24,328 research outputs found
The Initial Mass Function: Now and Then
We examine whether existing data in clusters, both old and young, and in the
field of the Galactic disk and halo is consistent with a universal slope for
the initial mass function (IMF). The most reasonable statement that can be made
at the current time is that there is no strong evidence to support a claim of
any real variations in this slope. If the IMF slope is universal then this in
itself is remarkable implying that variations in metallicity, gas density or
other environmental factors in the star formation process play no part in
determining the slope of the mass function.Comment: 10 pages, postscript. To appear in "Proceedings 7th Annual
Astrophysics Conference in Maryland-STAR FORMATION NEAR AND FAR
Deep HST V- and I-Band Observations of Two Globular Clusters in the Halo of M31
We present deep (V ~= 27) V- and I-band stellar photometry of G302 and G312,
two globular star clusters in the halo of M31. These data were obtained using
the Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2. We find iron
abundances of [Fe/H] = -1.85 +/- 0.12 for G302 and [Fe/H] = -0.56 +/- 0.03 for
G312, consistent with spectroscopic measurements. The color-magnitude diagrams
for each cluster show no evidence for an intermediate-aged population of stars,
or a second parameter effect in the morphology of the horizontal branch. G302
shows no evidence for a color gradient but the inner regions of G312 are bluer
than the outer regions. G312 shows no evidence of ellipticity or an extended
halo of unbound stars. G302 has a projected ellipticity of 0.195 +/- 0.012 with
the projected major axis oriented towards the center of M31. G302 also shows
evidence of an extended asymmetric stellar halo extending to at least twice the
fitted Michie-King tidal radius. The amount of mass beyond the tidal radius of
G302 is consistent with the stellar escape rates which have been predicted by
N-body simulations of globular clusters in the Galactic tidal field.Comment: 29 pages, 21 Postscript figures, uses aaspp4.sty, to be published in
the October 1997 A
The Double Cluster G185 in M31
We have identified a small globular cluster in M31 located approximately 4
arcseconds northwest of the M31 globular cluster G185. While several multiple
globular clusters have been observed in the Magellanic Clouds none have been
found in the Galaxy or in M31. We estimate the probability of such a chance
line-of-sight alignment occuring near the nucleus of M31 to be 0.09 +/- 0.03
and find no obvious indication of any tidal deformation in either cluster, as
would be expected if the clusters were interacting.
Two-dimensional modelling suggests G185 has a King (1966) [AJ, 71, 64]
concentration of c = 1.11 +/- 0.08 while the companion has c = 0.67 +/- 0.17
and is physically smaller than G185. Both objects have integrated dereddened
colors similar to those of Galactic globular clusters.Comment: 22 pages, ~1Mb postscript file
http://www.astro.ubc.ca/~holland/bib.html/
ftp://nukta.astro.ubc.ca/pub/holland/G185_preprint.ps.
Elements of Design for Containers and Solutions in the LinBox Library
We describe in this paper new design techniques used in the \cpp exact linear
algebra library \linbox, intended to make the library safer and easier to use,
while keeping it generic and efficient. First, we review the new simplified
structure for containers, based on our \emph{founding scope allocation} model.
