arXiv subjects

Prasun Dutta

Publications and source records attributed to Prasun Dutta.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Probing Turbulence in the Interstellar Medium using Radio-Interferometric Observations of Neutral Hydrogen

We develop a visibility based power spectrum estimator to probe the power spectrum directly from the interferometric observations and also estimate the errors in it. A numerical simulation of synthetic observations is also performed to access the efficacy and limitations of this estimator. We use this estimator to evaluate the power spectrum of three individual spiral galaxies, a dwarf galaxy sample and THINGS * spiral galaxies. In each case, the power spectrum is found to follow a power law PHI (U) = AU α over a specific length scale range. The estimated value for the slope α ranges from ~ ~1.5 to ~ -2.6 for the sample of dwarf galaxies. We interpret this bi-modality as arising due to 2D turbulence on length scales much larger than the scale-height of the galaxy disk and 3D otherwise. The power law slope also show a weak correlation with the surface density of star formation rate for these galaxies. We found for the external spiral galaxies the power spectrum is a power law up to a length scale of 10 to 16 kpc, indicating turbulence to be operational at these large length scales. We measure the scale-height of the external nearly face-on spiral galaxy NGC 1058 to be ~ 500 pc interpreting a change in the slope observed in it's power spectrum. Power spectrum of the harassed galaxy NGC 4254 is found to be affected by galaxy harassment. For 18 spiral galaxies derived from the THINGS sample we found no correlation between the power law slope and the different dynamical parameters of these galaxies. For most of the dwarf and spiral galaxies, the intensity fluctuation power spectrum is found to be a direct probe of the density fluctuation and not affected by the velocity fluctuations in ISM. We would attempt to understand these new observations in terms of physical models of the ISM in future.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2010

HI 21 cm opacity fluctuations power spectra towards Cassiopeia A

The angular power spectrum of HI 21 cm opacity fluctuations is a useful statistic for quantifying the observed opacity fluctuations as well as for comparing these with theoretical models. We present here the HI 21 cm opacity fluctuation power spectrum towards the supernova remnant Cas A from interferometric data with spacial resolution of 5" and spectral resolution of 0.4 km/s. The power spectrum has been estimated using a simple but robust visibility based technique. We find that the power spectrum is well fit by a power law P_tau(U) = U^{alpha} with a power law index of alpha ~ -2.86 +/- 0.10 (3 sigma error) over the scales of 0.07 - 2.3 pc for the gas in the Perseus spiral arm and 0.002 - 0.07 pc (480 - 15730 au) for that in the Local arm. This estimated power law index is consistent with earlier observational results based on both HI emission over larger scales and absorption studies over a similar range of scales. We do not detect any statistically significant change in the power law index with the velocity width of the frequency channels. This constrains the power law index of the velocity structure function to be beta = 0.2 +/- 0.6 (3 sigma error).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2010

Turbulence in the Harassed Galaxy NGC 4254

Galaxy harassment is an important mechanism for the morphological evolution of galaxies in clusters. The spiral galaxy NGC 4254 in the Virgo cluster is believed to be a harassed galaxy. We have analyzed the power spectrum of HI emission fluctuations from NGC 4254 to investigate whether it carries any imprint of galaxy harassment. The power spectrum, as determined using the 16 central channels which contain most of the HI emission, is found to be well fitted by a power law $P(U)=AU^α$ with $α =-\ 1.7\pm 0.2$ at length-scales $1.7 \, {\rm k pc}$ to $ 8.4 \, {\rm kpc}$. This is similar to other normal spiral galaxies which have a slope of $\sim -1.5$ and is interpreted as arising from two dimensional turbulence at length-scales larger than the galaxy's scale-height. NGC 4254 is hence yet another example of a spiral galaxy that exhibits scale-invariant density fluctuations out to length-scales comparable to the diameter of the HI disk. While a large variety of possible energy sources like proto-stellar winds, supernovae, shocks, etc. have been proposed to produce turbulence, it is still to be seen whether these are effective on length-scales comparable to that of the entire HI disk. On separately analyzing the HI power spectrum in different parts of NGC 4254, we find that the outer parts have a different slope ($ α= -2.0\pm0.3$) compared to the central part of the galaxy ($α= -1.5\pm0.2$). Such a change in slope is not seen in other, undisturbed galaxies. We suggest that, in addition to changing the overall morphology, galaxy harassment also effects the fine scale structure of the ISM, causing the power spectrum to have a steeper slope in the outer parts.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

The Effect of $w-term$ on Visibility Correlation and Power Spectrum Estimation

Visibility-visibility correlation has been proposed as a technique for the estimation of power spectrum, and used extensively for small field of view observations, where the effect of $w-term$ is usually ignored. We consider power spectrum estimation from the large field of view observations, where the $w-term$ can have a significant effect. Our investigation shows that a nonzero $w$ manifests itself as a modification of the primary aperture function of the instrument. Using a gaussian primary beam, we show that the modified aperture is an oscillating function with a gaussian envelope. We show that the two visibility correlation reproduces the power spectrum beyond a certain baseline given by the width, $U_{w}$ of the modified aperture. Further, for a given interferometer, the maximum $U_{w}$ remains independent of the frequencies of observation. This suggests that, the incorporation of large field of view in radio interferometric observation has a greater effect for larger observing wavelengths.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2009

Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in supernova remnants

We present estimates of the angular power spectra of the synchrotron radiation intensity fluctuations at 6 and 20 cm for the shell type supernova remnant Cas A and the filled-centre Crab supernova remnant. We find that the intensity fluctuations of both sources have a power law power spectrum with index -3.24 +/- 0.03. This power law power spectrum is consistent with the magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in the synchrotron emitting plasma. For Cas A, there is a break in the power spectrum and the power law index changes from -3.2 to -2.2 at large angular scale. This transition occurs at an angular scale that corresponds to the shell thickness of Cas A. We interpret this as a transition from three dimensional turbulence to two dimensional turbulence on scales that are respectively smaller and larger than the shell thickness.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2009

Probing Turbulence in the Interstellar Medium of Galaxies

The power spectrum of HI intensity fluctuation of the interstellar medium carries information of the turbulence dynamics therein. We present a method to estimate the power spectrum of HI intensity fluctuation using radio interferometric observations. The method involves correlating the visibilities in the u-v plane at different baselines. This method is particularly use full for evaluating the power spectrum for the faint dwarf galaxies. We apply this method to 3 spiral galaxies and 5 dwarf galaxies. The measured power spectrum seem to follow a power law P_HI(U) = A U^α, suggesting turbulence to be operational. Further, depending on the slope of the power spectrum, we expect the presence of 2D and 3D turbulence in those galaxies.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

A Study of ISM of Dwarf Galaxies Using HI Power Spectrum Analysis

We estimate the power spectrum of HI intensity fluctuations for a sample of 8 galaxies (7 dwarf and one spiral). The power spectrum can be fitted to a power law P_HI(U) = A U^αfor 6 of these galaxies, indicating turbulence is operational. The estimated best fit value for the slope ranges from ~ -1.5 (AND IV, NGC 628, UGC 4459 and GR 8) to ~ -2.6 (DDO 210 and NGC 3741). We interpret this bi-modality as being due to having effectively 2D turbulence on length scales much larger than the scale height of the galaxy disk and 3D otherwise. This allows us to use the estimated slope to set bounds on the scale heights of the face-on galaxies in our sample. We also find that the power law slope remains constant as we increase the channel thickness for all these galaxies, suggesting that the fluctuations in HI intensity are due to density fluctuations and not velocity fluctuations, or that the slope of the velocity structure function is ~ 0. Finally, for the four galaxies with "2D turbulence" we find that the slope αcorrelates with the star formation rate per unit area, with larger star formation rates leading to steeper power laws. Given our small sample size this result needs to be confirmed with a larger sample.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2009

The Scale Height of NGC 1058 Measured from its HI Power Spectrum

We have measured the HI power spectrum of the nearly face-on spiral galaxy NGC 1058 from radio-interferometric observations using a visibility based estimator. The power spectrum is well fitted by two different power laws $P(U)=AU^α$, one with $α=- 2.5\pm 0.6$ at small length-scales $(600 {\rm pc} {\rm to} 1.5 {\rm kpc})$ and another with $α=- 1.0\pm 0.2$ at large length-scales $(1.5 {\rm kpc} {\rm to} 10.0 {\rm kpc})$. We interpret this change in the slope of the power spectrum as a transition from 3D turbulence at small length-scales to 2D turbulence in the plane of the galaxy's disk at large length-scales. We use the observed break in the power spectrum to estimate the galaxy's scale-height, which we find to be $ 490 \pm 90 $ pc.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2008

Steiner trees and spanning trees in six-pin soap films

We have studied the Steiner tree problem using six-pin soap films in detail. We extend the existing method of experimental realisation of Steiner trees in $n$-terminal problem through soap films to observe new non-minimal Steiner trees. We also produced spanning tree configurations for the first time by our method. Experimentally, by varying the pin diameter, we have achieved these new stable soap film configurations. A new algorithm is presented for creating these Steiner trees theoretically. Exact lengths of these Steiner tree configurations are calculated using a geometrical method. An exact two-parameter empirical formula is proposed for estimating the lengths of these soap film configurations in six-pin soap film problem.

cs.CG↗

arXiv2007

HI power spectrum of the spiral galaxy NGC628

We have measured the HI power spectrum of the nearly face-on spiral galaxy NGC628 (M74) using a visibility based estimator. The power spectrum is well fitted by a power law $P(U)=AU^α$, with $α=- 1.6\pm0.2$ over the length scale $800 {\rm pc} {\rm to} 8 {\rm kpc}$. The slope is found to be independent of the width of the velocity channel. This value of the slope is a little more than one in excess of what has been seen at considerably smaller length scales in the Milky-Way, Small Magellanic Cloud (LMC), Large Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and the dwarf galaxy DDO210. We interpret this difference as indicating a transition from three dimensional turbulence at small scales to two dimensional turbulence in the plane of the galaxy's disk at length scales larger than galaxy's HI scale height. The slope measured here is similar to that found at large scales in the LMC. Our analysis also places an upper limit to the galaxy's scale height at $800\ {\rm pc}$ .

astro-ph↗