Observed hot Jupiter (HJ) systems exhibit a wide range of stellar spin-orbit misalignment angles. This paper investigates the inward migration of giant planets due to Lidov–Kozai (LK) oscillations induced by a distant stellar companion. We conduct a large population synthesis study, including the octupole gravitational potential from the stellar companion, mutual precession of the host stellar ...

We present the evolution of the stellar mass function (SMF) of galaxies from z = 4.0 to z = 1.3 measured from a sample constructed from the deep NIR MUSYC, the FIRES, and the GOODS-CDFS surveys, all having very high-quality optical to mid-infrared data. This sample, unique in that it combines data from surveys with a large range of depths and areas in a self-consistent way, allowed us to 1) min...

We present an analysis of the growth of stellar mass with cosmic time partitioned according to galaxy morphology. Using a well-defined catalog of 2150 galaxies based, in part, on archival data in the Great Observatories Origins Deep Survey (GOODS) fields, we assign morphological types in three broad classes (Ellipticals, Spirals, Peculiar/Irregulars) to a limit of zAB=22.5 and make the resultin...

A recent model for the stellar initial mass function (IMF), in which the stellar masses are randomly sampled down to the thermal Jeans mass from hierarchically structured pre-stellar clouds, predicts that regions of ultra-cold CO gas, such as those recently found in nearby galaxies by Allen and collaborators, should make an abundance of Brown Dwarfs with relatively few normal stars. This result...

We estimate the mass of the central black hole in our Galaxy from stellar kinematical data published by Ghez et al. (1998) and Genzel et al. (2000). For this we develop a method, related to Merritt (1993), for non-parametrically reconstructing the mass profile and the stellar distribution function in the central region of the Galaxy from discrete kinematic data, including velocity errors. Model...

We present the results of a recent near-infrared survey of the fields surrounding a large sample of intermediate-mass pre-main-sequence (Herbig Ae/Be) stars. While late-type Be and Ae stars are never associated with conspicuous groups of young lower mass stars, early-type Be stars are usually found within rich clusters. This finding has been tested against possible biases due to different mass ...

– 2 – Early-type galaxies exhibit thermal and molecular resonance emission from dust that is shed and heated through stellar mass loss as a subset of the population moves through the AGB phase of evolution. Because this emission can give direct insight into stellar evolution in addition to galactic stellar mass loss and ISM injection rates, we conducted a program to search for this signature em...

Massive black holes (MBHs) with a mass below ∼ 10 M⊙ are likely to reside at the centre of dense stellar nuclei shaped by 2-body relaxation, close interactions with the MBH and direct collisions. In this contribution, we stress the role of mass segregation of stellar-mass black holes into the innermost tenths of a parsec and point to the importance of hydrodynamical collisions between stars. At...

Using stellar population synthesis techniques, we explore the photometric signatures of white dwarf progenitor dominated galactic halos, in order to constrain the fraction of halo mass that may be locked-up in white dwarf stellar remnants. We first construct a 10 M⊙ stellar halo using the canonical Salpeter initial stellar mass distribution, and then allow for an additional component of lowand ...

We present spectroscopic observations of the host galaxies of 82 low-redshift type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We determine star-formation rates, gas-phase/stellar metallicities, and stellar masses and ages of these objects. As expected, strong correlations between the SN Ia light-curve width (stretch) and the host age/mass/metallicity are found: fa...