Within a fully cosmological hydrodynamical simulation, we form a galaxy which rotates at 140 km s−1, and it is characterized by two loose spiral arms and a bar, indicative of a Hubble-type SBc/d ...galaxy. We show that our simulated galaxy has no classical bulge, with a pure disc profile at z = 1, well after the major merging activity has ended. A long-lived bar subsequently forms, resulting in the formation of a secularly formed 'pseudo-'bulge, with the final bulge-to-total light ratio of 0.21. We show that the majority of gas which loses angular momentum and falls to the central region of the galaxy during the merging epoch is blown back into the hot halo, with much of it returning later to form stars in the disc. We propose that this mechanism of redistribution of angular momentum via a galactic fountain, when coupled with the results from our previous study which showed why gas outflows are biased to have low angular momentum, can solve the angular momentum/bulgeless disc problem of the cold dark matter paradigm.
Using high resolution, fully cosmological smoothed particle hydrodynamical simulations of dwarf galaxies in a Lambda cold dark matter Universe, we show how high redshift gas outflows can modify the ...baryon angular momentum distribution and allow pure disc galaxies to form. We outline how galactic outflows preferentially remove low angular momentum material due a combination of (a) star formation peaking at high redshift in shallow dark matter potentials, an epoch when accreted gas has relatively low angular momentum, (b) the existence of an extended reservoir of high angular momentum gas in the outer disc to provide material for prolonged SF at later times and (c) the tendency for outflows to follow the path of least resistance which is perpendicular to the disc. We also show that outflows are enhanced during mergers, thus expelling much of the gas which has lost its angular momentum during these events, and preventing the formation of 'classical', merger driven bulges in low-mass systems. Stars formed prior to such mergers form a diffuse, extended stellar halo component similar to those detected in nearby dwarfs.
We use data from the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) and the Tycho-Gaia astrometric solution (TGAS) catalogue to compute the velocity fields yielded by the radial (V-R), azimuthal (V-phi), and ...vertical (V-z) components of associated Galactocentric velocity. We search in particular for variation in all three velocity components with distance above and below the disc midplane, as well as how each component of V-z (line-of-sight and tangential velocity projections) modifies the obtained vertical structure. To study the dependence of velocity on proper motion and distance, we use two main samples: a RAVE sample including proper motions from the Tycho-2, PPMXL, and UCAC4 catalogues, and a RAVE-TGAS sample with inferred distances and proper motions from the TGAS and UCAC5 catalogues. In both samples, we identify asymmetries in V-R and V-z. Below the plane, we find the largest radial gradient to be partial derivative V-R/partial derivative R = -7.01 +/- 0.61 km s(-1) kpc(-1), in agreement with recent studies. Above the plane, we find a similar gradient with partial derivative V-R/partial derivative R = -9.42 +/- 1.77 km s(-1) kpc(-1). By comparing our results with previous studies, we find that the structure in V-z is strongly dependent on the adopted proper motions. Using the Galaxia Milky Way model, we demonstrate that distance uncertainties can create artificial wave-like patterns. In contrast to previous suggestions of a breathing mode seen in RAVE data, our results support a combination of bending and breathing modes, likely generated by a combination of external or internal and external mechanisms.
This paper presents a fast algorithm for restoring video sequences. The proposed algorithm, as opposed to existing methods, does not consider video restoration as a sequence of image restoration ...problems. Rather, it treats a video sequence as a space-time volume and poses a space-time total variation regularization to enhance the smoothness of the solution. The optimization problem is solved by transforming the original unconstrained minimization problem to an equivalent constrained minimization problem. An augmented Lagrangian method is used to handle the constraints, and an alternating direction method is used to iteratively find solutions to the subproblems. The proposed algorithm has a wide range of applications, including video deblurring and denoising, video disparity refinement, and hot-air turbulence effect reduction.
Abstract
Using the Radial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) survey, we recently brought to light a gradient in the mean galactocentric radial velocity of stars in the extended solar neighbourhood. This ...gradient likely originates from non-axisymmetric perturbations of the potential, among which a perturbation by spiral arms is a possible explanation. Here, we apply the traditional density wave theory and analytically model the radial component of the two-dimensional velocity field. Provided that the radial velocity gradient is caused by relatively long-lived spiral arms that can affect stars substantially above the plane, this analytic model provides new independent estimates for the parameters of the Milky Way spiral structure. Our analysis favours a two-armed perturbation with the Sun close to the inner ultra-harmonic 4:1 resonance, with a pattern speed and a small amplitude per cent of the background potential (14 per cent of the background density). This model can serve as a basis for numerical simulations in three dimensions, additionally including a possible influence of the Galactic bar and/or other non-axisymmetric modes.
The Parkes Galactic All-Sky Survey (GASS) is a survey of Galactic atomic hydrogen (H I) emission in the Southern sky covering declinations d <= 1° using the Parkes Radio Telescope. The survey covers ...2p steradians with an effective angular resolution of ~16', at a velocity resolution of 1.0 km s-1, and with an rms brightness temperature noise of 57 mK. GASS is the most sensitive, highest angular resolution survey of Galactic H I emission ever made in the Southern sky. In this paper, we outline the survey goals, describe the observations and data analysis, and present the first-stage data release. The data product is a single cube at full resolution, not corrected for stray radiation. Spectra from the survey and other data products are publicly available online.
Aims. We examine the role of energy feedback in shaping the distribution of metals within cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of L∗ disc galaxies. While negative abundance gradients today provide ...a boundary condition for galaxy evolution models, in support of inside-out disc growth, empirical evidence as to whether abundance gradients steepen or flatten with time remains highly contradictory. Methods. We made use of a suite of L∗ discs, realised with and without “enhanced” feedback. All the simulations were produced using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics code Gasoline, and their in situ gas-phase metallicity gradients traced from redshift z ~ 2 to the present-day. Present-day age-metallicity relations and metallicity distribution functions were derived for each system. Results. The “enhanced” feedback models, which have been shown to be in agreement with a broad range of empirical scaling relations, distribute energy and re-cycled ISM material over large scales and predict the existence of relatively “flat” and temporally invariant abundance gradients. Enhanced feedback schemes reduce significantly the scatter in the local stellar age-metallicity relation and, especially, the O/Fe−Fe/H relation. The local O/Fe distribution functions for our L∗ discs show clear bimodality, with peaks at O/Fe = −0.05 and + 0.05 (for stars with Fe/H > −1), consistent with our earlier work on dwarf discs. Conclusions. Our results with “enhanced” feedback are inconsistent with our earlier generation of simulations realised with “conservative” feedback. We conclude that spatially-resolved metallicity distributions, particularly at high-redshift, offer a unique and under-utilised constraint on the uncertain nature of stellar feedback processes.
We report new constraints on the local escape speed of our Galaxy. Our analysis is based on a sample of high-velocity stars from the RAVE survey and two previously published data sets. We use ...cosmological simulations of disc galaxy formation to motivate our assumptions on the shape of the velocity distribution, allowing for a significantly more precise measurement of the escape velocity compared to previous studies. We find that the escape velocity lies within the range 498 < vesc < 608 km s−1 (90 per cent confidence), with a median likelihood of 544 km s−1. The fact that v2esc is significantly greater than 2v2circ (where vcirc= 220 km s−1 is the local circular velocity) implies that there must be a significant amount of mass exterior to the solar circle, that is, this convincingly demonstrates the presence of a dark halo in the Galaxy. We use our constraints on vesc to determine the mass of the Milky Way halo for three halo profiles. For example, an adiabatically contracted NFW halo model results in a virial mass of 1.42+1.14−0.54× 1012 M⊙ and virial radius of (90 per cent confidence). For this model the circular velocity at the virial radius is 142+31−21 km s−1. Although our halo masses are model dependent, we find that they are in good agreement with each other.
Abstract
We use the same physical model to simulate four galaxies that match the relation between stellar and total mass, over a mass range that includes the vast majority of disc galaxies. The ...resultant galaxies, part of the Making Galaxies in a Cosmological Context (MaGICC) programme, also match observed relations between luminosity, rotation velocity, size, colour, star formation rate, H i mass, baryonic mass and metallicity. Radiation energy feedback from massive stars and supernova energy balance the complex interplay between cooling gas, regulated star formation, large-scale outflows and recycling of gas in a manner which correctly scales with the mass of the galaxy. Outflows, driven by the expansion of shells and superbubbles of overlapping supernova explosions, also play a key role in simulating galaxies with exponential surface brightness profiles, flat rotation curves and dark matter cores. Our study implies that large-scale outflows are the primary driver of the dependence of disc galaxy properties on mass. We show that the degree of outflows invoked in our model is required to meet the constraints provided by observations of O vi absorption lines in the circumgalactic media of nearby galaxies.
Using the RAdial Velocity Experiment fourth data release (RAVE DR4), and a new metallicity calibration that will be also taken into account in the future RAVE DR5, we investigate the existence and ...the properties of supersolar metallicity stars (M/H ... +0.1 dex) in the sample, and in particular in the solar neighbourhood. We find that RAVE is rich in supersolar metallicity stars, and that the local metallicity distribution function declines remarkably slowly up to +0.4 dex. Our results show that the kinematics and height distributions of the supersolar metallicity stars are identical to those of the M/H ... 0 thin-disc giants that we presume were locally manufactured. The eccentricities of the supersolar metallicity stars indicate that half of them are on a roughly circular orbit (e = 0.15), so under the assumption that the metallicity of the interstellar medium at a given radius never decreases with time, they must have increased their angular momenta by scattering at corotation resonances of spiral arms from regions far inside the solar annulus. The likelihood that a star will migrate radially does not seem to decrease significantly with increasing amplitude of vertical oscillations within range of oscillation amplitudes encountered in the disc. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)