arXiv subjects

Sohrab Rahvar

Publications and source records attributed to Sohrab Rahvar.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

The Frequency-Shift in the Gravitational Microlensing

The relative transverse velocity of a lens with respect to the source star in gravitational lensing results in a frequency shift in the light rays passing by a lens. We propose using this relativistic effect for measuring the relative velocity of the lens with respect to the source star in gravitational microlensing. High precision spectrographs with the accuracy of detecting the relative frequency shift in the order of $10^{-11}$ will enable us to measure this effect in the microlensing events. The spectrographs such as ESPRESSO is going to be used for detecting exoplanets with the accuracy of the radial velocity of $0.1$~m/s. This kind of instrument can be used in follow-up observations of the microlensing events. Combining the spectroscopic observation with the parallax measurements of microlensing events from space and proper motion of the source stars with GAIA telescope enables us to measure all the parameters of the microlensing events. The result would be measuring the mass and the transverse velocity of lenses with the masses in the range of the black holes to the free-floating planets.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2019

Investigation of two colliding solitonic cores in Fuzzy Dark Matter models

One of the challenging questions in cosmology is the nature of dark matter particles. Fuzzy Dark Matter (FDM) is one of the candidates which is made of very light ($m_{FDM}\simeq 10^{-22}-10^{-21}$ eV) bosonic particles with no self-interaction. It is introduced by the motivation to solve the core-cusp problem in the galactic halos. In this work, we investigate the observational features from FDM halo collisions. Taking into account the quantum wave-length of the condensed bosonic structure, we determine the interference of the wave function of cores after collision. The fringe formation in the wave function is associated to the density contrast of the dark matter inside the colliding galaxies. The observational signatures of the fringes of the distribution of the dark matter are (i) on the lensing of the background sources, (ii) accumulation of the baryonic plasma tracking the interference of the FDM potential and (iii) excess in the X-ray emission from dense regions. Finally, we provide prospects for the observations of quantum wave features of FDM in the colliding galaxies. The NGC6240 colliding galaxy at the redshift of $z=0.024$ is a suitable candidate for this study. No signal is detected from the fringes in the Chandra data and taking into account the angular resolution of the telescope, we put constrain of $m> 7 \times10^{-23}$ eV on the mass of FDM particles.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

OGLE-2015-BLG-1649Lb: A gas giant planet around a low-mass dwarf

We report the discovery of an exoplanet in microlensing event OGLE-2015-BLG-1649. The planet/host-star mass ratio is $q =7.2 \times 10^{-3}$ and the projected separation normalized by the Einstein radius is $s = 0.9$. The upper limit of the lens flux is obtained from adaptive optics observations by IRCS/Subaru, which excludes the probability of a G-dwarf or more massive host star and helps to put a tighter constraint on the lens mass as well as commenting on the formation scenarios of giant planets orbiting low-mass stars. We conduct a Bayesian analysis including constraints on the lens flux to derive the probability distribution of the physical parameters of the lens system. We thereby find that the masses of the host star and planet are $M_{L} = 0.34 \pm 0.19 M_{\odot}$ and $M_{p} = 2.5^{+1.5}_{-1.4} M_{Jup}$, respectively. The distance to the system is $D_{L} = 4.23^{+1.51}_{-1.64}$kpc. The projected star-planet separation is $a_{\perp} = 2.07^{+0.65}_{-0.77}$AU. The lens-source relative proper motion of the event is quite high, at $\sim 7.1 \, {\rm mas/yr}$. Therefore, we may be able to determine the lens physical parameters uniquely or place much stronger constraints on them by measuring the color-dependent centroid shift and/or the image elongation with additional high resolution imaging already a few years from now.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2019

Detection of Exoplanet as a Binary Source of Microlensing Events in WFIRST Survey

We investigate the possibility of exoplanet detection orbiting source stars in microlensing events through WFIRST observations. We perform a Monto Carlo simulation on the detection rate of exoplanets via microlensing, assuming that each source star has at least one exoplanet. The exoplanet can reflect part of the light from the parent star or emit internal thermal radiation. In this new detection channel, we use microlensing as an amplifier to magnify the reflection light from the planet. In the literature, this mode of detecting exoplanets has been investigated much less than the usual mode in which the exoplanets are considered as one companion in binary lens events. Assuming $72$ days of observation per season with the cadence of $15$ minutes, we find the probability of rocky planet detection with this method to be virtually zero. However, there is non-zero probability, for the detection of Jovian planets. We estimate the detection rates of the exoplanets by this method, using WFIRST observation to be $0.012\%$ in single lens events and $0.9\%$ in the binary lens events.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2019

OGLE-2017-BLG-1186: first application of asteroseismology and Gaussian processes to microlensing

We present the analysis of the event OGLE-2017-BLG-1186 from the 2017 Spitzer microlensing campaign. This is a remarkable microlensing event because its source is photometrically bright and variable, which makes it possible to perform an asteroseismic analysis using ground-based data. We find that the source star is an oscillating red giant with average timescale of $\sim 9$ d. The asteroseismic analysis also provides us source properties including the source angular size ($\sim 27~μ{\rm as}$) and distance ($\sim 11.5$ kpc), which are essential for inferring the properties of the lens. When fitting the light curve, we test the feasibility of Gaussian Processes (GPs) in handling the correlated noise caused by the variable source. We find that the parameters from the GP model are generally more loosely constrained than those from the traditional $χ^2$ minimization method. We note that this event is the first microlensing system for which asteroseismology and GPs have been used to account for the variable source. With both finite-source effect and microlens parallax measured, we find that the lens is likely a $\sim 0.045~M_{\odot}$ brown dwarf at distance $\sim 9.0$ kpc, or a $\sim 0.073~M_{\odot}$ ultracool dwarf at distance $\sim 9.8$ kpc. Combining the estimated lens properties with a Bayesian analysis using a Galactic model, we find a $\sim 35$ per cent probability for the lens to be a bulge object and $\sim 65$ per cent to be a background disc object.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2019

Exact enumeration approach to first-passage time distribution of non-Markov random walks

We propose an analytical approach to study non-Markov random walks by employing an exact enumeration method. Using the method, we derive an exact expansion for the first-passage time (FPT) distribution for any continuous, differentiable non-Markov random walk with Gaussian or non-Gaussian multivariate distribution. As an example, we study the FPT distribution of a fractional Brownian motion with a Hurst exponent $H\in(1/2,1)$ that describes numerous non-Markov stochastic phenomena in physics, biology and geology, and for which the limit $H=1/2$ represents a Markov process.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2019

Spitzer Microlensing parallax reveals two isolated stars in the Galactic bulge

We report the mass and distance measurements of two single-lens events from the 2017 Spitzer microlensing campaign. The ground-based observations yield the detection of finite-source effects, and the microlens parallaxes are derived from the joint analysis of ground-based observations and Spitzer observations. We find that the lens of OGLE-2017-BLG-1254 is a $0.60 \pm 0.03 M_{\odot}$ star with $D_{\rm LS} = 0.53 \pm 0.11~\text{kpc}$, where $D_{\rm LS}$ is the distance between the lens and the source. The second event, OGLE-2017-BLG-1161, is subject to the known satellite parallax degeneracy, and thus is either a $0.51^{+0.12}_{-0.10} M_{\odot}$ star with $D_{\rm LS} = 0.40 \pm 0.12~\text{kpc}$ or a $0.38^{+0.13}_{-0.12} M_{\odot}$ star with $D_{\rm LS} = 0.53 \pm 0.19~\text{kpc}$. Both of the lenses are therefore isolated stars in the Galactic bulge. By comparing the mass and distance distributions of the eight published Spitzer finite-source events with the expectations from a Galactic model, we find that the Spitzer sample is in agreement with the probability of finite-source effects occurrence in single lens events.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2019

$Spitzer$ Microlensing Parallax for OGLE-2017-BLG-0896 Reveals a Counter-Rotating Low-Mass Brown Dwarf

The kinematics of isolated brown dwarfs in the Galaxy, beyond the solar neighborhood, is virtually unknown. Microlensing has the potential to probe this hidden population, as it can measure both the mass and five of the six phase-space coordinates (all except the radial velocity) even of a dark isolated lens. However, the measurements of both the microlens parallax and finite-source effects are needed in order to recover the full information. Here, we combine $Spitzer$ satellite parallax measurement with the ground-based light curve, which exhibits strong finite-source effects, of event OGLE-2017-BLG-0896. We find two degenerate solutions for the lens (due to the known satellite-parallax degeneracy), which are consistent with each other except for their proper motion. The lens is an isolated brown dwarf with a mass of either $18\pm1M_J$ or $20\pm1M_J$. This is the lowest isolated-object mass measurement to date, only $\sim$45\% more massive than the theoretical deuterium-fusion boundary at solar metallicity, which is the common definition of a free-floating planet. The brown dwarf is located at either $3.9\pm0.1$ kpc or $4.1\pm0.1$ kpc toward the Galactic bulge, but with proper motion in the opposite direction of disk stars, with one solution suggesting it is moving within the Galactic plane. While it is possibly a halo brown dwarf, it might also represent a different, unknown population.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2019

Evolution of spiral galaxies in nonlocal gravity

We study the evolution of simulated disk galaxies in the context of a nonlocal theory of gravity. In this theory the appearance of the dark matter problem in cosmology and astrophysics is a manifestation of the nonlocality of the gravitational interaction. Using high-resolution N-body simulations, we investigate the dynamical evolution of disk galaxies and compare the result with the standard dark matter viewpoint. Specifically, we construct two exponential galaxy models, one in nonlocal gravity (NLG) and the other surrounded by a Plummer dark matter halo. Both systems start from the same baryonic matter distribution, particles velocities, random velocities and the initial Toomre's parameter. However, although the initial conditions are the same in both models, their long-term dynamics reveals some notable differences. For example, it turns out that the bar instability happens with higher rate in NLG model compared with the standard case. On the other hand, at the end of the simulation, we find that bars are weaker and faster in NLG compared with the standard case.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Gravitational Grating

In this work, we study the interaction of the electromagnetic wave (EW) from a distant quasar with the gravitational wave (GW) sourced by the binary stars. While in the regime of geometric optics, the light bending due to this interaction is negligible, we show that the phase shifting on the wavefront of an EW can produce the diffraction pattern on the observer plane. The diffraction of the light (with the wavelength of $λ_e$) by the gravitational wave playing the role of {\it gravitational grating} (with the wavelength of $λ_g$) has the diffraction angle of $Δβ\sim λ_e/λ_g$. The relative motion of the observer, the source of gravitational wave and the quasar results in a relative motion of the observer through the interference pattern on the observer plane. The consequence of this fringe crossing is the modulation in the light curve of a quasar with the period of few hours in the microwave wavelength. The optical depth for the observation of this phenomenon for a Quasar with the multiple images strongly lensed by a galaxy where the light trajectory of some of the images crosses the lensing galaxy is $τ\simeq 0.2$. By shifting the time delay of the light curves of the multiple images in a strong-lensed quasar and removing the intrinsic variations of a quasar, our desired signals, as a new method for detection of GWs, can be detected.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

The Excursion set approach: Stratonovich approximation and Cholesky decomposition

The excursion set approach is a framework for estimating how the number density of nonlinear structures in the cosmic web depends on the expansion history of the universe and the nature of gravity. A key part of the approach is the estimation of the first crossing distribution of a suitably chosen barrier by random walks having correlated steps: The shape of the barrier is determined by the physics of nonlinear collapse, and the correlations between steps by the nature of the initial density fluctuation field. We describe analytic and numerical methods for calculating such first up-crossing distributions. While the exact solution can be written formally as an infinite series, we show how to approximate it efficiently using the Stratonovich approximation. We demonstrate its accuracy using Monte-Carlo realizations of the walks, which we generate using a novel Cholesky-decomposition based algorithm, which is significantly faster than the algorithm that is currently in the literature.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Type I shell galaxies as a test of gravity models

Shell galaxies are understood to form through the collision of a dwarf galaxy with an elliptical galaxy. Shell structures and kinematics have been noted to be independent tools to measure the gravitational potential of the shell galaxies. We compare theoretically the formation of shells in Type I shell galaxies in different gravity theories in this work because this is so far missing in the literature. We include Newtonian plus dark halo gravity, and two non-Newtonian gravity models, MOG and MOND, in identical initial systems. We investigate the effect of dynamical friction, which by slowing down the dwarf galaxy in the dark halo models limits the range of shell radii to low values. Under the same initial conditions, shells appear on a shorter timescale and over a smaller range of distances in the presence of dark matter than in the corresponding non-Newtonian gravity models. If galaxies are embedded in a dark matter halo, then the merging time may be too rapid to allow multi-generation shell formation as required by observed systems because of the large dynamical friction effect. Starting from the same initial state, in the dark halo model the observation of small bright shells should be accompanied by large faint ones, while for the case of MOG, the next shell generation patterns iterate with a specific time delay. The first shell generation pattern shows a degeneracy with the age of the shells and in different theories, but the relative distance of the shells and the shell expansion velocity can break this degeneracy.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2017

Cosmic Initial Conditions for a Habitable Universe

Within the framework of an eternal inflationary scenario, a natural question regarding the production of eternal bubbles is the essential condition requires to have a universe capable of generating life. In either an open or a closed universe, we find an anthropic lower bound on the amount of e-folding in the order of $60$ for the inflationary epoch, which results in the formation of large-scale structures in both linear and non-linear regimes. We extend the question of the initial condition of the universe to the sufficient condition in which we have enough initial dark matter and baryonic matter asymmetry in the early universe for the formation of galactic halos, stars, planets and consequently life. We show that the probability of a habitable universe is proportional to the asymmetry of dark matter and baryonic matter, while the cosmic budget of baryonic matter is limited by the astrophysical constrains.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2017

Understanding EROS2 observations toward the spiral arms within a classical Galactic model framework

EROS has searched for microlensing toward four directions in the Galactic plane away from the Galactic center. The interpretation of the catalog optical depth is complicated by the spread of the source distance distribution. We compare the EROS microlensing observations with Galactic models, tuned to fit the EROS source catalogs, and take into account all observational data such as the microlensing optical depth, the Einstein crossing durations, and the color and magnitude distributions of the catalogued stars. We simulated EROS-like source catalogs using the Hipparcos database, the Galactic mass distribution, and an interstellar extinction table. Taking into account the EROS star detection efficiency, we were able to produce simulated color-magnitude diagrams that fit the observed diagrams. This allows us to estimate average microlensing optical depths and event durations that are directly comparable with the measured values. Both the Besancon model and our Galactic model allow us to fully understand the EROS color-magnitude data. The average optical depths and mean event durations calculated from these models are in reasonable agreement with the observations; consequently our simulation allows a better understanding of the lens and source spatial distributions in the microlensing events. Varying the Galactic structure parameters through simulation, we were also able to deduce contraints on the kinematics of the disk, the disk stellar mass function (IMF at a few kpc distance from the Sun), and the maximum contribution of a thick disk of compact objects in the Galactic plane (Mthick < 5 - 7 x 10**10 Msun at 95%, depending on the model). We also show that the microlensing data toward one of our monitored directions are significantly sensitive to the galactic bar parameters, although much larger statistics are needed to provide competitive constraints.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Gravitational Microlensing Events as a Target for SETI project

Detection of signals from a possible extrasolar technological civilization is one of the challenging efforts of science. In this work, we propose using natural telescopes made of single or binary gravitational lensing systems to magnify leakage of electromagnetic signals from a remote planet harbours an Extra Terrestrial Intelligent (ETI) technology. The gravitational microlensing surveys are monitoring a large area of Galactic bulge for searching microlensing events and they find more than $2000$ events per year. These lenses are capable of playing the role of natural telescopes and in some occasions they can magnify radio band signals from the planets orbiting around the source stars in gravitational microlensing systems. Assuming that frequency of electromagnetic waves used for telecommunication in ETIs is similar to ours, we propose follow-up observation of microlensing events with radio telescopes such as Square Kilometre Array (SKA), Low Frequency Demonstrators (LFD) and Mileura Wide-Field Array (MWA). Amplifying signals from the leakage of broadcasting by an Earth-like civilizations will allow us to detect them up to center of Milky Way galaxy. Our analysis shows that in binary microlensing systems, the probability of amplification of signals from ETIs is more than that in single microlensing events. Finally we propose target of opportunity mode for follow-up observations of binary microlensing events with SKA as a new observational program for searching ETIs. Using the optimistic values for the factors of Drake equation provides detection of about one event per year.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2016

Eclipsing negative-parity image of gravitational microlensing by a giant-lens star

Gravitational Microlensing has been used as a powerful tool for astrophysical studies and exoplanet detections. In the gravitational microlensing, we have two images with negative and positive parities. The negative-parity image is a fainter image and is produced at a closer angular separation with respect to the lens star. In the case of a red-giant lens star and large impact parameter of lensing, this image can be eclipsed by the lens star. The result would be dimming the flux receiving from the combination of the source and the lens stars and the light curve resembles to an eclipsing binary system. In this work, we introduce this phenomenon and propose an observational procedure for detecting this eclipse. The follow-up microlensing telescopes with lucky imaging camera or space-based telescopes can produce high resolution images from the events with reddish sources and confirm the possibility of blending due to the lens star. After conforming a red-giant lens star and source star, we can use the advance photometric methods and detect the relative flux change during the eclipse in the order of $10^{-4}-10^{-3}$. Observation of the eclipse provides the angular size of source star in the unit of Einstein angle and combination of this observation with the parallax observation enable us to calculate the mass of lens star. Finally, we analyzed seven microlensing event and show the feasibility of observation of this effect in future observations.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2016

The advantages of using a Lucky Imaging camera for observations of microlensing events

In this work, we study the advantages of using a Lucky Imaging camera for the observations of potential planetary microlensing events. Our aim is to reduce the blending effect and enhance exoplanet signals in binary lensing systems composed of an exoplanet and the corresponding parent star. We simulate planetary microlensing light curves based on present microlensing surveys and follow-up telescopes where one of them is equipped with a Lucky imaging camera. This camera is used at the Danish $1.54$-m follow-up telescope. Using a specific observational strategy, For an Earth-mass planet in the resonance regime, where the detection probability in crowded-fields is smaller, lucky imaging observations improve the detection efficiency which reaches 2 per cent. Given the difficulty of detecting the signal of an Earth-mass planet in crowded-field imaging even in the resonance regime with conventional cameras, we show that Lucky Imaging can substantially improve the detection efficiency.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2015

Polarimetric microlensing of circumstellar disks

We study the benefits of polarimetry observations of microlensing events to detect and characterize circumstellar disks around the microlensed stars located at the Galactic bulge. These disks which are unresolvable from their host stars make a net polarization effect due to their projected elliptical shapes. Gravitational microlensing can magnify these signals and make them be resolved. The main aim of this work is to determine what extra information about these disks can be extracted from polarimetry observations of microlensing events in addition to those given by photometry ones. Hot disks which are closer to their host stars are more likely to be detected by microlensing, owing to more contributions in the total flux. By considering this kind of disks, we show that although the polarimetric efficiency for detecting disks is similar to the photometric observation, but polarimetry observations can help to constraint the disk geometrical parameters e.g. the disk inner radius and the lens trajectory with respect to the disk semimajor axis. On the other hand, the time scale of polarimetric curves of these microlensing events generally increases while their photometric time scale does not change. By performing a Monte Carlo simulation, we show that almost 4 optically-thin disks around the Galactic bulge sources are detected (or even characterized) through photometry (or polarimetry) observations of high-magnification microlensing events during 10 years monitoring of 150 million objects.

astro-ph.SR↗