Resolving the extragalactic hard X-ray background

The origin of the hard (2-10 keV) X-ray background has been a mystery for over 35 years. Most of the soft X-ray background has been resolved into individual sources (mainly quasars), but these sources do not have the spectral energy distribution required to match the spectrum of the X-ray background as a whole. Here we report the results of a deep survey, using the Chandra satellite, in which the detected hard X-ray sources account for at least 75 per cent of the hard X-ray background. The mean X-ray spectral energy distribution of these sources is in good agreement with that of the background. Moreover, most of those hard X-ray sources are associated unambiguously with either the nuclei of otherwise normal bright galaxies, or with optically faint sources. The latter could be active nuclei in dust-enshrouded galaxies or a population of quasars at extremely high redshift.     

An 84-microG magnetic field in a galaxy at redshift z = 0.692

The magnetic field pervading our Galaxy is a crucial constituent of the interstellar medium: it mediates the dynamics of interstellar clouds, the energy density of cosmic rays, and the formation of stars. The field associated with ionized interstellar gas has been determined through observations of pulsars in our Galaxy. Radio-frequency measurements of pulse dispersion and the rotation of the plane of linear polarization, that is, Faraday rotation, yield an average value for the magnetic field of B approximately 3 microG (ref. 2). The possible detection of Faraday rotation of linearly polarized photons emitted by high-redshift quasars suggests similar magnetic fields are present in foreground galaxies with redshifts z > 1. As Faraday rotation alone, however, determines neither the magnitude nor the redshift of the magnetic field, the strength of galactic magnetic fields at redshifts z > 0 remains uncertain. Here we report a measurement of a magnetic field of B approximately 84 microG in a galaxy at z = 0.692, using the same Zeeman-splitting technique that revealed an average value of B = 6 microG in the neutral interstellar gas of our Galaxy. This is unexpected, as the leading theory of magnetic field generation, the mean-field dynamo model, predicts large-scale magnetic fields to be weaker in the past rather than stronger.     

Magnification of light from many distant quasars by gravitational lenses

Exceptionally bright quasars with redshifts up to z = 6.28 have recently been discovered. Quasars are thought to be powered by the accretion of gas onto supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies. Their maximum (Eddington) luminosity depends on the mass of the black hole, and the brighter quasars are inferred to have black holes with masses of more than a few billion solar masses. The existence of such massive black holes poses a challenge to models for the formation of structures in the early Universe, as it requires their formation within one billion years of the Big Bang. Here we show that up to one-third of known quasars with z approximately equal to 6 will have had their observed flux magnified by a factor of ten or more, as a consequence of gravitational lensing by galaxies along the line of sight. The inferred abundance of quasar host galaxies, as well as the luminosity density provided by the quasars, has therefore been substantially overestimated.     

The Lyman-alpha glow of gas falling into the dark matter halo of a z = 3 galaxy

Quasars are the visible signatures of gas falling into the deep potential well of super-massive black holes in the centres of distant galaxies. It has been suggested that quasars are formed when two massive galaxies collide and merge, leading to the prediction that quasars should be found in the centres of regions of largest overdensity in the early Universe. In dark matter (DM)-dominated models of the early Universe, massive DM halos are predicted to attract the surrounding gas, which falls towards their centres. The neutral gas is not detectable in emission by itself, but gas falling into the ionizing cone of such a quasar will glow in the Lyman-alpha line of hydrogen, effectively imaging the DM halo. Here we present a Lyalpha image of a DM halo at redshift z = 3, along with a two-dimensional spectrum of the gaseous halo. Our observations are best understood in the context of the standard model for DM haloes; we infer a mass of (2 - 7) x 10(12) solar masses (M(\circ)) for the halo.     

Rapid growth of black holes in massive star-forming galaxies

The tight relationship between the masses of black holes and galaxy spheroids in nearby galaxies implies a causal connection between the growth of these two components. Optically luminous quasars host the most prodigious accreting black holes in the Universe, and can account for greater than or approximately equal to 30 per cent of the total cosmological black-hole growth. As typical quasars are not, however, undergoing intense star formation and already host massive black holes (> 10(8)M(o), where M(o) is the solar mass), there must have been an earlier pre-quasar phase when these black holes grew (mass range approximately (10(6)-10(8))M(o)). The likely signature of this earlier stage is simultaneous black-hole growth and star formation in distant (redshift z > 1; >8 billion light years away) luminous galaxies. Here we report ultra-deep X-ray observations of distant star-forming galaxies that are bright at submillimetre wavelengths. We find that the black holes in these galaxies are growing almost continuously throughout periods of intense star formation. This activity appears to be more tightly associated with these galaxies than any other coeval galaxy populations. We show that the black-hole growth from these galaxies is consistent with that expected for the pre-quasar phase.     

Spectral signature of cosmological infall of gas around the first quasars

Recent observations have shown that, only a billion years after the Big Bang, the Universe was already lit up by bright quasars fuelled by the infall of gas onto supermassive black holes. The masses of these early black holes are inferred from their luminosities to be >10(9) solar masses (M(O)), which is a difficult theoretical challenge to explain. Like nearby quasars, the early objects could have formed in the central cores of massive host galaxies. The formation of these hosts could be explained if, like local large galaxies, they were assembled gravitationally inside massive (> 10(12) M(O)) haloes of dark matter. There has hitherto been no observational evidence for the presence of these massive hosts or their surrounding haloes. Here we show that the cosmic gas surrounding each halo must respond to its strong gravitational pull, where absorption by the infalling hydrogen produces a distinct spectral signature. That signature can be seen in recent data.     

The obscuration by dust of most of the growth of supermassive black holes

Supermassive black holes underwent periods of exponential growth during which we see them as quasars in the distant Universe. The summed emission from these quasars generates the cosmic X-ray background, the spectrum of which has been used to argue that most black-hole growth is obscured. There are clear examples of obscured black-hole growth in the form of 'type-2' quasars, but their numbers are fewer than expected from modelling of the X-ray background. Here we report the direct detection of a population of distant type-2 quasars, which is at least comparable in size to the well-known unobscured type-1 population. We selected objects that have mid-infrared and radio emissions characteristic of quasars, but which are faint at near-infrared and optical wavelengths. We conclude that this population is responsible for most of the black-hole growth in the young Universe and that, throughout cosmic history, black-hole growth occurs in the dusty, gas-rich centres of active galaxies.     

大尺度天区上的类星体观测

评述了目前巡天观测技术的进展情况.讨论了类星体的成团性和红移极限,以及室女座星系团区内的最新观测结果.     

活动星系核的演化与吸积率

红移,中心黑洞质量和吸积率是类星体演化的重要参数,通过三种方法计算了405个类星体和Seyfert星系样本的中心黑洞质量,并分析了中心黑洞质量和吸积率的分布,进而验证了：1.类星体-Seyfert星系的演化序列;2.平谱射电类星体（FSRQ）-BL Lac天体-射电星系（RG）的演化序列。     

A median redshift of 2.4 for galaxies bright at submillimetre wavelengths

A significant fraction of the energy emitted in the early Universe came from very luminous galaxies that are largely hidden at optical wavelengths (because of interstellar dust grains); this energy now forms part of the cosmic background radiation at wavelengths near 1 mm (ref. 1). Some submillimetre (submm) galaxies have been resolved from the background radiation, but they have been difficult to study because of instrumental limitations. This has impeded the determination of their redshifts (z), which is a crucial element in understanding their nature and evolution. Here we report spectroscopic redshifts for ten submm galaxies that were identified using high-resolution radio observations. The median redshift for our sample is 2.4, with a quartile range of 1.9-2.8. This population therefore coexists with the peak activity of quasars, suggesting a close relationship between the growth of massive black holes and luminous dusty galaxies. The space density of submm galaxies at redshifts over 2 is about 1,000 times greater than that of similarly luminous galaxies in the present-day Universe, so they represent an important component of star formation at high redshifts.     

An impact-driven dynamo for the early Moon

The origin of lunar magnetic anomalies remains unresolved after their discovery more than four decades ago. A commonly invoked hypothesis is that the Moon might once have possessed a thermally driven core dynamo, but this theory is problematical given the small size of the core and the required surface magnetic field strengths. An alternative hypothesis is that impact events might have amplified ambient fields near the antipodes of the largest basins, but many magnetic anomalies exist that are not associated with basin antipodes. Here we propose a new model for magnetic field generation, in which dynamo action comes from impact-induced changes in the Moon's rotation rate. Basin-forming impact events are energetic enough to have unlocked the Moon from synchronous rotation, and we demonstrate that the subsequent large-scale fluid flows in the core, excited by the tidal distortion of the core-mantle boundary, could have powered a lunar dynamo. Predicted surface magnetic field strengths are on the order of several microteslas, consistent with palaeomagnetic measurements, and the duration of these fields is sufficient to explain the central magnetic anomalies associated with several large impact basins.     

A gravitationally lensed quasar with quadruple images separated by 14.62 arcseconds

Gravitational lensing is a powerful tool for the study of the distribution of dark matter in the Universe. The cold-dark-matter model of the formation of large-scale structures (that is, clusters of galaxies and even larger assemblies) predicts the existence of quasars gravitationally lensed by concentrations of dark matter so massive that the quasar images would be split by over 7 arcsec. Numerous searches for large-separation lensed quasars have, however, been unsuccessful. All of the roughly 70 lensed quasars known, including the first lensed quasar discovered, have smaller separations that can be explained in terms of galaxy-scale concentrations of baryonic matter. Although gravitationally lensed galaxies with large separations are known, quasars are more useful cosmological probes because of the simplicity of the resulting lens systems. Here we report the discovery of a lensed quasar, SDSS J1004 + 4112, which has a maximum separation between the components of 14.62 arcsec. Such a large separation means that the lensing object must be dominated by dark matter. Our results are fully consistent with theoretical expectations based on the cold-dark-matter model.     

Suppression of dwarf galaxy formation by cosmic reionization

A large number of faint galaxies, born less than a billion years after the Big Bang, have recently been discovered. Fluctuations in the distribution of these galaxies contributed to a scatter in the ionization fraction of cosmic hydrogen on scales of tens of megaparsecs, as observed along the lines of sight to the earliest known quasars. Theoretical simulations predict that the formation of dwarf galaxies should have been suppressed after cosmic hydrogen was reionized, leading to a drop in the cosmic star-formation rate. Here we report evidence for this suppression. We show that the post-reionization galaxies that produced most of the ionizing radiation at a redshift z approximately 5.5 must have had a mass in excess of approximately 10(10.9 +/- 0.5) solar masses (M(o)) or else the aforementioned scatter would have been smaller than observed. This limiting mass is two orders of magnitude larger than the galaxy mass that is thought to have dominated the reionization of cosmic hydrogen (approximately 10(8) M(o)). We predict that future surveys with space-based infrared telescopes will detect a population of smaller galaxies that reionized the Universe at an earlier time, before the epoch of dwarf galaxy suppression.     

The formation and assembly of a typical star-forming galaxy at redshift z approximately 3

Recent studies of galaxies approximately 2-3 Gyr after the Big Bang have revealed large, rotating disks, similar to those of galaxies today. The existence of well-ordered rotation in galaxies during this peak epoch of cosmic star formation indicates that gas accretion is likely to be the dominant mode by which galaxies grow, because major mergers of galaxies would completely disrupt the observed velocity fields. But poor spatial resolution and sensitivity have hampered this interpretation; such studies have been limited to the largest and most luminous galaxies, which may have fundamentally different modes of assembly from those of more typical galaxies (which are thought to grow into the spheroidal components at the centres of galaxies similar to the Milky Way). Here we report observations of a typical star-forming galaxy at z = 3.07, with a linear resolution of approximately 100 parsecs. We find a well-ordered compact source in which molecular gas is being converted efficiently into stars, likely to be assembling a spheroidal bulge similar to those seen in spiral galaxies at the present day. The presence of undisrupted rotation may indicate that galaxies such as the Milky Way gain much of their mass by accretion rather than major mergers.     

The far-ultraviolet signature of the 'missing' baryons in the Local Group of galaxies

The number of baryons detected in the low-redshift (z < 1) Universe is far smaller than the number detected in corresponding volumes at higher redshifts. Simulations of the formation of structure in the Universe show that up to two-thirds of the 'missing' baryons may have escaped detection because of their high temperature and low density. One of the few ways to detect this matter directly is to look for its signature in the form of ultraviolet absorption lines in the spectra of background sources such as quasars. Here we show that the amplitude of the average velocity vector of 'high velocity' O vi (O5+) absorption clouds detected in a survey of ultraviolet emission from active galactic nuclei decreases significantly when the vector is transformed to the frames of the Galactic Standard of Rest and the Local Group of galaxies. At least 82 per cent of these absorbers are not associated with any 'high velocity' atomic hydrogen complex in our Galaxy, and are therefore likely to result from a primordial warm-hot intergalactic medium pervading an extended corona around the Milky Way or the Local Group. The total mass of baryons in this medium is estimated to be up to approximately 10(12) solar masses, which is of the order of the mass required to dynamically stabilize the Local Group.     

Discovery of a bright quasar without a massive host galaxy

A quasar is thought to be powered by the infall of matter onto a supermassive black hole at the centre of a massive galaxy. Because the optical luminosity of quasars exceeds that of their host galaxy, disentangling the two components can be difficult. This led in the 1990s to the controversial claim of the discovery of 'naked' quasars. Since then, the connection between quasars and galaxies has been well established. Here we report the discovery of a quasar lying at the edge of a gas cloud, whose size is comparable to that of a small galaxy, but whose spectrum shows no evidence for stars. The gas in the cloud is excited by the quasar itself. If a host galaxy is present, it is at least six times fainter than would normally be expected for such a bright quasar. The quasar is interacting dynamically with a neighbouring galaxy, whose gas might be feeding the black hole.     

