arXiv subjects

A. Puglisi

Publications and source records attributed to A. Puglisi.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

GIARPS: commissioning and first scientific results

GIARPS (GIAno \& haRPS) is a project devoted to have on the same focal station of the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) both high resolution spectrographs, HARPS-N (VIS) and GIANO-B (NIR), working simultaneously. This could be considered the first and unique worldwide instrument providing cross-dispersed echelle spectroscopy at a resolution of 50,000 in the NIR range and 115,000 in the VIS and over in a wide spectral range ($0.383 - 2.45\ μ$m) in a single exposure. The science case is very broad, given the versatility of such an instrument and its large wavelength range. A number of outstanding science cases encompassing mainly extra-solar planet science starting from rocky planets search and hot Jupiters to atmosphere characterization can be considered. Furthermore both instruments can measure high precision radial velocities by means the simultaneous thorium technique (HARPS-N) and absorbing cell technique (GIANO-B) in a single exposure. Other science cases are also possible. GIARPS, as a brand new observing mode of the TNG started after the moving of GIANO-A (fiber fed spectrograph) from Nasmyth-A to Nasmyth-B where it was re-born as GIANO-B (no more fiber feed spectrograph). The official Commissioning finished on March 2017 and then it was offered to the community. Despite the work is not finished yet. In this paper we describe the preliminary scientific results obtained with GIANO-B and GIARPS observing mode with data taken during commissioning and first open time observations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

A virtual coronagraphic test bench for SHARK-NIR, the second-generation high contrast imager for the Large Binocular Telescope

In this article, we present a simulator conceived for the conceptual study of an AO-fed high-contrast coronagraphic imager. The simulator implements physical optics: a complex disturbance (the electric field) is Fresnel-propagated through any user-defined optical train, in an end-to-end fashion. The effect of atmospheric residual aberrations and their evolution with time can be reproduced by introducing in input a temporal sequence of phase screens: synthetic images are then generated by co-adding instantaneous PSFs. This allows studying with high accuracy the impact of AO correction on image quality for different integration times and observing conditions. In addition, by conveniently detailing the optical model, the user can easily implement any coronagraphic set-up and introduce optical aberrations at any position. Furthermore, generating multiple images can allow exploring detection limits after a differential post-processing algorithm is applied (e.g. Angular Differential Imaging). The simulator has been developed in the framework of the design of SHARK-NIR, the second-generation high contrast imager selected for the Large Binocular Telescope.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

Hydrodynamics of granular particles on a line

We investigate a lattice model representing a granular gas in a thin channel. We deduce the hydrodynamic description for the model from the microscopic dynamics in the large system limit, including the lowest finite-size corrections. The main prediction from hydrodynamics, when finite-size corrections are neglected, is the existence of a steady "uniform longitudinal flow" (ULF), with the granular temperature and the velocity gradient both uniform and directly related. Extensive numerical simulations of the system show that such a state can be observed in the bulk of a finite-size system by attaching two thermostats with the same temperature at its boundaries. The relation between the ULF state and the shocks appearing in the late stage of a cooling gas of inelastic hard rods is discussed.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2018

Anomalous mobility of a driven active particle in a steady laminar flow

We study, via extensive numerical simulations, the force-velocity curve of an active particle advected by a steady laminar flow, in the nonlinear response regime. Our model for an active particle relies on a colored noise term that mimics its persistent motion over a time scale $τ_A$. We find that the active particle dynamics shows non-trivial effects, such as negative differential and absolute mobility (NDM and ANM, respectively). We explore the space of the model parameters and compare the observed behaviors with those obtained for a passive particle ($τ_A=0$) advected by the same laminar flow. Our results show that the phenomena of NDM and ANM are quite robust with respect to the details of the considered noise: in particular for finite $τ_A$ a more complex force-velocity relation can be observed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2018

Multi-band high resolution spectroscopy rules out the hot Jupiter BD+20 1790b - First data from the GIARPS Commissioning

