arXiv subjects

Olaf Wucknitz

Publications and source records attributed to Olaf Wucknitz.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

The LOFAR View of Cosmic Magnetism

The origin of magnetic fields in the Universe is an open problem in astrophysics and fundamental physics. Polarization observations with the forthcoming large radio telescopes will open a new era in the observation of magnetic fields and should help to understand their origin. At low frequencies, LOFAR (10-240 MHz) will allow us to map the structure of weak magnetic fields in the outer regions and halos of galaxies, in galaxy clusters and in the Milky Way via their synchrotron emission. Even weaker magnetic fields can be measured at low frequencies with help of Faraday rotation measures. A detailed view of the magnetic fields in the local Milky Way will be derived by Faraday rotation measures from pulsars. First promising images with LOFAR have been obtained for the Crab pulsar-wind nebula, the spiral galaxy M51, the radio galaxy M87 and the galaxy clusters A2255 and A2256. With help of the polarimetric technique of "Rotation Measure Synthesis", diffuse polarized emission has been detected from a magnetic bubble in the local Milky Way. Polarized emission and rotation measures were measured for more than 20 pulsars so far.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2011

LOFAR: Recent imaging results & future prospects

The Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) is under construction in the Netherlands and in several surrounding European countries. In this contribution, we describe the layout and design of the telescope, with a particular emphasis on the imaging characteristics of the array when used in its "standard imaging" mode. After briefly reviewing the calibration and imaging software used for LOFAR image processing, we show some recent results from the ongoing imaging commissioning efforts. We conclude by summarizing future prospects for the use of LOFAR in observing the little-explored low frequency Universe.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Wide-field VLBI imaging of M31 - first results

One of our closest neighbours, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) has been the subject of numerous large area studies across the entire spectrum, but so far full-disk radio surveys have been conducted only at low resolution. The new wide-field capabilities of the DiFX software correlator present the possibility of imaging the entire primary beam of a VLBI array, thus enabling a high resolution wide-field study of the entire galaxy. Using the VLBA and EVN, pilot observations of M31 have been carried out with the aim of using these new wide-field techniques to characterise the population of compact components at VLBI resolution both within and behind one of our nearest neighbours. This contribution describes the observations carried out, the preliminary processing and first results.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Very Large Array observations of the 8 o'clock arc lens system: Radio emission and a limit on the star-formation rate

The 8 o'clock arc is a gravitationally lensed Lyman Break Galaxy (LBG) at redshift z=2.73 that has a star-formation rate (SFR) of 270 solar-mass/year (derived from optical and near-infrared spectroscopy). Taking the magnification of the system ~12 and the SFR into account, the expected flux density of any associated radio emission at 1.4 GHz is predicted to be just 0.1 mJy. However, the lens system is found to be coincident with a radio source detected in the NRAO Very Large Array (VLA) Sky Survey with a flux density of ~5 mJy. If this flux density is attributed to the lensed LBG then it would imply a SFR ~11000 solar-mass/year, in contrast with the optical and near-infrared derived value. We want to investigate the radio properties of this system, and independently determine the SFR for the LBG from its lensed radio emission. We have carried out new high resolution imaging with the VLA ain A and B-configurations at 1.4 and 5 GHz. We find that the radio emission is dominated by a radio-loud AGN associated with the lensing galaxy. The radio-jet from the AGN partially covers the lensed arc of the LBG, and we do not detect any radio emission from the unobscured region of the arc down to a 3 sigma flux-density limit of 108 micro-Jy/beam. Using the radio data, we place a limit of <750 solar-mass/year for the SFR of the LBG, which is consistent with the results from the optical and near-infrared spectroscopy. We expect that the sensitivity of the Expanded VLA will be sufficient to detect many high redshift LBGs that are gravitationally lensed after only a few hours of observing time. The high angular resolution provided by the EVLA will also allow detailed studies of the lensed galaxies and determine if there is radio emission from the lens.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Long baseline experiments with LOFAR

