1,721,123 research outputs found
Selection bias in dynamically measured supermassive black hole samples: consequences for pulsar timing arrays
No full textSupermassive black hole–host galaxy relations are key to the computation of the expected gravitational wave background (GWB) in the pulsar timing array (PTA) frequency band. It has been recently pointed out that standard relations adopted in GWB computations are in fact biased-high. We show that when this selection bias is taken into account, the expected GWB in the PTA band is a factor of about 3 smaller than previously estimated. Compared to other scaling relations recently published in the literature, the median amplitude of the signal at f = 1 yr-1 drops from 1.3 × 10-15 to 4 × 10-16. Although this solves any potential tension between theoretical predictions and recent PTA limits without invoking other dynamical effects (such as stalling, eccentricity or strong coupling with the galactic environment), it also makes the GWB detection more challenging
Efficient computation of the gravitational wave spectrum emitted by eccentric massive black hole binaries in stellar environments
No full textWe present a fast and versatile method to calculate the characteristic spectrum hc of the gravitational wave background (GWB) emitted by a population of eccentric massive black hole binaries (MBHBs). We fit the spectrum of a reference MBHB with a simple analytic function and show that the spectrum of any other MBHB can be derived from this reference spectrum via simple scalings of mass, redshift and frequency. We then apply our calculation to a realistic population of MBHBs evolving via 3-body scattering of stars in galactic nuclei. We demonstrate that our analytic prescription satisfactorily describes the signal in the frequency band relevant to pulsar timing array (PTA) observations. Finally we model the high frequency steepening of the GWB to provide a complete description of the features characterizing the spectrum. For typical stellar distributions observed in massive galaxies, our calculation shows that 3-body scattering alone is unlikely to affect the GWB in the PTA band and a low frequency turnover in the spectrum is caused primarily by high eccentricities
Detectability of gravitational waves from primordial black holes orbiting Sgr A*
No full textPrimordial black holes, allegedly formed in the very early Universe, have been proposed as a possible viable dark matter candidate. In this work we characterize the expected gravitational wave signal detectable by the planned space-borne interferometer LISA and the proposed next generation space-borne interferometer μAres arising from a population of primordial black holes orbiting Sgr A, the supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center. Assuming that such objects indeed form the entire diffuse mass allowed by the observed orbits of stars in the Galactic Center (4×103 M within a radius of 10-3 pc from Sgr A), under the simplified assumption of circular orbits and monochromatic mass function, we assess the expected signal in gravitational waves, either from resolved and nonresolved sources. We estimate a small but non negligible chance of 10% of detecting one single 1 M primordial black hole with LISA in a 10-year-long data stream, while the background signal due to unresolved sources would essentially elude any reasonable chance of detection. On the contrary, μAres, with a 3 orders-of-magnitude better sensitivity at 10-5 Hz, would be able to resolve 140 solar mass primordial black holes in the same amount of time, while the unresolved background should be observable with an integrated signal-To-noise ratio 100. Allowing the typical PBH mass to be in the range 0.01-10 M would increase LISA chance of detection to 40% towards the lower limit of the mass spectrum. In the case of μAres, instead, we find a "sweet spot"just about 1 M, a mass for which the number of resolvable events is indeed maximized
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The role of bars on the dynamical-friction-driven inspiral of massive objects
Get PDFIn this paper, we systematically explore the impact of a galactic bar on the inspiral time-scale of a massive object (MO) within a Milky Way-like galaxy. We integrate the orbit of MOs in a multicomponent galaxy model via a semi-analytical approach that accounts for dynamical friction generalized to rotationally supported backgrounds. We compare the MO evolution in a galaxy featuring a Milky Way-like rotating bar to the evolution within an analogous axisymmetric galaxy without the bar. In agreement with previous studies, we find that the bar presence may significantly affect the inspiral, sometimes making it shorter by a factor of a few, and sometimes hindering it for a Hubble time. The erratic behaviour is mainly impacted by the relative phase at which the MO encounters the stronger bar-induced resonances. In particular, the effect of the bar is more prominent for initially in-plane, prograde MOs, especially those crossing the bar co-rotation radius or outer Lindblad resonance. In the barred galaxy, we find the sinking of the most massive MOs ( _ 10 7 . 5 M _) approaching the galaxy from large separations ( _ 8 kpc) to be most efficiently hampered. Neglecting the effect of global torques associated with the non-symmetric mass distribution is thus not advisable even within an idealized, smooth galaxy model; we further note that spiral patterns are unlikely to affect the inspiral due to their transient and fluctuating nature. We speculate that the sinking efficiency of massive black holes involved in minor galaxy mergers may be hampered in barred galaxies, making them less likely to host a gravitational wave signal accessible to low-frequency detectors
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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