6,576 research outputs found
Abstraction and Refinement in Configuration Structures
An abstraction operator for configuration structures is defined and it is proven that it is left inverse to the traditional refinement operator. The abstraction operator describes how concrete behaviour looks when observed from a more abstract level, where the difference between concrete and abstract is given by a transformation mapping. This generates a notion of implementation: L is said to implement H iff L is mapped to H by the abstraction operator. The implementation relation generated by the abstraction operator is strictly more general than the implementation function defined by a refinement operator, thus allowing a more flexible design process for distributed systems
Behind the dust curtain: the spectacular case of GRB 160623A
We report on the X-ray dust-scattering features observed around the afterglow
of the gamma ray burst GRB 160623A. With an XMM-Newton observation carried out
~2 days after the burst, we found evidence of at least six rings, with angular
size expanding between ~2 and 9 arcmin, as expected for X-ray scattering of the
prompt GRB emission by dust clouds in our Galaxy. From the expansion rate of
the rings, we measured the distances of the dust layers with extraordinary
precision: 528.1 +\- 1.2 pc, 679.2 +\- 1.9 pc, 789.0 +\- 2.8 pc, 952 +\- 5 pc,
1539 +\- 20 pc and 5079 +\- 64 pc. A spectral analysis of the ring spectra,
based on an appropriate dust-scattering model (BARE-GR-B from Zubko et al.
2004}) and the estimated burst fluence, allowed us to derive the column density
of the individual dust layers, which are in the range 7x10^20-1.5x10^22 cm^-2.
The farthest dust-layer (i.e. the one responsible for the smallest ring) is
also the one with the lowest column density and it is possibly very extended,
indicating a diffuse dust region. The properties derived for the six
dust-layers (distance, thickness, and optical depth) are generally in good
agreement with independent information on the reddening along this line of
sight and on the distribution of molecular and atomic gas.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in MNRA
Revealing structure and evolution within the corona of the Seyfert galaxy I Zw 1
X-ray spectral timing analysis is presented of XMM-Newton observations of the
narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy I Zwicky 1 (I Zw 1) taken in 2015 January. After
exploring the effect of background flaring on timing analyses, X-ray time lags
between the reflection-dominated 0.3-1.0keV energy and continuum-dominated
1.0-4.0keV band are measured, indicative of reverberation off the inner
accretion disc. The reverberation lag time is seen to vary as a step function
in frequency; across lower frequency components of the variability, 3e-4 to
1.2e-3Hz a lag of 160s is measured, but the lag shortens to (59 +/- 4)s above
1.2e-3Hz. The lag-energy spectrum reveals differing profiles between these
ranges with a change in the dip showing the earliest arriving photons. The low
frequency signal indicates reverberation of X-rays emitted from a corona
extended at low height over the disc while at high frequencies, variability is
generated in a collimated core of the corona through which luminosity
fluctuations propagate upwards. Principal component analysis of the variability
supports this interpretation, showing uncorrelated variation in the spectral
slope of two power law continuum components. The distinct evolution of the two
components of the corona is seen as a flare passes inwards from the extended to
the collimated portion. An increase in variability in the extended corona was
found preceding the initial increase in X-ray flux. Variability from the
extended corona was seen to die away as the flare passed into the collimated
core leading to a second sharper increase in the X-ray count rate.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Granular Brownian motion
We study the stochastic motion of an intruder in a dilute driven granular
gas. All particles are coupled to a thermostat, representing the external
energy source, which is the sum of random forces and a viscous drag. The
dynamics of the intruder, in the large mass limit, is well described by a
linear Langevin equation, combining the effects of the external bath and of the
"granular bath". The drag and diffusion coefficients are calculated under few
assumptions, whose validity is well verified in numerical simulations. We also
discuss the non-equilibrium properties of the intruder dynamics, as well as the
corrections due to finite packing fraction or finite intruder mass.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures, in press on Journal of Statistical Mechanics:
Theory and Experiment
Single File Diffusion enhancement in a fluctuating modulated 1D channel
We show that the diffusion of a single file of particles moving in a
fluctuating modulated 1D channel is enhanced with respect to the one in a bald
pipe. This effect, induced by the fluctuations of the modulation, is favored by
