12,076 research outputs found
An Observational Diagnostic for Distinguishing Between Clouds and Haze in Hot Exoplanet Atmospheres
The nature of aerosols in hot exoplanet atmospheres is one of the primary
vexing questions facing the exoplanet field. The complex chemistry, multiple
formation pathways, and lack of easily identifiable spectral features
associated with aerosols make it especially challenging to constrain their key
properties. We propose a transmission spectroscopy technique to identify the
primary aerosol formation mechanism for the most highly irradiated hot Jupiters
(HIHJs). The technique is based on the expectation that the two key types of
aerosols -- photochemically generated hazes and equilibrium condensate clouds
-- are expected to form and persist in different regions of a highly irradiated
planet's atmosphere. Haze can only be produced on the permanent daysides of
tidally-locked hot Jupiters, and will be carried downwind by atmospheric
dynamics to the evening terminator (seen as the trailing limb during transit).
Clouds can only form in cooler regions on the night side and morning terminator
of HIHJs (seen as the leading limb during transit). Because opposite limbs are
expected to be impacted by different types of aerosols, ingress and egress
spectra, which primarily probe opposing sides of the planet, will reveal the
dominant aerosol formation mechanism. We show that the benchmark HIHJ,
WASP-121b, has a transmission spectrum consistent with partial aerosol coverage
and that ingress-egress spectroscopy would constrain the location and formation
mechanism of those aerosols. In general, using this diagnostic we find that
observations with JWST and potentially with HST should be able to distinguish
between clouds and haze for currently known HIHJs.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJ Letter
Study of basic bio-electrochemistry Sixth monthly progress report, 1-31 Aug. 1963
Contribution of hydrogen peroxide to electrode reaction in electrochemical cell by considering effect of catalyst on cell curren
Investigation of Halogenated Components Formed from Chlorination of Natural Waters: Preliminary Studies
Chlorination of power plant cooling water is extensively used as a means of controlling biofouling. This practice presents the potential for formation of halogenated organic compounds hazardous to man and his environment. Accordingly, the organic composition resulting from the chlorination of natural waters (northern Olympic Penn1sula sea water and the Columbia River in Washington State} has been investigated. Nonpolar lipophilic organic halogens were extracted by passing large volumes of water over columns of XAD-2 macroreticular resins. Examination of ether extracts from the resin columns using capillary gas chromatography revealed the presence of halogenated methanes, as well as other electron-capturing components~ that were not found when unchlorinated water was sampled. Examination of the chlorinated water extracts using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry revealed complex mixtures which generally were not separable into individual components~ even when high efficiency WCOT capillary columns were used. The samples were separated into fractions of increasing polarity using a water-deactivated silica gel column. Fractions were thus obtained which were more amenable to GC/MS investigation. Haloforms were identified as the major halogenated product from chlorination of the waters studied. Other halogenated products were found at much lower concentrations
Cosmology from String Theory
We explore the cosmological content of Salam-Sezgin six dimensional
supergravity, and find a solution to the field equations in qualitative
agreement with observation of distant supernovae, primordial nucleosynthesis
abundances, and recent measurements of the cosmic microwave background. The
carrier of the acceleration in the present de Sitter epoch is a quintessence
field slowly rolling down its exponential potential. Intrinsic to this model is
a second modulus which is automatically stabilized and acts as a source of cold
dark matter with a mass proportional to an exponential function of the
quintessence field (hence realizing VAMP models within a String context).
