arXiv subjects

Johannes Buchner

Publications and source records attributed to Johannes Buchner.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Relative Jump Distance: a diagnostic for Nested Sampling

Nested sampling is widely used in astrophysics for reliably inferring model parameters and comparing models within a Bayesian framework. To address models with many parameters, Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) random walks are incorporated within nested sampling to advance a live point population. Diagnostic tools for nested sampling are crucial to ensure the reliability of astrophysical conclusions. We develop a diagnostic to identify problematic random walks that fail to meet the requirements of nested sampling. The distance from the start to the end of the random walk, the jump distance, is divided by the typical neighbor distance between live points, computed robustly with the MLFriends algorithm, to obtain a relative jump distance (RJD). We propose the geometric mean RJD and the fraction of RJD>1 as new summary diagnostics. Relative jump distances are investigated with mock and real-world inference applications, including inferring the distance to gravitational wave event GW170817. Problematic nested sampling runs are identified based on significant differences to reruns with much longer MCMC chains. These consistently exhibit low average RJDs and f(RJD>1) values below 50 percent. The RJD is more sensitive than previous tests based on the live point insertion order. The RJD diagnostic is proposed as a widely applicable diagnostic to verify inference with nested sampling. It is implemented in the UltraNest package in version 4.1.

stat.ME↗

arXiv2024

A revisit of the Mass-Metallicity Trends in Transiting Exoplanets

The two prevailing planet formation scenarios, core-accretion and disk instability, predict distinct planetary mass-metallicity relations. Yet, the detection of this trend remains challenging due to inadequate data on planet atmosphere abundance and inhomogeneities in both planet and host stellar abundance measurements. Here we analyze high-resolution spectra for the host stars of 19 transiting exoplanets to derive the C, O, Na, S, and K abundances, including planetary types from cool mini-Neptunes to hot Jupiters ($T_{\rm eq}\ \sim$ 300 - 2700 K; planet radius $\sim$ 0.1 - 2 $R_{\rm J}$). Our Monte Carlo simulations suggest that the current dataset, updated based on Welbanks et al. 2019, is unable to distinguish between a linear relation and an independent distribution model for the abundance-mass correlation for water, Na, or K. To detect a trend with strong evidence (Bayes factor > 10) at the 2$σ$ confidence interval, we recommend a minimum sample of 58 planets with HST measurements of water abundances coupled with [O/H] of the host stars, or 45 planets at the JWST precision. Coupled with future JWST or ground-based high resolution data, this well-characterized sample of planets with precise host star abundances constitute an important ensemble of planets to further probe the abundance-mass correlation.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2024

A Case for a Binary Black Hole System Revealed via Quasi-Periodic Outflows

Binaries containing a compact object orbiting a supermassive black hole are thought to be precursors of gravitational wave events, but their identification has been extremely challenging. Here, we report quasi-periodic variability in X-ray absorption which we interpret as quasi-periodic outflows (QPOuts) from a previously low-luminosity active galactic nucleus after an outburst, likely caused by a stellar tidal disruption. We rule out several models based on observed properties and instead show using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations that QPOuts, separated by roughly 8.3 days, can be explained with an intermediate-mass black hole secondary on a mildly eccentric orbit at a mean distance of about 100 gravitational radii from the primary. Our work suggests that QPOuts could be a new way to identify intermediate/extreme-mass ratio binary candidates.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Characterising X-ray variability in light curves with complex sampling patterns: application to the eROSITA south ecliptic pole survey

Aims: During its all-sky survey phase, the eROSITA X-ray telescope onboard SRG scans through the ecliptic poles every 4 hours. This extensive data set of long-duration, frequent, and consistent observations of thousands of X-ray sources is ideal for a detailed long-term X-ray variability analysis. However, individual observations are short, are separated by long but consistent gaps, and have varying exposure times. Therefore, the identification of variable sources, and the characterisation and quantification of their variability requires a unique methodology. We aim to develop and evaluate such methods for eROSITA observations, focusing on sources close to the survey poles. Methods: We simulate eROSITA-like light curves to evaluate and quantify the effect of survey mode observations on the measured periodogram and normalised excess variance. We introduce a new method for estimating the normalised intrinsic variance of a source based on the Bayesian excess variance (bexvar) method. Results: We determine thresholds for identifying likely variable sources while minimising the false-positive rate, as a function of the number of bins, and the average count rate in the light curve. The bexvar normalised intrinsic variance estimate is significantly more accurate than the normalised excess variance method in the Poisson regime. At high count rates, the two methods are comparable. We quantify the scatter in the intrinsic variance of a stationary pink noise process, and investigate how to reduce it. Finally, we determine a description of the excess noise in a periodogram caused by varying exposure times throughout a light curve. Although most of these methods were developed specifically for analysing variable AGN in the eROSITA all-sky survey, they can also be used for the variability analysis of other datasets from other telescopes, with slight modifications.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2024

Characterisation of the X-ray point source variability in the eROSITA south ecliptic pole field

Aims: During the Spectrum Roentgen Gamma (SRG)/ eROSITA all-sky surveys, X-ray sources close to the South Ecliptic Pole (SEP) are observed almost every 4 hours. We aim to identify the sources exhibiting the most significant long-term X-ray variability within 3 degrees of the SEP in the first three surveys, and investigate their properties. Methods: We determined the variability significance of all sources observed by eROSITA within 3 degrees of the SEP by using thresholds on the Bayesian excess variance (SCATT_LO) and the maximum amplitude deviation (AMPL_SIG). Sources exhibiting a variability significance above $3σ$ were subdivided into likely Galactic and extragalactic sources, by using spectral and photometric information of their optical counterparts. We quantified the X-ray normalised excess variances of all variable sources, and also calculated the periodograms of the brightest ones. Results: Out of more than $10^4$ X-ray sources detected by eROSITA within 3 degrees of the SEP, we identified 453 that exhibit significant X-ray variability. SCATT_LO is significantly more sensitive to detecting variable sources in this field, but AMPL_SIG helps provide a more complete variability sample. Of those variable sources, 168 were classified as likely extragalactic, and 235 as likely Galactic. The periodograms of most bright and variable extragalactic sources are approximately described by an aliased power law ($P\proptoν^{-α}$) with an index of $α\approx 1$. We identified a potential tidal disruption event, and long-term transient sources. The stellar X-ray variability was predominantly caused by bright X-ray flares from coronally active stars.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Pulse Profile Modelling of Thermonuclear Burst Oscillations II: Handling variability

Pulse profile modelling is a relativistic ray-tracing technique that can be used to infer masses, radii and geometric parameters of neutron stars. In a previous study, we looked at the performance of this technique when applied to thermonuclear burst oscillations from accreting neutron stars. That study showed that ignoring the variability associated with burst oscillation sources resulted in significant biases in the inferred mass and radius, particularly for the high count rates that are nominally required to obtain meaningful constraints. In this follow-on study, we show that the bias can be mitigated by slicing the bursts into shorter segments where variability can be neglected, and jointly fitting the segments. Using this approach, the systematic uncertainties on the mass and radius are brought within the range of the statistical uncertainty. With about 10$^6$ source counts, this yields uncertainties of approximately 10% for both the mass and radius. However, this modelling strategy requires substantial computational resources. We also confirm that the posterior distributions of the mass and radius obtained from multiple bursts of the same source can be merged to produce outcomes comparable to that of a single burst with an equivalent total number of counts.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

The High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P): Bringing the Cosmic X-ray Background into Focus

Since the discovery of the cosmic X-ray background (CXB), astronomers have strived to understand the accreting supermassive black holes (SMBHs) contributing to its peak in the 10-40 keV band. Existing soft X-ray telescopes could study this population up to only 10 keV, and, while NuSTAR (focusing on 3--24 keV) made great progress, it also left significant uncertainties in characterizing the hard X-ray population, crucial for calibrating current population synthesis models. This paper presents an in-depth analysis of simulations of two extragalactic surveys (deep and wide) with the High-Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P), each observed for 2 Ms. Applying established source detection techniques, we show that HEX-P surveys will reach a flux of $\sim$10$^{-15}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$ in the 10-40 keV band, an order of magnitude fainter than current NuSTAR surveys. With the large sample of new hard X-ray detected sources ($\sim2000$), we showcase HEX-P's ability to resolve more than 80% of the CXB up to 40 keV into individual sources. The expected precision of HEX-P's resolved background measurement will allow us to distinguish between population synthesis models of SMBH growth. HEX-P leverages accurate broadband (0.5-40 keV) spectral analysis and the combination of soft and hard X-ray colors to provide obscuration constraints even for the fainter sources, with the overall objective of measuring the Compton-thick fraction. With unprecedented sensitivity in the 10--40 keV band, HEX-P will explore the hard X-ray emission from AGN to flux limits never reached before, thus expanding the parameter space for serendipitous discoveries. Consequently, it is plausible that new models will be needed to capture the population HEX-P will unveil.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

