330 research outputs found
Novel nitrogen-based organosulfur electrodes for advanced intermediate temperature batteries
Advanced secondary batteries operating at intermediate temperatures (100 to 200 C) have attracted considerable interest due to their inherent advantages (reduced corrosion and safety risks) over higher temperature systems. Current work in this laboratory has involved research on a class of intermediate temperature Na/beta double prime- alumina/RSSR batteries conceptually similar to Na/S cells, but operating within a temperature range of 100 to 150 C, and having an organosulfur rather than inorganic sulfur positive electrode. The organosulfur electrodes are based on the reversible, two electron eduction of organodisulfides to the corresponding thiolate anions, RSSR + 2 electrons yield 2RS(-), where R is an organic moiety. Among the advantages of such a generic redox couple for battery research is the ability to tailor the physical, chemical, and electrochemical properties of the RSSR molecule through choice of the organic moiety. The viscosity, liquidus range, dielectric constant, equivalent weight, and redox potential can in fact be verified in a largely predictable manner. The current work concerns the use of multiple nitrogen organosulfur molecules, chosen for application in Na/RSSR cells for their expected oxidizing character. In fact, a Na/RSSR cell containing one of these materials, the sodium salt of 5-mercapto 1-methyltetrazole, yielded the highest open circuit voltage obtained yet in the laboratory; 3.0 volts in the charged state and 2.6 volts at 100 percent discharge. Accordingly, the cycling behavior of a series of multiple nitrogen organodisulfides as well as polymeric organodisulfides are presented in this manuscript
A genetic algorithm for the non-parametric inversion of strong lensing systems
We present a non-parametric technique to infer the projected-mass
distribution of a gravitational lens system with multiple strong-lensed images.
The technique involves a dynamic grid in the lens plane on which the mass
distribution of the lens is approximated by a sum of basis functions, one per
grid cell. We used the projected mass densities of Plummer spheres as basis
functions. A genetic algorithm then determines the mass distribution of the
lens by forcing images of a single source, projected back onto the source
plane, to coincide as well as possible. Averaging several tens of solutions
removes the random fluctuations that are introduced by the reproduction process
of genomes in the genetic algorithm and highlights those features common to all
solutions. Given the positions of the images and the redshifts of the sources
and the lens, we show that the mass of a gravitational lens can be retrieved
with an accuracy of a few percent and that, if the sources sufficiently cover
the caustics, the mass distribution of the gravitational lens can also be
reliably retrieved. A major advantage of the algorithm is that it makes full
use of the information contained in the radial images, unlike methods that
minimise the residuals of the lens equation, and is thus able to accurately
reconstruct also the inner parts of the lens.Comment: 11 pages, accepted for publication by MNRA
On the kinematic signature of a central Galactic bar in observed star samples
A quasi self-consistent model for a barred structure in the central regions
of our Galaxy is used to calculate the signature of such a triaxial structure
on the kinematical properties of star samples. We argue that, due to the
presence of a velocity dispersion, such effects are much harder to detect in
the stellar component than in the gas. It might be almost impossible to detect
stellar kinematical evidence for a bar using only l-v diagrams, if there is no
a priori knowledge of the potential. Therefore, we propose some test parameters
that can easily be applied to observed star samples, and that also incorporate
distances or proper motions. We discus the diagnostic power of these tests as a
function of the sample size and the bar strength. We conclude that about 1000
stars would be necessary to diagnose triaxiality with some statistical
confidence.Comment: 9 pages + 8 PS figures, uses aas2pp4.sty. Accepted by Ap
The Three-Dimensional Mass Distribution in NGC 1700
A variety of modeling techniques is used with surface photometry from the
literature and recently acquired high-accuracy stellar kinematic data to
constrain the three-dimensional mass distribution in the luminous cuspy
elliptical galaxy NGC 1700. First, we model the radial velocity field and
photometry, and, using a Bayesian technique, estimate the triaxiality T and
short-to-long axis ratio c in five concentric annuli between approximately 1
and 3 effective radii. The results are completely consistent with T being
constant inside about 2.5 r_e (36 arcsec; 6.7/h kpc). Adding an assumption of
constant T as prior information gives an upper limit of T < 0.16 (95%
confidence); this relaxes to T < 0.22 if it is also assumed that there is
perfect alignment between the angular momentum and the galaxy's intrinsic short
axis. Near axisymmetry permits us then to use axisymmetric models to constrain
the radial mass profile. Using the Jeans (moment) equations, we demonstrate
that 2-integral, constant-M/L models cannot fit the data; but a 2-integral
model in which the cumulative enclosed M/L increases by a factor of roughly 2
from the center out to 12/h kpc can. Three-integral models constructed by
quadratic programming show that, in fact, no constant-M/L model is consistent
with the kinematics. Anisotropic 3-integral models with variable M/L, while not
uniquely establishing a minimum acceptable halo mass, imply, as do the moment
models, a cumulative M/L_B approximately 10 h at 12/h kpc. We conclude that NGC
1700 represents the best stellar dynamical evidence to date for dark matter in
elliptical galaxies.Comment: 26 pages, Latex, AASTeX v4.0, with 11 eps figures. To appear in The
Astronomical Journal, January 1999. Figures 1 and 3 are color but are
readable in b/
Kinematics of elliptical galaxies with a diffuse dust component
