33,572 research outputs found
A redshift survey towards the CMB Cold Spot
We have carried out a redshift survey using the VIMOS spectrograph on the VLT
towards the Cosmic Microwave Background cold spot. A possible cause of the cold
spot is the Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect imprinted by an extremely large void
(hundreds of Mpc in linear dimension) at intermediate or low redshifts. The
redshift distribution of over seven hundred z<1 emission-line galaxies drawn
from an I-band flux limited sample of galaxies in the direction of the cold
spot shows no evidence of a gap on scales of Delta-z> 0.05 as would be expected
if such a void existed at 0.35<z<1. There are troughs in the redshift
distribution on smaller scales (Delta-z ~0.01) indicating that smaller scale
voids may connect regions separated by several degrees towards the cold spot. A
comparison of this distribution with that generated from similarly-sized
subsamples drawn from widely-spaced pointings of the VVDS survey does not
indicate that the redshift distribution towards the cold spot is anomalous or
that these small gaps can be uniquely attributed to real voids.Comment: MNRAS in press, 6 page
Collapse of Flexible Polyelectrolytes in Multivalent Salt Solutions
The collapse of flexible polyelectrolytes in a solution of multivalent
counterions is studied by means of a two state model. The states correspond to
rod-like and spherically collapsed conformations respectively. We focus on the
very dilute monomer concentration regime where the collapse transition is found
to occur when the charge of the multivalent salt is comparable (but smaller) to
that of the monomers. The main contribution to the free energy of the collapsed
conformation is linear in the number of monomers , since the internal state
of the collapsed polymer approaches that of an amorphous ionic solid. The free
energy of the rod-like state grows as , due to the electrostatic energy
associated with that shape. We show that practically all multivalent
counterions added to the system are condensed into the polymer chain, even
before the collapse.Comment: LaTeX-revtex, psfig file, 4 figure
Bayesian model selection for electromagnetic kaon production on the nucleon
We present the results of a Bayesian analysis of a Regge model to describe
the background contribution for K+ Lambda and K+ Sigma0 photoproduction. The
model is based on the exchange of K+(494) and K*+(892) trajectories in the
t-channel. We utilise the Bayesian evidence Z to determine the best model
variant for each channel. The Bayesian evidence integrals were calculated using
the Nested Sampling algorithm. For different prior widths, we find decisive
Bayesian evidence (\Delta ln Z ~ 24) for a K+ Lambda photoproduction Regge
model with a positive vector coupling and a negative tensor coupling constant
for the K*+(892) trajectory, and a rotating phase factor for both trajectories.
Using the chi^2 minimisation method, one could not draw this conclusion from
the same dataset. For the K+ Sigma0 photoproduction Regge model, on the other
hand, the difference between the evidence integrals is insufficient to pinpoint
one model variant.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
Free Fields for Chiral 2D Dilaton Gravity
We give an explicit canonical transformation which transforms a generic
chiral 2D dilaton gravity model into a free field theory.Comment: LaTeX file, 4 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev.
2MASS J06164006-6407194: The First Outer Halo L Subdwarf
We present the serendipitous discovery of an L subdwarf, 2MASS
J06164006-6407194, in a search of the Two Micron All Sky Survey for T dwarfs.
Its spectrum exhibits features indicative of both a cool and metal poor
atmosphere including a heavily pressured-broadened K I resonant doublet, Cs I
and Rb I lines, molecular bands of CaH, TiO, CrH, FeH, and H2O, and enhanced
collision induced absorption of H2. We assign 2MASS 0616-6407 a spectral type
of sdL5 based on a comparison of its red optical spectrum to that of near
solar-metallicity L dwarfs. Its high proper motion (mu =1.405+-0.008 arcsec
yr-1), large radial velocity (Vrad = 454+-15 km s-1), estimated uvw velocities
(94, -573, 125) km s-1 and Galactic orbit with an apogalacticon at ~29 kpc are
indicative of membership in the outer halo making 2MASS 0616-6407 the first
ultracool member of this population.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
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