The High Energy X-ray Probe (HEX-P): The Future of Hard X-ray Dual AGN Science

A fundamental goal of modern-day astrophysics is to understand the connection between supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth and galaxy evolution. Merging galaxies offer one of the most dramatic channels for galaxy evolution known, capable of driving inflows of gas into galactic nuclei, potentially fueling both star formation and central SMBH activity. Dual active galactic nuclei (dual AGNs) in late-stage mergers with nuclear pair separations $<10$ kpc are thus ideal candidates to study SMBH growth along the merger sequence since they coincide with the most transformative period for galaxies. However, dual AGNs can be extremely difficult to confirm and study. Hard X-ray ($>10$ keV) studies offer a relatively contamination-free tool for probing the dense obscuring environments predicted to surround the majority of dual AGN in late-stage mergers. To date, only a handful of the brightest and closest systems have been studied at these energies due to the demanding instrumental requirements involved. We demonstrate the unique capabilities of HEX-P to spatially resolve the soft and - for the first time - hard X-ray counterparts of closely-separated ($\sim2''-5''$) dual AGNs in the local Universe. By incorporating state-of-the-art physical torus models, we reproduce realistic broadband X-ray spectra expected for deeply embedded accreting SMBHs. Hard X-ray spatially resolved observations of dual AGNs - accessible only to HEX-P - will hence transform our understanding of dual AGN in the nearby Universe.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Probing the roles of orientation and multi-scale gas distributions in shaping the obscuration of Active Galactic Nuclei through cosmic time

The origin of obscuration in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is still an open debate. In particular, it is unclear what drives the relative contributions to the line-of-sight column densities from galaxy-scale and torus-linked obscuration. The latter source is expected to play a significant role in Unification Models, while the former is thought to be relevant in both Unification and Evolutionary Models. In this work, we make use of a combination of cosmological semi-analytic models and semi-empirical prescriptions for the properties of galaxies and AGN, to study AGN obscuration. We consider a detailed object-by-object modelling of AGN evolution, including different AGN light curves (LCs), gas density profiles, and also AGN feedback-induced gas cavities. Irrespective of our assumptions on specific AGN LC or galaxy gas fractions, we find that, on the strict assumption of an exponential profile for the gas component, galaxy-scale obscuration alone can hardly reproduce the fraction of $\log (N_{\rm H}/$cm$^{-2}) \geq 24$ sources at least at $z\lesssim3$. This requires an additional torus component with a thickness that decreases with luminosity to match the data. The torus should be present in all evolutionary stages of a visible AGN to be effective, although galaxy-scale gas obscuration may be sufficient to reproduce the obscured fraction with $22<\log (N_{\rm H}/$cm$^{-2})<24$ (Compton-thin, CTN) if we assume extremely compact gas disc components. The claimed drop of CTN fractions with increasing luminosity does not appear to be a consequence of AGN feedback, but rather of gas reservoirs becoming more compact with decreasing stellar mass.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

A new discovery space opened by eROSITA: Ionised AGN outflows from X-ray selected samples

In the context of an evolutionary model, the outflow phase of an Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) occurs at the peak of its activity, once the central SMBH is massive enough to generate sufficient power to counterbalance the potential well of the host galaxy. This phase plays a vital role in galaxy evolution. We aim to apply various selection methods to isolate powerful AGNs in the feedback phase, trace and characterise their outflows, and explore the link between AGN luminosity and outflow properties. We applied a combination of methods to the eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth survey (eFEDS) catalogue and isolated ~1400 candidates at z>0.5 out of ~11750 AGNs (~12\%). We tested the robustness of our selection on the small subsample of 50 sources with available good quality SDSS spectra at 0.5 1\%. We find that the majority of the outflows have momentum flux ratios lower than 20 which rules out an energy-conserving nature. Our present work points to the unequivocal existence of a rather short AGN outflow phase, paving the way towards a new avenue to dissect AGN outflows in large samples within eROSITA and beyond.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

