35,925 research outputs found
Neutrino Physics and Nuclear Axial Two-Body Interactions
We consider the counter-term describing isoscalar axial two-body currents in
the nucleon-nucleon interaction, L1A, in the effective field theory approach.
We determine this quantity using the solar neutrino data. We investigate the
variation of L1A when different sets of data are used.Comment: 8 pages with 4 figures. To be published in the Proceedings of the
Conference "Blueprints For The Nucleus: From First Principles to Collective
Motion" held at Feza Gursey Institute, Istanbul, Turkey; May 17 -22, 200
Exploring Io's atmospheric composition with APEX: first measurement of 34SO2 and tentative detection of KCl
The composition of Io's tenuous atmosphere is poorly constrained. Only the
major species SO2 and a handful of minor species have been positively
identified, but a variety of other molecular species should be present, based
on thermochemical equilibrium models of volcanic gas chemistry and the
composition of Io's environment. This paper focuses on the spectral search for
expected yet undetected molecular species (KCl, SiO, S2O) and isotopes (34SO2).
We analyze a disk-averaged spectrum of a potentially line-rich spectral window
around 345 GHz, obtained in 2010 at the APEX-12m antenna (Atacama Pathfinder
EXperiment). Using different models assuming either extended atmospheric
distributions or a purely volcanically-sustained atmosphere, we tentatively
measure the KCl relative abundance with respect to SO2 and derive a range of
4x10^{-4}-8x10^{-3}. We do not detect SiO or S2O and present new upper limits
on their abundances. We also present the first measurement of the 34S/32S
isotopic ratio in gas phase on Io, which appears to be twice as high as the
Earth and ISM reference values. Strong lines of SO2 and SO are also analyzed to
check for longitudinal variations of column density and relative abundance. Our
models show that, based on their predicted relative abundance with respect to
SO2 in volcanic plumes, both the tentative KCl detection and SiO upper limit
are compatible with a purely volcanic origin for these species.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 11 pages, 4 figure
Writing in your own voice: An intervention that reduces plagiarism and common writing problems in students' scientific writing.
In many of our courses, particularly laboratory courses, students are expected to engage in scientific writing. Despite various efforts by other courses and library resources, as instructors we are often faced with the frustration of student plagiarism and related writing problems. Here, we describe a simple Writing in Your Own Voice intervention designed to help students become more aware of different types of plagiarism and writing problems, avoid those problems, and practice writing in their own voice. In this article, we will introduce the types of plagiarism and writing problems commonly encountered in our molecular biology laboratory course, the intervention, and the results of our study. From the evaluation of 365 student reports, we found the intervention resulted in nearly 50% fewer instances of plagiarism and common writing problems. We also observed significantly fewer instances of severe plagiarism (e.g. several sentences copied from an external source). In addition, we find that the effects last for several weeks after the students complete the intervention assignment. This assignment is particularly easy to implement and can be a very useful tool for teaching students how to write in their own voices. © 2019 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 47(5):589-598, 2019
Absolute Calibration of the Radio Astronomy Flux Density Scale at 22 to 43 GHz Using Planck
The Planck mission detected thousands of extragalactic radio sources at
frequencies from 28 to 857 GHz. Planck's calibration is absolute (in the sense
that it is based on the satellite's annual motion around the Sun and the
temperature of the cosmic microwave background), and its beams are well
characterized at sub-percent levels. Thus Planck's flux density measurements of
compact sources are absolute in the same sense. We have made coordinated VLA
and ATCA observations of 65 strong, unresolved Planck sources in order to
transfer Planck's calibration to ground-based instruments at 22, 28, and 43
GHz. The results are compared to microwave flux density scales currently based
on planetary observations. Despite the scatter introduced by the variability of
many of the sources, the flux density scales are determined to 1-2% accuracy.
At 28 GHz, the flux density scale used by the VLA runs 3.6% +- 1.0% below
Planck values; at 43 GHz, the discrepancy increases to 6.2% +- 1.4% for both
ATCA and the VLA.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures and 4 table
The Expanded Very Large Array
In almost 30 years of operation, the Very Large Array (VLA) has proved to be
a remarkably flexible and productive radio telescope. However, the basic
capabilities of the VLA have changed little since it was designed. A major
expansion utilizing modern technology is currently underway to improve the
capabilities of the VLA by at least an order of magnitude in both sensitivity
and in frequency coverage. The primary elements of the Expanded Very Large
Array (EVLA) project include new or upgraded receivers for continuous frequency
coverage from 1 to 50 GHz, new local oscillator, intermediate frequency, and
wide bandwidth data transmission systems to carry signals with 16 GHz total
bandwidth from each antenna, and a new digital correlator with the capability
to process this bandwidth with an unprecedented number of frequency channels
for an imaging array. Also included are a new monitor and control system and
new software that will provide telescope ease of use. Scheduled for completion
in 2012, the EVLA will provide the world research community with a flexible,
powerful, general-purpose telescope to address current and future astronomical
issues.Comment: Added journal reference: published in Proceedings of the IEEE,
Special Issue on Advances in Radio Astronomy, August 2009, vol. 97, No. 8,
1448-1462 Six figures, one tabl
Development and testing of porous ionizer materials, part I Summary report, Feb. 1965 - May 1966
Development and testing of porous tungsten ionizer materials for cesium contact engine
Planetary Bistatic Radar
Planetary radar observations offer the potential for probing the properties
of characteristics of solid bodies throughout the inner solar system and at
least as far as the orbit of Saturn. In addition to the direct scientific
value, precise orbital determinations can be obtained from planetary radar
observations, which are in turn valuable for mission planning or spacecraft
navigation and planetary defense. The next-generation Very Large Array would
not have to be equipped with a transmitter to be an important asset in the
world's planetary radar infrastructure. Bistatic radar, in which one antenna
transmits (e.g., Arecibo or Goldstone) and another receives, are used commonly
today, with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) serving as a receiver. The improved
sensitivity of the ngVLA relative to the GBT would improve the signal-to-noise
ratios on many targets and increase the accessible volume specifically for
asteroids. Goldstone-ngVLA bistatic observations would have the potential of
rivaling the sensitivity of Arecibo, but with much wider sky access.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, To be published in the ASP Monograph Series,
"Science with a Next-Generation VLA", ed. E. J. Murphy (ASP, San Francisco,
CA
Numerical approximation of statistical solutions of scalar conservation laws
We propose efficient numerical algorithms for approximating statistical
solutions of scalar conservation laws. The proposed algorithms combine finite
volume spatio-temporal approximations with Monte Carlo and multi-level Monte
Carlo discretizations of the probability space. Both sets of methods are proved
to converge to the entropy statistical solution. We also prove that there is a
considerable gain in efficiency resulting from the multi-level Monte Carlo
method over the standard Monte Carlo method. Numerical experiments illustrating
the ability of both methods to accurately compute multi-point statistical
quantities of interest are also presented
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