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We have measured, at various wavelengths, the spiral arm pitch angles of a sample of distant spiral galaxies from the Hubble Space Telescope eXtreme Deep Field (XDF). According to density wave theory, we should detect colour jumps from red-to-blue across the spiral arms. Colour jumps are a consequence of large-scale shocks, which also generate the classic blue-to-red age/colour gradients, and have only been detected until now in nearby spiral galaxies. Our results indicate that colour jumps and gradients have been occurring in distant galaxies for at least the last 8 Gyr, in agreement with density wave theory., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

The study of the luminosity contribution from thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stars to the stellar populations of galaxies is crucial to determine their physical parameters (e.g., stellar mass and age). We use a sample of 84 nearby disk galaxies to explore diverse stellar population synthesis models with different luminosity contributions from TP-AGB stars. We fit the models to optical and near-infrared (NIR) photometry, on a pixel-bypixel basis. The statistics of the fits show a preference for a low-luminosity contribution (i.e., high mass-to-light ratio in the NIR) from TP-AGB stars. Nevertheless, for 30 percent to 40 percent of the pixels in our sample a high-luminosity contribution (hence low mass-to-light ratio in the NIR) from TP-AGB stars is favored. According to our findings, the mean TP-AGB star luminosity contribution in nearby disk galaxies may vary with Hubble type. This may be a consequence of the variation of the TP-AGB mass-loss rate with metallicity, if metal-poor stars begin losing mass earlier than metal-rich stars, because of a pre-dust wind that precedes the dust-driven wind., Comment: Published in 2021, ApJ, 908, 110

We present IPchain, a blockchain to store the allocations and delegations of IP addresses, with the aim of easing the deployment of secure interdomain routing systems. Interdomain routing security is of vital importance to the Internet since it prevents unwanted traffic redirections. IPchain makes use of blockchains' properties to provide flexible trust models and simplified management when compared to existing systems. In this paper we argue that Proof of Stake is a suitable consensus algorithm for IPchain due to the unique incentive structure of this use-case. We have implemented and evaluated IPchain's performance and scalability storing around 150k IP prefixes in a 1GB chain., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures

In this paper we derive a novel circular velocity relation for a test particle in a 3D gravitational potential applicable to every system of curvilinear coordinates, suitable to be reduced to orthogonal form. As an illustration of the potentiality of the determined circular velocity expression we perform the rotation curves analysis of UGC 8490 and UGC 9753 and we estimate the total and dark matter mass of these two galaxies under the assumption that their respective dark matter halos have spherical, prolate and oblate spheroidal mass distributions. We employ stellar population synthesis models and the total HI density map to obtain the stellar and HI+He+metals rotation curves of both galaxies. The subtraction of the stellar plus gas rotation curves from the observed rotation curves of UGC 8490 and UGC 9753 generates the dark matter circular velocity curves of both galaxies. We fit the dark matter rotation curves of UGC 8490 and UGC 9753 through the newly established circular velocity formula specialised to the spherical, prolate and oblate spheroidal mass distributions, considering the Navarro, Frenk and White, Burkert, Di Cintio, Einasto and Stadel dark matter halos. Our principal findings are the following: globally, cored dark matter profiles Burkert and Einasto prevail over cuspy Navarro, Frenk and White and Di Cintio. Also, spherical/oblate dark matter models fit better the dark matter rotation curves of both galaxies than prolate dark matter halos., Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures, published in MNRAS Main Journal

We have obtained the time and space-resolved star formation history (SFH) of M51a (NGC 5194) by fitting GALEX, SDSS, and near infrared pixel-by-pixel photometry to a comprehensive library of stellar population synthesis models drawn from the Synthetic Spectral Atlas of Galaxies (SSAG). We fit for each space-resolved element (pixel) an independent model where the SFH is averaged in 137 age bins, each one 100 Myr wide. We used the Bayesian Successive Priors (BSP) algorithm to mitigate the bias in the present-day spatial mass distribution. We test BSP with different prior probability distribution functions (PDFs); this exercise suggests that the best prior PDF is the one concordant with the spatial distribution of the stellar mass as inferred from the near infrared images. We also demonstrate that varying the implicit prior PDF of the SFH in SSAG does not affects the results. By summing the contributions to the global star formation rate of each pixel, at each age bin, we have assembled the resolved star formation history of the whole galaxy. According to these results, the star formation rate of M51a was exponentially increasing for the first 10 Gyr after the Big Bang, and then turned into an exponentially decreasing function until the present day. Superimposed, we find a main burst of star formation at t 11.9 Gyr after the Big Bang., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS

In this work we study the mass distribution of two irregular galaxies, UGC 6446 and UGC 7524, by means of HI rotation curves derived from high resolution HI velocity fields obtained through the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope data archive. We constrain the stellar and gas content of both galaxies with stellar population synthesis models and by deriving the HI+He+metals rotation curves from the total HI surface density maps, respectively. The discrepancy between the circular velocity maxima of the stellar plus the HI+He+metals rotation curves and the observed HI rotation curves of both galaxies requires the inclusion of a substantial amount of dark matter. We explore the Navarro Frenk and White, Burkert, Di Cintio, Einasto and Stadel dark matter halo models. We obtain acceptable fits to the observed HI rotation curves of UGC 6446 and UGC 7524 with the cored Burkert, Einasto and Stadel dark matter halos. In particular, Einasto and Stadel models prove to be an appropriate alternative to the Burkert dark matter halo. This result should increase the empirical basis that justify the usage of dark matter exponential models to adjust the observed rotation curves of real galaxies., Comment: 18 pages, 16 figures, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Main Journal

Stellar masses of galaxies are frequently obtained by fitting stellar population synthesis models to galaxy photometry or spectra. The state of the art method resolves spatial structures within a galaxy to assess the total stellar mass content. In comparison to unresolved studies, resolved methods yield, on average, higher fractions of stellar mass for galaxies. In this work we improve the current method in order to mitigate a bias related to the resolved spatial distribution derived for the mass. The bias consists in an apparent filamentary mass distribution, and a spatial coincidence between mass structures and dust lanes near spiral arms. The improved method is based on iterative Bayesian marginalization, through a new algorithm we have named Bayesian Successive Priors (BSP). We have applied BSP to M 51, and to a pilot sample of 90 spiral galaxies from the Ohio State University Bright Spiral Galaxy Survey. By comparing quantitatively both methods, we find that the average fraction of stellar mass missed by unresolved studies is only half than previously thought. In contrast with the previous method, the output BSP mass-maps bear a better resemblance to near infrared images., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

In this article we investigate the outer and inner mass distributions of the irregular galaxies UGC 4284 and UGC 11861, taking advantage of published HI and H{\alpha} high resolution rotation curves and constraining the stellar disk of both galaxies throughout stellar population synthesis studies. In addition we take into account the gas content of both galaxies deriving the HI+He rotation curve. The deduced baryonic rotation curves (star+gas) are inadequate to account for the total mass of UGC 4284 and UGC 11861, for that reason we examine the possibility of dark matter to explain the incongruity between the observed HI and H{\alpha} rotation curves of UGC 4284 and UGC 11861 and the derived baryonic rotation curves. We consider NFW, Burkert, DiCintio, Einasto, and the Stadel dark matter halos, to analyse the dark matter content of UGC 4284 and UGC 11861. The principal results of this work are that cored dark matter models better reproduce the dark matter H{\alpha} and HI rotation curves of UGC 11861 and the dark matter HI rotation curve of UGC 4284, while, the H{\alpha} rotation curve of UGC 4284 is better reproduced by a cuspy DiCintio DM model. In general, cored exponential two-parameters models Einasto and Stadel, give better fits than Burkert. This trend, as well as to confirm past results, presents for the first time a comparison between two different exponential dark matter models, Einasto and Stadel, in an attempt to better constrain the range of possible exponential dark matter models applied to real galaxies., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 19 pages, 15 figures

Based on integral field spectroscopy data from the CALIFA survey, we investigate the possible dependence of spiral arm pitch angle with optical wavelength. For three of the five studied objects, the pitch angle gradually increases at longer wavelengths. This is not the case for two objects where the pitch angle remains constant. This result is confirmed by the analysis of SDSS data. We discuss the possible physical mechanisms to explain this phenomenon, as well as the implications of the results., Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

We utilize a suite of multiwavelength data, of 9 nearby spirals, to analyze the shock-induced star formation sequence, that may result from a constant spiral pattern speed. The sequence involves tracers as the HI, CO, 24um, and FUV, where the spiral arms were analyzed with Fourier techniques in order to obtain their azimuthal phases as a function of radius. It was found that only two of the objects, NGC 628 and NGC 5194, present coherent phases resembling the theoretical expectations, as indicated by the phase shifts of CO-24um. The evidence is more clear for NGC 5194, and moderate for NGC 628. It was also found that the phase shifts are different for the two spiral arms. With the exception on NGC 3627, a two-dimensional Fourier analysis showed that the rest of the objects do not exhibit bi-symmetric spiral structures of stellar mass, i.e., grand design spirals. A phase order inversion indicates a corotation radius of ~ 89" for NGC 628, and ~ 202" for NGC 5194. For these two objects, the CO-Halpha phase shifts corroborate the CO-24um azimuthal offsets. Also for NGC 5194, the CO-70um, CO-140um, and CO-250um phase shifts indicate a corotation region., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

We review Foyle et al. (2011) previous results, by applying a Fourier intensity phases method to a nine object sample of galaxies. It was found that two of the objects (NGC 628 and NGC 5194), with strong two-arm patterns, present positive evidence for long-lived spirals. Only one of the objects (NGC 3627) shows the contrary evidence. As determined by an analysis of resolved mass maps, the rest of the objects can not be included in the analysis because they belong to flocculent and multi-arm type of spiral arms, which are not described by density wave theory., Comment: To appear in the conference proceedings of "Structure and Dynamics of Disk Galaxies", M.S. Seigar and P. Treuthardt, eds

Azimuthal age/color gradients across spiral arms are a signature of long-lived spirals. From a sample of 19 normal (or weakly barred) spirals where we have previously found azimuthal age/color gradient candidates, 13 objects were further selected if a two-armed grand-design pattern survived in a surface density stellar mass map. Mass maps were obtained from optical and near-infrared imaging, by comparing with a Monte Carlo library of stellar population synthesis models that allowed us to obtain the mass-to-light ratio in the J band, (M/L)_J, as a function of (g-i) versus (i-J) color. The selected spirals were analyzed with Fourier methods in search for other signatures of long-lived modes related to the gradients, such as the gradient divergence toward corotation, and the behavior of the phase angle of the two-armed spiral in different wavebands, as expected from theory. The results show additional signatures of long-lived spirals in at least 50% of the objects., Comment: ApJ in press

We have carried out a search for gas-rich dwarf galaxies that have lower rotation velocities in their outskirts than MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) predicts, so that the amplitude of their rotation curves cannot be fitted by arbitrarily increasing the mass-to-light ratio of the stellar component or by assuming additional undetected matter. With presently available data, the gas-rich galaxies UGC 4173, Holmberg II, ESO 245-G05, NGC 4861 and ESO 364-G029 deviate most from MOND predictions and, thereby, provide a sample of promising targets in testing the MOND framework. In the case of Holmberg II and NGC 4861, we find that their rotation curves are probably inconsistent with MOND, unless their inclinations and distances differ significantly from the nominal ones. The galaxy ESO 364-G029 is a promising target because its baryonic mass and rotation curve are similar to Holmberg II but presents a higher inclination. Deeper photometric and HI observations of ESO 364-G029, together with further decreasing systematic uncertainties, may provide a strong test to MOND., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal

In this work we extend the study on the mass distribution of the spiral galaxy NGC 5278, performing 1D and 2D bulge-disk decomposition to determine which components constitute the baryonic mass in this galaxy. Our analysis does not detect any bulge, instead we find a bright source, probably related with the central AGN, and an exponential disk. We fix the stellar disk contribution to the rotation curve (RC) with broad band photometric observations and population synthesis models, to obtain 2D mass distribution of the stellar disk. In the particular case of NGC 5278, we find that the typical assumption of considering the mass-to-luminosity ratio (M/L) of the disk as constant along the galactocentric radius is not valid. We also extract a baryonic RC from the mass profile, to determine the inability of this baryonic RC and also of the baryonic RC with more and less 30% disk mass (in order to consider the disk mass errors) to fit the entire RC. We perform the RC decomposition of NGC 5278 considering the baryonic RC and four types of dark matter halos: Hernquist; Burkert; Einasto and Navarro, Frenk & White. Our results show that Hernquist halo models better our observed RC in the case of determined disk mass ($M_d=5.6\times 10^{10}$ solar masses) and also with 30% less disk mass. In the case of 30% more disk mass the cored Einasto (n < 4) halo is the best fitting model., Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures. Grammar checked. Accepted by ApJ

