Analytic Approach to the Cloud-in-cloud Problem for Non-Gaussian Density Fluctuations

We revisit the cloud-in-cloud problem for non-Gaussian density fluctuations. We show that the extended Press-Schechter (EPS) formalism for non-Gaussian fluctuations has a flaw in describing mass functions regardless of type of filtering. As an example, we consider non-Gaussian models in which density fluctuations at a point obeys a \chi^2 distribution with \nu degrees of freedom. We find that mass functions predicted by using an integral formula proposed by Jedamzik, and Yano, Nagashima and Gouda, properly taking into account correlation between objects at different scales, deviate from those predicted by using the EPS formalism, especially for strongly non-Gaussian fluctuations. Our results for the mass function at large mass scales are consistent with those by Avelino and Viana obtained from numerical simulations.Comment: 10 pages, 7 EPS files, submitted to Ap

Permutation inference methods for multivariate meta-analysis

Multivariate meta-analysis is gaining prominence in evidence synthesis research because it enables simultaneous synthesis of multiple correlated outcome data, and random-effects models have generally been used for addressing between-studies heterogeneities. However, coverage probabilities of confidence regions or intervals for standard inference methods for random-effects models (e.g., restricted maximum likelihood estimation) cannot retain their nominal confidence levels in general, especially when the number of synthesized studies is small because their validities depend on large sample approximations. In this article, we provide permutation-based inference methods that enable exact joint inferences for average outcome measures without large sample approximations. We also provide accurate marginal inference methods under general settings of multivariate meta-analyses. We propose effective approaches for permutation inferences using optimal weighting based on the efficient score statistic. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is illustrated via applications to bivariate meta-analyses of diagnostic accuracy studies for airway eosinophilia in asthma and a network meta-analysis for antihypertensive drugs on incident diabetes, as well as through simulation experiments. In numerical evaluations performed via simulations, our methods generally provided accurate confidence regions or intervals under a broad range of settings, whereas the current standard inference methods exhibited serious undercoverage properties.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures, 2 tabl

Formation of the Galactic globular clusters with He-rich stars in low-mass halos virialized at high redshift

Recent observations have reported that the Galactic globular clusters (GCs) with unusually extended horizontal-branch (EHB) morphologies show a significantly lower velocity dispersion compared with that of the entire Galactic GC system. We consider that the observed distinctive kinematics of GCs with EHB has valuable information on the formation epochs of GCs and accordingly discuss this observational result based on cosmological N-body simulations with a model of GC formation. We assume that GCs in galaxies were initially formed in low-mass halos at high redshifts and we investigate final kinematics of GCs in their host halos at $z=0$. We find that GCs formed in halos virialized at z>10 show lower velocity dispersions on average than those formed at z>6 for halos with GCs at z=0. We thus suggest that the origin of the observed lower velocity dispersion for the Galactic GCs with EHBs is closely associated with earlier formation epochs (z>10) of halos initially hosting the GCs in the course of the Galaxy formation. Considering that the origin of EHBs can be due to the presence of helium-enhanced second-generation stars in GCs, we discuss the longstanding second parameter problem of GCs in the context of different degrees of chemical pollution in GC-forming gas clouds within low-mass halos virialized at different redshifts.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted by MNRAS Letter

Infrared Spectral Energy Distribution of Galaxies in the AKARI All Sky Survey: Correlations with Galaxy Properties, and Their Physical Origin

We have studied the properties of more than 1600 low-redshift galaxies by utilizing high-quality infrared flux measurements of the AKARI All-Sky Survey and physical quantities based on optical and 21-cm observations. Our goal is to understand the physics determining the infrared spectral energy distribution (SED). The ratio of the total infrared luminosity L_TIR, to the star-formation rate (SFR) is tightly correlated by a power-law to specific SFR (SSFR), and L_TIR is a good SFR indicator only for galaxies with the largest SSFR. We discovered a tight linear correlation for normal galaxies between the radiation field strength of dust heating, estimated by infrared SED fits (U_h), and that of galactic-scale infrared emission (U_TIR ~ L_TIR/R^2), where R is the optical size of a galaxy. The dispersion of U_h along this relation is 0.3 dex, corresponding to 13% dispersion in the dust temperature. This scaling and the U_h/U_TIR ratio can be explained physically by a thin layer of heating sources embedded in a thicker, optically-thick dust screen. The data also indicate that the heated fraction of the total dust mass is anti-correlated to the dust column density, supporting this interpretation. In the large U_TIR limit, the data of circumnuclear starbursts indicate the existence of an upper limit on U_h, corresponding to the maximum SFR per gas mass of ~ 10 Gyr^{-1}. We find that the number of galaxies sharply drops when they become optically thin against dust-heating radiation, suggesting that a feedback process to galaxy formation (likely by the photoelectric heating) is working when dust-heating radiation is not self-shielded on a galactic scale. Implications are discussed for the M_HI-size relation, the Kennicutt-Schmidt relation, and galaxy formation in the cosmological context.Comment: 29 pages including 28 figures. matches the published version (PASJ 2011 Dec. 25 issue). The E-open option was chosen for this article, i.e., the official version available from PASJ site (http://pasj.asj.or.jp/v63/n6/630613/630613-frame.html) without restrictio

Study of Polarization in B -> VT Decays

In this paper, we examine B -> VT decays (V is a vector and T is a tensor meson), whose final-state particles can have transverse or longitudinal polarization. Measurements have been made of B -> \phi K_2^*, and it is found that fT/fL is small, where fT (fL) is the fraction of transverse (longitudinal) decays. We find that the standard model (SM) naively predicts that fT/fL << 1. The two extensions of the naive SM which have been proposed to explain the large fT/fL in B -> \phi K^* -- penguin annihilation and rescattering -- make no firm predictions for the polarization in B -> \phi K_2^*. The two new-physics scenarios, which explain the data in B -> \pi K and the \phi (\rho) K^* polarization measurements, can reproduce the fT/fL data in B -> \phi K_2^* only if the B -> T form factors obey a certain hierarchy. Finally, we present the general angular analysis which can be used to get helicity information using two- and three-body decays.Comment: 15 pages, latex, 3 figures (enclosed), several changes made, conclusions unchanged, publication info adde

Baryon Number Violation Involving Higher Generations

Proton stability seems to constrain rather strongly any baryon number violating process. We investigate the possibility of baryon number violating processes involving right-handed dynamics or higher generation quarks. Our results strongly suggest that there will be no possibility to observe baryon number violation in tau or higher generation quark decays, at any future machine.Comment: Improved figures, small changes in the text, added reference. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Effects of Ram-Pressure from Intracluster Medium on the Star Formation Rate of Disk Galaxies in Clusters of Galaxies

Using a simple model of molecular cloud evolution, we have quantitatively estimated the change of star formation rate (SFR) of a disk galaxy falling radially into the potential well of a cluster of galaxies. The SFR is affected by the ram-pressure from the intracluster medium (ICM). As the galaxy approaches the cluster center, the SFR increases to twice the initial value, at most, in a cluster with high gas density and deep potential well, or with a central pressure of $\sim 10^{-2} cm^{-3} keV$ because the ram-pressure compresses the molecular gas of the galaxy. However, this increase does not affect the color of the galaxy significantly. Further into the central region of the cluster ($\lesssim 1$ Mpc from the center), the SFR of the disk component drops rapidly due to the effect of ram-pressure stripping. This makes the color of the galaxy redder and makes the disk dark. These effects may explain the observed color, morphology distribution and evolution of galaxies in high-redshift clusters. By contrast, in a cluster with low gas density and shallow potential well, or the central pressure of $\sim 10^{-3} cm^{-3} keV$, the SFR of a radially infalling galaxy changes less significantly, because neither ram-pressure compression nor stripping is effective. Therefore, the color of galaxies in poor clusters is as blue as that of field galaxies, if other environmental effects such as galaxy-galaxy interaction are not effective. The predictions of the model are compared with observations.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, to appear in Ap