210 research outputs found
Predicting QSO Continua in the Ly Alpha Forest
We present a method to make predictions with sets of correlated data values,
in this case QSO flux spectra. We predict the continuum in the Lyman-Alpha
forest of a QSO, from 1020 -- 1216 A, using the spectrum of that QSO from 1216
-- 1600 A . We find correlations between the unabsorbed flux in these two
wavelengths regions in the HST spectra of 50 QSOs. We use principal component
analysis (PCA) to summarize the variety of these spectra and we relate the
weights of the principal components for 1020 -- 1600 A to the weights for 1216
-- 1600 A, and we apply this relation to make predictions. We test the method
on the HST spectra, and we find an average absolute flux error of 9%, with a
range 3 -- 30%, where individual predictions are systematically too low or too
high. We mention several ways in which the predictions might be improved.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Ap
QSO 0130-4021: A third QSO showing a low Deuterium to Hydrogen Abundance Ratio
We have discovered a third quasar absorption system which is consistent with
a low deuterium to hydrogen abundance ratio, D/H = 3.4 times 10^-5. The z ~ 2.8
partial Lyman limit system towards QSO 0130-4021 provides the strongest
evidence to date against large D/H ratios because the H I absorption, which
consists of a single high column density component with unsaturated high order
Lyman series lines, is readily modeled -- a task which is more complex in other
D/H systems. We have obtained twenty-two hours of spectra from the HIRES
spectrograph on the W.M. Keck telescope, which allow a detailed description of
the Hydrogen. We see excess absorption on the blue wing of the H I Lyman alpha
line, near the expected position of Deuterium. However, we find that Deuterium
cannot explain all of the excess absorption, and hence there must be
contamination by additional absorption, probably H I. This extra H I can
account for most or all of the absorption at the D position, and hence D/H = 0
is allowed. We find an upper limit of D/H < 6.7 times 10^-5 in this system,
consistent with the value of D/H ~ 3.4 times 10^-5 deduced towards QSO
1009+2956 and QSO 1937-1009 by Burles and Tytler (1998a, 1998b). This
absorption system shows only weak metal line absorption, and we estimate [Si/H]
< -2.6 -- indicating that the D/H ratio of the system is likely primordial. All
four of the known high redshift absorption line systems simple enough to
provide useful limits on D are consistent with D/H = 3.4 +/- 0.25 times 10^-5.
Conversely, this QSO provides the third case which is inconsistent with much
larger values.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Ap
A z=0.9 supercluster of X-ray luminous, optically-selected, massive galaxy clusters
We report the discovery of a compact supercluster structure at z=0.9. The
structure comprises three optically-selected clusters, all of which are
detected in X-rays and spectroscopically confirmed to lie at the same redshift.
The Chandra X-ray temperatures imply individual masses of ~5x10^14 Msun. The
X-ray masses are consistent with those inferred from optical--X-ray scaling
relations established at lower redshift. A strongly-lensed z~4 Lyman break
galaxy behind one of the clusters allows a strong-lensing mass to be estimated
for this cluster, which is in good agreement with the X-ray measurement.
Optical spectroscopy of this cluster gives a dynamical mass in good agreement
with the other independent mass estimates. The three components of the
RCS2319+00 supercluster are separated from their nearest neighbor by a mere <3
Mpc in the plane of the sky and likely <10 Mpc along the line-of-sight, and we
interpret this structure as the high-redshift antecedent of massive (~10^15
Msun) z~0.5 clusters such as MS0451.5-0305.Comment: ApJ Letters accepted. 5 pages in emulateapj, 3 figure
The Deuterium to Hydrogen Abundance Ratio Towards a Fourth QSO: HS0105+1619
We report the measurement of the primordial D/H abundance ratio towards QSO
\object. The column density of the hydrogen in the Lyman limit
system is high, \lnhi \cmm, allowing for the deuterium to
be seen in 5 Lyman series transitions. The measured value of the D/H ratio
towards QSO \object is found to be D/H. The
metallicity of the system showing D/H is found to be solar,
indicating that the measured D/H is the primordial D/H within the measurement
errors. The gas which shows D/H is neutral, unlike previous D/H systems which
were more highly ionized. Thus, the determination of the D/H ratio becomes more
secure since we are measuring it in different astrophysical environments, but
the error is larger because we now see more dispersion between measurements.
Combined with prior measurements of D/H, the best D/H ratio is now D/H, which is 10% lower than the previous value. The new
values for the baryon to photon ratio, and baryonic matter density derived from
D/H are and \ob
respectively.Comment: Minor text and reference changes. To appear in the May 10, 2001 issue
of the Astrophysical Journa
Cosmic Microwave Background Dipole induced by double inflation
The observed CMBR dipole is generally interpreted as the consequence of the
peculiar motion of the Sun with respect to the reference frame of the CMBR.
This article proposes an alternative interpretation in which the observed
dipole is the result of isocurvature perturbations on scales larger than the
present Hubble radius. These perturbations are produced in the simplest model
of double inflation, depending on three parameters. The observed dipole and
quadrupole can be explained in this model, while severely constraining its
parameters.Comment: Latex, 9 pages, no figure, to appear in Phys. Rev.
