arXiv subjects

Subhashis Roy

Publications and source records attributed to Subhashis Roy.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Tracing gas outflows in molecular gas-rich galaxies with the SKA

Active galactic nuclei with powerful radio jets play a key role in galaxy evolution through their ability to regulate the cold gas reservoirs that fuel star formation. Jet-driven feedback can heat, compress, or expel atomic and molecular gas, thereby reshaping the interstellar medium and altering star formation efficiency. However, the physical coupling between AGN activity and the multi-phase interstellar medium remains poorly constrained, particularly in radio-loud systems where mechanical feedback and multiphase outflows are expected to dominate. SKA will provide major advances in the study of cold gas in AGN host galaxies through sensitive observations of H~{\sc i} emission and absorption, together with access to selected low-frequency molecular transitions within the SKA~1 frequency range, including OH, H$_2$CO, CH$_3$OH, and, at high redshift, low-$J$ transitions of CO, HCN, and HCO$^{+}$ in rare bright systems. Combined with radio continuum measurements, these tracers will provide direct constraints on gas mass, kinematics, turbulence, and inflow/outflow signatures, enabling detailed studies of feedback-regulated cold gas reservoirs in AGN environments. In this chapter, we examine how SKA1 observations of neutral hydrogen, complemented by molecular-line and radio continuum studies, can be used to quantify multiphase gas flows and feedback energetics in molecular-gas-rich radio galaxies. SKA surveys will enable population-level studies of AGN-driven feedback, providing a new framework for understanding how radio jets regulate the cold interstellar medium and star formation across cosmic time.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2025

Distance to the Galactic centre 7$^\prime$ halo from HI absorption

Using archival data, we have made an HI absorption study of the 7$^\prime$ halo surrounding the Sgr A complex, observed towards the Galactic centre (GC) region. We find strong HI absorption near velocities of $-$53 km s$^{-1}$, which is due to the 3-kpc arm, placing it beyond 5 kpc from us. We further examined the HI absorption properties towards 5 different parts of the 7$^\prime$ halo. Absorption by +50 km s$^{-1}$ GC cloud is seen towards only 3 parts of the halo, but not towards the other 2 regions. Strong emissions in CO and CS are, however, identified toward all the above 5 parts of the halo by the +50 km s$^{-1}$ GC molecular cloud. This does show that the 7$^\prime$ halo is partly behind, and partly in front of the +50 km s$^{-1}$ cloud. To our knowledge, this, for the first time clearly shows the 7$^\prime$ halo to be located at the same distance as the +50 km s$^{-1}$ molecular cloud, i.e., at the GC region.

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arXiv2024

uGMRT observation of the unidentified PeVatron candidate LHAASO J2108+5157

Recent observations by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) detected Ultra High Energy (UHE) photons in the range 100 TeV to 1.4 PeV from twelve sources including Crab nebula. The detection of these photons demands the presence of at least PeV energy particle in the source. It is important to understand particle acceleration and radiation emission processes in such source. One of those twelve sources, LHAASO J2108+5157 does not show any association or counterparts at any other wavelength. In search of counterpart, we surveyed the region with Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) at 650 MHz frequency. GMRT observation revel radio emission from an extended source within the PSF of LHAASO which shows disk-jet morphology. Considering the spatial association and extent of the source, it is plausible that particle acceleration to PeV energies originates from this source.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Radio Continuum Halos of 7 Nearby Large Galaxies using uGMRT

We present the results of deep radio observations of 7 nearby large galaxies observed using the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) 0.3-0.5 GHz receivers with an angular resolution of $\sim$10 arcsec. The achieved sensitivities of these observations range from $\approx$15 to 50 $\mu$Jy/beam which is $\approx$3-4 factor lower than the previous observations at these frequencies. For 2 galaxies (NGC3344 and NGC3627) with moderate inclination angles, significant diffuse emissions are seen for the first time. Detected radio halos in the vertical direction are significantly larger in our 0.4 GHz maps than compared to the observations at $\sim$1.5 GHz for 4 nearly edge-on galaxies - NGC3623, NGC4096, NGC4594, and NGC4631. For these 4 galaxies, significantly larger halos are also detected along the galaxy disk. For NGC3623 and NGC4594, we could detect elongated radio disks which was not seen before. We also present new uGMRT images of NGC3344 and NGC3623 at 1.3 GHz and a new VLA image of NGC3627 at 1.5 GHz. We fitted an exponential function to the flux densities along different cross-cuts and found a significantly wider distribution at 0.4 GHz uGMRT images than compared to the high-frequency images at $\sim$1.5 GHz. Using maps at 0.144, 0.4, and $\sim$1.5 GHz, we made spectral index maps of the 7 sample galaxies and found steepening of the spectrum up to a value of $\sim$ -1.5 in the halo regions of the galaxies.

