• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.187-190
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• 2005

The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS) is a Hubble Space Telescope (HST) treasury project. The COSMOS aims to perform a 2 square degree imaging survey of an equatorial field in I(F814W) band, using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Such a wide field survey, combined with ground-based photometric and spectroscopic data, is essential to understand the interplay between large scale structure, evolution and formation of galaxies and dark matter. In 2004, we have obtained high-quality, broad band images of the COSMOS field (B, V, r', i', and z') using Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope, and we have started our new optical multi-band program, COSMOS-21 in 2005. Here, we present a brief summary of the current status of the COSMOS project together with contributions from the Subaru Telescope. Our future Subaru program, COSMOS-21, is also discussed briefly.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.28.2-28.2
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• 2015

High redshift quasars (z > 5) hold keys to understanding the evolution of the universe in its early stage. Yet, the number of high redshift quasars uncovered from previous studies is relatively small (70 or so), and are concentrated mostly in a limited redshift range (z ~ 6). To understand the early mass growth of supermassive black holes and the final stage of the cosmic reionization, it is important to find a statistically meaningful sample of quasars with various physical properties. Here we present a survey for high redshift quasars at 5 < z < 7. Through color selection techniques using multi-wavelength data, we found quasar candidates and carried out imaging follow-up observations to reduce contaminants. After optical spectroscopy, we discovered eight new quasars. We obtained near-infrared spectra for 3 of these 8 quasars, measured their physical properties such as black hole masses and Eddington ratios, and found that the high redshift quasars we discovered are growing via accretion more vigorous than those of their lower redshift counterparts. We estimated the quasar number densities from our discoveries and compared them to those expected from the quasar luminosity functions in literature. In contrast to the observed number density of quasars at z ~ 5, which agrees with literature, the observed number density at z ~ 7 shows values lower than what is expected, even after considering an extrapolated number density evolution. We conclude that the quasar number density at z ~ 7 declines toward higher redshift, more steeply than the empirically expected evolution.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.34.1-34.1
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• 2018

Using cosmological N-body simulations we investigate statistical properties of flyby encounters between halos in comparison with mergers. We classify halo pairs into two groups based on the total energy (E12); flybys (E12 > 0) and mergers (E12 < 0). By measuring the flyby and merger fractions, we assess their dependencies on redshift (0 < z < 4), halo mass (10.8 < log Mhalo/Msun < 13.0), and large-scale environment (from field to cluster). We find that the flyby and merger fractions similarly increase with redshift until z = 1, and that the flyby fraction at higher redshift (1 < z < 4) slightly decreases in contrast to the continuously increasing merger fraction. While the merger fraction has little or no dependence on the mass and environment, the flyby fraction correlates negatively with mass and positively with environment. The flyby fraction exceeds the merger fraction in filaments and clusters; even 10 times greater in the densest environment. Our results suggest that the flyby makes a substantial contribution to the observed pair fraction, thus heavily influencing galactic evolution across the cosmic time.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.177-187
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• 2003

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are distant, powerful sources of radiation over the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma-rays. There is much evidence that they are driven by gravitational accretion of stars, dust, and gas, onto central massive black holes (MBHs) imprisoning anywhere from $\~$1 to $\~$10,000 million solar masses; such objects may naturally form in the centers of galaxies during their normal dynamical evolution. A small fraction of AGNs, of the radio-loud type (RLAGNs), are somehow able to generate powerful synchrotron-emitting structures (cores, jets, lobes) with sizes ranging from pc to Mpc. A brief summary of AGN observations and theories is given, with an emphasis on RLAGNs. Preliminary results from the imaging of 10000 extragalactic radio sources observed in the MITVLA snapshot survey, and from a new analytic theory of the time-variable power output from Kerr black hole magnetospheres, are presented. To better understand the complex physical processes within the central engines of AGNs, it is important to confront the observations with theories, from the viewpoint of analyzing the time-variable behaviours of AGNs - which have been recorded over both 'short' human ($10^0-10^9\;s$) and 'long' cosmic ($10^{13} - 10^{17}\;s$) timescales. Some key ingredients of a basic mathematical formalism are outlined, which may help in building detailed Monte-Carlo models of evolving AGN populations; such numerical calculations should be potentially important tools for useful interpretation of the large amounts of statistical data now publicly available for both AGNs and RLAGNs.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.49-63
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• 2013

