19,259 research outputs found
Spherical Orbifolds for Cosmic Topology
Harmonic analysis is a tool to infer cosmic topology from the measured
astrophysical cosmic microwave background CMB radiation. For overall positive
curvature, Platonic spherical manifolds are candidates for this analysis. We
combine the specific point symmetry of the Platonic manifolds with their deck
transformations. This analysis in topology leads from manifolds to orbifolds.
We discuss the deck transformations of the orbifolds and give eigenmodes for
the harmonic analysis as linear combinations of Wigner polynomials on the
3-sphere. These provide new tools for detecting cosmic topology from the CMB
radiation.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with
arXiv:1011.427
An investigation of pulsar searching techniques with the Fast Folding Algorithm
Here we present an in-depth study of the behaviour of the Fast Folding
Algorithm, an alternative pulsar searching technique to the Fast Fourier
Transform. Weaknesses in the Fast Fourier Transform, including a susceptibility
to red noise, leave it insensitive to pulsars with long rotational periods (P >
1 s). This sensitivity gap has the potential to bias our understanding of the
period distribution of the pulsar population. The Fast Folding Algorithm, a
time-domain based pulsar searching technique, has the potential to overcome
some of these biases. Modern distributed-computing frameworks now allow for the
application of this algorithm to all-sky blind pulsar surveys for the first
time. However, many aspects of the behaviour of this search technique remain
poorly understood, including its responsiveness to variations in pulse shape
and the presence of red noise. Using a custom CPU-based implementation of the
Fast Folding Algorithm, ffancy, we have conducted an in-depth study into the
behaviour of the Fast Folding Algorithm in both an ideal, white noise regime as
well as a trial on observational data from the HTRU-S Low Latitude pulsar
survey, including a comparison to the behaviour of the Fast Fourier Transform.
We are able to both confirm and expand upon earlier studies that demonstrate
the ability of the Fast Folding Algorithm to outperform the Fast Fourier
Transform under ideal white noise conditions, and demonstrate a significant
improvement in sensitivity to long-period pulsars in real observational data
through the use of the Fast Folding Algorithm.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, 3 table
Low-Frequency Spectral Turn-Overs in Millisecond Pulsars Studied from Imaging Observations
Measurements of pulsar flux densities are of great importance for
understanding the pulsar emission mechanism and for predictions of pulsar
survey yields and the pulsar population at large. Typically these flux
densities are determined from phase-averaged "pulse profiles", but this method
has limited applicability at low frequencies because the observed pulses can
easily be spread out by interstellar effects like scattering or dispersion,
leading to a non-pulsed continuum component that is necessarily ignored in this
type of analysis. In particular for the class of the millisecond pulsars (MSPs)
at frequencies below 200MHz, such interstellar effects can seriously compromise
de- tectability and measured flux densities. In this paper we investigate MSP
spectra based on a complementary approach, namely through investigation of
archival con- tinuum imaging data. Even though these images lose sensitivity to
pulsars since the on-pulse emission is averaged with off-pulse noise, they are
insensitive to effects from scattering and provide a reliable way to determine
the flux density and spectral indices of MSPs based on both pulsed and unpulsed
components. Using the 74MHz VLSSr as well as the 325MHz WENSS and 1.4GHz NVSS
catalogues, we investigate the imaging flux densities of MSPs and evaluate the
likelihood of spectral turn-overs in this population. We determine three new
MSP spectral indices and identify six new MSPs with likely spectral turn-overs.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Long-term Observations of Three Nulling Pulsars
We present an analysis of approximately 200 hours of observations of the
pulsars J16345107, J17174054 and J18530505, taken over the course of
14.7 yr. We show that all of these objects exhibit long term nulls and
radio-emitting phases (i.e. minutes to many hours), as well as considerable
nulling fractions (NFs) in the range . PSR J17174054 is
also found to exhibit short timescale nulls () and burst phases
() during its radio-emitting phases. This behaviour acts to
modulate the NF, and therefore the detection rate of the source, over
timescales of minutes. Furthermore, PSR J18530505 is shown to exhibit a weak
emission state, in addition to its strong and null states, after sufficient
pulse integration. This further indicates that nulls may often only represent
transitions to weaker emission states which are below the sensitivity
thresholds of particular observing systems. In addition, we detected a
peak-to-peak variation of in the spin-down rate of PSR
J17174054, over timescales of hundreds of days. However, no long-term
correlation with emission variation was found.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Anderson transitions in three-dimensional disordered systems with randomly varying magnetic flux
The Anderson transition in three dimensions in a randomly varying magnetic
flux is investigated in detail by means of the transfer matrix method with high
accuracy. Both, systems with and without an additional random scalar potential
are considered. We find a critical exponent of with random
scalar potential. Without it, is smaller but increases with the system
size and extrapolates within the error bars to a value close to the above. The
present results support the conventional classification of universality classes
due to symmetry.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Hysteresis in the de Haas-van Alphen Effect
A hysteresis loop is observed for the first time in the de Haas-van Alphen
(dHvA) effect of beryllium at low temperatures and quantizing magnetic field
applied parallel to the hexagonal axis of the single crystal. The irreversible
behavior of the magnetization occurs at the paramagnetic part of the dHvA
period in conditions of Condon domain formation arising by strong enough dHvA
amplitude. The resulting extremely nonlinear response to a very small
modulation field offers the possibility to find in a simple way the Condon
domain phase diagram. From a harmonic analysis, the shape and size of the
hysteresis loop is constructed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PR
Static cylindrically symmetric spacetimes
We prove existence of static solutions to the cylindrically symmetric
Einstein-Vlasov system, and we show that the matter cylinder has finite
extension. The same results are also proved for a quite general class of
equations of state for perfect fluids coupled to the Einstein equations,
extending the class of equations of state considered in \cite{BL}. We also
obtain this result for the Vlasov-Poisson system.Comment: Added acknowledgemen
Direct Observation of Condon Domains in Silver by Hall Probes
Using a set of micro Hall probes for the detection of the local induction,
the inhomogeneous Condon domain structure has been directly observed at the
surface of a pure silver single crystal under strong Landau quantization in
magnetic fields up to 10 T. The inhomogeneous induction occurs in the
theoretically predicted part of the H-T Condon domain phase diagram.
Information about size, shape and orientation of the domains is obtained by
analyzing Hall probes placed along and across the long sample axis and by
tilting the sample. On a beryllium surface the induction inhomogeneity is
almost absent although the expected induction splitting here is at least ten
times higher than in silver.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
Antechamber facilitates loading and unloading of vacuum furnace
Antechamber facilitates the use of a furnace in which materials are heat treated in a high vacuum or a gas atmosphere. It has a high vacuum pumping system, a means for backfilling with a selected gas, an access door, glove ports, and a motor driven platform
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