695 research outputs found
CONCAP 4: A Complex Autonomous Payload (CAP) for growing organic thin films in microgravity
A GAS facility has been developed for carrying out low temperature experiments. The arrangement being used on CONCAP IV-01 is designed for thin film growth in microgravity and can process up to twelve samples per mission. The nonlinear optical oven hardware can also be made suitable for other low temperature applications, such as gradient freeze and solution growth of crystals
Quantification of mycorrhizal limitation in beech spread
Establishment of Nothofagus spp. into grasslands can be limited by a lack of ectomycorrhizal inoculum, but the degree of mycorrhizal inoculum limitation and how far mycorrhizal inoculum spreads from forest edges has not been quantified. Further, it has been hypothesised, but not confirmed, that established Kunzea ericoides (a native Myrtaceae tree with both ectomycorrhizal and arbuscular mycorrhizal associations) could serve as an alternative host for ectomycorrhizal fungi and thus facilitate mycorrhizal infection of Nothofagus. To confirm and quantify these hypotheses, first we used an ex situ, intact-soil-core bioassay of soils collected near Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides forest, near established Kunzea, and in grassland distant from trees of either species. Second, we collected soils along transects of increasing distance from Nothofagus forest into adjacent grasslands. Mycorrhizal infection of Nothofagus solandri var. cliffortioides seedlings was high in soils from Near-Nothofagus and Near-Kunzea (74% and 67% of root tips, respectively) and lower in soils Distant from trees (28% of root tips). Seedlings in soils from Near-Nothofagus also had 3.4× greater biomass than those in soils Distant from trees. In the transects, mycorrhizal infection declined in a stepwise fashion at approximately 16 m distance from the forest edge, and seedling biomass was positively correlated with mycorrhizal infection. These data confirm that a lack of mycorrhizal inoculum can limit seedling establishment and show that Kunzea can provide an alternative host for Nothofagus-compatible mycorrhizal inoculum. Further, they provide quantitative data for spatially explicit models of woody establishment. Forty percent of seedlings in soils collected distant from trees had greater than 20% infection, suggesting that a lack of mycorrhizal inoculum is not a complete barrier to woody establishment, but instead may act as one of multiple environmental filters slowing beech spread. © New Zealand Ecological Society
Spectroscopic Analysis of H I Absorption Line Systems in 40 HIRES Quasars
We list and analyze H I absorption lines at redshifts 2 < z < 4 with column
density (12 < log(N_HI) < 19) in 40 high-resolutional (FWHM = 8.0 km/s) quasar
spectra obtained with the Keck+HIRES. We de-blend and fit all H I lines within
1,000 km/s of 86 strong H I lines whose column densities are log(N_HI/[cm^-2])
> 15. Unlike most prior studies, we use not only Lya but also all visible
higher Lyman series lines to improve the fitting accuracy. This reveals
components near to higher column density systems that can not be seen in Lya.
We list the Voigt profile fits to the 1339 H I components that we found. We
examined physical properties of H I lines after separating them into several
sub-samples according to their velocity separation from the quasars, their
redshift, column density and the S/N ratio of the spectrum. We found two
interesting trends for lines with 12 < log(N_HI) < 15 which are within 200-1000
km/s of systems with log(N_HI) > 15. First, their column density distribution
becomes steeper, meaning relatively fewer high column density lines, at z <
2.9. Second, their column density distribution also becomes steeper and their
line width becomes broader by about 2-3 km/s when they are within 5,000 km/s of
their quasar.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journal. A complete version with all tables and figures is available at
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/misawa/pub/Paper/40hires.ps.g
Low Mass Stars and the He3 Problem
The prediction of standard chemical evolution models of higher abundances of
He3 at the solar and present-day epochs than are observed indicates a possible
problem with the yield of He3 for stars in the range of 1-3 solar masses.
Because He3 is one of the nuclei produced in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), it
is noted that galactic and stellar evolution uncertainties necessarily relax
constraints based on He3. We incorporate into chemical evolution models which
include outflow, the new yields for He3 of Boothroyd & Malaney (1995) which
predict that low mass stars are net destroyers of He3. Since these yields do
not account for the high \he3/H ratio observed in some planetary nebulae, we
also consider the possibility that some fraction of stars in the 1 - 3 solar
mass range do not destroy their He3 in theirpost main-sequence phase. We also
consider the possibility that the gas expelled by stars in these mass ranges
does not mix with the ISM instantaneously thus delaying the He3 produced in
these stars, according to standard yields, from reaching the ISM. In general,
we find that the Galactic D and He3 abundances can be fit regardless of whether
the primordial D/H value is high (2 x 10^{-4}) or low (2.5 x 10^{-5}).Comment: 20 pages, latex, 9 ps figure
Geometrical Effects of Baryon Density Inhomogeneities on Primordial Nucleosynthesis
We discuss effects of fluctuation geometry on primordial nucleosynthesis. For
the first time we consider condensed cylinder and cylindrical-shell fluctuation
geometries in addition to condensed spheres and spherical shells. We find that
a cylindrical shell geometry allows for an appreciably higher baryonic
contribution to be the closure density (\Omega_b h_{50}^2 \la 0.2) than that
allowed in spherical inhomogeneous or standard homogeneous big bang models.