I present first results of LOFAR observations with international baselines. An important cornerstone was the detection of the first long-baseline fringes. Their analysis turns out to be extremely useful to investigate and solve a number of technical issues of the instrument. Crude maps of the sky are created from single-baseline delay/fringe-rate spectra and compared with a short-baseline synthesis map. First long-baseline LBA images are shown of the source 3C196, a bright quasar whose sub-components can only be resolved with the long baselines. The corresponding sub-arcsec HBA image does not show the same amount of details yet, but HBA results are expected to improve significantly very soon. The LBA long-baseline image of 3C196 comprises the highest-resolution radio map ever produced at this low frequency.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2009

Lofar, E-Lofar and Low-Frequency Vlbi

The Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) is a new generation of electronic radio telescope based on aperture array technology. The telescope is being developed by ASTRON, and currently being rolled out across the Netherlands and other countries in Europe. I present the current status of the project, and its relation to high resolution instruments such as the European VLBI Network (EVN) and the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). In particular, I present recent VLBI results at 327 MHz associated with: (i) a shallow survey based on VLBA archive data and (ii) a deep, wide-field Global VLBI survey centred on two in-beam calibrators, B0218+357 and J0226+3421. The results suggest that there will be no shortage of relatively bright primary calibrators that remain unresolved by LOFAR even on the longest European baselines. The sky density of fainter in-beam calibrators should also be more than adequate to permit the generation of high fidelity images over a large fraction of the sky, especially in the high-band observing band (120-240 MHz). Extending LOFAR via international stations to baseline lengths of several thousand kilometres is certainly practical and should significantly enhance the scientific output and capabilities of the array.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

The gravitational lens J1131-1231 - How to avoid missing an opportunity

So far the lens J1131-1231 has been studied only at optical and X-ray wavelengths. A detection in the radio was almost missed as a result of an incorrect position and archive problems. A direct analysis of NVSS uv data - in contrast to the catalogue or images alone - provided sufficient evidence of a detection to justify further radio investigations. The system was subsequently observed with MERLIN and the EVN in e-VLBI mode. Even though MERLIN seems to show the lensed star-forming regions and the compact cores, a preliminary analysis of the EVN data only shows an AGN in the lens itself but not the lensed cores. Additional VLA observations will be carried out soon.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Gravitational lens surveys with LOFAR

Deep surveys planned as a Key Science Project of LOFAR provide completely new opportunities for gravitational lens searches. For the first time do large-scale surveys reach the resolution required for a direct selection of lens candidates using morphological criteria. We briefly describe the strategies that we will use to exploit this potential. The long baselines of an international E-LOFAR are essential for this project.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

A deep, high resolution survey of the low frequency radio sky

We report on the first wide-field, very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) survey at 90 cm. The survey area consists of two overlapping 28 deg^2 fields centred on the quasar J0226+3421 and the gravitational lens B0218+357. A total of 618 sources were targeted in these fields, based on identifications from Westerbork Northern Sky Survey (WENSS) data. Of these sources, 272 had flux densities that, if unresolved, would fall above the sensitivity limit of the VLBI observations. A total of 27 sources were detected as far as 2 arcdegrees from the phase centre. The results of the survey suggest that at least 10% of moderately faint (S~100 mJy) sources found at 90 cm contain compact components smaller than ~0.1 to 0.3 arcsec and stronger than 10% of their total flux densities. A ~90 mJy source was detected in the VLBI data that was not seen in the WENSS and NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) data and may be a transient or highly variable source that has been serendipitously detected. This survey is the first systematic (and non-biased), deep, high-resolution survey of the low-frequency radio sky. It is also the widest field of view VLBI survey with a single pointing to date, exceeding the total survey area of previous higher frequency surveys by two orders of magnitude. These initial results suggest that new low frequency telescopes, such as LOFAR, should detect many compact radio sources and that plans to extend these arrays to baselines of several thousand kilometres are warranted.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2007

Gravitational lensing

This is a short and biased review of gravitational lensing with emphasis on the radio and especially VLBI aspects. We briefly explain the basic idea and give a short sketch of the discovery of the first lens, before we more systematically discuss the general fields that can be studied with lensing. We intentionally omit the details the average lensing expert would like to see and instead try to give a very general overview addressed to the radio astronomer working in some other field. The lens B0218+357 is presented as an example to show many aspects of lensing in a case that already has led to interesting results but still has additional potential for the future.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Living life on the edge - Wide-field VLBI at 90 cm!