Spectroscopic confirmation of a galaxy at redshift z = 8.6

Galaxies had their most significant impact on the Universe when they assembled their first generations of stars. Energetic photons emitted by young, massive stars in primeval galaxies ionized the intergalactic medium surrounding their host galaxies, cleared sightlines along which the light of the young galaxies could escape, and fundamentally altered the physical state of the intergalactic gas in the Universe continuously until the present day. Observations of the cosmic microwave background, and of galaxies and quasars at the highest redshifts, suggest that the Universe was reionized through a complex process that was completed about a billion years after the Big Bang, by redshift z?≈?6. Detecting ionizing Lyman-α photons from increasingly distant galaxies places important constraints on the timing, location and nature of the sources responsible for reionization. Here we report the detection of Lyα photons emitted less than 600?million years after the Big Bang. UDFy-38135539 (ref. 5) is at a redshift of z = 8.5549?±?0.0002, which is greater than those of the previously known most distant objects, at z = 8.2 (refs 6 and 7) and z = 6.96 (ref. 8). We find that this single source is unlikely to provide enough photons to ionize the volume necessary for the emission line to escape, requiring a significant contribution from other, probably fainter galaxies nearby.     

Type II supernovae as a significant source of interstellar dust

Large amounts of dust (>10(8)M(o)) have recently been discovered in high-redshift quasars and galaxies corresponding to a time when the Universe was less than one-tenth of its present age. The stellar winds produced by stars in the late stages of their evolution (on the asymptotic giant branch of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram) are thought to be the main source of dust in galaxies, but they cannot produce that dust on a short enough timescale (&<1 Gyr) to explain the results in the high-redshift galaxies. Supernova explosions of massive stars (type II) are also a potential source, with models predicting 0.2-4M(o) of dust. As massive stars evolve rapidly, on timescales of a few Myr, these supernovae could be responsible for the high-redshift dust. Observations of supernova remnants in the Milky Way, however, have hitherto revealed only 10(-7)-10(-3)M(o) each, which is insufficient to explain the high-redshift data. Here we report the detection of approximately 2-4M(o) of cold dust in the youngest known Galactic supernova remnant, Cassiopeia A. This observation implies that supernovae are at least as important as stellar winds in producing dust in our Galaxy and would have been the dominant source of dust at high redshifts.     

A close nuclear black-hole pair in the spiral galaxy NGC 3393

The current picture of galaxy evolution advocates co-evolution of galaxies and their nuclear massive black holes, through accretion and galactic merging. Pairs of quasars, each with a massive black hole at the centre of its galaxy, have separations of 6,000 to 300,000 light years (refs 2 and 3; 1 parsec = 3.26 light years) and exemplify the first stages of this gravitational interaction. The final stages of the black-hole merging process, through binary black holes and final collapse into a single black hole with gravitational wave emission, are consistent with the sub-light-year separation inferred from the optical spectra and light-variability of two such quasars. The double active nuclei of a few nearby galaxies with disrupted morphology and intense star formation (such as NGC 6240 with a separation of about 2,600 light years and Mrk 463 with a separation of about 13,000 light years between the nuclei) demonstrate the importance of major mergers of equal-mass spiral galaxies in this evolution; such mergers lead to an elliptical galaxy, as in the case of the double-radio-nucleus elliptical galaxy 0402+379 (with a separation of about 24 light years between the nuclei). Minor mergers of a spiral galaxy with a smaller companion should be a more common occurrence, evolving into spiral galaxies with active massive black-hole pairs, but have hitherto not been seen. Here we report the presence of two active massive black holes, separated by about 490 light years, in the Seyfert galaxy NGC 3393 (50 Mpc, about 160 million light years). The regular spiral morphology and predominantly old circum-nuclear stellar population of this galaxy, and the closeness of the black holes embedded in the bulge, provide a hitherto missing observational point to the study of galaxy/black hole evolution. Comparison of our observations with current theoretical models of mergers suggests that they are the result of minor merger evolution.     

双控制场四能级系统的吸收与色散特性

通过求解准∧-型四能级系统的密度矩阵方程,研究微波场和耦合场对探测场吸收和色散性质的影响．当微波场和探测场作用于该能级系统中时,随着微波场拉比频率的增大,使得探测场共振频率处的吸收逐渐减弱,此位置处的色散特性也随拉比频率的增加由反常色散转变为正常色散．当微波场与耦合场均为强场时,通过不同的组合方式,研究探测场的吸收和色散性质．