Yanqin Wu

The Spitzer Local Volume Legacy: Survey Description and Infrared Photometry

The survey description and the near-, mid-, and far-infrared flux properties are presented for the 258 galaxies in the Local Volume Legacy (LVL). LVL is a Spitzer Space Telescope legacy program that surveys the local universe out to 11 Mpc, built upon a foundation of ultraviolet, Hα, and Hubble Space Telescope imaging from 11HUGS (11 Mpc Hα and Ultraviolet Galaxy Survey) and ANGST (ACS Nearby Galaxy Survey Treasury). LVL covers an unbiased, representative, and statistically robust sample of nearby star-forming galaxies, exploiting the highest extragalactic spatial resolution achievable with Spitzer. As a result of its approximately volume-limited nature, LVL augments previous Spitzer observations of present-day galaxies with improved sampling of the low-luminosity galaxy population. The collection of LVL galaxies shows a large spread in mid-infrared colors, likely due to the conspicuous deficiency of 8 μm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission from low-metallicity, low-luminosity galaxies. Conversely, the far-infrared emission tightly tracks the total infrared emission, with a dispersion in their flux ratio of only 0.1 dex. In terms of the relation between the infrared-to-ultraviolet ratio and the ultraviolet spectral slope, the LVL sample shows redder colors and/or lower infrared-to-ultraviolet ratios than starburst galaxies, suggesting that reprocessing by dust is less important in the lower mass systems that dominate the LVL sample. Comparisons with theoretical models suggest that the amplitude of deviations from the relation found for starburst galaxies correlates with the age of the stellar populations that dominate the ultraviolet/optical luminosities.

The calibration of monochromatic far-infrared star formation rate indicators

Spitzer data at 24, 70, and 160 μm and ground-based Hα images are analyzed for a sample of 189 nearby star-forming and starburst galaxies to investigate whether reliable star formation rate (SFR) indicators can be defined using the monochromatic infrared dust emission centered at 70 and 160 μm. We compare recently published recipes for SFR measures using combinations of the 24 μm and observed Hα luminosities with those using 24 μm luminosity alone. From these comparisons, we derive a reference SFR indicator for use in our analysis. Linear correlations between SFR and the 70 μm and 160 μm luminosity are found for L(70) ≳ 1.4 × 10^(42) erg s^(–1) and L(160) ≳ 2 × 10^(42) erg s^(–1), corresponding to SFR ≳ 0.1-0.3 M_☉ yr^(–1), and calibrations of SFRs based on L(70) and L(160) are proposed. Below those two luminosity limits, the relation between SFR and 70 μm (160 μm) luminosity is nonlinear and SFR calibrations become problematic. A more important limitation is the dispersion of the data around the mean trend, which increases for increasing wavelength. The scatter of the 70 μm (160 μm) data around the mean is about 25% (factor ~2) larger than the scatter of the 24 μm data. We interpret this increasing dispersion as an effect of the increasing contribution to the infrared emission of dust heated by stellar populations not associated with the current star formation. Thus, the 70 (160) μm luminosity can be reliably used to trace SFRs in large galaxy samples, but will be of limited utility for individual objects, with the exception of infrared-dominated galaxies. The nonlinear relation between SFR and the 70 and 160 μm emission at faint galaxy luminosities suggests a variety of mechanisms affecting the infrared emission for decreasing luminosity, such as increasing transparency of the interstellar medium, decreasing effective dust temperature, and decreasing filling factor of star-forming regions across the galaxy. In all cases, the calibrations hold for galaxies with oxygen abundance higher than roughly 12 +log(O/H) ~ 8.1. At lower metallicity, the infrared luminosity no longer reliably traces the SFR because galaxies are less dusty and more transparent.

Hot Jupiters in Binary Star Systems

Radial velocity surveys find Jupiter-mass planets with semimajor axes a less than 0.1 AU around ~1% of solar-type stars; counting planets with a as large as 5 AU, the fraction of stars having planets reaches ~10% (as found by Marcy et al. and Butler et al.). An examination of the distribution of semimajor axes shows that there is a clear excess of planets with orbital periods around 3 or 4 days, corresponding to a ≈ 0.03 AU, with a sharp cutoff at shorter periods (see Fig. 1). It is believed that Jupiter-mass planets form at large distances from their parent stars; some fraction then migrates in to produce the short-period objects. We argue that a significant fraction of the hot Jupiters (a < 0.1 AU) may arise in binary star systems in which the orbit of the binary is highly inclined to the orbit of the planet. Mutual torques between the two orbits drive down the minimum separation or periapsis rp between the planet and its host star (the Kozai mechanism). This periapsis collapse is halted when tidal friction on the planet circularizes the orbit faster than Kozai torque can excite it. The same friction then circularizes the planet orbit, producing hot Jupiters with the peak of the semimajor axis distribution lying around 3 days. For the observed distributions of binary separation, eccentricity, and mass ratio, roughly 2.5% of planets with initial semimajor axis ap ≈ 5 AU will migrate to within 0.1 AU of their parent star. Kozai migration could account for 10% or more of the observed hot Jupiters.

