4,078 research outputs found
Phoebe 2.0 – Triple and multiple systems
Some close binary formation theories require the presence of a third body so that the binary orbit can shrink over time. Tidal friction and Kozai cycles transfer energy from the binary to its companion, resulting in a close inner binary and a wide third body orbit. Spectroscopy and imaging studies have found 40% of binaries with periods less than 10 days, and 96% with periods less than 3 days, have a wide tertiary companion. With recent advancements in large photometric surveys, we are now beginning to detect many of these triple systems by observing tertiary eclipses or through the effect they have on the eclipse timing variations (ETVs) of the inner-binary. In the sample of 2600 Kepler EBs, we have detected the possible presence of a third body in ∼20%, including several circumbinary planets. Some multiple systems are quite dynamical and feature disappearing and reappearing eclipses, apsidal motion, and large disruptions to the inner-binary. phoebe is a freely available binary modeling code which can dynamically model all of these systems, allowing us to better test formation theories and probe the physics of eclipsing binaries
PHOEBE 2.0 – Where no model has gone before
phoebe 2.0 is an open source framework bridging the gap between stellar observations and models. It allows to create and fit models simultaneously and consistently to a wide range of observational data such as photometry, spectroscopy, spectrapolarimetry, interferometry and astrometry. To reach the level of precision required by the newest generation of instruments such as Kepler, GAIA and the arrays of large telescopes, the code is set up to handle a wide range of phenomena such as multiplicity, rotation, pulsations and magnetic fields, and to model the involved physics to a new level
Physics of Eclipsing Binaries: Heartbeat Stars and Tidally Induced Pulsations
Heartbeat stars are a relatively new class of eccentric ellipsoidal variable first discovered by Kepler. An overview of the current field is given with details of some of the interesting objects identified in our current Kepler sample of 135 heartbeats stars. Three objects that have recently been or are undergoing detailed study are described along with suggestions for further avenues of research. We conclude by discussing why heartbeat stars are an interesting new tool to study tidally induced pulsations and orbital dynamics
Perfectionism and achievement goals in young Finnish ice-hockey players aspiring to make the Under-16 national team
Research on perfectionism suggests that is it useful to differentiate between perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns. Regarding the 2 x 2 achievement goal framework, the usefulness of this differentiation was recently demonstrated in a study with university student athletes (Stoeber, Stoll, Pescheck, & Otto, 2008, Study 2), in which it was found that perfectionistic strivings were associated with mastery-approach and performance-approach goals and perfectionistic concerns with mastery-avoidance, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Because the study was largely exploratory and only used non-elite athletes, the aim of the present research was to replicate and extend these findings by investigating a sample of 138 young, elite ice-hockey players, while adding further measures of perfectionism and using structural equation modelling (SEM) to confirm the relationships between perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns,and the 2 x 2 achievement goals. The SEM results showed that, in elite athletes also, perfectionistic strivings are associated with mastery-approach and performance-approach goals, whereas perfectionistic concerns are associated with masteryavoidance,
performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Our findings corroborate the importance of differentiating between perfectionistic strivings and perfectionistic concerns when studying perfectionism in sports, because
only perfectionistic concerns (and not perfectionistic strivings) are associated with maladaptive patterns of achievement goals
The ORNATE India project: Building research capacity and capability to tackle the burden of diabetic retinopathy-related blindness in India
The ORNATE India project is an interdisciplinary, multifaceted United Kingdom (UK)–India collaborative study aimed to build research capacity and capability in India and the UK to tackle the burden of diabetes-related visual impairment. For 51 months (October 2017–December 2021), this project built collaboration between six institutions in the UK and seven in India, including the Government of Kerala. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening models were evaluated in the public system in Kerala. An epidemiological study of diabetes and its complications was conducted through 20 centers across India covering 10 states and one union territory. The statistical analysis is not yet complete. In the UK, risk models for diabetes and its complications and artificial intelligence-aided tools are being developed. These were complemented by joint studies on various aspects of diabetes between collaborators in the UK and India. This interdisciplinary team enabled increased capability in several workstreams, resulting in an increased number of publications, development of cost-effective risk models, algorithms for risk-based screening, and policy for state-wide implementation of sustainable DR screening and treatment programs in primary care in Kerala. The increase in research capacity included multiple disciplines from field workers, administrators, project managers, project leads, screeners, graders, optometrists, nurses, general practitioners, and research associates in various disciplines. Cross-fertilization of these disciplines enabled the development of several collaborations external to this project. This collaborative project has made a significant impact on research capacity development in both India and the UK
The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: The Evolution of Void Statistics from z~1 to z~0
We present measurements of the void probability function (VPF) at z~1 using
data from the DEEP2 Redshift Survey and its evolution to z~0 using data from
the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We measure the VPF as a function of galaxy
color and luminosity in both surveys and find that it mimics trends displayed
in the two-point correlation function, ; namely that samples of brighter,
red galaxies have larger voids (i.e. are more strongly clustered) than fainter,
blue galaxies. We also clearly detect evolution in the VPF with cosmic time,
with voids being larger in comoving units at z~0. We find that the reduced VPF
matches the predictions of a `negative binomial' model for galaxies of all
colors, luminosities, and redshifts studied. This model lacks a physical
motivation, but produces a simple analytic prediction for sources of any number
density and integrated two-point correlation function, \bar{\xi}. This implies
that differences in the VPF across different galaxy populations are consistent
with being due entirely to differences in the population number density and
\bar{\xi}. The robust result that all galaxy populations follow the negative
binomial model appears to be due to primarily to the clustering of dark matter
halos. The reduced VPF is insensitive to changes in the parameters of the halo
occupation distribution, in the sense that halo models with the same \bar{\xi}
will produce the same VPF. For the wide range of galaxies studied, the VPF
therefore does not appear to provide useful constraints on galaxy evolution
models that cannot be gleaned from studies of \bar{\xi} alone. (abridged)Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures, ApJ accepte
HATSouth: a global network of fully automated identical wide-field telescopes
HATSouth is the world's first network of automated and homogeneous telescopes
that is capable of year-round 24-hour monitoring of positions over an entire
hemisphere of the sky. The primary scientific goal of the network is to
discover and characterize a large number of transiting extrasolar planets,
reaching out to long periods and down to small planetary radii. HATSouth
achieves this by monitoring extended areas on the sky, deriving high precision
light curves for a large number of stars, searching for the signature of
planetary transits, and confirming planetary candidates with larger telescopes.
