Extracting HI cosmological signal with Generalized Needlet Internal Linear Combination

HI intensity mapping is a new observational technique to map fluctuations in the large-scale structure of matter using the 21 cm emission line of atomic hydrogen (HI). Sensitive radio surveys have the potential to detect Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) at low redshifts (z < 1) in order to constrain the properties of dark energy. Observations of the HI signal will be contaminated by instrumental noise and, more significantly, by astrophysical foregrounds, such as Galactic synchrotron emission, which is at least four orders of magnitude brighter than the HI signal. Foreground cleaning is recognised as one of the key challenges for future radio astronomy surveys. We study the ability of the Generalized Needlet Internal Linear Combination (GNILC) method to subtract radio foregrounds and to recover the cosmological HI signal for a general HI intensity mapping experiment. The GNILC method is a new technique that uses both frequency and spatial information to separate the components of the observed data. Our results show that the method is robust to the complexity of the foregrounds. For simulated radio observations including HI emission, Galactic synchrotron, Galactic free-free, radio sources and 0.05 mK thermal noise, we find that we can reconstruct the HI power spectrum for multipoles 30 < l < 150 with 6% accuracy on 50% of the sky for a redshift z ~ 0.25.Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures. Updated to match version accepted by MNRA

Rotary antenna attenuator

Radio frequency attenuator, having negligible insertion loss at minimum attenuation, can be used for making precise antenna gain measurements. It is small in size compared to a rotary-vane attenuator

The z=0.8596 Damped Lyman Alpha Absorbing Galaxy Toward PKS 0454+039

We present {\it Hubble Space Telescope} and ground--based data on the $z_{abs}=0.8596$ metal line absorption system along the line of sight to PKS 0454+0356. The system is a moderate redshift damped Lyman alpha system, with ${\rm N(HI)}=(5.7\pm0.3)\times10^{20}$~cm$^{-2}$ as measured from the {\it Faint Object Spectrograph} spectrum. We also present ground--based images which we use to identify the galaxy which most probably gives rise to the damped system; the most likely candidate is relatively underluminous by QSO absorber standards ($M_B \sim -19.0$ for $q_0=0.5$ and $H_0=50$ \kms Mpc$^{-1}$), and lies $\sim 8.5h^{-1}$ kpc in projection from the QSO sightline. Ground--based measurements of Zn~II, Cr~II, and Fe~II absorption lines from this system allow us to infer abundances of [Zn/H]=$-1.1$, [Cr/H]=$-1.2$, and [Fe/H]=$-1.2$, indicating overall metallicity similar to damped systems at $z >2$, and that the depletion of Cr and Fe onto dust grains may be even {\it less} important than in many of the high redshift systems of comparable metallicity. Limits previously placed on the 21-cm optical depth in the $z=0.8596$ system, together with our new N(H~I) measurement, suggest a very high spin temperature for the H~I, $T_S >> 580$ K.Comment: changed uuencode header to produce .Z file so that unix uncompress command will work without modifying file nam

Radiated microwave power transmission system efficiency measurements

The measured and calculated results from determining the operating efficiencies of a laboratory version of a system for transporting electric power from one point to another via a wireless free space radiated microwave beam are reported. The system's overall end-to-end efficiency as well as intermediated conversion efficiencies were measured. The maximum achieved end-to-end dc-to-ac system efficiency was 54.18% with a probable error of + or - 0.94%. The dc-to-RF conversion efficiency was measured to be 68.87% + or - 1.0% and the RF-to-dc conversion efficiency was 78.67 + or - 1.1%. Under these conditions a dc power of 495.62 + or - 3.57 W was received with a free space transmitter antenna receiver antenna separation of 170.2 cm (67 in)

Galaxy Clustering at z~3

Galaxies at very high redshift (z~3 or greater) are now accessible to wholesale observation, making possible for the first time a robust statistical assessment of their spatial distribution at lookback times approaching ~90% of the age of the Universe. This paper summarizes recent progress in understanding the nature of these early galaxies, concentrating in particular on the clustering properties of photometrically selected ``Lyman break'' galaxies. Direct comparison of the data to predictions and physical insights provided by galaxy and structure formation models is particularly straightforward at these early epochs, and results in critical tests of the ``biased'', hierarchical galaxy formation paradigm.Comment: Presented at Royal Society Discussion Meeting, March 1998, "Large Scale Structure in the Universe", 14 pages LaTeX, 7 ps figures, uses rspublic.sty (included

Virtual Site as an aid to first-year learning

Courses run by the School of the Built Environment have a range of entry requirements that enable diverse students and those with lower academic qualifications to gain entry. This results in a particular challenge for the Documentation & Estimating module, which is a very practical, skillsand competence-based module. It is delivered to large tutorial cohorts of mixed courses, abilities, ages and experience. Many students need one-toone guidance to understand what, practically, they have to do. They are given the theory first in a lecture and then have practical tutorials to carry out assessed exercises with limited tutor contact time. The module includes some basic surveying techniques and a levelling exercise which involves the transfer of a level from an assumed benchmark to establish a temporary benchmark some distance away. Many students have problems with computation of results. In spite of a careful introduction and explanation of the use of the instruments and techniques, many students find it difficult to visualise what is happening

Ingestive behaviour and physiology of the medicinal leech

Ingestion lasts 25 min in Hirudo medicinalis and is characterized by pharyngeal peristalsis which fills the crop. This peristalsis has an initial rate of 2.4 Hz which decays smoothly to 1.2 Hz at termination of ingestion. During ingestion, the leech body wall undergoes peristalsis which appears to aid in filling the crop diverticula. Body peristalsis begins at a rate of 10 min^(-1) and decreases linearly to 2 min^(-1) at termination. The body also undergoes dorsoventral flexions when blood flow is occluded. Blood meal size increases slightly with leech size: 8.4 g for 1-g leeches and 9.7 g for 2-g leeches. However, relative meal size decreases markedly with increasing animal size; from 8.15 times body mass for 1-g to 4.80 times for 2-g leeches. When intact leeches were exposed to micromolar concentrations of serotonin, there was an increase in the rate of pharyngeal peristalsis and the size of the blood meals. Leeches excrete the plasma from their ingested blood meals. Excretion is activated during ingestion, which increases feeding efficiency by increasing the proportion of blood cells in the ingestate. Excretion continues for 4–6 days following ingestion, removing all the remaining plasma from the ingestate. Leech ingestion comprises stereotyped muscular movements, secretion of saliva and excretion of plasma. A strikingly similar feeding physiology is seen in the blood-sucking insect Rhodnius, and we suggest that efficient sanguivory may require the convergent evolution of similar ingestive mechanisms

Structure of Micro-instabilities in Tokamak Plasmas: Stiff Transport or Plasma Eruptions?

Solutions to a model 2D eigenmode equation describing micro-instabilities in tokamak plasmas are presented that demonstrate a sensitivity of the mode structure and stability to plasma profiles. In narrow regions of parameter space, with special plasma profiles, a maximally unstable mode is found that balloons on the outboard side of the tokamak. This corresponds to the conventional picture of a ballooning mode. However, for most profiles this mode cannot exist and instead a more stable mode is found that balloons closer to the top or bottom of the plasma. Good quantitative agreement with a 1D ballooning analysis is found provided the constraints associated with higher order profile effects, often neglected, are taken into account. A sudden transition from this general mode to the more unstable ballooning mode can occur for a critical flow shear, providing a candidate model for why some experiments observe small plasma eruptions (Edge Localised Modes, or ELMs) in place of large Type I ELMs.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure