8-micron excess fraction is adjusted to ~0.7%. The distances to these sources range from 0.7-2.5 kpc. Only 10 out of the 17 excess stars had been covered by Spitzer MIPSGAL survey fields, of which 5 had detectable excesses at 24 micron. For sources with excesses detected in at least two mid-IR wavelength bands, blackbody fits to the excess SEDs yielded temperatures ranging from 270 to 650 K, and bolometric luminosity ratios L_IR/L* from 2.2x10^{-3}-1.9x10^{-2}, with a mean value of 7.9x10^{-3} (these bolometric luminosities are lower limits as cold dust is not detectable by this survey). Both the presence of mid-IR excesses and the derived bolometric luminosity ratios are consistent with many of these systems being in the planet-building transition phase between the early protoplanetary disk phase and the later debris disk phase.

We present an analysis of far-infrared dust emission from diffuse cirrus clouds. This study is based on serendipitous observations at 160 microns at high galactic latitude with the Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS) onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope by the Spitzer Infrared Nearby Galaxies Survey (SINGS). These observations are complemented with IRIS data at 100 and 60 microns and constitute one of the most sensitive and unbiased samples of far infrared observations at small scale of diffuse interstellar clouds. Outside regions dominated by the cosmic infrared background fluctuations, we observe a substantial scatter in the 160/100 colors from cirrus emission. We compared the 160/100 color variations to 60/100 colors in the same fields and find a trend of decreasing 60/100 with increasing 160/100. This trend can not be accounted for by current dust models by changing solely the interstellar radiation field. It requires a significant change of dust properties such as grain size distribution or emissivity or a mixing of clouds in different physical conditions along the line of sight. These variations are important as a potential confusing foreground for extragalactic studies.

By using H$\alpha$, He I 10830, EUV and soft X-ray (SXR) data, we examined a filament eruption that occurred on a quiet-sun region near the center of the solar disk on 2006 January 12, which disturbed a sigmoid overlying the filament channel observed by the $\emph{GOES-12}$ SXR Imager (SXI), and led to the eruption of the sigmoid. The event was associated with a partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraphs (LASCO) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory ($\emph{SOHO}$), and resulted in the formation of two flare-like ribbons, post-eruption coronal loops, and two transient coronal holes (TCHs), but there were no significantly recorded $\emph{GOES}$ or H$\alpha$ flares corresponding to the eruption. The two TCHs were dominated by opposite magnetic polarities and were located on the two ends of the eruptive sigmoid. They showed similar locations and shapes in He I 10830, EUV and SXR observations. During the early eruption phase, brightenings first appeared on the locations of the two subsequent TCHs, which could be clearly identified on He I 10830, EUV and SXR images. This eruption event could be explained by the magnetic flux rope model, and the two TCHs were likely to be the feet of the flux rope.

Colour-magnitude diagrams (CMD) of the SMC star cluster NGC419, derived from HST/ACS data, reveal a well-delineated secondary clump located below the classical compact red clump typical of intermediate-age populations. We demonstrate that this feature belongs to the cluster itself, rather than to the underlying SMC field. Then, we use synthetic CMDs to show that it corresponds very well to the secondary clump predicted to appear as a result of He-ignition in stars just massive enough to avoid electron-degeneracy settling in their H-exhausted cores. The main red clump instead is made of the slightly less massive stars which passed through electron-degeneracy and ignited He at the tip of the RGB. In other words, NGC419 is the rare snapshot of a cluster while undergoing the fast transition from classical to degenerate H-exhausted cores. At this particular moment of a cluster's life, the colour distance between the main sequence turn-off and the red clump(s) depends sensitively on the amount of convective core overshooting, Lambda_c. By coupling measurements of this colour separation with fits to the red clump morphology, we are able to estimate simultaneously the cluster mean age (1.35(-0.04,+0.11) Gyr) and overshooting efficiency (Lambda_c=0.47(-0.04,+0.14)). Therefore, clusters like NGC419 may constitute important marks in the age scale of intermediate-age populations. After eye inspection of other CMDs derived from HST/ACS data, we suggest that the same secondary clump may also be present in the LMC clusters NGC1751, 1783, 1806, 1846, 1852, and 1917.

The solar tachocline is shown as hydrodynamically stable against nonaxisymmetric disturbances if it is true that no cos^{4}\theta term exists in its rotation law. We also show that the toroidal field of 200 Gauss amplitude which produces the tachocline in the magnetic theory of Ruediger & Kitchatinov (1997) is stable against nonaxisymmetric MHD disturbances -- but it becomes unstable for rotation periods slightly slower than 25 days. The instability of such weak fields lives from the high thermal diffusivity of stellar radiation zones compared with the magnetic diffusivity. The growth times, however, result as very long (of order of 10\^5 rotation times). With estimations of the chemical mixing we find the maximal possible field amplitude to be ~500 Gauss in order to explain the observed lithium abundance of the Sun. Dynamos with such low field amplitudes should not be relevant for the solar activity cycle. With nonlinear simulations of MHD Taylor-Couette flows it is shown that for the rotation-dominated magnetic instability the resulting eddy viscosity is only of the order of the molecular viscosity. The Schmidt number as the ratio of viscosity and chemical diffusion grows to values of ~20. For the majority of the stellar physics applications, the magnetic-dominated Tayler instability will be quenched by the stellar rotation.

In studies of the environmental dependence of structure formation, the large scale environment is often thought of as providing an effective background cosmology: e.g. the formation of structure in voids is expected to be just like that in a less dense universe with appropriately modified Hubble and cosmological constants. However, in the excursion set description of structure formation which is commonly used to model this effect, no explicit mention is made of the effective cosmology. Rather, this approach uses the spherical evolution model to compute an effective linear theory growth factor, which is then used to predict the growth and evolution of nonlinear structures. We show that these approaches are, in fact, equivalent: a consequence of Birkhoff's theorem. We speculate that this equivalence will not survive in models where the gravitational force law is modified from an inverse square, potentially making the environmental dependence of clustering a good test of such models.

We investigate hypernova (hyper-energetic supernova) and gamma-ray burst (GRB) remnants in our Galaxy as TeV gamma-ray sources, particularly in the role of potential TeV unidentified sources, which have no clear counterpart at other wavelengths. We show that the observed bright sources in the TeV sky could be dominated by GRB/hypernova remnants, even though they are fewer than supernova remnants (SNRs). If this is the case, TeV SNRs are more extended (and more numerous) than deduced from current observations. In keeping with their role as cosmic ray accelerators, we discuss hadronic gamma-ray emission from pi^0 decay, from beta decay followed by inverse Compton emission, and propose a third, novel process of TeV gamma-ray emission arising from the decay of accelerated radioactive isotopes such as 56Co entrained by relativistic or semi-relativistic jets in GRBs/hypernovae. We discuss the relevant observational signatures which could discriminate between these three mechanisms.

Time-dependent insolation in a planetary atmosphere induces a mass quadrupole upon which the stellar tidal acceleration can exert a force. This "thermal tide" force can give rise to secular torques on the planet and orbit as well as radial forces causing eccentricity evolution. We apply this idea to the close-in gas giant exoplanets ("hot Jupiters"). The response of radiative atmospheres is computed in a hydrostatic model which treats the insolation as a time-dependent heat source, and solves for thermal radiation using flux-limited diffusion. Fully nonlinear numerical simulations are compared to solutions of the linearized equations, as well as analytic approximations, all of which are in good agreement. We find generically that thermal tide density perturbations {\it lead} the semi-diurnal forcing. As a result thermal tides can generate asynchronous spin and eccentricity. Our results are as follows: (1) Departure from synchronous spin is significant for hot Jupiters, and increases with orbital period. (2) Ongoing gravitational tidal dissipation in spin equilibrium leads to steady-state internal heating rates up to $\sim 10^{28} {\rm erg\ s^{-1}}$. If deposited sufficiently deep, these heating rates may explain the anomalously large radii of many hot Jupiters in terms of a "tidal main sequence" where cooling balances tidal heating. At fixed stellar type, planet mass and tidal $Q$, planetary radius increases strongly toward the star inside orbital periods $\la 2$ weeks. (3) There exists a narrow window in orbital period where small eccentricities, $e$, grow exponentially with a large rate. This window may explain the $\sim 1/4$ of hot Jupiters which should have been circularized by the gravitational tide long ago, but are observed to have significant nonzero $e$.(Abridged)

We investigate the early phase of the first state change during the 2008 September-November outburst of H1743-322, first detected by the INTEGRAL satellite. We analyse INTEGRAL, RXTE, Swift, and XMM/Newton observations, which provide coverage of the quiescence to outburst evolution in the 3-200 keV range every few days. The energy spectra are well fitted by a phenomenological model consisting of an exponentially cut-off power law plus a disc component. A more physical model of thermal Comptonisation (and a disc) represents the spectra equally well. In a first phase (up to MJD 54760), the photon index and temperature of the disc do not vary significantly, and have values reminiscent of the Hard State (HS). The timing analysis is also consistent with that of a HS, and shows in particular a rather high degree of variability (~30%), and a strong ~0.5-1 Hz QPO with its first harmonic. The timing and spectral characteristics of H1743-322 are similar to those of the first HS during its 2003 outburst. After MJD 54760, a change to softer spectra and a ~5-6 Hz QPO indicate that the source underwent a state transition into a Hard-Intermediate State (HIMS). We observe in both states a correlation between the QPO frequency and the photon index, which indicates a strong link between the accretion disc, generally understood to determine the QPO frequency, and the corona, which determines the QPO power. The gradual disappearance of the QPO harmonic, and the slowly decreasing hard X-ray flux, imply that the accretion disc gradually moved inwards during the HS.

We present spectroscopic evidence for infall motion of gas in the natal cloud core harboring an extremely young low-mass protostar GF9-2. We previously discussed that the ongoing collapse of the GF9-2 core has agreement with the Larson-Penston-Hunter (LPH) theoretical solution for the gravitational collapse of a core (Furuya et al.; paper I). To discuss the gas infall on firmer ground, we have carried out On-The-Fly mapping observations of the HCO+ (1--0) line using the Nobeyama 45m telescope equipped with the 25 Beam Array Receiver System. Furthermore, we observed the HCN (1--0) line with the 45m telescope, and the HCO+ (3--2) line with the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory 10.4 m telescope. The optically thick HCO+ and HCN lines show blueskewed profiles whose deepest absorptions are seen at the peak velocity of optically thin lines, i.e., the systemic velocity of the cloud (paper I), indicating the presence of gas infall toward the central protostar. We compared the observed HCO+ line profiles with model ones by solving the radiative transfer in the core under LTE assumption.We found that the core gas has a constant infall velocity of ~0.5 km/s in the central region, leading to a mass accretion rate of 2.5x10^{-5} Msun/yr. Consequently, we confirm that the gas infall in the GF9-2 core is consistent with the LPH solution.

We analyse new deep g and i-band imaging with the CFHT of 16 QSOs in the redshift range 0.9 to 1.3. The principal points of interest are the symmetry and signs of tidal effects in the QSO hosts and nearby (`companion') galaxies. The sample measures are compared with similar measures on randomly selected field galaxy samples. Asymmetry measures are made for all objects to g ~22, and magnitudes of all galaxies 2 magnitudes fainter. The QSOs are found in denser environments than the field, and are somewhat offset from the centroid of their surrounding galaxies. The QSO hosts appear more disturbed than other galaxies. While the QSO companions and field galaxies have the same average asymmetry, the distribution of asymmetry values is different. QSO companions within 15 arcsec are fainter than average field galaxies. We discuss scenarios that are consistent with these and other measured quantities.

These are the findings of the Joint Dark Energy Mission (JDEM) Figure of Merit (FoM) Science Working Group (SWG), the FoMSWG. JDEM is a space mission planned by NASA and the DOE for launch in the 2016 time frame. The primary mission is to explore the nature of dark energy. In planning such a mission, it is necessary to have some idea of knowledge of dark energy in 2016, and a way to quantify the performance of the mission. In this paper we discuss these issues.

Abreg: By combining HST/UDF imagery with kinematics from VLT/GIRAFFE we derive a physical model of distant galaxy J033245.11-274724.0 in a way similar to what can be done in the nearby Universe. Here we study the properties of a distant compact LIRGs galaxy. Given the photometric and spectro photometric accuracies, we can decompose the galaxy in sub components and correct them for reddening. The galaxy is dominated by a dust enshrouded disk revealed by UDF imagery. The disk radius is half that of the Milky Way and the galaxy have a SFR=20Mo/yr. Morphology and kinematics show that gas and stars together spiral inwards rapidly to feed the disk and the central regions. A combined system of a bar and two non rotating spiral arms regulates the material accretion, induces large sigma, with sigma larger than 100 km/s and redistributes the angular momentum (AM). The detailed physical properties resemble to the expectations from modeling a merger of two equal mass, gaseous rich galaxies, 0.5 Gyr after the merger. In its later evolution, this galaxy could become a late type galaxy which falls on the T-F relation, with an AM mostly induced by the orbital AM of the merger.

The observables of the perturbed universe, CMB anisotropy and large structures, depend on a set of cosmological parameters, as well as, the assumed nature of primordial perturbations. In particular, the shape of the primordial power spectrum (PPS) is, at best, a well motivated assumption. It is known that the assumed functional form of the PPS in cosmological parameter estimation can affect the best fit parameters and their relative confidence limits. In this letter, we demonstrate that a specific assumed form actually drives the best fit parameters into distinct basins of likelihood in the space of cosmological parameters where the likelihood resists improvement via modifications to the PPS. The regions where considerably better likelihoods are obtained allowing free form PPS lie outside these basins. In the absence of a preferred model of inflation, this raises a concern that current cosmological parameters estimates are strongly prejudiced by the assumed form of PPS. Our results strongly motivate approaches toward simultaneous estimation of the cosmological parameters and the shape of the primordial spectrum from upcoming cosmological data. It is equally important for theorists to keep an open mind towards early universe scenarios that produce features in the PPS.

We model the large kinematic data sets for the four Milky Way dwarf spheroidal (dSph) satellites: Carina, Fornax, Sculptor and Sextans, recently published by Walker et al. The member stars are selected using a reliable dynamical interloper removal scheme tested on simulated data. Our member selection is more restrictive than the one based on metallicity indicators as it removes not only contamination due to Milky Way stars but also the unbound stars from the tidal tails. We model the cleaned data sets by adjusting the solutions of the Jeans equations to the profiles of the projected velocity dispersion and kurtosis. The data are well reproduced by models where mass follows light and the best-fitting stellar orbits are isotropic to weakly tangential, as expected from the tidal stirring scenario. The Fornax dwarf, with more than 2400 member stars, is a dSph galaxy with the most accurately determined mass to date: its 1 sigma error following from the sampling errors of the velocity moments is below 5 percent. With mass-to-light ratio of 97 solar units, Sextans seems to be the most dark matter dominated of the four dSph galaxies.

[Abridged] We calculate the structural evolution and nucleosynthesis of a grid of models covering the metallicity range: -6.5 < [Fe/H] < -3.0 (plus Z=0), and mass range: 0.85 < M < 3.0 Msun, amounting to 20 stars in total. In this paper, the first of a series describing and analysing this large data set, we present the resulting stellar yields. Many of the models experience violent nuclear burning episodes not seen at higher metallicities. We refer to these events as `Dual Flashes'. These events have also been reported by previous studies. Some of the material processed by the Dual Flashes is dredged up causing significant surface pollution with a distinct chemical composition. We also analyse the yields in terms of C and N, comparing them to the observed CEMP abundances. At the lowest metallicities ([Fe/H] < -4.0) we find the yields to contain ~1 to 2 dex too much carbon, in agreement with all previous studies. At higher metallicities ([Fe/H] = -3.0), where the observed data set is much larger, all our models produce yields with [C/Fe] values consistent with those observed in the most C-rich CEMPs. However it is only the low-mass models that undergo the Dual Shell Flash (which occurs at the start of the TPAGB) that can best reproduce the C and N observations. Normal Third Dredge-Up can not reproduce the observations because at these metallicities intermediate mass models (M > 2 Msun) suffer HBB which converts the C to N thus lowering [C/N] well below the observations, whilst if TDU were to occur in the low-mass (M < 1 Msun) models (we do not find it to occur in our models), the yields would be expected to be C-rich only, which is at odds with the `dual pollution' of C and N generally observed in the CEMPs.

Aims: We study the VUV emission of the quiet Sun and the net redshift of transition region lines in the SUMER spectral range. We aim at establishing a link with atmospheric processes and interpreting the observed downflow as the most evident part of the prevailing global coronal mass transport. Methods: We rank and arrange all pixels of a monochromatic raster scan by radiance and define equally-sized bins of bright, faint, and medium-bright pixels. Comparing the bright pixels with the faint pixels, we determine the spectrally-resolved network contrast for 19 emission lines. We then compare the contrast centroids of these lines with the position of the line itself. We establish a relationship between the observed redshift of the network contrast with the line formation temperature. Results: We find that the network contrast is offset in wavelength compared to the emission line itself. This offset, if interpreted as redshift, peaks at middle transition region temperatures and is 10 times higher than the previously reported net redshift of transition region emission lines. We demonstrate that the brighter pixels are more redshifted, causing both a significant shift of the network contrast profile and the well-known net redshift. We show that this effect can be reconstructed from the radiance distribution. This result is compatible with loop models, which assume downflows near both footpoints.

We study low energy hadronic interaction models based on BESS observed cosmic ray proton and antiproton spectra at medium high altitude. Among the three popular low energy interaction models, we find that FLUKA reproduces results of BESS observations on secondary proton spectrum reasonably well over the whole observed energy range, the model UrQMD works well at relatively higher energies whereas spectrum obtained with GHEISHA differs significantly from the measured spectrum. Simulated antiproton spectrum with FLUKA, however, exhibits significant deviations from the BESS observation wheras UrQMD and GHEISHA reproduce the BESS observations within the experimental error.

Pulsation period of Cepheids should change as stars evolve through the instability strip. Rates of these changes found by other authors based on the decades-long O-C diagrams show rather good agreement with theoretical predictions. We have checked the variability on the scale of a few years on the data recently published by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) for the Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheids and found period changes for 18% of fundamental mode and 41% of first overtone pulsators. It suggest the overtone pulsations are less stable than the fundamental ones. For stars which had the cross-references in the MACHO catalog we have checked if the period change rates derived from the OGLE and the MACHO data are consistent. It was found that there is no correlation and opposite signs of changes in both data sets are more common than the same ones. Many O-C diagrams show nonlinear period changes similarly as for some stars the diagrams derived from the OGLE data only (spanning up to 4100 days) show random fluctuations. These fluctuations are common on the long-term O-C diagrams and we conclude they dominate the diagrams for the timescales of a few thousand of days. The distributions of periods and colors for all Cepheids and for those with statistically significant period changes are the same. Times of maximum light obtained using the MACHO and the OGLE data as well as the examples of O-C diagrams are presented.

Traditional estimators of the mass of galaxy clusters assume that the cluster components (galaxies, intracluster medium, and dark matter) are in dynamical equilibrium. Two additional estimators, that do not require this assumption, were proposed in the 1990s: gravitational lensing and the caustic technique. With these methods, we can measure the cluster mass within radii much larger than the virial radius. In the caustic technique, the mass measurement is only based on the celestial coordinates and redshifts of the galaxies in the cluster field of view; therefore, unlike lensing, it can be, in principle, applied to clusters at any redshift. Here, we review the origin, the basics and the performance of the caustic method.