New HST spectra indicate the QSO PG1718+4807 will not give the primordial deuterium abundance
The z ~ 0.701 absorption system towards the QSO PG1718+4807 is the only
example of a QSO absorption system which might have a deuterium/hydrogen ratio
approximately ten times the value found towards other QSOs. We have obtained
new STIS spectra from the Hubble Space Telescope of the Lyman alpha and Lyman
limit regions of the system. These spectra give the redshift and velocity
dispersion of the neutral hydrogen which produces most of the observed
absorption. The Lyman alpha line is too narrow to account for all of the
observed absorption. It was previously known that extra absorption is needed on
the blue side of the main H I near to the expected position of deuterium. The
current data suggests with a 98% confidence level that the extra absorption is
not deuterium. Some uncertainty persists because we have a low signal to noise
ratio and the extra absorption - be it deuterium or hydrogen - is heavily
blended with the Lyman alpha absorption from the main hydrogen component.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, Submitted to Ap
Spectroscopic Analysis of H I Absorption Line Systems in 40 HIRES Quasars
We list and analyze H I absorption lines at redshifts 2 < z < 4 with column
density (12 < log(N_HI) < 19) in 40 high-resolutional (FWHM = 8.0 km/s) quasar
spectra obtained with the Keck+HIRES. We de-blend and fit all H I lines within
1,000 km/s of 86 strong H I lines whose column densities are log(N_HI/[cm^-2])
> 15. Unlike most prior studies, we use not only Lya but also all visible
higher Lyman series lines to improve the fitting accuracy. This reveals
components near to higher column density systems that can not be seen in Lya.
We list the Voigt profile fits to the 1339 H I components that we found. We
examined physical properties of H I lines after separating them into several
sub-samples according to their velocity separation from the quasars, their
redshift, column density and the S/N ratio of the spectrum. We found two
interesting trends for lines with 12 < log(N_HI) < 15 which are within 200-1000
km/s of systems with log(N_HI) > 15. First, their column density distribution
becomes steeper, meaning relatively fewer high column density lines, at z <
2.9. Second, their column density distribution also becomes steeper and their
line width becomes broader by about 2-3 km/s when they are within 5,000 km/s of
their quasar.Comment: 32 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journal. A complete version with all tables and figures is available at
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/misawa/pub/Paper/40hires.ps.g
A semi-parametric approach to estimate risk functions associated with multi-dimensional exposure profiles: application to smoking and lung cancer
A common characteristic of environmental epidemiology is the multi-dimensional aspect of exposure patterns, frequently reduced to a cumulative exposure for simplicity of analysis. By adopting a flexible Bayesian clustering approach, we explore the risk function linking exposure history to disease. This approach is applied here to study the relationship between different smoking characteristics and lung cancer in the framework of a population based case control study
The impact of methodology on the reproducibility and rigor of DNA methylation data
Epigenetic modifications are crucial for normal development and implicated in disease pathogenesis. While epigenetics continues to be a burgeoning research area in neuroscience, unaddressed issues related to data reproducibility across laboratories remain. Separating meaningful experimental changes from background variability is a challenge in epigenomic studies. Here we show that seemingly minor experimental variations, even under normal baseline conditions, can have a significant impact on epigenome outcome measures and data interpretation. We examined genome-wide DNA methylation and gene expression profiles of hippocampal tissues from wild-type rats housed in three independent laboratories using nearly identical conditions. Reduced-representation bisulfite sequencing and RNA-seq respectively identified 3852 differentially methylated and 1075 differentially expressed genes between laboratories, even in the absence of experimental intervention. Difficult-to-match factors such as animal vendors and a subset of husbandry and tissue extraction procedures produced quantifiable variations between wild-type animals across the three laboratories. Our study demonstrates that seemingly minor experimental variations, even under normal baseline conditions, can have a significant impact on epigenome outcome measures and data interpretation. This is particularly meaningful for neurological studies in animal models, in which baseline parameters between experimental groups are difficult to control. To enhance scientific rigor, we conclude that strict adherence to protocols is necessary for the execution and interpretation of epigenetic studies and that protocol-sensitive epigenetic changes, amongst naive animals, may confound experimental results
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An assessment of aerosol‐cloud interactions in marine stratus clouds based on surface remote sensing
An assessment of aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI) from ground-based remote sensing under coastal stratiform clouds is presented. The assessment utilizes a long-term, high temporal resolution data set from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program deployment at Pt. Reyes, California, United States, in 2005 to provide statistically robust measures of ACI and to characterize the variability of the measures based on variability in environmental conditions and observational approaches. The average ACIN (= dlnNd/dlna, the change in cloud drop number concentration with aerosol concentration) is 0.48, within a physically plausible range of 0–1.0. Values vary between 0.18 and 0.69 with dependence on (1) the assumption of constant cloud liquid water path (LWP), (2) the relative value of cloud LWP, (3) methods for retrieving Nd, (4) aerosol size distribution, (5) updraft velocity, and (6) the scale and resolution of observations. The sensitivity of the local, diurnally averaged radiative forcing to this variability in ACIN values, assuming an aerosol perturbation of 500 c-3 relative to a background concentration of 100 cm-3, ranges betwee-4 and -9 W -2. Further characterization of ACI and its variability is required to reduce uncertainties in global radiative forcing estimates
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