Accessing High Momentum States In Lattice QCD

Two measures are defined to evaluate the coupling strength of smeared interpolating operators to hadronic states at a variety of momenta. Of particular interest is the extent to which strong overlap can be obtained with individual high-momentum states. This is vital to exploring hadronic structure at high momentum transfers on the lattice and addressing interesting phenomena observed experimentally. We consider a novel idea of altering the shape of the smeared operator to match the Lorentz contraction of the probability distribution of the high-momentum state, and show a reduction in the relative error of the two-point function by employing this technique. Our most important finding is that the overlap of the states becomes very sharp in the smearing parameters at high momenta and fine tuning is required to ensure strong overlap with these states.Comment: 10 page

Empirical ugri-UBVRc Transformations for Galaxies

We present empirical color transformations between Sloan Digital Sky Survey ugri and Johnson-Cousins UBVRc photometry for nearby galaxies (D < 11 Mpc). We use the Local Volume Legacy (LVL) galaxy sample where there are 90 galaxies with overlapping observational coverage for these two filter sets. The LVL galaxy sample consists of normal, non-starbursting galaxies. We also examine how well the LVL galaxy colors are described by previous transformations derived from standard calibration stars and model-based galaxy templates. We find significant galaxy color scatter around most of the previous transformation relationships. In addition, the previous transformations show systematic offsets between transformed and observed galaxy colors which are visible in observed color-color trends. The LVL-based $galaxy$ transformations show no systematic color offsets and reproduce the observed color-color galaxy trends.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (9 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables

Spitzer Local Volume Legacy (LVL) SEDs and Physical Properties

We present the panchromatic spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of the Local Volume Legacy (LVL) survey which consists of 258 nearby galaxies ($D<$11 Mpc). The wavelength coverage spans the ultraviolet to the infrared (1500 $\textrm{\AA}$ to 24 $\mu$m) which is utilized to derive global physical properties (i.e., star formation rate, stellar mass, internal extinction due to dust.). With these data, we find color-color relationships and correlated trends between observed and physical properties (i.e., optical magnitudes and dust properties, optical color and specific star formation rate, and ultraviolet-infrared color and metallicity). The SEDs are binned by different galaxy properties to reveal how each property affects the observed shape of these SEDs. In addition, due to the volume-limited nature of LVL, we utilize the dwarf-dominated galaxy sample to test star formation relationships established with higher-mass galaxy samples. We find good agreement with the star-forming "main-sequence" relationship, but find a systematic deviation in the infrared "main-sequence" at low luminosities. This deviation is attributed to suppressed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) formation in low metallicity environments and/or the destruction of PAHs in more intense radiation fields occurring near a suggested threshold in sSFR at a value of log($sSFR$) $\sim$ $-$10.2.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (15 pages, 14 figures, 1 table

The Spitzer Local Volume Legacy (LVL) Global Optical Photometry

We present the global optical photometry of 246 galaxies in the Local Volume Legacy (LVL) survey. The full volume-limited sample consists of 258 nearby (D < 11 Mpc) galaxies whose absolute B-band magnitude span a range of -9.6 < M_B < -20.7 mag. A composite optical (UBVR) data set is constructed from observed UBVR and SDSS ugriz imaging, where the ugriz magnitudes are transformed into UBVR. We present photometry within three galaxy apertures defined at UV, optical, and IR wavelengths. Flux comparisons between these apertures reveal that the traditional optical R25 galaxy apertures do not fully encompass extended sources. Using the larger IR apertures we find color-color relationships where later-type spiral and irregular galaxies tend to be bluer than earlier-type galaxies. These data provide the missing optical emission from which future LVL studies can construct the full panchromatic (UV-optical-IR) spectral energy distributions.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (9 pages, 5 figures, 5 tables

Targeting alphas can make coyote control more effective and socially acceptable

Research at the UC Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC) has improved our understanding of how to reduce sheep depredation while minimizing the impact on coyotes. Analysis of a 14-year data set of HREC coyote-control efforts found that sheep depredation losses were not correlated with the number of coyotes removed in any of three time scales analyzed (yearly, seasonally and monthly) during corresponding intervals for the next 2 years. Field research using radiotelemetry to track coyotes supported and explained this finding. For example, in 1995, dominant “alphas” from four territories were associated with 89% of 74 coyote-killed lambs; “betas” and transients were not associated with any of these kills. Relatively few coyotes were killing sheep, and these animals were difficult to capture by conventional methods at the time of year when depredation was highest. However, selective removal of only the problem alpha coyotes effectively reduced losses at HREC