Context. Stellar activity is currently challenging the detection of young planets via the radial velocity (RV) technique. Aims. We attempt to definitively discriminate the nature of the RV variations for the young active K5 star BD+20 1790, for which visible (VIS) RV measurements show divergent results on the existence of a substellar companion. Methods. We compare VIS data with high precision RVs in the near infrared (NIR) range by using the GIANO - B and IGRINS spectrographs. In addition, we present for the first time simultaneous VIS-NIR observations obtained with GIARPS (GIANO - B and HARPS - N) at Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG). Orbital RVs are achromatic, so the RV amplitude does not change at different wavelengths, while stellar activity induces wavelength-dependent RV variations, which are significantly reduced in the NIR range with respect to the VIS. Results. The NIR radial velocity measurements from GIANO - B and IGRINS show an average amplitude of about one quarter with respect to previously published VIS data, as expected when the RV jitter is due to stellar activity. Coeval multi-band photometry surprisingly shows larger amplitudes in the NIR range, explainable with a mixture of cool and hot spots in the same active region. Conclusions. In this work, the claimed massive planet around BD+20 1790 is ruled out by our data. We exploited the crucial role of multi- wavelength spectroscopy when observing young active stars: thanks to facilities like GIARPS that provide simultaneous observations, this method can reach its maximum potential.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2018

Langevin equation in systems with also negative temperatures

We discuss how to derive a Langevin equation (LE) in non standard systems, i.e. when the kinetic part of the Hamiltonian is not the usual quadratic function. This generalization allows to consider also cases with negative absolute temperature. We first give some phenomenological arguments suggesting the shape of the viscous drift, replacing the usual linear viscous damping, and its relation with the diffusion coefficient modulating the white noise term. As a second step, we implement a procedure to reconstruct the drift and the diffusion term of the LE from the time-series of the momentum of a heavy particle embedded in a large Hamiltonian system. The results of our reconstruction are in good agreement with the phenomenological arguments. Applying the method to systems with negative temperature, we can observe that also in this case there is a suitable Langevin equation, obtained with a precise protocol, able to reproduce in a proper way the statistical features of the slow variables. In other words, even in this context, systems with negative temperature do not show any pathology.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2018

The HOSTS survey - Exozodiacal dust measurements for 30 stars

The HOSTS (Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems) survey searches for dust near the habitable zones (HZs) around nearby, bright main sequence stars. We use nulling interferometry in N band to suppress the bright stellar light and to probe for low levels of HZ dust around the 30 stars observed so far. Our overall detection rate is 18%, including four new detections, among which are the first three around Sun-like stars and the first two around stars without any previously known circumstellar dust. The inferred occurrence rates are comparable for early type and Sun-like stars, but decrease from 60 (+16/-21)% for stars with previously detected cold dust to 8 (+10/-3)% for stars without such excess, confirming earlier results at higher sensitivity. For completed observations on individual stars, our sensitivity is five to ten times better than previous results. Assuming a lognormal excess luminosity function, we put upper limits on the median HZ dust level of 13 zodis (95% confidence) for a sample of stars without cold dust and of 26 zodis when focussing on Sun-like stars without cold dust. However, our data suggest that a more complex luminosity function may be more appropriate. For stars without detectable LBTI excess, our upper limits are almost reduced by a factor of two, demonstrating the strength of LBTI target vetting for future exo-Earth imaging missions. Our statistics are so far limited and extending the survey is critical to inform the design of future exo-Earth imaging surveys.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2018

The Spitzer-IRAC/MIPS Extragalactic Survey (SIMES): II enhanced nuclear accretion rate in galaxy groups at z$\sim$0.2

For a sample of star forming galaxies in the redshift interval 0.15$<$z$<$0.3, we study how both the relative strength of the AGN infra-red emission, compared to that due to the star formation (SF), and the numerical fraction of AGNs, change as a function of the total stellar mass of the hosting galaxy group (M$^{*}_{\mathrm{group}}$), between $10^{10.25}$ and $10^{11.9}$M$_{\odot}$. Using a multi-component SED fitting analysis, we separate the contribution of stars, AGN torus and star formation to the total emission at different wavelengths. This technique is applied to a new multi-wavelength data-set in the SIMES field (23 not redundant photometric bands), spanning the wavelength range from the UV (GALEX) to the far-IR (Herschel) and including crucial AKARI and WISE mid-IR observations (4.5 μm$<λ<$24 μm), where the BH thermal emission is stronger. This new photometric catalog, that includes our best photo-z estimates, is released through the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA). Groups are identified through a friends of friends algorithm ($\sim$62% purity, $\sim$51% completeness). We identified a total of 45 galaxies requiring an AGN emission component, 35 of which in groups and 10 in the field. We find BHAR$\propto ($M$^{*}_{\mathrm{group}})^{1.21\pm0.27}$ and (BHAR/SFR)$\propto ($M$^{*}_{\mathrm{group}})^{1.04\pm0.24}$ while, in the same range of M$^{*}_{\mathrm{group}}$, we do not observe any sensible change in the numerical fraction of AGNs. Our results indicate that the nuclear activity (i.e. the BHAR and the BHAR/SFR ratio) is enhanced when galaxies are located in more massive and richer groups.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2018