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arXiv2024

Exploring neutral hydrogen in the radio MOlecular Hydrogen Emission Galaxies (MOHEGs) and prospects with the SKA

The empirical studies of cold gas content serve as an essential aspect in comprehending the star formation activities and evolution in galaxies. However, it is not straightforward to understand these processes because they depend on various physical properties of the Interstellar Medium. Massive FRI/II type radio galaxies rich in molecular hydrogen with less star formation activities are known as radio Molecular Hydrogen Emission Galaxies (MOHEGs). We present a study of neutral hydrogen gas-associated radio MOHEGs at redshifts <0.2 probed via the HI 21-cm absorption line. Neutral hydrogen is detected in 70% of these galaxies, which are located at a distance of 8 - 120 kiloparsec from the neighboring galaxies. These galaxies show a scarcity of HI gas as compared to merging galaxies at similar redshifts. We found no strong correlation between N(HI), N(H), and galaxy properties, independent of whether the HI is assumed to be cold or warm, indicating that the atomic gas is probably playing no important role in star formation. The relationship between total hydrogen gas surface density and star formation surface density deviates from the standard Kennicutt-Schmidt law. Our study highlights the importance of HI studies and offers insights into the role of atomic and molecular hydrogen gas in explaining the properties of these galaxies. In the upcoming HI 21-cm absorption surveys with next-generation radio telescopes such as the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) and pathfinder instruments, it may be possible to provide better constraints to such correlations.

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arXiv2023

Magnetic Fields, Star Formation Rates and Gas Densities at Sub-kpc Scales in a Pilot Sample of Nearby Galaxies

We have estimated the magnetic field strengths of a sample of seven galaxies using their non-thermal synchrotron radio emission at metre wavelengths, and assuming energy equipartition between magnetic fields and cosmic ray particles. Spatially resolved star formation rates (SFR) were estimated for the seven galaxies along with five galaxies studied previously. For the combined sample of twelve galaxies, the equipartition magnetic fields (B$_\textrm{eq}$) are correlated with the SFR surface densities ($\Sigma_\textrm{SFR}$) at sub-kpc scales with B$_\textrm{eq}$ $\propto$ $\Sigma_\textrm{SFR}^ {0.31\pm0.06}$, consistent with model predictions. We estimated gas densities ($\rho_\textrm{gas}$) for a sub-sample of seven galaxies using archival observations of the carbon monoxide (CO) rotational transitions and the atomic hydrogen (HI) 21 cm line and studied the spatially-resolved correlation between the magnetic fields and $\rho_\textrm{gas}$. Magnetic fields and gas densities are found to be correlated at sub-kpc scale as B$_\textrm{eq}$ $\propto$ $\rho_\textrm{gas}^{0.40\pm0.09}$. This is broadly consistent with models, which typically predict B $\propto$ $\rho_\textrm{gas}^{0.5}$.

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arXiv2021

Low radio frequency observations of seven nearby galaxies with GMRT

We have observed seven nearby large angular sized galaxies at 0.33 GHz using GMRT with angular resolution of $\sim10''$ and sub-mJy sensitivity. Using archival higher frequency data at 1.4 or $\sim$6 GHz, we have then determined their spatially resolved non-thermal spectrum. As a general trend, we find that the spectral indices are comparatively flat at the galaxy centres and gradually steepen with increasing galactocentric distances. Using archival far infrared (FIR) MIPS 70 ${\mu} m$ data, we estimate the exponent of radio-FIR correlation. One of the galaxy (NGC 4826) was found to have an exponent of the correlation of $\sim1.4$. Average exponent from 0.33 GHz data for the rest of the galaxies was 0.63$\pm$0.06 and is significantly flatter than the exponent 0.78$\pm$0.04 obtained using 1.4 GHz data. This indicates cosmic ray electron (CRe) propagation to have reduced the correlation between FIR and 0.33 GHz radio. Assuming a model of simple isotropic diffusion of CRe, we find that the scenario can explain the frequency dependent cosmic ray electron propagation length scales for only two galaxies. Invoking streaming instability could, however, explain the results for the majority of the remaining ones.

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arXiv2021

The Galactic Faraday rotation sky 2020

This work gives an update to existing reconstructions of the Galactic Faraday rotation sky by processing almost all Faraday rotation data sets available at the end of the year 2020. Observations of extra-Galactic sources in recent years have, among other regions, further illuminated the previously under-constrained southern celestial sky, as well as parts of the inner disc of the Milky Way. This has culminated in an all-sky data set of 55,190 data points, which is a significant expansion on the 41,330 used in previous works, hence making an updated separation of the Galactic component a promising venture. The increased source density allows us to present our results in a resolution of about $1.3\cdot 10^{-2}\, \mathrm{deg}^2$ ($46.8\,\mathrm{arcmin}^2$), which is a twofold increase compared to previous works. As for previous Faraday rotation sky reconstructions, this work is based on information field theory, a Bayesian inference scheme for field-like quantities which handles noisy and incomplete data. In contrast to previous reconstructions, we find a significantly thinner and pronounced Galactic disc with small-scale structures exceeding values of several thousand $\mathrm{rad}\,\mathrm{m}^{-2}$. The improvements can mainly be attributed to the new catalog of Faraday data, but are also supported by advances in correlation structure modeling within numerical information field theory. We furthermore give a detailed discussion on statistical properties of the Faraday rotation sky and investigate correlations to other data sets.

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arXiv2017

Radio Observation of Venus at Meter Wavelengths using the GMRT

The Venusian surface has been studied by measuring radar reflections and thermal radio emission over a wide spectral region of several centimeters to meter wavelengths from the Earth-based as well as orbiter platforms. The radiometric observations, in the decimeter (dcm) wavelength regime showed a decreasing trend in the observed brightness temperature (Tb) with increasing wavelength. The thermal emission models available at present have not been able to explain the radiometric observations at longer wavelength (dcm) to a satisfactory level. This paper reports the first interferometric imaging observations of Venus below 620 MHz. They were carried out at 606, 332.9 and 239.9 MHz using the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT). The Tb values derived at the respective frequencies are 526 K, 409 K and < 426 K, with errors of ~7% which are generally consistent with the reported Tb values at 608 MHz and 430 MHz by previous investigators, but are much lower than those derived from high-frequency observations at 1.38-22.46 GHz using the VLA.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2017

Detection of radio emission from the gamma-ray pulsar J1732-3131 at 327 MHz

Although originally discovered as a radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsar, J1732-3131 has exhibited intriguing detections at decameter wavelengths. We report an extensive follow-up of the pulsar at 327 MHz with the Ooty radio telescope. Using the previously observed radio characteristics, and with an effective integration time of 60 hrs, we present a detection of the pulsar at a confidence level of 99.82%. The 327 MHz mean flux density is estimated to be 0.5-0.8 mJy, which establishes the pulsar to be a steep spectrum source and one of the least-luminous pulsars known to date. We also phase-aligned the radio and gamma-ray profiles of the pulsar, and measured the phase-offset between the main peaks in the two profiles to be 0.24$\pm$0.06. We discuss the observed phase-offset in the context of various trends exhibited by the radio-loud gamma-ray pulsar population, and suggest that the gamma-ray emission from J1732-3131 is best explained by outer magnetosphere models. Details of our analysis leading to the pulsar detection, and measurements of various parameters and their implications relevant to the pulsar's emission mechanism are presented.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2017

325 and 610 MHz Radio Counterparts of SNR G353.6$-$0.7 a.k.a. HESS J1731$-$347

HESS J1731$-$347 a.k.a. SNR G353.6$-$0.7 is one of the five known shell-type supernova remnants (SNRs) emitting in the very high energy (VHE, Energy $>$ 0.1 TeV) $\gamma$-ray domain. We observed this TeV SNR with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in 1390, 610 and 325 MHz bands. In this paper, we report the discovery of 325 and 610 MHz radio counterparts of the SNR HESS J1731$-$347 with the GMRT. Various filaments of the SNR are clearly seen in the 325 and 610 MHz bands. However, the faintest feature in the radio bands corresponds to the peak in VHE emission. We explain this anti-correlation in terms of a possible leptonic origin of the observed VHE $\gamma$-ray emission. We determine the spectral indices of the bright individual filaments, which were detected in both the 610 and the 325 MHz bands. Our values range from $-$1.11 to $-$0.15, consistent with the non-thermal radio emission. We also report a possible radio counterpart of a nearby TeV source HESS J1729$-$345 from the 843 MHz Molonglo Galactic Plane Survey and the 1.4 GHz Southern Galactic Plane Survey maps. The positive radio spectral index of this possible counterpart suggests a thermal origin of the radio emission of this nearby TeV source.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Probing magnetic fields with Square Kilometre array and its precursors

