Key dating features for timber-framed dwellings in Surrey

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund. Copyright @ The Vernacular Architecture Group 2013. MORE OpenChoice articles are open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0.The main component of the Surrey Dendrochronology Project is the accurate dating of 177 ‘dwellings’, nearly all by tree-ring analysis. The dates are used to establish date ranges for 52 ‘key features’, which cover many aspects of timber-framing from building type to details of carpentry. It is shown that changes of method and fashion were in many cases surprisingly rapid, almost abrupt in historical terms. Previous dating criteria for timber-framed dwellings in the county have been refined and new criteria introduced. Clusters of change from the 1440s and the 1540s are shown and some possible historical links suggested.The Heritage Lottery Fund, the Domestic Buildings Research Group (Surrey), the Surrey Archaeological Society and the historical societies of Charlwood, Farnham and Nutfield

Can a galaxy redshift survey measure dark energy clustering?

(abridged) A wide-field galaxy redshift survey allows one to probe galaxy clustering at largest spatial scales, which carries an invaluable information on horizon-scale physics complementarily to the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Assuming the planned survey consisting of z~1 and z~3 surveys with areas of 2000 and 300 square degrees, respectively, we study the prospects for probing dark energy clustering from the measured galaxy power spectrum, assuming the dynamical properties of dark energy are specified in terms of the equation of state and the effective sound speed c_e in the context of an adiabatic cold dark matter dominated model. The dark energy clustering adds a power to the galaxy power spectrum amplitude at spatial scales greater than the sound horizon, and the enhancement is sensitive to redshift evolution of the net dark energy density, i.e. the equation of state. We find that the galaxy survey, when combined with Planck, can distinguish dark energy clustering from a smooth dark energy model such as the quintessence model (c_e=1), when c_e<0.04 (0.02) in the case of the constant equation of state w_0=-0.9 (-0.95). An ultimate full-sky survey of z~1 galaxies allows the detection when c_e<0.08 (0.04) for w_0=0.9 (-0.95). We also investigate a degeneracy between the dark energy clustering and the non-relativistic neutrinos implied from the neutrino oscillation experiments, because the two effects both induce a scale-dependent modification in the galaxy power spectrum shape at largest spatial scales accessible from the galaxy survey. It is shown that a wider redshift coverage can efficiently separate the two effects by utilizing the different redshift dependences, where dark energy clustering is apparent only at low redshifts z<1.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures; minor changes to match the published versio

Dynamical evolution of the Universe in the quark-hadron phase transition and possible nugget formation

We study the dynamics of first-order phase transition in the early Universe when it was $10-50 \mu s$ old with quarks and gluons condensing into hadrons. We look at how the Universe evolved through the phase transition in small as well as large super cooling scenario, specifically exploring the formation of quark nuggets and their possible survival. The nucleation of the hadron phase introduces new distance scales in the Universe, which we estimate along with the hadron fraction, temperature, nucleation time etc. It is of interest to explore whether there is a relic signature of this transition in the form of quark nuggets which might be identified with the recently observed dark objects in our galactic halo and account for the Dark Matter in the Universe at present.Comment: LaTeX file with four postscript figure

Relics of the Cosmological QCD Phase Transition

The abundance and size distribution of quark nuggets (QN), formed a few microseconds after the big bang due to first order QCD phase transition in the early universe, has been estimated. It appears that stable QNs could be a viable candidate for cosmological dark matter. The evolution of baryon inhomogeneity due to evaporated (unstable) QNs are also examined.Comment: To appear in Physical Review

Possible Cosmological Implications of the Quark-Hadron Phase Transition

We study the quark-hadron phase transition within an effective model of QCD, and find that in a reasonable range of the main parameters of the model, bodies with quark content between $10^{-2}$ and 10 solar masses can have been formed in the early universe. In addition, we show that a significant amount of entropy is released during the transition. This may imply the existence of a higher baryon number density than what is usually expected at temperatures above the QCD scale. The cosmological QCD transition may then provide a natural way for decreasing the high baryon asymmetry created by an Affleck-Dine like mechanism down to the value required by primordial nucleosynthesis.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, 5 Postscript figures included. Submitted to Journal of Physics

Structure of Strange Dwarfs with Color Superconducting Core

We study effects of two-flavor color superconductivity on the structure of strange dwarfs, which are stellar objects with similar masses and radii with ordinary white dwarfs but stabilized by the strange quark matter core. We find that unpaired quark matter is a good approximation to the core of strange dwarfs.Comment: 8 pages 5 figures, J. Phys. G, accepte

2,6-Bis[2,4-bis(heptyloxy)phenyl]pyridine

The title 2,6-disubstituted pyridine, C41H61NO4, with a crystallographic twofold axis, has an arrangement of mol­ecules well organized to undergo multiple cyclo­metallation reactions

Curvature energy effects on strange quark matter nucleation at finite density

We consider the effects of the curvature energy term on thermal strange quark matter nucleation in dense neutron matter. Lower bounds on the temperature at which this process can take place are given and compared to those without the curvature term.Comment: PlainTex, 6 pp., IAG-USP Rep.5

Microlensing as a probe of the Galactic structure; 20 years of microlensing optical depth studies

Microlensing is now a very popular observational astronomical technique. The investigations accessible through this effect range from the dark matter problem to the search for extra-solar planets. In this review, the techniques to search for microlensing effects and to determine optical depths through the monitoring of large samples of stars will be described. The consequences of the published results on the knowledge of the Milky-Way structure and its dark matter component will be discussed. The difficulties and limitations of the ongoing programs and the perspectives of the microlensing optical depth technique as a probe of the Galaxy structure will also be detailed.Comment: Accepted for publication in General Relativity and Gravitation. General Relativity and Gravitation in press (2010) 0

An upper limit on the X-ray luminosity of the black hole - microlens OGLE-1999-BUL-32

We present an upper limit on the 3--20 keV X-ray flux from the black hole - microlens OGLE-1999-BUL-32, based on RXTE/PCA scans over the Galactic Center region in 1999-2000. It is shown that the X-ray luminosity of the black hole did not exceed L(3-20 keV)<3e33(d/1kpc)^2 ergs/s (where d is the distance to the black hole). Near the maximum of the background star amplification by the microlens (July 6, 1999), the upper limit on the X-ray flux corresponds to an X-ray luminosity L(3-20 keV)<7e33(d/1kpc)^2 ergs/s.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy Letter