Table of contents

We make use of the recent large sample of 17 042 Mg II absorption systems from Quider et al. to analyze the evolution of the redshift number density. Regardless of the strength of the absorption line, we find that the evolution of the redshift number density can be clearly distinguished into three different phases. In the intermediate redshift epoch (0.6 ≲ z ≲ 1.6), the evolution of the redshift number density is consistent with the non-evolution curve, however, the non-evolution curve over-predicts the values of the redshift number density in the early (z ≲ 0.6) and late (z ≳ 1.6) epochs. Based on the invariant cross-section of the absorber, the lack of evolution in the redshift number density compared to the non-evolution curve implies the galaxy number density does not evolve during the middle epoch. The flat evolution of the redshift number density tends to correspond to a shallow evolution in the galaxy merger rate during the late epoch, and the steep decrease of the redshift number density might be ascribed to the small mass of halos during the early epoch.

We study a known class of scalar dark energy models in which the potential has an exponential term and the current accelerating era is transient. We find that, although a decelerating era will return in the future, when extrapolating the model back to earlier stages (z ≳ 4), scalar dark energy becomes dominant over matter. So these models do not have the desired tracking behavior, and the predicted transient period of acceleration cannot be adopted into the standard scenario of the Big Bang cosmology. When couplings between the scalar field and matter are introduced, the models still have the same problem; only the time when deceleration returns will be varied. To achieve re-deceleration, one has to turn to alternative models that are consistent with the standard Big Bang scenario.

Observations show that Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are dimmer than expected from a matter dominated Universe. It has been suggested that this observed phenomenon can also be explained using light absorption instead of dark energy. However, there is a serious degeneracy between the cosmic absorption parameter and the present matter density parameter Ω_m when one tries to place constraints on the cosmic opacity using SNe Ia data. We combine the latest baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and Union2 SNe Ia data in order to break this degeneracy. Assuming a flat ΛCDM model, we find that, although an opaque Universe is favored by SNe Ia+BAO since the best fit value of the cosmic absorption parameter is larger than zero, Ω_m = 1 is ruled out at the 99.7% confidence level. Thus, cosmic opacity is not sufficient to account for the present observations and dark energy or modified gravity is still required.

Using galaxy data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8, I explore whether the concentration index is a good morphological classification tool and find that a reasonable sample of pure late-type galaxies can be constructed with the choice of the r-band concentration index ci=2.85. The opposite is not true, however, due to the fairly high contamination of an early-type sample by late-type galaxies. In such an analysis, the influence of selection effects is less important. To disentangle correlations of the morphology and concentration index with stellar mass, star formation rate (SFR), specific star formation rate (SSFR) and active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity, I investigate correlations of the concentration index with these properties at a fixed morphology and correlations of the morphology with these properties at a fixed concentration index. It is found that at a fixed morphology, high-concentration galaxies are preferentially more massive and have a lower SFR and SSFR than low-concentration galaxies, whereas at a fixed concentration index, elliptical galaxies are preferentially more massive and have a lower SFR and SSFR than spiral galaxies. This result shows that the stellar mass, SFR and SSFR of a galaxy are correlated with its concentration index as well as its morphology. In addition, I note that AGNs are preferentially found in more concentrated galaxies only in the sample of spiral galaxies.

The afterglow of GRB 081029 showed unusual behavior, with a significant rebrightening being observed at the optical wavelength at about 3000 s after the burst. One possible explanation is that the rebrightening resulted from an energy injection. Here we present a detailed numerical study of the energy injection process and interpret the X-ray and optical afterglow light curves of GRB 081029. In our model, we have assumed two periods of energy injection, each with a constant injection power. One injection starts at 2.8 × 10³ s and lasts for about 2500 s, with a power of 7.0 × 10⁴⁷ erg s⁻¹. This energy injection mainly accounts for the rapid rebrightening at about 3000 s. The other injection starts at 8.0 × 10³ s and lasts for about 5000 s. The injection power is 3.5 × 10⁴⁷ erg s⁻¹. This energy injection can help to explain the slight rebrightening at about 10 000 s. It is shown that the observed optical afterglow, especially the marked rebrightening at about 3000 s, can be reproduced well. In the X-ray band, the predicted amplitude of the rebrightening is much shallower, which is also consistent with the observed X-ray afterglow light curve. It is argued that the two periods of energy injection can be produced by clumpy materials falling onto the central compact object of the burster, which leads to an enhancement of accretion and gives rise to a strong temporary outflow.

