Neutron Scattering and magnetization studies of Ba2_2Cu2.95_{2.95}Co0.05_{0.05}O4_4Cl2_2: A decorated two-dimensional antiferromagnet

Ba$_2$Cu$_3$O$_4$Cl$_2$ has two inter-penetrating square Cu sublattices, one with square root 2 times the in-plane spacing of the other. Isotropic magnetic interactions between the two sublattices are completely frustrated. Quantum fluctuations resolve the intrinsic degeneracy in the ordering direction of the more weakly coupled sublattice in favor of collinear ordering. We present neutron scattering and magnetization studies of the magnetic structure when the Cu ions are substituted with Co. The Co spins create new magnetic interactions between the two sublattices. The ordering behavior of both Cu sublattices is retained largely unmodified. Between the phase transitions of the two sublattices spin-glass behavior is observed. Magnetization results show a strong enhancement to the ferromagnetic aspect of the magnetic structure. The combination of glassy behavior and large moments strongly suggest that the Co moments induce the formation of local canted states.Comment: 4 figure

Scalable Peer-to-Peer Streaming for Live Entertainment Content

We present a system for streaming live entertainment content over the Internet originating from a single source to a scalable number of consumers without resorting to centralized or provider-provisioned resources. The system creates a peer-to-peer overlay network, which attempts to optimize use of existing capacity to ensure quality of service, delivering low startup delay and lag in playout of the live content. There are three main aspects of our solution: first, a swarming mechanism that constructs an overlay topology for minimizing propagation delays from the source to end consumers; second, a distributed overlay anycast system that uses a location-based search algorithm for peers to quickly find the closest peers in a given stream; and finally, a novel incentive mechanism that encourages peers to donate capacity even when the user is not actively consuming content

Observations of rotationally resolved C3 in translucent sight lines

The rotationally resolved spectrum of the A ^1Pi_u <- X ^1Sigma^+_g 000-000 transition of C3, centered at 4051.6A, has been observed along 10 translucent lines of sight. To interpret these spectra, a new method for the determination of column densities and analysis of excitation profiles involving the simulation and fitting of observed spectra has been developed. The populations of lower rotational levels (J<14) in C3 are best fit by thermal distributions that are consistent with the kinetic temperatures determined from the excitation profile of C2. Just as in the case of C2, higher rotational levels (J>14) of C3 show increased nonthermal population distributions in clouds which have been determined to have total gas densities below ~500 cm-3.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Vita contemplativa: a life in part

Life, art and science are irremediably intertwined: how, where and with whom one shares the brief moments of existence necessarily affect what one thinks, how one writes, and what one will address. Being a scholar is a vocation, as Weber knew only too well, in which science, ethics and art blend; sometimes seamlessly, sometimes not. None who live an intellectual and public life are immune to the normal glosses of the sociology of knowledge and this paper provides glimpses, through a personal lens, of what such a gloss might see. It is a glimpse of a life still living and lived; an artist still at work, an agenda still being developed, frozen like a snapshot of an instant - and just as representative. Can a snapshot capture an essence? Sometimes. Whether this does is left to others to judge. Copyright © 2005 SAGE Publications

12^{12}C/13^{13}C ratio in planetary nebulae from the IUE archives

We investigated the abundance ratio of $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C in planetary nebulae by examining emission lines arising from \ion{C}{3} 2s2p ^3P_{2,1,0} \to 2s^2 ^1S_0. Spectra were retrieved from the International Ultraviolet Explorer archives, and multiple spectra of the same object were coadded to achieve improved signal-to-noise. The $^{13}$C hyperfine structure line at 1909.6 \AA was detected in NGC 2440. The $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C ratio was found to be $\sim4.4\pm$1.2. In all other objects, we provide an upper limit for the flux of the 1910 \AA line. For 23 of these sources, a lower limit for the $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C ratio was established. The impact on our current understanding of stellar evolution is discussed. The resulting high signal-to-noise \ion{C}{3} spectrum helps constrain the atomic physics of the line formation process. Some objects have the measured 1907/1909 flux ratio outside the low-electron density theoretical limit for $^{12}$C. A mixture of $^{13}$C with $^{12}$C helps to close the gap somewhat. Nevertheless, some observed 1907/1909 flux ratios still appear too high to conform to the presently predicted limits. It is shown that this limit, as well as the 1910/1909 flux ratio, are predominantly influenced by using the standard partitioning among the collision strengths for the multiplet $^1S_0$--$^3P_J$ according to the statistical weights. A detailed calculation for the fine structure collision strengths between these individual levels would be valuable.Comment: ApJ accepted: 19 pages, 3 Figures, 2 Table

A new infrared band in the Interstellar and Circumstellar Clouds: C_4 or C_4H?

