Rubin-LSST

Abstract:

Some active galactic nuclei (AGN) are surrounded by extended emission-line regions (EELRs), which trace both the illumination pattern of escaping radiation and its history over the light-travel time from the AGN to the gas. From a new set of such EELRs, we present evidence that the AGN in many Seyfert galaxies undergo luminous episodes 20,000-200,000 years in duration. Motivated by the discovery of the spectacular nebula known as Hanny's Voorwerp, ionized by a powerful AGN which has apparently faded dramatically within ~ 100,000 years, Galaxy Zoo volunteers have carried out both targeted and serendipitous searches for similar emission-line clouds around low-redshift galaxies.We present the resulting list of candidates and describe spectroscopy identifying 19 galaxies with AGN-ionized regions at projected radii > 10 kpc. This search recovered known EELRs and identified additional previously unknown cases, one with detected emission to r = 37 kpc. At least 14/19 are in interacting or merging systems; tidal tails are a prime source of extraplanar ionized gas. We see a mix of one- and two-sided structures, with observed cone angles from 23-112 degrees. We consider the energy balance in the ionized clouds, with lower and upper bounds on ionizing luminosity from recombination and ionization-parameter arguments, and estimate the luminosity of the core from the far-infrared data. The implied ratio of ionizing radiation seen by the clouds to that emitted by the nucleus, for a constant nuclear source, ranges from 0.02 to > 12; 7/19 exceed unity. Small values imply heavily obscured AGN. However, large values may require that the AGN has faded over tens of thousands of years, giving us several examples of systems in which such dramatic long-period variation has occurred; this is the only current technique for addressing these timescales in AGN history. (Abridged)

Abstract:

We search for resonant production of tt̄ pairs in 4.8fb-1 integrated luminosity of pp̄ collision data at √s=1.96TeV in the lepton+jets decay channel, where one top quark decays leptonically and the other hadronically. A matrix-element reconstruction technique is used; for each event a probability density function of the tt̄ candidate invariant mass is sampled. These probability density functions are used to construct a likelihood function, whereby the cross section for resonant tt̄ production is estimated, given a hypothetical resonance mass and width. The data indicate no evidence of resonant production of tt̄ pairs. A benchmark model of leptophobic Z′→tt̄ is excluded with m Z′<900GeV/c2 at 95% confidence level. © 2011 American Physical Society.

Abstract:

We present a search for new physics in events with two high pT leptons of the same electric charge, using data with an integrated luminosity of 6.1fb-1. The observed data are consistent with standard model predictions. We set 95% C.L. lower limits on the mass of doubly charged scalars decaying to like-sign dileptons, mH±±>190-245GeV/ c2, assuming 100% BR to ee, μμ or eμ. © 2011 American Physical Society.

Abstract:

A search for physics beyond the standard model in events with at least three leptons and any number of jets is presented. The data sample corresponds to 35 pb-1 of integrated luminosity in pp collisions at s=7 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. A number of exclusive multileptonic channels are investigated and standard model backgrounds are suppressed by requiring sufficient missing transverse energy, invariant mass inconsistent with that of the Z boson, or high jet activity. Control samples in data are used to ascertain the robustness of background evaluation techniques and to minimise the reliance on simulation. The observations are consistent with background expectations. These results constrain previously unexplored regions of supersymmetric parameter space. © 2011 CERN.