arXiv subjects

Abraham Loeb

Publications and source records attributed to Abraham Loeb.

At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Constraining Sub-Parsec Binary Supermassive Black Holes in Quasars with Multi-Epoch Spectroscopy. II. The Population with Kinematically Offset Broad Balmer Emission Lines

A small fraction of quasars have long been known to show bulk velocity offsets in the broad Balmer lines with respect to the systemic redshift of the host galaxy. Models to explain these offsets usually invoke broad-line region gas kinematics/asymmetry around single black holes (BHs), orbital motion of massive (~sub-pc) binary black holes (BBHs), or recoil BHs, but single-epoch spectra are unable to distinguish between these scenarios. The line-of-sight (LOS) radial velocity (RV) shifts from long-term spectroscopic monitoring can be used to test the BBH hypothesis. We have selected a sample of 399 quasars with offset broad H-beta lines from the SDSS DR7 quasar catalog, and have conducted second-epoch optical spectroscopy for 50 of them. Combined with the existing SDSS spectra, the new observations enable us to constrain the LOS RV shifts of broad H-beta lines with a rest-frame baseline of a few years to nearly a decade. Using cross-correlation analysis, we detect significant (99% confidence) radial accelerations in the broad H-beta lines in 24 of the 50 objects. We suggest that 9 of the 24 detections are sub-pc BBH candidates, which show consistent velocity shifts independently measured from a second broad line (either H-alpha or Mg II) without significant changes in the broad-line profiles. Combining the results on the general quasar population studied in Paper I, we find a tentative anti-correlation between the velocity offset in the first-epoch spectrum and the average acceleration between two epochs, which could be explained by orbital phase modulation when the time separation between two epochs is a non-negligible fraction of the orbital period of the motion causing the line displacement. We discuss the implications of our results for the identification of sub-pc BBH candidates in offset-line quasars and for the constraints on their frequency and orbital parameters. [Abridged]

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arXiv2014

Relativistic redshifts in quasar broad lines

The broad emission lines commonly seen in quasar spectra have velocity widths of a few per cent of the speed of light, so special- and general-relativistic effects have a significant influence on the line profile. We have determined the redshift of the broad H-beta line in the quasar rest frame (determined from the core component of the [OIII] line) for over 20,000 quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 quasar catalog. The mean redshift as a function of line width is approximately consistent with the relativistic redshift that is expected if the line originates in a randomly oriented Keplerian disk that is obscured when the inclination of the disk to the line of sight exceeds ~30-45 degrees, consistent with simple AGN unification schemes. This result also implies that the net line-of-sight inflow/outflow velocities in the broad-line region are much less than the Keplerian velocity when averaged over a large sample of quasars with a given line width.

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arXiv2014

The Habitable Epoch of the Early Universe

In the redshift range 100<(1+z)<137, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) had a temperature of 273-373K (0-100 degrees Celsius), allowing early rocky planets (if any existed) to have liquid water chemistry on their surface and be habitable, irrespective of their distance from a star. In the standard LCDM cosmology, the first star-forming halos within our Hubble volume started collapsing at these redshifts, allowing the chemistry of life to possibly begin when the Universe was merely 10-17 million years old. The possibility of life starting when the average matter density was a million times bigger than it is today argues against the anthropic explanation for the low value of the cosmological constant.

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arXiv2014

Is the Universe Simpler than LCDM?

In the standard cosmological model, the Universe consists mainly of two invisible substances: vacuum energy with constant mass-density rho_v=Λ/(8pi G) (where Lambda is a `cosmological constant' originally proposed by Einstein and G is Newton's gravitational constant) and cold dark matter (CDM) with mass density that is currently rho_{DM,0}\sim 0.3 rho_v. This `LCDM' model has the virtue of simplicity, enabling straightforward calculation of the formation and evolution of cosmic structure against the backdrop of cosmic expansion. Here we review apparent discrepancies with observations on small galactic scales, which LCDM must attribute to complexity in the baryon physics of galaxy formation. Yet galaxies exhibit structural scaling relations that evoke simplicity, presenting a clear challenge for formation models. In particular, tracers of gravitational potentials dominated by dark matter show a correlation between orbital size, R, and velocity, V, that can be expressed most simply as a characteristic acceleration, a_{DM}\sim 1 km^2 s^{-2} pc^{-1} \approx 3 x 10^{-9} cm s^{-2} \approx 0.2c\sqrt{G rho_v}, perhaps motivating efforts to find a link between localized and global manifestations of the Universe's dark components.

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arXiv2014

Tidal capture of a primordial black hole by a neutron star: implications for constraints on dark matter

In a close encounter with a neutron star, a primordial black hole can get gravitationally captured by depositing a considerable amount of energy into nonradial stellar modes of very high angular number $l$. If the neutron-star equation of state is sufficiently stiff, we show that the total energy loss in the point-particle approximation is formally divergent. Various mechanisms -including viscosity, finite-size effects and the elasticity of the crust- can damp high-$l$ modes and regularize the total energy loss. Within a short time, the black hole is trapped inside the star and disrupts it by rapid accretion. Estimating these effects, we predict that the existence of old neutron stars in regions where the dark-matter density rho_{DM}>10^2 sigma/(km/s) GeV/cm^3 (where sigma is the dark-matter velocity dispersion) limits the abundance of primordial black holes in the mass range 10^{17} g < m_{PBH} < 10^{24} g, which was previously unconstrained. In combination with existing limits, our results suggest that primordial black holes cannot be the dominant dark matter constituent.

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arXiv2014

On the Benefits of Promoting Diversity of Ideas

A common flaw of astronomers is to believe that they know the truth even when data is scarce. I provide ten examples where this approach led to wrong strategic decisions in research plans, causing unnecessary delays in finding the truth. In order to make the discovery process more efficient, I advocate affirmative action for diversity of ideas by telescope-time allocation committees and funding agencies.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2014

The Mutual Interaction Between Population III Stars and Self-Annihilating Dark Matter

We use cosmological simulations of high-redshift minihalos to investigate the effect of dark matter annihilation (DMA) on the collapse of primordial gas. We numerically investigate the evolution of the gas as it assembles in a Population III stellar disk. We find that when DMA effects are neglected, the disk undergoes multiple fragmentation events beginning at ~ 500 yr after the appearance of the first protostar. On the other hand, DMA heating and ionization of the gas speeds the initial collapse of gas to protostellar densities and also affects the stability of the developing disk against fragmentation, depending on the DM distribution. We compare the evolution when we model the DM density with an analytical DM profile which remains centrally peaked, and when we simulate the DM profile using N-body particles (the 'live' DM halo). When utilizing the analytical DM profile, DMA suppresses disk fragmentation for ~ 3500 yr after the first protostar forms, in agreement with earlier work. However, when using a 'live' DM halo, the central DM density peak is gradually flattened due to the mutual interaction between the DM and the rotating gaseous disk, reducing the effects of DMA on the gas, and enabling secondary protostars of mass ~ 1 M_sol to be formed within ~ 900 yr. These simulations demonstrate that DMA is ineffective in suppressing gas collapse and subsequent fragmentation, rendering the formation of long-lived dark stars unlikely. However, DMA effects may still be significant in the early collapse and disk formation phase of primordial gas evolution.