Controlled viscosity in dense granular materials

We experimentally investigate the fluidization of a granular material subject to mechanical vibrations by monitoring the angular velocity of a vane suspended in the medium and driven by an external motor. On increasing the frequency we observe a re-entrant transition, as a jammed system first enters a fluidized state, where the vane rotates with high constant velocity, and then returns to a frictional state, where the vane velocity is much lower. While the fluidization frequency is material independent, the viscosity recovery frequency shows a clear dependence on the material, that we rationalize by relating this frequency to the balance between dissipative and inertial forces in the system. Molecular dynamics simulations well reproduce the experimental data, confirming the suggested theoretical picture.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2018

Starburst to quiescent from HST/ALMA: Stars and dust unveil minor mergers in submillimeter galaxies at $z \sim 4.5$

Dust-enshrouded, starbursting, submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) at $z \geq 3$ have been proposed as progenitors of $z \geq 2$ compact quiescent galaxies (cQGs). To test this connection, we present a detailed spatially resolved study of the stars, dust and stellar mass in a sample of six submillimeter-bright starburst galaxies at $z \sim 4.5$. The stellar UV emission probed by HST is extended, irregular and shows evidence of multiple components. Informed by HST, we deblend Spitzer/IRAC data at rest-frame optical finding that the systems are undergoing minor mergers, with a typical stellar mass ratio of 1:6.5. The FIR dust continuum emission traced by ALMA locates the bulk of star formation in extremely compact regions (median $r_{\rm{e}} = 0.70 \pm 0.29$ kpc) and it is in all cases associated with the most massive component of the mergers (median $\log (M_{*}/M_{\odot}) = 10.49 \pm 0.32$). We compare spatially resolved UV slope ($β$) maps with the FIR dust continuum to study the infrared excess ($\rm{IRX} = L_{\rm{IR}}/L_{\rm{UV}}$)-$β$ relation. The SMGs display systematically higher $\rm{IRX}$ values than expected from the nominal trend, demonstrating that the FIR and UV emissions are spatially disconnected. Finally, we show that the SMGs fall on the mass-size plane at smaller stellar masses and sizes than cQGs at $z = 2$. Taking into account the expected evolution in stellar mass and size between $z = 4.5$ and $z = 2$ due to the ongoing starburst and mergers with minor companions, this is in agreement with a direct evolutionary connection between the two populations.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Temperature in and out of equilibrium: a review of concepts, tools and attempts

We review the general aspects of the concept of temperature in equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. Although temperature is an old and well-established notion, it still presents controversial facets. After a short historical survey of the key role of temperature in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, we tackle a series of issues which have been recently reconsidered. In particular, we discuss different definitions and their relevance for energy fluctuations. The interest in such a topic has been triggered by the recent observation of negative temperatures in condensed matter experiments. Moreover, the ability to manipulate systems at the micro and nano-scale urges to understand and clarify some aspects related to the statistical properties of small systems (as the issue of temperature's "fluctuations"). We also discuss the notion of temperature in a dynamical context, within the theory of linear response for Hamiltonian systems at equilibrium and stochastic models with detailed balance, and the generalised fluctuation-response relations, which provide a hint for an extension of the definition of temperature in far-from-equilibrium systems. To conclude we consider non-Hamiltonian systems, such as granular materials, turbulence and active matter, where a general theoretical framework is still lacking.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

