N-body simulations for testing the stability of triaxial galaxies in MOND
We perform a stability test of triaxial models in Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) using N-body simulations. The triaxial models considered here have densities that vary with r −1 in the centre and r −4 at large radii. The total mass of the model varies from 10 8 to 10 10 M� , representing the mass scale of dwarfs to medium-mass elliptical galaxies, respectively, from deep MOND to quasi-Newtonian gravity. We build triaxial galaxy models using the Schwarzschild technique, and evolve the systems for 200 Keplerian dynamical times (at the typical length-scale of 1.0 kpc). We find that the systems are virial overheating, and in quasi-equilibrium with the relaxation taking approximately 5 Keplerian dynamical times (1.0 kpc). For all systems, the change of the inertial (kinetic) energy is less than 10 per cent (20 per cent) after relaxation. However, the central profile of the model is flattened during the relaxation and the (overall) axis ratios change by roughly 10 per cent within 200 Keplerian dynamical times (at 1.0 kpc) in our simulations. We further find that the systems are stable once they reach the equilibrium state.

title: BSG alignment of SDSS galaxy groups
abstract: We study the alignment signal between the distribution of brightest satellite galaxies (BSGs) and the major axis of their host groups using SDSS group catalog constructed by Yang et al. (2007). After correcting for the effect of group ellipticity, a statistically significant (∼ 5σ) major-axis alignment is detected and the alignment angle is found to be 43.0 ± 0.4. More massive and richer groups show stronger BSG alignment. The BSG alignment around blue BCGs is slightly stronger than that around red BCGs. And red BSGs have much stronger major-axis alignment than blue BSGs. Unlike BSGs, other satellites do not show very significant alignment with group major axis. We further explore the BSG alignment in semi-analytic model (SAM) constructed by Guo et al. (2011). We found general good agreement with observations: BSGs in SAM show strong major-axis alignment which depends on group mass and richness in the same way as observations; and none of other satellites exhibit prominent alignment. However, discrepancy also exists in that the SAM shows opposite BSG color dependence, which is most probably induced by the missing of large scale environment ingredient in SAM. The combination of two popular scenarios can explain the detected BSG alignment. The first one: satellites merged into the group preferentially along the surrounding filaments, which is strongly aligned with the major axis of the group. The second one: BSGs enter their host group more recently than other satellites, then will preserve more information about the assembling history and so the major-axis alignment. In SAM, we found positive evidence for the second scenario by the fact that BSGs merged into groups statistically more recently than other satellites. We also found that most of BSGs (80%) were BCGs before they merged into groups and earlier merged BSGs tend to be closer to their BCGs than other BSGs. On the other hand, although is opposite in SAM, the BSG color dependence in observation might indicate the first scenario as well.  BSG – alignment – group of galaxies – SAM – SDSS

title: Made-to-measure galaxy models – III. Modelling with Milky Way observations
abstract: We demonstrate how the Syer and Tremaine made-to-measure method of stellar dynamical modelling can be adapted to model a rotating galactic bar. We validate our made-to-measure changes using observations constructed from the existing Shen et al. N-body model of the Milky Way bar, together with kinematic observations of the Milky Way bulge and bar taken by the Bulge Radial Velocity Assay. Our results for a combined determination of the bar angle and bar pattern speed (approximate to 30 degrees and approximate to 40 km s(-1) kpc(-1)) are consistent with those determined by the N-body model. Whilst the made-to-measure techniques we have developed are applied using a particular N-body model and observational data set, they are in fact general and could be applied to other Milky Way modelling scenarios utilizing different N-body models and data sets. Additionally, we use the exercise as a vehicle for illustrating how N-body and made-to-measure methods might be combined into a more effective method.

title: DISTRIBUTION OF SATELLITE GALAXIES IN HIGH-REDSHIFT GROUPS
abstract: We use galaxy groups at redshifts between 0.4 and 1.0 selected from the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey to study the color-morphological properties of satellite galaxies and investigate possible alignment between the distribution of the satellites and the orientation of their central galaxy. We confirm the bimodal color and morphological-type distribution for satellite galaxies at this redshift range: the red and blue classes correspond to the early and late morphological types, respectively, and the early-type satellites are on average brighter than the late-type ones. Furthermore, there is a morphological conformity between the central and satellite galaxies: the fraction of early-type satellites in groups with an early-type central is higher than those with a late-type central galaxy. This effect is stronger at smaller separations from the central galaxy. We find a marginally significant signal of alignment between the major axis of the early-type central galaxy and its satellite system, while for the late-type centrals no significant alignment signal is found. We discuss the alignment signal in the context of shape evolution of groups.

title: The Bulge Radial Velocity Assay (BRAVA). II. Complete Sample And Data Release
abstract: We present new radial velocity measurements from the Bulge Radial Velocity Assay, a large-scale spectroscopic survey of M-type giants in the Galactic bulge/bar region. The sample of ~4500 new radial velocities, mostly in the region –10° < l < +10° and b ≈ –6°, more than doubles the existent published data set. Our new data extend our rotation curve and velocity dispersion profile to +20°, which is ~2.8 kpc from the Galactic center. The new data confirm the cylindrical rotation observed at –6° and –8° and are an excellent fit to the Shen et al. N-body bar model. We measure the strength of the TiOe molecular band as a first step toward a metallicity ranking of the stellar sample, from which we confirm the presence of a vertical abundance gradient. Our survey finds no strong evidence of previously unknown kinematic streams. We also publish our complete catalog of radial velocities, photometry, TiO band strengths, and spectra, which is available at the Infrared Science Archive as well as at UCLA.

title: Effects of correlation between merging steps on the global halo formation
abstract: The excursion set theory of halo formation is modified by adopting the fractional Brownian motion, to account for possible correlation between merging steps. We worked out analytically the conditional mass function, halo merging rate and formation time distribution in the spherical collapse model. We also developed an approximation for the ellipsoidal collapse model and applied it to the calculation of the conditional mass function and the halo formation time distribution. For models in which the steps are positively correlated, the halo merger rate is enhanced when the accreted mass is less than similar to 25M*, while for the negatively correlated case this rate is reduced. Compared with the standard model in which the steps are uncorrelated, the models with positively correlated steps produce more aged population in small mass haloes and more younger population in large mass haloes, while for the models with negatively correlated steps the opposite is true. An examination of simulation results shows that a weakly positive correlation between successive merging steps appears to fit best. We have also found a systematic effect in the measured mass function due to the finite volume of simulations. In future work, this will be included in the halo model to accurately predict the three-point correlation function estimated from simulations.

title: The three-point correlation function of galaxies: comparing halo occupation models with observations
abstract: We present models for the three-point correlation function (3PCF) of both dark matter and galaxies. We show that models based on the halo model can reasonably match the dark-matter 3PCF obtained from high-resolution N-body simulations. On small scales (r ≤ 0.5 h -1 Mpc) the 3PCF is sensitive to details regarding the density distributions of dark-matter haloes. On larger scales (r ≥ 2.0 h -1 Mpc) the results are very sensitive to the abundance of the few most prominent haloes. Using the conditional luminosity function, we also construct models for the 3PCF of galaxies, which we test against large mock galaxy samples. The bias of the galaxy distribution with respect to the dark matter, and the finite number of galaxies that can be hosted by individual haloes, significantly reduce the normalized three-point correlation function with respect to that of dark matter. Contrary to the 3PCF of the dark matter, the galaxy 3PCF is much less sensitive to details regarding the spatial number density distribution of galaxies in individual haloes or to the abundance of the few most massive systems. Finally, we show that our model based on the conditional luminosity function is in good agreement with results obtained from the 2-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey. In particular, the model nicely reproduces the observational finding that the 3PCF for early-type galaxies is slightly higher than that of late-type galaxies, and that there is no significant dependence of the 3PCF on galaxy luminosity.

title: Interactions of fast ions with carbon nanotubes: Self-energy and stopping power
abstract: The interactions of charged particles with carbon nanotubes are studied by means of the linearized hydrodynamic theory for electronic excitations on the nanotube surface. General expressions are derived for the induced potential, the self-energy, and the stopping power for a charged particle moving paraxially in a nanotube. Numerical results are obtained showing the influence of the damping factor, the nanotube radius, and the particle position on its self-energy and the stopping power. Results for stopping power in the linearized hydrodynamic model are compared with those obtained by means of the dielectric formalism in random-phase approximation, showing a close agreement between the two approaches for high speeds of charged particles.

title: Quantum UV/IR relations and holographic dark energy from entropic force
abstract: We investigate the implications of the entropic force formalism proposed by Verlinde. We show that an UV/IR relation proposed by Cohen et al., as well as an uncertainty principle proposed by Hogan can be derived from the entropic force formalism. We show that applying the entropic force formalism to cosmology, there is an additional term in the Friedmann equation, which can be identified as holographic dark energy. We also propose an intuitive picture of holographic screen, which can be thought of as an improvement of Susskind's holographic screen.

title: LHC reach for gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking models via prompt photon channels
abstract: We evaluate the supersymmetry reach of the Large Hadron Collider within the gauge-mediated low energy supersymmetry breaking framework, assuming that a neutralino is the second lightest sparticle and that it decays promptly into a gravitino which escapes detection. We find that the maximum reach is obtained via a search for inclusive γγ+ E / T events coming dominantly from chargino and neutralino production. Assuming an integrated luminosity of 10 fb −1 , we find that LHC experiments will be able to probe values of the model parameter Λ ≲400 TeV, corresponding to m g ≤2.8 TeV. A measure of the model parameter Λ may be possible from the photon p T spectrum.

title: The measure for the multiverse and the probability for inflation
abstract: We investigate the measure problem in the framework of inflationary cosmology. The measure of the history space is constructed and applied to inflation models. Using this measure, it is shown that the probability for the generalized single-field slow roll inflation to last for N e-folds is suppressed by a factor exp(−3N), and the probability for the generalized n-field slow roll inflation is suppressed by a much larger factor, exp(−3nN). Some non-inflationary models such as the cyclic model do not suffer from this difficulty.