Understanding the Fe II emission from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) has been a grand challenge for many decades. The rewards from understanding the AGN spectra would be immense, involving both quasar classification schemes such as “Eigenvector 1” and tracing the chemical evolution of the cosmos. Recently, three large Fe II atomic data sets with radiative and electron collisional rates have become available. We have incorporated these into the spectral synthesis code Cloudy and examined predictions using a new generation of AGN spectral energy distribution (SED), which indicates that the ultraviolet (UV) emission can be quite different depending on the data set utilized. The Smyth et al. data set better reproduces the observed Fe II template of the I ZW 1 Seyfert galaxy in the UV and optical regions, and we adopt these data. We consider both thermal and microturbulent clouds and show that a microturbulence of ≈100 km s−1 reproduces the observed shape and strength of the so-called Fe II “UV bump.” Comparing our predictions to the observed Fe II template, we derive a typical cloud density of 1011 cm−3 and photon flux of 1020 cm−2 s−1, and show that these largely reproduce the observed Fe II emission in the UV and optical. We calculate the I(Fe II)/I(Mg II) emission-line intensity ratio using our best-fitting model and obtain log(I(Fe II)/I(Mg II)) ∼  0.7, suggesting many AGNs have a roughly solar Fe/Mg abundance ratio. Finally, we vary the Eddington ratio and SED shape as a step in understanding the Eigenvector 1 correlation.

Efficient clustering algorithms play a very important role in the fast connection establishment of ad hoc networks. In this paper, we describe a communication model that is derived directly from that of Bluetooth, an emerging technology for perva.~ive computing; this teclmology is expected to play a major role in future personal area network applications. We filrther propose two new distributed algorithms for clustermg in wireless ad hoc networks. The existing algorithms often become infeasible because they use models where the discovering devices broadcast their Ids and exchange substantial information in the initial stages of the algorithm.We propose a 2-stage distributed O(N) randomized algorithm for an N node complete network, that always finds the minimum number of star-shaped clusters, which have maximum size. We then present a completely deterministic O(N) distributed algorithm for the same model, which achieves the same purpose. ~,Ve describe in detail how these algorithms can be applied to Bluetooth for efficient scatternet formation. Finally, we evaluate both algorithms using simulation experiments based on the Bluetooth communication model, and compare their performance.

Coalescence of low mass compact binaries of neutron stars and black holes are primary burst sources for LIGO and VIRGO. Of importance in the early stages of observations will be the classification of candidate detections by source-type. The diversity in source parameters and serendipity in any new window of observations suggest to consider model-independent detection algorithms. Here a frequency dynamics algorithm is described which extracts a trajectory in thė f (f )-plane from the noisy signal. The algorithm is studied in simulated binary coalescence. Robust results are obtained with experimental noise data. Experiments show the method to be superior to matched filtering in the presence of model imperfections.

We report the first unambiguous detection of an axial merger shock in the early-stage merging cluster Abell 98 using deep (227 ks) Chandra observations. The shock is about 420 kpc south from the northern subcluster of Abell 98, in between the northern and central subclusters, with a Mach number of  ≈ 2.3 ± 0.3. Our discovery of the axial merger shock front unveils a critical epoch in the formation of a massive galaxy cluster, when two subclusters are caught in the early phase of the merging process. We find that the electron temperature in the postshock region favors the instant collisionless model, where electrons are strongly heated at the shock front, by interactions with the magnetic field. We also report on the detection of an intercluster gas filament, with a temperature of kT = 1.07 ± 0.29 keV, along the merger axis of Abell 98. The measured properties of the gas in the filament are consistent with previous observations and numerical simulations of the hottest, densest parts of the warm–hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), where WHIM filaments interface with the virialization regions of galaxy clusters.

In this paper, we address the problem of making optimal product offers to customers of a retail bank by using techniques including Markov chains, genetic algorithms, mathematical programming, and design of experiments. Our challenges were large problem size, uncertainty about estimates of customer responses to product offers, and practical issues in training and implementation. The solution had an estimated financial impact of around $20 million; it also provided other intangible benefits, including structured decision making, the capability of performing what-if analysis, and portability to other markets and portfolios.

