4,515 research outputs found
The On The Fly Imaging Technique
The On-The-Fly (OTF) imaging technique enables single-dish radio telescopes
to construct images of small areas of the sky with greater efficiency and
accuracy. This paper describes the practical application of the OTF imaging
technique. By way of example the implementation of the OTF imaging technique at
the NRAO 12 Meter Telescope is described. Specific requirements for data
sampling, image formation, and Doppler correction are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, accepted A&
An Energy-Minimization Finite-Element Approach for the Frank-Oseen Model of Nematic Liquid Crystals: Continuum and Discrete Analysis
This paper outlines an energy-minimization finite-element approach to the
computational modeling of equilibrium configurations for nematic liquid
crystals under free elastic effects. The method targets minimization of the
system free energy based on the Frank-Oseen free-energy model. Solutions to the
intermediate discretized free elastic linearizations are shown to exist
generally and are unique under certain assumptions. This requires proving
continuity, coercivity, and weak coercivity for the accompanying appropriate
bilinear forms within a mixed finite-element framework. Error analysis
demonstrates that the method constitutes a convergent scheme. Numerical
experiments are performed for problems with a range of physical parameters as
well as simple and patterned boundary conditions. The resulting algorithm
accurately handles heterogeneous constant coefficients and effectively resolves
configurations resulting from complicated boundary conditions relevant in
ongoing research.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figures, 3 table
Scanamorphos: a map-making software for Herschel and similar scanning bolometer arrays
Scanamorphos is one of the public softwares available to post-process scan
observations performed with the Herschel photometer arrays. This
post-processing mainly consists in subtracting the total low-frequency noise
(both its thermal and non-thermal components), masking high-frequency artefacts
such as cosmic ray hits, and projecting the data onto a map. Although it was
developed for Herschel, it is also applicable with minimal adjustment to scan
observations made with some other imaging arrays subjected to low-frequency
noise, provided they entail sufficient redundancy; it was successfully applied
to P-Artemis, an instrument operating on the APEX telescope. Contrary to
matrix-inversion softwares and high-pass filters, Scanamorphos does not assume
any particular noise model, and does not apply any Fourier-space filtering to
the data, but is an empirical tool using purely the redundancy built in the
observations -- taking advantage of the fact that each portion of the sky is
sampled at multiple times by multiple bolometers. It is an interactive software
in the sense that the user is allowed to optionally visualize and control
results at each intermediate step, but the processing is fully automated. This
paper describes the principles and algorithm of Scanamorphos and presents
several examples of application.Comment: This is the final version as accepted by PASP (on July 27, 2013). A
copy with much better-quality figures is available on
http://www2.iap.fr/users/roussel/herschel
Incoherent Noise and Quantum Information Processing
Incoherence in the controlled Hamiltonian is an important limitation on the
precision of coherent control in quantum information processing. Incoherence
can typically be modelled as a distribution of unitary processes arising from
slowly varying experimental parameters. We show how it introduces artifacts in
quantum process tomography and we explain how the resulting estimate of the
superoperator may not be completely positive. We then go on to attack the
inverse problem of extracting an effective distribution of unitaries that
characterizes the incoherence via a perturbation theory analysis of the
superoperator eigenvalue spectra.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, replaced with future JCP published versio
Bulk de novo mitogenome assembly from pooled total DNA elucidates the phylogeny of weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea)
Complete mitochondrial genomes have been shown to be reliable markers for phylogeny reconstruction among diverse animal groups. However, the relative difficulty and high cost associated with obtaining de novo full mitogenomes have frequently led to conspicuously low taxon sampling in ensuing studies. Here, we report the successful use of an economical and accessible method for assembling complete or near-complete mitogenomes through shot-gun next-generation sequencing of a single library made from pooled total DNA extracts of numerous target species. To avoid the use of separate indexed libraries for each specimen, and an associated increase in cost, we incorporate standard polymerase chain reaction-based “bait” sequences to identify the assembled mitogenomes. The method was applied