Magnetic null points can be located numerically in a potential field extrapolation or their average density can be estimated from the Fourier spectrum of a magnetogram. We use both methods to compute the null point density from a quiet Sun magnetogram made with Hinode's NFI and from magnetograms from SOHO's MDI in both its high-resolution and low-resolution modes. All estimates of the super-chromospheric column density (z>1.5 Mm) agree with one another and with the previous measurements: 0.003 null points per square Mm of solar surface.

The X-ray emission from the super-massive star Eta Carinae is simulated using a three dimensional model of the wind-wind collision. In the model the intrinsic X-ray emission is spatially extended and energy dependent. Absorption due to the unshocked stellar winds and the cooled postshock material from the primary LBV star is calculated as the intrinsic emission is ray-traced along multiple sightlines through the 3D spiral structure of the circumstellar environment. The observable emission is then compared to available X-ray data, including the lightcurve observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and spectra observed by XMM-Newton. The orientation and eccentricity of the orbit are explored, as are the wind parameters of the stars and the nature and physics of their close approach. Our modelling supports a viewing angle with an inclination of ~ 42 degrees, consistent with the polar axis of the Homunculus nebula (Smith 2006), and the projection of the observer's line-of-sight onto the orbital plane has an angle of ~ 0 - 30 degrees in the prograde direction on the apastron side of the semi-major axis. However, there are significant discrepancies between the observed and model lightcurves and spectra through the X-ray minimum. In particular, the hard flux in our synthetic spectra is an order of magnitude greater than observed. Further calculations reveal that radiative inhibition significantly reduces the preshock velocity of the companion wind. As a consequence the hard X-ray emission is quenched, but it is unclear whether the long duration of the minimum is due solely to this mechanism alone. Models incorporating a collapse/disruption of the WCR and/or reduced preshock companion wind velocities bring the predicted emission and the observations into much better agreement (abridged).

OGLE III and MOA II are discovering 600-1000 Galactic Bulge microlens events each year. This stretches the resources available for intensive follow-up monitoring of the lightcurves in search of anomalies caused by planets near the lens stars. We advocate optimizing microlens planet searches by using an automatic prioritization algorithm based on the planet detection zone area probed by each new data point. This optimization scheme takes account of the telescope and detector characteristics, observing overheads, sky conditions, and the time available for observing on each night. The predicted brightness and magnification of each microlens target is estimated by fitting to available data points. The optimisation scheme then yields a decision on which targets to observe and which to skip, and a recommended exposure time for each target, designed to maximize the planet detection capability of the observations. The optimal strategy maximizes detection of planet anomalies, and must be coupled with rapid data reduction to trigger continuous follow-up of anomalies that are thereby found. A web interface makes the scheme available for use by human or robotic observers at any telescope. We also outline a possible self-organising scheme that may be suitable for coordination of microlens observations by a heterogeneous telescope network.

From our radio observations of the magnetic field strength and large-scale pattern of spiral galaxies of different Hubble types and star formation rates (SFR) we conclude that - though a high SFR in the disk increases the total magnetic field strength in the disk and the halo - the SFR does not change the global field configuration nor influence the global scale heights of the radio emission. The similar scale heights indicate that the total magnetic field regulates the galactic wind velocities. The galactic wind itself may be essential for an effective dynamo action.

While obviously having a common root, solar and planetary dynamo theory have taken increasingly divergent routes in the last two or three decades, and there are probably few experts now who can claim to be equally versed in both. Characteristically, even in the fine and comprehensive book "The magnetic Universe" (Rudiger & Hollerbach 2004), the chapters on planets and on the Sun were written by different authors. Separate reviews written on the two topics include Petrovay (2000}, Charbonneau (2005), Choudhuri (2008) on the solar dynamo and Glatzmaier (2002), Stevenson (2003) on the planetary dynamo. In the following I will try to make a systematic comparison between solar and planetary dynamos, presenting analogies and differences, and highlighting some interesting recent results.

The very young open cluster (OC) NGC 2244 in the Rosette Nebula was studied with field-star-decontaminated 2MASS photometry, which shows the main-sequence (MS) stars and an abundant pre-MS (PMS) population. Fundamental and structural parameters were derived with colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), stellar radial density profiles (RDPs) and mass functions (MFs). Most previous studies centred NGC 2244 close to the bright K0V star 12 Monocerotis, which is not a cluster member. Instead, the near-IR RDP indicates a pronounced core near the O5 star HD 46150. We derive an age within 1--6 Myr, an absorption $\aV=1.7\pm0.2$, a distance from the Sun $\ds=1.6\pm0.2$ kpc ($\approx1.5$ kpc outside the Solar circle), an MF slope $\chi=0.91\pm0.13$ and a total (MS+PMS) stellar mass of $\sim625 \ms$. Its RDP is characterised by the core and cluster radii $\rc\approx5.6\arcmin$ ($\approx2.6$ pc) and $\rl\approx10\arcmin$ ($\approx4.7$ pc), respectively. Departure from dynamical equilibrium is suggested by the abnormally large core radius and the marked central stellar excess. We also investigate the elusive neighbouring OC NGC 2239, which is low-mass ($m_{MS+PMS}\approx301 \ms$), young ($5\pm4$ Myr) rather absorbed ($\aV=3.4\pm0.2$), and located in the background of NGC 2244 at $\ds=3.9\pm0.4$ kpc. Its RDP follows a King-like function of $\rc\approx0.5\arcmin\approx0.5$ pc and $\rl\approx5.0\arcmin\approx5.6$ pc. The MF slope, $\chi=1.24\pm0.06$, is essentially Salpeter's IMF. NGC 2244 is probably doomed to dissolution in a few $10^7$ yr. Wide-field extractions and field-star decontamination increase the stellar statistics and enhance both CMDs and RDPs, which is essential for faint and bright star clusters.

Polarization carries information about the magnetic fields in interstellar clouds. The observations of polarized dust emission are used to study the role of magnetic fields in the evolution of molecular clouds and the initial phases of star-formation. We study the grain alignment with realistic simulations, assuming the radiative torques to be the main mechanism that spins the grains up. The aim is to study the efficiency of the grain alignment as a function of cloud position and to study the observable consequences of these spatial variations. Our results are based on the analysis of model clouds derived from MHD simulations. The continuum radiative transfer problem is solved with Monte Carlo methods to estimate the three-dimensional distribution of dust emission and the radiation field strength affecting the grain alignment. We also examine the effect of the growth of grains in cores. We are able to reproduce the results of Cho & Lazarian using their assumptions. However, we find that the anisotropy factor is lower even in the 1D case than their assumption of $\gamma = 0.7$, and thus get less efficient radiative torques. Compared with our previous paper, the polarization degree vs. intensity relation is steeper because of less efficient grain alignment within dense cores. If there is no grain growth, the magnetic field of the cores is poorly recovered above a few $A_{\rm V}$. If grains do grow in the cores, the polarization of dust emission can trace the magnetic field lines possibly up to $A_{\rm V} \sim 10$ magnitudes.

Several recent studies have shown that the star cluster initial mass function (CIMF) can be well approximated by a power law, with indications for a steepening or truncation at high masses. This contribution considers the evolution of such a mass function due to cluster disruption, with emphasis on the part of the mass function that is observable in the first ~Gyr. A Schechter type function is used for the CIMF, with a power law index of -2 at low masses and an exponential truncation at M*. Cluster disruption due to the tidal field of the host galaxy and encounters with giant molecular clouds flattens the low-mass end of the mass function, but there is always a part of the `evolved Schechter function' that can be approximated by a power law with index -2. The mass range for which this holds depends on age, t, and shifts to higher masses roughly as t^0.6. Mean cluster masses derived from luminosity limited samples increase with age very similarly due to the evolutionary fading of clusters. Empirical mass functions are, therefore, approximately power laws with index -2, or slightly steeper, at all ages. The results are illustrated by an application to the star cluster population of the interacting galaxy M51, which can be well described by a model with M*=(1.9+/-0.5)x10^5 M_sun and a short (mass-dependent) disruption time destroying M* clusters in roughly a Gyr.

The geo and solar magnetic fields have long been thought to be very different objects both in terms of spatial structure and temporal behavior. The recently discovered field structure of a fully convective star is more reminiscent of planetary magnetic fields than the Sun's magnetic field (Donati J.-F. et al., Science, 311 (2006) 633), despite the fact that the physical and chemical properties of these objects clearly differ. This observation suggests that a simple controlling parameter could be responsible for these different behaviors. We report here the results of three-dimensional simulations which show that varying the aspect ratio of the active dynamo region can yield sharp transition from Earth-like steady dynamos to Sun-like dynamo waves.

We present the results of a spectroscopic survey of the recently discovered M31 satellites And XV and And XVI, lying at projected distances from the centre of M31 of 93 and 130 kpc respectively. These satellites lie to the South of M31, in regions of the stellar halo which wide field imaging has revealed as relative voids (compared to the ~degree-scale coherent stream-like structures). Using the DEep Imaging Multi-Object Spectrograph mounted on the Keck II telescope, we have defined probable members of these satellites, for which we derive radial velocities as precise as ~6 km/s down to i~21.5. While the distance to And XVI remains the same as previously reported (525pm50 kpc), we have demonstrated that the brightest three stars previously used to define the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) in And XV are in fact Galactic, and And XV is actually likely to be much more distant at 770pm70 kpc (compared to the previous 630 kpc), increasing the luminosity from MV~-9.4 to MV~-9.8. The And XV velocity dispersion is resolved with vr =-339+7-6 km/s and sigma-v = 11+7-5 km/s. The And XVI dispersion is not quite resolved at 1sigma with vr =-385+5-6 km/s and sigma-v = 0+10-indef km/s. Using the photometry of the confirmed member stars, we find metallicities of And XV (median [Fe/H]=-1.58, interquar- tile range +-0.08), and And XVI (median [Fe/H]=-2.23, interquartile range +-0.12). Stacking the spectra of the member stars, we find spectroscopic [Fe/H]=-1.8 (-2.1) for And XV (And XVI), with a uncertainty of ~0.2 dex in both cases. Our measure- ments of And XV reasonably resolve its mass (~10^8 Msun) and suggest a polar orbit, while the velocity of And XVI suggests it is approaching the M31 escape velocity given its large M31-centric distance.

In this paper we present a parameter estimation analysis of the polarization and temperature power spectra from the second and third season of observations with the QUaD experiment. QUaD has for the first time detected multiple acoustic peaks in the E-mode polarization spectrum with high significance. Although QUaD-only parameter constraints are not competitive with previous results for the standard 6-parameter LCDM cosmology, they do allow meaningful polarization-only parameter analyses for the first time. In a standard 6-parameter LCDM analysis we find the QUaD TT power spectrum to be in good agreement with previous results. However, the QUaD polarization data shows some tension with LCDM. The origin of this 1 to 2 sigma tension remains unclear, and may point to new physics, residual systematics or simple random chance. We also combine QUaD with the five-year WMAP data set and the SDSS Luminous Red Galaxies 4th data release power spectrum, and extend our analysis to constrain individual isocurvature mode fractions, constraining cold dark matter density, alpha(cdmi)<0.11 (95 % CL), neutrino density, alpha(ndi)<0.26 (95 % CL), and neutrino velocity, alpha(nvi)<0.23 (95 % CL), modes. Our analysis sets a benchmark for future polarization experiments.

Many galactic B[e] stars suffer from improper distance determinations, which make it difficult to distinguish between a pre- and post-main sequence evolutionary phase on the basis of luminosity arguments. In addition, these stars have opaque circumstellar material, obscuring the central star, so that no detailed surface abundance studies can be performed. We propose a different indicator for the supergiant status of a B[e] star, based on the enrichment of its circumstellar matter by 13C, and detectable via its 13CO band emission in the K band spectra. Based on stellar evolution models, we calculate the variation of the 12C/13C isotopic surface abundance ratio during the evolution of non-rotating stars with different initial masses. For different values of the 12C/13C ratio we then compute synthetic first-overtone vibration-rotational band spectra from both the 12CO and 13CO molecule at different spectral resolutions. We further discuss the influence of stellar rotation on the variation of the surface 12C/13C ratio. The surface 12C/13C isotope ratio is found to decrease strongly during the post-main sequence evolution of non-rotating stars, from its interstellar value of about 70 to a value of about 15-20 for stars with initial masses higher than 7 M_sun, and to a value of less than 5 for stars with initial masses higher than 25 M_sun. We find that detectable 13CO band head emission is produced for isotope ratios 12C/13C < 20, and can most easily be detected with a spectral resolution of R ~ 1500...3000. For the rotating stellar models, the drop in 12C/13C already occurs for all stars with M > 9 M_sun during the main-sequence evolution. The detection of 13CO band head emission in such mid-resolution K band spectra of a B[e] star thus favours an evolved rather than a young nature of the object.

We present WHAM observations of Halpha, [N II], and [S II] in the Smith Cloud. A map of Halpha emission from the cloud shows ionized gas coincident with the brightest H I emission, but nearly-as-bright Halpha in some regions with faint H I. The ionized mass of the cloud is at least as large as the neutral mass, > 10^6 M_sun. Ionized gas in the core of the Smith Cloud has an electron temperature 6000 K < T < 16000 K. The observed ratio [N II] / Halpha = 0.39 \pm 0.09 shows that the cloud has a non-primordial nitrogen abundance, 0.1 - 1 times solar.

[abridged] The First Stars in the Universe form out of pristine primordial gas clouds that have been radiatively cooled to a few hundreds of degrees Kelvin either via molecular or atomic (Lyman-Alpha) hydrogen lines. This primordial mode of star formation is eventually quenched once radiative and/or chemical (metal enrichment) feedbacks mark the transition to Population II stars. In this paper we present a model for the formation rate of Population III stars based on Press-Schechter modeling coupled with analytical recipes for gas cooling and radiative feedback. Our model also includes a novel treatment for metal pollution based on self-enrichment due to a previous episode of Population III star formation in progenitor halos. With this model we derive the star formation history of Population III stars, their contribution to the re-ionization of the Universe and the time of the transition from Population III star formation in minihalos to that in more massive halos where atomic hydrogen cooling is also possible. We consider a grid of models highlighting the impact of varying the values for the free parameters used, such as star formation and feedback efficiency. The most critical factor is the assumption that only one Population III star is formed in a halo. In this scenario, metal free stars contribute only to a minor fraction of the total number of photons required to re-ionize the universe. In addition, metal free star formation is primarily located in minihalos and chemically enriched halos become the dominant locus of star formation very early in the life of the Universe, at redshift z~25. If instead multiple metal free stars are allowed to form out of a single halo, then there is an overall boost of Population III star formation, with a consequent significant contribution to the re-ionizing radiation budget.

[abridged] We present multi-epoch high-resolution optical spectroscopy, UV/radio/X-ray imaging, and archival Hubble and Spitzer observations of an intermediate luminosity optical transient recently discovered in the nearby galaxy NGC300. We find that the transient (NGC300 OT2008-1) has a peak absolute magnitude of M_bol~-11.8 mag, intermediate between novae and supernovae, and similar to the recent events M85 OT2006-1 and SN2008S. Our high-resolution spectra, the first for this event, are dominated by intermediate velocity (~200-1000 km/s) hydrogen Balmer lines and CaII emission and absorption lines that point to a complex circumstellar environment, reminiscent of the yellow hypergiant IRC+10420. In particular, we detect broad CaII H&K absorption with an asymmetric red wing extending to ~1000 km/s, indicative of gas infall onto a massive and relatively compact star (blue supergiant or Wolf-Rayet star); an extended red supergiant progenitor is unlikely. The origin of the inflowing gas may be a previous ejection from the progenitor or the wind of a massive binary companion. The low luminosity, intermediate velocities, and overall similarity to a known eruptive star indicate that the event did not result in a complete disruption of the progenitor. We identify the progenitor in archival Spitzer observations, with deep upper limits from Hubble data. The spectral energy distribution points to a dust-enshrouded star with a luminosity of about 6x10^4 L_sun, indicative of a ~10-20 M_sun progenitor (or binary system). This conclusion is in good agreement with our interpretation of the outburst and circumstellar properties. The lack of significant extinction in the transient spectrum indicates that the dust surrounding the progenitor was cleared by the outburst.

I describe the capabilities of the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, scheduled for May 2009 installation on the Hubble Space Telescope. With a factor-of-ten increase in far-UV throughput for moderate resolution spectroscopy, COS will enable a range of scientific programs that study hot stars, AGN, and gas in the interstellar medium, intergalactic medium, and galactic halos. We also plan a large-scale HST Spectroscopic Legacy Project for QSO absorption lines, galactic halos, and AGN outflows. Studies of next-generation telescopes for UV/O astronomy are now underway, including small, medium, and large missions to fill the imminent ten-year gap between the end of Hubble and a plausible launch of the next large mission. Selecting a strategy for achieving these goals will involve hard choices and tradeoffs in aperture, wavelength, and capability.

Measurements of the baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) peak in the redshift-space correlation function yield the angular diameter distance D_A(z) and the Hubble parameter H(z) as a function of redshift, constraining the properties of dark energy and space curvature. We discuss the perturbations introduced in the galaxy correlation function by gravitational lensing through the effect of magnification bias and its cross-correlation with the galaxy density. Gravitational lensing adds a slowly varying component to the galaxy correlation function which is small at the BAO scale and does not change the significance at which the BAO peak can be detected in any survey. The shift in the position of the BAO peak caused by gravitational lensing, both for the monopole or near the line-of-sight in redshift space, is less than one part in 10^4 at z<1 and rises only to ~ 10^-3 at z=2.5, negligible for all practical purposes. Furthermore, the lensing contribution can be measured separately and subtracted from the observed correlation at the BAO scale.

We present an analysis of the visible through near infrared spectrum of Eta Carinae and its ejecta obtained during the "Eta Carinae Campaign with the UVES at the ESO VLT". This is a part of larger effort to present a complete Eta Carinae spectrum, and extends the previously presented analyses with the HST/STIS in the UV (1240-3159 A) to 10,430 A. The spectrum in the mid and near UV is characterized by the ejecta absorption. At longer wavelengths, stellar wind features from the central source and narrow emission lines from the Weigelt condensations dominate the spectrum. However, narrow absorption lines from the circumstellar shells are present. This paper provides a description of the spectrum between 3060 and 10,430 A, including line identifications of the ejecta absorption spectrum, the emission spectrum from the Weigelt condensations and the P-Cygni stellar wind features. The high spectral resolving power of VLT/UVES enables equivalent width measurements of atomic and molecular absorption lines for elements with no transitions at the shorter wavelengths. However, the ground based seeing and contributions of nebular scattered radiation prevent direct comparison of measured equivalent widths in the VLT/UVES and HST/STIS spectra. Fortunately, HST/STIS and VLT/UVES have a small overlap in wavelength coverage which allows us to compare and adjust for the difference in scattered radiation entering the instruments' apertures. This paper provides a complete online VLT/UVES spectrum with line identifications and a spectral comparison between HST/STIS and VLT/UVES between 3060 and 3160 A.

We use a complete and uniform sample of almost half a million galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to characterise the distribution of stellar mass in the low-redshift Universe. Galaxy abundances are well determined over almost four orders of magnitude in stellar mass, and are reasonably but not perfectly fit by a Schechter function with characteristic stellar mass m* = 6.7 x 10^10 M_sun and with faint-end slope \alpha = -1.155. For a standard cosmology and a standard stellar Initial Mass Function, only 3.5% of the baryons in the low-redshift Universe are locked up in stars. The projected autocorrelation function of stellar mass is robustly and precisely determined for r_p < 30 Mpc/h. Over the range 10 kpc/h < r_p < 10 Mpc/h it is extremely well represented by a power law. The corresponding three-dimensional autocorrelation function is \xi*(r) = (r/6.1 Mpc/h)^{-1.84}. Relative to the dark matter, the bias of the stellar mass distribution is approximately constant on large scales, but varies by a factor of five for r_p < 1 Mpc/h. This behaviour is approximately but not perfectly reproduced by current models for galaxy formation in the concordance LCDM cosmology. Detailed comparison suggests that a fluctuation amplitude \sigma_8 ~ 0.8 is preferred to the somewhat larger value adopted in the Millennium Simulation models with which we compare our data. This comparison also suggests that observations of stellar mass autocorrelations as a function of redshift might provide a powerful test for the nature of Dark Energy.

We report the results of interferometric HCN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) observations of four luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs), NGC 2623, Mrk 266, Arp 193, and NGC 1377, as a final sample of our systematic survey using the Nobeyama Millimeter Array. Our survey contains the most systematic interferometric, spatially-resolved, simultaneous HCN(1-0) and HCO+(1-0) observations of LIRGs. Ground-based infrared spectra of these LIRGs are also presented to elucidate the nature of the energy sources at the nuclei. We derive the HCN(1-0)/HCO+(1-0) brightness-temperature ratios of these LIRGs and confirm the previously discovered trend that LIRG nuclei with luminous buried AGN signatures in infrared spectra tend to show high HCN(1-0)/HCO+(1-0) brightness-temperature ratios, as seen in AGNs, while starburst-classified LIRG nuclei in infrared spectra display small ratios, as observed in starburst-dominated galaxies. Our new results further support the argument that the HCN(1-0)/HCO+(1-0) brightness-temperature ratio can be used to observationally separate AGN-important and starburst-dominant galaxy nuclei.

We investigate a class of theories involving a symmetric two-tensor field in Minkowski spacetime with a potential triggering spontaneous violation of Lorentz symmetry. The resulting massless Nambu-Goldstone modes are shown to obey the linearized Einstein equations in a fixed gauge. Imposing self-consistent coupling to the energy-momentum tensor constrains the potential for the Lorentz violation. The nonlinear theory generated from the self-consistent bootstrap is an alternative theory of gravity, containing kinetic and potential terms along with a matter coupling. At energies small compared to the Planck scale, the theory contains general relativity, with the Riemann-spacetime metric constructed as a combination of the two-tensor field and the Minkowski metric. At high energies, the structure of the theory is qualitatively different from general relativity. Observable effects can arise in suitable gravitational experiments.

In string gas cosmology, extra dimensions are stabilised by a gas of strings. In the matter-dominated era, competition between matter pushing the extra dimensions to expand and the string gas pulling them back can lead to oscillations of the extra dimensions and acceleration in the visible dimensions. We fit this model to supernova data, taking into account the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis constraint on the energy density of the string gas. The oscillating expansion history provides an acceptable fit to the supernova data, but is disfavoured compared to the cosmological constant model.

We report the results of a spectroscopic and polarimetric study of the massive, hydrogen-rich WN6h stars R144 (HD 38282 = BAT99-118 = Brey 89) and R145 (HDE 269928 = BAT99-119 = Brey 90) in the LMC. Both stars have been suspected to be binaries by previous studies (R144: Schnurr et al. 2008b; R145: Moffat 1989). We have combined radial-velocity (RV) data from these two studies with previously unpublished polarimetric data. For R145, we were able to establish, for the first time, an orbital period of 158.8 days, along with the full set of orbital parameters, including the inclination angle i, which was found to be i = 38 \pm 9 deg. By applying a modified version of the shift-and-add method developed by Demers et al. (2002), we were able to isolate the spectral signature of the very faint-line companion star. With the RV amplitudes of both components in R145, we were thus able to estimate their absolute masses. We find minimum masses M_WR sin^{3}i = (116 \pm 33) M_sol and M_O sin^{3}i = (48 \pm 20)$ M_sol for the WR and the O component, respectively. Thus, if the low inclination angle were correct, resulting absolute masses of the components would be at least 300 and 125 M_sol, respectively. However, such high masses are not supported by brightness considerations when R145 is compared to systems with known, very high masses such as NGC3603-A1 or WR20a. An inclination angle close to 90 degrees would remedy the situation, but is excluded by the currently available data. More and better data are thus required to firmly establish the nature of this puzzling, yet potentially very massive and important system. As to R144, however, the combined data sets are not sufficient to find any periodicity.

If binary intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs; with masses between 100 and $10^4 \Msun$) form in dense stellar clusters, their inspiral will be detectable with the planned Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) out to several Gpc. Here we present a study of the dynamical evolution of such binaries using a combination of direct $N$-body techniques (when the binaries are well separated) and three-body relativistic scattering experiments (when the binaries are tight enough that interactions with stars occur one at a time). We find that for reasonable IMBH masses there is only a mild effect on the structure of the surrounding cluster even though the binary binding energy can exceed the binding energy of the cluster. We demonstrate that, contrary to standard assumptions, the eccentricity in the LISA band can be in {\em some} cases as large as $\sim 0.2 - 0.3$ and that it induces a measurable phase difference from circular binaries in the last year before merger. We also show that, even though energy input from the binary decreases the density of the core and slows down interactions, the total time to coalescence is short enough (typically less than a hundred million years) that such mergers will be unique snapshots of clustered star formation.

Analysis of pulsar timing data-sets may provide the first direct detection of gravitational waves. This paper, the third in a series describing the mathematical framework implemented into the tempo2 pulsar timing package, reports on using tempo2 to simulate the timing residuals induced by gravitational waves. The tempo2 simulations can be used to provide upper bounds on the amplitude of an isotropic, stochastic, gravitational wave background in our Galaxy and to determine the sensitivity of a given pulsar timing experiment to individual, supermassive, binary black hole systems.

The transiting "hot Saturn" HD 149026b, which has the highest mean density of any confirmed planet in the Neptune-Jupiter mass range, has challenged theories of planet formation since its discovery in 2005. Previous investigations could not explain the origin of the planet's 67 Earth-mass solid core without invoking catastrophes such as gas giant collisions or heavy planetesimal bombardment launched by neighboring planets. Here we show that HD 149026b's large core can be successfully explained by the standard core accretion theory of planet formation. The keys to our reconstruction of HD 149026b are (1) applying a model of the solar nebula to describe the protoplanet nursery; (2) placing the planet initially on a long-period orbit at Saturn's heliocentric distance of 9.5 AU; and (3) adjusting the solid mass in the HD 149026 disk to twice that of the solar nebula in accordance with the star's heavy element enrichment. We show that the planet's migration into its current orbit at 0.042 AU is consistent with our formation model. Our study of HD 149026b demonstrates that it is possible to discover the growth history of any planet with a well-defined core mass that orbits a solar-type star.

We explore the possibility to observe the effects of electron neutrinos from past galactic supernovae, through a geochemical measurement of the amount of Technetium 97 produced by neutrino-induced reactions in a Molybdenum ore. The calculations we present take into account the recent advances in our knowledge of neutrino interactions, of neutrino oscillations inside a supernova, of the solar neutrino flux at Earth and of possible failed supernovae. The predicted Technetium 97 abundance is of the order of 10^7 atoms per 10 kilotons of ore, which is close to the current geochemical experimental sensitivity. Of this, 10-20% is from supernovae. Considering the comparable size of uncertainties, more precision in the modeling of neutrino fluxes as well as of neutrino cross sections is required for a meaningful measurement.

Above redshift 6, the dominant source of neutral hydrogen in the Universe shifts from localized clumps in and around galaxies and filaments to a pervasive, diffuse component of the intergalactic medium (IGM). This transition tracks the global neutral fraction of hydrogen in the IGM and can be studied, in principle, through the redshifted 21 cm hyperfine transition line. During the last half of the reionization epoch, the mean (global) brightness temperature of the redshifted 21 cm emission is proportional to the neutral fraction, but at earlier times (10 < z < 25), the mean brightness temperature should probe the spin temperature of neutral hydrogen in the IGM. Measuring the (of order 10 mK) mean brightness temperature of the redshifted 21 cm line as a function of frequency (and hence redshift) would chart the early evolution of galaxies through the heating and ionizing of the IGM by their stellar populations. Experiments are already underway to accomplish this task or, at least, provide basic constraints on the evolution of the mean brightness temperature. We provide a brief overview of one of these projects, the Experiment to the Detect the Global EOR Signature (EDGES), and discuss prospects for future results.

There are three distinct regimes in which radio observations of the redshifted 21 cm line of HI can contribute directly to cosmology in unique ways. The regimes are naturally divided by redshift, from high to low, into: inflationary physics, the Dark Ages and reionization, and galaxy evolution and Dark Energy. Each measurement presents its own set of technical, theoretical, and observational challenges, making "what we need to know" not so much an astrophysical question at this early stage as a comprehensive experimental question. A wave of new pathfinder projects are exploring the fundamental aspects of what we need to know (and what we should expect to learn in the coming years) in order to achieve the goals of the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) and beyond.

I study the diffuse flux of electron antineutrinos from stellar collapses with direct black hole formation (failed supernovae). This flux is more energetic than that from successful supernovae, and therefore it might contribute substantially to the total diffuse flux above realistic detection thresholds. The total flux might be enhanced to approach the sensitivity of SuperKamiokande. For more central points in the parameter space the flux from failed supernovae dominates above 30-45 MeV of energy, with potential to give an observable spectral distortion at Megaton detectors.

We report a search for H2O megamasers in 274 SDSS type-2 AGNs (0.3 < z < 0.83), half of which can be classified as type-2 QSOs from their [OIII] 5007 luminosity, using the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope. Apart from the detection of the extremely luminous water vapor megamaser SDSS J080430.99+360718.1, already reported by Barvainis & Antonucci (2005), we do not find any additional line emission. This high rate of non-detections is compared to the water maser luminosity function created from the 78 water maser galaxies known to date and its extrapolation towards the higher luminosities of "gigamasers" that we would have been able to detect given the sensitivity of our survey. The properties of the known water masers are summarized and discussed with respect to the nature of high-z type-2 AGNs and megamasers in general. In the appendix, we list 173 additional objects (mainly radio galaxies, but also QSOs and galaxies) that were observed with the GBT, the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope, or Arecibo Observatory without leading to the detection of water maser emission.

We present imaging and spectroscopic observations for six quasars at z>5.9 discovered by the Canada-France High-z Quasar Survey (CFHQS). The CFHQS contains sub-surveys with a range of flux and area combinations to sample a wide range of quasar luminosities at z~6. The new quasars have luminosities 10 to 75 times lower than the most luminous SDSS quasars at this redshift. The least luminous quasar, CFHQS J0216-0455 at z=6.01, has absolute magnitude M_1450=-22.21, well below the likely break in the luminosity function. This quasar is not detected in a deep XMM-Newton survey showing that optical selection is still a very efficient tool for finding high redshift quasars.

At ~ 400 pc, the Horsehead Nebula (B33) is the closest radiatively-sculpted pillar to the Sun, but the state and extent of star formation in this structure is not well understood. We present deep near-infrared (IRSF/SIRIUS JHKs) and mid-infrared (Spitzer/IRAC) observations of the Horsehead Nebula in order to characterize the star forming properties of this region and to assess the likelihood of triggered star formation. Infrared color-color and color-magnitude diagrams are used to identify young stars based on infrared excess emission and positions to the right of the Zero-Age Main Sequence, respectively. Of the 45 sources detected at both near- and mid-infrared wavelengths, three bona fide and five candidate young stars are identified in this 7' by 7' region. Two bona fide young stars have flat infrared SEDs and are located at the western irradiated tip of the pillar. The spatial coincidence of the protostars at the leading edge of this elephant trunk is consistent with the Radiation-Driven Implosion (RDI) model of triggered star formation. There is no evidence, however, for sequential star formation within the immediate ~ 1.5' (0.17 pc) region from the cloud/H II region interface.

We use absolutely calibrated data from the ARCADE 2 flight in July 2006 to model Galactic emission at frequencies 3, 8, and 10 GHz. The spatial structure in the data is consistent with a superposition of free-free and synchrotron emission. Emission with spatial morphology traced by the Haslam 408 MHz survey has spectral index beta_synch = -2.5 +/- 0.1, with free-free emission contributing 0.10 +/- 0.01 of the total Galactic plane emission in the lowest ARCADE 2 band at 3.15 GHz. We estimate the total Galactic emission toward the polar caps using either a simple plane-parallel model with csc|b| dependence or a model of high-latitude radio emission traced by the COBE/FIRAS map of CII emission. Both methods are consistent with a single power-law over the frequency range 22 MHz to 10 GHz, with total Galactic emission towards the north polar cap T_Gal = 0.498 +/- 0.028 K and spectral index beta = -2.55 +/- 0.03 at reference frequency 1 GHz. The well calibrated ARCADE 2 maps provide a new test for spinning dust emission, based on the integrated intensity of emission from the Galactic plane instead of cross-correlations with the thermal dust spatial morphology. The Galactic plane intensity measured by ARCADE 2 is fainter than predicted by models without spinning dust, and is consistent with spinning dust contributing 0.4 +/- 0.1 of the Galactic plane emission at 22 GHz.

Early dark energy models, for which the contribution to the dark energy density at high redshifts is not negligible, influence the growth of cosmic structures and could leave observable signatures that are different from the standard cosmological constant cold dark matter ($\Lambda$CDM) model. In this paper, we present updated constraints on early dark energy using geometrical and dynamical probes. From WMAP five-year data, baryon acoustic oscillations and type Ia supernovae luminosity distances, we obtain an upper limit of the dark energy density at the last scattering surface (lss), $\Omega_{\rm EDE}(z_{\rm lss})<2.3\times10^{-2}$ (95% C.L.). When we include higher redshift observational probes, such as measurements of the linear growth factors, Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) and Lyman-$\alpha$ forest (\lya), this limit improves significantly and becomes $\Omega_{\rm EDE}(z_{\rm lss})<1.4\times10^{-3}$ (95% C.L.). Furthermore, we find that future measurements, based on the Alcock-Paczy\'nski test using the 21cm neutral hydrogen line, on GRBs and on the \lya forest, could constrain the behavior of the dark energy component and distinguish at a high confidence level between early dark energy models and pure $\Lambda$CDM. In this case, the constraints on the amount of early dark energy at the last scattering surface improve by a factor ten, when compared to present constraints. We also discuss the impact on the parameter $\gamma$, the growth rate index, which describes the growth of structures in standard and in modified gravity models.

We exploit the recent observations of extremely metal-poor (EMP) stars in the Galactic halo and investigate the constraints on the IMF of the stellar population that left these low-mass survivors of [Fe/H]<-2.5 and the chemical evolution that they took part in. A high-mass IMF with the typical mass~10Msun and the overwhelming contribution of low-mass members of binaries to the EMP survivors are derived from the statistics of carbon-enriched EMP stars with and without the enhancement of s-process elements (Komiya et al. 2007). We first examine the analysis to confirm their results for various assumptions on the mass-ratio distribution function. As compared with the uniform distribution, the increase or decrease function of the mass ratio gives a higher- or lower-mass IMF, and a lower-mass IMF results for the independent distribution with the both members in the same IMF, but the derived ranges of typical mass differ less than by a factor of two and overlap for the extreme cases. Furthermore, we prove that the same constraints are placed on the IMF from the surface density of EMP stars estimated from the surveys and the chemical evolution consistent with the metal yields of theoretical supernova models. We then apply the derived high-mass IMF with the binary contribution to show that the observed MDF of EMP stars can be reproduced not only for the shape but also for the number of EMP stars. In particular, the scarcity of stars below [Fe/H]<-4 is naturally explained in terms of the hierarchical structure formation, and there is no indication of significant changes in the IMF for the EMP Population. The present study indicates that 3 HMP stars of [Fe/H]<-4 are the primordial stars that were born as the low-mass members of binaries before the host clouds were polluted by their own supernovae.

We report on observations of transit events of the transiting planets XO-1b and TrES-1 with the AIU Jena telescope in Grossschwabhausen. Based on our IR photometry (in March 2007) and available transit timings (SuperWASP, XO and TLC-project-data) we improved the orbital period of XO-1b (P = 3.941497$\pm$0.000006) and TrES-1 (P = 3.0300737$\pm$0.000006), respectively. The new ephemeris for the both systems are presented.

The amplitude of cosmological density fluctuations, $\sigma_8$, has been studied and estimated by analysing many cosmological observations. The values of the estimates vary considerably between the various probes. However, different estimators probe the value of $\sigma_8$ in different cosmological scales and do not take into account the nonlinear evolution of the parameter at late times. We show that estimates of the amplitude of cosmological density fluctuations derived from cosmic flows are systematically higher than those inferred at early epochs because of nonlinear evolution at later times. Here we derive corrections to the value of $\sigma_8$ and compare amplitudes after accounting for this effect.

There is good observationnal evidence that the Steep Decay Phase (SDP) that is observed in most Swift GRBs is the tail of the prompt emission. The most popular model to explain the SDP is Hight Latitude Emission (HLE). Many models for the prompt emission give rise to HLE, like the popular internal shocks (IS) model, but some models do not, such as sporadic magnetic reconnection events. Knowing if the SDP is consistent with HLE would thus help distinguish between different prompt emission models. In order to test this, we model the prompt emission (and its tail) as the sum of independent pulses (and their tails). A single pulse is modeled as emission arising from an ultra-relativistic thin spherical expanding shell. We obtain analytic expressions for the flux in the IS model with a Band function spectrum. We find that in this framework the observed spectrum is also a Band function, and naturally softens with time. The decay of the SDP is initially dominated by the tail of the last pulse, but other pulses can dominate later. Modeling several overlapping pulses as a single broader pulse would overestimates the SDP flux. One should thus be careful when testing the HLE.

The analysis of the broad iron line profile in the X-ray spectra of active galactic nuclei and black hole X-ray binaries allows us to constrain the spin parameter of the black hole. We compare the constraints on the spin value for two X-ray sources, MCG-6-30-15 and GX 339-4, with a broad iron line using present relativistic line models in XSPEC - LAOR and KYRLINE. The LAOR model has the spin value set to the extremal value a=0.9982, while the KYRLINE model enables direct fitting of the spin parameter. The spin value is constrained mainly by the lower boundary of the broad line, which depends on the inner boundary of the disc emission where the gravitational redshift is maximal. The position of the inner disc boundary is usually identified with the marginally stable orbit which is related to the spin value. In this way the LAOR model can be used to estimate the spin value. We investigate the consistency of the LAOR and KYRLINE models. We find that the spin values evaluated by both models agree within the general uncertainties when applied on the current data. However, the results are apparently distinguishable for higher quality data, such as those simulated for the International X-ray Observatory (IXO) mission. We find that the LAOR model tends to overestimate the spin value and furthermore, it has insufficient resolution which affects the correct determination of the high-energy edge of the broad line.

