ABSTRACT
In the framework of an ongoing project aimed at searching for and studying eXtremely Metal-Poor (XMP) very gas-rich blue dwarfs in nearby voids, we conducted spectroscopy with the 11-m ...Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) of 26 candidates, preselected in the first paper of this series (PEPK19). For 23 of them, we detected oxygen lines, allowing us to estimate the gas O/H ratio. For 10 of them, the oxygen abundance is found to be very low, in the range of 12 + log (O/H) = 6.95–7.30 dex. Of those, four void dwarfs have 12 + log (O/H) < 7.19, or Z < Z⊙/30. For the majority of observed galaxies, the faint line O iii λ4363 Å used to estimate O/H with the direct Te method appeared either too noisy or was not detected. We therefore use the semi-empirical method of Izotov & Thuan for these spectra, or, when applicable, the new ‘Strong line’ method of Izotov et al. We present and discuss the results for all void dwarfs observed in this work. We also compare their O/H values with O/H values of ∼140 void galaxies available from our recent papers. We address the properties of the newly found unusual void XMP dwarfs and compare them with those for 10 known prototype void XMP objects. The latter small group is outstanding based on their very small mass fraction of stars (only 0.01–0.02 of the baryonic mass), the blue colours of stars in the outer body indicating a non-cosmological age for the main star-forming episode), and the low gas metallicity (several times lower than expected for their luminosity).
We present H I 21 cm and optical observations of UGC 3672 which is located near the centre of the nearby Lynx-Cancer void. We find that UGC 3672 consists of an approximately linearly aligned triplet ...of gas-rich dwarfs with large-scale velocity continuity along the triplet axis. The faintest component of the triplet is extremely gas-rich M.../L...~17HI/LB~17) and also extremely metal deficient (12 + log (O/H) ~ 7.0). The metallicity of this dwarf is close to the 'floor' observed in star-forming galaxies. Low-resolution H I images show that the galaxy triplet is located inside a common H I envelope, with fairly regular, disc-like kinematics. At high angular resolution however, the gas is found to be confined to several filamentary tidal tails and bridges. The linear alignment of the galaxies, along with the velocity continuity that we observe, is consistent with the galaxies lying along a filament. We argue that the location of this highly unusual system in an extremely low-density environment is not a coincidence, but is a consequence of structure formation proceeding more slowly and also probing smaller scales than in regions with average density. Our observations also indicate that wet mergers of galaxies flowing along filaments is a possible pathway for the formation of gas-rich discs. The UGC 3672 system provides an interesting opportunity to study the kind of interactions typical between high-redshift extremely gas-rich unevolved small systems that lie at base of the hierarchical galaxy formation model. (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae/symbols omitted.)
A quarter century ago Chor, Fiat, and Naor proposed mathematical models for revealing a source of illegal redistribution of digital content (tracing traitors) in the broadcast encryption framework, ...including the following two combinatorial models: nonbinary IPP codes, based on an (
n, n
)-threshold secret sharing scheme, and IPP set systems, based on the general (
w, n
)-threshold secret sharing scheme. We propose a new scheme combining the main ideas of nonbinary IPP codes and IPP set systems, which can also be considered as a generalization of nonbinary IPP codes to the case of constant-weight codes. In the simplest case of a coalition of size two, we compare the new scheme with previously known ones.
We demonstrate nonequilibrium steady-state photon transport through a chain of five coupled artificial atoms simulating the driven-dissipative Bose-Hubbard model. Using transmission spectroscopy, we ...show that the system retains many-particle coherence despite being coupled strongly to two open spaces. We find that cross-Kerr interaction between system states allows high-contrast spectroscopic visualization of the emergent energy bands. For vanishing disorder, we observe the transition of the system from the linear to nonlinear regime of photon blockade in excellent agreement with the input-output theory. Finally, we show how controllable disorder introduced to the system suppresses nonlocal photon transmission. We argue that proposed architecture may be applied to analog simulation of many-body Floquet dynamics with even larger arrays of artificial atoms paving an alternative way towards quantum supremacy.
ABSTRACT
In the framework of the ongoing project, aimed at the systematical studying galaxies in nearby voids, we conducted spectroscopy with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) of 62 objects ...from the Nearby Void Galaxy (NVG) sample. They include 8 remaining objects of the 60 pre-selected candidates to eXtremely Metal-Poor (XMP) dwarfs, two known void XMP dwarfs and 52 void dwarfs residing within the Local Volume. For 47 galaxies residing in the nearby voids, we obtained spectra of the diverse quality. For 42 of them, we detected the Hydrogen and Oxygen lines that allowed us to get estimates of O/H in the observed H ii regions. For 12 of the 42 objects, we detected the faint line O iiiλ4363, that allowed us to directly derive the electron temperature Te and obtain their gas O/H by the direct method. 14 objects with the undetected O iiiλ4363 line fall to the lowest metallicities range (12+log(O/H) ≲ 7.5 dex). For them, we use a carefully checked new empirical ‘Strong line’ method of Izotov et al. For 14 other objects with only strong lines detected and with 12+log(O/H) of ∼7.5–8.0 dex, we used the modified version of ‘semi-empirical’ method of Izotov and Thuan. It accounts for effect of the excitation parameter O32 on Te. 16 new galaxies are found with parameter 12+log(O/H) ≲ 7.39 dex. Of them, four have 12+log(O/H) = 7.07–7.20 dex. Of the 60 observed NVG objects, 15 have mistaken radial velocities in HyperLEDA. They do not reside in the nearby voids.
Seasonal and interannual changes in the Greenland Sea ice age composition during winter months for seven standard age categories are analyzed. To estimate the amount of the ice of different age ...categories, the digital archive of the region’s ice charts for the period 1997–2022 produced by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute is used. Statistical insignificance of linear trends has been revealed for the main age categories of the Greenland Sea ice. A comparison of the obtained estimates of the variability in the amount of the ice of different age categories and earlier studies shows that the quantitative changes in the Greenland Sea ice age composition started before 1997. The data on the ice age composition over a 25-year observation period alone are insufficient to draw an unambiguous conclusion about a decrease in the Greenland Sea ice thickness.
ABSTRACT
We introduce a project aimed at systematically searching for eXtremely Metal-Poor (XMP) very gas-rich blue dwarfs in voids in the nearby Universe. Several such galaxies were first identified ...in the course of an unbiased study of the galaxy population in the nearby Lynx-Cancer void. These very rare and unusual galaxies appear to be the best proxies for the so-called Very Young Galaxies defined recently in the model simulations by Tweed et al. (2018). We discuss the main properties of 10 prototype objects residing in nearby voids and formulate criteria to search for similar dwarfs in other voids. The recently published sample of 1354 Nearby Void Galaxies is used to identify a subsample of 60 void dwarf XMP candidates. We provide a list of these XMP candidates with their main parameters and finding charts. These candidates are the subjects of subsequent spectral, photometric, and H i studies in the accompanying papers. Looking ahead, with reference to the submitted accompanying papers, we find that this study results in the discovery of many new XMP dwarfs with 12+log (O/H) ∼ 7.0–7.3 dex.
ABSTRACT
We present the second part of results of the ongoing project aimed at searching for and studying eXtremely Metal-Poor (XMP) – adopted as those with Zgas ≲ Z⊙/30, or with 12+log (O/H) ≲ ...7.21 dex − very gas-rich blue dwarfs in voids. They were first identified in the course of the ‘unbiased’ study of the galaxy population in the nearby Lynx–Cancer void. These very rare and unusual galaxies seem to be the best proxies of so-called Very Young Galaxies (VYGs) defined recently in model simulations by Tweed et al. To date, for 16 pre-selected void XMP candidates, using the Big Telescope Alt-azimuth (BTA), the SAO 6-m telescope, we have obtained spectra suitable for the determination of O/H. For majority of the observed galaxies, the principal line O iii λ4363 , used for the direct classical Te method of O/H determination, is undetected. Therefore, to estimate O/H, we use a new ‘strong-lines’ method by Izotov et al. This appears to be the most accurate empirical O/H estimator for the range of 12+log (O/H) ≲ 7.4–7.5. For objects with higher O/H, we use the semi-empirical method by Izotov & Thuan with our modification accounting for variance of the excitation parameter O32. Six of those 16 candidates are found, with confidence, to be XMP dwarfs. In addition, eight studied galaxies are less metal-poor, with 12+log (O/H) = 7.24–7.33, and these can also fall into the category of VYG candidates. Taking into account our recently published work and the previously known (nine prototype galaxies) XMP gas-rich void objects, the new findings increase the number of this type of galaxy known to date to a total of 19.