We analyze the emission plateaus in the X-ray afterglow light curves of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and those in the optical light curves of type II plateau supernovae (SNe II-P) in order to study whether they have similar late energy injection behaviors. We show that correlations of bolometric energies (or luminosities) between the prompt explosions and the plateaus for the two phenomena are similar. The energy emitted by SNe II-P are at the lower end of the range of possible energies for GRBs. The bolometric energies (or luminosities) in the prompt phase E_expl (or L_expl) and in the plateau phase E_plateau (or L_plateau) share relations of E_expl ∝ E^0.73±0.14_plateau and L_expl ∝ L^∼0.70_plateau. These results may indicate a similar late energy injection behavior that produces the observed plateaus in these two phenomena.

Accurate fitting formulae to the synchrotron function, F(x), and its complementary function, G(x), are performed and presented. The corresponding relative errors are less than 0.26% and 0.035% for F(x) and G(x), respectively. To this end we have, first, fitted the modified Bessel functions, K_5/3(x) and K_2/3(x). For all the fitted functions, the general fit expression is the same, and is based on the well known asymptotic forms for low and large values of x for each function. It consists of multiplying each asymptotic form by a function that tends to unity or zero for low and large values of x. Simple formulae are suggested in this paper, depending on adjustable parameters. The latter have been determined by adopting the Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm. The proposed formulae should be of great utility and simplicity for computing spectral powers and the degree of polarization for synchrotron radiation, both for laboratory and astrophysical applications.

The two-stream instability is common, responsible for many observed phenomena in nature, especially the interaction of jets of various origins with the background plasma (e.g. extragalactic jet interacting with the cosmic background). The dispersion relation that does not consider magnetic fields is described by the well-known Buneman relation. In 2011, Bohata, Břeň and Kulhánek derived the relation for the two-stream instability without the cold limit, with the general orientation of a magnetic field, and arbitrary stream directions. The maximum value of the imaginary part of the individual dispersion branches w_n(k) is of interest from a physical point of view. It represents the instability growth rate which is responsible for the onset of turbulence mode and subsequent reconnection on the scale of the ion radius accompanied by a strong plasma thermalization. The paper presented here is focused on the non-relativistic instability growth rate and its dependence on various input parameters, such as magnitude and direction of magnetic field, sound velocity, plasma frequency of the jet and direction of the wave vector during the jet — intergalactic medium interaction. The results are presented in plots and can be used for determination of the plasma parameter values close to which the strong energy transfer and thermalization between the jet and the background plasma occur.

We present the analysis of Spitzer/IRAC and near infrared imaging observation of AFGL 5157, an active star forming region. In the IRAC images, this region shows strong emissions of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in channel 4 and emissions of H₂ in channel 2. Many of the H₂ features are aligned to form jet-like structures. Three bipolar jets in the NH₃ core region and a couple of jets northwest of the core have been identified. We identify the possible driving agents of the bipolar jets and show them to be very young. An embedded cluster has been detected in the NH₃ core; many members in the cluster have spectral energy distributions that increase from JHK bands toward longer wavelengths, indicative of their early evolutionary stages. Millimeter and submillimeter continuum emissions in the NH₃ core and the northwest subregion are found to coincide spatially with these presumable Class 0/I sources. The existence of H₂ bipolar jets and very young stellar objects suggests that star formation is continuing at the present epoch in these subregions. Combining information from previous studies, we propose a sequential star formation scenario in the whole AFGL 5157 region.

The quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in black hole (BH) systems with different scales are interpreted based on the magnetic reconnection of large-scale magnetic fields generated by toroidal electric currents flowing in the inner region of the accretion disk, where the current density is assumed to be proportional to the mass density of the accreting plasma. The magnetic connection (MC) is taken into account in resolving dynamic equations describing the accretion disk, in which the MC between the inner and outer disk regions, between the plunging region and the disk, and between the BH horizon and the disk are involved. It turns out that a single QPO frequency associated with several BH systems with different scales can be fitted by invoking the magnetic reconnection due to the MC between the inner and outer regions of the disk, including the BH binaries XTE J1859+226, XTE J1650−500 and GRS 1915+105 and the massive BHs in NGC 5408 X-1 and RE J1034+396. In addition, the X-ray spectra corresponding to the QPOs for these sources are fitted based on the typical disk-corona model.

