Scale-dependent bias and the halo model

We use a simplified version of the halo model with a power law power spectrum to study scale dependence in galaxy bias at the very large scales relevant to baryon oscillations. In addition to providing a useful pedagogical explanation of the scale dependence of galaxy bias, the model provides an analytic tool for studying how changes in the Halo Occupation Distribution (HOD) impact the scale dependence of galaxy bias on scales between 10 and 1000 Mpc/h, which is useful for interpreting the results of complex N-body simulations. We find that changing the mean number of galaxies per halo of a given mass will change the scale dependence of the bias, but that changing the way the galaxies are distributed within the halo has a smaller effect on the scale dependence of bias at large scales. We use the model to explain the decay in amplitude of the baryon oscillations as k increases, and generalize the model to make predictions about scale dependent galaxy bias when redshift space distortions are introduced.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures; corrected typos, extended discussion of redshift space distortions, matches published versio

Evaluating the Efficacy of BREEAM Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH): A Cross-sectional Study

AbstractThere is now a substantial body of evidence suggesting that climate change is occurring as a result of human activities. Bottom-up approaches have been encouraged to enhance sustainability agenda. Assessment methods have been developed to ensure an incessant decrease in carbon footprint of buildings. It has long been discussed that many of such assessment methods systematically lack dedicated criteria to assess building beyond its physical boundaries. This paper focuses on Code for Sustainable Homes (CSH) and attempts to map it against LEED and CASBEE with an aim to encourage assessment beyond physical boundaries of a building and into its immediate context and surrounding environment. A critical review of the latest literature was conducted to establish the general concepts and principles behind the CSH's method of assessment in comparison with CASBEE and LEED. Following this, differences, positive and negative aspects of the three assessment method were established through in-depth review of their official documents and by cross-referencing the different components, methodologies and assessment criteria of each. This led to a comparative analysis using a critical evaluation of findings of The Building Environmental Quality Evaluation for Sustainability through Time (BEQUEST), The European Sustainable Development Strategy (ESDS) and The Freiburg Charter (FC). Expert interviews were conducted to consolidate the findings of this study. This added technical in-depth expert opinions to the preliminary findings of this research and helped pave the way for providing practical suggestions for possible areas of improvement for the CSH

Learning physics in context: a study of student learning about electricity and magnetism

This paper re-centres the discussion of student learning in physics to focus on context. In order to do so, a theoretically-motivated understanding of context is developed. Given a well-defined notion of context, data from a novel university class in electricity and magnetism are analyzed to demonstrate the central and inextricable role of context in student learning. This work sits within a broader effort to create and analyze environments which support student learning in the sciencesComment: 36 pages, 4 Figure

Using social network sites in Higher Education: An experience in business studies

In the past 5 years the impact of Web 2.0 in new generations has been remarkably significant (Pew Research Center, 2010). This paper reports on an experience in the use of Social Network Sites (SNS) to support student involvement with the subject and to develop basic skills. According to students’ opinion, the experience was deemed as positive. They considered that the experience contributed to a higher engagement with the subject and a deeper collaboration with other students and teaching staff. As a result, the majority of students would prefer the use of SNS as a first option if they had to enrol again in the subject. Regarding the relationships between academic performance and use of the SNS, two different student profiles were identified based on usage patterns of the platform. Students with a more intensive use of the site showed a significantly better performance than students with a low usage profile.This work was partially supported by the Junta de Andalucía – FEDER (Proyectos de Excelencia: SEJ-02670

Onset of Superfluidity in 4He Films Adsorbed on Disordered Substrates

We have studied 4He films adsorbed in two porous glasses, aerogel and Vycor, using high precision torsional oscillator and DC calorimetry techniques. Our investigation focused on the onset of superfluidity at low temperatures as the 4He coverage is increased. Torsional oscillator measurements of the 4He-aerogel system were used to determine the superfluid density of films with transition temperatures as low as 20 mK. Heat capacity measurements of the 4He-Vycor system probed the excitation spectrum of both non-superfluid and superfluid films for temperatures down to 10 mK. Both sets of measurements suggest that the critical coverage for the onset of superfluidity corresponds to a mobility edge in the chemical potential, so that the onset transition is the bosonic analog of a superconductor-insulator transition. The superfluid density measurements, however, are not in agreement with the scaling theory of an onset transition from a gapless, Bose glass phase to a superfluid. The heat capacity measurements show that the non-superfluid phase is better characterized as an insulator with a gap.Comment: 15 pages (RevTex), 21 figures (postscript

Influence of indomethacin on lens regeneration in the newt notophthalmus viridescens

Following lentectomy newts were injected with indomethacin in a variety of carrier solutions at doses ranging from 1.2–120 mg/kg body weight every other day for 15–17 days. The results show that injection of this drug according to the regimen used has no significant effect on regeneration of the lens. The data suggest, but do not prove, that prostaglandins may not play a major role in the early phases of lens regeneration in the newt.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47503/1/427_2004_Article_BF00848434.pd

Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies

Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade. Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models, and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies, such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Search for lepton-flavor violation at HERA

A search for lepton-flavor-violating interactions $e p \to \mu X$ and $e p\to \tau X$ has been performed with the ZEUS detector using the entire HERA I data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 130 pb^{-1}. The data were taken at center-of-mass energies, $\sqrt{s}$, of 300 and 318 GeV. No evidence of lepton-flavor violation was found, and constraints were derived on leptoquarks (LQs) that could mediate such interactions. For LQ masses below $\sqrt{s}$, limits were set on $\lambda_{eq_1} \sqrt{\beta_{\ell q}}$, where $\lambda_{eq_1}$ is the coupling of the LQ to an electron and a first-generation quark $q_1$, and $\beta_{\ell q}$ is the branching ratio of the LQ to the final-state lepton $\ell$ ($\mu$ or $\tau$) and a quark $q$. For LQ masses much larger than $\sqrt{s}$, limits were set on the four-fermion interaction term $\lambda_{e q_\alpha} \lambda_{\ell q_\beta} / M_{\mathrm{LQ}}^2$ for LQs that couple to an electron and a quark $q_\alpha$ and to a lepton $\ell$ and a quark $q_\beta$, where $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are quark generation indices. Some of the limits are also applicable to lepton-flavor-violating processes mediated by squarks in $R$-Parity-violating supersymmetric models. In some cases, especially when a higher-generation quark is involved and for the process $e p\to \tau X$, the ZEUS limits are the most stringent to date.Comment: 37 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by EPJC. References and 1 figure (Fig. 6) adde

Multijet production in neutral current deep inelastic scattering at HERA and determination of alpha_s

Multijet production rates in neutral current deep inelastic scattering have been measured in the range of exchanged boson virtualities 10 < Q2 < 5000 GeV2. The data were taken at the ep collider HERA with centre-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 318 GeV using the ZEUS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 82.2 pb-1. Jets were identified in the Breit frame using the k_T cluster algorithm in the longitudinally invariant inclusive mode. Measurements of differential dijet and trijet cross sections are presented as functions of jet transverse energy E_{T,B}{jet}, pseudorapidity eta_{LAB}{jet} and Q2 with E_{T,B}{jet} > 5 GeV and -1 < eta_{LAB}{jet} < 2.5. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations describe the data well. The value of the strong coupling constant alpha_s(M_Z), determined from the ratio of the trijet to dijet cross sections, is alpha_s(M_Z) = 0.1179 pm 0.0013(stat.) {+0.0028}_{-0.0046}(exp.) {+0.0064}_{-0.0046}(th.)Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure

Measurement of (anti)deuteron and (anti)proton production in DIS at HERA

The first observation of (anti)deuterons in deep inelastic scattering at HERA has been made with the ZEUS detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 300--318 GeV using an integrated luminosity of 120 pb-1. The measurement was performed in the central rapidity region for transverse momentum per unit of mass in the range 0.3<p_T/M<0.7. The particle rates have been extracted and interpreted in terms of the coalescence model. The (anti)deuteron production yield is smaller than the (anti)proton yield by approximately three orders of magnitude, consistent with the world measurements.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, 5 tables, submitted to Nucl. Phys.