3,859 research outputs found
Support Vector Machine classification of strong gravitational lenses
The imminent advent of very large-scale optical sky surveys, such as Euclid
and LSST, makes it important to find efficient ways of discovering rare objects
such as strong gravitational lens systems, where a background object is
multiply gravitationally imaged by a foreground mass. As well as finding the
lens systems, it is important to reject false positives due to intrinsic
structure in galaxies, and much work is in progress with machine learning
algorithms such as neural networks in order to achieve both these aims. We
present and discuss a Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm which makes use of
a Gabor filterbank in order to provide learning criteria for separation of
lenses and non-lenses, and demonstrate using blind challenges that under
certain circumstances it is a particularly efficient algorithm for rejecting
false positives. We compare the SVM engine with a large-scale human examination
of 100000 simulated lenses in a challenge dataset, and also apply the SVM
method to survey images from the Kilo-Degree Survey.Comment: Accepted by MNRA
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The effects of host age and spatial location on bacterial community composition in the English Oak tree (Quercus robur).
Published onlineJOURNAL ARTICLEThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via the DOI in this record.Drivers of bacterial community assemblages associated with plants are diverse and include biotic factors, such as competitors and host traits, and abiotic factors, including environmental conditions and dispersal mechanisms. We examine the roles of spatial distribution and host size, as an approximation for age, in shaping the microbiome associated with Quercus robur woody tissue using culture-independent 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. In addition to providing a baseline survey of the Q. robur microbiome, we screened for the pathogen of acute oak decline. Our results suggest that age is a predictor of bacterial community composition, demonstrating a surprising negative correlation between tree age and alpha diversity. We find no signature of dispersal limitation within the Wytham Woods plot sampled. Together, these results provide evidence for niche-based hypotheses of community assembly and the importance of tree age in bacterial community structure, as well as highlighting that caution must be applied when diagnosing dysbiosis in a long-lived plant host. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.This work was supported by a Royal Society Research Grant (to CJEM and BK). SM was funded by a studentship at the University of Exeter, BK by a NERC independent research fellowship (NE/K00879X/1), and CJEM by a Royal Society Fellowship. The authors thank Dr. Rob Jackson at the University of Reading for providing an isolate of Brenneria, Dr. Keith Kirby for providing data on tree age and size and Dr. Konrad Paskiewicz as well as the faculty and participants of the NERC-funded population genomics workshop for training in bioinformatics analyses. The 18-ha Long-Term Forest Monitoring Plot is a collaborative project between the University of Oxford, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and the Smithsonian Institution CTFS Forest-GEO (HSBC Climate Partnership)
Probing -Spin Correlations in Optical Lattices
We propose a technique to measure multi-spin correlation functions of
arbitrary range as determined by the ground states of spinful cold atoms in
optical lattices. We show that an observation of the atomic version of the
Stokes parameters, using focused lasers and microwave pulsing, can be related
to -spin correlators. We discuss the possibility of detecting not only
ground state static spin correlations, but also time-dependent spin wave
dynamics as a demonstrative example using our proposed technique.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Resonant enhancement of ultracold photoassociation rate by electric field induced anisotropic interaction
We study the effects of a static electric field on the photoassociation of a
heteronuclear atom-pair into a polar molecule. The interaction of permanent
dipole moment with a static electric field largely affects the ground state
continuum wave function of the atom-pair at short separations where
photoassociation transitions occur according to Franck-Condon principle.
Electric field induced anisotropic interaction between two heteronuclear ground
state atoms leads to scattering resonances at some specific electric fields.
Near such resonances the amplitude of scattering wave function at short
separation increases by several orders of magnitude. As a result,
photoaasociation rate is enhanced by several orders of magnitude near the
resonances. We discuss in detail electric field modified atom-atom scattering
properties and resonances. We calculate photoassociation rate that shows giant
enhancement due to electric field tunable anisotropic resonances. We present
selected results among which particularly important are the excitations of
higher rotational levels in ultracold photoassociation due to electric field
tunable resonances.Comment: 14 pages,9 figure
Dispersive Optical Interface Based on Nanofiber-Trapped Atoms
We dispersively interface an ensemble of one thousand atoms trapped in the
evanescent field surrounding a tapered optical nanofiber. This method relies on
the azimuthally-asymmetric coupling of the ensemble with the evanescent field
of an off-resonant probe beam, transmitted through the nanofiber. The resulting
birefringence and dispersion are significant; we observe a phase shift per atom
of \,1\,mrad at a detuning of six times the natural linewidth,
corresponding to an effective resonant optical density per atom of 0.027.
Moreover, we utilize this strong dispersion to non-destructively determine the
number of atoms.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Fermi Surface of Metallic VO from Angle-Resolved Photoemission: Mid-level Filling of Bands
Using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) we report the first
band dispersions and distinct features of the bulk Fermi surface (FS) in the
paramagnetic metallic phase of the prototypical metal-insulator transition
material VO. Along the -axis we observe both an electron pocket and
a triangular hole-like FS topology, showing that both V 3 and
states contribute to the FS. These results challenge the existing
correlation-enhanced crystal field splitting theoretical explanation for the
transition mechanism and pave the way for the solution of this mystery.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures plus supplement 12 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Weak gravitational lensing with the Square Kilometre Array
We investigate the capabilities of various stages of the SKA to perform
world-leading weak gravitational lensing surveys. We outline a way forward to
develop the tools needed for pursuing weak lensing in the radio band. We
identify the key analysis challenges and the key pathfinder experiments that
will allow us to address them in the run up to the SKA. We identify and
summarize the unique and potentially very powerful aspects of radio weak
lensing surveys, facilitated by the SKA, that can solve major challenges in the
field of weak lensing. These include the use of polarization and rotational
velocity information to control intrinsic alignments, and the new area of weak
lensing using intensity mapping experiments. We show how the SKA lensing
surveys will both complement and enhance corresponding efforts in the optical
wavebands through cross-correlation techniques and by way of extending the
reach of weak lensing to high redshift.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures. Cosmology Chapter, Advancing Astrophysics with
the SKA (AASKA14) Conference, Giardini Naxos (Italy), June 9th-13th 201
Using Absorption Imaging to Study Ion Dynamics in an Ultracold Neutral Plasma
We report optical absorption imaging of ultracold neutral plasmas.Images are
used to measure the ion absorption spectrum, which is Doppler-broadened.
Through the spectral width, we monitor ion equilibration in the first 250ns
after plasma formation. The equilibration leaves ions on the border between the
weakly coupled gaseous and strongly coupled liquid states. On a longer
timescale of microseconds, we observe radial acceleration of ions resulting
from pressure exerted by the trapped electron gas.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Electromagnetically induced transparency in cold 85Rb atoms trapped in the ground hyperfine F = 2 state
We report electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in cold 85Rb atoms,
trapped in the lower hyperfine level F = 2, of the ground state 5
(Tiwari V B \textit{et al} 2008 {\it Phys. Rev.} A {\bf 78} 063421). Two steady
state -type systems of hyperfine energy levels are investigated using
probe transitions into the levels F = 2 and F = 3 of the
excited state 5 in the presence of coupling transitions F = 3
F = 2 and F = 3 F = 3, respectively. The
effects of uncoupled magnetic sublevel transitions and coupling field's Rabi
frequency on the EIT signal from these systems are studied using a simple
theoretical model.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
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