Large-Scale Structure at z~2.5

We have made a statistically complete, unbiased survey of C IV systems toward a region of high QSO density near the South Galactic Pole using 25 lines of sight spanning $1.5<z<2.8$. Such a survey makes an excellent probe of large-scale structure at early epochs. We find evidence for structure on the $15-35h^{-1}$ proper Mpc scale ($H_0 \equiv 100$ km $s^{-1}$ Mpc${-1}$) as determined by the two point C IV - C IV absorber correlation function, and reject the null hypothesis that C IV systems are distributed randomly on such scales at the $\sim 3.5\sigma$ level. The structure likely reflects the distance between two groups of absorbers subtending $\sim~ 13 \times 5 \times 21h^{-3}$ and $\sim 7 \times 1 \times 15h^{-3}$ Mpc$^3$ at $z\sim 2.3$ and $z \sim 2.5$ respectively. There is also a marginal trend for the association of high rest equivalent width C IV absorbers and QSOs at similar redshifts but along different lines of sight. The total number of C IV systems detected is consistent with that which would be expected based on a survey using many widely separated lines of sight. Using the same data, we also find 11 Mg II absorbers in a complete survey toward 24 lines of sight; there is no evidence for Mg II - Mg II or Mg II - QSO clustering, though the sample size is likely still small to detect such structure if it exists.Comment: 56 pages including 32 of figures, in gzip-ed uuencoded postscript format, 1 long table not included, aastex4 package. Accepted for publication in ApJ Supplement

Engineering Analysis of Intermediate Loop and Process Heat Exchanger Requirements to Include Configuration Analysis and Materials Needs

The need to locate advanced hydrogen production facilities a finite distance away from a nuclear power source necessitates the need for an intermediate heat transport loop (IHTL). This IHTL must not only efficiently transport energy over distances up to 500 meters but must also be capable of operating at high temperatures (>850oC) for many years. High temperature, long term operation raises concerns of material strength, creep resistance and general material stability (corrosion resistance). IHTL design is currently in the initial stages. Many questions remain to be answered before intelligent design can begin. The report begins to look at some of the issues surrounding the main components of an IHTL. Specifically, a stress analysis of a compact heat exchanger design under expected operating conditions is reported. Also the results of a thermal analysis performed on two ITHL pipe configurations for different heat transport fluids are presented. The configurations consist of separate hot supply and cold return legs as well as annular design in which the hot fluid is carried in an inner pipe and the cold return fluids travels in the opposite direction in the annular space around the hot pipe. The effects of insulation configurations on pipe configuration performance are also reported. Finally, a simple analysis of two different process heat exchanger designs, one a tube in shell type and the other a compact or microchannel reactor are evaluated in light of catalyst requirements. Important insights into the critical areas of research and development are gained from these analyses, guiding the direction of future areas of research

Bridging the gap between stellar-mass black holes and ultraluminous X-ray sources

The X-ray spectral and timing properties of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) have many similarities with the very high state of stellar-mass black holes (power-law dominated, at accretion rates greater than the Eddington rate). On the other hand, their cool disk components, large characteristic inner-disk radii and low characteristic timescales have been interpreted as evidence of black hole masses ~ 1000 Msun (intermediate-mass black holes). Here we re-examine the physical interpretation of the cool disk model, in the context of accretion states of stellar-mass black holes. In particular, XTE J1550-564 can be considered the missing link between ULXs and stellar-mass black holes, because it exhibits a high-accretion-rate, low-disk-temperature state (ultraluminous branch). On the ultraluminous branch, the accretion rate is positively correlated with the disk truncation radius and the bolometric disk luminosity, while it is anti-correlated with the peak temperature and the frequency of quasi-periodic-oscillations. Two prototypical ULXs (NGC1313 X-1 and X-2) also seem to move along that branch. We use a phenomenological model to show how the different range of spectral and timing parameters found in the two classes of accreting black holes depends on both their masses and accretion rates. We suggest that ULXs are consistent with black hole masses ~ 50-100 Msun, moderately inefficiently accreting at ~20 times Eddington.Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science. Based on work presented at the Fifth Stromlo Symposium, Australian National University, Dec 200

Light Lambda-Lambda Hypernuclei and the Onset of Stability for Lambda-Xi Hypernuclei

New Faddeev-Yakubovsky calculations for light Lambda-Lambda hypernuclei are presented in order to assess the self consistency of the Lambda-Lambda hypernuclear binding-energy world data and the implied strength of the Lambda-Lambda interaction, in the wake of recent experimental reports on Lambda-Lambda-4H and Lambda-Lambda-6He. Using Gaussian soft-core simulations of Nijmegen one-boson-exchange model interactions, the Nijmegen soft-core model NSC97 simulations are found close to reproducing the recently reported binding energy of Lambda-Lambda-6He, but not those of other species. For stranger systems, Faddeev calculations of light Lambda-Xi hypernuclei, using a simulation of the strongly attractive Lambda-Xi interactions due to the same model, suggest that Lambda-Xi-6He marks the onset of nuclear stability for Xi hyperons.Comment: 5 pages, 3 postscript figures; fig.2 replaced, minor changes, accepted as Rapid Communication in PR

Probing Kaluza-Klein Dark Matter with Neutrino Telescopes

In models in which all of the Standard Model fields live in extra universal dimensions, the lightest Kaluza-Klein (KK) particle can be stable. Calculations of the one-loop radiative corrections to the masses of the KK modes suggest that the identity of the lightest KK particle (LKP) is mostly the first KK excitation of the hypercharge gauge boson. This LKP is a viable dark matter candidate with an ideal present-day relic abundance if its mass is moderately large, between 600 to 1200 GeV. Such weakly interacting dark matter particles are expected to become gravitationally trapped in large bodies, such as the Sun, and annihilate into neutrinos or other particles that decay into neutrinos. We calculate the annihilation rate, neutrino flux and the resulting event rate in present and future neutrino telescopes. The relatively large mass implies that the neutrino energy spectrum is expected to be well above the energy threshold of AMANDA and IceCube. We find that the event rate in IceCube is between a few to tens of events per year.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX; typos fixed, version to appear in PR

Topological Defects and CMB anisotropies : Are the predictions reliable ?