We present joint Suzaku and Chandra observations of MKW4. With a global temperature of 1.6 keV, MKW4 is one of the smallest galaxy groups that have been mapped in X-rays out to the virial radius. We measure its gas properties from its center to the virial radius in the north, east, and northeast directions. Its entropy profile follows a power-law of ∝r1.1 between R500 and R200 in all directions, as expected from the purely gravitational structure formation model. The well-behaved entropy profiles at the outskirts of MKW4 disfavor the presence of gas clumping or thermal non-equilibrium between ions and electrons in this system. We measure an enclosed baryon fraction of 11% at R200, remarkably smaller than the cosmic baryon fraction of 15%. We note that the enclosed gas fractions at R200 are systematically smaller for groups than for clusters from existing studies in the literature. The low baryon fraction of galaxy groups, such as MKW4, suggests that their shallower gravitational potential well may make them more vulnerable to baryon losses due to AGN feedback or galactic winds. We find that the azimuthal scatter of various gas properties at the outskirts of MKW4 is significantly lower than in other systems, suggesting that MKW4 is a spherically symmetric and highly relaxed system.

We report results from deep Suzaku and mostly snapshot Chandra observations of four nearby galaxy groups: MKW4, Antlia, RXJ1159+5531, and ESO3060170. Their peak temperatures vary over 2–3 keV, making them the smallest systems with gas properties constrained to their viral radii. The average Fe abundance in the outskirts (R > 0.25R200) of their intragroup medium (IGrM) is ZFe = 0.309 ± 0.018 Z⊙ with χ2 = 14 for 12 degrees of freedom, which is remarkably uniform and strikingly similar to that of massive galaxy clusters, and is fully consistent with the numerical predictions from the IllustrisTNG cosmological simulation. Our results support an early-enrichment scenario among galactic systems over an order of magnitude in mass, even before their formation. When integrated out to R200, we start to see a tension between the measured Fe content in ICM and what is expected from supernovae yields. We further constrain their O, Mg, Si, S, and Ni abundances. The abundance ratios of those elements relative to Fe are consistent with the predictions (if available) from IllustrisTNG. Their Type Ia supernovae fraction varies between 14 per cent–21 per cent. A pure core collapsed supernovae enrichment at group outskirts can be ruled out. Their cumulative iron-mass-to-light ratios within R200 are half that of the Perseus cluster, which may imply that galaxy groups do not retain all of their enriched gas due to their shallower gravitational potential wells, or that groups and clusters may have different star formation histories.

We present Suzaku observations of the Abell 98 (A98) triple galaxy cluster system and the purported intercluster filament. The three subclusters are expected to lie along a large-scale cosmic filament. With partial azimuthal coverage of the northernmost cluster, we find that the inferred entropy profile of this relatively low-mass cluster (kT ≈ 2.8 keV) adheres to expectations from models of self-similar pure gravitational collapse in the region of the virial radius. There is evidence of extended structure beyond r 200 to the north of the northernmost cluster, along the merger axis, with properties consistent that are expected for the warm–hot intergalactic medium ( kT = 0.11 − 0.02 + 0.01 keV and n e = 7.6 × 10−5 ± 3.6 × 10−5 cm−3). No such emission is detected at the same radius in regions away from the merger axis, consistent with the expectation that the merger axis of this triple system lies along a large-scale cosmic filament. In the bridge region between A98N and A98S, there is evidence of filamentary emission at the 2.2σ level, as well as a tentative detection of cool gas (kT ∼ 1 keV). The entropy profile of this intercluster filament suggests that the A98 system is most likely aligned closer to the plane of the sky rather than along the line of sight. The structure to the north of the system, as well as in-between A98N and A98S, is indicative that the clusters are connected to a larger-scale structure spanning at least 4 Mpc.