Harmonic Maa{\ss}-Jacobi forms of degree 1 with higher rank indices

We define and investigate real analytic weak Jacobi forms of degree 1 and arbitrary rank. En route we calculate the Casimir operator associated to the maximal central extension of the real Jacobi group, which for rank exceeding 1 is of order 4. In ranks exceeding 1, the notions of H-harmonicity and semi-holomorphicity are the same.Comment: 28 page

Anthropogenic impact on amorphous silica pools in temperate soils

Human land use changes perturb biogeochemical silica (Si) cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. This directly affects Si mobilisation and Si storage and influences Si export from the continents, although the magnitude of the impact is unknown. A major reason for our lack of understanding is that very little information exists on how land use affects amorphous silica (ASi) storage in soils. We have quantified and compared total alkali-extracted (PSi<sub>a</sub>) and easily soluble (PSi<sub>e</sub>) Si pools at four sites along a gradient of anthropogenic disturbance in southern Sweden. Land use clearly affects ASi pools and their distribution. Total PSi</sub>a</sub> and PSi<sub>e</sub> for a continuous forested site at Siggaboda Nature Reserve (66 900 ± 22 800 kg SiO<sub>2</sub> ha<sup>−1</sup> and 952 ± 16 kg SiO<sub>2</sub> ha<sup>−1</sup>) are significantly higher than disturbed land use types from the Råshult Culture Reserve including arable land (28 800 ± 7200 kg SiO<sub>2</sub> ha<sup>−1</sup> and 239 ± 91 kg SiO<sub>2</sub> ha<sup>−1</sup>), pasture sites (27 300 ± 5980 kg SiO<sub>2</sub> ha<sup>−1</sup> and 370 ± 129 kg SiO<sub>2</sub> ha<sup>−1</sup>) and grazed forest (23 600 ± 6370 kg SiO<sub>2</sub> ha<sup>−1</sup> and 346 ± 123 kg SiO<sub>2</sub> ha<sup>−1</sup>). Vertical PSi<sub>a</sub> and PSi<sub>e</sub> profiles show significant (<i>p</i> < 0.05) variation among the sites. These differences in size and distribution are interpreted as the long-term effect of reduced ASi replenishment, as well as changes in ecosystem specific pedogenic processes and increased mobilisation of the PSi<sub>a</sub> in disturbed soils. We have also made a first, though rough, estimate of the magnitude of change in temperate continental ASi pools due to human disturbance. Assuming that our data are representative, we estimate that total ASi storage in soils has declined by ca. 10 % since the onset of agricultural development (3000 BCE). Recent agricultural expansion (after 1700 CE) may have resulted in an average additional export of 1.1 ± 0.8 Tmol Si yr<sup>−1</sup> from the soil reservoir to aquatic ecosystems. This is ca. 20 % to the global land-ocean Si flux carried by rivers. It is necessary to update this estimate in future studies, incorporating differences in pedology, geology and climatology over temperate regions, but data are currently not sufficient. Yet, our results emphasize the importance of human activities for Si cycling in soils and for the land-ocean Si flux

Classical Cosmological Tests for Galaxies of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

Images of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field are analyzed to obtain a catalog of galaxies for which the angular sizes, surface brightness, photometric redshifts, and absolute magnitudes are found. The catalog contains a total of about 4000 galaxies identified at a high signal-to-noise ratio, which allows the cosmological relations angular size{redshift and surface brightness-redshift to be analyzed. The parameters of the evolution of linear sizes and surface brightness of distant galaxies in the redshift interval 0.5-6.5 are estimated in terms of a grid of cosmological models with different density parameters. The distribution of photometric redshifts of galaxies is analyzed and possible superlarge inhomogeneities in the radial distribution of galaxies are found with scale lengths as large as 2000 Mpc.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

Near-infrared observations of type Ia supernovae: The best known standard candle for cosmology

We present an analysis of the Hubble diagram for 12 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) observed in the near-infrared J and H bands. We select SNe exclusively from the redshift range 0.03 < z < 0.09 to reduce uncertainties coming from peculiar velocities while remaining in a cosmologically well-understood region. All of the SNe in our sample exhibit no spectral or B-band light-curve peculiarities and lie in the B-band stretch range of 0.8-1.15. Our results suggest that SNe Ia observed in the near-infrared (NIR) are the best known standard candles. We fit previously determined NIR light-curve templates to new high-precision data to derive peak magnitudes and to determine the scatter about the Hubble line. Photometry of the 12 SNe is presented in the natural system. Using a standard cosmology of (H_0, Omega_m, Lambda) = (70,0.27,0.73) we find a median J-band absolute magnitude of M_J = -18.39 with a scatter of 0.116 and a median H-band absolute magnitude of M_H = -18.36 with a scatter of 0.085. The scatter in the H band is the smallest yet measured. We search for correlations between residuals in the J- and H-band Hubble diagrams and SN properties, such as SN colour, B-band stretch and the projected distance from host-galaxy centre. The only significant correlation is between the J-band Hubble residual and the J-H pseudo-colour. We also examine how the scatter changes when fewer points in the near-infrared are used to constrain the light curve. With a single point in the H band taken anywhere from 10 days before to 15 days after B-band maximum light and a prior on the date of H-band maximum set from the date of B-band maximum, we find that we can measure distances to an accuracy of 6%. The precision of SNe Ia in the NIR provides new opportunities for precision measurements of both the expansion history of the universe and peculiar velocities of nearby galaxies.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

A Quantum Mechanical Model of Spherical Supermembranes

We present a quantum mechanical model of spherical supermembranes. Using superfields to represent the cartesian coordinates of the membrane, we are able to exactly determine its supersymmetric vacua. We find there are two classical vacua, one corresponding to an extended membrane and one corresponding to a point-like membrane. For the ${\mathcal N} = 2$ case, instanton effects then lift these vacua to massive states. For the ${\mathcal N} = 4$ case, there is no instanton tunneling, and the vacua remain massless. Similarities to spherical supermembranes as giant gravitons and in Matrix theory on pp-waves is discussed.Comment: 9 page

Precision measurements of large scale structure with future type Ia supernova surveys

Type Ia supernovae are currently the best known standard candles at cosmological distances. In addition to providing a powerful probe of dark energy they are an ideal source of information about the peculiar velocity field of the local universe. Even with the very small number of supernovae presently available it has been possible to measure the dipole and quadrupole of the local velocity field out to z~0.025. With future continuous all-sky surveys like the LSST project the luminosity distances of tens of thousands of nearby supernovae will be measured accurately. This will allow for a determination of the local velocity structure of the universe as a function of redshift with unprecedented accuracy, provided the redshifts of the host galaxies are known. Using catalogues of mock surveys we estimate that future low redshift supernova surveys will be able to probe sigma-8 to a precision of roughly 5% at 95% C.L. This is comparable to the precision in future galaxy and weak lensing surveys and with a relatively modest observational effort it will provide a crucial cross-check on future measurements of the matter power spectrum.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures, submitted to JCA

Type Ia Supernovae Rates and Galaxy Clustering from the CFHT Supernova Legacy Survey

The Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) has created a large homogeneous database of intermediate redshift (0.2 < z < 1.0) type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). The SNLS team has shown that correlations exist between SN Ia rates, properties, and host galaxy star formation rates. The SNLS SN Ia database has now been combined with a photometric redshift galaxy catalog and an optical galaxy cluster catalog to investigate the possible influence of galaxy clustering on the SN Ia rate, over and above the expected effect due to the dependence of SFR on clustering through the morphology-density relation. We identify three cluster SNe Ia, plus three additional possible cluster SNe Ia, and find the SN Ia rate per unit mass in clusters at intermediate redshifts is consistent with the rate per unit mass in field early-type galaxies and the SN Ia cluster rate from low redshift cluster targeted surveys. We also find the number of SNe Ia in cluster environments to be within a factor of two of expectations from the two component SNIa rate model.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in A

Environment of the submillimeter-bright massive starburst HFLS3 at z∼z\sim6.34

We describe the search for Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) near the sub-millimeter bright starburst galaxy HFLS3 at $z$$=$6.34 and a study on the environment of this massive galaxy during the end of reionization.We performed two independent selections of LBGs on images obtained with the \textit{Gran Telescopio Canarias} (GTC) and the \textit{Hubble Space Telescope} (HST) by combining non-detections in bands blueward of the Lyman-break and color selection. A total of 10 objects fulfilling the LBG selection criteria at $z$$>$5.5 were selected over the 4.54 and 55.5 arcmin$^2$ covered by our HST and GTC images, respectively. The photometric redshift, UV luminosity, and the star-formation rate of these sources were estimated with models of their spectral energy distribution. These $z$$\sim$6 candidates have physical properties and number densities in agreement with previous results. The UV luminosity function at $z$$\sim$6 and a Voronoi tessellation analysis of this field shows no strong evidence for an overdensity of relatively bright objects (m$_{F105W}$$<$25.9) associated with \textit{HFLS3}. However, the over-density parameter deduced from this field and the surface density of objects can not excluded definitively the LBG over-density hypothesis. Moreover we identified three faint objects at less than three arcseconds from \textit{HFLS3} with color consistent with those expected for $z$$\sim$6 galaxies. Deeper data are needed to confirm their redshifts and to study their association with \textit{HFLS3} and the galaxy merger that may be responsible for the massive starburst.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The Rise Time of Type Ia Supernovae from the Supernova Legacy Survey

We compare the rise times of nearby and distant Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) as a test for evolution using 73 high-redshift spectroscopically-confirmed SNe Ia from the first two years of the five year Supernova Legacy Survey (SNLS) and published observations of nearby SN. Because of the ``rolling'' search nature of the SNLS, our measurement is approximately 6 times more precise than previous studies, allowing for a more sensitive test of evolution between nearby and distant supernovae. Adopting a simple $t^2$ early-time model (as in previous studies), we find that the rest-frame $B$ rise times for a fiducial SN Ia at high and low redshift are consistent, with values $19.10^{+0.18}_{-0.17}({stat}) \pm 0.2 ({syst})$ and $19.58^{+0.22}_{-0.19}$ days, respectively; the statistical significance of this difference is only 1.4 \sg . The errors represent the uncertainty in the mean rather than any variation between individual SN. We also compare subsets of our high-redshift data set based on decline rate, host galaxy star formation rate, and redshift, finding no substantive evidence for any subsample dependence.Comment: Accepted for publication in AJ; minor changes (spelling and grammatical) to conform with published versio