Over the last decades, modelling of the inhomogeneous vertical abundance distributions of various chemical elements in magnetic peculiar A-type has largely relied on simple step-function approximations. In contrast, the recently introduced regularised vertical inverse problem (VIP) is not based on parametrised stratification profiles and has been claimed to yield unique solutions without a priori assumptions as to the profile shapes. It is the question of uniqueness of empirical stratifications which is at the centre of this article. An error analysis establishes confidence intervals about the abundance profiles and it is shown that many different step-functions of sometimes widely different amplitudes give fits to the observed spectra which equal the VIP fits in quality. Theoretical arguments are advanced in favour of abundance profiles that depend on magnetic latitude, even in moderately strong magnetic fields. Including cloud, cap and ring models in the discussion, it is shown that uniqueness of solutions cannot be achieved without phase resolved high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and high spectral resolution (R) spectropolarimetry in all 4 Stokes parameters.

We discuss the creation of massless particles in a Universe, which transits from a radiation-dominated era to any other expansion law. We calculate in detail the generation of gravitons during the transition to a matter dominated era. We show that the resulting gravitons generated in the standard radiation/matter transition are negligible. We use our result to constrain one or more previous matter dominated era, or any other expansion law, which may have taken place in the early Universe.

Statistics of the weak lensing of galaxies can be used to constrain cosmology if the galaxy shear can be estimated accurately. In general this requires accurate modelling of unlensed galaxy shapes and the point spread function (PSF). I discuss suboptimal but potentially robust methods for estimating galaxy shear by stacking images such that the stacked image distribution is closely Gaussian by the central limit theorem. The shear can then be determined by radial fitting, requiring only an accurate model of the PSF rather than also needing to model each galaxy accurately. When noise is significant asymmetric errors in the centroid must be corrected, but the method may ultimately be able to give accurate un-biased results when there is a high galaxy density with constant shear. It provides a useful baseline for more optimal methods, and a test-case for estimating biases. I test stacking methods on the simple toy simulations with constant PSF and shear provided by the GREAT08 project, on which most other existing methods perform significantly more poorly, and briefly discuss generalizations to more realistic cases.

We present the results of an optical search for supernova remnants (SNRs) in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 2903. Interference filter images and spectral data were taken in March 2005 with the f/7.7 1.5 m Russian Turkish Telescope (RTT150) at TUBITAK National Observatory (TUG). Spectral data were obtained with the 6 m BTA (Bolshoi Azimuthal Telescope, Russia). We used the SNR identification criterion that consists of constructing the continuum-subtracted H$\alpha$ and continuum-subtracted [SII]$\lambda$$\lambda$6716,6731 images and their ratios. Five SNR candidates were identified in NGC 2903 with [SII]/H$\alpha$ ratios ranging from 0.41 - 0.74 and H$\alpha$ intensities ranging from 9.4$\times10^{-15}$ to 1.7$\times10^{-14}$ ergs cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$. This work represents the first identification of SNRs by an optical survey in NGC 2903. We present the spectrum of one of the bright candidates and derive an [SII]/H$\alpha$ emission line ratio of 0.42 for this source. In addition, the weak [OIII]$\lambda$5007/H$\beta$ emission line ratio in the spectrum of this SNR indicates an old oxygen-deficient remnant with a low propagation velocity.

The origin of S0 galaxies is discussed in the framework of early mergers in a Cold Dark Matter cosmology, and in a scenario where S0s are assumed to be former spirals stripped of gas. From an analysis of 127 early-type disk galaxies (S0-Sa), we find a clear correlation between the scale parameters of the bulge (r_eff) and the disk (h_R), a correlation which is difficult to explain if these galaxies were formed in mergers of disk galaxies. However, the stripping hypothesis, including quiescent star formation, is not sufficient to explain the origin of S0s either, because it is not compatible with our finding that S0s have a significantly smaller fraction of bars (46$\pm$6 %) than their assumed progenitors, S0/a galaxies (93$\pm$5 %) or spirals (64-69 %). Our conclusion is that even if a large majority of S0s were descendants of spiral galaxies, bars and ovals must play an important role in their evolution. The smaller fraction particularly of strong bars in S0 galaxies is compensated by a larger fraction of ovals/lenses (97$\pm$2 % compared to 82-83 % in spirals), many of which might be weakened bars. We also found massive disk-like bulges in nine of the S0 galaxies, bulges which might have formed at an early gas-rich stage of galaxy evolution.

A review of the development of the concept of dark matter is given. I begin the review with the description of the discovery of the mass paradox in our Galaxy and in clusters of galaxies. In mid 1970s the amount of observational data was sufficient to suggest the presence of a massive and invisible population around galaxies and in clusters of galaxies. The nature of the dark population was not clear at that time, but the hypotheses of stellar as well as of gaseous nature of the new population had serious difficulties. These difficulties disappeared when non-baryonic nature of dark matter was suggested in early 1980s. In addition to the presence of Dark Matter, recent observations suggest the presence of Dark Energy, which together with Dark Matter and ordinary baryonic matter makes the total matter/energy density of the Universe equal to the critical cosmological density. There are various hypothesis as for the nature of the dark matter particles, and generally some form of weakly interactive massive particles (WIMPs) are strongly favored. Both Dark Matter and Dark Energy are the greatest challenges for modern physics since their nature is unknown.

To improve our comprehension of the beta Cephei stars, we set up a photometric multi-site campaign on the open cluster NGC 884 (Chi Persei). Thirteen telescopes joined the 2005-2007 campaign which resulted in almost 78000 CCD frames. We present an up-to-date status of the analysis of these data, in which several interesting oscillating stars are pointed out. We end with the future prospects.

A campaign on the open cluster NGC 5617 was organized in order to characterize the pulsations and to better understand the internal structure of its stars. The variability of the cluster members was never studied before. We present the observations taken and an up-to-date analysis of the obtained time series, especially of several SPB candidates we discovered.

We use absolutely calibrated data between 3 and 90 GHz from the 2006 balloon flight of the ARCADE 2 instrument, along with previous measurements at other frequencies, to constrain models of extragalactic emission. Such emission is a combination of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) monopole, Galactic foreground emission, the integrated contribution of radio emission from external galaxies, any spectral distortions present in the CMB, and any other extragalactic source. After removal of estimates of foreground emission from our own Galaxy, and the estimated contribution of external galaxies, we present fits to a combination of the flat-spectrum CMB and potential spectral distortions in the CMB. We find 2 sigma upper limits to CMB spectral distortions of mu < 5.8 x 10^{-5} and Y_ff < 6.2 x 10^{-5}. We also find a significant detection of a residual signal beyond that which can be explained by the CMB plus the integrated radio emission from galaxies estimated from existing surveys. After subtraction of an estimate of the contribution of discrete radio sources, this unexplained signal is consistent with extragalactic emission in the form of a power law with amplitude 1.06 \pm 0.11 K at 1 GHz and a spectral index of -2.56 \pm 0.04.

We present the results of Spitzer IRS infrared 5-35 micron low-resolution spectroscopic energy diagnostics of ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) at z > 0.15, classified optically as non-Seyferts. Based on the equivalent widths of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission and the optical depths of silicate dust absorption features, we searched for signatures of intrinsically luminous, but optically elusive, buried AGNs in these optically non-Seyfert ULIRGs. We then combined the results with those of non-Seyfert ULIRGs at z < 0.15 and non-Seyfert galaxies with infrared luminosities L(IR) < 10^12Lsun. We found that the energetic importance of buried AGNs clearly increases with galaxy infrared luminosity, becoming suddenly discernible in ULIRGs with L(IR) > 10{12}Lsun. For ULIRGs with buried AGN signatures, a significant fraction of infrared luminosities can be accounted for by detected buried AGN and modestly-obscured (Av < 20 mag) starburst activity. The implied masses of spheroidal stellar components in galaxies for which buried AGNs become important roughly correspond to the value separating red massive and blue, less-massive galaxies in the local universe. Our results may support the widely-proposed AGN-feedback scenario as the origin of galaxy downsizing phenomena, where galaxies with currently larger stellar masses previously had higher AGN energetic contributions and star-formation-originating infrared luminosities, and have finished their major star-formation more quickly, due to stronger AGN feedback.

We report on strong H2 and CO absorption from gas within the host galaxy of gamma-ray burst (GRB) 080607. Analysis of our Keck/LRIS afterglow spectrum reveals a very large HI column density (NHI = 10^22.70 cm^-2) and strong metal-line absorption at z_GRB = 3.0363 with a roughly solar metallicity. We detect a series of A-X bandheads from CO and estimate N(CO) = 10^16.5 cm^-2 and T_ex^CO > 100K. We argue that the high excitation temperature results from UV pumping of the CO gas by the GRB afterglow. Similarly, we observe H2 absorption via the Lyman-Werner bands and estimate N(H2) = 10^21.2 cm^-2 with T_ex^H2 = 10--300K. The afterglow photometry suggests an extinction law with R_V=4 and A_V=3.2 mag and requires the presence of a modest 2175A bump. Additionally, modeling of the Swift/XRT X-ray spectrum confirms a large column density with N(H) = 10^22.58 cm^-2. Remarkably, this molecular gas has extinction properties, metallicity, and a CO/H2 ratio comparable to those of translucent molecular clouds of the Milky Way, suggesting that star formation at high z proceeds in similar environments as today. However, the integrated dust-to-metals ratio is sub-Galactic, suggesting the dust is primarily associated with the molecular phase while the atomic gas has a much lower dust-to-gas ratio. Sightlines like GRB 080607 serve as powerful probes of nucleosynthesis and star-forming regions in the young universe and contribute to the population of "dark" GRB afterglows.

The ARCADE 2 instrument has measured the absolute temperature of the sky at frequencies 3, 8, 10, 30, and 90 GHz, using an open-aperture cryogenic instrument observing at balloon altitudes with no emissive windows between the beam-forming optics and the sky. An external blackbody calibrator provides an {\it in situ} reference. Systematic errors were greatly reduced by using differential radiometers and cooling all critical components to physical temperatures approximating the CMB temperature. A linear model is used to compare the output of each radiometer to a set of thermometers on the instrument. Small corrections are made for the residual emission from the flight train, balloon, atmosphere, and foreground Galactic emission. The ARCADE 2 data alone show an extragalactic rise of $50\pm7$ mK at 3.3 GHz in addition to a CMB temperature of $2.730\pm .004$ K. Combining the ARCADE 2 data with data from the literature shows a background power law spectrum of $T=1.26\pm 0.09$ [K] $(\nu/\nu_0)^{-2.60\pm 0.04}$ from 22 MHz to 10 GHz ($\nu_0=1$ GHz) in addition to a CMB temperature of $2.725\pm .001$ K.

The properties of the ices that form in dense molecular clouds represent an important set of initial conditions in the evolution of interstellar and preplanetary matter in regions of active star formation. Of the various spectral features available for study, the bending mode of solid CO2 near 15 microns has proven to be a particularly sensitive probe of physical conditions, especially temperature. We present new observations of this absorption feature in the spectrum of Q21-1, a background field star located behind a dark filament in the Cocoon Nebula (IC5146). We show the profile of the feature be consistent with a two-component (polar + nonpolar) model for the ices, based on spectra of laboratory analogs with temperatures in the range 10-20K. The polar component accounts for 85% of the CO2 in the line of sight. We compare for the first time 15 micron profiles in three widely separated dark clouds (Taurus, Serpens and IC5146), and show that they are indistinguishable to within observational scatter. Systematic differences in the observed CO2/H2O ratio in the three clouds have little or no effect on the 15 micron profile. The abundance of elemental oxygen in the ices appears to be a unifying factor, displaying consistent behavior in the three clouds. We conclude that the ice formation process is robust and uniformly efficient, notwithstanding compositional variations arising from differences in how the O is distributed between the primary species (H2O, CO2 and CO) in the ices.

We have used far-infrared data from IRAS, ISO, SWIRE, SCUBA and MAMBO to constrain statistically the mean far-infrared luminosities of quasars. Our quasar compilation at redshifts 0<z<6.5 and I-band luminosities -20<I(AB)<-32 is the first to distinguish evolution from quasar luminosity dependence in such a study. We carefully cross-calibrate IRAS against Spitzer and ISO, finding evidence that IRAS 100um fluxes at <1Jy are overestimated by ~30%. We find evidence for a correlation between star formation in quasar hosts and the quasar optical luminosities, varying as SFR proportional to L_opt^(0.44+/-0.07) at any fixed redshift below z=2. We also find evidence for evolution of the mean star formation rate in quasar host galaxies, scaling as (1+z)^(1.6+/-0.3) at z<2 for any fixed quasar I-band absolute magnitude fainter than -28. We find no evidence for any correlation between star formation rate and black hole mass at 0.5<z<4. Our data are consistent with feedback from black hole accretion regulating stellar mass assembly at all redshifts.

Deep near-infrared imaging surveys allow us to select and study distant galaxies in the rest-frame optical, and have transformed our understanding of the early Universe. As the vast majority of K- or IRAC-selected galaxies is too faint for spectroscopy, the interpretation of these surveys relies almost exclusively on photometric redshifts determined from fitting templates to the broad-band photometry. The best-achieved accuracy of these redshifts Delta(z)/(1+z) ~ 0.06 at z>1.5, which is sufficient for determining the broad characteristics of the galaxy population but not for measuring accurate rest-frame colors, stellar population parameters, or the local galaxy density. We have started a near-infrared imaging survey with the NEWFIRM camera on the Kitt Peak 4m telescope to greatly improve the accuracy of photometric redshifts in the range 1.5<z<3.5. The survey uses five medium-bandwidth filters, which provide crude "spectra" over the wavelength range 1-1.8 micron for all objects in the 27.6 x 27.6 arcmin NEWFIRM field. In this first paper, we illustrate the technique by showing medium band NEWFIRM photometry of several galaxies at 1.7<z<2.7 from the near-infrared spectroscopic sample of Kriek et al. (2008). The filters unambiguously pinpoint the location of the redshifted Balmer break in these galaxies, enabling very accurate redshift measurements. The full survey will provide similar data for ~8000 faint K-selected galaxies at z>1.5 in the COSMOS and AEGIS fields. The filter set also enables efficient selection of exotic objects such as high redshift quasars, galaxies dominated by emission lines, and very cool brown dwarfs; we show that late T and candidate "Y" dwarfs could be identified using only two of the filters.

In order to try to understand the internal evolution of galaxies and relate this to the global evolution of the galaxy population, we present a comparative study of the dependence of star formation rates on the average surface mass densities (SigmaM) of galaxies at 0.5 < z < 0.9 and 0.04<z<0.08, using the zCOSMOS and SDSS surveys respectively. We derive star formation rates, stellar masses, and structural parameters in a consistent way for both samples, and apply them to samples that are complete down to the same stellar mass at both redshifts. We first show that the characteristic step-function dependence of median specific star formation rate (SSFR) on SigmaM in SDSS, seen by Brinchmann et al. (2004), is due to the changeover from predominantly disk galaxies to predominantly spheroidal galaxies at the surface mass density log(SigmaMchar) ~ 8.5 at which the SSFR is seen to drop. Turning to zCOSMOS, we find a similar shape for the median SSFR - SigmaM relation, but with median SSFR values that are about 5-6 times higher than for SDSS, across the whole range of SigmaM, and in galaxies with both high and low Sersic indices. This emphasizes that galaxies of all types are contributing, proportionally, to the global increase in star formation rate density in the Universe back to these redshifts. The SigmaMchar "step" shifts to slightly higher values of SigmaM in zCOSMOS relative to SDSS, but this can be explained by a modest differential evolution in the size-mass relations of disk and spheroid galaxies. Low Sersic index galaxies have a SSFR that is almost independent of SigmaM, and the same is probably also true of high Sersic index galaxies once obvious disk systems are excluded.(abridged)

Inflation is part of the Standard Model of the Universe supported by CMB and large scale structure LSS datasets. This review presents new developments of inflation in three main chapters. (I): The effective theory of inflation a la Ginsburg-Landau (GL): the inflaton potential is a polynomial with universal form making explicit the inflation energy scale M, the Planck mass and the inflation e-folds number N ~ 60. The slow-roll expansion becomes a systematic 1/N expansion and the inflaton couplings are naturally small as powers of (M/M_{Pl})^2. The spectral index (n_s - 1) and the ratio of tensor/scalar fluctuations r are O(1/N), the running index is O(1/N^2). M ~ 0.7 10^{16} GeV is completely determined by the scalar adiabatic fluctuations amplitude. (II): A Monte Carlo Markov Chains (MCMC) analysis of the CMB+LSS data (including WMAP5) with our analytic theoretical results yields: a lower bound for r (new inflation): r > 0.023 (95%CL), r > 0.046 (68%CL); the preferred inflation potential is a double well, even function of the field yielding as most probable values n_s ~ 0.964, r ~ 0.051. This value for r is within reach of forthcoming CMB observations. Slow-roll inflation is generically preceded by a short fast-roll stage which leads to a suppression of the CMB quadrupoles. MCMC analysis of the WMAP+SDSS data shows that fast-roll fits the TT, TE and EE modes well reproducing the quadrupole suppression and fixes the total number of efolds of inflation to be N_{total} ~ 64. (III) Quantum loop corrections are very small and controlled by powers of (H /M_{Pl})^2 ~ 10^{-9} which validates the effective theory of inflation. We show how powerful is the GL theory of inflation in predicting observables.

We present a newly observed relation between galaxy mass and radial metallicity gradients of early-type galaxies. Our sample of 51 early-type galaxies encompasses a comprehensive mass range from dwarf to brightest cluster galaxies. The metallicity gradients are measured out to one effective radius by comparing nearly all of the Lick absorption-line indices to recent models of single stellar populations. The relation shows very different behaviour at low and high masses, with a sharp transition being seen at a mass of ~ 3.5 x 10^10 M_sun (velocity dispersion of ~140 km/s, M_B ~ -19). Low-mass galaxies form a tight relation with mass, such that metallicity gradients become shallower with decreasing mass and positive at the very low-mass end. Above the mass transition point several massive galaxies have steeper gradients, but a clear downturn is visible marked by a broad scatter. The results are interpreted in comparison with competing model predictions. We find that an early star-forming collapse could have acted as the main mechanism for the formation of low-mass galaxies, with star formation efficiency increasing with galactic mass. The high-mass downturn could be a consequence of merging and the observed larger scatter a natural result of different merger properties. These results suggest that galaxies above the mass threshold of ~ 3.5 x 10^10 M_sun might have formed initially by mergers of gas-rich disc galaxies and then subsequently evolved via dry merger events. The varying efficiency of the dissipative merger-induced starburst and feedback processes have shaped the radial metallicity gradients in these high-mass systems.

Certain results of observational cosmology cast critical doubt on the foundations of standard cosmology but leave most cosmologists untroubled. Alternative cosmological models that differ from the Big Bang have been published and defended by heterodox scientists; however, most cosmologists do not heed these. This may be because standard theory is correct and all other ideas and criticisms are incorrect, but it is also to a great extent due to sociological phenomena such as the "snowball effect" or "groupthink". We might wonder whether cosmology, the study of the Universe as a whole, is a science like other branches of physics or just a dominant ideology.