According to one version of the recently proposed "manifold" theory that explains the origin of spirals and rings in relation to chaotic orbits, galaxies with stronger bars should have a higher spiral arms pitch angle when compared to galaxies with weaker bars. A sub-sample of barred-spiral galaxies in the Ohio State University Bright Galaxy Survey, was used to analyze the spiral arms pitch angle. These were compared with bar strengths taken from the literature. It was found that the galaxies in which the spiral arms maintain a logarithmic shape for more than 70$\degr$ seem to corroborate the predicted trend., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

We analyze optical and near-infrared data of a sample of 11 barred spiral galaxies, in order to establish a connection between star formation and bar/spiral dynamics. We find that 22 regions located in the bars, and 20 regions in the spiral arms beyond the end of the bar present azimuthal color/age gradients that may be attributed to star formation triggering. Assuming a circular motion dynamic model, we compare the observed age gradient candidates with stellar populations synthesis models. A link can then be established with the disk dynamics that allows us to obtain parameters like the pattern speed of the bar or spiral, as well as the positions of resonance radii. We subsequently compare the derived pattern speeds with those expected from theoretical and observational results in the literature (e.g., bars ending near corotation). We find a tendency to overestimate bar pattern speeds derived from color gradients in the bar at small radii, away from corotation; this trend can be attributed to non-circular motions of the young stars born in the bar region. In spiral regions, we find that ~ 50% of the color gradient candidates are "inverse", i.e., with the direction of stellar aging contrary to that of rotation. The other half of the gradients found in spiral arms have stellar ages that increase in the same sense as rotation. Of the 9 objects with gradients in both bars and spirals, six (67%) appear to have a bar and a spiral with similar Omega_p, while three (33%) do not., Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ

Assuming that density waves trigger star formation, and that young stars preserve the velocity components of the molecular gas where they are born, we analyze the effects that non-circular gas orbits have on color gradients across spiral arms. We try two approaches, one involving semi-analytical solutions for spiral shocks, and another with magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulation data. We find that, if non-circular motions are ignored, the comparison between observed color gradients and stellar population synthesis models would in principle yield pattern speed values that are systematically too high for regions inside corotation, with the difference between the real and the measured pattern speeds increasing with decreasing radius. On the other hand, image processing and pixel averaging result in systematically lower measured spiral pattern speed values, regardless of the kinematics of stellar orbits. The net effect is that roughly the correct pattern speeds are recovered, although the trend of higher measured $\Omega_p$ at lower radii (as expected when non-circular motions exist but are neglected) should still be observed. We examine the Martinez-Garcia et al. (2009) photometric data and confirm that this is indeed the case. The comparison of the size of the systematic pattern speed offset in the data with the predictions of the semi-analytical and MHD models corroborates that spirals are more likely to end at Outer Lindblad Resonance, as these authors had already found., Comment: 32 pages, 15 figures, accepted to ApJ

Azimuthal color (age) gradients across spiral arms are one of the main predictions of density wave theory; gradients are the result of star formation triggering by the spiral waves. In a sample of 13 spiral galaxies of types A and AB, we find that 10 of them present regions that match the theoretical predictions. By comparing the observed gradients with stellar population synthesis models, the pattern speed and the location of major resonances have been determined. The resonance positions inferred from this analysis indicate that 9 of the objects have spiral arms that extend to the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR); for one of the galaxies, the spiral arms reach the corotation radius. The effects of dust, and of stellar densities, velocities, and metallicities on the color gradients are also discussed., Comment: Accepted in ApJ, 74 pages and 41 figures