A re-analysis of the spectrum of 2206-199

Recently Pettini, Hunstead, Smith and Mar, (PHSM 1991) performed an analysis of the Ly-alpha forest of QSO 2206-199N at very high resolution. On the basis of their observations they concluded that most Doppler parameters b = (square root of 2)(sigma) of Ly-alpha forest lines are below 22 km/s, with a range down to a few km/s and a median of 17 km/s. They also found a strong intrinsic correlation between Doppler parameter b and column density N. These results are in contrast to those of a similar study by Carswell, Lanzetta, Parnell, and Webb (CLPW 1991) at comparable resolution with the same instruments, who find that most of the Ly-alpha lines towards QSO 1100-264 have Doppler parameters above 15 km/s (median b = 34 km/s), and that there is no significant correlation between b and N. Whilst an intrinsic difference between the lines of sight to 2206-199 and to other QSO's can not be excluded a priori, previous disagreement between Doppler parameter estimates obtained by both groups pointed to a potential difference in estimation techniques and in the interpretation of the results. To investigate this possibility, the AAT/UCLES spectrum of 2206-199 obtained by PHSM were reanalyzed. The spectrum was extracted from the raw data and determined the line parameters using the method described by CLPW

The Local Lyman-Alpha Forest: Absorbers in Galaxy Voids

We have conducted pointed redshift surveys for galaxies in the direction of bright AGN whose HST far-UV spectra contain nearby (cz <~ 30,000 kms), low column density (12.5 <= log N_{HI} (cm s^{-2}) <= 14.5) Ly-alpha forest absorption systems. Here we present results for four lines-of-sight which contain nearby (cz <~ 3000 kms) Ly-alpha absorbers in galaxy voids. Although our data go quite deep (-13 <= M_{B}(limit) <= -14) out to impact parameters of 100-250 h_{70}^{-1} kpc, these absorbers remain isolated and thus appear to be truly intergalactic, rather than part of galaxies or their halos. Since we and others have discovered no galaxies in voids, the only baryons detected in the voids are in the Ly-alpha ``clouds''. Using a photoionization model for these clouds, the total baryonic content of the voids is 4.5% +/- 1.5% of the mean baryon density.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter

Thermal broadening of the Coulomb blockade peaks in quantum Hall interferometers

We demonstrate that the differential magnetic susceptibility of a fractional quantum Hall disk, representing a Coulomb island in a Fabry--Perot interferometer, is exactly proportional to the island's conductance and its paramagnetic peaks are the equilibrium counterparts of the Coulomb blockade conductance peaks. Using as a thermodynamic potential the partition functions of the edge states' effective conformal field theory we find the positions of the Coulomb blockade peaks, when the area of the island is varied, the modulations of the distance between them as well as the thermal decay and broadening of the peaks when temperature is increased. The finite-temperature estimates of the peak's heights and widths could give important information about the experimental observability of the Coulomb blockade. In addition, the predicted peak asymmetry and displacement at finite temperature due to neutral multiplicities could serve to distinguish different fractional quantum Hall states with similar zero-temperature Coulomb blockade patterns.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures; published versio

Spin-polarized transport through weakly coupled double quantum dots in the Coulomb-blockade regime

We analyze cotunneling transport through two quantum dots in series weakly coupled to external ferromagnetic leads. In the Coulomb blockade regime the electric current flows due to third-order tunneling, while the second-order single-barrier processes have indirect impact on the current by changing the occupation probabilities of the double dot system. We predict a zero-bias maximum in the differential conductance, whose magnitude is conditioned by the value of the inter-dot Coulomb interaction. This maximum is present in both magnetic configurations of the system and results from asymmetry in cotunneling through different virtual states. Furthermore, we show that tunnel magnetoresistance exhibits a distinctively different behavior depending on temperature, being rather independent of the value of inter-dot correlation. Moreover, we find negative TMR in some range of the bias voltage.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Discovery of a Dwarf Post-Starburst Galaxy Near a High Column Density Ly-alpha Absorber

We report the discovery of a dwarf (M_B = -13.9) post-starburst galaxy coincident in recession velocity (within uncertainties) with the highest column density absorber (N_HI = 10^15.85 cm^{-2} at cz = 1586 km/s) in the 3C~273 sightline. This galaxy is by far the closest galaxy to this absorber, projected just 71 kpc on the sky from the sightline. The mean properties of the stellar populations in this galaxy are consistent with a massive starburst ~3.5 Gyrs ago, whose attendant supernovae, we argue, could have driven sufficient gas from this galaxy to explain the nearby absorber. Beyond the proximity on the sky and in recession velocity, the further evidence in favor of this conclusion includes both a match in the metallicities of absorber and galaxy, and the fact that the absorber has an overabundance of Si/C, suggesting recent type II supernova enrichment. Thus, this galaxy and its ejecta are the expected intermediate stage in the fading dwarf evolutionary sequence envisioned by Babul & Rees to explain the abundance of faint blue galaxies at intermediate redshifts.Comment: 33 pages, 4 figures, ApJ in pres

Extremely Red Objects from the NICMOS/HST Parallel Imaging Survey

We present a catalog of extremely red objects discovered using the NICMOS/HST parallel imaging database and ground-based optical follow-up observations. Within an area of 16 square arc-minutes, we detect 15 objects with $\rm R - F160W > 5$ and $\rm F160W < 21.5$. We have also obtained K-band photometry for a subset of the 15 EROs. All of the $\rm R - F160W$ selected EROs imaged at K-band have $\rm R - K > 6$. Our objects have $\rm F110W - F160W$ colors in the range of 1.3 - 2.1, redder than the cluster ellipticals at $z \sim 0.8$ and nearly 1 magnitude redder than the average population selected from the F160W images at the same depth. In addition, among only 22 NICMOS pointings, we detected two groups or clusters in two fields, each contains 3 or more EROs, suggesting that extremely red galaxies may be strongly clustered. At bright magnitudes with $\rm F160W < 19.5$, the ERO surface density is similar to what has been measured by other surveys. At the limit of our sample, F160W = 21.5, our measured surface density is 0.94$\pm 0.24$ arcmin^{-2}. Excluding the two possible groups/clusters and the one apparently stellar object, reduces the surface density to 0.38$\pm 0.15$ arcmin^{-2}.Comment: To appear in the AJ August issue. Replaced with the published versio

The Compact Structure of Radio-Loud Broad Absorption Line Quasars

We present the results of EVN+MERLIN VLBI polarization observations of 8 Broad Absorption Line (BAL) quasars at 1.6 GHz, including 4 LoBALs and 4 HiBALs with either steep or flat spectra on VLA scales. Only one steep-spectrum source, J1122+3124, shows two-sided structure on the scale of 2 kpc. The other four steep-spectrum sources and three flat-spectrum sources display either an unresolved image or a core-jet structure on scales of less than three hundred parsecs. In all cases the marginally resolved core is the dominant radio component. Linear polarization in the cores has been detected in the range of a few to 10 percent. Polarization, together with high brightness temperatures (from 2*10^9-5*10^10 K), suggest a synchrotron origin for the radio emission. There is no apparent difference in the radio orphologies or polarization between low-ionization and high-ionization BAL QSOs nor between flat- and steep-spectrum sources. We discuss the orientation of BAL QSOs with both flat and steep spectra, and consider a possible evolutionary scenario for BAL QSOs. In this scenario, BAL QSOs are probably the young population of radio sources, which are Compact Steep Spectrum or GHz peaked radio source analog at the low end of radio power.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in MNRA