About thermometers and temperature

We discuss a class of mechanical models of thermometers and their minimal requirements to determine the temperature for systems out of the common scope of thermometry. In particular we consider: 1) anharmonic chains with long time of thermalization, such as the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) model; 2) systems with long-range interactions where the equivalence of ensembles does not always hold; 3) systems featuring absolute negative temperatures. We show that for all the three classes of systems a mechanical thermometer model can be designed: a temporal average of a suitable mechanical observable of the thermometer is sufficient to get an estimate of the system's temperature. Several interesting lessons are learnt from our numerical study: 1) the long thermalization times in FPU-like systems do not affect the thermometer, which is not coupled to normal modes but to a group of microscopic degrees of freedom; 2) a thermometer coupled to a long-range system measures its microcanonical temperature, even at values of the total energy where its canonical temperature would be very different; 3) a thermometer to read absolute negative temperatures must have a bounded total energy (as the system), otherwise it heavily perturbs the system changing the sign of its temperature. Our study shows that in order to work in a correct way also in "non standard" cases, the proper model of thermometer must have a special functional form, e.g. the kinetic part cannot be quadratic.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Anomalous force-velocity relation of driven inertial tracers in steady laminar flows

We study the nonlinear response to an external force of an inertial tracer advected by a two-dimensional incompressible laminar flow and subject to thermal noise. In addition to the driving external field $F$, the main parameters in the system are the noise amplitude $D_0$ and the characteristic Stokes time $τ$ of the tracer. The relation velocity vs force shows interesting effects, such as negative differential mobility (NDM), namely a non-monotonic behavior of the tracer velocity as a function of the applied force, and absolute negative mobility (ANM), i.e. a net motion against the bias. By extensive numerical simulations, we investigate the phase chart in the parameter space of the model, $(τ,D_0)$, identifying the regions where NDM, ANM and more common monotonic behaviors of the force-velocity curve are observed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Self-propulsion against a moving membrane: enhanced accumulation and drag force

Self-propulsion (SP) is a main feature of active particles (AP), such as bacteria or biological micromotors, distinguishing them from passive colloids. A renowned consequence of SP is accumulation at static interfaces, even in the absence of hydrodynamic interactions. Here we address the role of SP in the interaction between AP and a moving semipermeable membrane. In particular, we implement a model of noninteracting AP in a channel crossed by a partially penetrable wall, moving at a constant velocity $c$. With respect to both the cases of passive colloids with $c>0$ and AP with $c=0$, the AP with finite $c$ show enhancement of accumulation in front of the obstacle and experience a largely increased drag force. This effect is understood in terms of an effective potential localised at the interface between particles and membrane, of height proportional to $cτ/ξ$, where $τ$ is the AP's re-orientation time and $ξ$ the width characterising the surface's smoothness ($ξ\to 0$ for hard core obstacles). An approximate analytical scheme is able to reproduce the observed density profiles and the measured drag force, in very good agreement with numerical simulations. The effects discussed here can be exploited for automatic selection and filtering of AP with desired parameters.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2017

Predicting emission line fluxes and number counts of distant galaxies for cosmological surveys

We estimate the number counts of line emitters at high redshift and their evolution with cosmic time based on a combination of photometry and spectroscopy. We predict the H$α$, H$β$, [OII], and [OIII] line fluxes for more than $35,000$ galaxies down to stellar masses of $\sim10^9$ $M_{\odot}$ in the COSMOS and GOODS-S fields, applying standard conversions and exploiting the spectroscopic coverage of the FMOS-COSMOS survey at $z\sim1.55$ to calibrate the predictions. We calculate the number counts of H$α$, [OII], and [OIII] emitters down to fluxes of $1\times10^{-17}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the range $1.4 < z < 1.8$ covered by the FMOS-COSMOS survey. We model the time evolution of the differential and cumulative H$α$ counts, steeply declining at the brightest fluxes. We expect $\sim9,300-9,700$ and $\sim2,300-2,900$ galaxies deg$^{-2}$ for fluxes $\geq1\times10^{-16}$ and $\geq2\times10^{-16}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ over the range $0.9<z<1.8$. We show that the observed evolution of the Main Sequence of galaxies with redshift is enough to reproduce the observed counts variation at $0.2<z<2.5$. We characterize the physical properties of the H$α$ emitters with fluxes $\geq2\times10^{-16}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, including their stellar masses, UV sizes, [NII]/H$α$ ratios, and H$α$ equivalent widths. An aperture of $R\sim R_{\rm e}\sim0.5$" maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio for a detection, while causing a factor of $\sim2\times$ flux losses, influencing the recoverable number counts, if neglected. Our approach, based on deep and large photometric datasets, reduces the uncertainties on the number counts due to the selection and spectroscopic samplings, while exploring low fluxes. We publicly release the line flux predictions for the explored photometric samples.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