to study the higher level phylogenetic relationships in the weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea), producing 92 newly assembled mitogenomes obtained in a single Illumina MiSeq run. The analysis supported a separate origin of wood-boring behavior by the subfamilies Scolytinae, Platypodinae, and Cossoninae. This finding contradicts morphological hypotheses proposing a close relationship between the first two of these but is congruent with previous molecular studies, reinforcing the utility of mitogenomes in phylogeny reconstruction. Our methodology provides a technically simple procedure for generating densely sampled trees from whole mitogenomes and is widely applicable to groups of animals for which bait sequences are the only required prior genome knowledge
Arc-like distribution of high CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) ratio gas surrounding the central star cluster of the supergiant HII region NGC 604
We report the discovery of a high CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) ratio gas with an
arc-like distribution (``high-ratio gas arc'') surrounding the central star
cluster of the supergiant HII region NGC 604 in the nearby spiral galaxy M 33,
based on multi-J CO observations of a 5' 5' region of NGC 604
conducted using the ASTE 10-m and NRO 45-m telescopes. The discovered
``high-ratio gas arc'' extends to the south-east to north-west direction with a
size of 200 pc. The western part of the high-ratio gas arc closely
coincides well with the shells of the HII regions traced by H and radio
continuum peaks. The CO(J=3-2)/CO(J=1-0) ratio, R_{3-2/1-0}, ranges between 0.3
and 1.2 in the observed region, and the R_{3-2/1-0} values of the high-ratio
gas arc are around or higher than unity, indicating very warm (T_kin > 60 K)
and dense (n(H_2) > 10^{3-4} cm^{-3}) conditions of the high-ratio gas arc. We
suggest that the dense gas formation and second-generation star formation occur
in the surrounding gas compressed by the stellar wind and/or supernova of the
first-generation stars of NGC 604, i.e., the central star cluster of NGC 604.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. The Astrophysical Journal Letters, in pres
Evaluation of the ALMA Prototype Antennas
The ALMA North American and European prototype antennas have been evaluated
by a variety of measurement systems to quantify the major performance
specifications. Nearfield holography was used to set the reflector surfaces to
17 microns RMS. Pointing and fast switching performance was determined with an
optical telescope and by millimeter wavelength radiometry, yielding 2 arcsec
absolute and 0.6 arcsec offset pointing accuracies. Path length stability was
measured to be less than or approximately equal to 20 microns over 10 minute
time periods using optical measurement devices. Dynamical performance was
studied with a set of accelerometers, providing data on wind induced tracking
errors and structural deformation. Considering all measurements made during
this evaluation, both prototype antennas meet the major ALMA antenna
performance specifications.Comment: 83 pages, 36 figures, AASTex format, to appear in PASP September 2006
issu
When images work faster than words: The integration of content-based image retrieval with the Northumbria Watermark Archive
Information on the manufacture, history, provenance, identification, care and conservation of paper-based artwork/objects is disparate and not always readily available. The Northumbria Watermark Archive will incorporate such material into a database, which will be made freely available on the Internet providing an invaluable resource for conservation, research and education. The efficiency of a database is highly dependant on its search mechanism. Text based mechanisms are frequently ineffective when a range of descriptive terminologies might be used i.e. when describing images or translating from foreign languages. In such cases a Content Based Image Retrieval (CBIR) system can be more effective. Watermarks provide paper with unique visual identification characteristics and have been used to provide a point of entry to the archive that is more efficient and effective than a text based search mechanism. The research carried out has the potential to be applied to any numerically large collection of images with distinctive features of colour, shape or texture i.e. coins, architectural features, picture frame profiles, hallmarks, Japanese artists stamps etc. Although the establishment of an electronic archive incorporating a CBIR system can undoubtedly improve access to large collections of images and related data, the development is rarely trouble free. This paper discusses some of the issues that must be considered i.e. collaboration between disciplines; project management; copying and digitising objects; content based image retrieval; the Northumbria Watermark Archive; the use of standardised terminology within a database as well as copyright issues
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