We report on the detection with the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) of a molecular band at 57.5 microns (174 cm^{-1}) in carbon-rich evolved stars and in Sgr B2. Taking into account the chemistry of these objects the most likelihood carrier is a carbon chain. We tentatively assign the band to the nu_5 bending mode of C_4 for which a wavenumber of 170-172.4 cm^{-1} has been derived in matrix experiments (Withey et al. 1991). An alternate carrier might be C_4H, although the frequency of its lowest energy vibrational bending mode, nu_7, is poorly known (130-226 cm^{-1}). If the carrier is C_4, the derived maximum abundance is nearly similar to that found for C_3 in the interstellar and circumstellar media by Cernicharo, Goicoechea & Caux (2000). Hence, tetra-atomic carbon could be one of the most abundant carbon chain molecules in these media.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, accepted in ApJ Letter

Physical Conditions in Quasar Outflows: VLT Observations of QSO 2359-1241

We analyze the physical conditions of the outflow seen in QSO 2359-1241 (NVSS J235953-124148), based on high resolution spectroscopic VLT observations. This object was previously studied using Keck/HIRES data. The main improvement over the HIRES results is our ability to accurately determine the number density of the outflow. For the major absorption component, level population from five different Fe II excited level yields n_H=10^4.4 cm^-3 with less than 20% scatter. We find that the Fe ii absorption arises from a region with roughly constant conditions and temperature greater than 9000 K, before the ionization front where temperature and electron density drop. Further, we model the observed spectra and investigate the effects of varying gas metalicities and the spectral energy distribution of the incident ionizing radiation field. The accurately measured column densities allow us to determine the ionization parameter log(U) = -2.4 and total column density of the outflow (log(N_H) = 20.6 cm^-2). Combined with the number density finding, these are stepping stones towards determining the mass flux and kinetic luminosity of the outflow, and therefore its importance to AGN feedback processes.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures (accepted for publication in the ApJ

A New Look At Carbon Abundances In Planetary Nebulae. III. DDDM1, IC 3568, IC4593, NGC 6210, NGC 6720, NGC 6826, & NGC 7009

This paper is the third in a series reporting on a study of carbon abundances in a carefully chosen sample of planetary nebulae representing a large range in progenitor mass and metallicity. We make use of the IUE Final Archive database containing consistently-reduced spectra to measure line strengths of C III] 1909 along with numerous other UV lines for the planetary nebulae DDDM1, IC 3568, IC 4593, NGC 6210, NGC 6720, NGC 6826, & NGC 7009. We combine the IUE data with line strengths from optical spectra obtained specifically to match the IUE slit positions as closely as possible, to determine values for the abundance ratios He/H, O/H, C/O, N/O, and Ne/O. The ratio of C III] 1909/C II 4267 is found to be effective for merging UV and optical spectra when He II 1640/4686 is unavailable. Our abundance determination method includes a 5-level program whose results are fine-tuned by corrections derived from detailed photoionization models constrained by the same set of emission lines. All objects appear to have subsolar levels of O/H, and all but one show N/O levels above solar. In addition, the seven planetary nebulae span a broad range in C/O values. We infer that many of our objects are matter bounded, and thus the standard ionization correction factor for N/O may be inappropriate for these PNe. Finally, we estimate C/O using both collisionally-excited and recombination lines associated with C+2 and find the well established result that abundances from recombination lines usually exceed those from collisionally-excited lines by several times.Comment: 36 pages, 7 tables, 2 figures, latex. Tables and figures supplied as two separate postscript files. Accepted for publication in Ap

High-resolution x-ray study of the nematic - smectic-A and smectic-A - smectic-C transitions in 8barS5-aerosil gels

The effects of dispersed aerosil nanoparticles on two of the phase transitions of the thermotropic liquid crystal material 4-n-pentylphenylthiol-4'-n-octyloxybenzoate 8barS5 have been studied using high-resolution x-ray diffraction techniques. The aerosils hydrogen bond together to form a gel which imposes a weak quenched disorder on the liquid crystal. The smectic-A fluctuations are well characterized by a two-component line shape representing thermal and random-field contributions. An elaboration on this line shape is required to describe the fluctuations in the smectic-C phase; specifically the effect of the tilt on the wave-vector dependence of the thermal fluctuations must be explicitly taken into account. Both the magnitude and the temperature dependence of the smectic-C tilt order parameter are observed to be unaffected by the disorder. This may be a consequence of the large bare smectic correlation length in the direction of modulation for this transition. These results show that the understanding developed for the nematic to smectic-A transition for octylcyanobiphenyl (8CB) and octyloxycyanobiphenyl (8OCB) liquid crystals with quenched disorder can be extended to quite different materials and transitions.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure