5,065 research outputs found
Detecting Pulsars with Interstellar Scintillation in Variance Images
Pulsars are the only cosmic radio sources known to be sufficiently compact to
show diffractive interstellar scintillations. Images of the variance of radio
signals in both time and frequency can be used to detect pulsars in large-scale
continuum surveys using the next generation of synthesis radio telescopes. This
technique allows a search over the full field of view while avoiding the need
for expensive pixel-by-pixel high time resolution searches. We investigate the
sensitivity of detecting pulsars in variance images. We show that variance
images are most sensitive to pulsars whose scintillation time-scales and
bandwidths are close to the subintegration time and channel bandwidth.
Therefore, in order to maximise the detection of pulsars for a given radio
continuum survey, it is essential to retain a high time and frequency
resolution, allowing us to make variance images sensitive to pulsars with
different scintillation properties. We demonstrate the technique with
Murchision Widefield Array data and show that variance images can indeed lead
to the detection of pulsars by distinguishing them from other radio sources.Comment: 8 papes, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Universal Asymptotic Statistics of Maximal Relative Height in One-dimensional Solid-on-solid Models
We study the probability density function of the maximum relative
height in a wide class of one-dimensional solid-on-solid models of finite
size . For all these lattice models, in the large limit, a central limit
argument shows that, for periodic boundary conditions, takes a
universal scaling form , with the width of the fluctuating interface and the Airy
distribution function. For one instance of these models, corresponding to the
extremely anisotropic Ising model in two dimensions, this result is obtained by
an exact computation using transfer matrix technique, valid for any .
These arguments and exact analytical calculations are supported by numerical
simulations, which show in addition that the subleading scaling function is
also universal, up to a non universal amplitude, and simply given by the
derivative of the Airy distribution function .Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
One-point Statistics of the Cosmic Density Field in Real and Redshift Spaces with A Multiresolutional Decomposition
In this paper, we develop a method of performing the one-point statistics of
a perturbed density field with a multiresolutional decomposition based on the
discrete wavelet transform (DWT). We establish the algorithm of the one-point
variable and its moments in considering the effects of Poisson sampling and
selection function. We also establish the mapping between the DWT one-point
statistics in redshift space and real space, i.e. the algorithm for recovering
the DWT one-point statistics from the redshift distortion of bulk velocity,
velocity dispersion, and selection function. Numerical tests on N-body
simulation samples show that this algorithm works well on scales from a few
hundreds to a few Mpc/h for four popular cold dark matter models.
Taking the advantage that the DWT one-point variable is dependent on both the
scale and the shape (configuration) of decomposition modes, one can design
estimators of the redshift distortion parameter (beta) from combinations of DWT
modes. When the non-linear redshift distortion is not negligible, the beta
estimator from quadrupole-to-monopole ratio is a function of scale. This
estimator would not work without adding information about the scale-dependence,
such as the power-spectrum index or the real-space correlation function of the
random field. The DWT beta estimators, however, do not need such extra
information. Numerical tests show that the proposed DWT estimators are able to
determine beta robustly with less than 15% uncertainty in the redshift range 0
< z < 3.Comment: 39 pages, 12 figures, ApJ accepte
Level density of a Fermi gas and integer partitions: a Gumbel-like finite-size correction
We investigate the many-body level density of gas of non-interacting
fermions. We determine its behavior as a function of the temperature and the
number of particles. As the temperature increases, and beyond the usual
Sommerfeld expansion that describes the degenerate gas behavior, corrections
due to a finite number of particles lead to Gumbel-like contributions. We
discuss connections with the partition problem in number theory, extreme value
statistics as well as differences with respect to the Bose gas.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, one figure added, accepted for publication in
Phys. Rev.
The intermittent behavior and hierarchical clustering of the cosmic mass field
The hierarchical clustering model of the cosmic mass field is examined in the
context of intermittency. We show that the mass field satisfying the
correlation hierarchy is intermittent if , where is the dimension of the field, and is the power-law
index of the non-linear power spectrum in the discrete wavelet transform (DWT)
representation. We also find that a field with singular clustering can be
described by hierarchical clustering models with scale-dependent coefficients
and that this scale-dependence is completely determined by the
intermittent exponent and . Moreover, the singular exponents of a field
can be calculated by the asymptotic behavior of when is large.
