23,686 research outputs found
Probing the Low Surface Brightness Dwarf Galaxy Population of the Virgo Cluster
We have used public data from the Next Generation Virgo Survey (NGVS) to
investigate the dwarf galaxy population of the Virgo cluster beyond what has
previously been discovered. We initially mask and smooth the data, and then use
the object detection algorithm Sextractor to make our initial dwarf galaxy
selection. All candidates are then visually inspected to remove artefacts and
duplicates. We derive Sextractor parameters to best select low surface
brightness galaxies using g band central surface brightness values of 22.5 to
26.0 mag sq arc sec and exponential scale lengths of 3.0 - 10.0 arc sec to
identify 443 cluster dwarf galaxies - 303 of which are new detections. These
new detections have a surface density that decreases with radius from the
cluster centre. We also apply our selection algorithm to 'background',
non-cluster, fields and find zero detections. In combination, this leads us to
believe that we have isolated a cluster dwarf galaxy population. The range of
objects we are able to detect is limited because smaller scale sized galaxies
are confused with the background, while larger galaxies are split into numerous
smaller objects by the detection algorithm. Using data from previous surveys
combined with our data, we find a faint end slope to the luminosity function of
-1.35+/-0.03, which does not significantly differ to what has previously been
found for the Virgo cluster, but is a little steeper than the slope for field
galaxies. There is no evidence for a faint end slope steep enough to correspond
with galaxy formation models, unless those models invoke either strong feedback
processes or use warm dark matter.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA
Electronic and optical properties of quantum wells embedded in wrinkled nanomembranes
The authors theoretically investigate quantum confinement and transition
energies in quantum wells (QWs) asymmetrically positioned in wrinkled
nanomembranes. Calculations reveal that the wrinkle profile induces both blue-
and redshifts depending on the lateral position of the QW probed. Relevant
radiative transistions include the ground state of the electron (hole) and
excited states of the hole (electron). Energy shifts as well as stretchability
of the structure are studied as a function of wrinkle amplitude and period.
Large tunable bandwidths of up to 70 nm are predicted for highly asymmetric
wrinkled QWs.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures. The following article has been submitted to
Applied Physics Letters. After it is published, it will be found at
http://apl.aip.or
Intranasal melanoma treated with radiation therapy in three dogs
Three dogs were investigated for chronic unilateral nasal discharge. In all cases CT imaging showed an intranasal mass causing turbinate lysis and no evidence of metastasis. Cytology in cases 1 (a 14-year-old neutered male crossbreed dog) and 2 (a five-year-old neutered male German Shepherd dog) demonstrated a pleomorphic cell population with variable intracellular pigment suspicious of melanocytic neoplasia. Histopathology with immunohistochemistry (Melan-A and vimentin, plus PNL-2 in one case) confirmed the diagnosis of melanoma in all dogs. All dogs were treated with megavoltage radiotherapy using linear accelerators. Cases 1 and 3 (a nine-year-old neutered female beagle dog) received a hypofractionated (4 × 8 Gy) protocol and case 2 received a definitive (12 × 4 Gy) protocol. Complete remission was demonstrated on repeat CT scan five months after diagnosis in case 1 and seven months in case 2. Stable disease was documented on CT at four months for case 3; however, clinical signs in this dog remained controlled for 10 months in total. Case 1 died of unrelated causes five months after diagnosis, case 2 was euthanased due to the development of seizures 13 months after diagnosis, and case 3 was lost to follow-up 12 months after diagnosis. Melanoma should be considered as a rare differential diagnosis for primary nasal neoplasia in the dog and radiation therapy can be used as effective local therapy
Massless interacting particles
We show that classical electrodynamics of massless charged particles and the
Yang--Mills theory of massless quarks do not experience rearranging their
initial degrees of freedom into dressed particles and radiation. Massless
particles do not radiate. We consider a version of the direct interparticle
action theory for these systems following the general strategy of Wheeler and
Feynman.Comment: LaTeX; 20 pages; V4: discussion is slightly modified to clarify some
important points, relevant references are adde
Turing machines can be efficiently simulated by the General Purpose Analog Computer
The Church-Turing thesis states that any sufficiently powerful computational
model which captures the notion of algorithm is computationally equivalent to
the Turing machine. This equivalence usually holds both at a computability
level and at a computational complexity level modulo polynomial reductions.
However, the situation is less clear in what concerns models of computation
using real numbers, and no analog of the Church-Turing thesis exists for this
case. Recently it was shown that some models of computation with real numbers
were equivalent from a computability perspective. In particular it was shown
that Shannon's General Purpose Analog Computer (GPAC) is equivalent to
Computable Analysis. However, little is known about what happens at a
computational complexity level. In this paper we shed some light on the
connections between this two models, from a computational complexity level, by
showing that, modulo polynomial reductions, computations of Turing machines can
be simulated by GPACs, without the need of using more (space) resources than
those used in the original Turing computation, as long as we are talking about
bounded computations. In other words, computations done by the GPAC are as
space-efficient as computations done in the context of Computable Analysis
Density of critical points for a Gaussian random function
Critical points of a scalar quantitiy are either extremal points or saddle
points. The character of the critical points is determined by the sign
distribution of the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix. For a two-dimensional
homogeneous and isotropic random function topological arguments are sufficient
to show that all possible sign combinations are equidistributed or with other
words, the density of the saddle points and extrema agree. This argument breaks
down in three dimensions. All ratios of the densities of saddle points and
extrema larger than one are possible. For a homogeneous Gaussian random field
one finds no longer an equidistribution of signs, saddle points are slightly
more frequent.Comment: 11 pages 1 figure, changes in list of references, corrected typo
Terahertz emission and detection using Fe-doped InGaAs and low-temperature-grown-GaAs photoconductive switches
Coulomb blockade in quantum dots under AC pumping
We study conductance through a quantum dot under Coulomb blockade conditions
in the presence of an external periodic perturbation. The stationary state is
determined by the balance between the heating of the dot electrons by the
perturbation and cooling. We analyze two cooling mechanisms: electron exchange
with the cold contacts and emission of phonons. Together with the usual linear
Ohmic heating of the dot electrons we consider possible effects of dynamic
localization. The combination of the abovementioned factors may result in a
drastic change of the shape of the Coulomb blockade peak with respect to the
usual equilibrium one.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
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