372 research outputs found
Can Self-Organizing Maps accurately predict photometric redshifts?
We present an unsupervised machine learning approach that can be employed for
estimating photometric redshifts. The proposed method is based on a vector
quantization approach called Self--Organizing Mapping (SOM). A variety of
photometrically derived input values were utilized from the Sloan Digital Sky
Survey's Main Galaxy Sample, Luminous Red Galaxy, and Quasar samples along with
the PHAT0 data set from the PHoto-z Accuracy Testing project. Regression
results obtained with this new approach were evaluated in terms of root mean
square error (RMSE) to estimate the accuracy of the photometric redshift
estimates. The results demonstrate competitive RMSE and outlier percentages
when compared with several other popular approaches such as Artificial Neural
Networks and Gaussian Process Regression. SOM RMSE--results (using
z=z--z) for the Main Galaxy Sample are 0.023, for the
Luminous Red Galaxy sample 0.027, Quasars are 0.418, and PHAT0 synthetic data
are 0.022. The results demonstrate that there are non--unique solutions for
estimating SOM RMSEs. Further research is needed in order to find more robust
estimation techniques using SOMs, but the results herein are a positive
indication of their capabilities when compared with other well-known methods.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PAS
Nonparametric Reconstruction of the Dark Energy Equation of State
A basic aim of ongoing and upcoming cosmological surveys is to unravel the
mystery of dark energy. In the absence of a compelling theory to test, a
natural approach is to better characterize the properties of dark energy in
search of clues that can lead to a more fundamental understanding. One way to
view this characterization is the improved determination of the
redshift-dependence of the dark energy equation of state parameter, w(z). To do
this requires a robust and bias-free method for reconstructing w(z) from data
that does not rely on restrictive expansion schemes or assumed functional forms
for w(z). We present a new nonparametric reconstruction method that solves for
w(z) as a statistical inverse problem, based on a Gaussian Process
representation. This method reliably captures nontrivial behavior of w(z) and
provides controlled error bounds. We demonstrate the power of the method on
different sets of simulated supernova data; the approach can be easily extended
to include diverse cosmological probes.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review
Herschel-ATLAS: The angular correlation function of submillimetre galaxies at high and low redshift
Original article can be found at: http://www.aanda.org/ Copyright The European Southern ObservatoryWe present measurements of the angular correlation function of galaxies selected from the first field of the H-ATLAS survey. Careful removal of the background from galactic cirrus is essential, and currently dominates the uncertainty in our measurements. For our 250 μm-selected sample we detect no significant clustering, consistent with the expectation that the 250 μm-selected sources are mostly normal galaxies at z 1. For our 350 μm and 500 μm-selected samples we detect relatively strong clustering with correlation amplitudes A of 0.2 and 1.2 at 1', but with relatively large uncertainties. For samples which preferentially select high redshift galaxies at z~2–3 we detect significant strong clustering, leading to an estimate of r0 ~ 7–11 h-1 Mpc. The slope of our clustering measurements is very steep, δ ~ 2. The measurements are consistent with the idea that sub-mm sources consist of a low redshift population of normal galaxies and a high redshift population of highly clustered star-bursting galaxies.Peer reviewe
PDS 144: the first confirmed Herbig Ae-Herbig Ae wide binary
PDS 144 is a pair of Herbig Ae stars that are separated by 5.'' 35 on the sky. It has previously been shown to have an A2Ve Herbig Ae star viewed at 83 degrees inclination as its northern member and an A5Ve Herbig Ae star as its southern member. Direct imagery revealed a disk occulting PDS 144 N-the first edge-on disk observed around a Herbig Ae star. The lack of an obvious disk in direct imagery suggested PDS 144 S might be viewed face-on or not physically associated with PDS 144 N. Multi-epoch Hubble Space Telescope imagery of PDS 144 with a 5 year baseline demonstrates PDS 144 N & S are comoving and have a common proper motion with TYC 6782-878-1. TYC 6782-878-1 has previously been identified as a member of Upper Sco sub-association A at d = 145 +/- 2 pc with an age of 5-10 Myr. Ground-based imagery reveals jets and a string of Herbig-Haro knots extending 13' (possibly further) which are aligned to within 7 degrees +/- 6 degrees on the sky. By combining proper motion data and the absence of a dark mid-plane with radial velocity data, we measure the inclination of PDS 144 S to be i = 73 degrees +/- 7 degrees. The radial velocity of the jets from PDS 144 N & S indicates they, and therefore their disks, are misaligned by 25 degrees +/- 9 degrees. This degree of misalignment is similar to that seen in T Tauri wide binaries.Peer reviewe
Selective laser sintering of hydroxyapatite reinforced polyethylene composites for bioactive implants and tissue scaffold development
Selective laser sintering (SLS) has been investigated for the production of bioactive implants and tissue scaffolds using composites of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) reinforced with hydroxyapatite (HA) with the aim of achieving the rapid manufacturing of customized implants. Single-layer and multilayer block specimens made of HA-HDPE composites with 30 and 40 vol % HA were sintered successfully using a CO2 laser sintering system. Laser power and scanning speed had a significant effect on the sintering behaviour. The degree of particle fusion and porosity were influenced by the laser processing parameters, hence control can be attained by varying these parameters. Moreover, the SLS processing allowed exposure of HA particles on the surface of the composites and thereby should provide bioactive products. Pores existed in the SLS-fabricated composite parts and at certain processing parameters a significant fraction of the pores were within the optimal sizes for tissue regeneration. The results indicate that the SLS technique has the potential not only to fabricate HA-HDPE composite products but also to produce appropriate features for their application as bioactive implants and tissue scaffolds
A search for debris disks in the Herschel-ATLAS
Original article can be found at: http://www.aanda.org/ Copyright The European Southern Observatory (ESO)Aims. We aim to demonstrate that the Herschel-ATLAS (H-ATLAS) is suitable for a blind and unbiased survey for debris disks by identifying candidate debris disks associated with main sequence stars in the initial science demonstration field of the survey. We show that H-ATLAS reveals a population of far-infrared/sub-mm sources that are associated with stars or star-like objects on the SDSS main-sequence locus. We validate our approach by comparing the properties of the most likely candidate disks to those of the known population. Methods. We use a photometric selection technique to identify main sequence stars in the SDSS DR7 catalogue and a Bayesian Likelihood Ratio method to identify H-ATLAS catalogue sources associated with these main sequence stars. Following this photometric selection we apply distance cuts to identify the most likely candidate debris disks and rule out the presence of contaminating galaxies using UKIDSS LAS K-band images. Results. We identify 78 H-ATLAS sources associated with SDSS point sources on the main-sequence locus, of which two are the most likely debris disk candidates: H-ATLAS J090315.8 and H-ATLAS J090240.2. We show that they are plausible candidates by comparing their properties to the known population of debris disks. Our initial results indicate that bright debris disks are rare, with only 2 candidates identified in a search sample of 851 stars. We also show that H-ATLAS can derive useful upper limits for debris disks associated with Hipparcos stars in the field and outline the future prospects for our debris disk search programme.Peer reviewe
The Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS): The Environments of High-z SDSS Quasi-Stellar-Objects
This paper presents a study of the environments of SDSS Quasi-Stellar-Objects
(QSOs) in the Spitzer Extragalactic Representative Volume Survey (SERVS). We
concentrate on the high-redshift QSOs as these have not been studied in large
numbers with data of this depth before. We use the IRAC 3.6-4.5{\mu}m colour of
objects and ancillary r-band data to filter out as much foreground
contamination as possible. This technique allows us to find a significant (>
4-{\sigma}) over-density of galaxies around QSOs in a redshift bin centred on z
~ 2.0 and a (> 2-{\sigma}) over-density of galaxies around QSOs in a redshift
bin centred on z ~ 3.3. We compare our findings to the predictions of a
semi-analytic galaxy formation model, based on the {\Lambda}CDM millennium
simulation, and find for both redshift bins that the model predictions match
well the source-density we have measured from the SERVS data.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, Accepted by Ap