Applying this result to the transmitted flux of HS1700 Ly forests, we
find that the underlying mass field of the Ly forests is significantly
intermittent. On physical scales less than about 2.0 h Mpc, the observed
intermittent behavior is qualitatively different from the prediction of the
hierarchical clustering with constant . The observations, however, do show
the existence of an asymptotic value for the singular exponents. Therefore, the
mass field can be described by the hierarchical clustering model with
scale-dependent . The singular exponent indicates that the cosmic mass
field at redshift is weakly singular at least on physical scales as
small as 10 h kpc.Comment: AAS Latex file, 33 pages,5 figures included, accepted for publication
in Ap
The quantum inflaton, primordial perturbations and CMB fluctuations
We compute the primordial scalar, vector and tensor metric perturbations
arising from quantum field inflation. Quantum field inflation takes into
account the nonperturbative quantum dynamics of the inflaton consistently
coupled to the dynamics of the (classical) cosmological metric. For chaotic
inflation, the quantum treatment avoids the unnatural requirements of an
initial state with all the energy in the zero mode. For new inflation it allows
a consistent treatment of the explosive particle production due to spinodal
instabilities. Quantum field inflation (under conditions that are the quantum
analog of slow roll) leads, upon evolution, to the formation of a condensate
starting a regime of effective classical inflation. We compute the primordial
perturbations taking the dominant quantum effects into account. The results for
the scalar, vector and tensor primordial perturbations are expressed in terms
of the classical inflation results. For a N-component field in a O(N) symmetric
model, adiabatic fluctuations dominate while isocurvature or entropy
fluctuations are negligible. The results agree with the current WMAP
observations and predict corrections to the power spectrum in classical
inflation.Such corrections are estimated to be of the order of m^2/[N H^2]
where m is the inflaton mass and H the Hubble constant at horizon crossing.
This turns to be about 4% for the cosmologically relevant scales. This quantum
field treatment of inflation provides the foundations to the classical
inflation and permits to compute quantum corrections to it.Comment: 23 pages, no figures. Improved version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Identifying short motifs by means of extreme value analysis
The problem of detecting a binding site -- a substring of DNA where
transcription factors attach -- on a long DNA sequence requires the recognition
of a small pattern in a large background. For short binding sites, the matching
probability can display large fluctuations from one putative binding site to
another. Here we use a self-consistent statistical procedure that accounts
correctly for the large deviations of the matching probability to predict the
location of short binding sites. We apply it in two distinct situations: (a)
the detection of the binding sites for three specific transcription factors on
a set of 134 estrogen-regulated genes; (b) the identification, in a set of 138
possible transcription factors, of the ones binding a specific set of nine
genes. In both instances, experimental findings are reproduced (when available)
and the number of false positives is significantly reduced with respect to the
other methods commonly employed.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Impact of Inhibition of Glutamine and Alanine Transport on Cerebellar Glial and Neuronal Metabolism
The cerebellum, or “little brain”, is often overlooked in studies of brain metabolism in favour of the cortex. Despite this, anomalies in cerebellar amino acid homeostasis in a range of disorders have been reported. Amino acid homeostasis is central to metabolism, providing recycling of carbon backbones and ammonia between cell types. Here, we examined the role of cerebellar amino acid transporters in the cycling of glutamine and alanine in guinea pig cerebellar slices by inhibiting amino acid transporters and examining the resultant metabolism of [1-13C]d-glucose and [1,2-13C]acetate by NMR spectroscopy and LCMS. While the lack of specific inhibitors of each transporter makes interpretation difficult, by viewing results from experiments with multiple inhibitors we can draw inferences about the major cell types and transporters involved. In cerebellum, glutamine and alanine transfer is dominated by system A, blockade of which has maximum effect on metabolism, with contributions from System N. Inhibition of neural system A isoform SNAT1 by MeAIB resulted in greatly decreased metabolite pools and reduced net fluxes but showed little effect on fluxes from [1,2-13C]acetate unlike inhibition of SNAT3 and other glutamine transporters by histidine where net fluxes from [1,2-13C]acetate are reduced by ~50%. We interpret the data as further evidence of not one but several glutamate/glutamine exchange pools. The impact of amino acid transport inhibition demonstrates that the cerebellum has tightly coupled cells and that glutamate/glutamine, as well as alanine cycling, play a major role in that part of the brain
Energy conditions in f(R) gravity and Brans-Dicke theories
The equivalence between f(R) gravity and scalar-tensor theories is invoked to
study the null, strong, weak and dominant energy conditions in Brans-Dicke
theory. We consider the validity of the energy conditions in Brans-Dicke theory
by invoking the energy conditions derived from a generic f(R) theory. The
parameters involved are shown to be consistent with an accelerated expanding
universe.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, to appear in IJMP
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