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arXiv2014

Possible Origin of the G2 Cloud from the Tidal Disruption of a Known Giant Star by Sgr A*

The discovery of the gas cloud G2 on a near-radial orbit about Sgr A* has prompted much speculation on its origin. In this Letter, we propose that G2 formed out of the debris stream produced by the removal of mass from the outer envelope of a nearby giant star. We perform hydrodynamical simulations of the returning tidal debris stream with cooling, and find that the stream condenses into clumps that fall periodically onto Sgr A*. We propose that one of these clumps is the observed G2 cloud, with the rest of the stream being detectable at lower Br-$γ$ emissivity along a trajectory that would trace from G2 to the star that was partially disrupted. By simultaneously fitting the orbits of S2, G2, and $\sim$ 2,000 candidate stars, and by fixing the orbital plane of each candidate star to G2 (as is expected for a tidal disruption), we find that several stars have orbits that are compatible with the notion that one of them was tidally disrupted to produce G2. If one of these stars were indeed disrupted, it last encountered Sgr A* hundreds of years ago, and has likely encountered Sgr A* repeatedly. However, while these stars are compatible with the giant disruption scenario given their measured positions and proper motions, their radial velocities are currently unknown. If one of these stars' radial velocity is measured to be compatible with a disruptive orbit, it would strongly suggest its disruption produced G2.

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arXiv2014

Pulsations in Short GRBs from Black Hole-Neutron Star Mergers

The precise origin of short gamma ray bursts (SGRBs) remains an important open question in relativistic astrophysics. Increasingly, observational evidence suggests the merger of a binary compact object system as the source for most SGRBs, but it is currently unclear how to distinguish observationally between a binary neutron star progenitor and a black hole-neutron star progenitor. We suggest the quasi-periodic signal of jet precession as an observational signature of SGRBs originating in mixed binary systems, and quantify both the fraction of mixed binaries capable of producing SGRBs, and the distributions of precession amplitudes and periods. The difficulty inherent in disrupting a neutron star outside the horizon of a stellar-mass black hole biases the jet precession signal towards low amplitude and high frequency. Precession periods of ~ 0.01-0.1 s and disk-BH spin misalignments ~10 degrees are generally expected, although sufficiently high viscosity may prevent the accumulation of multiple precession periods during the SGRB. The precessing jet will naturally cover a larger solid angle in the sky than would standard SGRB jets, enhancing observability for both prompt emission and optical afterglows.

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arXiv2014

Inflationary schism after Planck2013

Classic inflation, the theory described in textbooks, is based on the idea that, beginning from typical initial conditions and assuming a simple inflaton potential with a minimum of fine-tuning, inflation can create exponentially large volumes of space that are generically homogeneous, isotropic and flat, with nearly scale-invariant spectra of density and gravitational wave fluctuations that are adiabatic, Gaussian and have generic predictable properties. In a recent paper, we showed that, in addition to having certain conceptual problems known for decades, classic inflation is for the first time also disfavored by data, specifically the most recent data from WMAP, ACT and Planck2013. Guth, Kaiser and Nomura and Linde have each recently published critiques of our paper, but, as made clear here, we all agree about one thing: the problematic state of classic inflation. Instead, they describe an alternative inflationary paradigm that revises the assumptions and goals of inflation, and perhaps of science generally.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Eccentricity growth and orbit flip in coplanar hierarchical three body systems

The dynamical evolution of a hierarchical three body system is well characterized by the eccentric Kozai-Lidov mechanism, where the inner orbit can undergo large eccentricity and inclination oscillations. It was shown before that starting with a circular inner orbit, large mutual inclination (40-140 degree) can produce long timescale modulations that drives the eccentricity to extremely large value and can flip the orbit. Here, we demonstrate that starting with an almost coplanar configuration, for eccentric inner and outer orbits, the eccentricity of the inner orbit can still be excited to high values, and the orbit can flip by ~180 degree, rolling over its major axis. The ~180 degree flip criterion and the flip timescale are described by simple analytic expressions that depend on the initial orbital parameters. With tidal dissipation, this mechanism can produce counter-orbiting exo-planetary systems. In addition, we also show that this mechanism has the potential to enhance the tidal disruption or collision rates for different systems.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

The kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect from the diffuse gas in the Local Group

