34,899 research outputs found
The bias of DLAs at z ~ 2.3: contraining stellar feedback in shallow potential wells
We discuss the recent Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey measurement of
a rather high bias factor for the host galaxies/haloes of Damped Lyman-alpha
Absorbers (DLAs), in the context of our previous modelling of the physical
properties of DLAs within the cold dark matter paradigm. Joint
modelling of the column density distribution, the velocity width distribution
of associated low ionization metal absorption, and the bias parameter suggests
that DLAs are hosted by galaxies with dark matter halo masses in the range , with a rather sharp cutoff at the lower mass end,
corresponding to virial velocities of 35 km/sec. The observed properties of
DLAs appear to suggest efficient (stellar) feedback in haloes with
masses/virial velocities below the cutoff and a large retained baryon fraction
(> 35 %) in haloes above the cutoff.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures. Published in MNRAS, May 21, 2014. 440 (3):
2313-2321. v3: Corrections in light of errata: MNRAS, 454(1), p. 218. Note,
in particular, the changes to Figure 5 and the virial velocity cut-of
Index for aerodynamic data from the Bumblebee program
The Bumblebee program, was designed to provide a supersonic guided missile. The aerodynamics program included a fundamental research effort in supersonic aerodynamics as well as a design task in developing both test vehicles and prototypes of tactical missiles. An index of aerodynamic missile data developed in this program is presented
Bumblebee program, aerodynamic data. Part 2: Flow fields at Mach number 2.0
Available flow field data which can be used in validating theoretical procedures for computing flow fields around supersonic missiles are presented. Tabulated test data are given which define the flow field around a conical-nosed cylindrical body in a crossflow plane corresponding to a likely tail location. The data were obtained at a Mach number of 2.0 for an angle of attack of 0 to 23 degrees. The data define the flow field for cases both with and without a forward wing present
Bumblebee program. Aerodynamic data. Part 1: Supersonic flow field, pressure field, and panel load data for validation of computational methods
The parts of an aerodynamics research project of the Bumblebee Program, called Generalized Missile study, is described. The source related, and potential applications are discussed
Bumblebee program: Aerodynamic data. Part 3: Pressure fields at Mach numbers 1.5 and 2.0
A large amount of fundamental aerodynamic missile data, which were stored for a number of years at the Applied Physics Laboratory, are reported. Data that supplements the M = 2.0 flow field data are provided. The Mach number effect by means of pressure fields only, at M = 1.5 and 2.0, and at angles of attack up to 23 deg at a mid-body station where a wing might be located is described
AC-Tolerant Multifilament Coated Conductors
We report the magnetization losses in an experimental multifilament coated
conductor. A 4 mm wide and 10 cm long YBCO coated conductor was subdivided into
eight 0.5 mm wide filaments by laser ablation and subjected to post-ablation
treatment. As the result, the hysteresis loss was reduced, as expected, in
proportion to the width of the filaments. However, the coupling loss was
reduced dramatically, and became practically negligible, in the range of a
sweep rate up to 20 T/s. This represents a drastic improvement on previous
multifilament conductors in which often the coupling losses became equal to the
hysteresis loss at a sweep rate as low as 3-4 T/s. These results demonstrate
that there is an effective and practical way to suppress coupling losses in
coated multifilament conductors.Comment: This paper is based on a talk given at 2006 Applied Superconductivity
Conference in Seattle, WA (August 27-September 1, 2006). To be published in
IEEE Trans. Appl. Superconductivit
Lyman Alpha and MgII as Probes of Galaxies and their Environments
Ly{\alpha} emission, Ly{\alpha} absorption and MgII absorption are powerful
tracers of neutral hydrogen. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the
universe and plays a central role in galaxy formation via gas accretion and
outflows, as well as being the precursor to molecular clouds, the sites of star
formation. Since 21cm emission from neutral hydrogen can only be directly
observed in the local universe, we rely on Ly{\alpha} emission, and Ly{\alpha}
and MgII absorption to probe the physics that drives galaxy evolution at higher
redshifts. Furthermore, these tracers are sensitive to a range of hydrogen
densities that cover the interstellar medium, the circumgalactic medium and the
intergalactic medium, providing an invaluable means of studying gas physics in
regimes where it is poorly understood. At high redshift, Ly{\alpha} emission
line searches have discovered thousands of star-forming galaxies out to z = 7.
The large Ly{\alpha} scattering cross-section makes observations of this line
sensitive to even very diffuse gas outside of galaxies. Several thousand more
high-redshift galaxies are known from damped Ly{\alpha} absorption lines and
absorption by the MgII doublet in quasar and GRB spectra. MgII, in particular,
probes metal-enriched neutral gas inside galaxy haloes in a wide range of
environments and redshifts (0.1 < z < 6.3), including the so-called redshift
desert. Here we review what observations and theoretical models of Ly{\alpha}
emission, Ly{\alpha} and MgII absorption have told us about the interstellar,
circumgalactic and intergalactic medium in the context of galaxy formation and
evolution.Comment: 59 Pages, 19 Figures, 1 Table. Accepted for publication in
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacifi
The Cepheid Distance Scale: recent progress in fundamental techniques
This review examines progress on the Pop I, fundamental-mode Cepheid distance
scale with emphasis on recent developments in geometric and quasi-geometric
techniques for Cepheid distance determination. Specifically I examine the
surface brightness method, interferometric pulsation method, and trigonometric
measurements. The three techniques are found to be in excellent agreement for
distance measures in the Galaxy. The velocity p-factor is of crucial importance
in the first two of these methods. A comparison of recent determinations of the
p-factor for Cepheids demonstrates that observational measures of p and
theoretical predictions agree within their uncertainties for Galactic Cepheids.Comment: An invited review at the Santa Fe, NM, conference -- Stellar
Pulsation: Challenges for Theory and Observation; May 31-June 5, 2009 10
pages, 8 figure
Unleashing the Power of Distributed CPU/GPU Architectures: Massive Astronomical Data Analysis and Visualization case study
Upcoming and future astronomy research facilities will systematically
generate terabyte-sized data sets moving astronomy into the Petascale data era.
While such facilities will provide astronomers with unprecedented levels of
accuracy and coverage, the increases in dataset size and dimensionality will
pose serious computational challenges for many current astronomy data analysis
and visualization tools. With such data sizes, even simple data analysis tasks
(e.g. calculating a histogram or computing data minimum/maximum) may not be
achievable without access to a supercomputing facility.
To effectively handle such dataset sizes, which exceed today's single machine
memory and processing limits, we present a framework that exploits the
distributed power of GPUs and many-core CPUs, with a goal of providing data
analysis and visualizing tasks as a service for astronomers. By mixing shared
and distributed memory architectures, our framework effectively utilizes the
underlying hardware infrastructure handling both batched and real-time data
analysis and visualization tasks. Offering such functionality as a service in a
"software as a service" manner will reduce the total cost of ownership, provide
an easy to use tool to the wider astronomical community, and enable a more
optimized utilization of the underlying hardware infrastructure.Comment: 4 Pages, 1 figures, To appear in the proceedings of ADASS XXI, ed.
P.Ballester and D.Egret, ASP Conf. Serie
Health and cancer prevention: knowledge and beliefs of children and young people
Objective: To collect information from children and young people about their knowledge of and attitudes towards cancer and their understanding of health and health related behaviours to inform future health promotion work. Design: Questionnaire survey of 15-16 year olds, and interviews with play materials with 9-10 year old children. Setting: Six inner city, suburban, and rural schools. Subjects: 226 children aged 15-16 years and 100 aged 9-10 years. Main outcome measures: Knowledge about different types of cancer; beliefs about health; sources of information; quality of research data obtainable from young children about cancer and health. Results: Both samples knew most about lung cancer, but there was also some knowledge of breast and skin cancer and leukaemia. Smoking, together with pollution and other environmental factors, were seen as the dominant causes of cancer. Environmental factors were mentioned more often by the inner city samples. Television and the media were the most important sources of information. Young people were more worried about unemployment than about ill health. More than half the young people did not describe their health as good, and most said they did not have a healthy lifestyle. Children were able to provide detailed information about their knowledge and understanding by using drawings as well as interviews. Conclusions: Children and young people possess considerable knowledge about cancer, especially about lung cancer and smoking, and show considerable awareness of predominant health education messages. Despite this knowledge, many lead less than healthy lifestyles. Health is not seen as the most important goal in life by many young people; the circumstances in which many children and young people live are not experienced as health promoting
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