arXiv subjects

Erick J. Guerra

Publications and source records attributed to Erick J. Guerra.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2002

High-Redshift Radio Galaxies as a Cosmological Tool: Exploration of a Key Assumption and Comparison with Supernova Results

There are many different approaches to using observations to constrain or determine the global cosmological parameters that describe our universe. Methods that rely upon a determination of the coordinate distance to high-redshift sources are particularly useful because they do not involve assumptions about the clustering properties of matter, or the evolution of this clustering. Two of the methods currently being used to determine the coordinate distance to high-redshift sources are the radio galaxy method and the supernova method. These methods are similar in their dependence on the coordinate distance. Here, the radio galaxy method is briefly described and results are presented. One of the underlying assumptions of the method is explored. In addition, the method is compared and contrasted to the supernova method. The constraints imposed on global cosmological parameters by radio galaxies are consistent with those imposed by supernovae. For a universe that is spatially flat with mean mass density $Ω_m$ in non-relativistic matter and mean mass density 1- $Ω_m$ in quintessence, radio galaxies alone indicate at 84 % confidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating at the current epoch. And, independent of whether or not the universe is spatially flat, radio galaxies alone indicate at 95 % confidence that $Ω_m$ must be less than 0.6 at the current epoch.

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arXiv2001

Cosmological Parameters and Quintessence From Radio Galaxies

FRIIb radio galaxies provide a tool to determine the coordinate distance to sources out to redshifts of two. The coordinate distance depends on the present values of global cosmological parameters, quintessence, and the equation of state of quintessence, and provides one of the cleanest determinations of global cosmological parameters because it does not depend on the clustering properties of any mass-energy components. The modified standard candle method (using type Ia supernove) of determining the coordinate distance is compared in detail with the modified standard yardstick method (using FRIIb radio galaxies); the methods are found to be complementary. The most significant difference between the methods is that the radio galaxy method is completely independent of the local distance scale and the properties of local sources, while the supernovae method is very closely tied to the local distance scale and the properties of local sources. FRIIb radio galaxies provide one of the very few reliable probes of the coordinate distance to sources with redshifts out to two. The method indicates that the current value of the density parameter in non-relativistic matter must be low irrespective of whether the universe is spatially flat, and of whether a significant cosmological constant or quintessence pervades the universe at the present epoch. FRIIb radio galaxies indicate that the universe is currently accelerating in its expansion if the primary components of the universe at the present epoch are non-relativistic matter and quintessence, and the universe is spatially flat.

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arXiv2000

Global Cosmological Parameters Determined Using Classical Double Radio Galaxies

A sample of 20 powerful extended radio galaxies with redshifts between zero and two were used to determine constraints on global cosmological parameters. Data for six radio sources were obtained from the VLA archive, analyzed, and combined with the sample of 14 radio galaxies used previously by Guerra & Daly to determine cosmological parameters. The results are consistent with our previous results, and indicate that the current value of the mean mass density of the universe is significantly less than the critical value. A universe with $Ω_m$ of unity is ruled out at 99.0% confidence, and the best fitting values of $Ω_m$ in matter are $0.10^{+0.25}_{-0.10}$ and $-0.25^{+0.35}_{-0.25}$ assuming zero space curvature and zero cosmological constant, respectively. Note that identical results obtain when the low redshift bin, which includes Cygnus A, is excluded; these results are independent of whether the radio source Cygnus A is included. The method does not rely on a zero-redshift normalization. The radio properties of each source are also used to determine the density of the gas in the vicinity of the source, and the beam power of the source. The six new radio sources have physical characteristics similar to those found for the original 14 sources. The density of the gas around these radio sources is typical of gas in present day clusters of galaxies. The beam powers are typically about $10^{45} \hbox{erg s}^{-1}$.

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arXiv2000

Determinations of Key Physical Parameters Related to Classical Double Radio Sources

Multi-frequency radio observations of the radio bridge of a powerful classical double radio source can be used to determine: the beam power of the jets emanating from the AGN; the total time the source will actively produce jets that power large-scale radio emission; the thermal pressure of the medium in the vicinity of the radio source; and the total mass, including dark matter, of the galaxy or cluster of galaxies traced by the ambient gas that surrounds the radio source. Empirical determinations of each of these quantities are obtained and analyzed for 22 radio sources. Typical beam powers are about $10^{45} {erg s}^{-1}$. The characteristic or total time the AGN will actively produce a collimated outflow is estimated. Typical total lifetimes are $\sim (10^7$ to $10^8$) years. Total masses, and mass-density profiles, similar to those of low-redshift clusters of galaxies are obtained. Thus, some clusters of galaxies, or cores of clusters, exist at redshifts of one to two. A new method of estimating the thermal pressure of the ambient gas in the vicinity of a powerful classical double radio source is presented. This new estimate is independent of synchrotron and inverse Compton aging arguments, and depends only upon the properties of the radio lobe and the shape of the radio bridge. Thermal pressures on the order of $10^{-10} {dyne cm}^{-2}$, typical of gas in low-redshift clusters of galaxies, are found for the environments of the sources studied here. It is shown that appreciable amounts of cosmic microwave background diminution (the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect) are expected from many of these clusters. This could be detected at high frequency where the emission from the radio sources is weak.

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arXiv1997

Central Engines of AGN: Properties of Collimated Outflows and Applications for Cosmology

Powerful extended radio galaxies in the 3CR survey are observed out to redshifts of about 2. For redshifts greater than about 0.3, the average lobe-lobe size of the sources decreases monotonically with redshift for all reasonable cosmological parameter choices. This suggests that the characteristic time for which an AGN produces a highly collimated outflow that powers the radio emission is shorter for the high-redshift sources than it is for low-redshift sources. The fact that the characteristic time for which an AGN produces a collimated outflow decreases with redshift implies that the physical mechanism that gives rise to the large scale jets is not Eddington limited. Higher redshift sources have higher radio powers due the flux limit of the sample, and sources with higher radio powers have higher beam powers relative to lower redshift sources. Both the beam power and active lifetime of the AGN are controlled by processes occurring at the heart of the AGN, and may be related for non-Eddington limited processes. The relation between the active lifetime, $t_*$, and the beam power, $L_j$, of powerful extended radio galaxies is investigated here and found to be $t_*\proptoL_j^{-2/3}$. A comparison of the redshift evolution of the characteristic source sizes with that of the average lobe-lobe size for the 3CR sample of radio galaxies could be used to constrain cosmology.

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arXiv1997

Outflow Angles, Bulk Lorentz Factors, and Kinematics of Outflows from the Cores of AGN

Outflow angles and bulk Lorentz factors for 43 sources that have proper motions compiled by Vermeulen & Cohen (1994) are computed on the basis of Doppler factors and observed apparent motions in the plane of the sky. These estimates of outflow angles and bulk Lorentz factors are discussed along with their agreement with orientation unified models of AGN. Intrinsic (i.e. rest frame) brightness temperatures computed by using the inverse Compton and equipartition Doppler factor are discussed along with their relevance to the ``Inverse Compton catastrophe''. Intrinsic luminosity densities and luminosities are presented, and the role of systematic errors is discussed. These studies are carried out using a sample of 100 compact radio sources compiled by Ghisellini et al. (1993). Error estimates for previously computed inverse Compton Doppler factors and equipartition Doppler factors are presented for these sources, along with a few updates of these Doppler factor estimates.

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arXiv1995

Cygnus A and Other 3CR Sources in Cosmological Tests

Powerful extended radio galaxies like Cygnus A can be used for cosmological tests. The characteristic, time-independent length $D_*$ for several radio sources is calculated and compared to the average physical length for a sample of radio galaxies. The ratio of these two lengths as a function of redshift is used to constrain cosmological parameters. Cygnus A is the only low-redshift ($z<0.5$) radio galaxy for which we have an estimate for $D_*$. We comment on the sensitivity to this one low-redshift point, and results including and excluding Cygnus A are shown. A low density universe is favored, and the one free model parameter is relatively well constrained.

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