We explain design choices and their impact on coding: unification of our matrix
classes, clearer model for matrices and submatrices, \etc Then we present a
variation of the \emph{strategy} design pattern that is comprised of a
controller--plugin system: the controller (solution) chooses among plug-ins
(algorithms) that always call back the controllers for subtasks. We give
examples using the solution \mul. Finally we present a benchmark architecture
that serves two purposes: Providing the user with easier ways to produce
graphs; Creating a framework for automatically tuning the library and
supporting regression testing.Comment: 8 pages, 4th International Congress on Mathematical Software, Seoul :
Korea, Republic Of (2014
Isochrones and Luminosity Functions for Old White Dwarfs
Using a new grid of models of cooling white dwarfs, we calculate isochrones
and luminosity functions in the Johnson-Kron/Cousins and HST filter sets for
systems containing old white dwarfs. These new models incorporate a non-grey
atmosphere which is necessary to properly describe the effects of molecular
opacity at the cool temperatures of old white dwarfs. The various functions
calculated and extensively tabulated and plotted are meant to be as utilitarian
as possible for observers so all results are listed in quantities that
observers will obtain. The tables and plots developed should eventually prove
critical in interpreting the results of HST's Advanced Camera observations of
the oldest white dwarfs in nearby globular clusters, in understanding the
results of searches for old white dwarfs in the Galactic halo, and in
determining ages for star clusters of all ages using white dwarfs. As a
practical application we demonstrate the use of these results by deriving the
white dwarf cooling age of the old Galactic cluster M67.Comment: 7 pages, 8 tables, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journa
Total focussing method for volumetric imaging in immersion non destructive evaluation
This paper describes the use of a 550 (25x22) element 2MHz 2D piezoelectric composite array in immersion mode to image an aluminum test block containing a collection of artificial defects. The defects included a 1mm diameter side-drilled hole, a collection of 1mm slot defects with varying degrees of skew to the normal and a flat bottomed hole. The data collection was carried out using the full matrix capture; a scanning procedure was developed to allow the operation of the large element count array through a conventional 64-channel phased array controller. A 3D TFM algorithm capable of imaging in a dual media environment was implemented in MATLAB for the offline processing the raw scan data. This algorithm facilitates the creation of 3D images of defects while accounting for refraction effects at material boundaries. In each of the test samples interrogated the defects, and their spatial position, are readily identified using TFM. Defect directional information has been characterized using VTFM for defect exhibiting angles up to and including 45o of skew
Thermal momentum distribution from path integrals with shifted boundary conditions
For a thermal field theory formulated in the grand canonical ensemble, the
distribution of the total momentum is an observable characterizing the thermal
state. We show that its cumulants are related to thermodynamic potentials. In a
relativistic system for instance, the thermal variance of the total momentum is
a direct measure of the enthalpy. We relate the generating function of the
cumulants to the ratio of (a) a partition function expressed as a Matsubara
path integral with shifted boundary conditions in the compact direction, and
(b) the ordinary partition function. In this form the generating function is
well suited for Monte-Carlo evaluation, and the cumulants can be extracted
straightforwardly. We test the method in the SU(3) Yang-Mills theory and obtain
the entropy density at three different temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, minor revisions; version accepted in PR
The White Dwarf Cooling Age of M67
A deep imaging survey covering the entire 23\arcmin diameter of the old
open cluster M67 to has been carried out using the mosaic imager
(UHCam) on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. The cluster color-magnitude
diagram (CMD) can be traced from stars on its giant branch at down
through main sequence stars at least as faint as . Stars this low
in luminosity have masses below . A modest white dwarf (WD)
cooling sequence is also observed commencing slightly fainter than
and, after correction for background galaxy and stellar field contamination,
terminating near . The observed WDs follow quite closely a
theoretical cooling sequence for pure carbon core WDs with
hydrogen-rich atmospheres (DA WDs). The cooling time to an of 14.6 for
such WDs is 4.3 Gyr which we take as the WD cooling age of the cluster. A fit
of a set of isochrones to the cluster CMD indicates a turnoff age of 4.0 Gyr.
The excellent agreement between these results suggests that ages derived from
white dwarf cooling should be considered as reliable as those from other dating
techniques. The WDs currently contribute about 9% of the total cluster mass but
the number seen appears to be somewhat low when compared with the number of
giants observed in the cluster.Comment: 15 pages plus 3 diagrams, minor corrections, Accepted for publication
in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, to be published September 10, 199
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Patterns of contribution to citizen science biodiversity projects increase understanding of volunteersâ recording behaviour
The often opportunistic nature of biological recording via citizen science leads to taxonomic, spatial and temporal biases which add uncertainty to biodiversity estimates. However, such biases may also give valuable insight into volunteersâ recording behaviour. Using Greater London as a case-study we examined the composition of three citizen science datasets â from Greenspace Information for Greater London CIC, iSpot and iRecord - with respect to recorder contribution and spatial and taxonomic biases, i.e. when, where and what volunteers record. We found most volunteers contributed few records and were active for just one day. Each dataset had its own taxonomic and spatial signature suggesting that volunteersâ personal recording preferences may attract them towards particular schemes. There were also patterns across datasets: speciesâ abundance and ease of identification were positively associated with number of records, as was plant height. We found clear hotspots of recording activity, the 10 most popular sites containing open water. We note that biases are accrued as part of the recording process (e.g. speciesâ detectability) as well as from volunteer preferences. An increased understanding of volunteer behaviour gained from analysing the composition of records could thus enhance the fit between volunteersâ interests and the needs of scientific projects
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