HATSouth employs 6 telescope units spread over 3 locations with large longitude
separation in the southern hemisphere (Las Campanas Observatory, Chile; HESS
site, Namibia; Siding Spring Observatory, Australia). Each of the HATSouth
units holds four 0.18m diameter f/2.8 focal ratio telescope tubes on a common
mount producing an 8.2x8.2 arcdeg field, imaged using four 4Kx4K CCD cameras
and Sloan r filters, to give a pixel scale of 3.7 arcsec/pixel. The HATSouth
network is capable of continuously monitoring 128 square arc-degrees. We
present the technical details of the network, summarize operations, and present
weather statistics for the 3 sites. On average each of the 6 HATSouth units has
conducted observations on ~500 nights over a 2-year time period, yielding a
total of more than 1million science frames at 4 minute integration time, and
observing ~10.65 hours per day on average. We describe the scheme of our data
transfer and reduction from raw pixel images to trend-filtered light curves and
transiting planet candidates. Photometric precision reaches ~6 mmag at 4-minute
cadence for the brightest non-saturated stars at r~10.5. We present detailed
transit recovery simulations to determine the expected yield of transiting
planets from HATSouth. (abridged)Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, submitted to PAS
Monte Carlo energy and variance minimization techniques for optimizing many-body wave functions
We investigate Monte Carlo energy and variance minimization techniques for
optimizing many-body wave functions. Several variants of the basic techniques
are studied, including limiting the variations in the weighting factors which
arise in correlated sampling estimations of the energy and its variance. We
investigate the numerical stability of the techniques and identify two reasons
why variance minimization exhibits superior numerical stability to energy
minimization. The characteristics of each method are studied using a
non-interacting 64-electron model of crystalline silicon. While our main
interest is in solid state systems, the issues investigated are relevant to
Monte Carlo studies of atoms, molecules and solids. We identify a robust and
efficient variance minimization scheme for optimizing wave functions for large
systems.Comment: 14 pages, including 7 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. B. For related
publications see http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/Publications/many_body.htm
Physics of Eclipsing Binaries: Modelling in the new era of ultra-high precision photometry
Recent ultra-high precision observations of eclipsing binaries, especially data acquired by the Kepler satellite, have made accurate light curve modelling increasingly challenging but also more rewarding. In this contribution, we discuss low-amplitude signals in light curves that can now be used to derive physical information about eclipsing binaries but that were unaccessible before the Kepler era. A notable example is the detection of Doppler beaming, which leads to an increase in flux when a star moves towards the satellite and a decrease in flux when it moves away. Similarly, Rømer delays, or light travel time effects, also have to taken into account when modelling the supreme quality data that is now available. The detection of offsets between primary and secondary eclipse phases in binaries with extreme mass ratios, and the observation of Rømer delays in the signals of pulsators in binary stars, have allowed us to determine the orbits of several binaries without the need for spectroscopy. A third example of a small-scale effect that has to be taken into account when modelling specific binary systems, are lensing effects. A new binary light curve modelling code, PHOEBE 2.0, that takes all these effect into account is currently being developed
The growth and assembly of a massive galaxy at z ~ 2
We study the stellar mass assembly of the Spiderweb Galaxy (MRC 1138-262), a
massive z = 2.2 radio galaxy in a protocluster and the probable progenitor of a
brightest cluster galaxy. Nearby protocluster galaxies are identified and their
properties are determined by fitting stellar population models to their
rest-frame ultraviolet to optical spectral energy distributions. We find that
within 150 kpc of the radio galaxy the stellar mass is centrally concentrated
in the radio galaxy, yet most of the dust-uncorrected, instantaneous star
formation occurs in the surrounding low-mass satellite galaxies. We predict
that most of the galaxies within 150 kpc of the radio galaxy will merge with
the central radio galaxy by z = 0, increasing its stellar mass by up to a
factor of ~ 2. However, it will take several hundred Myr for the first mergers
to occur, by which time the large star formation rates are likely to have
exhausted the gas reservoirs in the satellite galaxies. The tidal radii of the
satellite galaxies are small, suggesting that stars and gas are being stripped
and deposited at distances of tens of kpc from the central radio galaxy. These
stripped stars may become intracluster stars or form an extended stellar halo
around the radio galaxy, such as those observed around cD galaxies in cluster
cores.Comment: 12 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA
- …