We present an inflationary model that is geodesically complete and does not suffer from the transplanckian problem. In most inflationary models, massless (conformal) scalar field fluctuations in a deSitter background gives rise to a scale-invariant spectrum. In this work, we realize scale invariant perturbations from thermal fluctuations in (conformal) radiation during a radiation dominated contraction era prior to inflation. As the modes exit the Hubble radius during the contraction phase, scale invariant fluctuations are indeed generated. After many cycles, we enter into a power-law inflationary phase, that stretches the modes produced in the previous contraction phase to scales that we observe today.

We present a comprehensive overview of an extension of the Standard Model by three right-handed (sterile) neutrinos with masses below the electroweak scale (the Neutrino Minimal Standard Model, nuMSM). We consider the history of the Universe from the inflationary era until today and demonstrate that most of the observed beyond the Standard Model phenomena find their explanation within the framework of this model. We review the mechanism of baryon asymmetry of the Universe in the nuMSM and discuss a dark matter candidate that can be warm or cold and satisfies all existing constraints. On particle physics side the model provides an explanation on neutrino flavor oscillations. The verification of the nuMSM is possible with existing experimental techniques.

In this work we revisit the Salecker-Wigner-Peres clock formalism and show that it can be directly applied to the phenomenon of tunneling. Then we apply this formalism to the determination of the tunneling time of a non relativistic wavepacket, sharply concentrated around a tunneling energy, incident on a symmetric double barrier potential. In order to deepen the discussion about the generalized Hartmann effect, we consider the case in which the clock runs only when the particle can be found inside the region \emph{between} the barriers and show that, whenever the probability to find the particle in this region is non negligible, the corresponding time (which in this case turns out to be a dwell time) increases with the barrier spacing.

TeV gravity models provide a scenario for black hole formation at energies much smaller than G_N^(-1/2) \sim 10^19 GeV. In particular, the collision of a ultrahigh energy cosmic ray with a dark matter particle in our galactic halo or with another cosmic ray could result into a black hole of mass between 10^4 and 10^11 GeV. Once produced, such object would evaporate into elementary particles via Hawking radiation. We show that the interactions among the particles exiting the black hole are not able to produce a photosphere nor a chromosphere. We then evaluate how these particles evolve using the jet-code HERWIG, and obtain a final diffuse flux of stable 4-dimensional particles peaked at 0.2 GeV. This flux consists of an approximate 43% of neutrinos, a 28% of electrons, a 16% of photons and a 13% of protons. Emission into the bulk would range from a 1.4% of the total energy for n=2 to a 16% for n=6.

The lens SL2SJ021408-053532 is a complex system composed of several galaxies. The structure and potential of this lens are analyzed using the perturbative method. The perturbative approach does not depend on a particular model, provide an accurate description of the potential at the images locations, and allows to re-construct the potential in the neighborhood of the Einstein radius. The perturbative fields of the lens are re-constructed step by step, first locally, by assuming local linearity of the fields, and then generalized to a Fourier series expansion. The field reconstruction is facilitated by the particular structure of the source which contains a numbers of bright spots that help constrain the solution. The local shape of the potential and density of the lens can be inferred from the perturbative solution, revealing the existence of a dark component that does not follow the distribution of light. This discrepancy between mass and light may pose a problem for alternative theories that try to avoid a dark matter component by modifying gravity. The existence of an independent dark matter envelope for this small group of galaxies is certainly very hard to avoid.

Observations of magnetic fields of stars at the pre-main sequence phase can provide important new insights into the complex physics of the late stages of star formation. This is especially true at intermediate stellar masses, where magnetic fields are strong and globally organised, and therefore most amenable to direct study. Recent circularly-polarised spectroscopic observations of pre-main sequence Herbig Ae/Be stars have revealed the presence of organised magnetic fields in the photospheres of a small fraction of these objects. To date, 9 magnetic HAeBe stars have been detected, and those detections confirmed by repeated observations. The morphology and variability of their Stokes V signatures indicates that their magnetic fields have important dipole components of kG strength, and that the dipole is stable on timescales ofat least years. These magnetic stars exhibit a large range of stellar mass, from about 2-13 solar masses, and diverse rotational properties, with vsini from a few km/s to 200 km/s. Most magnetic HAeBe stars show approximately solar abundances; they clearly do not generally exhibit the strong and systematic peculiarities of the magnetic main sequence A and B type stars (the Ap/Bp stars). The observed fractional bulk incidence of magnetic HAeBe stars is about 7%, a value compatible with the incidence of magnetic intermediate-mass stars on the main sequence. This low incidence is at odds with formation scenarios generally involving magnetically-mediated accretion. The similarily between the magnetic properties of the pre-main sequence and main sequence intermediate-mass stars appears compatible with the hypothesis of a fossil origin of magnetism in these objects.

Filaments which form either between or around active regions (ARs) are called intermediate filaments. In spite of various theoretical studies, the origin of the chirality of filaments is still uncovered. We investigated how intermediate filaments are related to their associated ARs, especially from the point of view of magnetic helicity and the orientation of polarity inversion lines (PILs). The chirality of filaments has been determined based on the orientations of barbs observed in BBSO full-disk Halpha images taken during the rising phase of solar cycle 23. The sign of magnetic helicity of ARs has been determined using S/inverse-S shaped sigmoids from Yohkoh SXT images. As a result, we have found a good correlation between the chirality of filaments and the magnetic helicity sign of ARs. Among 45 filaments, 42 filaments have shown the same sign as helicity sign of nearby ARs. It has been also confirmed that the role of both the orientation and the relative direction of PILs to ARs in determining the chirality of filaments is not significant, against a theoretical prediction. These results suggest that the chirality of intermediate filaments may originate from magnetic helicity of their associated ARs.

We consider the neutron star (NS) of the magnetar type inside the massive binary system. We determine the conditions under which the matter from the stellar wind can penetrate the inner magnetosphere of the magnetar. At some distance from the NS surface, the magnetic pressure can balance the gravitational pressure of the accreting matter creating very turbulent, magnetized transition region. It is suggested that this region provides good conditions for acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies. These electrons lose energy on the synchrotron process and the Inverse Compton (IC) scattering of the radiation from the nearby massive stellar companion, producing high energy radiation from the X-rays up to $\sim$TeV $\gamma$-rays. The primary $\gamma$-rays can be farther absorbed in the stellar radiation developing the IC $e^\pm$ pair cascade. We calculate the synchrotron X-ray emission from primary electrons and secondary $e^\pm$ pairs and the IC $\gamma$-ray emission from the cascade process. It is shown that the quasi-simultaneous observations of the TeV $\gamma$-ray binary system LSI +61 303 in the X-ray and the TeV $\gamma$-ray energy ranges can be explained in such an accreting magnetar model.

The relations between masses, radii and surface temperatures of stars are considered. It is shown that calculated values of these relations are in a satisfactory agreement with measuring data.

We examine the recent star formation associated with four supergiant shells (SGSs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC): LMC 1, 4, 5, and 6, which have been shown to have simple expanding-shell structures. H II regions and OB associations are used to infer star formation in the last few Myr, while massive young stellar objects (YSOs) reveal the current ongoing star formation. Distributions of ionized, H I, and molecular components of the interstellar gas are compared with the sites of recent and current star formation to determine whether triggering has taken place. We find that a great majority of the current star formation has occurred in gravitationally unstable regions, and that evidence of triggered star formation is prevalent at both large and local scales.

We present kinematic simulations of a galactic dynamo model based on the large scale differential rotation and the small scale helical fluctuations due to supernova explosions. We report for the first time direct numerical simulations of the full galactic dynamo using an unparameterized global approach. We argue that the scale of helicity injection is large enough to be directly resolved rather than parameterized. While the actual superbubble characteristics can only be approached, we show that numerical simulations yield magnetic structures which are close both to the observations and to the previous parameterized mean field models. In particular, the quadrupolar symmetry and the spiraling properties of the field are reproduced. Moreover, our simulations show that the presence of a vertical inflow plays an essential role to increase the magnetic growth rate. This observation could indicate an important role of the downward flow (possibly linked with galactic fountains) in sustaining galactic magnetic fields.

Images of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field are analyzed to obtain a catalog of galaxies for which the angular sizes, surface brightness, photometric redshifts, and absolute magnitudes are found. The catalog contains a total of about 4000 galaxies identified at a high signal-to-noise ratio, which allows the cosmological relations angular size{redshift and surface brightness-redshift to be analyzed. The parameters of the evolution of linear sizes and surface brightness of distant galaxies in the redshift interval 0.5-6.5 are estimated in terms of a grid of cosmological models with different density parameters. The distribution of photometric redshifts of galaxies is analyzed and possible superlarge inhomogeneities in the radial distribution of galaxies are found with scale lengths as large as 2000 Mpc.

Theoretically expected natures of a supernova driven by a wind/jet are discussed. Approximate analytical formulations are derived to clarify basic physical processes involved in the wind/jet-driven explosions, and it is shown that the explosion properties are characterized by the energy injection rate (Edot_iso) and the mass injection rate (Mdot_iso). To explain observations of SN 1998bw associated with Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) 980425, the following conditions are required: Edot_iso Mdot_iso > ~ 10^{51} erg M_sun s^{-2} and Edot_iso > ~ 2 x 10^{52} erg s^{-1} (if the wind Lorentz factor Gamma_w ~ 1) or Edot_iso > ~ 7 x 10^{52} erg s^{-1} (if Gamma_w >> 1). In SN 1998bw, 56Ni (~ 0.4M_sun) is probably produced in the shocked stellar mantle, not in the wind. The expected natures of SNe, e.g., ejected 56Ni masses and ejecta masses, vary depending on Edot_iso and Mdot_iso. The sequence of the SN properties from high Edot_iso and Mdot_iso to low Edot_iso and Mdot_iso is the following: SN 1998bw-like -- intermediate case -- low mass ejecta (< ~ 1M_sun$) where 56Ni is from the wind -- whole collapse. This diversity may explain the diversity of supernovae associated with GRBs. Our result can be used to constrain natures of the wind/jet, which is linked to the central engine of GRBs, by studying properties of the associated supernovae.

Gliese 436 is an M dwarf with a mass of 0.45 Msun and hosts the extrasolar planet GL 436b [3, 6, 7, 2], which is currently the least massive transiting planet with a mass of ~23.17 Mearth [10], and the only planet known to transit an M dwarf. GL 436b represents the first transiting detection of the class of extrasolar planets known as "Hot Neptunes" that have masses within a few times that of Neptune's mass (~17 Mearth) and orbital semimajor axis <0.1 AU about the host star. Unlike most other known transiting extrasolar planets, GL 436b has a high eccentricity (e~0.16). This brings to light a new parameter space for habitability zones of extrasolar planets with host star masses much smaller than typical stars of roughly a solar mass. This unique system is an ideal candidate for orbital perturbation and transit-time variation (TTV) studies to detect smaller, possibly Earth-mass planets in the system. In April 2008 we began a long-term intensive campaign to obtain complete high-precision light curves using the Apache Point Observatory's 3.5-meter telescope, NMSU's 1-meter telescope (located at APO), and Sommers Bausch Observatory's 24" telescope. These light curves are being analyzed together, along with amateur and other professional astronomer observations. Results of our analysis are discussed. Continued measurements over the next few years are needed to determine if additional planets reside in the system, and to study the impact of other manifestations on the light curves, such as star spots and active regions.

Concepts developed in the gravitational lensing techniques such as shear, convergence, tangential and radial arcs maybe used to see how tenable inhomogeneous models proposed to explain the acceleration of the universe models are. We study the widely discussed LTB cosmological models. It turns out that for the observer sitting at origin of a global LTB solution the shear vanishes as in the FRW models, while the value of convergence is different which may lead to observable cosmological effects. We also consider Swiss-cheese models proposed recently based on LTB with an observer sitting in the FRW part. It turns out that they have different behavior as far as the formation of radial and tangential arcs are concerned.

We report on the discovery of HAT-P-11b, the smallest radius transiting extrasolar planet (TEP), and the first hot Neptune discovered to date by transit searches. HAT-P-11b orbits the bright (V=9.59) and metal rich ([Fe=H] = +0.31 +/- 0.05) K4 dwarf star GSC 03561-02092 with P = 4.8878162 +/- 0.0000071 days and produces a transit signal with depth of 4.2 mmag; the shallowest found by transit searches that is due to a confirmed planet. We present a global analysis of the available photometric and radial-velocity data that result in stellar and planetary parameters, with simultaneous treatment of systematic variations. The planet, like its near-twin GJ 436b, is somewhat larger than Neptune (17 Mearth, 3.8 Rearth) both in mass Mp = 0.081 +/- 0.009 MJup (25.8 +/- 2.9 Mearth) and radius Rp = 0.422 +/- 0.014 RJup (4.73 +/- 0.16 Rearth). HAT-P-11b orbits in an eccentric orbit with e = 0.198 +/- 0.046 and omega = 355.2 +/- 17.3 deg, causing a reflex motion of its parent star with amplitude 11.6 +/- 1.2 m/s, a challenging detection due to the high level of chromospheric activity of the parent star. Our ephemeris for the transit events is Tc = 2454605.89132 +/- 0.00032 (BJD), with duration 0.0957 +/- 0.0012 d, and secondary eclipse epoch of 2454608.96 +/- 0.15 d (BJD). The basic stellar parameters of the host star are M* = 0.809 +/- ^0.020_0.027 Msun, R* = 0.752 +/- 0.021 Rsun and Teff = 4780 +/- 50 K. Importantly, HAT-P-11 will lie on one of the detectors of the forthcoming Kepler mission; this should make possible fruitful investigations of the detailed physical characteristic of both the planet and its parent star at unprecedented precision.

In this paper, we study the effects of instrumental systematics on the reconstruction of the deflection angle power spectrum from weak lensing of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature and polarization observations. We consider seven types of effects which are related to known instrumental systematics: calibration, rotation, pointing, spin-flip, monopole leakage, dipole leakage and quadrupole leakage. These effects can be characterized by 11 distortion fields. Each of these systematic effects can mimic the effective projected matter power spectrum and hence contaminate the lensing reconstruction. To demonstrate the effect of these instrumental systematics, we consider two types of experiments, one with a detector noise level for polarization of 9.6 uK-arcmin and FWHM of 8.0', typical of upcoming ground and balloon-based CMB experiments, and a CMBPol-like instrument with a detector noise level for polarization of 2.0 uK-arcmin and FWHM of 4.0', typical of future space-based CMB experiments. For each systematics, we consider various choices of coherence scale. Among all the 11 systematic parameters, rotation and monopole leakage place the most stringent requirements, while quadrupole leakage, pointing error, and calibration are among the least demanding. The requirements from lensing extraction are about 1-2 orders of magnitude less stringent than the requirements to measure the primordial B-modes with inflationary energy scale of 1.0*10^{16} GeV. On the other hand the requirements for lensing reconstruction are comparable or even more stringent for some systematic parameters than the requirements to detect primordial B-modes with inflationary scale E_i = 3.0*10^{16} GeV.

IGM metal absorption lines observed in z>6 spectra offer the opportunity to probe early feedback processes, the nature of enriching sources, and the topology of reionization. We run high-resolution cosmological simulations including galactic outflows to study the observability and physical properties of 5 ions (C II, C IV, O I, Si II, Si IV) in absorption between z=8->5. We apply three cases for ionization conditions: Fully neutral, fully reionized, and a patchy model based on the flux from the nearest galaxy. We find that our simulations broadly fit available z~5-6 IGM metal-line data, with strong C IV lines seen at z~6 suggesting local ionization by the galaxy responsible for that enrichment. However, variations in O I absorbers among sight lines seen by Becker et al. (2006) cannot be accommodated within a single case, and suggest significant neutral IGM patches down to z~6. Our outflows have typical speeds of ~200 km/s and mass loading factors of ~6. Such high mass loading is critical for enriching the IGM to the observed levels while curtailing star formation to match the observed z~6 rest-frame UV luminosity function. The volume filling factor of metals increases during this epoch, but only reaches ~1% for Z>10^(-3) Zsolar by z=5. C IV is an ideal tracer of IGM metals at z~5-6, with dropping global ionization fractions to either higher or lower redshifts. This results in a strongly increasing global Omega(C IV) from z=8->5, in contrast to its relative constancy from z=5->2. Our simulations do not support widespread early IGM enrichment from e.g. Pop III stars. High-z absorbers arise from metals on their first outward journey from galaxies, at distances less than 50 kpc. The galaxies responsible for early IGM enrichment have typical M*=10^(7.0-8.5) Msolar.

We present the first Chandra/ACIS imaging study of the circumnuclear region of the nearby Seyfert galaxy NGC 1365. The X-ray emission is resolved into point-like sources and complex, extended emission. The X-ray morphology of the extended emission shows a biconical soft X-ray emission region extending ~5 kpc in projection from the nucleus, coincident with the high excitation outflow cones seen in optical emission lines particularly to the northwest. Harder X-ray emission is detected from a kpc-diameter circumnuclear ring, coincident with the star-forming ring prominent in the Spitzer mid-infrared images; this X-ray emission is partially obscured by the central dust lane of NGC 1365. Spectral fitting of spatially separated components indicates a thermal plasma origin for the soft extended X-ray emission (kT=0.57 keV). Only a small amount of this emission can be due to photoionization by the nuclear source. Detailed comparison with [OIII]5007 observations shows the hot interstellar medium (ISM) is spatially anticorrelated with the [OIII] emitting clouds and has thermal pressures comparable to those of the [OIII] medium, suggesting that the hot ISM acts as a confining medium for the cooler photoionized clouds. The abundance ratios of the hot ISM are fully consistent with the theoretical values for enrichment from Type II supernovae, suggesting that the hot ISM is a wind from the starburst circumnuclear ring. X-ray emission from a ~450 pc long nuclear radio jet is also detected to the southeast.

A gap in phase-space, the loss cone (LC), is opened up by a supermassive black hole (MBH) as it disrupts or accretes stars in a galactic centre. If a star enters the LC then, depending on its properties, its interaction with the MBH will either generate a luminous electromagnetic flare or give rise to gravitational radiation, both of which are expected to have directly observable consequences. A thorough understanding of loss-cone refilling mechanisms is important for the prediction of astrophysical quantities, such as rates of tidal disrupting main-sequence stars, rates of capturing compact stellar remnants and timescales of merging binary MBHs. In this thesis, we use N-body simulations to investigate how noise from accreted satellites and other substructures in a galaxy's halo can affect the LC refilling rate. Any N-body model suffers from Poisson noise which is similar to, but much stronger than, the two-body diffusion occurring in real galaxies. To lessen this spurious Poisson noise, we apply the idea of importance sampling to develop a new scheme for constructing N-body realizations of a galaxy model, in which interesting regions of phase-space are sampled by many low-mass particles. We use multimass N-body models of galaxies with centrally-embedded MBHs to study the effects of satellite flybys on LC refilling rates. We find that although the flux of stars into the initially emptied LC is enhanced, but the fuelling rate averaged over the entire subhalos is increased by only a factor 3 over the rate one expects from the Poisson noise due the discreteness of the stellar distribution.

We calculate the gamma-ray albedo due to cosmic-ray interactions with debris (small rocks, dust, and grains) in the Oort Cloud. We show that under reasonable assumptions a significant proportion of what is called the "extragalactic gamma-ray background" could be produced at the outer frontier of the solar system and may be detectable by the Large Area Telescope, the primary instrument on the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. If detected it could provide unique direct information about the total column density of material in the Oort Cloud that is difficult to access by any other method. The same gamma ray production process takes place in other populations of small solar system bodies such as Main Belt asteroids, Jovian and Neptunian Trojans, and Kuiper Belt objects. Their detection can be used to constrain the total mass of debris in these systems.

XTE J1701-407 is a newly discovered X-ray transient source. In this work we investigate its flux variability and study the intermediate long and short bursts discovered by Swift on July 17, and 27, 2008, respectively. So far, only one intermediate long burst, with a duration of ~18 minutes and ten days later a short burst, have been recorded from XTE J1701-407. We analyzed the public available data from Swift and RXTE, and compared the observed properties of the intermediate long burst with theoretical ignition condition and light curves to investigate the possible nuclear burning processes. The intermediate long burst may have exhibited a photospheric radius expansion, allowing us to derive the source distance at 6.2 kpc assuming the empirically derived Eddington luminosity for pure helium. The intermediate long burst decay was best fit by using two exponential functions with e-folding times of \tau_1=40(3) s and \tau_2=221(9) s. The bursts occurred at a persistent luminosity of L_{per}=8.3x10E36 erg/s. For the intermediate long burst the mass accretion rate per unit area onto the NS was \dot{m}=4x10E3 g/cm2/s, and the total energy released was E_{burst}=3.5x10E40 erg. This corresponds to an ignition column depth of y_{ign}=1.8x10E9 g/cm2, for a pure helium burning. We find that the energetics of this burst can be modeled in different ways, as (i) pure helium ignition, as the result of either pure helium accretion or depletion of hydrogen by steady burning during accumulation, or (ii) as ignition of a thick layer of hydrogen-rich material in a source with low metallicity. However, comparison of the burst duration with model light curves suggests that hydrogen burning plays a role during the burst, and therefore this source is a low accretion rate burster with a low metallicity in the accreted material.

The AMADEUS system is integrated in the ANTARES neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea and aims for the investigation of acoustic particle detection techniques in the deep sea. Installed at a depth of more than 2000m, the acoustic sensors of AMADEUS are using piezo-ceramic elements for the broad-band recording of acoustic signals with frequencies ranging up to 125kHz. AMADEUS consists of six clusters, each one comprising six acoustic sensors that are arranged at distances of roughly 1m from each other. Three acoustic clusters are installed along a vertical mechanical structure (a so-called Line) of ANTARES with spacings of about 15m and 110m, respectively. The remaining 3 clusters are installed with vertical spacings of 15m on a further Line of the ANTARES detector. The horizontal distance between the two lines is 240m. Each acoustic cluster allows for the suppression of random noise by requiring local coincidences and the reconstruction of the arrival direction of acoustic waves. Source positions can then be reconstructed using the precise time correlations between the clusters provided by the ANTARES clock system. AMADEUS thus allows for extensive acoustic background studies including signal correlations on several length scales as well as source localisation. The system is therefore excellently suited for feasibility studies for a potential future large scale acoustic neutrino telescope in sea water. Since the start of data taking on December 5th, 2007 a wealth of data has been recorded. The AMADEUS system will be described and some first results will be presented.

Recent analytical and computational advances in the theory of large-scale dynamos are reviewed. The importance of the magnetic helicity constraint is apparent even without invoking mean-field theory. The tau approximation yields expressions that show how the magnetic helicity gets incorporated into mean-field theory. The test-field method allows an accurate numerical determination of turbulent transport coefficients in linear and nonlinear regimes. Finally, some critical views on the solar dynamo are being offered and targets for future research are highlighted.

We have undertaken a search for the infrared emission from the intracluster dust in the Coma cluster of galaxies by the MIPS on board Spitzer. Our observations yield the deepest mid and far-infrared images of a galaxy cluster ever achieved. In each of the three bands, we have not detected a signature of the central excess component in contrast to the previous report on the detection by ISO. We still find that the brightness ratio between 70 and 160 microns shows a marginal sign of the central excess, in qualitative agreement with the ISO result. Our analysis suggests that the excess ratio is more likely due to faint infrared sources lying on fluctuating cirrus foreground. Our observations yield the 2 sigma upper limits on the excess emission within 100 kpc of the cluster center as 5 x 10^-3 MJy/sr, 6 x 10^-2 MJy/sr and 7 x 10^-2 MJy/sr, at 24, 70 and 160 microns, respectively. These values are in agreement with those found in other galaxy clusters and suggest that dust is deficient near the cluster center by more than three orders of magnitude compared to the interstellar medium.

Suzaku Hard X-ray Detector (HXD) achieved the lowest background level than any other previously or currently operational missions sensitive in the energy range of 10--600 keV, by utilizing PIN photodiodes and GSO scintillators mounted in the BGO active shields to reject particle background and Compton-scattered events as much as possible. Because it does not have imaging capability nor rocking mode for the background monitor, the sensitivity is limited by the reproducibility of the non X-ray background (NXB) model. We modeled the HXD NXB, which varies with time as well as other satellites with a low-earth orbit, by utilizing several parameters, including particle monitor counts and satellite orbital/attitude information. The model background is supplied as an event file in which the background events are generated by random numbers, and can be analyzed in the same way as the real data. The reproducibility of the NXB model depends on the event selection criteria (such as cut-off rigidity and energy band) and the integration time, and the 1sigma systematic error is estimated to be less than 3% (PIN 15--40 keV) and 1% (GSO 50--100 keV) for more than 10 ksec exposure.

Context: The HD and H2 molecules play important roles in the cooling of primordial and very metal-poor gas at high redshift. Aims: Grain surface and gas phase formation of HD and H2 is investigated to assess the importance of trace amounts of dust, 10^{-5}-10^{-3} Zo, in the production of HD and H2. Methods: We consider carbonaceous and silicate grains and include both physisorption and chemisorption, tunneling, and realistic grain surface barriers. We find, for a collapsing gas cloud environment with coupled chemical and thermal balance, that dust abundances as small as 10^{-5} solar lead to a strong boost in the H2 formation rate due to surface reactions. As a result of this enhancement in H2, HD is formed more efficiently in the gas phase through the D+ +H2 reaction. Direct formation of HD on dust grains cannot compete well with this gas phase process for dust temperatures below 150 K. We also derive up-to-date analytic fitting formulae for the grain surface formation of H2 and HD, including the different binding energies of H and D. Results: Grain surface reactions are crucial to the availability of H2 and HD in very metal-poor environments. Above metallicities of 10^{-5} solar, the grain surface route dominates the formation of H2, which in turn, drives the formation of HD in the gas phase. At dust temperatures above 150 K, laboratory experiments and theoretical modelling suggest that H2 formation on grains is suppressed while HD formation on grains is not.

We have used the VLBA to measure the annual parallax of the H2O masers in the star-forming region IRAS 00420+5530. This measurement yields a direct distance estimate of 2.17 +/- 0.05 kpc (<3%), which disagrees substantially with the standard kinematic distance estimate of ~4.6 kpc (according to the rotation curve of Brand and Blitz 1993), as well as most of the broad range of distances (1.7-7.7 kpc) used in various astrophysical analyses in the literature. The 3-dimensional space velocity of IRAS 00420+5530 at this new, more accurate distance implies a substantial non-circular and anomalously slow Galactic orbit, consistent with similar observations of W3(OH) (Xu et al., 2006; Hachisuka et al. 2006), as well as line-of-sight velocity residuals in the rotation curve analysis of Brand and Blitz (1993). The Perseus spiral arm of the Galaxy is thus more than a factor of two closer than previously presumed, and exhibits motions substantially at odds with axisymmetric models of the rotating Galaxy.

The complex structure of the light curves of Swift GRBs has made their interpretation and that of the blast wave caused by the burst, more difficult than in the pre-Swift era. We aim to constrain the blast wave parameters: electron energy distribution, p, density profile of the circumburst medium, k, and the continued energy injection index, q. We do so by comparing the observed multi-wavelength light curves and X-ray spectra of a Swift sample to the predictions of the blast wave model. We can successfully interpret all of the bursts in our sample of 10, except two, within the framework of the blast wave model, and we can estimate with confidence the electron energy distribution index for 6 of the sample. Furthermore we identify jet breaks in half of the bursts. A statistical analysis of the distribution of p reveals that, even in the most conservative case of least scatter, the values are not consistent with a single, universal value. The values of k suggest that the circumburst density profiles are not drawn from only one of the constant density or wind-like media populations.

A simple Sweet--Parker-like model for the electron current layer in resistive Hall magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) reconnection is presented, with the focus on the collisionless limit. The derivation readily recovers the main results obtained recently by Malyshkin [PRL, 101, 225001 (2008)] and others, but is much quicker and more physically transparent. In particular, it highlights the role of resistive drag in determining the electron outflow velocity. The principal limitations of any such approach are discussed.

Superconducting cosmic strings naturally emit highly boosted charge carriers from cusps. This occurs when a cosmic string or a loop moves through a magnetic field and develops an electric current. The charge carriers and the products of their decay, including protons, photons and neutrinos, are emitted as a narrow jets with opening angle $\theta \sim 1/\gamma_c$, where $\gamma_c$ is the Lorentz factor of the cusp. The excitation of electric currents in strings occurs mostly in clusters of galaxies, which are characterized by magnetic fields $B \sim 10^{-6}$ G and a filling factor $f_B \sim 10^{-3}$. Two string parameters determine the emission of the particles: the symmetry breaking scale $\eta$, which for successful applications should be of order $10^9$--$10^{12}$ GeV, and the dimensionless parameter $i_c$, which determines the maximum induced current as $J_{max} =i_c e \eta$ and the energy of emitted charge carriers as $\epsilon_x \sim i_c \gamma_c \eta$, where $e$ is the electric charge of a particle. For the parameters $\eta $ and $B$ mentioned above, the Lorentz factor reaches $\gamma_c \sim 10^{12}$ and the maximum particle energy can be as high as $\gamma_c\eta \sim 10^{22}$ GeV. The diffuse fluxes of UHE neutrinos are close to the cascade upper limit, and can be detected by future neutrino observatories. The signatures of this model are: very high energies of neutrinos, in excess of $10^{20}$ eV, correlation of neutrinos with clusters of galaxies, simultaneous appearance of several neutrino-produced showers in the field of view of very large detectors, such as JEM-EUSO, and 10 TeV gamma radiation from the Virgo cluster. The flux of UHE protons from cusps may account for a large fraction of the observed events at the highest energies.

By the extension of the 3-dimensional analytical solutions of Goldreich and Weber with gamma=4/3, to the (classical) Euler-Poisson equations without cosmological constant, the analytically (almost re-collasping) periodic solutions to the one with negative cosmological constant (Lambda<0) are constructed. And the blowup solutions under some initial conditions are also found.

The aim of the Degenerate Objects around Degenerate Objects (DODO) survey is to search for very low mass brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets in wide orbits around white dwarfs via direct imaging. The direct detection of such companions would allow the spectroscopic investigation of objects with temperatures much lower (< 500 K) than the coolest brown dwarfs currently observed. These ultra-low mass substellar objects would have spectral types > T8.5 and so could belong to the proposed Y dwarf spectral sequence. The detection of a planet around a white dwarf would prove that such objects can survive the final stages of stellar evolution and place constraints on the frequency of planetary systems around their progenitors (with masses between 1.5 - 8 solar masses, i.e., early B to mid F). This paper presents the results of a multi-epoch J band common proper motion survey of 23 nearby equatorial and northern hemisphere white dwarfs. We rule out the presence of any common proper motion companions, with limiting masses determined from the completeness limit of each observation, to 18 white dwarfs. For the remaining five targets, the motion of the white dwarf is not sufficiently separated from the non-moving background objects in each field. These targets require additional observations to conclusively rule out the presence of any common proper motion companions. From our completeness limits, we tentatively suggest that < 5% of white dwarfs have substellar companions with effective temperatures > 500 K between projected physical separations of 60 - 200 AU.

Primordial Black Holes (PBHs), which may have been created in the early Universe, are predicted to be detectable by their Hawking radiation. PBHs with an initial mass of 5.0 * 10^14 g should be expiring today with a burst of high energy particles. Evaporating PBHs in the solar neighborhood are candidate Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) progenitors. We propose spectral lag, which is the temporal delay between the high energy photon pulse and the low energy photon pulse, as a possible method to detect PBH evaporation events with the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope Observatory.

The second generation Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission (ARCADE 2) instrument is a balloon-borne experiment to measure the radiometric temperature of the cosmic microwave background and Galactic and extra-Galactic emission at six frequencies from 3 to 90 GHz. ARCADE 2 utilizes a double-nulled design where emission from the sky is compared to that from an external cryogenic full-aperture blackbody calibrator by cryogenic switching radiometers containing internal blackbody reference loads. In order to further minimize sources of systematic error, ARCADE 2 features a cold fully open aperture with all radiometrically active components maintained at near 2.7 K without windows or other warm objects, achieved through a novel thermal design. We discuss the design and performance of the ARCADE 2 instrument in its 2005 and 2006 flights.

We examine MHD simulations of the propagation of a strong shock wave through the interstellar two-phase medium composed of small-scale cloudlets and diffuse warm neutral medium in two-dimensional geometry. The pre-shock two-phase medium is provided as a natural consequence of the thermal instability that is expected to be ubiquitous in the interstellar medium. We show that the shock-compressed shell becomes turbulent owing to the preshock density inhomogeneity and magnetic field amplification takes place in the shell. The maximum field strength is determined by the condition that plasma beta ~ 1, which gives the field strength on the order of 1 mG in the case of shock velocity ~ 1,000 km/s. The strongly magnetized region shows filamentary and knot-like structures in two-dimensional simulations. The spatial scale of the regions with magnetic field of 1 mG in our simulation is roughly 0.05 pc which is comparable to the spatial scale of the X-ray hot spots recently discovered in supernova remnants where the magnetic field strength is indicated to be amplified up to the order of 1 mG. This result may also suggest that the turbulent region with locally strong magnetic field is expected to be spread out in the region with frequent supernova explosions, such as in the Galactic center and starburst galaxies.

Since 2004, observations of Saturn's F ring have revealed that the ring's core is surrounded by structures with radial scales of hundreds of kilometers, called "spirals" and "jets". Gravitational scattering by nearby moons was suggested as a potential production mechanism; however, it remained doubtful because a population of Prometheus-mass moons is needed and, obviously, such a population does not exist in the F ring region. We investigate here another mechanism: dissipative physical collisions of kilometer-size moonlets (or clumps) with the F-ring core. We show that it is a viable and efficient mechanism for producing spirals and jets, provided that massive moonlets are embedded in the F-ring core and that they are impacted by loose clumps orbiting in the F ring region, which could be consistent with recent data from ISS, VIMS and UVIS. We show also that coefficients of restitution as low as ~0.1 are needed to reproduce the radial extent of spirals and jets, suggesting that collisions are very dissipative in the F ring region. In conclusion, spirals and jets would be the direct manifestation the ongoing collisional activity of the F ring region.

This paper presents a spectroscopic survey of strongly lensed galaxies in the massive cluster lens Abell 1703,displaying a large Einstein radius (28" at z=2.8) and a high number of known strongly-lensed systems including a central ring-like configuration.We used the LRIS spectrograph on Keck to target multiple images and lensed galaxy candidates, and use the measured spectroscopic redshifts to constrain the mass distribution of the cluster using a parametric model. The spectroscopic data enable us to measure accurate redshifts for 7 sources at z>2, in good agreement with their photometric redshifts, and to update the identification of multiply imaged systems by discovering 3 new systems and identifying a radial counter image. We also report the discovery of a remarkably bright ~3.6 L* i-band dropout at z=5.827 in our mask which is only moderately magnified by the cluster (~3.0+/-0.08). The improved parametric mass model, including 16 multiple systems with 10 spectroscopic redshifts, further constrain the smooth cluster-scale mass distribution with a generalized NFW profile of best-fit logarithmic slope alpha=0.92+/-0.04, concentration c200=4.72+/-0.40 and scale radius rs=476+/-45 kpc. The overall RMS in the image plane is 1.3 arcsec. Using our strong-lensing model, we predict a shear signal on larger scale which is consistent with weak-lensing measurements inferred from Subaru data out to 4 Mpc h^-1. Together with the fact that the strong-lensing modeling requires a single dark matter clump, this argues for Abell 1703 to be a relaxed, unimodal cluster. This unique cluster could to be probed further using deep X-ray, SZ and dynamics analysis, allowing a detailed study of the physics in a relaxed cluster.

Newborn neutron stars surrounded by hyperaccreting and neutrino-cooled disks may exist in some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and/or supernovae (SNe). In this paper we further study the structure of such a neutron-star disk based on the two-region (i.e., inner & outer) disk scenario following our previous work, and calculate the neutrino annihilation luminosity from the disk in various cases. We investigate the effects of the viscosity parameter $\alpha$, energy parameter $\epsilon$ (measuring the neutrino cooling efficiency of the inner disk) and outflow strength on the structure of the entire disk as well as the effect of emission from the neutron star surface boundary emission on the total neutrino annihilation rate. The inner disk satisfies the entropy-conservation self-similar structure for the viscosity parameter $\epsilon\simeq 1$ and the advection-dominated structure for $\epsilon<1$. An outflow from the disk decreases the density and pressure but increases the thickness of the disk. Moreover, compared with the black-hole disk, the neutrino annihilation luminosity above the neutron-star disk is higher, and the neutrino emission from the boundary layer could increase the neutrino annihilation luminosity by about one order of magnitude higher than the disk without boundary emission. The neutron-star disk with the advection-dominated inner disk could produce the highest neutrino luminosity while the disk with an outflow has the lowest. As a result, the neutrino annihilation above the neutron-star disk may provide sufficient energy to drive GRBs and thus observations on GRB-SN connection could constrain the models between hyperaccreting disks around black holes and neutron stars with outflows.

Gas can be used to trace the formation and evolution of galaxies as well as the impact that the nuclear activity has on the surrounding medium. For nearby compact radio sources, we have used observations of neutral hydrogen - that we detected in emission distributed over very large scales - combined with the study of the stellar population and deep optical images to investigate the history of the formation of their host galaxy and the triggering of the activity. For more distant and more powerful compact radio sources, we have used optical spectra and HI - in absorption - to investigate the presence of fast outflows that support the idea that compact radio sources are young radio loud AGN observed during the early stages of their evolution and currently shredding their natal cocoons through extreme circumnuclear outflows. We will review the most recent results obtained from these projects.

Inflationary cosmology predicts that, due to quantum effects, small density perturbations are generated in the very early universe with a nearly "scale-free" spectrum. The detection and analysis of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background has spectacularly confirmed this prediction. Moreover, inflation also predicts the creation of primordial gravitational waves, which still remain undetectable. Forthcoming high-precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background may measure effects of relic gravitational waves, and this will be crucial to test the inflationary paradigm and strongly constrain inflationary models. Therefore, it is particularly important to scrutinize, from all points of view, the quantitative predictions of inflation. In this work we point out that if quantum field renormalization is taken into account, the predictions of slow-roll inflation for both the scalar and tensorial power spectrum change significantly. This leads, in particular, to a change in the consistency condition that relates the tensor-to-scalar amplitude ratio $\bf{r}$ with spectral indices. Moreover, a reexamination of the chaotic potentials $\bf{\phi^2, \phi^4}$, shows that both fall well inside the $\bf{68%}$ confidence level region in the plane $\bf{(n_s, r)}$ of the five-year WMAP data. In contrast, the standard predictions rule out the potential $\bf{\phi^4}$. The alternative predictions presented in this work may soon come within the range of measurement of near-future experiments.