Targeting alphas can make coyote control more effective and socially acceptable

Research at the UC Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC) has improved our understanding of how to reduce sheep depredation while minimizing the impact on coyotes. Analysis of a 14-year data set of HREC coyote-control efforts found that sheep depredation losses were not correlated with the number of coyotes removed in any of three time scales analyzed (yearly, seasonally and monthly) during corresponding intervals for the next 2 years. Field research using radiotelemetry to track coyotes supported and explained this finding. For example, in 1995, dominant “alphas” from four territories were associated with 89% of 74 coyote-killed lambs; “betas” and transients were not associated with any of these kills. Relatively few coyotes were killing sheep, and these animals were difficult to capture by conventional methods at the time of year when depredation was highest. However, selective removal of only the problem alpha coyotes effectively reduced losses at HREC

Subspecific Identification of Sharp-Tailed Grouse Samples from Montana

Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus) historically occupied much of the shrub-steppe habitat of the intermountain west, ranging from interior British Columbia south to California and Colorado. The subspecies has been extirpated from most of its range and currently exists in only scattered isolated populations. The last remnant populations in western Montana were located in the Tobacco Valley near Eureka and the Blackfoot Valley near Helmville. However, those populations were extirpated during the previous decade and the subspecies can no longer be confirmed in the state. A rangewide genetic analysis of sharp-tailed grouse in 2006 documented restricted gene flow based on an analysis of 45 tissue samples taken from Montana birds east of the continental divide. We extended that earlier analysis with a total of 133 tissue samples, including samples from western Montana birds extracted from museum skins collected in 1897, and compared these samples to other genetic profiles reported from across the species range. We compared these samples to test for genetic differences in an area where the reported distribution of the Columbian subspecies is geographically near populations from the plains subspecies (T. p. jamesi). We were able to assign subspecies classification to 126 of the 133 Montana samples, including all samples from west of the Continental Divide. All Montana samples conclusively typed out to the Plains subspecies. Our analysis identified 3 similar genetic clusters across sharptail populations: (1) Alberta, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, (2) Washington, British Columbia and western Idaho, and (3) Utah and southern Idaho. Both microsatellite and control region sequence data indicate that sharp-tailed grouse from all localities in Montana are molecularly most similar to populations from the plains regions of Alberta to Nebraska, indicating that Montana birds share a relatively recent molecular history. It does not appear that the Continental Divide is a current or historical barrier to gene flow in sharp-tailed grouse

Testing Diagnostics of Nuclear Activity and Star Formation in Galaxies at z>1

We present some of the first science data with the new Keck/MOSFIRE instrument to test the effectiveness of different AGN/SF diagnostics at z~1.5. MOSFIRE spectra were obtained in three H-band multi-slit masks in the GOODS-S field, resulting in two hour exposures of 36 emission-line galaxies. We compare X-ray data with the traditional emission-line ratio diagnostics and the alternative mass-excitation and color-excitation diagrams, combining new MOSFIRE infrared data with previous HST/WFC3 infrared spectra (from the 3D-HST survey) and multiwavelength photometry. We demonstrate that a high [OIII]/Hb ratio is insufficient as an AGN indicator at z>1. For the four X-ray detected galaxies, the classic diagnostics ([OIII]/Hb vs. [NII]/Ha and [SII]/Ha) remain consistent with X-ray AGN/SF classification. The X-ray data also suggest that "composite" galaxies (with intermediate AGN/SF classification) host bona-fide AGNs. Nearly 2/3 of the z~1.5 emission-line galaxies have nuclear activity detected by either X-rays or the classic diagnostics. Compared to the X-ray and line ratio classifications, the mass-excitation method remains effective at z>1, but we show that the color-excitation method requires a new calibration to successfully identify AGNs at these redshifts.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Accepted to ApJ Letter