521 research outputs found
Earthquake recurrence as a record breaking process
Extending the central concept of recurrence times for a point process to
recurrent events in space-time allows us to characterize seismicity as a record
breaking process using only spatiotemporal relations among events. Linking
record breaking events with edges between nodes in a graph generates a complex
dynamical network isolated from any length, time or magnitude scales set by the
observer. For Southern California, the network of recurrences reveals new
statistical features of seismicity with robust scaling laws. The rupture length
and its scaling with magnitude emerges as a generic measure for distance
between recurrent events. Further, the relative separations for subsequent
records in space (or time) form a hierarchy with unexpected scaling properties
Spatiotemporal correlations of aftershock sequences
Aftershock sequences are of particular interest in seismic research since
they may condition seismic activity in a given region over long time spans.
While they are typically identified with periods of enhanced seismic activity
after a large earthquake as characterized by the Omori law, our knowledge of
the spatiotemporal correlations between events in an aftershock sequence is
limited. Here, we study the spatiotemporal correlations of two aftershock
sequences form California (Parkfield and Hector Mine) using the recently
introduced concept of "recurrent" events. We find that both sequences have very
similar properties and that most of them are captured by the space-time
epidemic-type aftershock sequence (ETAS) model if one takes into account
catalog incompleteness. However, the stochastic model does not capture the
spatiotemporal correlations leading to the observed structure of seismicity on
small spatial scales.Comment: 31 pages, 5 figure
Identification of the X-ray pulsar in Hercules: A new optical pulsar
A series of photographic, photoelectric, and spectroscopic observations beginning June 1, 1972 has led to the optical identification of Her X-1 (2U 1705 + 34), a pulsed X-ray source in an eclipsing binary system, with the thirteenth magnitude blue variable star HZ Herculis. The detection of optical pulses at the frequency of the X-ray pulsar on three nights makes the identification conclusive and establishes HZ Her as the second known optical pulsar. The strength of the optical pulses may be correlated with the orbital phase but is not obviously related to the high or low intensity states of the X-ray source
Network of recurrent events for the Olami-Feder-Christensen model
We numerically study the dynamics of a discrete spring-block model introduced
by Olami, Feder and Christensen (OFC) to mimic earthquakes and investigate to
which extent this simple model is able to reproduce the observed spatiotemporal
clustering of seismicty. Following a recently proposed method to characterize
such clustering by networks of recurrent events [Geophys. Res. Lett. {\bf 33},
L1304, 2006], we find that for synthetic catalogs generated by the OFC model
these networks have many non-trivial statistical properties. This includes
characteristic degree distributions -- very similar to what has been observed
for real seismicity. There are, however, also significant differences between
the OFC model and earthquake catalogs indicating that this simple model is
insufficient to account for certain aspects of the spatiotemporal clustering of
seismicity.Comment: 11 pages, 16 figure
Network of Earthquakes and Recurrences Therein
We quantify the correlation between earthquakes and use the same to
distinguish between relevant causally connected earthquakes. Our correlation
metric is a variation on the one introduced by Baiesi and Paczuski (2004). A
network of earthquakes is constructed, which is time ordered and with links
between the more correlated ones. Data pertaining to the California region has
been used in the study. Recurrences to earthquakes are identified employing
correlation thresholds to demarcate the most meaningful ones in each cluster.
The distribution of recurrence lengths and recurrence times are analyzed
subsequently to extract information about the complex dynamics. We find that
the unimodal feature of recurrence lengths helps to associate typical rupture
lengths with different magnitude earthquakes. The out-degree of the network
shows a hub structure rooted on the large magnitude earthquakes. In-degree
distribution is seen to be dependent on the density of events in the
neighborhood. Power laws are also obtained with recurrence time distribution
agreeing with the Omori law.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
1/f noise from correlations between avalanches in self-organized criticality
We show that large, slowly driven systems can evolve to a self-organized
critical state where long range temporal correlations between bursts or
avalanches produce low frequency noise. The avalanches can occur
instantaneously in the external time scale of the slow drive, and their event
statistics are described by power law distributions. A specific example of this
behavior is provided by numerical simulations of a deterministic ``sandpile''
model.Comment: Completely revised version: 4 pages (revtex), 3 eps figure
Networks of Recurrent Events, a Theory of Records, and an Application to Finding Causal Signatures in Seismicity
We propose a method to search for signs of causal structure in spatiotemporal
data making minimal a priori assumptions about the underlying dynamics. To this
end, we generalize the elementary concept of recurrence for a point process in
time to recurrent events in space and time. An event is defined to be a
recurrence of any previous event if it is closer to it in space than all the
intervening events. As such, each sequence of recurrences for a given event is
a record breaking process. This definition provides a strictly data driven
technique to search for structure. Defining events to be nodes, and linking
each event to its recurrences, generates a network of recurrent events.
Significant deviations in properties of that network compared to networks
arising from random processes allows one to infer attributes of the causal
dynamics that generate observable correlations in the patterns. We derive
analytically a number of properties for the network of recurrent events
composed by a random process. We extend the theory of records to treat not only
the variable where records happen, but also time as continuous. In this way, we
construct a fully symmetric theory of records leading to a number of new
results. Those analytic results are compared to the properties of a network
synthesized from earthquakes in Southern California. Significant disparities
from the ensemble of acausal networks that can be plausibly attributed to the
causal structure of seismicity are: (1) Invariance of network statistics with
the time span of the events considered, (2) Appearance of a fundamental length
scale for recurrences, independent of the time span of the catalog, which is
consistent with observations of the ``rupture length'', (3) Hierarchy in the
distances and times of subsequent recurrences.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figure
HUT observations of carbon monoxide in the coma of Comet Levy (1990c)
Observations of comet Levy (1990c) were made with the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope during the Astro-1 Space Shuttle mission on 10 Dec. 1990. The spectrum, covering the wavelength range 415 to 1850 A at a spectral emission of 3 A (in first order), shows the presence of carbon monoxide and atomic hydrogen, carbon, and sulfur in the coma. Aside from H I Lyman-beta, no cometary features are detected below 1200 A, although cometary O I and O II would be masked by the same emissions present in the day airglow spectrum. The 9.4 x 116 arcsec aperture corresponds to 12,000 x 148,000 km at the comet. The derived production rate of CO relative to water, 0.13 + or - 0.02, compared with the same ratio derived from IUE observations (made in Sep. 1990) which sample a much smaller region of the coma, 0.04 + or - 0.01, suggests the presence of an extended source of CO, as was found in comet Halley. Upper limits on Ne and Ar abundance are within an order of magnitude or solar abundances
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