The emerging massive binary system associated with AFGL 961 signifies the latest generation of massive star and cluster formation in the Rosette Molecular Complex. We present the detection of a compact cluster of dusty cores toward the AFGL 961 region based on continuum imaging at 1.3 mm by the Submillimeter Array. The binary components of AFGL 961 are associated with the most intensive millimeter emission cores or envelopes, confirming that they are indeed in an early stage of evolution. The other massive cores, however, are found to congregate in the close vicinity of the central high-mass protostellar binary. They have no apparent infrared counterparts and are, in particular, well aligned transverse to the bipolar molecular outflows originating from AFGL 961. This provides evidence for a likely triggered origin of the massive cores. All 40 individual cores with masses ranging between 0.6 and 15 M⊙ were detected above a 3 σ level of 3.6 mJy beam⁻¹ (or 0.4 M⊙), based on which we derive a total core mass of 107 M⊙ in the AFGL 961 region. As compared to the stellar initial mass function, a shallow slope of 1.8 is, however, derived from the best fit to the mass spectrum of the millimeter cores with a prestellar and/or protostellar origin. The flatter core mass distribution in the AFGL 961 region is attributed here to dynamic perturbations from the massive molecular outflows that originated from the massive protostellar binary, which may have altered the otherwise more quiescent conditions of core or star formation, enhanced the formation of more massive cores and, as a result, influenced the core mass distribution in its close vicinity.

A method of calculating the induced electric field is presented. The induced electric field in the solar atmosphere is derived by the time variation of the magnetic field when the accumulation of charged particles is neglected. In order to derive the spatial distribution of the magnetic field, several extrapolation methods are introduced. With observational data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory taken on 2010 May 20, we extrapolate the magnetic field from the photosphere to the upper atmosphere. By calculating the time variation of the magnetic field, we can get the induced electric field. The derived induced electric field can reach a value of 10² V cm⁻¹ and the average electric field has a maximum point at the layer 360 km above the photosphere. The Monte Carlo method is used to compute the triple integration of the induced electric field.

We examine the solar cycle distribution of major geomagnetic storms (Dst ≤ − 100 nT), including intense storms at the level of −200 nT < Dst ≤ −100 nT, great storms at −300 nT< Dst ≤ −200 nT, and super storms at Dst ≤ −300 nT, which occurred during the period of 1957-2006, based on Dst indices and smoothed monthly sunspot numbers. Statistics show that the majority (82%) of the geomagnetic storms at the level of Dst ≤ −100 nT that occurred in the study period were intense geomagnetic storms, with 12.4% ranked as great storms and 5.6% as super storms. It is interesting to note that about 27% of the geomagnetic storms that occurred at all three intensity levels appeared in the ascending phase of a solar cycle, and about 73% in the descending one. Statistics also show that 76.9% of the intense storms, 79.6% of the great storms and 90.9% of the super storms occurred during the two years before a solar cycle reached its peak, or in the three years after it. The correlation between the size of a solar cycle and the percentage of major storms that occurred, during the period from two years prior to maximum to three years after it, is investigated. Finally, the properties of the multi-peak distribution for major geomagnetic storms in each solar cycle is investigated.

Dynamic processes occurring in solar active regions are dominated by the solar magnetic field. As of now, observations using a solar magnetograph have supplied us with the vector components of a solar photospheric magnetic field. The two transverse components of a photospheric magnetic field allow us to compute the amount of electric current. We found that the electric current in areas with positive (negative) polarity due to the longitudinal magnetic field have both positive and negative signs in an active region, however, the net current is found to be an order-of-magnitude less than the mean absolute magnitude and has a preferred sign. In particular, we have statistically found that there is a systematic net electric current from areas with negative (positive) polarity to areas with positive (negative) polarity in solar active regions in the northern (southern) hemisphere, but during the solar minimum this tendency is reversed over time at some latitudes. The result indicates that there is weak net electric current in areas of solar active regions with opposite polarity, thus providing further details about the hemispheric helicity rule found in a series of previous studies.