This result, which is contrary to some other recent studies, is due to both
geometry and recently revised estimates of the uncertainties in the
observationally inferred primordial light-element abundances. We also find that
inhomogeneous primordial nucleosynthesis in the cylindrical shell geometry can
lead to significant Be and B production. In particular, a primordial beryllium
abundance as high as [Be] = 12 + log(Be/H) is possible while still
satisfying all of the light-element abundance constraints.Comment: Latex, 20 pages + 11 figures(not included). Entire ps file with
embedded figures available via anonymous ftp at
ftp://genova.mtk.nao.ac.jp/pub/prepri/bbgeomet.ps.g
A High Deuterium Abundance at z=0.7
Of the light elements, the primordial abundance of deuterium, (D/H)_p,
provides the most sensitive diagnostic for the cosmological mass density
parameter Omega_B. Recent high redshift (D/H) measurements are highly
discrepant, although this may reflect observational uncertainties. The larger
(D/H) values, which imply a low Omega_B and require the Universe to be
dominated by non-baryonic matter (dynamical studies indicate a higher total
density parameter), cause problems for galactic chemical evolution models since
they have difficulty in reproducing the large decline down to the lower
present-day (D/H). Conversely, low (D/H) values imply an Omega_B greater than
derived from ^7Li and ^4He abundance measurements, and may require a deuterium
abundance evolution that is too low to easily explain. Here we report the first
measurement at intermediate redshift, where the observational difficulties are
smaller, of a gas cloud with ideal characteristics for this experiment. Our
analysis of the z = 0.7010 absorber toward 1718+4807 indicates (D/H) = 2.0 +/-
0.5 x 10^{-4} which is in the high range. This and other independent
observations suggests there may be a cosmological inhomogeneity in (D/H)_p of
at least a factor of ten.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur
From Espresso to Codex
CODEX and ESPRESSO are concepts for ultra-stable, high-resolution
spectrographs at the E-ELT and VLT, respectively. Both instruments are well
motivated by distinct sets of science drivers. However, ESPRESSO will also be a
stepping stone towards CODEX both in a scientific as well as in a technical
sense. Here we discuss this role of ESPRESSO with respect to one of the most
exciting CODEX science cases, i.e. the dynamical determination of the cosmic
expansion history.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the Workshop "Science with the VLT in
the ELT era", 8-12 October 2007, Garching, A. Moorwood, e
The D/H Ratio in the Interstellar Medium toward the White Dwarf PG0038+199
We determine the D/H ratio in the interstellar medium toward the DO white
dwarf PG0038+199 using spectra from the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer
(FUSE), with ground-based support from Keck HIRES. We employ curve of growth,
apparent optical depth and profile fitting techniques to measure column
densities and limits of many other species (H2, NaI, CI, CII, CIII, NI, NII,
OI, SiII, PII, SIII, ArI and FeII) which allow us to determine related ratios
such as D/O, D/N and the H2 fraction. Our efforts are concentrated on measuring
gas-phase D/H, which is key to understanding Galactic chemical evolution and
comparing it to predictions from Big Bang nucleosynthesis. We find column
densities log N(HI) = 20.41+-0.08, log N(DI)=15.75+-0.08 and log N(H2) =
19.33+-0.04, yielding a molecular hydrogen fraction of 0.14+-0.02 (2 sigma
errors), with an excitation temperature of 143+-5K. The high HI column density
implies that PG0038+199 lies outside of the Local Bubble; we estimate its
distance to be 297 (+164,-104)pc (1 sigma). D/[HI+2H2] toward PG0038+199 is
1.91(+0.52,-0.42) e-5 (2 sigma). There is no evidence of component structure on
the scale of Delta v > 8 km/s based on NaI, but there is marginal evidence for
structure on smaller scales. The D/H value is high compared to the majority of
recent D/H measurements, but consistent with the values for two other
measurements at similar distances. D/O is in agreement with other distant
measurements. The scatter in D/H values beyond ~100pc remains a challenge for
Galactic chemical evolution.Comment: 59 pages, 7 tables, 18 figures (1 standalone), accepted by ApJ v2
minor typos correcte
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