Statistical Aspects of X-ray Spectral Analysis

This handbook chapter gives a modern introduction to spectral analysis of celestial X-ray sources. Concepts presented include the instrumentation response, the linear modelling approximation, Poisson count statistics and the Gaussian approximation, data re-binning, visualisation techniques, handling backgrounds, Bayesian and frequentist viewpoints, uncertainty quantification of model parameters, model checking, model comparison, and inferring population distributions. Realistic hands-on example exercises with accompanying data files and code are included to apply the theoretical concepts in practice.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

Gammapy: A Python package for gamma-ray astronomy

In this article, we present Gammapy, an open-source Python package for the analysis of astronomical $γ$-ray data, and illustrate the functionalities of its first long-term-support release, version 1.0. Built on the modern Python scientific ecosystem, Gammapy provides a uniform platform for reducing and modeling data from different $γ$-ray instruments for many analysis scenarios. Gammapy complies with several well-established data conventions in high-energy astrophysics, providing serialized data products that are interoperable with other software packages. Starting from event lists and instrument response functions, Gammapy provides functionalities to reduce these data by binning them in energy and sky coordinates. Several techniques for background estimation are implemented in the package to handle the residual hadronic background affecting $γ$-ray instruments. After the data are binned, the flux and morphology of one or more $γ$-ray sources can be estimated using Poisson maximum likelihood fitting and assuming a variety of spectral, temporal, and spatial models. Estimation of flux points, likelihood profiles, and light curves is also supported. After describing the structure of the package, we show, using publicly available $γ$-ray data, the capabilities of Gammapy in multiple traditional and novel $γ$-ray analysis scenarios, such as spectral and spectro-morphological modeling and estimations of a spectral energy distribution and a light curve. Its flexibility and power are displayed in a final multi-instrument example, where datasets from different instruments, at different stages of data reduction, are simultaneously fitted with an astrophysical flux model.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

Snowballing Nested Sampling

A new way to run nested sampling, combined with realistic MCMC proposals to generate new live points, is presented. Nested sampling is run with a fixed number of MCMC steps. Subsequently, snowballing nested sampling extends the run to more and more live points. This stabilizes MCMC proposals over time, and leads to pleasant properties, including that the number of live points and number of MCMC steps do not have to be calibrated, that the evidence and posterior approximation improves as more compute is added and can be diagnosed with convergence diagnostics from the MCMC literature. Snowballing nested sampling converges to a ``perfect'' nested sampling run with infinite number of MCMC steps.

stat.CO↗

arXiv2023

First on-sky results of a FIOS prototype, a Fabry Perot Based Instrument for Oxygen Searches

The upcoming Extremely Large Telescopes (ELTs) are expected to have the collecting area required to detect potential biosignature gases such as molecular oxygen, $\mathrm{O_2}$, in the atmosphere of terrestrial planets around nearby stars. One of the most promising detection methods is transmission spectroscopy. To maximize our capability to detect $\mathrm{O_2}$ using this method, spectral resolutions $\mathrm{R}\geq 300,000$ are required to fully resolve the absorption lines in an Earth-like exoplanet atmosphere and disentangle the signal from telluric lines. Current high-resolution spectrographs typically achieve a spectral resolution of $\mathrm{R}\sim100,000$. Increasing the resolution in seeing limited observations/instruments requires drastically larger optical components, making these instruments even more expensive and hard to fabricate and assemble. Instead, we demonstrate a new approach to high-resolution spectroscopy. We implemented an ultra-high spectral resolution booster to be coupled in front of a high-resolution spectrograph. The instrument is based on a chained Fabry Perot array which generates a hyperfine spectral profile. We present on-sky telluric observations with a lab demonstrator. Depending on the configuration, this two-arm prototype reaches a resolution of R=250,000-350,000. After carefully modeling the prototype's behavior, we propose a Fabry Perot Interferometer (FPI) design for an eight-arm array configuration aimed at ELTs capable of exceeding R=300,000. The novel FPI resolution booster can be plugged in at the front end of an existing R=100,000 spectrograph to overwrite the spectral profile with a higher resolution for exoplanet atmosphere studies.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2023

Nested Sampling Methods

Nested sampling (NS) computes parameter posterior distributions and makes Bayesian model comparison computationally feasible. Its strengths are the unsupervised navigation of complex, potentially multi-modal posteriors until a well-defined termination point. A systematic literature review of nested sampling algorithms and variants is presented. We focus on complete algorithms, including solutions to likelihood-restricted prior sampling, parallelisation, termination and diagnostics. The relation between number of live points, dimensionality and computational cost is studied for two complete algorithms. A new formulation of NS is presented, which casts the parameter space exploration as a search on a tree data structure. Previously published ways of obtaining robust error estimates and dynamic variations of the number of live points are presented as special cases of this formulation. A new online diagnostic test is presented based on previous insertion rank order work. The survey of nested sampling methods concludes with outlooks for future research.

