6,531 research outputs found
Cosmology in the Solar System: Pioneer effect is not cosmological
Does the Solar System and, more generally, a gravitationally bound system
follow the cosmic expansion law ? Is there a cosmological influence on the
dynamics or optics in such systems ? The general relativity theory provides an
unique and unambiguous answer, as a solution of Einstein equations with a local
source in addition to the cosmic fluid, and obeying the correct (cosmological)
limiting conditions. This solution has no analytic expression. A Taylor
development of its metric allows a complete treatment of dynamics and optics in
gravitationally bound systems, up to the size of galaxy clusters, taking into
account both local and cosmological effects. In the solar System, this provides
an estimation of the (non zero) cosmological influence on the Pioneer probe: it
fails to account for the " Pioneer effect " by about 10 orders of magnitude. We
criticize contradictory claims on this topic
Multi-wavelength and black hole mass properties of Low Luminosity Active Nuclei
We investigate the relation between the X-ray nuclear emission, optical
emission line, radio luminosity and black hole mass for a sample of nearby
Seyfert galaxies. Strong linear correlations between the 2-10 keV and [OIII],
radio luminosities have been found, showing the same slopes found in quasars
and luminous Seyfert galaxies, thus implying independence from the level of
nuclear activity displayed by the sources. Moreover, despite the wide range of
Eddington ratios (L/L(Edd)) tested here (six orders of magnitude, from 0.1 down
to 10^(-7), no correlation is found between the X-ray, optical emission lines,
radio luminosities and the black hole mass. These results suggest that low
luminosity Seyfert galaxies are a scaled down version of luminous AGN and
probably are powered by the same physical processes.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, contributed talk presented at the Workshop "The
multicoloured landscape of compact objects and their explosive origin",
Cefalu' (Sicily), 11-24 June 2006, to be published by AI
Some results on thermal stress of layered plates and shells by using Unified Formulation
This work presents some results on two-dimensional modelling of thermal stress problems in multilayered structures. The governing equations are written by referring to the Unified Formulation (UF) introduced by the first author. These equations are obtained in a compact form, that doesn't depend on the order of expansion of variables in the thickness direction or the variable description (layer-wise models and equivalent single layers models). Classical and refined theories based on the Principle of Virtual Displacements (PVD) and advanced mixed theories based on the Reissner Mixed Variational Theorem (RMVT) are both considered. As a result, a large variety of theories are derived and compared. The temperature profile along the thickness of the plate/shell is calculated by solving the Fourier's heat conduction equation. Alternatively, thermo-mechanical coupling problems can be considered, in which the thermal variation is influenced by mechanical loading. Exact closed-form solutions are provided for plates and shells, but also the applications of the Ritz method and the Finite Element Method (FEM) are presented
Spatially resolved LMC star formation history: I. Outside in evolution of the outer LMC disk
We study the evolution of three fields in the outer LMC disk Rgc=3.5-6.2 Kpc.
Their star formation history indicates a stellar populations gradient such that
younger stellar populations are more centrally concentrated. We identify two
main star forming epochs, separated by a period of lower activity between ~7
and ~4 Gyr ago. Their relative importance varies from a similar amount of stars
formed in the two epochs in the innermost field, to only 40% of the stars
formed in the more recent epoch in the outermost field. The young star forming
epoch continues to the present time in the innermost field, but lasted only
till ~0.8 and 1.3 Gyr ago at Rgc=5.5 degrees and 7.1 degrees, respectively.
This gradient is correlated with the measured HI column density and implies an
outside-in quenching of the star formation, possibly related to a variation of
the size of the HI disk. This could either result from gas depletion due to
star formation or ram-pressure stripping, or from to the compression of the gas
disk as ram-pressure from the Milky Way halo acted on the LMC interstellar
medium. The latter two situations may have occurred when the LMC first
approached the Milky Way.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures, 4 tables. MNRAS, in pres
Mid-Late Pleistocene Neanderthal landscapes in southern Italy: Paleoecological contributions of the avian assemblage from Grotta del Cavallo, Apulia, southern Italy
We present a detailed paleoecologic analysis of avian assemblages from the Mousterian layers of the Middle Paleolithic Grotta del Cavallo site in southern Italy. Findings improve knowledge of the landscape that was exploited by Neanderthals. During the MIS 7, 6 and 3, the cave was surrounded by extensive grasslands and shrublands, locally interspersed by open woodland and rocky outcrops, whereas the coastal plain (currently underwater) hosted wetlands. Water bird taxa show an increase in population size during the cool-temperate climatic interval attributed to MIS 3, possibly linked to more humid conditions or a shorter distance between the wetland settings and the cave, compared to the previous glacial phase (MIS 6). In addition, coverage-based rarefied richness suggests higher avian diversity during MIS 3, which may reflect greater landscape heterogeneity due to the presence of wetland habitats. The tentative discovery of Branta leucopsis, together with several bird species currently found at higher altitudes, reinforces geochemically-derived palaeoclimate inferences of cooler than the present conditions. These assemblages also include the first fossil occurrence of Larus genei worldwide, the first Italian occurrence of Emberiza calandra, the oldest Italian occurrence of Podiceps nigricollis, and the occurrence of the rarely reported Sylvia cf. communis. Taphonomic analyses indicate that bone modifications are mainly due to physical syn- and post-depositional processes, and that the assemblage mainly accumulated through short-range physical transport and the feeding activities of nocturnal raptors
A note on the computation of geometrically defined relative velocities
We discuss some aspects about the computation of kinematic, spectroscopic,
Fermi and astrometric relative velocities that are geometrically defined in
general relativity. Mainly, we state that kinematic and spectroscopic relative
velocities only depend on the 4-velocities of the observer and the test
particle, unlike Fermi and astrometric relative velocities, that also depend on
the acceleration of the observer and the corresponding relative position of the
test particle, but only at the event of observation and not around it, as it
would be deduced, in principle, from the definition of these velocities.
Finally, we propose an open problem in general relativity that consists on
finding intrinsic expressions for Fermi and astrometric relative velocities
avoiding terms that involve the evolution of the relative position of the test
particle. For this purpose, the proofs given in this paper can serve as
inspiration.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Numerical analysis of disbonding in sandwich structures using 1D finite elements
Structural theories based on 1D component-wise models are proposed to investigate the progressive disbonding in sandwich structures. The structural framework adopts the Carrera Unified Formulation to generate higher-order theories of structures via a variable kinematic approach. The component-wise approach, formulated within the Lagrange polynomial based CUF models, permits modelling of various components of a complex structure through 1D CUF models at reduced computational costs and 3D accuracy. The disbonding constitutive models are retrieved from well-established works in the literature and based on cohesive elements. The results verify the accuracy of 1D models with some 10-20% computational time as compared to 3D finite elements
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