Cosmology

Abstract:

Stabilizing the gain of a radio astronomy receiver is of great importance for sensitive radio intensity mapping. In this paper we discuss a stabilization method using a continuous-wave reference signal injected into the signal chain and tracked in a single channel of the spectrometer to correct for the gain variations of the receiver. This method depends on the fact that gain fluctuations of the receiver are strongly correlated across the frequency band, which we can show is the case for our experimental set-up. This method is especially suited for receivers with a digital back-end with high spectral resolution and moderate dynamic range. The sensitivity of the receiver is unaltered except for one lost frequency channel. We present experimental results using a new 4–8.5 GHz receiver with a digital back-end that shows substantial reduction of the 1/f noise and the 1/f knee frequency.

Abstract:

Distinguishing the photon output of an accreting supermassive black hole binary system from that of a single supermassive black hole accreting at the same rate is intrinsically difficult because the majority of the light emerges from near the innermost stable orbits of the black holes. However, there are two possible signals that can distinctively mark binaries, both arising from the gap formed in circumbinary accretion flows inside approximately twice the binary separation. One of these is a "notch" cut into the thermal spectra of these systems in the IR/optical/UV, the other a periodically varying excess hard X-ray luminosity whose period is of order the binary orbital period. Using data from detailed galaxy evolution simulations, we estimate the distribution function in mass, mass ratio, and accretion rate for accreting supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs) as a function of redshift and then transform this distribution function into predicted source counts for these two potential signals. At flux levels >~10−13 erg cm−2 s−1, there may be ~O(102) such systems in the sky, mostly in the redshift range 0.5 <~ z <~ 1. Roughly 10% should have periods short enough (<~5 yr) to detect the X-ray modulation; this is also the period range accessible to Pulsar Timing Array observations.

Abstract:

We examine the co-evolution of galaxies and supermassive black holes in the simba cosmological hydrodynamic simulation. simba grows black holes via gravitational torque-limited accretion from cold gas and Bondi accretion from hot gas, while feedback from black holes is modelled in radiative and jet modes depending on the Eddington ratio (fEdd). simba shows generally good agreement with local studies of black hole properties, such as the black hole mass-stellar velocity dispersion (MBH-σ) relation, the black hole accretion rate versus star formation rate (BHAR-SFR), and the black hole mass function. MBH-σ evolves such that galaxies at a given MBH have higher σ at higher redshift, consistent with no evolution in MBH-M∗. For MBH ≤ 108 M⊙, fEdd is anticorrelated with MBH since the BHAR is approximately independent of MBH, while at higher masses fEdd-MBH flattens and has a larger scatter. BHAR versus SFR is invariant with redshift, but fEdd drops steadily with time at a given MBH, such that all but the most massive black holes are accreting in a radiatively efficient mode at z ≥ 2. The black hole mass function amplitude decreases with redshift and is locally dominated by quiescent galaxies for MBH > 108 M⊙, but for z≥ 1 star-forming galaxies dominate at all MBH. The z = 0 fEdd distribution is roughly lognormal with a peak at fEdd ≤ 0.01 as observed, shifting to higher fEdd at higher redshifts. Finally, we study the dependence of black hole properties with H i content and find that the correlation between gas content and SFR is modulated by black hole properties, such that higher SFR galaxies at a given gas content have smaller black holes with higher fEdd.