SearcharxivSearch

arXiv · astro-ph/0303066

The galaxy population of the z=1 cluster of galaxies MG2016+112

Abstract

A photometric redshift analysis of galaxies in the field of the wide-separation gravitational lens MG2016+112 reveals a population of 69 galaxies with photometric redshifts consistent with being in a cluster at the redshift of the giant elliptical lensing galaxy, z=1.00. The Ks-band luminosity function of the cluster galaxies is well represented by the Schechter function with a characteristic magnitude Ks*=18.90 (-0.57/+0.45) and faint-end slope alpha=-0.60 (-0.33/+0.39), consistent with what is expected for a passively evolving population of galaxies formed at high redshift, zf>2. From the total Ks-band flux of the cluster galaxies and a dynamical estimate of the total mass of the cluster, the restframe Ks-band mass-to-light ratio of the cluster is derived to be M/L=27(-17/+64)(h_50)(M/L)_{sun}, in agreement with the upper limit derived earlier from Chandra X-ray observations and the value derived locally in the Coma cluster. The cluster galaxies span a red sequence with a considerable scatter in the colour-magnitude diagrams, suggesting that they contain young stellar populations in addition to the old populations of main-sequence stars that dominate the Ks-band luminosity function. This is in agreement with spectroscopic observations which show that 5 out of the 6 galaxies in the field confirmed to be at the redshift of the lensing galaxy have emission lines. The projected spatial distribution of the cluster galaxies is filamentary-like rather than centrally concentrated around the lensing galaxy, and show no apparent luminosity segregation. A handful of the cluster galaxies show evidence of merging/interaction. The results presented in this paper suggest that a young cluster of galaxies is assembling around MG2016+112.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

S. Toft, G. Soucail, J. Hjorth. 2003-03-04. The galaxy population of the z=1 cluster of galaxies MG2016+112. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2003.06589.x

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Dark Energy is the Cosmological Quantum Vacuum Energy of Light Particles-The Axion and the Lightest Neutrino

We uncover the general mechanism producing the dark energy(DE). This is only based on well known quantum physics and cosmology. We show that the observed DE originates from the cosmological quantum vacuum of light particles which provides a continuous energy distribution able to reproduce the data. Bosons give positive contributions to the DE while fermions yield negative contributions. As usual in field theory, ultraviolet divergences are subtracted from the physical quantities. The subtractions respect the symmetries of the theory and we normalize the physical quantities to be zero for the Minkowski vacuum. The resulting finite contributions to the energy density and the pressure from the quantum vacuum grow as log a(t) where a(t) is the scale factor, while the particle contributions dilute as 1/a^3(t), as it must be for massive particles. The DE equation of state P = w(z)H turns to be w(z)<-1 with w(z) asymptotically reaching the value -1 from below.A scalar particle can produce the observed DE through its quantum cosmological vacuum provided:(i)its mass is of the order of 10^{-3} eV = 1 meV,(ii) it is very weakly coupled and (iii) it is stable on the time scale of the age of the universe. The axion vacuum thus appears as a natural candidate. The neutrino vacuum (especially the lightest mass eigenstate) can give negative contributions to the DE. We find that w(z=0) is slightly below -1 by an amount ranging from [-1.5 10^{-3}] to [-8 10^{-3}] and we predict the axion mass to be in the range between 4 and 5 meV. We find that the universe will expand in the future faster than the de Sitter universe, as an exponential in the square of the cosmic time. DE arises from the quantum vacua of light particles in FRW cosmological space time in an analogous way to the Casimir effect in Minkowski spacetime with non trivial boundaries.

astro-ph

Scaling of Black Hole Accretion Discs from Gamma-Ray Bursts and Black Hole X-Ray Binaries to Active Galactic Nuclei

I consider how physical processes scale over eight orders of magnitude in black hole mass, from stellar masses in gamma-ray bursts (GRB) and black-hole X-ray binaries (BHXRB) to supermassive active galactic nuclei (AGN). Accretion rates onto stellar mass black holes range over more than sixteen orders of magnitude, from the lower luminosity BHXRB to GRB. These enormous parameter ranges correspond to qualitative as well as quantitative differences in behavior. The fundamental questions involve the balance between nonequilibrium and thermalized plasmas. When energy fluxes exceed a critical value $\sim 10^{29}$ erg/cm$^2$s, as in GRB, a black-body equilibrium pair plasma forms. At the lower fluxes found in AGN, BHXRB and microquasars, accretion power electrodynamically accelerates a small number of very energetic particles, explaining their non-thermal spectra and the high energy gamma-ray emission of blazars. Ultra-high energy cosmic rays may be accelerated by massive black holes, otherwise undetectable, with very low thermal luminosities. New-born fast high-field pulsars may be in the black-body equilibrium regime, resembling SGR in permanent outburst. I also consider the question, significant for the acceleration of nonthermal particles in GRB outflows, of whether collisionless plasmas interpenetrate rather than forming hydrodynamic shocks, and propose this as an alternative to internal shock models of GRB. A new appendix attempts to explain why AGN are, proportionally, more efficient accelerators of energetic particles than stellar mass black holes.

astro-ph

Two 3-Branes in Randall-Sundrum Setup and Current Acceleration of the Universe

Five-dimensional spacetimes of two orbifold 3-branes are studied, by assuming that {\em the two 3-branes are spatially homogeneous, isotropic, and independent of time}, following the so-called "bulk-based" approach. The most general form of the metric is obtained, and the corresponding field equations are divided into three groups, one is valid on each of the two 3-branes, and the third is valid in the bulk. The Einstein tensor on the 3-branes is expressed in terms of the discontinuities of the first-order derivatives of the metric coefficients. Thus, once the metric is known in the bulk, the distribution of the Einstein tensor on the two 3-branes is uniquely determined. As applications, we consider two different cases, one is in which the bulk is locally $AdS_{5}$, and the other is where it is vacuum. In some cases, it is shown that the universe is first decelerating and then accelerating. The global structure of the bulk as well as the 3-branes is also studied, and found that in some cases the solutions may represent the collision of two orbifold 3-branes. The applications of the formulas to the studies of the cyclic universe and the cosmological constant problem are also pointed out.

astro-ph