We report on a recent 90 cm wide-field VLBI survey of two 3.1 deg^2 fields using the VLBA, Westerbork and Jodrell Bank telescopes. In-beam calibration was used to calibrate each field, the process was simplified by imaging the calibrators in DIFMAP and transferring the calibration solutions to AIPS using the newly developed DIFMAP task - cordump. We detected and imaged 13 out of the 141 sources originally detected by the low resolution (54") WENSS survey of the same two fields. The sources were detected at 7-12 sigma levels above the image noise, had total flux densities ranging between 85-1640 mJy and were between 16'-58' from the phase centre of each field. This is the first systematic (and non-biased), deep, high resolution survey of the low frequency radio sky. These initial results suggest that new instruments such as LOFAR should detect many compact radio sources and that plans to extend these arrays to baselines of several thousand kilometres are warranted.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2006

Free-free absorption in the gravitational lens JVAS B0218+357

We address the issue of anomalous image flux ratios seen in the double-image gravitational lens JVAS B0218+357. From the multi-frequency observations presented in a recent study (Mittal et al. 2006) and several previous observations made by other authors, the anomaly is well-established in that the image flux-density ratio (A/B) decreases from 3.9 to 2.0 over the observed frequency range from 15 GHz to 1.65 GHz. In Mittal et al. (2006), the authors investigated whether an interplay between a frequency-dependent structure of the background radio-source and a gradient in the relative image-magnification can explain away the anomaly. Insufficient shifts in the image centroids with frequency led them to discard the above effect as the cause of the anomaly. In this paper, we first take this analysis further by evaluating the combined effect of the background source extension and magnification gradients in the lens plane in more detail. This is done by making a direct use of the observed VLBI flux-distributions for each image to estimate the image flux-density ratios at different frequencies from a lens-model. As a result of this investigation, this mechanism does not account for the anomaly. Following this, we analyze the effects of mechanisms which are non-gravitational in nature on the image flux ratios in B0218+357. These are free-free absorption and scattering, and are assumed to occur under the hypothesis of a molecular cloud residing in the lens galaxy along the line-of-sight to image A. We show that free-free absorption due to an H II region covering the entire structure of image A at 1.65 GHz can explain the image flux ratio anomaly. We also discuss whether H II regions with physical parameters as derived from our analysis are consistent with those observed in Galactic and extragalactic H II regions.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

VLBI phase-reference observations of the gravitational lens JVAS B0218+357

We present the results of phase-referenced VLBA+Effelsberg observations at five frequencies of the double-image gravitational lens JVAS B0218+357, made to establish the precise registration of the A and B lensed image positions. The motivation behind these observations is to investigate the anomalous variation of the image flux density ratio (A/B) with frequency - this ratio changes by almost a factor of two over a frequency range from 1.65 GHz to 15.35 GHz. We investigate whether frequency dependent image positions, combined with a magnification gradient across the image field, could give rise to the anomaly. Our observations confirm the variation of image flux ratio with frequency. The results from our phase-reference astrometry, taken together with the lens mass model of Wucknitz et al. (2004), show that shifts of the image peaks and centroids are too small to account for the observed frequency-dependent ratio.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Sagnac effect, twin paradox and space-time topology - Time and length in rotating systems and closed Minkowski space-times