In the paradigm of hierarchical galaxy formation, luminous radio galaxies mark mass assembly peaks that should contain clusters of galaxies. Observations of the z=1.53 quasar 3C270.1 with the Spitzer Space Telescope at 3.6-24 micron and with the 6.5-m MMT in the z'- and Y-bands allow detection of potential cluster members via photometric redshifts. Compared with nearby control fields, there is an excess of 11 extremely red objects (EROs) at 1.33 < z_phot < 1.73, consistent with a proto-cluster around the quasar. The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of 3/4 of the EROs are better fitted with passive elliptical galaxies than withdust-reddened starbursts, and of four sources well-detected on an archival HST snapshot image, all have undisturbed morphologies. However, one ERO, not covered by the HST image, is a double source with 0.8" separation on the z' image and a marginal (2sigma) 24 micron detection indicating a dust-enshrouded starburst. The EROs are more luminous than L* (H = -23.6 AB mag at z=1.5).

In the framework of the debate on high-frequency gravitational waves (GWs), after a review of GWs in standard General Relativity, which is due for completness, the possibility of merging such a traditional analysis with the Hyperspace formalism that has been recently introduced in some papers in the literature, with the goal of a better understanding of manifolds dimensionality also in a cosmological framework, is discussed. Using the concept of refractive index in the Hyperspace, spherical solutions are given and the propagation of GWs in a region of the Hyperspace with an unitary refractive index is also discussed. Propagation phenomena associated to the higher dimensionality are proposed, possibly including non-linear effects. Further and accurate studies in this direction are needed.

Recent observations of the Vela pulsar have revealed a peculiar connection of its emission in the soft X-ray and radio ranges. We suggest the model of the radio pulse formation in the Vela pulsar, develop the theory of the radio photon reprocessing to high energies and on this basis interpret the observed X-ray - radio connection. The processes of spontaneous and induced scattering of radio waves off the spiraling particles and their observational consequences are examined. The particles are assumed to acquire relativistic gyration energies due to resonant absorption of the radio emission in the outer magnetosphere of a pulsar. The spectral and angular distributions of the spontaneously scattered power are analyzed and compared with the characteristics of the particle synchrotron emission. The consequences of intensity transfer from the radio beam to the background in the course of induced scattering are studied as well. It is demonstrated that the induced scattering can account for the basic features of the Vela's radio profile and its pulse-to-pulse fluctuations. In particular, it can explain a greater role of the leading component and its earlier arrival in stronger pulses. The studies of the radio photon reprocessing to high energies in application to the Vela pulsar shows that the scattered and synchrotron spectra peak at 0.8 and 0.2 keV, respectively, with the corresponding luminosities of 10^{29} erg s^{-1} and 10^{31} erg s^{-1}. Within the framework of our model, the observed X-ray - radio connection is explained in terms of the interplay between the processes of induced and spontaneous scattering of the radio pulse.

It is now apparent that classical T Tauri-like outflows commonly accompany the formation of young brown dwarfs. To date two optical outflows have been discovered and results presented in this paper increase this number to three. Using spectro-astrometry the origin of the LS-RCrA 1 forbidden emission lines in a blue-shifted outflow is confirmed. The non-detection of the red-shifted component of the outflow in forbidden lines, along with evidence for some separation between low and high velocity outflow components, do not support the hypothesis that LS-RCrA 1 has an edge-on accretion disk. The key result of this analysis is the discovery of an outflow component to the H-alpha line. The H-alpha line profile has blue and red-shifted features in the wings which spectro-astrometry reveals to also originate in the outflow. The discovery that H-alpha emission in BDs can have a significant contribution from an outflow suggests the use of H-alpha line widths as a proxy of mass accretion in BDs is not clear-cut. This method assumes that any contribution to the H-alpha line flux from a possible outflow is negligible. Finally the fact that the H-alpha line traces both lobes of the outflow while only the blue-shifted lobe is seen in forbidden emission points to the presence of a dust hole in the accretion disk of LS-RCrA 1. This is commonly seen in CTTSs and is assumed to signal the onset of planet formation.

A wealth of Galactic accreting X-ray binaries have been observed both in low/hard state and high/soft state. The transition between these two states was often detected. Observation shows that the transition luminosity between these two states is different for different sources, ranging from 1% to 4% of the Eddington luminosity. Even for the same source the transition luminosity at different outbursts is also different. The transition can occur from 0.0069 to 0.15 Eddington luminosity. To investigate the underlying physics, we study the influence of viscosity parameter $\alpha$ on the transition luminosity on the basis of the disk-corona model for black holes. We calculate the mass evaporation rate for a wide range of viscosity parameter, $0.1\le \alpha\le 0.9$. By fitting the numerical results, we obtain fitting formulae for both the transition accretion rate and the corresponding radius as a function of $\alpha$. We find that the transition luminosity is very sensitive to the value of $\alpha$, $L/L_{\rm Edd}\propto\alpha^{2.34}$. For $0.1\le\alpha\le 0.6$, the transition luminosity varies by two orders of magnitude, from 0.001 to 0.2 Eddington luminosity. Comparing with observations we find that the transition luminosity can be fitted by adjusting the value of $\alpha$, and the model determined values of $\alpha$ are mostly in the range of observationally inferred value. Meanwhile we investigate the truncation of the disk in the low/hard state for some luminous sources. Our results are roughly in agreement with the observations.

We use a combination of a cosmological N-body simulation of the concordance Lambda cold dark matter (LCDM) paradigm and a semi-analytic model of galaxy formation to investigate the spin development of central supermassive black holes (BHs) and its relation to the BH host galaxy properties. In order to compute BH spins, we use the alpha-model of Shakura & Sunyaev and consider the King et al. warped disc alignment criterion. The orientation of the accretion disc is inferred from the angular momentum of the source of accreted material, which bears a close relationship to the large-scale structure in the simulation. We find that the final BH spin depends almost exclusively on the accretion history and only weakly on the warped disc alignment. The main mechanisms of BH spin-up are found to be gas cooling processes and disc instabilities, a result that is only partially compatible with Monte-Carlo models where the main spin-up mechanisms are major mergers and disc instabilities; the latter results are reproduced when implementing randomly oriented accretion discs in our model. Regarding the BH population, we find that more massive BHs, which are hosted by massive ellipticals, have higher spin values than less-massive BHs, hosted by spiral galaxies. We analyse whether gas accretion rates and BH spins can be used as tracers of the radio loudness of active galactic nuclei (AGN). We find that the current observational indications of an increasing trend of radio-loud AGN fractions with stellar and BH mass can be easily obtained when placing lower limits on the BH spin, with a minimum influence from limits on the accretion rates; a model with random accretion disc orientations is unable to reproduce this trend. (ABRIDGED)

Howard and Simnett (HS) employed a new technique for associating LASCO CMEs to SMEI ICMEs. In order to extrapolate the SMEI data back to the LASCO field of view they used nonlinear trajectories, dependent on a speed and direction, what is more realistic than the linear extrapolation with only one parameter (a speed). However, there are two errors and one mistake in their procedure: (1) HS used two free parameters of the direction, whereas only one can be freely selected, because the second is provided by SMEI data. As a result, the directions determined by HS are incorrect. (2) HS overlooked that, since the trajectory depends on more than one parameter, there is a broad set of trajectories, for various speeds and directions, matching the event, and thus a broad range of the onset times. HS select only one trajectory for each SMEI event. Therefore the associations made by them are incomplete, and they should be reexamined. As long as it is not done any conclusion about CMEs undetected by solar coronagraphs are premature. (3) HS made some mistake in determination of the SMEI speeds. The speeds given in their Table 1 are about twice as high as those demanded to obtain the onset times given in the table. It explains why the SMEI speed distribution is excessively shifted toward high speeds ; hence, there is no reason to search for a physical explanation.

We provide a pedagogical overview of inflation in string theory. Our theme is the sensitivity of inflation to Planck-scale physics, which we argue provides both the primary motivation and the central theoretical challenge for the subject. We illustrate these issues through two case studies of inflationary scenarios in string theory: warped D-brane inflation and axion monodromy inflation. Finally, we indicate how future observations can test scenarios of inflation in string theory.

We show that the radial geodesic motion of a particle inside a black hole in isotropic coordinates (the Einstein-Rosen bridge) is physically different from the radial motion inside a Schwarzschild black hole. A particle enters the interior region of an Einstein-Rosen black hole which is regular and physically equivalent to the asymptotically flat exterior of a white hole, and the particle's proper time extends to infinity. Because the motion across the Einstein-Rosen bridge is unidirectional, and the surface of a black hole is the event horizon for distant observers, an Einstein-Rosen black hole is indistinguishable from a Schwarzschild black hole for such observers. Observers inside an Einstein-Rosen black hole perceive its interior as a closed universe that began when the black hole formed, with an initial radius equal to the Schwarzschild radius of the black hole $r_g$, and with an initial accelerated expansion. Therefore the model of a universe as a black hole in isotropic coordinates explains the origin of cosmic inflation. We show that this kind of inflation corresponds to the effective cosmological constant $\Lambda=3/r_g^2$, which, for the smallest astrophysical black holes, is $~10^{-8}m^{-2}$. If we assume that our Universe is the interior of an Einstein-Rosen black hole, astronomical observations give the time of inflation $~10^{-3}s$ and the size of the Universe at the end of the inflationary epoch $~10^{32}m$.

Various extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of hidden photons kinetically mixing with the ordinary photon. This mixing leads to oscillations between photons and hidden photons, analogous to the observed oscillations between different neutrino flavors. In this context, we derive new bounds on the photon-hidden photon mixing parameters using the high precision cosmic microwave background spectral data collected by the Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer instrument on board of the Cosmic Background Explorer. Requiring the distortions of the CMB induced by the photon-hidden photon mixing to be smaller than experimental upper limits, this leads to a bound on the mixing angle < 10^{-7}-10^{-5} for hidden photon masses between 10^{-14} eV and 10^{-7} eV. This low-mass and low-mixing region of the hidden photon parameter space was previously unconstrained.

In this note we prove that the volume of a causal diamond associated with an inertial observer in asymptotically de Sitter 4-dimensional space-time is monotonically increasing function of cosmological time. The asymptotic value of the volume is that of in maximally symmetric de Sitter space-time. The monotonic property of the volume is checked in two cases: in vacuum and in the presence of a massless scalar field. In vacuum, the volume flow (with respect to cosmological time) asymptotically vanishes if and only if future space-like infinity is 3-manifold of constant curvature. The volume flow thus represents irreversibility of asymptotic evolution in spacetimes with positive cosmological constant.

The dynamics of infinite, asymptotically uniform, distributions of self-gravitating particles in one spatial dimension provides a simple toy model for the analogous three dimensional problem. We focus here on a limitation of such models as treated so far in the literature: the force, as it has been specified, is well defined in infinite point distributions only if there is a centre of symmetry (i.e. the definition requires explicitly the breaking of statistical translational invariance). The problem arises because naive background subtraction (due to expansion, or by ``Jeans' swindle'' for the static case), applied as in three dimensions, leaves an unregulated contribution to the force due to surface mass fluctuations. Following a discussion by Kiessling [1], we show that the problem may be resolved by defining the force in infinite point distributions as the limit of an exponentially screened pair interaction. We show that this prescription gives a well defined (finite) force acting on particles in a class of perturbed infinite lattices, which are the point processes relevant to cosmological N-body simulations. For identical particles the dynamics of the simplest toy model is equivalent to that of an infinite set of points with inverted harmonic oscillator potentials which bounce elastically when they collide. We discuss previous results in the literature, and present new results for the specific case of this simplest (static) model starting from ``shuffled lattice'' initial conditions. These show qualitative properties of the evolution very similar to those in the analogous simulations in three dimensions, which in turn resemble those in the expanding universe.

Recently the PAMELA satellite-based experiment reported an excess of galactic positrons that could be a signal of annihilating dark matter. The PAMELA data may admit an interpretation as a signal from a wino-like LSP of mass about 200 GeV, normalized to the local relic density, and annihilating mainly into W-bosons. This possibility requires the current conventional estimate for the energy loss rate of positrons be too large by roughly a factor of five. Data from anti-protons and gamma rays also provide tension with this interpretation, but there are significant astrophysical uncertainties associated with their propagation. It is not unreasonable to take this well-motivated candidate seriously, at present, in part because it can be tested in several ways soon. The forthcoming PAMELA data on higher energy positrons and the FGST (formerly GLAST) data, should provide important clues as to whether this scenario is correct. If correct, the wino interpretation implies a cosmological history in which the dark matter does not originate in thermal equilibrium.

Are black holes elementary particles? Are they fermions or bosons? We investigate the remarkable possibility that quantum black holes are the smallest and heaviest elementary particles. We are able to construct various fundamental quantum black holes: the spin-0, spin 1/2, spin-1, and the Planck-charge cases, using the results in general relativity. Quantum black holes in the neighborhood of the Galaxy could resolve the paradox posed by the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin limit on the energy of cosmic rays from distant sources. They could also play a role as dark matter in cosmology.

We numerically evolve turbulence driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI) in a 3D, unstratified shearing box and study its structure using two-point correlation functions. We confirm Fromang and Papaloizou's result that shearing box models with zero net magnetic flux are not converged; the dimensionless shear stress $\alpha$ is proportional to the grid scale. We find that the two-point correlation of the magnetic field shows that it is composed of narrow filaments that are swept back by differential rotation into a trailing spiral. The correlation lengths along each of the correlation function principal axes decrease monotonically with the grid scale. For mean azimuthal field models, which we argue are more relevant to astrophysical disks than the zero net field models, we find that: $\alpha$ increases weakly with increasing resolution at fixed box size; $\alpha$ increases slightly as the box size is increased; $\alpha$ increases linearly with net field strength, confirming earlier results; the two-point correlation function of the magnetic field is resolved and converged, and is composed of narrow filaments swept back by the shear; the major axis of the two-point increases slightly as the box size is increased; these results are code independent, based on a comparison of ATHENA and ZEUS runs. The velocity, density, and magnetic fields decorrelate over scales larger than $\sim H$, as do the dynamical terms in the magnetic energy evolution equations. We conclude that MHD turbulence in disks is localized, subject to the limitations imposed by the absence of vertical stratification, the use of an isothermal equation of state, finite box size, finite run time, and finite resolution

The dark cloud Lynds 1622 is one of a few specific sites in the Galaxy where, relative to observed free-free and vibrational dust emission, there is a clear excess of microwave emission. In order to constrain models for this microwave emission, and to better establish the contribution which it might make to ongoing and near-future microwave background polarization experiments, we have used the Green Bank Telescope to search for linear polarization at 9.65 Ghz towards Lynds 1622. We place a 95.4%upper limit of 88 micro-Kelvin (123 micro-Kelvin at 99.7 confidence) on the total linear polarization of this source averaged over a 1'.3 FWHM beam. Relative to the observed level of anomalous emission in Stokes I these limits correspond to fractional linear polarizations of 3.2% and 4.1%.

We conduct global galactic--scale magnetohydrodynamical (MHD) simulations of the cosmic--ray driven dynamo. We assume that exploding stars deposit small--scale, randomly oriented, dipolar magnetic fields into the differentially rotating ISM, together with a portion of cosmic rays, accelerated in supernova shocks. Our simulations are performed with the aid of a new parallel MHD code PIERNIK. We demonstrate that dipolar magnetic fields supplied on small SN--remnant scales, can be amplified exponentially by the CR--driven dynamo to the present equipartition values, and transformed simultaneously to large galactic--scales by an inverse cascade promoted by resistive processes.

We review basic features of cosmological models with large-scale classical non-Abelian Yang-Mills (YM) condensates. There exists a unique SU(2) YM configuration (generalizable to larger gauge groups) compatible with homogeneity and isotropy of the three-space which is parameterized by a single scalar field. In the past various aspects of Einstein-Yang-Mills (EYM) cosmology were discussed in the context of the Early Universe. Due to conformal invariance, solvable EYM FRW models exist both on the classical and quantum levels. To develop the YM model for dark energy one has to find mechanisms of the conformal symmetry breaking. We discuss the Born-Infeld generalization and some phenomenological models motivated by quantum corrections exploring possibility of transient DE and phantom regimes.

We present new developments on the Cosmic--Ray driven, galactic dynamo, modeled by means of direct, resistive CR--MHD simulations, performed with ZEUS and PIERNIK codes. The dynamo action, leading to the amplification of large--scale galactic magnetic fields on galactic rotation timescales, appears as a result of galactic differential rotation, buoyancy of the cosmic ray component and resistive dissipation of small--scale turbulent magnetic fields. Our new results include demonstration of the global--galactic dynamo action driven by Cosmic Rays supplied in supernova remnants. An essential outcome of the new series of global galactic dynamo models is the equipartition of the gas turbulent energy with magnetic field energy and cosmic ray energy, in saturated states of the dynamo on large galactic scales.

Aims. High angular resolution N-band imaging is used to discern the torus of active galactic nuclei (AGN) from its environment in order to allow a comparison of its mid-infrared properties to the expectations of the unified scenario for AGN. Methods. We present VLT-VISIR images of 25 low-redshift AGN of different Seyfert types, as well as N-band SEDs of 20 of them. In addition, we compare our results for 19 of them to Spitzer IRS spectra. Results. We find that at a resolution of ~ 0.35", all the nuclei of our observed sources are point-like, except for 2 objects whose extension is likely of instrumental origin. For 3 objects, however, we observed additional extended circumnuclear emission, even though our observational strategy was not designed to detect it. Comparison of the VISIR photometry and Spitzer spectrophotometry indicates that the latter is affected by extended emission in at least 7 out of 19 objects and the level of contamination is (0.20 ~ 0.85) * F_IRS. In particular, the 10 um silicate emission feature seen in the Spitzer spectra of 6 type I AGN, possibly 1 type II AGN and 2 LINERs, also probably originates not solely in the torus but also in extended regions. Conclusions. Our results generally agree with the expectations from the unified scenario, while the relative weakness of the silicate feature supports clumpy torus models. Our VISIR data indicate that, for low-redshift AGN, a large fraction of Spitzer IRS spectra are contaminated by extended emission close to the AGN.

We present a new multi-fluid, grid MHD code PIERNIK, which is based on the Relaxing TVD scheme (Jin & Xin, 1995). The original scheme (see Trac & Pen (2003) and Pen et al. (2003)) has been extended by an addition of dynamically independent, but interacting fluids: dust and a diffusive cosmic ray gas, described within the fluid approximation, with an option to add other fluids in an easy way. The code has been equipped with shearing-box boundary conditions, and a selfgravity module, Ohmic resistivity module, as well as other facilities which are useful in astrophysical fluid-dynamical simulations. The code is parallelized by means of the MPI library. In this paper we present an extension of PIERNIK, which is designed for simulations of diffusive propagation of the Cosmic-Ray (CR) component in the magnetized ISM.

The measured redshifts of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which were first detected by the Swift satellite, seem to be bigger on average than the redshifts of GRBs detected by other satellites. We analyzed the redshift distribution of GRBs triggered and observed by different satellites (Swift[1], HETE2[2], BeppoSax, Ulyssses). After considering the possible biases significant difference was found at the p = 95.70% level in the redshift distributions of GRBs measured by HETE and the Swift.

We consider the secular dynamics of a binary and a planet in terms of non-restricted, hierarchical three-body problem, including the general relativity corrections to the Newtonian gravity. We determine regions in the parameter space where the relativistic corrections may be important for the long-term dynamics. We try to constrain the inclinations of putative Jovian planets in recently announced binary systems of HD 4113 and HD 156846.

Coronal loops are fundamental building blocks of the solar active regions and the corona. Therefore, a clear understanding of the physics of coronal loops will help us understand the physics of active region heating in particular and coronal heating in general. This requires a precise measurement of physical quantities such as electron densities and filling factors, temperatures, and flows in coronal loops. In this paper we have carried out an investigation of a spatially well resolved coronal loop using the EIS onboard Hinode to measure the above mentioned physical quantities. Based on this study we find that a nano-flare model could explain most of the observed characteristics of this loop.

We present a list of interstellar absorption lines in the direction of HD 37061 in the M 43 nebula. The lines were found in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) high resolution ultraviolet spectra and in the spectra obtained by the Ultraviolet-Visual Echelle Spectrograph (UVES) lacated in Paranal, Chile. Some of the absorption lines arise from atomic excited levels. Moreover, 34 absorption lines in the far UV could not be identified using popular catalogues of spectral lines. The excited levels of Fe II are populated by fluorescence.

An outburst of the accreting X-ray millisecond pulsar SAX J1808.4-3658 in October-November 2002 was followed by the RXTE for more than a month. For the first time, we demonstrate that the area covered by the hotspot at the neutron star surface as well as the reflection amplitude decrease during the outburst. This is in agreement with the scenario, where the disc inner edge is receding from the neutron star as the mass accretion rate drops. This is further supported by the variations of the pulse profiles, showing the presence of the secondary maximum at the late stages of the outburst after October 29, when the disc has moved sufficiently far from the neutron star to open the view of the lower magnetic pole. We estimate the disc inner radius, the inclination at i=60^o+-5^o and to put constraints on the stellar magnetic moment mu=(7+-3)x10^{25} G cm^3, which corresponds to the surface field of about 10^8 G, and is in agreement with the value obtained recently from the observed pulsar spin-down rate. The timing noise and sharp changes in the phase of the fundamental are intimately related to the variations of the pulse profile, which are associated with the varying obscuration of the antipodal spot. We also demonstrate that the strong dependence of the pulse profiles on photon energy and the observed soft time lags result from the different phase dependence of the two spectral components, the blackbody and the Comptonized tail. The pulse profile amplitude allows us to estimate the colatitude of the hotspot centroid to be 4^o-10^o.

The traditional celestial navigation system(CNS) is used the moon, stars, and planets as celestial guides. Then the star tracker(i.e. track one star or planet or angle between it) and star sensor(i.e. sense many star simultaneous) be used to determine the attitude of the spacecraft. Pulsar navigation also be introduced to CNS. Maser is another interested celestial in radio astronomy which has strong flux density as spectral line. Now I analysis the principle of maser navigation which base measure Doppler shift frequency spectra and the feasibility that use the exist instrument, and discuss the integrated navigation use maser, then give the perspective in the Milk Way and the intergalatic. Maser navigation can give the continuous position in deep space, that means we can freedom fly successfully in the Milk Way use celestial navigation that include maser, pulsar and traditional star sensor. Maser as nature beacon in the universe will make human freely fly in the space of the Milk Way, even outer of it. That is extraordinary in the human evolution to type III of Karadashev civilizations.

Based on minimal supersymmetric standard model, neutralino dark matter annihilation induced gamma ray emission from galaxy cluster 1E0657-56 is calculated. The merge of bullet-like subcluster with the main cluster is also investigated.

Recent observation of 850 micron sub-mm polarization from T Tauri disks opens up the possibility of studying magnetic field structure within protostellar disks. The degree of polarization is around 3 % and the direction of polarization is perpendicular to the disk. Since thermal emission from dust grains dominates the spectral energy distribution at the sub-mm/FIR regime, dust grains are thought to be the cause of the polarization. We discuss grain alignment by radiation and we explore the efficiency of dust alignment in T Tauri disks. Calculations show that dust grains located far away from the Central proto-star are more efficiently aligned. In the presence of a regular magnetic field, the aligned grains produce polarized emission in sub-mm/FIR wavelengths. The direction of polarization is perpendicular to the local magnetic field direction. When we use a recent T Tauri disk model and take a Mathis-Rumpl-Nordsieck-type distribution with maximum grain size of 500-1000 $\mu$m, the degree of polarization is around 2-3 % level at wavelengths larger than $\sim100\mu$m. Our study indicates that multifrequency infrared polarimetric studies of protostellar disks can provide good insights into the details of their magnetic structure. We also provide predictions for polarized emission for disks viewed at different wavelengths and viewing angles.

Alignment of dust by radiative torques (RATs) has proven to be the most promising mechanism to explain alignment in various astrophysical environments, from comet atmospheres to accretion disks, molecular clouds, and diffuse interstellar gas. We discuss some of the major advances, which include, first of all, formulating of the analytical model of RATs. This model was shown to reproduce well the torques acting on actual irregular dust grains and allowed studies of the parameter space for which the alignment happens with long axes perpendicular and parallel to the magnetic field. Such a study resulted in an important conclusion that, without any paramagnetic relaxation, the RAT alignment always happens for interstellar grains with long axes perpendicular to the magnetic field. We show that the gaseous bombardment in some cases increases the degree of alignment by knocking out grains from the positions of imperfect alignment when the grains rotate slowly to more stable positions of perfect alignment where grains rotate fast. In terms of pinwheel torques, important revisions have been made in the Lazarian and Draine model of grain flipping and thermal trapping. Those, however, do not change the major conclusion that very small grains (i.e. grain size smaller than ~0.03 micron) should be marginally aligned. Recent work made the RAT alignment a predictive theory which is ready for quantitative modeling of astrophysical polarization. We predict that the microwave emission from the Zodiacal dust presents an important contaminant, which should be included into foreground polarization templates.

One of the most intriguing features discovered by Swift is a plateau phase in the X-ray flux decay of about 70% of the afterglows of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). The physical origin of this feature is still being debated. We constrain the proposed interpretations, based on the intrinsic temporal properties of the plateau phase. We selected and analyzed all the Swift/XRT GRB afterglows at known redshift observed between March 2005 and June 2008 featuring a shallow decay phase in their X-ray lightcurves. For our sample of 21 GRBs we find an anticorrelation of the logarithm of the duration of the shallow phase with re dshift, with a Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient of r=-0.4 and a null hypothesis probability of 5%. When we correct the durations for cosmological dilation, the anticorrelation strenghtens, with r=-0.6 and a null hypothesis probability of 0.4%. Considering only those GRBs in our sample that have a well-measured burst peak energy (8 out of 21), we find an anticorrelation between the energy of the burst and the shallow phase duration, with r=-0.80 and a null hypothesis probability of 1.8%. If the burst energy anticorrelation with the shallow phase duration is real, then the dependence of the shallow phase on redshift could be the result of a selection effect, since on average high-redshift bursts with lower energies and longer plateaus would be missed. A burst energy anticorrelation with the shallow phase duration would be expected if the end of the plateau arises from a collimated outflow. Alternative scenarios are briefly discussed involving a possible cosmological evolution of the mechanism responsible for the X-ray shallow decay.

The status of the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) cutoff and pair-production dip in Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays (UHECR) is discussed.They are the features in the spectrum of protons propagating through CMB radiation in extragalactic space, and discovery of these features implies that primary particles are mostly extragalactic protons. The spectra measured by AGASA, Yakutsk, HiRes and Auger detectors are in good agreement with the pair-production dip, and HiRes data have strong evidences for the GZK cutoff. The Auger spectrum,as presented at the 30th ICRC 2007, agrees with the GZK cutoff, too. The AGASA data agree well with the beginning of the GZK cutoff at E \leq 80 EeV, but show the excess of events at higher energies, the origin of which is not understood. The difference in the absolute fluxes measured by different detectors disappears after energy shift within the systematic errors of each experiment.

Outward radiation pressure can exceed the inward gravitational pull on gas clouds in the neighbourhood of a luminous Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN). This creates a forbidden region for long-lived dusty clouds in the observed columnn density - Eddington fraction plane. (The Eddington fraction lambda_Edd is the ratio of the bolometric luminosity of an AGN to the Eddington limit for its black hole mass.) The Swift/BAT catalogue is the most complete hard X-ray selected sample of AGN and has 97 low redshift AGN with measured column densities N_H and inferred black hole masses. Eddington fractions for the sources have been obtained using recent bolometric corrections and the sources have been plotted on the N_H - lambda_Edd plane. Only one source lies in the forbidden region and it has a large value of N_H due to an ionized warm absorber, for which radiation pressure is reduced. The effective Eddington limit for the source population indicates that the high column density clouds in the more luminous objects lie within the inner few pc, where the central black hole provides at least half the mass. Our result shows that radiation pressure does affect the presence of gas clouds in the inner galaxy bulge. We discuss briefly how the N_H - lambda_Edd plane may evolve to higher redshift, when feedback due to radiation pressure may have been strong.

We study the constraints which the next generation of radio telescopes could place on the mass and number of neutrino species by studying the gravitational lensing of high redshift 21 cm emission in combination with wide-angle surveys of galaxy lensing. We use simple characterizations of reionization history and of proposed telescope designs to forecast the constraints and detectability threshold for neutrinos. It is found that the degeneracy between neutrino parameters and dark energy parameters is significantly reduced by incorporating 21 cm lensing. The combination of galaxy and 21 cm lensing could constrain the sum of the neutrino masses to within ~ 0.04 eV and the number of species to within ~ 0.1. This is an improvement of a factor of 2.6 in mass and 1.3 in number over a galaxy lensing survey alone. This includes marginalizing over an 11 parameter cosmological model with a two parameter model for the dark energy equation of state. If the dark energy equation of state is held fixed at w = p/\rho=-1 the constraints improve to ~0.03 eV and 0.04. These forecasted errors depend critically on the fraction of sky that can be surveyed in redshifted 21 cm emission (25\% is assumed here) and the redshift of reionization ($z=7$ is assumed here). It is also found that neutrinos with masses too small to be detected in the data could none the less cause a significant bias in the measured dark energy equation of state.

The use of conventional neutrino telescope methods and technology for detecting neutrinos with energies above 1 EeV from astrophysical sources would be prohibitively expensive and may turn out to be technically not feasible. Acoustic detection is a promising alternative for future deep-sea neutrino telescopes operating in this energy regime. It utilises the effect that the energy deposit of the particle cascade evolving from a neutrino interaction in water generates a coherently emitted sound wave with frequency components in the range between about 1 and 50 kHz. The AMADEUS (Antares Modules for Acoustic DEtection Under the Sea) project is integrated into the ANTARES neutrino telescope and aims at the investigation of techniques for acoustic particle detection in sea water. The acoustic sensors of AMADEUS are using piezo elements and are recording a broad-band signal with frequencies ranging up to 125 kHz. After an introduction to acoustic neutrino detection it will be shown how an acoustic array similar to AMADEUS can be used for positioning as well as acoustic particle detection. Experience from AMADEUS and possibilities for a future large scale neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean Sea will be discussed.

We study the influence of X-rays on the wind structure of selected O stars. For this purpose we use our non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) wind code with inclusion of additional artificial source of X-rays, assumed to originate in the wind shocks. We show that the influence of shock X-ray emission on wind mass-loss rate is relatively small. Wind terminal velocity may be slightly influenced by the presence of strong X-ray sources, especially for stars cooler than Teff < 35 000 K. We discuss the origin of the Lx/L \sim 10^-7 relation. For stars with thick wind this relation can be explained assuming that the cooling time depends on wind density. Stars with optically thin winds exhibiting the "weak wind problem" display enhanced X-ray emission which may be connected with large shock cooling length. We propose that this effect can explain the "weak wind problem". Inclusion of X-rays leads to a better agreement of the model ionization structure with observations. However, we do not found any significant influence of X-rays on Pv ionization fraction implying that the presence of X-rays cannot explain the Pv problem. We study the implications of modified ionization equilibrium due to shock emission on the line transfer in the X-ray region. We conclude that the X-ray line profiles of helium-like ions may be affected by the line absorption within the cool wind.

We present a method of modeling the radial velocity (RV) measurements which can be useful in searching for planets hosted by chromospherically active stars. We assume that the observed RV signal is induced by the reflex motion of a star as well as by distortions of spectral line profiles, measured by the Bisector Velocity Span (BVS). The RVs are fitted with a common planetary model including RV correction term depending linearly on the BVS, which accounts for the stellar activity. The coefficient of correlation is an additional free parameter of the RV model. That approach differs from correcting the RVs before or after fitting the "pure" planetary model. We test the method on simulated data derived for single-planet systems. The results are compared with the outcomes of algorithms found in the literature.

A luminous optical transient (OT) that appeared in NGC 300 in early 2008 had a maximum brightness, Mv ~ -13, intermediate between classical novae and supernovae. We present ground-based photometric and spectroscopic monitoring and adaptive-optics imaging of the OT, as well as pre- and post-outburst space-based imaging with HST and Spitzer. The optical spectrum at maximum showed an F-type supergiant photosphere with superposed emission lines of hydrogen, Ca II, and [Ca II], similar to the spectra of low-luminosity Type IIn "supernova impostors" like SN 2008S, as well as cool hypergiants like IRC +10420. The emission lines have a complex, double structure, indicating a bipolar outflow with velocities of ~75 km/s. The energy released in the eruption was ~2 x 10^47 ergs, most of it emitted in the first 2 months. By registering new HST images with deep archival frames, we have precisely located the OT site, and find no detectable optical progenitor brighter than broad-band V magnitude 28.5. However, archival Spitzer images reveal a bright, non-variable mid-IR pre-outburst source. We conclude that the NGC 300 OT was a heavily dust-enshrouded luminous star, of ~10-15 Msun, which experienced an eruption that cleared the surrounding dust and initiated a bipolar wind. The progenitor was likely an OH/IR source which had begun to evolve on a blue loop toward higher temperatures, but the precise cause of the outburst remains uncertain.

(Abridged) We measure the fraction of galaxies undergoing disk-disk major mergers (f_m) at intermediate redshifts (0.35 <= z < 0.85) by studying the asymmetry index A of galaxy images. Results are provided for B- and Ks-band absolute magnitude selected samples from the Groth strip in the GOYA photometric survey. Three sources of systematic error are carefully addressed: (i) we avoid morphological K-corrections, (ii) we measure asymmetries in artificially redshifted to z_d = 0.75 galaxies to lead with loss of morphological information with redshift, and (iii) we take into account the observational errors in z and A, that tend to overestimate the merger fraction, by maximum likelihood techniques. We find: (i) our data allow for a robust merger fraction to be provided for a single redshift bin centered at z=0.6. (ii) Merger fractions have low values: f_m = 0.045 for M_B <= -20 galaxies, and f_m = 0.031 for M_Ks <= -23.5 galaxies. And, (iii) failure to address the effects of the observational errors leads to overestimating f_m by factors of 10%-60%. Combining our results with those on literature, and parameterizing the merger fraction evolution as f_m(z) = f_m(0)(1+z)^m, we obtain that m = 2.9 +- 0.8, and f_m(0) = 0.012 +- 0.004$. Assuming a Ks-band mass-to-light ratio not varying with luminosity, we infer that the merger rate of galaxies with stellar mass M >= 3.5x10^10 M_Sun is R_m = 1.6x10^-4 Mpc^-3 Gyr^-1. When we compare with previous studies at similar redshifts, we find that the merger rate decreases when mass increases.

Bulges are of different types, morphologies and kinematics, from pseudo-bulges, close to disk properties (Sersic index, rotation fraction, flatenning), to classical de Vaucouleurs bulges, close to elliptical galaxies. Secular evolution and bar development can give rise to pseudo-bulges. To ensure prolonged secular evolution, gas flows are required along the galaxy life-time. There is growing evidence for cold gas accretion around spiral galaxies. This can explain the bar cycle of destruction and reformation, together with pseudo-bulge formation. However, bulges can also be formed through major mergers, minor mergers, and massive clumps early in the galaxy evolution. Bulge formation is so efficient that it is difficult to explain the presence of bulgeless galaxies today.

We consider Brans-Dicke type nonminimally coupled scalar field as a candidate for dark energy. In the conformally transformed Einstein's frame, our model is similar to {\it coupled quintessence} model. In such models, we consider potentials for the scalar field which satisfy the slow-roll conditions: $[(1/V)(dV/d\phi)]^2 << 1$ and $(1/V)(d^2V/d\phi^2) << 1$. For such potentials, we show that the equation of state for the scalar field can be described by a universal behaviour, provided the scalar field rolls only in the flat part of the potentials where the slow-roll conditions are satisfied. Our work generalizes the previous work by Scherrer and Sen \cite{scherrer} for minimally coupled scalar field case. We have also studied the observational constraints on the model parameters considering the Supernova and BAO observational data.

It has been suggested that some radio-loud narrow-line Seyfert 1 contain relativistic jets, on the basis of their flat-spectrum radio nuclei and studies on variability. We present preliminary results of an ongoing investigation of the X-ray and multiwavelength properties of 5 radio-loud NLS1 based on archival data from Swift and XMM-Newton. Some sources present interesting characteristics, very uncharacteristic for a radio-quiet narrow-line Seyfert 1, such as very hard X-ray spectra, and correlated optical and ultraviolet variability. However, none of the studied sources show conclusive evidence for relativistic jets. gamma-ray observations with Fermi are strongly recommended to definitely decide on the presence or not of relativistic jets.

We report on the first X-ray proper-motion measurements of the nonthermally-dominated forward shock in the northeastern limb of SN 1006, based on two Chandra observations taken in 2000 and 2008. We find that the proper motion of the forward shock is about 0.48 arcsec/yr and does not vary around the rim within the ~10% measurement uncertainties. The proper motion measured is consistent with that determined by the previous radio observations. The mean expansion index of the forward shock is calculated to be ~0.54 which matches the value expected based on an evolutionary model of a Type Ia supernova with either a power-law or an exponential ejecta density profile. Assuming pressure equilibrium around the periphery from the thermally-dominated northwestern rim to the nonthermally-dominated northeastern rim, we estimate the ambient density to the northeast of SN 1006 to be about 0.085/cm^3.

Radiation from GRBs in the prompt phase, flares and an afterglow is thought to be produced by accelerated electrons in magnetic fields. Such emission may be produced at collisionless shocks of baryonic outflows or at reconnection sites (at least for the prompt and flares) of the magnetically dominated (Poynting flux driven) outflows, where no shocks presumably form at all. An astonishing recent discovery is that during reconnection strong small-scale magnetic fields are produced via the Weibel instability, very much like they are produced at relativistic shocks. The relevant physics has been successfully and extensively studied with the PIC simulations in 2D and, to some extent, in 3D for the past few years. We discuss how these simulations predict the existence of MeV-range synchrotron/jitter emission in some GRBs, which can be observed with Fermi. Recent results on modeling of the spectral variability and spectral correlations of the GRB prompt emission in the Weibel-jitter paradigm applicable to both baryonic and magnetic-dominated outflows is reviewed with the emphasis on observational predictions.