The Low-z Intergalactic Medium. III. HI and Metal Absorbers at z<0.4

We conduct an ultraviolet (HST and FUSE) spectroscopic survey of HI (Lyman lines) and seven metal ions (OVI, NV, CIV, CIII, SiIV, SiIII, FeIII) in the low-redshift intergalactic medium (IGM) at z<0.4. We analyzed 650 Lya absorbers over redshift pathlength Delta z=5.27, detecting numerous absorbers: 83 OVI systems, 39 CIII, 53 SiIII, 24 CIV, 24 NV, and so on. Our survey yields distributions in column density and estimates of the IGM baryon content and metallicities of C, N, O in the IGM. In the low-z IGM, we have accounted for ~40% of the baryons: 30% in the photoionized Lya forest and 10% in the (T=10^5-6 K) warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) traced by OVI. Statistical metallicities of C, N, O ions are consistent with the canonical (z=0) value of 10% solar, with considerable scatter. Improved statistics for weak OVI absorbers allows us to estimate Omega_WHIM/Omega_b=0.073+-0.008 down to logN_OVI=13.4. NV absorption is well-correlated with OVI and both ions show similarly steep power-law indices dN/dz N^-beta with beta_OVI beta_NV 2 while beta_HI=1.7. We conclude that OVI and NV are reliable tracers of the portion of the WHIM at T=10^5-6 K. CIV may be present in both collisional and photoionized phases; N_CIV correlates poorly with both N_HI and N_OVI and beta_HI<beta_CIV<beta_OVI. The ions CIII, SiIII, and SiIV are well correlated with HI and show patterns typical of photoionization. Adjacent ion stages of the same element (CIII/IV and SiIII/IV) provide useful constraints on the photoionization parameter, logU=-1.5+-0.5. Comparison of SiIV and CIV with high-z surveys shows a modest increase in line density, consistent with increasing IGM metallicity at recent epochs.Comment: Submitted to ApJ, 27 pages in ApJ format (figure and discussion added

An empirical investigation of sparse distributed memory using discrete speech recognition

Presented here is a step by step analysis of how the basic Sparse Distributed Memory (SDM) model can be modified to enhance its generalization capabilities for classification tasks. Data is taken from speech generated by a single talker. Experiments are used to investigate the theory of associative memories and the question of generalization from specific instances

Standing Swells Surveyed Showing Surprisingly Stable Solutions for the Lorenz '96 Model

The Lorenz '96 model is an adjustable dimension system of ODEs exhibiting chaotic behavior representative of dynamics observed in the Earth's atmosphere. In the present study, we characterize statistical properties of the chaotic dynamics while varying the degrees of freedom and the forcing. Tuning the dimensionality of the system, we find regions of parameter space with surprising stability in the form of standing waves traveling amongst the slow oscillators. The boundaries of these stable regions fluctuate regularly with the number of slow oscillators. These results demonstrate hidden order in the Lorenz '96 system, strengthening the evidence for its role as a hallmark representative of nonlinear dynamical behavior.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure