Logarithmic Spiral Arm Pitch Angle of Spiral Galaxies: Measurement and Relationship to Galactic Structure and Nuclear Supermassive Black Hole Mass
- ISBN-10
- 1321675089
- ISBN-13
- 9781321675085
- Category
- Black holes (Astronomy)
- Pages
- 336
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2015
- Author
- Benjamin Lee Davis
Description
In this dissertation, I explore the geometric structure of spiral galaxies and how the visible structure can provide information about the central mass of a galaxy, the density of its galactic disk, and the hidden mass of the supermassive black hole in its nucleus. In order to quantitatively measure the logarithmic spiral pitch angle (a measurement of tightness of the winding) of galactic spiral arms, I led an effort in our research group (the Arkansas Galaxy Evolution Survey) to modify existing two-dimensional fast Fourier transform software to increase its efficacy and accuracy. Using this software, I was able to lead an effort to calculate a black hole mass function (BHMF) for spiral galaxies in our local Universe. This work effectively provides us with a census of local black holes and establishes an endpoint on the evolutionary history of the BHMF for spiral galaxies. Furthermore, my work has indicated a novel fundamental relationship between the pitch angle of a galaxy's spiral arms, the maximum density of neutral atomic hydrogen in its disk, and the stellar mass of its bulge. This result provides strong support for the density wave theory of spiral structure in disk galaxies and poses a critical question of the validity of rival theories for the genesis of spiral structure in disk galaxies.
Get the book
Similar books
-
らくらく相対論入門: 常識を捨てれば相対論が見える
By Eric Chaissonらくらく相対論入門: 常識を捨てれば相対論が見える
-
Black Holes: An Annotated Bibliography, 1975-1983
By Steven I. Danko... 1413 Pearson , R.B. 740 Peat , D. 681 Pechenick , K.R. 1341 Peimbert , M. 1342 Pelat , D. 1274 Pelikhov , N.V. 1028 Pencek , T.L. 102 Peratt , A.L. 273 Perolov , V.P. 1509 Perry , M.J. 314 , 472 , 682 , 819 , 1590 Persides , s .
-
Le trou noir
By Jean-Pierre PetitChacun sait, hélas, qu'un cours ou un texte de vulgarisation est une joie... pour l'auteur. La bande dessinée scientifique, au contraire, c'est le triomphe du lecteur ! Celui-ci s'identifie aux...
-
The Animate and the Inanimate
By William James SidisThe Animate and the Inanimate was a book written by child prodigy and polymath William James Sidis (1898-1944), detailing his thoughts on the origins of life, cosmology, the potential reversibility of the second law through Maxwell's Demon, ...
-
Walt Disney Productions' The Black Hole Poster Book
By Walt Disney ProductionsLate in the twenty-second century while attempting to rescue a long-lost spaceship in the outer reaches of the galaxy, the explorer craft "Palomino" is swept into a timeless, bottomless black hole. Pages are removable for use as posters.
-
The Black Hole
By Walt Disney ProductionsSUN PRAIRIE PUBLIC LIBRARY WALT DISNEY PRODUCTIONS presents DISNEY'S WONDERFUL WORLD OF . READING The Black Hole VINCENT LR 396 FE AAB - 5 2 7 - 8 7 4 * 1727 DATE DUE Random House + fic Black Hole Random House ha New York This Front ...
-
Exploring Black Holes: Introduction to General Relativity
By John Archibald Wheeler, Edwin F. Taylor, Edmund William BertschingerThis unique book offers a concise, introductory overview of general relativity and black holes, motivating students to become active participants in carrying out their own investigations. To this end, the...
-
What Is Inside a Black Hole?
By Stephen Hawking'The best most mind-bending sort of physics' The TimesBrief Answers, Big Questions: this stunning paperback series offers electrifying essays from one of the greatest minds of our age, taken from the original text of the No. 1 bestselling ...
-
Gravity's Fatal Attraction: Black Holes in the Universe
By Martin J. Rees, Mitchell C. BegelmanThe authors present evidence of the existance of black holes and the gravitational power they possess
-
The Event Horizon
By Roger PalmerThe Event Horizon