Since the Local Group (LG) of galaxies moves with a bulk velocity with respect to the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), free electrons in its gaseous halo should imprint large-scale non-primordial temperature shifts in the CMB via the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect. By modeling the distribution of gas in the LG halo and using its inferred velocity with respect to the CMB, we calculate the resulting kSZ signal from the diffuse LG medium. We find that it is dominated by a hot spot $\sim 10^\circ$ in size in the direction of M31, where the optical depth of free electrons is the greatest. By performing a correlation analysis, we find no statistical evidence that the kSZ signal from model of the LG halo is embedded in the CMB temperature map measured by the Planck satellite. We constrain the amount of mass in the LG halo by limiting the kSZ temperature shift around the hot spot to be smaller than the observed temperature shift in the Planck map. We find the tightest constraints for models where the halo mass is highly concentrated, with the mass limited to roughly $2.5-5\times 10^{12}$M$_\odot$, but note that halos with such high concentrations are rare.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Fast radio bursts may originate from nearby flaring stars

Six cases of fast radio bursts (FRBs) have recently been discovered. The FRBs are bright (~0.1 - 1 Jy) and brief (~ 1 ms) pulses of radio emission with dispersion measures (DMs) that exceed Galactic values, and hence FRBs have been interpreted to be at cosmological distances. We propose, instead, that FRBs are rare eruptions of flaring main-sequence stars within ~1 kpc. Rather than associating their excess DM with the intergalactic medium, we relate it to a blanket of coronal plasma around their host stars. We have monitored at optical bands the stars within the radio beams of three of the known FRBs. In one field, we find a bright (V=13.6 mag) variable star (0.2 mag peak-to-trough) with a main-sequence G-type spectrum and a period P = 7.8 hr, likely a W-UMa-type contact binary. Analysis of our data outside of the FRB beams indicates a 5% chance probability of finding a variable star of this brightness and amplitude within the FRB beams. We find no unusual variable stars in the other two FRB fields. Further observations are needed to investigate if similar nearby (<~ 800 pc) stars are the sources of FRBs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

Resonant Post-Newtonian Eccentricity Excitation in Hierarchical Three-body Systems

We study the secular, hierarchical three-body problem to first-order in a post-Newtonian expansion of General Relativity. We expand the first-order post-Newtonian Hamiltonian to leading-order in the ratio of the semi-major axis of the two orbits. In addition to the well-known terms that correspond to the GR precession of the inner and outer orbits, we find a new secular post-Newtonian interaction term that can affect the long-term evolution of the triple. We explore the parameter space for highly inclined and eccentric systems, where the Kozai-Lidov mechanism can produce large-amplitude oscillations in the eccentricities. The standard lore, i.e., that General Relativity effects suppress eccentricity, is only consistent with the parts of phase space where the General Relativity timescales are several orders of magnitude shorter than the secular Newtonian one. In other parts of phase space, however, post-Newtonian corrections combined with the three body ones, can excite eccentricities. In particular, for systems where the General Relativity timescale is comparable to the secular Newtonian timescales, the three-body interactions give rise to a resonant-like eccentricity excitation. Furthermore, for triples with a comparable-mass inner binary, where the eccentric Kozai-Lidov mechanism is suppressed, post-Newtonian corrections can further increase the eccentricity and lead to orbital flips even when the timescale of the former is much longer than the timescale of the secular Kozai-Lidov quadrupole perturbations.

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arXiv2013

The 21-cm Signal from the Cosmological Epoch of Recombination

The redshifted 21-cm emission by neutral hydrogen offers a unique tool for mapping structure formation in the early universe in three dimensions. Here we provide the first detailed calculation of the 21-cm emission signal during and after the epoch of hydrogen recombination in the redshift range of z ~ 500-1,100, corresponding to observed wavelengths of 100-230 meters. The 21-cm line deviates from thermal equilibrium with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) due to the excess Ly-alpha radiation from hydrogen and helium recombinations. The resulting 21-cm signal reaches a brightness temperature of a milli-Kelvin, orders of magnitude larger than previously estimated. Its detection by a future lunar or space-based observatory could improve dramatically the statistical constraints on the cosmological initial conditions compared to existing two-dimensional maps of the CMB anisotropies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Constraining the Minimum Luminosity of High Redshift Galaxies through Gravitational Lensing

We simulate the effects of gravitational lensing on the source count of high redshift galaxies as projected to be observed by the Hubble Frontier Fields program and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in the near future. Taking the mass density profile of the lensing object to be the singular isothermal sphere (SIS) or the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) profile, we model a lens residing at a redshift of z_L = 0.5 and explore the radial dependence of the resulting magnification bias and its variability with the velocity dispersion of the lens, the photometric sensitivity of the instrument, the redshift of the background source population, and the intrinsic maximum absolute magnitude (M_{max}) of the sources. We find that gravitational lensing enhances the number of galaxies with redshifts z >= 13 detected in the angular region θ_E/2 <= θ<= 2θ_E (where θ_E is the Einstein angle) by a factor of ~ 3 and 1.5 in the HUDF (df/dν_0 ~ 9 nJy) and medium-deep JWST surveys (df/dν_0 ~ 6 nJy). Furthermore, we find that even in cases where a negative magnification bias reduces the observed number count of background sources, the lensing effect improves the sensitivity of the count to the intrinsic faint-magnitude cut-off of the Schechter luminosity function. In a field centered on a strong lensing cluster, observations of z >= 6 and z >= 13 galaxies with JWST can be used to infer this cut-off magnitude for values as faint as M_{max} ~ -14.4 and -16.1 mag (L_{min} ~ 2.5*10^{26} and 1.2*10^{27} erg s^{-1} Hz^{-1}) respectively, within the range bracketed by existing theoretical models. Gravitational lensing may therefore offer an effective way of constraining the low-luminosity cut-off of high-redshift galaxies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Testing the No-Hair Theorem with Event Horizon Telescope Observations of Sagittarius A*

The advent of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a millimeter-wave very-long baseline interferometric array, has enabled spatially-resolved studies of the sub-horizon-scale structure for a handful of supermassive black holes. Among these, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), presents the largest angular cross section. Thus far, these studies have focused upon measurements of the black hole spin and the validation of low-luminosity accretion models. However, a critical input into the analysis of EHT data is the structure of the black hole spacetime, and thus these observations provide the novel opportunity to test the applicability of the Kerr metric to astrophysical black holes. Here we present the first simulated images of a radiatively inefficient accretion flow (RIAF) around Sgr A* employing a quasi-Kerr metric that contains an independent quadrupole moment in addition to the mass and spin that fully characterize a black hole in general relativity. We show that these images can be significantly different from the images of a RIAF around a Kerr black hole with the same spin and demonstrate the feasibility of testing the no-hair theorem by constraining the quadrupolar deviation from the Kerr metric with existing EHT data. Equally important, we find that the disk inclination and spin orientation angles are robust to the inclusion of additional parameters, providing confidence in previous estimations assuming the Kerr metric based upon EHT observations. However, at present the limits upon potential modifications of the Kerr metric remain weak.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2013

The virialization density of peaks with general density profiles under spherical collapse

We calculate the non-linear virialization density, $Δ_c$, of halos under spherical collapse from peaks with an arbitrary initial and final density profile. This is in contrast to the standard calculation of $Δ_c$ which assumes top-hat profiles. Given our formalism, the non-linear halo density can be calculated once the shape of the initial peak's density profile and the shape of the virialized halo's profile are provided. We solve for $Δ_c$ for halos in an Einstein de-Sitter and $Λ$CDM universe. As examples, we consider power-law initial profiles as well as spherically averaged peak profiles calculated from the statistics of a Gaussian random field. We find that, depending on the profiles used, $Δ_c$ is smaller by a factor of a few to as much as a factor of 10 as compared to the density given by the standard calculation ($\approx 200$). Using our results, we show that, for halo finding algorithms that identify halos through an over-density threshold, the halo mass function measured from cosmological simulations can be enhanced at all halo masses by a factor of a few. This difference could be important when using numerical simulations to assess the validity of analytic models of the halo mass function.

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