Gamma-ray luminosity function of gamma-ray bright AGNs

Detection of γ-ray emissions from a class of active galactic nuclei （viz blazars）, has been one of the important findings from the Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory （CGRO）. However, their γ-ray luminosity function has not been well determined. Few attempts have been made in earlier works, where BL Lacs and Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars （FSRQs） have been considered as a single source class. In this paper, we investigated the evolution and γ-ray luminosity function of FSRQs and BL Lacs separately. Our investigation indicates no evolution for BL Lacs, however FSRQs show significant evolution. Pure luminosity evolution is assumed for FSRQs and exponential and power law evolution models are examined. Due to the small number of sources, the low luminosity end index of the luminosity function for FSRQs is constrained with an upper limit. BL Lac luminosity function shows no signature of break. As a consistency check, the model source distributions derived from these luminosity functions show no significant departure from the observed source distributions.

Galaxy formation in the reionization epoch as hinted by WideField Camera 3 observations of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

We present a large sample of candidate galaxies at z ≈ 7 - 10, selected in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field using the new observations of the Wide Field Camera 3 that was recently installed on the Hubble Space Telescope. Our sample is composed of 20 z850-dropouts （four new discoveries）, 15 Y105-dropouts （nine new discoveries） and 20 J125-dropouts （all new discoveries）. The surface densities of the Z850-dropouts are close to what was predicted by earlier studies, however, those of the Y105- and J125-dropouts are quite unexpected. While no Y105- or J125-dropouts have been found at AB ≤ 28.0 mag, their surface densities seem to increase sharply at fainter levels. While some of these candidates seem to be close to foreground galaxies and thus could possibly be gravitationally lensed, the overall surface densities after excluding such cases are still much higher than what would be expected if the luminosity function does not evolve from z ～ 7 to 10. Motivated by such steep increases, we tentatively propose a set of Schechter function parameters to describe the luminosity functions at z ≈8 and 10. As compared to their counterpart at z ≈ 7, here L^＊ decreases by a factor of ～ 6.5 and Ф^＊ increases by a factor of 17-90. Although such parameters are not yet demanded by the existing observations, they are allowed and seem to agree with the data better than other alternatives. If these luminosity functions are still valid beyond our current detection limit, this would imply a sudden emergence of a large number of low-luminosity galaxies when looking back in time to z ≈ 10, which, while seemingly exotic, would naturally fit in the picture of the cosmic hydrogen reionization. These early galaxies could easily account for the ionizing photon budget required by the reionization, and they would imply that the global star formation rate density might start from a very high value at z ≈ 10, rapidly reach the minimum at z≈ 7, and start to rise again towards z ≈ 6. In this scenario, the majority of the stellar mass that the universe assembled through the reionization epoch seems still undetected by current observations at z ≈ 6.

Revisiting the event rate of short GRBs and estimating their detectable number within the Advanced LIGO horizon

The redshift and luminosity distributions of 36 Swift short gamma-ray bursts(GRBs) are fitted by connecting their event rates with cosmic star formation rates using power-law distributed delay times f(τ) ∝τ-1, where a broken-power-law luminosity function is assumed and some empirical observational selection effects are taken into account. As a result, the most-likely model parameters are constrained to be ν1 = 0.91, ν2 = 1.66 as power-law indices, with a break at Lb= 2.51 × 1051 erg s-1 for the luminosity function and τc= 6.0 Gyr for a typical gravitational wave decay timescale of the binary orbit. The corresponding local rate of short GRBs is found to be 3-4 Gpc-3 yr-1. With these parameters, the detectable numbers of short GRBs are estimated within the horizon of Advanced LIGO.

Contribution from normal and starburst galaxies to the extragalactic gamma-ray background (EGRB)

The extragalactic diffuse emission at γ-ray energies has interesting cosmological implications since these photons suffer little or no attenuation during their propagation from the site of origin. The emission could originate from either truly diffuse processes or from unresolved point sources such as AGNs, normal galaxies and starburst galaxies. Here, we examine the unresolved point source origin of the extragalactic γ-ray background emission from normal galaxies and starburst galaxies. γ-ray emission from normal galaxies is primarily coming from cosmic-ray interactions with interstellar matter and radiation （-90%） along with a small contribution from discrete point sources （-10%）. Starburst galaxies are expected to have enhanced supernovae activity which leads to higher cosmic-ray densities, making starburst galaxies sufficiently luminous atγ-ray energies to be detected by the current γ-ray mission （Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope）.

A Reinvestigation of the Physical Properties of Pismis 3 based on 2MASS Photometry

As a continuation of a series of work, we aim to refine and re-determine the physical parameters of previously rarely or un-studied open star clusters with good quality CMDs using Near-IR JHK photometry. Here we present a morphological analysis of the 2MASS database （the digital ＂Two Micron All Sky Survey＂） for the open cluster Pismis 3. Some of the physical parameters are estimated for the first time, and some others, re-determined.

Astrophysical parameters of ten poorly studied open star clusters

We present the fundamental parameters of ten open star clusters, nominated from Kronberger et al. who presented some newly discovered stellar groups on the basis of the Two Micron All Sky Survey photometry and Digitized Sky Survey visual images. Star counts and photometric parameters （radius, membership, distance, color excess, age, luminosity function, mass function, total mass, and dynamical relaxation time） have been determined for these ten clusters for the first time. In order to calibrate our procedures, the main parameters （distance, age, and color excess） have been reestimated for another five clusters, which are also studied by Kronberger et al.