60,763 research outputs found
On-Line Discovery of Hot Motion Paths
We consider an environment of numerous moving objects, equipped with location-sensing devices and capable of communicating with a central coordinator. In this setting, we investigate the problem of maintaining hot motion paths, i.e., routes frequently followed by multiple objects over the recent past. Motion paths approximate portions of objects' movement within a tolerance margin that depends on the uncertainty inherent in positional measurements. Discovery of hot motion paths is important to applications requiring classification/profiling based on monitored movement patterns, such as targeted advertising, resource allocation, etc. To achieve this goal, we delegate part of the path extraction process to objects, by assigning to them adaptive lightweight filters that dynamically suppress unnecessary location updates and, thus, help reducing the communication overhead. We demonstrate the benefits of our methods and their efficiency through extensive experiments on synthetic data sets
Vainu Bappu Memorial Lecture: What is a sunspot?
Sunspots have been known in the West since Galileo Galilei and Thomas Harriot
first used telescopes to observe the Sun nearly four centuries ago; they have
been known to the Chinese for more than two thousand years. They appear as
relatively dark patches on the surface of the Sun, and are caused by
concentrations of magnetism which impede the flow of heat from deep inside the
Sun up to its othewise brilliant surface. The spots are not permanent: the
total number of spots on the Sun varies cyclically in time, with a period of
about eleven years, associated with which there appear to be variations in our
climate. When there are many spots, it is more dangerous for spacecraft to
operate. The cause of the spots is not well understood; nor is it known for
sure how they die. Their structure beneath the surface of the Sun is in some
dispute, although much is known about their properties at the surface,
including an outward material flow which was discovered by John Evershed
observing the Sun from Kodaikanal a hundred years ago. I shall give you a
glimpse of how we are striving to deepen our understanding of these fascinating
features, and of some of the phenomena that appear to be associated with them.Comment: Lecture delivered at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, December
2008 Typing errors corrected To appear in Magnetic Coupling between the
Interior and the Atmosphere of the Sun, ed. S.S. Hasan & R.J. Rutten, Astr.
Sp. Sci. Pro
Detection and Characterization of Extrasolar Planets through Doppler Spectroscopy
Over 300 extrasolar planets have been found since 1992, showing that
planetary systems are common and exhibit an outstanding variety of
characteristics. As the number of detections grows and as models of planet
formation progress to account for the existence of these new worlds,
statistical studies and confrontations of observation with theory allow to
progressively unravel the key processes underlying planet formation. In this
chapter we review the dominant contribution of Doppler spectroscopy to the
present discoveries and to our general understanding of planetary systems. We
also emphasize the synergy of Doppler spectroscopy and transit photometry in
characterizing the physical properties of transiting extrasolar planets. As we
will see, Doppler spectroscopy has not reached its limits yet and it will
undoubtly play a leading role in the detection and characterization of the
first Earth-mass planets.Comment: 50 pages, 16 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the Les Houches
Winter School "Physics and Astrophysics of Planetary Systems" (EDP Sciences:
EAS Publications Series
Near infrared flares of Sagittarius A*: Importance of near infrared polarimetry
We report on the results of new simulations of near-infrared (NIR)
observations of the Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) counterpart associated with the
super-massive black hole at the Galactic Center. The observations have been
carried out using the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the European
Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and CIAO NIR camera on the Subaru
telescope (13 June 2004, 30 July 2005, 1 June 2006, 15 May 2007, 17 May 2007
and 28 May 2008). We used a model of synchrotron emission from relativistic
electrons in the inner parts of an accretion disk. The relativistic simulations
have been carried out using the Karas-Yaqoob (KY) ray-tracing code. We probe
the existence of a correlation between the modulations of the observed flux
density light curves and changes in polarimetric data. Furthermore, we confirm
that the same correlation is also predicted by the hot spot model. Correlations
between intensity and polarimetric parameters of the observed light curves as
well as a comparison of predicted and observed light curve features through a
pattern recognition algorithm result in the detection of a signature of
orbiting matter under the influence of strong gravity. This pattern is detected
statistically significant against randomly polarized red noise. Expected
results from future observations of VLT interferometry like GRAVITY experiment
are also discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 38 figures, accepted for publication by A&
Is there a Supermassive Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way?
This review outlines the observations that now provide an overwhelming
scientific case that the center of our Milky Way Galaxy harbors a supermassive
black hole. Observations at infrared wavelength trace stars that orbit about a
common focal position and require a central mass (M) of 4 million solar masses
within a radius of 100 Astronomical Units. Orbital speeds have been observed to
exceed 5,000 km/s. At the focal position there is an extremely compact radio
source (Sgr A*), whose apparent size is near the Schwarzschild radius
(2GM/c^2). This radio source is motionless at the ~1 km/s level at the
dynamical center of the Galaxy. The mass density required by these observations
is now approaching the ultimate limit of a supermassive black hole within the
last stable orbit for matter near the event horizon.Comment: Invited review submitted to International Journal of Modern Physics
D; 23 pages; 10 figure
Asteroseismology and evolution of EHB stars
The properties of the Extreme Horizontal Branch stars are quite well
understood, but much uncertainty surrounds the many paths that bring a star to
this peculiar configuration. Asteroseismology of pulsating EHB stars has been
performed on a number of objects, bringing us to the stage where comparisons of
the inferred properties with evolutionary models becomes feasible. In this
review I outline our current understanding of the formation and evolution of
these stars, with emphasis on recent progress. The aim is to show how the
physical parameters derived by asteroseismology can enable the discrimination
between different evolutionary models.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, invited review to appear in Communications in
Asteroseismology vol.159, "Proceedings of the JENAM 2008 Symposium No 4:
Asteroseismology and Stellar Evolution
The Agulhas Ridge, South Atlantic: the peculiar structure of a fracture zone
The Agulhas Ridge is a prominent topographic feature that parallels the Agulhas-Falkland Fracture Zone (AFFZ). Seismic reflection and wide angle/refraction data have led to the classification of this feature as a transverse ridge. Changes in spreading rate and direction associated with ridge jumps, combined with asymmetric spreading within the Agulhas Basin, modified the stress field across the fracture zone. Moreover, passing the Agulhas Ridges location between 80 Ma and 69 Ma, the Bouvet and Shona Hotspots may have supplied excess material to this part of the AFFZ thus altering the ridges structure.The low crustal velocities and overthickened crust of the northern Agulhas Ridge segment indicate a possible continental affinity that suggests it may be formed by a small continental sliver, which was severed off the Maurice Ewing Bank during the opening of the South Atlantic.In early Oligocene times the Agulhas Ridge was tectono-magmatically reactivated, as documented by the presence of basement highs disturbing and disrupting the sedimentary column in the Cape Basin. We consider the Discovery Hotspot, which distributes plume material southwards across the AAFZ, as a source for the magmatic material
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