the incommensurability between the channel potential modulation and the moving
file periodicity. This phenomenon could be of importance in order to optimize
the critical current in superconductors, in particular in the case where mobile
vortices move in 1D channels designed by adapted patterns of pinning sites.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Accounting for Individual Differences in Decision-Making Competence: Personality and Gender Differences
Emerging research has highlighted the utility of measuring individual differences in decision-making competence (DMC), showing that consistently following normatively rational principles is associated with positive psychosocial and health behaviors. From another level of analysis, functional theories of personality suggest that broad trait dimensions represent variation in underlying self-regulatory systems, providing a mechanistic account for robust associations between traits and similar life outcomes. Yet, the degree to which broad dispositional personality dimensions predict global tendencies to respond rationally is less understood. In a large online community sample (N = 804), we tested the associations between HEXACO personality dimensions, a 6-factor structural trait model, and a subset of DMC indicators (Applying Decision Rules, Resistance to Framing, Recognizing Social Norms, and Consistency in Risk Perception). Additionally, we examined gender differences across the DMC, first considering the potential for measurement non-invariance across groups for the DMC. We observed partial measurement invariance between men and women; only the Applying Decision Rules scale showed evidence of differential functioning across groups. Controlling for these differences, analyses revealed that higher Conscientiousness, Honesty/Humility, and Openness were associated with higher DMC scores. In contrast, Emotionality and Extraversion demonstrated gender-specific associations. Specifically, low Extraversion was associated with higher DMC scores for men, whereas higher Emotionality was associated with higher DMC scores for women. Our results suggest that traits related to self-regulatory functions of cognitive and behavioral control, and cognitive flexibility are associated with an increased tendency to engage in rational thought
Guiding properties of a non-isothermal atmosphere for acoustic-gravity waves
The propagation of pressure waves in a stratified,
non-isothermal atmosphere is studied in the linear approximation. It is found that acoustic and
acoustic-gravity waves can be horizontally guided by the effect of the Earth’s thermocline alone, under very mild conditions on the temperature gradient steepness. The effect of the Earth’s surface is also studied. Lamb’s modes associated with the rigid surface are, then, identified and their behaviour, as a function of the Earth’s position, is discussed. Finally, dissipation is included, and its effect is derived using a perturbation technique
Variable Intrinsic Absorption in Mrk 279
We examine the variability in the intrinsic absorption in the Seyfert 1
galaxy Mrk 279 using three epochs of observations from the Far Ultraviolet
Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) and two epochs of observations with the Space
Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope. Rather than
finding simple photoionization responses of the absorbing gas to changes in the
underlying continuum, the observed changes in the absorption profiles can be
understood more clearly if the effective covering fraction of the gas in all
emission components, continuum and broad and intermediate velocity width
emission lines, is accounted for. While we do not uniquely solve for all of
these separate covering fractions and the ionic column densities using the
spectral data, we examine the parameter space using previously well-constrained
solutions for continuum and single emission component covering fractions.
Assuming full coverage of the continuum, we find that of the two velocity
components of the Mrk 279 absorption most likely associated with its outflow,
one likely has zero coverage of the intermediate line region while the other
does not. For each component, however, the broad line region is more fully
covered than the intermediate line region. Changes in the O VI column densities
are unconstrained due to saturation, but we show that small changes in the
nonsaturated C IV and N V column densities are consistent with the outflow gas
having zero or partial covering of the intermediate line region and an
ionization parameter changing from ~0.01 to ~0.1 from 2002 to 2003 as the UV
continuum flux increased by a factor of ~8. The absence of a change in the C
III absorbing column density is attributed to this species arising outside the
Mrk 279 outflow.Comment: 36 pages, 18 figures, accepted to Ap
Putrescine production from different amino acid precursors by lactic acid bacteria from wine and cider
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