arXiv subjects

Evanthia Hatziminaoglou

Publications and source records attributed to Evanthia Hatziminaoglou.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

Infrared Constrains on AGN Tori Models

This work focuses on the properties of dusty tori in active galactic nuclei (AGN) derived from the comparison of SDSS type 1 quasars with mid-Infrared (MIR) counterparts and a new, detailed torus model. The infrared data were taken by the Spitzer Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic (SWIRE) Survey. Basic model parameters are constraint, such as the density law of the graphite and silicate grains, the torus size and its opening angle. A whole variety of optical depths is supported. The favoured models are those with decreasing density with distance from the centre, while there is no clear tendency as to the covering factor, i.e. small, medium and large covering factors are almost equally distributed. Based on the models that better describe the observed SEDs, properties such as the accretion luminosity, the mass of dust, the inner to outer radius ratio and the hydrogen column density are computed. The properties of the tori, as derived fitting the observed SEDs, are independent of the redshift, once observational biases are taken into account.

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arXiv2006

Optical and Infrared Diagnostics of SDSS galaxies in the SWIRE Survey

We present the rest-frame optical and infrared colours of a complete sample of 1114 z<0.3 galaxies from the Spitzer Wide-area InfraRed Extragalactic Legacy Survey (SWIRE) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We discuss the optical and infrared colours of our sample and analyse in detail the contribution of dusty star-forming galaxies and AGN to optically selected red sequence galaxies. We propose that the optical (g-r) colour and infrared log(L_{24}/L_{3.6}) colour of galaxies in our sample are determined primarily by a bulge-to-disk ratio. The (g-r) colour is found to be sensitive to the bulge-to-disk ratio for disk-dominated galaxies, whereas the log(L_{24}/L_{3.6}) colour is more sensitive for bulge-dominated systems. We identify ~18% (195 sources) of our sample as having red optical colours and infrared excess. Typically, the infrared luminosities of these galaxies are found to be at the high end of star-forming galaxies with blue optical colours. Using emission line diagnostic diagrams, 78 are found to have an AGN contribution, and 117 are identified as star-forming systems. The red (g-r) colour of the star-forming galaxies could be explained by extinction. However, their high optical luminosities cannot. We conclude that they have a significant bulge component. The number densities of optically red star-forming galaxies are found to correspond to ~13% of the total number density of our sample. In addition, these systems contribute ~13% of the total optical luminosity density, and 28% of the total infrared luminosity density of our SWIRE/SDSS sample. These objects may reduce the need for "dry-mergers".

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arXiv2006

Understanding Infrared Galaxy Populations: the SWIRE Legacy Survey

We discuss spectral energy distributions, photometric redshifts, redshift distributions, luminosity functions, source-counts and the far infrared to optical luminosity ratio for sources in the SWIRE Legacy Survey. The spectral energy distributions of selected SWIRE sources are modelled in terms of a simple set of galaxy and quasar templates in the optical and near infrared, and with a set of dust emission templates (cirrus, M82 starburst, Arp 220 starburst, and AGN dust torus) in the mid infrared. The optical data, together with the IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 mu data, have been used to determine photometric redshifts. For galaxies with known spectroscopic redshifts there is a notable improvement in the photometric redshift when the IRAC data are used, with a reduction in the rms scatter from 10% in (1+z) to 5%. While further spectroscopic data are needed to confirm this result, the prospect of determining good photometric redshifts for the 2 million extragalactic objects in SWIRE is excellent. The distribution of the different infrared sed types in the L{ir}/L{opt} versus L{ir} plane, where L{ir} and L{opt} are the infrared and optical bolometric luminosities, is discussed. Source-counts at 24, 70 and 160 mu are discussed, and luminosity functions at 3.6 and 24 mu are presented.

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arXiv2004

Multiwavelength Study Of Two Unidentified Gamma-ray Sources

Most counterparts of the identified low-latitude gamma-ray sources are Isolated Neutron Stars (INSs). They are characterized by an extremely high value of the X/optical flux ratio, therefore a systematic X-ray/optical coverage of the fields of unidentified low-latitude gamma-ray sources is the best way to unveil possible INS counterparts. Since the low-latitude sources are heavily affected by the interstellar absorption in both the X-ray and optical bands, we decided to apply the above strategy to two middle-latitude EGRET sources, which could belong to a local galactic population: 3EG J0616-3310 and 3EG J1249-8330. Here we report on the global X-ray characterisation of about 300 objects, on their candidate optical counterparts and on the preliminary results of their identification.

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arXiv2003

Major Mergers of Haloes, Growth of Massive Black Holes and Evolving Luminosity Function of Quasars

We construct a physically motivated analytical model for the quasar luminosity function, based on the joint star formation and feeding of massive black holes suggested by the observed correlation between the black hole mass and the stellar mass of the hosting spheroids. The parallel growth of massive black holes and host galaxies is assumed to be triggered by major mergers of haloes. The halo major merger rate is computed in the frame of the extended Press-Schechter model. The evolution of black holes on cosmological timescales is achieved by the integration of the governing set of differential equations, established from a few reasonable assumptions that account for the distinct (Eddington-limited or supply-limited) accretion regimes. Finally, the typical lightcurves of the reactivated quasars are obtained under the assumption that, in such accretion episodes, the fall of matter onto the black hole is achieved in a self-regulated stationary way. The predicted quasar luminosity function is compared to the luminosity functions of the 2dF QSO sample and other, higher redshift data. We find good agreement in all cases, except for z<1 where the basic assumption of our model is likely to break down.

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arXiv1998

The evolution rate of quasars at various redshifts

The evolution of optically selected quasars is usually supposed to be well described by a single constant parameter, either k_L or k_D, depending whether we refer to luminosity or density evolution. In this paper we present a study of the variations of the evolution parameters with redshift, for different cosmological models, in order to probe the differential evolution with redshift. Two different quasar samples have been analyzed, the AAT Boyle's et al. and the LBQS catalogues. Basically, these samples are divided in redshift intervals and in each of them k_L and k_D are estimated by forcing that =0.5. The dependence with respect to the cosmological parameters is small. Both AAT and LBQS show roughly the same tendencies. LBQS, however, shows strong fluctuations, whose origin is not statistical but rather due to the selection criteria. A discussion on selection techniques, biases and binning effects explains the differences between these results. We finally conclude that the evolution parameter is almost constant in the redshift range 0.7 < z < 1.7, at least within 2 sigma, while it decreases slightly afterwards. Results depend on the binning chosen (but not in a very significant way). The method has been tested with Monte-Carlo simulated catalogues in order to give a better understanding of the results coming from the real catalogues. A correlation between k_L (k_D) and is also derived and is used for the calculation of the error bars on the evolution parameter.

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