Galaxy formation and evolution

Abstract:

The Variables and Slow Transients Survey (VAST) on the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) is designed to detect highly variable and transient radio sources on timescales from 5 s to ~5 yr. In this paper, we present the survey description, observation strategy and initial results from the VAST Phase I Pilot Survey. This pilot survey consists of ~162 h of observations conducted at a central frequency of 888 MHz between 2019 August and 2020 August, with a typical rms sensitivity of 0.24 mJy beam^-1 and angular resolution of 12 – 20 arcseconds. There are 113 fields, each of which was observed for 12 min integration time, with between 5 and 13 repeats, with cadences between 1 day and 8 months. The total area of the pilot survey footprint is 5 131 square degrees, covering six distinct regions of the sky. An initial search of two of these regions, totalling 1 646 square degrees, revealed 28 highly variable and/or transient sources. Seven of these are known pulsars, including the millisecond pulsar J2039–5617. Another seven are stars, four of which have no previously reported radio detection (SCR J0533–4257, LEHPM 2-783, UCAC3 89–412162 and 2MASS J22414436–6119311). Of the remaining 14 sources, two are active galactic nuclei, six are associated with galaxies and the other six have no multi-wavelength counterparts and are yet to be identified.

Abstract:

GPS and CSS sources are thought to represent a young and/or confined sub-population of radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGN) that are yet to evacuate their surrounding ambient interstellar gas. By studying the gaseous environments of these objects we can gain an insight into the inter-dependent relationship between galaxies and their supermassive black holes (SMBHs). The First Large Absorption Survey in HI (FLASH) will build a census of the neutral atomic hydrogen (HI) gas in galaxies at intermediate cosmological redshifts. FLASH is expected to detect at least several hundred HI absorbers associated with GPS and CSS sources. These absorbers provide an important probe of the abundance and kinematics of line-of-sight neutral gas towards radio AGN, in some cases revealing gas associated with infalling clouds and outflows. Observations are now complete for the first phase of the FLASH Pilot Survey and early analysis has already yielded several detections, including the GPS source PKS2311$-$477. Optical imaging of this galaxy reveals an interacting system that could have supplied the neutral gas seen in absorption and triggered the radio-loud AGN. FLASH will provide a statistically significant sample with which the prevalence of such gas-rich interactions amongst compact radio galaxies can be investigated.

Abstract:

We investigate the dynamical evolution of an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) in a nuclear star cluster hosting a supermassive black hole (SMBH) and both a spherical and a flattened disk-like distribution of stellar-mass objects. We use a direct N-body (φGPU) and an orbit-averaged (N-ring) numerical integrator to simulate the orbital evolution of stars and the IMBH. We find that the IMBH's orbit gradually aligns with the stellar disk if their mutual initial inclination is less than 90°. If it is larger than 90°, i.e., counter-rotating, the IMBH does not align. Initially, the rate of orbital reorientation increases linearly with the ratio of the mass of the IMBH over the SMBH mass, and it is orders of magnitude faster than ordinary (i.e., Chandrasekhar) dynamical friction, particularly for high SMBH masses. The semimajor axes of the IMBH and the stars are approximately conserved. This suggests that the alignment is predominantly driven by orbit-averaged gravitational torques of the stars, a process that may be called resonant dynamical friction. The stellar disk is warped by the IMBH, and ultimately increases its thickness. This process may offer a test for the viability of IMBH candidates in the Galactic Center. Resonant dynamical friction is not limited to IMBHs; any object much more massive than disk particles may ultimately align with the disk. This may have implications for the formation and evolution of black hole disks in dense stellar systems and gravitational wave source populations for LIGO, VIRGO, KAGRA, and LISA.