arXiv subjects

M. Díaz

Publications and source records attributed to M. Díaz.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Optimization of Antenna Performance for Global 21-cm Observations and Verification Using Scaled Copies

The sky-averaged cosmological 21 cm signal can improve our understanding of the evolution of the early Universe from the Dark Age to the end of the Epoch of Reionization. Although the EDGES experiment reported an absorption profile of this signal, there have been concerns about the plausibility of these results, motivating independent validation experiments. One of these initiatives is the Mapper of the IGM Spin Temperature (MIST), which is planned to be deployed at different remote locations around the world. One of its key features is that it seeks to comprehensively compensate for systematic uncertainties through detailed modeling and characterization of its different instrumental subsystems, particularly its antenna. Here we propose a novel optimizing scheme which can be used to design an antenna applied to MIST, improving bandwidth, return loss, and beam chromaticity. This new procedure combines the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm with a commercial electromagnetic simulation software (HFSS). We improved the performance of two antenna models: a rectangular blade antenna, similar to the one used in the EDGES experiment, and a trapezoidal bow-tie antenna. Although the performance of both antennas improved after applying our optimization method, we found that our bow-tie model outperforms the blade antenna by achieving lower reflection losses and beam chromaticity in the entire band of interest. To further validate the optimization process, we also built and characterized 1:20 scale models of both antenna types showing an excellent agreement with our simulations.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Strategic Scientific Plan for Gemini Observatory

We present the Strategic Scientific Plan (SSP) for the direction and activities of the Gemini Observatory in the 2020s. The overarching goal is to ensure that Gemini best uses the available resources to serve the needs of its international user community throughout the coming decade. The actionable items fall into three general categories: (1) preserving Gemini's current facilities and strengths; (2) developing instrumentation and software systems, including data pipelines, to enable new scientific capabilities that build on those strengths; (3) strategizing how visiting instruments can deliver additional valuable capabilities. We provide a high-level timeline (schematically illustrated in one figure) for the main developments discussed in this SSP. The schedule is ambitious, but in light of the recent Gemini in the Era of Multi-Messenger Astronomy (GEMMA) award from the NSF, the plan becomes achievable. Lists of milestones are given for gauging progress. As these milestones are reached and new instruments become available, some current instruments will need to be retired; we make recommendations in this regard. The final section concludes by reemphasizing the importance of a strong partnership committed to the needs of all members.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Stellar activity analysis of Barnard's Star: Very slow rotation and evidence for long-term activity cycle

The search for Earth-like planets around late-type stars using ultra-stable spectrographs requires a very precise characterization of the stellar activity and the magnetic cycle of the star, since these phenomena induce radial velocity (RV) signals that can be misinterpreted as planetary signals. Among the nearby stars, we have selected Barnard's Star (Gl 699) to carry out a characterization of these phenomena using a set of spectroscopic data that covers about 14.5 years and comes from seven different spectrographs: HARPS, HARPS-N, CARMENES, HIRES, UVES, APF, and PFS; and a set of photometric data that covers about 15.1 years and comes from four different photometric sources: ASAS, FCAPT-RCT, AAVSO, and SNO. We have measured different chromospheric activity indicators (H$α$, Ca~{\sc II}~HK and Na I D), as well as the FWHM of the cross-correlation function computed for a sub-set of the spectroscopic data. The analysis of Generalized Lomb-Scargle periodograms of the time series of different activity indicators reveals that the rotation period of the star is 145 $\pm$ 15 days, consistent with the expected rotation period according to the low activity level of the star and previous claims. The upper limit of the predicted activity-induced RV signal corresponding to this rotation period is about 1 m/s. We also find evidence of a long-term cycle of 10 $\pm$ 2 years that is consistent with previous estimates of magnetic cycles from photometric time series in other M stars of similar activity levels. The available photometric data of the star also support the detection of both the long-term and the rotation signals.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2017

What is the Milky Way outer halo made of? High resolution spectroscopy of distant red giants

In a framework where galaxies form hierarchically, extended stellar haloes are predicted to be an ubiquitous feature around Milky Way-like galaxies and to consist mainly of the shredded stellar component of smaller galactic systems. The type of accreted stellar systems are expected to vary according to the specific accretion and merging history of a given galaxy, and so is the fraction of stars formed in-situ versus accreted. Analysis of the chemical properties of Milky Way halo stars out to large Galactocentric radii can provide important insights into the properties of the environment in which the stars that contributed to the build-up of different regions of the Milky Way stellar halo formed. In this work we focus on the outer regions of the Milky Way stellar halo, by determining chemical abundances of halo stars with large present-day Galactocentric distances, $>$15 kpc. The data-set we acquired consists of high resolution HET/HRS, Magellan/MIKE and VLT/UVES spectra for 28 red giant branch stars covering a wide metallicity range, $-3.1 \lesssim$[Fe/H]$\lesssim -0.6$. We show that the ratio of $α$-elements over Fe as a function of [Fe/H] for our sample of outer halo stars is not dissimilar from the pattern shown by MW halo stars from solar neighborhood samples. On the other hand, significant differences appear at [Fe/H]$\gtrsim -1.5$ when considering chemical abundance ratios such as [Ba/Fe], [Na/Fe], [Ni/Fe], [Eu/Fe], [Ba/Y]. Qualitatively, this type of chemical abundance trends are observed in massive dwarf galaxies, such as Sagittarius and the Large Magellanic Cloud. This appears to suggest a larger contribution in the outer halo of stars formed in an environment with high initial star formation rate and already polluted by asymptotic giant branch stars with respect to inner halo samples.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

New Planetary Systems from the Calan-Hertfordshire Extrasolar Planet Search

We report the discovery of eight new giant planets, and updated orbits for four known planets, orbiting dwarf and subgiant stars using the CORALIE, HARPS, and MIKE instruments as part of the Calan-Hertfordshire Extrasolar Planet Search. The planets have masses in the range 1.1-5.4MJs, orbital periods from 40-2900 days, and eccentricities from 0.0-0.6. They include a double-planet system orbiting the most massive star in our sample (HD147873), two eccentric giant planets (HD128356b and HD154672b), and a rare 14 Herculis analogue (HD224538b). We highlight some population correlations from the sample of radial velocity detected planets orbiting nearby stars, including the mass function exponential distribution, confirmation of the growing body of evidence that low-mass planets tend to be found orbiting more metal-poor stars than giant planets, and a possible period-metallicity correlation for planets with masses >0.1MJ, based on a metallicity difference of 0.16 dex between the population of planets with orbital periods less than 100 days and those with orbital periods greater than 100 days.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2008

Beating the spin-down limit on gravitational wave emission from the Crab pulsar

We present direct upper limits on gravitational wave emission from the Crab pulsar using data from the first nine months of the fifth science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). These limits are based on two searches. In the first we assume that the gravitational wave emission follows the observed radio timing, giving an upper limit on gravitational wave emission that beats indirect limits inferred from the spin-down and braking index of the pulsar and the energetics of the nebula. In the second we allow for a small mismatch between the gravitational and radio signal frequencies and interpret our results in the context of two possible gravitational wave emission mechanisms.

astro-ph↗