RESONANT REPULSION OF KEPLER PLANET PAIRS

Planetary systems discovered by the Kepler space telescope exhibit an intriguing feature. While the period ratios of adjacent low-mass planets appear largely random, there is a significant excess of pairs that lie just wide of resonances and a deficit on the near side. We demonstrate that this feature naturally arises when two near-resonant planets interact in the presence of weak dissipation that damps eccentricities. The two planets repel each other as orbital energy is lost to heat. This moves near-resonant pairs just beyond resonance, by a distance that reflects the integrated dissipation they experienced over their lifetimes. We find that the observed distances may be explained by tides if tidal dissipation is unexpectedly efficient (tidal quality factor ~10). Once the effect of resonant repulsion is accounted for, the initial orbits of these low mass planets show little preference for resonances. This could constrain their origin.

Gravity Modes in ZZ Ceti Stars. I. Quasi-adiabatic Analysis of Overstability

We analyze the stability of g-modes in white dwarfs with hydrogen envelopes. All relevant physical processes take place in the outer layer of hydrogen-rich material, which consists of a radiative layer overlaid by a convective envelope. The radiative layer contributes to mode damping, because its opacity decreases upon compression and the amplitude of the Lagrangian pressure perturbation increases outward. The convective envelope is the seat of mode excitation, because it acts as an insulating blanket with respect to the perturbed flux that enters it from below. A crucial point is that the convective motions respond to the instantaneous pulsational state. Driving exceeds damping by as much as a factor of 2 provided ωτ_c≥1, where ω is the radian frequency of the mode and τ_c≈4τ_(th), with τ_(th) being the thermal time constant evaluated at the base of the convective envelope. As a white dwarf cools, its convection zone deepens, and lower frequency modes become overstable. However, the deeper convection zone impedes the passage of flux perturbations from the base of the convection zone to the photosphere. Thus the photometric variation of a mode with constant velocity amplitude decreases. These factors account for the observed trend that longer period modes are found in cooler DA variables. Overstable modes have growth rates of order γ~1/(nτ_ω), where n is the modes radial order and τ_ω is the thermal timescale evaluated at the top of the modes cavity. The growth time, γ^(−1), ranges from hours for the longest period observed modes (P≈20 minutes) to thousands of years for those of shortest period (P≈2 minutes). The linear growth time probably sets the timescale for variations of mode amplitude and phase. This is consistent with observations showing that longer period modes are more variable than shorter period ones. Our investigation confirms many results obtained by Brickhill in his pioneering studies of ZZ Cetis. However, it suffers from two serious shortcomings. It is based on the quasiadiabatic approximation that strictly applies only in the limit ωτ_c » 1, and it ignores damping associated with turbulent viscosity in the convection zone. We will remove these shortcomings in future papers.

Combination frequencies in the Fourier spectra of white dwarfs

Combination frequencies are observed in the Fourier spectra of pulsating DA and DB white dwarfs. They appear at sums and differences of frequencies associated with the stellar gravity-modes. Brickhill (1992) proposed that the combination frequencies result from mixing of the eigenmode signals as the surface convection zone varying in depth when undergoing pulsation. This depth changes cause time-dependent thermal impedance, which mix different harmonic frequencies in the light curve. Following Brickhills proposal, we developed analytical expressions to describe the amplitudes and phases of these combination frequencies. The parameters that appear in these expressions are: the depth of the stellar convection zone when at rest, the sensitivity of this depth towards changes in stellar effective temperature, the inclination angle of the stellar pulsation axis with respect to the line of sight, and lastly, the spherical degrees of the eigenmodes involved in the mixing. Adopting reasonable values for these parameters, we apply our expressions to a DA and a DB variable white dwarf. We find reasonable agreement between theory and observation, though some discrepancies remain unexplained. We show that it is possible to identify the spherical degrees of the pulsation modes using the combination frequencies.