stat.CO↗

arXiv2023

The Eighteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Targeting and First Spectra from SDSS-V

The eighteenth data release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (SDSS) is the first one for SDSS-V, the fifth generation of the survey. SDSS-V comprises three primary scientific programs, or "Mappers": Milky Way Mapper (MWM), Black Hole Mapper (BHM), and Local Volume Mapper (LVM). This data release contains extensive targeting information for the two multi-object spectroscopy programs (MWM and BHM), including input catalogs and selection functions for their numerous scientific objectives. We describe the production of the targeting databases and their calibration- and scientifically-focused components. DR18 also includes ~25,000 new SDSS spectra and supplemental information for X-ray sources identified by eROSITA in its eFEDS field. We present updates to some of the SDSS software pipelines and preview changes anticipated for DR19. We also describe three value-added catalogs (VACs) based on SDSS-IV data that have been published since DR17, and one VAC based on the SDSS-V data in the eFEDS field.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2023

1991T-Like Type Ia Supernovae as an Extension of the Normal Population

Type Ia supernovae remain poorly understood despite decades of investigation. Massive computationally intensive hydrodynamic simulations have been developed and run to model an ever-growing number of proposed progenitor channels. Further complicating the matter, a large number of sub-types of Type Ia supernovae have been identified in recent decades. Due to the massive computational load required, inference of the internal structure of Type Ia supernovae ejecta directly from observations using simulations has previously been computationally intractable. However, deep-learning emulators for radiation transport simulations have alleviated such barriers. We perform abundance tomography on 40 Type Ia supernovae from optical spectra using the radiative transfer code TARDIS accelerated by the probabilistic DALEK deep-learning emulator. We apply a parametric model of potential ejecta structures to comparatively investigate abundance distributions and internal ionization fractions of intermediate-mass elements between normal and 1991T-like Type Ia supernovae. Our inference shows that 1991T-like Type Ia supernovae are under-abundant in the typical intermediate mass elements that heavily contribute to the spectral line formation seen in normal Type Ia supernovae at early times. Additionally, we find that the intermediate-mass elements present in 1991T-like Type Ia supernovae are highly ionized compared to those in the normal Type Ia population. Finally, we conclude that the transition between normal and 1991T-like Type Ia supernovae appears to be continuous observationally and that the observed differences come out of a combination of both abundance and ionization fractions in these supernovae populations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2023

The eROSITA Final Equatorial Depth Survey (eFEDS): Complex absorption and soft excesses in hard X-ray--selected active galactic nuclei

Context. The soft excess, a surplus of X-ray photons above 2 keV with respect to a power law, is a feature of debated physical origin found in the X-ray spectra of many type-1 active galactic nuclei (AGN). The eROSITA instrument aboard the Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) mission will provide an all-sky census of AGN suitable for spectral analysis. Aims. The primary goal of this work is to test a variety of models for the soft X-ray emission of AGN (thermal emission, non-thermal emission, ionised absorption, or neutral partial covering absorption) to help identify the physical origin of the soft X-ray spectral complexity. Differences between these models are examined in the context of this sample to understand the physical properties. Methods. We used Bayesian X-ray analysis to fit a sample of 200 AGN from the eFEDS hard X-ray--selected sample with a variety of phenomenological and physically motivated models. Model selection was performed using the Bayes factor to compare the applicability of each model. Results. We find that 29 sources have evidence for a soft excess at a confidence level >97.5%, all of which are better modelled by an additional soft power law than by thermal blackbody emission. We find 23 of these sources prefer a warm corona model, while six sources prefer relativistic blurred reflection. Additionally many sources show evidence for complex absorption, with 29 preferring a warm absorber and 25 a partial covering absorber. Sources with a soft excess show a significantly higher Eddington ratio than those with warm absorbers. We discuss the implication of these results for the physical processes in the central regions of AGN. Conclusions. Spectral fitting with Bayesian statistics is ideal for the identification of complex absorption and soft excesses in the X-ray spectra of AGN and can allow one to distinguish between different physical interpretations. (Abridged)

astro-ph.HE↗