We discuss the Sagnac effect in standard Minkowski coordinates and with an alternative synchronization convention. We find that both approaches lead to the same result without any contradictions. When applying standard coordinates to the complete rim of the rotating disk, a time-lag has to be taken into account which accounts for the global anisotropy. We propose a closed Minkowski space-time as an exact equivalent to the rim of a disk, both in the rotating and non-rotating case. In this way the Sagnac effect can be explained as being purely topological, neglecting the radial acceleration altogether. This proves that the rim of the disk can be treated as an inertial system. In the same context we discuss the twin paradox and find that the standard scenario is equivalent to an unaccelerated version in a closed space-time. The closed topology leads to preferred frame effects which can be detected only globally. The relation of synchronization conventions to the measurement of lengths is discussed in the context of Ehrenfest's paradox. This leads to a confirmation of the classical arguments by Ehrenfest and Einstein.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2004

Deflection of light and particles by moving gravitational lenses

Various authors have investigated the problem of light deflection by radially moving gravitational lenses - with inconsistent results. In this paper we generalize the calculations for arbitrary lens velocities and show that, to first order in the lens velocity v, the deflection angles scales with 1-v. We discuss the seeming inconsistency of relativistic light deflection with the classical picture of moving test particles by generalizing the lens effect to test particles of arbitrary velocity, including light as a limiting case. We show that the effect of radial motion of the lens is very different for slowly moving test particles and light and that a critical test particle velocity exists for which the motion of the lens has no effect on the deflection angle to first order. An interesting and not immediately intuitive result is obtained in the limit of a highly relativistic motion of the lens towards the observer, where the deflection angle of light reduces to zero. This phenomenon is elucidated in terms of moving refractive media. Furthermore, we discuss the dragging of inertial frames in the field of a moving lens and the corresponding Lense-Thirring precession, in order to shed more light on the geometrical effects in the surroundings of a moving mass. In a second part we discuss the effect of transversal motion on the observed redshift of lensed sources. We demonstrate how a simple kinematic calculation explains the effects for arbitrary velocities of the lens and test particles. Additionally we include the transversal motion of the source and observer to show that all three velocities can be combined into an effective relative transversal velocity similar to the approach used in microlensing studies.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Degeneracies and scaling relations in general power-law models for gravitational lenses

The time delay in gravitational lenses can be used to derive the Hubble constant in a relatively simple way. The results of this method are less dependent on astrophysical assumptions than in many other methods. The most important uncertainty is related to the mass model used. We discuss a family of models with a separable radial power-law and an arbitrary angular dependence for the potential psi = r^beta * F(theta). Isothermal potentials are a special case of these models with beta=1. An additional external shear is used to take into account perturbations from other galaxies. Using a simple linear formalism for quadruple lenses, we can derive H0 as a function of the observables and the shear. If the latter is fixed, the result depends on the assumed power-law exponent according to H0 proportional to (2-beta)/beta. The effect of external shear is quantified by introducing a `critical shear' gamma_c as a measure for the amount of shear that changes the result significantly. The analysis shows, that in the general case H0 and gamma_c do not depend on the position of the lens galaxy. We discuss these results and compare with numerical models for a number of real lens systems.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2001

LensCLEANing JVAS B0218+357 to determine H0

We use the radio ring in JVAS B0218+357 to constrain the mass models with LensCLEAN. H0 is determined from the resulting model and the time delay. B0218+357 is one of the best systems to reduce systematic errors in H0 and may thus be called a "golden lens".

astro-ph↗

arXiv1999

The extreme high frequency peaked BL Lac 1517+656

We present optical spectroscopy data that allowed a measurement of the redshift for the X-ray selected BL Lacertae object 1517+656. With a redshift of z = 0.702 this object has an absolute magnitude of B = -26.4 and is also an extremely powerful radio and X-ray source. Although being a high frequency peaked BL Lac, this object is one of the most luminous BL Lac objects known so far. Being also a candidate for gravitational lensing, this object is of high interest for the BL Lac research. Assuming several cosmological models and a realistic redshift for the lensed object, we find that 1517+656 has a mass > 2 * 10^12 solar masses and a high velocity dispersion > 350 km/sec.

astro-ph↗