The Bright and Dark Sides of High-Redshift starburst galaxies from {\it Herschel} and {\it Subaru} observations

We present rest-frame optical spectra from the FMOS-COSMOS survey of twelve $z \sim 1.6$ \textit{Herschel} starburst galaxies, with Star Formation Rate (SFR) elevated by $\times$8, on average, above the star-forming Main Sequence (MS). Comparing the H$α$ to IR luminosity ratio and the Balmer Decrement we find that the optically-thin regions of the sources contain on average only $\sim 10$ percent of the total SFR whereas $\sim90$ percent comes from an extremely obscured component which is revealed only by far-IR observations and is optically-thick even in H$α$. We measure the [NII]$_{6583}$/H$α$ ratio, suggesting that the less obscured regions have a metal content similar to that of the MS population at the same stellar masses and redshifts. However, our objects appear to be metal-rich outliers from the metallicity-SFR anticorrelation observed at fixed stellar mass for the MS population. The [SII]$_{6732}$/[SII]$_{6717}$ ratio from the average spectrum indicates an electron density $n_{\rm e} \sim 1,100\ \mathrm{cm}^{-3}$, larger than what estimated for MS galaxies but only at the 1.5$σ$ level. Our results provide supporting evidence that high-$z$ MS outliers are the analogous of local ULIRGs, and are consistent with a major merger origin for the starburst event.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

The FMOS-COSMOS survey of star-forming galaxies at z~1.6. IV: Excitation state and chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium

We investigate the physical conditions of ionized gas in high-z star-forming galaxies using diagnostic diagrams based on the rest-frame optical emission lines. The sample consists of 701 galaxies with an Ha detection at $1.4\lesssim z\lesssim1.7$, from the FMOS-COSMOS survey, that represent the normal star-forming population over the stellar mass range $10^{9.6} \lesssim M_\ast/M_\odot \lesssim 10^{11.6}$ with those at $M_\ast>10^{11}~M_\odot$ being well sampled. We confirm an offset of the average location of star-forming galaxies in the BPT diagram ([OIII]/Hb vs. [NII]/Ha), primarily towards higher [OIII]/Hb, compared with local galaxies. Based on the [SII] ratio, we measure an electron density ($n_e=220^{+170}_{-130}~\mathrm{cm^{-3}}$), that is higher than that of local galaxies. Based on comparisons to theoretical models, we argue that changes in emission-line ratios, including the offset in the BPT diagram, are caused by a higher ionization parameter both at fixed stellar mass and at fixed metallicity with additional contributions from a higher gas density and possibly a hardening of the ionizing radiation field. Ionization due to AGNs is ruled out as assessed with Chandra. As a consequence, we revisit the mass-metallicity relation using [NII]/Ha and a new calibration including [NII]/[SII] as recently introduced by Dopita et al. Consistent with our previous results, the most massive galaxies ($M_\ast\gtrsim10^{11}~M_\odot$) are fully enriched, while those at lower masses have metallicities lower than local galaxies. Finally, we demonstrate that the stellar masses, metallicities and star formation rates of the FMOS sample are well fit with a physically-motivated model for the chemical evolution of star-forming galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Nonlinear response of inertial tracers in steady laminar flows: differential and absolute negative mobility

We study the mobility and the diffusion coefficient of an inertial tracer advected by a two-dimensional incompressible laminar flow, in the presence of thermal noise and under the action of an external force. We show, with extensive numerical simulations, that the force-velocity relation for the tracer, in the nonlinear regime, displays complex and rich behaviors, including negative differential and absolute mobility. These effects rely upon a subtle coupling between inertia and applied force which induce the tracer to persist in particular regions of phase space with a velocity opposite to the force. The relevance of this coupling is revisited in the framework of non-equilibrium response theory, applying a generalized Einstein relation to our system. The possibility of experimental observation of these results is also discussed.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