Origin of magnetic fields, its structure and effects on dynamical processes in stars to galaxies are not well understood. Lack of a direct probe has hampered its study. The first phase of Square Kilometre Array (SKA-I), will have more than an order of magnitude higher sensitivity than existing radio telescopes. In this contribution, we discuss specific science cases that are of interest to the Indian community concerned with astrophysical turbulence and magnetic fields. The SKA-I will allow observations of a large number of background sources with detectable polarisation and measure their Faraday depths (FDs) through the Milky Way, other galaxies and their circum-galactic medium. This will probe line-of-sight magnetic fields in these objects well and provide field configurations. Detailed comparison of observational data with models which consider various processes giving rise to field amplification and maintenance will then be possible. Such observations will also provide the coherence scale of the fields and measure its random component. Measuring the random component is important to characterise turbulence in the medium. Observations of FDs with redshift will provide important information on magnetic field evolution as a function of redshift. The background sources could also be used to probe magnetic fields and its coherent scale in galaxy clusters and in bridges formed between interacting galaxies. Other than FDs, sensitive observations of synchrotron emission from galaxies will provide complimentary information on their magnetic field strengths in the sky plane. The core shift measurements of AGNs can provide more precise measurements of magnetic field very close (<pc) to the black hole and its evolution. The low band of SKA-I will also be useful to study circularly polarized emission from Sun and comparing various models of field configurations with observations.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Explosive and radio-selected Transients: Transient Astronomy with SKA and its Precursors

With the high sensitivity and wide-field coverage of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), large samples of explosive transients are expected to be discovered. Radio wavelengths, especially in commensal survey mode, are particularly well suited for uncovering the complex transient phenomena. This is because observations at radio wavelengths may suffer less obscuration than in other bands (e.g. optical/IR or X-rays) due to dust absorption. At the same time, multiwaveband information often provides critical source classification rapidly than possible with only radio band data. Therefore, multiwaveband observational efforts with wide fields of view will be the key to progress of transients astronomy from the middle 2020s offering unprecedented deep images and high spatial and spectral resolutions. Radio observations of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) with SKA will uncover not only much fainter bursts and verifying claims of sensitivity limited population versus intrinsically dim GRBs, they will also unravel the enigmatic population of orphan afterglows. The supernova rate problem caused by dust extinction in optical bands is expected to be lifted in the SKA era. In addition, the debate of single degenerate scenario versus double degenerate scenario will be put to rest for the progenitors of thermonuclear supernovae, since highly sensitive measurements will lead to very accurate mass loss estimation in these supernovae. One also expects to detect gravitationally lensed supernovae in far away Universe in the SKA bands. Radio counterparts of the gravitational waves are likely to become a reality once SKA comes online. In addition, SKA is likely to discover various new kinds of transients.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2015

Synchrotron spectral index and interstellar medium densities of star-forming galaxies

The spectral index of synchrotron emission is an important parameter in understanding the properties of cosmic ray electrons (CREs) and the interstellar medium (ISM). We determine the synchrotron spectral index ($\alpha_{\rm nt}$) of four nearby star-forming galaxies, namely NGC 4736, NGC 5055, NGC 5236 and NGC 6946 at sub-kpc linear scales. The $\alpha_{\rm nt}$ was determined between 0.33 and 1.4 GHz for all the galaxies. We find the spectral index to be flatter ($\gtrsim -0.7$) in regions with total neutral (atomic + molecular) gas surface density, $\Sigma_{\rm gas} \gtrsim \rm 50~M_\odot pc^{-2}$, typically in the arms and inner parts of the galaxies. In regions with $\Sigma_{\rm gas} \lesssim \rm 50~M_\odot pc^{-2}$, especially in the interarm and outer regions of the galaxies, the spectral index steepens sharply to $<-1.0$. The flattening of $\alpha_{\rm nt}$ is unlikely to be caused due to thermal free--free absorption at 0.33 GHz. Our result is consistent with the scenario where the CREs emitting at frequencies below $\sim0.3$ GHz are dominated by bremsstrahlung and/or ionization losses. For denser medium ($\Sigma_{\rm gas} \gtrsim \rm 200~M_\odot pc^{-2}$), having strong magnetic fields ($\sim 30~\mu$G), $\alpha_{\rm nt}$ is seen to be flatter than $-0.5$, perhaps caused due to ionization losses. We find that, due to the clumpy nature of the ISM, such dense regions cover only a small fraction of the galaxy ($\lesssim5$ percent). Thus, the galaxy-integrated spectrum may not show indication of such loss mechanisms and remain a power-law over a wide range of radio frequencies (between $\sim 0.1$ to 10 GHz).

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2014

Equipartition magnetic fields and star formation rates in normal galaxies at sub-kpc scales

We studied the total magnetic field strength in normal star-forming galaxies estimated using energy equipartition assumption. Using the well known radio--far infrared correlation we demonstrate that the equipartition assumption is valid in galaxies at sub-kpc scales. We find that the magnetic field strength is strongly correlated with the surface star formation rate in the galaxies NGC 6946 and NGC 5236. Further, we compare the magnetic field energy density to the total (thermal + turbulent) energy densities of gas (neutral + ionized) to identify regions of efficient field amplification in the galaxy NGC 6946. We find that in regions of efficient star formation, the magnetic field energy density is comparable to that of the total energy density of various interstellar medium components and systematically dominates in regions of low star formation efficiency.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Discovery of a small diameter young supernova remnant G354.4+0.0

We report discovery of a shell like structure G354.4+0.0 of size 1.6' that shows morphology of a shell supernova remnant. Part of the structure show polarized emission in NRAO VLA sky survey (NVSS) map. Based on 330 MHz, 1.4 GHz Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) observations and existing observations at higher frequencies, we conclude the partial shell structure showing synchrotron emission is embedded in an extended HII region of size ~4'. The spectrum of the diffuse HII region turns over between 1.4 GHz and 330 MHz. HI absorption spectrum shows it to be located more than 5 kpc away from Sun. Based on morphology, non-thermal polarized emission and size, this object is one of the youngest supernova remnants discovered in the Galaxy with an estimated age of about 100-500 years.

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arXiv2013

Density of warm ionized gas near the Galactic Center: Low radio frequency observations

We have observed the Galactic Center (GC) region at 0.154 and 0.255 GHz with the GMRT. A total of 62 compact likely extragalactic sources are detected. Their scattering sizes go down linearly with increasing angular distance from the GC up to about 1 deg. The apparent scattering sizes of sources are more than an order of magnitude down than predicted earlier by the NE2001 model of Galactic electron distribution within 359.5 deg < l < 0.5 deg and -0.5 deg <b <0.5 deg (Hyperstrong scattering region) of the Galaxy. High free-free optical depths are observed towards most of the extended nonthermal sources within 0.6 deg from the GC. Significant variation of optical depth indicate the absorbing medium is patchy at an angular scale of 10' and electron density is ~10 per cc that matches with the NE2001 model. This model predicts the extragalactic (EG) sources to be resolved out from 1.4 GHz interferometric surveys. However, 8 likely EG sources out of 10 expected in the region are present in 1.4 GHz catalog. Ionized interfaces of dense molecular clouds to the ambient medium are most likely responsible for strong scattering and low radio frequency absorption. However, dense GC clouds traced by CS $J=1-0$ emission are found to have a narrow distribution of ~0.2 deg across the Galactic plane. Angular distribution of most of the EG sources seen through the so called Hyperstrong scattering region are random in $b$, and typically ~7 out of 10 sources will not be seen through to the dense molecular clouds, and it explains why most of them are not scatter broadened at 1.4 GHz.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2013

Magnetic fields in nearby normal galaxies: Energy equipartition

We present maps of total magnetic field using 'equipartition' assumptions for five nearby normal galaxies at sub-kpc spatial resolution. The mean magnetic field is found to be ~11 \mu G. The field is strongest near the central regions where mean values are ~20--25 \mu G and falls to ~15 \mu G in disk and ~10 \mu G in the outer parts. There is little variation in the field strength between arm and interarm regions, such that, in the interarms, the field is < 20 percent weaker than in the arms. There is no indication of variation in magnetic field as one moves along arm or interarm after correcting for the radial variation of magnetic field. We also studied the energy densities in gaseous and ionized phases of the interstellar medium and compared to the energy density in the magnetic field. The energy density in the magnetic field was found to be similar to that of the gas within a factor of <2 at sub-kpc scales in the arms, and thus magnetic field plays an important role in pressure balance of the interstellar medium. Magnetic field energy density is seen to dominate over the kinetic energy density of gas in the interarm regions and outer parts of the galaxies and thereby helps in maintaining the large scale ordered fields seen in those regions.

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