Chempy\mathit{Chempy}: A flexible chemical evolution model for abundance fitting - Do the Sun's abundances alone constrain chemical evolution models?

Elemental abundances of stars are the result of the complex enrichment history of their galaxy. Interpretation of observed abundances requires flexible modeling tools to explore and quantify the information about Galactic chemical evolution (GCE) stored in such data. Here we present Chempy, a newly developed code for GCE modeling, representing a parametrized open one-zone model within a Bayesian framework. A Chempy model is specified by a set of 5-10 parameters that describe the effective galaxy evolution along with the stellar and star-formation physics: e.g. the star-formation history, the feedback efficiency, the stellar initial mass function (IMF) and the incidence of supernova type Ia (SN Ia). Unlike established approaches, Chempy can sample the posterior probability distribution in the full model parameter space and test data-model matches for different nucleosynthetic yield sets. We extend Chempy to a multi-zone scheme. As an illustrative application, we show that interesting parameter constraints result from only the ages and elemental abundances of Sun, Arcturus and the present-day interstellar medium (ISM). For the first time, we use such information to infer IMF parameter via GCE modeling, where we properly marginalize over nuisance parameters and account for different yield sets. We find that of the IMF $11.6_{-1.6}^{+2.1}$ % explodes as core-collapse SN, compatible with Salpeter 1955. We also constrain the incidence of SN Ia per 10^3 Msun to 0.5-1.4. At the same time, this Chempy application shows persistent discrepancies between predicted and observed abundances for some elements, irrespective of the chosen yield set. These cannot be remedied by any variations of Chempy's parameters and could be an indication for missing nucleosynthetic channels. Chempy should be a powerful tool to confront predictions from stellar nucleosynthesis with far more complex abundance data sets.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&A, python code: https://github.com/jan-rybizki/Chemp

Gravitational Wave Driven Mergers and Coalescence Time of Supermassive Black Holes

The evolution of Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) initially embedded in the centres of merging galaxies realised with a stellar mass function (SMF) is studied from the onset of galaxy mergers till coalescence. We performed a large set of direct N-body simulations with three different slopes of the central stellar cusp and different random seeds. Post Newtonian terms up to order 3.5 are used to drive the SMBH binary evolution in the relativistic regime. The impact of a SMF on the hardening rate and the coalescence time is investigated. We find that SMBH binaries coalesce well within one billion years when our models are scaled to galaxies with a steep cusp at low redshift. Here higher central densities provide larger supply of stars to efficiently extract energy from the SMBH binary orbit and shrink it to the phase where gravitational wave (GW) emission becomes dominant leading to the coalescence of the SMBHs. Mergers of models with shallow cusps that are representative for giant elliptical galaxies having central cores result in less efficient extraction of binary orbital energy due to the lower stellar densities in the centre. However, high values of eccentricity witnessed for SMBH binaries in such galaxy mergers ensure that the GW emission dominated phase sets in earlier at larger values of the semi-major axis. This helps to compensate for the less efficient energy extraction during the phase dominated by stellar encounters resulting in mergers of SMBHs in about one Gyr after the formation of the binary. Additionally, we witness mass segregation in the merger remnant resulting in enhanced SMBH binary hardening rates. We show that at least the final phase of the merger in cuspy low mass galaxies would be observable with the GW detector eLISA.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Stability and evolution of super-massive stars (SMS)

Highly condensed gaseous objects with masses larger than 5x10^4 M_sun are called super-massive stars. In the quasistationary contraction phase, the hydrostatic equilibrium is determined by radiation pressure and gravitation. The global structure is that of an n=3 polytrope at the stability limit. Small relativistic corrections for example can initiate a free fall collapse due to the 'post Newtonian' instability. Since the outcome of the final collapse -A super-massive black hole or hypernova- depends sensitively on the structure and the size of the object, when the instability sets in, it is important to investigate in more detail the contraction phase of the SMS. If the gaseous object is embedded in a dense stellar system, the central star cluster, the interaction and coupling of both components due to dynamical friction changes the energy balance and evolution of the SMS dramatically. Dynamical friction between stars and gas, which can be estimated semi-analytically (see Just et al. 1986), has three different effects on the two-component system. We discuss in which evolutionary stages and parameter range these interaction processes are relevant and how they can influence the stability and evolution of the SMS.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, needs eas.cls (included). EAS Publ. Series, Vol. 10 EDP, Paris in pres

Neutron-star radius constraints from GW170817 and future detections

We introduce a new, powerful method to constrain properties of neutron stars (NSs). We show that the total mass of GW170817 provides a reliable constraint on the stellar radius if the merger did not result in a prompt collapse as suggested by the interpretation of associated electromagnetic emission. The radius R_1.6 of nonrotating NSs with a mass of 1.6 M_sun can be constrained to be larger than 10.68_{-0.04}^{+0.15} km, and the radius R_max of the nonrotating maximum mass configuration must be larger than 9.60_{-0.03}^{+0.14} km. We point out that detections of future events will further improve these constraints. Moreover, we show that a future event with a signature of a prompt collapse of the merger remnant will establish even stronger constraints on the NS radius from above and the maximum mass M_max of NSs from above. These constraints are particularly robust because they only require a measurement of the chirp mass and a distinction between prompt and delayed collapse of the merger remnant, which may be inferred from the electromagnetic signal or even from the presence/absence of a ringdown gravitational-wave (GW) signal. This prospect strengthens the case of our novel method of constraining NS properties, which is directly applicable to future GW events with accompanying electromagnetic counterpart observations. We emphasize that this procedure is a new way of constraining NS radii from GW detections independent of existing efforts to infer radius information from the late inspiral phase or postmerger oscillations, and it does not require particularly loud GW events.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

On the bar formation mechanism in galaxies with cuspy bulges

We show by numerical simulations that a purely stellar dynamical model composed of an exponential disc, a cuspy bulge, and an NFW halo with parameters relevant to the Milky Way Galaxy is subject to bar formation. Taking into account the finite disc thickness, the bar formation can be explained by the usual bar instability, in spite of the presence of an inner Lindblad resonance, that is believed to damp any global modes. The effect of replacing the live halo and bulge by a fixed external axisymmetric potential (rigid models) is studied. It is shown that while the e-folding time of bar instability increases significantly (from 250 to 500 Myr), the bar pattern speed remains almost the same. For the latter, our average value of 55 km/s/kpc agrees with the assumption that the Hercules stream in the solar neighbourhood is an imprint of the bar--disc interaction at the outer Lindblad resonance of the bar. Vertical averaging of the radial force in the central disc region comparable to the characteristic scale length allows us to reproduce the bar pattern speed and the growth rate of the rigid models, using normal mode analysis of linear perturbation theory in a razor thin disc. The strong increase of the e-folding time with decreasing disc mass predicted by the mode analysis suggests that bars in galaxies similar to the Milky Way have formed only recently.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, submitted to MNRAS Dec 2015, accepted Jul 29, 201

Super-massive stars: Radiative transfer

The concept of central super-massive stars (${\cal M} \ge 5 \times 10^4 M_{\odot}$, where ${\cal M}$ is the mass of the super-massive star) embedded in dense stellar systems was suggested as a possible explanation for high- energy emissions phenomena occurring in active galactic nuclei and quasars (Vilkoviski 1976, Hara 1978), such as X-ray emissions (Bahcall and Ostriker, 1975). SMSs and super-massive black holes are two possibilities to explain the nature of super-massive central objects, and super-massive stars may be an intermediate step towards the formation of super-massive black holes (Rees 1984). Therefore it is important to study such a dense gas-star system in detail. We address here the implementation of radiative transfer in a model which was presented in former work (Amaro-Seoane and Spurzem 2001, Amaro-Seoane et al. 2002). In this sense, we extend here and improve the work done by Langbein et al. (1990) by describing the radiative transfer in super-massive stars using previous work on this subject (Castor 1972).Comment: 2 pages, to appear in "Galatic Dynamics", eds. C. Boily, P. Patsis, C. Theis, S. Portegies Zwart, R. Spurzem, EDP Sciences 2003 (JENAM 2002 Conference in Porto, September 2-7, Workshop "Galactic Dynamics"). Needs eas.cls (also included

Detailed comparison of Milky Way models based on stellar population synthesis and SDSS star counts at the north Galactic pole

We test the ability of the TRILEGAL and Besancon models to reproduce the CMD of SDSS data at the north Galactic pole (NGP). We show that a Hess diagram analysis of colour-magnitude diagrams is much more powerful than luminosity functions (LFs) in determining the Milky Way structure. We derive a best-fitting TRILEGAL model to simulate the NGP field in the (g-r, g) CMD of SDSS filters via Hess diagrams. For the Besancon model, we simulate the LFs and Hess diagrams in all SDSS filters. We use a chi2 analysis and determine the median of the relative deviations in the Hess diagrams to quantify the quality of the fits by the TRILEGAL models and the Besancon model in comparison and compare this with the Just-Jahreiss model. The input isochrones in the colour-absolute magnitude diagrams of the thick disc and halo are tested via the observed fiducial isochrones of globular clusters (GCs). We find that the default parameter set lacking a thick disc component gives the best representation of the LF in TRILEGAL. The Hess diagram reveals that a metal-poor thick disc is needed. In the Hess diagram, the median relative deviation of the TRILEGAL model and the SDSS data amounts to 25 percent, whereas for the Just-Jahreiss model the deviation is only 5.6 percent. The isochrone analysis shows that the representation of the MS of (at least metal-poor) stellar populations in the SDSS system is reliable. In contrast, the RGBs fail to match the observed fiducial sequences of GCs. The Besancon model shows a similar median relative deviation of 26 percent in (g-r, g). In the u band, the deviations are larger. There are significant offsets between the isochrone set used in the Besancon model and the observed fiducial isochrones. In contrast to Hess diagrams, LFs are insensitive to the detailed structure of the Milky Way components due to the extended spatial distribution along the line of sight.Comment: 21 pages, 17 figures and 5 tables. Accepted by publication of A&

Super-massive stars: Dense star-gas systems

We use a gaseous model and a semi-analytical approach to study the evolution of a super-massive central gaseous object (a super-massive star, (SMS from now on) in an AGN and its evolution by interactions with the surrounding stellar system. Our future work in this field is outlined, which aims at a more detailed study of energy flows in the interstellar medium, stellar evolution and the relation between QSOs and galaxy formation.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure. Necessary files also uploaded. To appear in "Lighthouses of the Universe", Springer-Verlag series "ESO Astrophysics Symposia

Impact of a star formation efficiency profile on the evolution of open clusters

We study the effect of the instantaneous gas expulsion on star clusters wherein the residual gas has a density profile shallower than that of the embedded cluster. This is expected if star formation proceeds with a given SFE per free-fall time in a centrally-concentrated molecular clump. We perform direct N-body simulations whose initial conditions are generated by the program "mkhalo" "falcON" adapted for our models. Our model clusters initially have a Plummer profile and are in virial equilibrium with the gravitational potential of the cluster-forming clump. The residual gas contribution is computed based on the model of Parmentier&Pfalzner(2013). Our simulations include mass loss by stellar evolution and the tidal field of the Galaxy. We find that a star cluster with a minimum global SFE of 15% is able to survive instantaneous gas expulsion and to produce a bound cluster. Its violent relaxation lasts no longer than 20 Myr, independently of its global SFE and initial stellar mass. At the end of violent relaxation the bound fractions of surviving clusters with the same global SFEs are similar regardless of their initial stellar mass. Their subsequent lifetime in the gravitational field of the Galaxy depends on their bound stellar masses. We therefore conclude that the critical SFE needed to produce a bound cluster is 15%, which is twice smaller than earlier estimates of 33%. Thus we have improved the survival likelihood of young clusters after instantaneous gas expulsion. Those can now survive instantaneous gas expulsion with global SFEs as low as those observed for embedded clusters of Solar Neighbourhood (15-30%). This is the consequence of the star cluster having a density profile steeper than that of the residual gas. However, in terms of the effective SFE, measured by the virial ratio of the cluster at gas expulsion, our results are in agreement with previous studies.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy&Astrophysics, 13 pages, 10 figure