We consider a network of topological defects which can partly decay into neutrinos, photons, baryons, or Cold Dark Matter. We find that the degree-scale amplitude of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies as well as the shape of the matter power spectrum can be considerably modified when such a decay is taken into account. We conclude that present predictions concerning structure formation by defects might be unreliable.Comment: 14 pages, accepted for publication in PR

Geometric and thermodynamic properties in Gauss-Bonnet gravity

In this paper, the generalized second law (GSL) of thermodynamics and entropy is revisited in the context of cosmological models in Gauss-Bonnet gravity with the boundary of the universe is assumed to be enclosed by the dynamical apparent horizon. The model is best fitted with the observational data for distance modulus. The best fitted geometric and thermodynamic parameters such as equation of state parameter, deceleration parameter and entropy are derived. To link between thermodynamic and geometric parameters, the "entropy rate of change multiplied by the temperature" as a model independent thermodynamic state parameter is also derived. The results show that the model is in good agreement with the observational analysis.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Astrophysics and Space Sc

Dravet syndrome as epileptic encephalopathy: Evidence from long-term course and neuropathology

Dravet syndrome is an epilepsy syndrome of infantile onset, frequently caused by SCN1A mutations or deletions. Its prevalence, long-term evolution in adults and neuropathology are not well known. We identified a series of 22 adult patients, including three adult post-mortem cases with Dravet syndrome. For all patients, we reviewed the clinical history, seizure types and frequency, antiepileptic drugs, cognitive, social and functional outcome and results of investigations. A systematic neuropathology study was performed, with post-mortem material from three adult cases with Dravet syndrome, in comparison with controls and a range of relevant paediatric tissue. Twenty-two adults with Dravet syndrome, 10 female, were included, median age 39 years (range 20–66). SCN1A structural variation was found in 60% of the adult Dravet patients tested, including one post-mortem case with DNA extracted from brain tissue. Novel mutations were described for 11 adult patients; one patient had three SCN1A mutations. Features of Dravet syndrome in adulthood include multiple seizure types despite polytherapy, and age-dependent evolution in seizure semiology and electroencephalographic pattern. Fever sensitivity persisted through adulthood in 11 cases. Neurological decline occurred in adulthood with cognitive and motor deterioration. Dysphagia may develop in or after the fourth decade of life, leading to significant morbidity, or death. The correct diagnosis at an older age made an impact at several levels. Treatment changes improved seizure control even after years of drug resistance in all three cases with sufficient follow-up after drug changes were instituted; better control led to significant improvement in cognitive performance and quality of life in adulthood in two cases. There was no histopathological hallmark feature of Dravet syndrome in this series. Strikingly, there was remarkable preservation of neurons and interneurons in the neocortex and hippocampi of Dravet adult post-mortem cases. Our study provides evidence that Dravet syndrome is at least in part an epileptic encephalopathy

Transfer learning for galaxy morphology from one survey to another

© 2018 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.Deep Learning (DL) algorithms for morphological classification of galaxies have proven very successful, mimicking (or even improving) visual classifications. However, these algorithms rely on large training samples of labelled galaxies (typically thousands of them). A key question for using DL classifications in future Big Data surveys is how much of the knowledge acquired from an existing survey can be exported to a new dataset, i.e. if the features learned by the machines are meaningful for different data. We test the performance of DL models, trained with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data, on Dark Energy survey (DES) using images for a sample of $\sim$5000 galaxies with a similar redshift distribution to SDSS. Applying the models directly to DES data provides a reasonable global accuracy ($\sim$ 90%), but small completeness and purity values. A fast domain adaptation step, consisting in a further training with a small DES sample of galaxies ($\sim$500-300), is enough for obtaining an accuracy > 95% and a significant improvement in the completeness and purity values. This demonstrates that, once trained with a particular dataset, machines can quickly adapt to new instrument characteristics (e.g., PSF, seeing, depth), reducing by almost one order of magnitude the necessary training sample for morphological classification. Redshift evolution effects or significant depth differences are not taken into account in this study.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Kaon-Nucleon Scattering Amplitudes and Z∗^*-Enhancements from Quark Born Diagrams

We derive closed form kaon-nucleon scattering amplitudes using the ``quark Born diagram" formalism, which describes the scattering as a single interaction (here the OGE spin-spin term) followed by quark line rearrangement. The low energy I=0 and I=1 S-wave KN phase shifts are in reasonably good agreement with experiment given conventional quark model parameters. For $k_{lab}> 0.7$ Gev however the I=1 elastic phase shift is larger than predicted by Gaussian wavefunctions, and we suggest possible reasons for this discrepancy. Equivalent low energy KN potentials for S-wave scattering are also derived. Finally we consider OGE forces in the related channels K$\Delta$, K$^*$N and K$^*\Delta$, and determine which have attractive interactions and might therefore exhibit strong threshold enhancements or ``Z$^*$-molecule" meson-baryon bound states. We find that the minimum-spin, minimum-isospin channels and two additional K$^*\Delta$ channels are most conducive to the formation of bound states. Related interesting topics for future experimental and theoretical studies of KN interactions are also discussed.Comment: 34 pages, figures available from the authors, revte