Nonthermal radiation from supernova remnants (SNRs) provides observational evidence and constraints on the diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) hypothesis for the origins of Galactic cosmic rays (CRs). Recently it has been recognized that a variety of plasma wave-particle interactions operate at astrophysical shocks and the detailed outcomes of DSA are governed by their complex and nonlinear interrelationships. Here we calculate the energy spectra of CR protons and electrons accelerated at Type Ia SNRs, using time-dependent, DSA simulations with phenomenological models for magnetic field amplification due to CR streaming instabilities, Alf$\acute{e}$enic drift, and free escape boundary. We show that, if scattering centers drift with the Alf$\acute{e}$en speed in the amplified magnetic fields, the CR energy spectrum is steepened and the acceleration efficiency is significantly reduced at strong CR modified SNR shocks. Even with fast Afv$\acute{e}$nic drift, DSA can still be efficient enough to develop a substantial shock precursor due to CR pressure feedback and convert about 20-30% of the SN explosion energy into CRs. Since the high energy end of the CR proton spectrum is composed of the particles that are injected in the early stages, in order to predict nonthermal emissions, especially in X-ray and ${\gamma}-ray$ bands, it is important to follow the time dependent evolution of the shock dynamics, CR injection process, magnetic field amplification, and particle escape. Thus it is crucial to understand the details of these plasma interactions associated with collisionless shocks in successful modeling of nonlinear DSA.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.517-525
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• 2004

We present an update on our proposal that during the 'quasar era' (1.5 $\le$ z $\le$ 3), powerful radio galaxies could have played a major role in the enhanced global star-formation, and in the widespread magnetization and metal pollution of the universe. A key ingredient of this proposal is our estimate that the true cosmological evolution of the radio galaxy population is likely to be even steeper than what has been inferred from flux-limited samples of radio sources with redshift data, when an allowance is made for the inverse Compton losses on the cosmic microwave background which were much greater at higher redshifts. We thus estimate that a large fraction of the clumps of proto-galactic material within the cosmic web of filaments was probably impacted by the expanding lobes of radio galaxies during the quasar era. Some recently published observational evidence and simulations which provide support for this picture are pointed out. We also show that the inverse Compton x-ray emission from the population of radio galaxies during the quasar era, which we inferred to be largely missing from the derived radio luminosity function, is still only a small fraction of the observed soft x-ray background (XRB) and hence the limit imposed on this scenario by the XRB is not violated.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.25-36
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• 2023

Since interstellar objects like 1I/'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov originate from exoplanetary systems, even if we do not visit the exoplanetary systems, flyby, rendezvous, and sample return missions of interstellar objects can provide clues to solve the mysteries of cosmic life phenomena such as the origin of exoplanetary systems, galactic evolution, biosignatures (or even technosignatures), and panspermia. In this paper, we review space missions for interstellar object exploration in the stage of mission design or concept study such as Project Lyra, Bridge, Comet Interceptors, and Lightcraft^TM. We also review space missions, OSIRIS-REx and NEA Scout, designed for Near Earth Asteroids(NEA) explorations, to investigate the current state of basic technologies that can be extended to explore interstellar objects in a velocity of ~ 6AU/year. One of the technologies that needs to be developed for interstellar object exploration is a spacecraft propulsion method such as solar sail, which can catch up with the fast speed of interstellar objects. If this kind of propulsion becomes practical for space explorations, interstellar object explorations will mark a new era and serve as a driving force to provide evidences of cosmic life.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.34.1-34.1
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• 2009

After SNIa and WMAP observations during the last decade, the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the universe is a major challenge to particle physics and cosmology. There are currently three candidates for the dark energy which results in this accelerated expansion: $\cdot$ a non-zero cosmological constant, $\cdot$ a dynamical cosmological constant (quintessence scalar field), $\cdot$ modifications of Einstein's theory of gravity. The scalar field model like quintessence is a simple model with time-dependent w, which is generally larger than -w1. Because the different w lead to a different expansion history of the universe, the geometrical measurements of cosmic expansion through observations of SNIa, CMB and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) can give us tight constraints on w. One of the interesting ways to study the scalar field dark-energy models is to investigate the coupling between the dark energy and the other matter fields. In fact, a number of models which realize the interaction between dark energy and dark matter, or even visible matter, have been proposed so far. Observations of the effects of these interactions will offer an unique opportunity to detect a cosmological scalar field. In this talk, after briefly reviewing the main idea of the three possible candidates for dark energy and their cosmological phenomena, we discuss the interactinng dark-energy model, paying particular attention to the interacting mechanism between dark energy with a hot dark matter (neutrinos). In this so-called mass-varying neutrino (MVN) model, we calculate explicitly the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation and large-scale structure (LSS) within cosmological perturbation theory. The evolution of the mass of neutrinos is determined by the quintessence scalar field, which is responsible for the cosmic acceleration today.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.46.2-46.2
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• 2012

The black hole mass-stellar velocity dispersion ($M_{BH}-{\sigma}_*$) relation observed in the present-day universe has motivated numerous studies on the black hole-galaxy co-evolution. It is crucial to define the$M_{BH}-{\sigma}_*$ local active galaxies since cosmic evolution of the correlations is calibrated based on the local relation. However, stellar velocity dispersion is difficult to measure in active galaxies due to much higher AGN continuum than stellar pseudo-continuum, resulting in a small sample with reliable velocity dispersion measurements for studying the AGN $M_{BH}-{\sigma}_*$ relation. To increase the sample size and improve the measurements, we obtained high S/N near-IR spectra for 3 local AGNs, i.e., NGC 3227, Akn 120, 3C 390.3, for which reverberation black hole masses are measured, using the TripleSpec at the Palomar 5-m Telescope. By investigating aperture effect and correcting for rotation component, we determine the luminosity-weighted ${\sigma}_*$, based on the spatially resolved kinematics and compare them with optical measurements from literature. Combining our new measurements with literature data, we present an improved $M_{BH}-{\sigma}_*$ relation for the enlarged sample of reverberation-mapped AGNs.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.37.1-37.1
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• 2017

Since the seminal work of Perrin, physicists have understood in the context of kinetic theory how ink slowly diffuses in a glass of water. The fluctuations of the stochastic forces acting on water molecules drive the diffusion of the ink in the fluid. This is the archetype of a process described by the so-called fluctuation-dissipation theorem, which universally relates the rate of diffusion to the power spectrum of the fluctuating forces. For stars in galaxies, a similar process occurs but with two significant differences, due to the long-range nature of the gravitational interaction: (i) for the diffusion to be effective, stars need to resonate, i.e. present commensurable frequencies, otherwise they only follow the orbit imposed by their mean field; (ii) the amplitudes of the induced fluctuating forces are significantly boosted by collective effects, i.e. by the fact that, because of self-gravity, each star generates a wake in its neighbours. In the expanding universe, an overdense perturbation passing a critical threshold will collapse onto itself and, through violent relaxation and mergers, rapidly converge towards a stationary, phase-mixed and highly symmetric state, with a partially frozen orbital structure. The object is then locked in a quasi-stationary state imposed by its mean gravitational field. Of particular interests are strongly responsive colder systems which, given time and kicks, find the opportunity to significantly reshuffle their orbital structure towards more likely configurations. This presentation aims to explain this long-term reshuffling called gravity-driven secular evolution on cosmic timescales, described by extended kinetic theory. I will illustrate this with radial migration, disc thickening and the stellar cluster in the galactic centre.