The evolution of the cia's covert action mission, 1947-1963

The core contentions and departures of this study are that: (1) a three way delineation distinguished the basic types of operation that the CIA performed, between defensive, offensive, and preventive covert action; (2) the agency and its forerunner organisations anticipated government policy and initiated small-scale political clandestine operations during 1946 and 1947, ahead of being given official sanction for such activities; (3) the CIA's operations directorate played a more significant role as an instrument of wider strategic objectives, most notably during the Eisenhower years, than has hitherto been suggested; and (4) domestic politics had a strong impact on the development and deployment of CIA covert action, especially during the McCarthy era. Only by taking these factors into account can the early evolution of the CIA's operations directorate be fully understood

The mass of the black hole in GRS 1915+105: new constraints from IR spectroscopy

GRS 1915+105 has the largest mass function of any Galactic black hole system, although the error is relatively large. Here we present spectroscopic analysis of medium-resolution IR VLT archival data of GRS 1915+105 in the K-band. We find an updated ephemeris, and report on attempts to improve the mass function by a refinement of the radial velocity estimate. We show that the spectra are significantly affected by the presence of phase-dependent CO bandhead emission, possibly originating from the accretion disc: we discuss the impact this has on efforts to better constrain the black hole mass. We report on a possible way to measure the radial velocity utilising apparent H-band atomic absorption features and also discuss the general uncertainty of the system parameters of this well-studied objectComment: 7 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Main Journa

The mass of the neutron star in the binary millisecond pulsar PSR J1012+5307

We have measured the radial velocity variation of the white dwarf secondary in the binary system containing the millisecond pulsar PSR J1012 + 5307. Combined with the orbital parameters of the radio pulsar, we infer a mass ratio q (=M-1/M-2) = 10.5 +/- 0.5 OUT optical spectroscopy has also allowed us to determine the mass of the white dwarf companion by fitting the spectrum to a grid of DA model atmospheres: we estimate M-2 = 0.16 +/- 0.02 M., and hence the mass of the neutron star is 1.64 +/- 0.22 M., where the error is dominated by that of M-2. The orbital inclination is 52 +/- 4 deg. For an initial neutron star mass of similar to 1.4 M., only a few tenths of a solar mass at most has been successfully accreted over the lifetime of the progenitor low-mass X-ray binary. If the initial mass of the secondary was similar to 1 M., our result suggests that the mass transfer may have been non-conservative

How The Galactic Centre Environment Impacts Star Formation

In the centres of the Milky Way and M83, the global environmental properties thought to control star formation are indistinguishable within observational uncertainties. Despite this, present-day star formation rates in the centres of each galaxy differ by an order of magnitude. In this thesis, I explore the gas kinematics of both regions to understand the origin of this difference. In Chapter 2, I present an overview and data release of the spectral line component of the SMA Large Program, CMZoom. The CMZoom survey targeted 10 dense gas and shock tracers in all gas within the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ; inner few hundred pc of the Galaxy) above a column density of N(H2) >= 10^23 cm^-2, between an observing frequency of 216 -232 GHz, including three CO isotopologues, multiple transitions of H2CO, SiO, OCS and SO. I extracted spectra from all compact 230 GHz continuum sources (cores) in the previously published CMZoom catalogue and fit line profiles to the spectra. After detailed quality controls, I used the fit results from the H2CO 3(0,3)-2(0,2) transition -- which represents 88.8% of the total mass of CMZoom cores -- to determine the core kinematic properties. I find that only four cores are self-gravitating, but that the remainder are consistent with being in hydrostatic equilibrium and confined by the high external pressure in the Galactic Centre. Using star formation tracer associations from an forthcoming publication, I estimate a present-day star formation rate of 0.009 M yr^-1 for all cores in the Galactic Centre with an H2CO detection. I find that the line ratios of CMZoom cores in the Galactic Centre are indistinguishable from CMZoom cores which lie outside the Galactic Centre. This suggests that the chemical differences observed between the CMZ and disk clouds does not propagate down to core scales. I find only two convincing proto-stellar outflows throughout the survey, ruling out the possibility of a previously undetected population of forming high-mass stars. Despite having sufficient sensitivity and resolution, in the large CMZoom survey area I find no high-velocity compact clouds (HVCCs) which have been claimed as evidence for intermediate mass black holes interacting with molecular gas clouds. In Chapter 3, I use ALMA observations of HCN (1-0) and HCO+ (1-0) to trace the dense gas at the size scale of individual molecular clouds (0.54"', 12pc) in the inner ~ 500 pc of M83, and compare this to gas clouds at similar resolution and galactocentric radius in the Milky Way. I find that both the overall gas distribution and the properties of individual clouds are very similar in the two galaxies, and that a common mechanism may be responsible for instigating star formation in both circumnuclear rings. Given the remarkable similarity in gas properties, the most likely explanation for the order of magnitude difference in SFR is time variability, with the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) currently being at a more quiescent phase of its star formation cycle. I show M83's SFR must have been an order of magnitude higher 5-7 Myr ago. M83's `starburst' phase was highly localised, both spatially and temporally, greatly increasing the feedback efficiency and ability to drive galactic-scale outflows. This highly dynamic nature of star formation and feedback cycles in galaxy centres means (i) modeling and interpreting observations must avoid averaging over large spatial areas or timescales, and (ii) understanding the multi-scale processes controlling these cycles requires comparing snapshots of a statistical sample of galaxies in different evolutionary stages

t(1;14)(q21;q32) IRTA1/IGH

Review on t(1;14)(q21;q32) IRTA1/IGH, with data on clinics, and the genes involved

Addendum: "The Dynamics of M15: Observations of the Velocity Dispersion Profile and Fokker-Planck Models" (ApJ, 481, 267 [1997])

It has recently come to our attention that there are axis scale errors in three of the figures of Dull et al. (1997, hereafter D97). D97 presented Fokker-Planck models for the collapsed-core globular cluster M15 that include a dense, centrally concentrated population of neutron stars and massive white dwarfs, but do not include a central black hole. In this Addendum, we present corrected versions of Figures 9, 10, and 12, and an expanded version of Figure 6. This latter figure, which shows the full run of the velocity dispersion profile, indicates that the D97 model predictions are in good agreement with the moderately rising HST-STIS velocity dispersion profile for M15 reported by Gerssen et al. (2002, astro-ph/0209315). Thus, a central black hole is not required to fit the new STIS velocity measurements, provided that there is a sufficient population of neutron stars and massive white dwarfs. This conclusion is consistent with the findings of Gerssen et al. (2002, astro-ph/0210158), based on a reapplication of their Jeans equation analysis using the corrected mass-to-light profile (Figure 12) for the D97 models.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Ap

Multiwavelength Observations of GX 339-4 in 1996. III. Keck Spectroscopy

As part of our multiwavelength campaign of observations of GX 339-4 in 1996 we present our Keck spectroscopy performed on May 12 UT. At this time, neither the ASM on the RXTE nor BATSE on the CGRO detected the source. The optical emission was still dominated by the accretion disk with V approximately 17 mag. The dominant emission line is H alpha, and for the first time we are able to resolve a double peaked profile. The peak separation Delta v = 370 +/- 40 km/s. Double peaked H alpha emission lines have been seen in the quiescent optical counterparts of many black hole X-ray novae. However, we find that the peak separation is significantly smaller in GX 339-4, implying that the optical emission comes from a larger radius than in the novae. The H alpha emission line may be more akin to the one in Cygnus X-1, where it is very difficult to determine if the line is intrinsically double peaked because absorption and emission lines from the companion star dominate.Comment: Submitted to Astrophysical Journal. 10 pages. 2 figure

The thermodynamics of ammonium scheelites. III. An analysis of the heat capacity and related data of deuterated ammonium perrhenate ND4ReO4

An analysis of the heat capacity of deuterated and undeuterated NH4ReO4 has been carried out in which the effects of the anisotropy of the thermal expansion have been considered, an approach hitherto not used for ammonium compounds. In the ammonium scheelites, the axial thermal expansion coefficients are very large, but of opposite sign, and as a result the volume of the scheelite lattice is nearly independent of temperature. It is shown that the correction from constant stress to constant strain results in a major contribution to the heat capacity of this highly anisotropic lattice. The difference between the experimental and calculated values of heat capacity, referred to as ΔCp, is expressed as the sum of the contributions from the anisotropy and the rotational heat capacity. The results of the analysis show that the rotational contribution is much smaller then previously thought. However, the exact contribution of the anisotropy cannot be calculated at this time because the elastic constants are not known. In calculating the heat capacity, maximum use has been made of external optical mode frequencies derived from spectroscopic measurements.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71156/2/JCPSA6-85-10-5963-1.pd

Tomography of X-ray Nova Muscae 1991: Evidence for ongoing mass transfer and stream-disc overflow

We present a spectroscopic analysis of the black hole binary Nova Muscae 1991 in quiescence using data obtained in 2009 with MagE on the Magellan Clay telescope and in 2010 with IMACS on the Magellan Baade telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory. Emission from the disc is observed in H alpha, H beta and Ca II (8662 A). A prominent hotspot is observed in the Doppler maps of all three emission lines. The existence of this spot establishes ongoing mass transfer from the donor star in 2009-2010 and, given its absence in the 1993-1995 observations, demonstrates the presence of a variable hotspot in the system. We find the radial distance to the hotspot from the black hole to be consistent with the circularization radius. Our tomograms are suggestive of stream-disc overflow in the system. We also detect possible Ca II (8662 A) absorption from the donor star.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in MNRA