However, any attempt to saturate the present cold dark matter component in this
manner leads to unacceptable deviations from cosmological data -- a numerical
study reveals that this source can account for up to about 7% of the total cold
dark matter budget. We also show that (1) the model will support a de Sitter
energy in agreement with observation at the expense of a miniscule breaking of
supersymmetry in the compact space; (2) variations in the fine structure
constant are controlled by the stabilized modulus and are negligible; (3)
``fifth''forces are carried by the stabilized modulus and are short range; (4)
the long time behavior of the model in four dimensions is that of a
Robertson-Walker universe with a constant expansion rate (w = -1/3). Finally,
we present a String theory background by lifting our six dimensional
cosmological solution to ten dimensions.Comment: Version to be published in Physical Review
What Matters: Preparing Teachers of Reading
A descriptive study was employed to determine differences in knowledge of literacy instruction and perceived preparedness to teach literacy between two groups of teacher candidates enrolled in two different teacher preparation programs at one university. This study investigated which components — coursework, field experience, and collaboration — candidates perceived as best preparing them to teach literacy while enrolled in their program. Data collection instruments included the Survey of Perceptions and the Knowledge Inventory. Both groups of candidates, regardless of program and amount of time in the field, viewed both coursework and field experience as important. Few significant differences were found between candidates in knowledge of literacy instruction. And, while they perceived themselves as prepared to teach literacy, candidates did identify areas of further instructional need
The Adiabatic Instability on Cosmology's Dark Side
We consider theories with a nontrivial coupling between the matter and dark
energy sectors. We describe a small scale instability that can occur in such
models when the coupling is strong compared to gravity, generalizing and
correcting earlier treatments. The instability is characterized by a negative
sound speed squared of an effective coupled dark matter/dark energy fluid. Our
results are general, and applicable to a wide class of coupled models and
provide a powerful, redshift-dependent tool, complementary to other
constraints, with which to rule many of them out. A detailed analysis and
applications to a range of models are presented in a longer companion paper.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Cosmological quintessence accretion onto primordial black holes : conditions for their growth to the supermassive scale
In this work we revisit the growth of small primordial black holes (PBHs)
immersed in a quintessential field and/or radiation to the supermassive black
hole (SMBHs) scale. We show the difficulties of scenarios in which such huge
growth is possible. For that purpose we evaluated analytical solutions of the
differential equations (describing mass evolution) and point out the strong
fine tuning for that conclusions. The timescale for growth in a model with a
constant quintessence flux is calculated and we show that it is much bigger
than the Hubble time.The fractional gain of the mass is further evaluated in
other forms, including quintessence and/or radiation. We calculate the
cosmological density due to quintessence necessary to grow BHs to the
supermassive range and show it to be much bigger than one. We also describe the
set of complete equations analyzing the evolution of the BH+quintessence
universe, showing some interesting effects such the quenching of the BH mass
growth due to the evolution of the background energy. Additional constraints
obtained by using the Holographic Bound are also described. The general
equilibrium conditions for evaporating/accreting black holes evolving in a
quintessence/radiation universe are discussed in the Appendix.Comment: 21 pp., 2 Figures, To appear in IJMP
Vector magnetic hysteresis of hard superconductors
Critical state problems which incorporate more than one component for the
magnetization vector of hard superconductors are investigated. The theory is
based on the minimization of a cost functional
which weighs the changes of the magnetic field vector within the sample. We
show that Bean's simplest prescription of choosing the correct sign for the
critical current density in one dimensional problems is just a particular
case of finding the components of the vector . is
determined by minimizing under the constraint , with a bounded set. Upon the selection of
different sets we discuss existing crossed field measurements and
predict new observable features. It is shown that a complex behavior in the
magnetization curves may be controlled by a single external parameter, i.e.:
the maximum value of the applied magnetic field .Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.
Perturbation Theory in k-Inflation Coupled to Matter
We consider k-inflation models where the action is a non-linear function of
both the inflaton and the inflaton kinetic term. We focus on a scalar-tensor
extension of k-inflation coupled to matter for which we derive a modified
Mukhanov-Sasaki equation for the curvature perturbation. Significant
corrections to the power spectrum appear when the coupling function changes
abruptly along the inflationary trajectory. This gives rise to a modification
of Starobinsky's model of perturbation features. We analyse the way the power
spectrum is altered in the infrared when such features are present.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur
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