The sizes, masses and specific star formation rates of massive galaxies at 1.3 < z < 1.5: strong evidence in favour of evolution via minor mergers
We report the results of a comprehensive study of the relationship between
galaxy size, stellar mass and specific star-formation rate (sSFR) at redshifts
1.3= 6x10^10 Msun), spectroscopic
sample from the UKIDSS Ultra-deep Survey (UDS), with accurate stellar-mass
measurements derived from spectro photometric fitting, we find that at z~1.4
the location of massive galaxies on the size-mass plane is determined primarily
by their sSFR. At this epoch we find that massive galaxies which are passive
(sSFR <= 0.1 Gyr^-1) follow a tight size-mass relation, with half-light radii a
factor f=2.4+/-0.2 smaller than their local counterparts. Moreover, amongst the
passive sub-sample we find no evidence that the off-set from the local
size-mass relation is a function of stellar population age. Based on a
sub-sample with dynamical mass estimates we also derive an independent estimate
of f=2.3+/-0.3 for the typical growth in half-light radius between z~1.4 and
the present day. Focusing on the passive sub-sample, we conclude that to
produce the necessary evolution predominantly via major mergers would require
an unfeasible number of merger events and over populate the high-mass end of
the local stellar mass function. In contrast, we find that a scenario in which
mass accretion is dominated by minor mergers can produce the necessary
evolution, whereby an increase in stellar mass by a factor of ~2, accompanied
by an increase in size by a factor of ~3.5, is sufficient to reconcile the
size-mass relation at z~1.4 with that observed locally. Finally, we note that a
significant fraction (44+/-12%) of the passive galaxies in our sample have a
disk-like morphology, providing additional evidence that separate physical
processes are responsible for the quenching of star-formation and the
morphological transformation of massive galaxies (abridged).Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Replaced to
match accepted versio
A detailed study of irradiation requirements towards an efficient photochemical Wohl‐Ziegler procedure in flow
A platform has been developed to enable standardization of light sources, allowing consistent scale‐up from high‐throughput screening in batch to flow, using the same pseudo‐monochromatic light source. The impact of wavelength and light intensity on a photochemical reaction was evaluated within this platform using the Wohl‐Ziegler benzylic bromination of 4‐methyl‐3‐(trifluoromethyl)benzonitrile with N‐bromosuccinimide as a model system. It was found that only 40 % of the maximum light intensity was required while still maintaining reaction rate, allowing more reliable temperature control and lower energy consumption. The optimized reaction conditions were subsequently applied to a range of synthetically relevant (hetero)aromatic compounds under continuous conditions, exploring the scope of the process within a mild and scalable procedure
Green Bank Telescope Zpectrometer CO(1-0) observations of the strongly lensed submillimeter galaxies from the Herschel ATLAS
The Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS) has uncovered a population of strongly
lensed submillimeter galaxies (SMGs). The Zpectrometer instrument on the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) was
used to measure the redshifts and constrain the masses of the cold molecular gas reservoirs for two candidate highredshift lensed sources. We derive CO(1?0) redshifts of z = 3.042 ± 0.001 and z = 2.625 ± 0.001, and measure molecular gas masses of (1?3) ×1010 M, corrected for lens amplification and assuming a conversion factor of ? = 0.8 M ( K km s?1 pc2)?1. We find typicalL(IR)/L (CO) ratios of 120 ± 40 and 140±50L ( K km s?1 pc2)?1, which are consistent with those found for local ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) and other high-redshift SMGs. From analysis of published data, we find no evidence for enhanced L(IR)/L (CO(1?0)) ratios for the SMG population in comparison to local ULIRGs. The GBT results highlight the power of using the CO lines to derive blind redshifts, which is challenging for the SMGs at optical wavelengths given their high obscuration.We acknowledge the staff at Green Bank who have made these observations possible. We are indebted to the late Senator Robert C. Byrd for his strong support of the Green Bank Telescope. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc. A.J.B. acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation through grant AST-0708653.
Facility: GBT (Zpectrometer
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