Spacing of Kepler Planets: Sculpting by Dynamical Instability

We study the orbital architecture of multi-planet systems detected by the Kepler transit mission using N-body simulations, focusing on the orbital spacing between adjacent planets in systems showing four or more transiting planets. We find that the observed spacings are tightly clustered around 12 mutual Hill radii, when transit geometry and sensitivity limits are accounted for. In comparison, dynamical integrations reveal that the minimum spacing required for systems of similar masses to survive dynamical instability for as long as a billion years is, ~10 if all orbits are circular and coplanar, and ~12 if planetary orbits have eccentricities ~0.02 (a value suggested by studies of planet transit-time-variations). This apparent coincidence, between the observed spacing and the theoretical stability threshold, leads us to propose that typical planetary systems were formed with even tighter spacing, but most, except for the widest ones, have undergone dynamical instability, and are pared down to a more anemic version of their former selves, with fewer planets and larger spacings. So while the high multiple systems (five or more transiting planets) are primordial systems that remain stable, the single or double planetary systems, abundantly discovered by the Kepler mission, may be the descendants of more closely packed high multiple systems. If this hypothesis is correct, we infer that the formation environment of Kepler systems should be different from that of the terrestrial planets.

Infrared Spectrograph Spectroscopy and Multi-Wavelength Study of Luminous Star-Forming Galaxies at z ≃ 1.9

We analyze a sample of galaxies chosen to have F_(24μm) > 0.5 mJy and satisfy a certain IRAC color criterion. Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectra yield redshifts, spectral types, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) luminosities, to which we add broadband photometry from optical through IRAC wavelengths, MIPS from 24-160 μm, 1.1 mm, and radio at 1.4 GHz. Stellar population modeling and IRS spectra together demonstrate that the double criteria used to select this sample have efficiently isolated massive star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1.9. This is the first starburst (SB)-dominated ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRG) sample at high redshift with total infrared luminosity measured directly from FIR and millimeter photometry, and as such gives us the first accurate view of broadband spectral energy distributions for SB galaxies at extremely high luminosity and at all wavelengths. Similar broadband data are assembled for three other galaxy samples—local SB galaxies, local active galactic nucleus (AGN)/ULIRGs, and a second 24 μm-luminous z ~ 2 sample dominated by AGN. L_(PAH)/L_(IR) for the new z ~ 2 SB sample is the highest ever seen, some three times higher than in local SBs, whereas in AGNs this ratio is depressed below the SB trend, often severely. Several pieces of evidence imply that AGNs exist in this SB-dominated sample, except two of which even host very strong AGN, while they still have very strong PAH emission. The Advanced Camera for Surveys images show that most objects have very extended morphologies in the rest-frame ultraviolet band, thus extended distribution of PAH molecules. Such an extended distribution prevents further destruction PAH molecules by central AGNs. We conclude that objects in this sample are ULIRGs powered mainly by SB; and the total infrared luminosity density contributed by this type of objects is 0.9-2.6 × 10^7 L_☉ Mpc^(–3).

From Mean Motion Resonances to Scattered Planets: Producing the Solar System, Eccentric Exoplanets, and Late Heavy Bombardments

We show that interaction with a gas disk may produce young planetary systems with closely spaced orbits, stabilized by mean motion resonances between neighbors. On longer timescales, after the gas is gone, interaction with a remnant planetesimal disk tends to pull these configurations apart, eventually inducing dynamical instability. We find that this can lead to a variety of outcomes; some cases resemble the solar system, while others end up with high-eccentricity orbits reminiscent of the observed exoplanets. A similar mechanism has been previously suggested as the cause of the lunar late heavy bombardment. Thus, it may be that a large-scale dynamical instability, with more or less cataclysmic results, is an evolutionary step common to many planetary systems, including our own.

Gravity Modes in ZZ Ceti Stars. IV. Amplitude Saturation by Parametric Instability

ZZ Ceti stars (also known as DAV stars) exhibit small-amplitude photometric pulsations in multiple gravity modes. As the stars cool, their dominant modes shift to longer periods. We demonstrate that parametric instability limits overstable modes to amplitudes similar to those observed. In particular, it reproduces the trend that longer period modes have larger amplitudes. Parametric instability is a form of resonant three-mode coupling. It involves the destabilization of a pair of stable daughter modes by an overstable parent mode. The three modes must satisfy exact angular selection rules and approximate frequency resonance. The lowest instability threshold for each parent mode is provided by the daughter pair that minimizes (δω^2 + γ^2_d)/κ^2, where κ is the nonlinear coupling constant, δω is the frequency mismatch, and γ_d is the energy damping rate of the daughter modes. Parametric instability leads to a steady state if |δω| > γ_d and to limit cycles if |δω| < γ_d. The former behavior characterizes low radial order (n ≤ 3) parent modes, and the latter those with n ≥ 5. In either case, the overstable modes amplitude is maintained at close to the instability threshold value. Although parametric instability defines an upper envelope for the amplitudes of overstable modes in ZZ Ceti stars, other nonlinear mechanisms are required to account for the irregular distribution of amplitudes of similar modes and the nondetection of modes with periods longer than 1200 s. Resonant three-mode interactions involving more than one excited mode may account for the former and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability of the mode-driven shear layer below the convection zone for the latter.