Observations show that early-type galaxies contain a considerable amount of
interstellar dust, most of which is believed to exist as a diffusely
distributed component. We construct a four-parameter elliptical galaxy model in
order to investigate the effects of such a smooth absorbing component on the
projection of kinematic quantities, such as the line profiles and their
moments. We investigate the dependence on the optical depth and on the dust
geometry. Our calculations show that both the amplitude and the morphology of
these quantities can be significantly affected. Dust effects should therefore
be taken in consideration when interpreting photometric and kinematic
properties, and correlations that utilize these quantities.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Distribution functions for evolved stars in the inner galactic Plane
We present dynamical distribution functions for evolved stars in the inner galactic plane. We use an axisymmetric, two-component Stackel potential that satisfies recent constraints on the galactic potential, amongst others a slightly declining local rotation curve. We show that this potential is adequate to model stellar-kinematic samples with radial extent ranging from to the first three projected moments provides a very good global representation of the data but fails to reproduce the central dispersion, the central apparent scaleheight and the cylindrical rotation at intermediate longitudes. All these features are fitted well by a three--integral model. We discuss various properties of the 2I- and 3I models and the implications for galactic structure. A somewhat thicker disk component is needed to explain the distribution of older AGB stars in the plane; this component also fits the kinematics at higher latitudes better. We find that the Disk and the Bulge, as traced by AGB stars, are very similar dynamically and could well be one and the same component. There is a dynamically distinct component in the inner 100 pc of the Bulge, however
The Compression of Dark Matter Halos by Baryonic Infall
The initial radial density profiles of dark matter halos are laid down by
gravitational collapse in hierarchical structure formation scenarios and are
subject to further compression as baryons cool and settle to the halo centers.
We here describe an explicit implementation of the algorithm, originally
developed by Young, to calculate changes to the density profile as the result
of adiabatic infall in a spherical halo model. Halos with random motion are
more resistant to compression than are those in which random motions are
neglected, which is a key weakness of the simple method widely employed.
Young's algorithm results in density profiles in excellent agreement with those
from N-body simulations. We show how the algorithm may be applied to determine
the original uncompressed halos of real galaxies, a step which must be computed
with care in order to enable a confrontation with theoretical predictions from
theories such as LCDM.Comment: Revised version for ApJ. 8 pages, 8 figures, latex uses emulateap
Anisotropic distribution functions for spherical galaxies
A method is presented for finding anisotropic distribution functions for
stellar systems with known, spherically symmetric, densities, which depends
only on the two classical integrals of the energy and the magnitude of the
angular momentum. It requires the density to be expressed as a sum of products
of functions of the potential and of the radial coordinate. The solution
corresponding to this type of density is in turn a sum of products of functions
of the energy and of the magnitude of the angular momentum. The products of the
density and its radial and transverse velocity dispersions can be also
expressed as a sum of products of functions of the potential and of the radial
coordinate. Several examples are given, including some of new anisotropic
distribution functions. This device can be extended further to the related
problem of finding two-integral distribution functions for axisymmetric
galaxies.Comment: 5 figure
Dark Matter in Dwarf Spheroidals I: Models
This paper introduces a new two-parameter family of dwarf spheroidal (dSph)
galaxy models. The density distribution has a Plummer profile and falls like
the inverse fourth power of distance in projection, in agreement with the
star-count data. The first free parameter controls the velocity anisotropy, the
second controls the dark matter content. The dark matter distribution can be
varied from one extreme of mass-follows-light through a near-isothermal halo
with flat rotation curve to the other extreme of an extended dark halo with
harmonic core. This family of models is explored analytically in some detail --
the distribution functions, the intrinsic moments and the projected moments are
all calculated. For the nearby Galactic dSphs, samples of hundreds of discrete
radial velocities are becoming available. A technique is developed to extract
the anisotropy and dark matter content from such data sets by maximising the
likelihood function of the sample of radial velocities. This is constructed
from the distribution function and corrected for observational errors and the
effects of binaries. Tests on simulated data sets show that samples of 1000
discrete radial velocities are ample to break the degeneracy between mass and
anisotropy in the nearby dSphs. Interesting constraints can already be placed
on the distribution of the dark matter with samples of 160 radial velocities
(the size of the present-day data set for Draco).Comment: 16 pages, version in press at MNRA
Non-parametric inversion of gravitational lensing systems with few images using a multi-objective genetic algorithm
Galaxies acting as gravitational lenses are surrounded by, at most, a handful
of images. This apparent paucity of information forces one to make the best
possible use of what information is available to invert the lens system. In
this paper, we explore the use of a genetic algorithm to invert in a
non-parametric way strong lensing systems containing only a small number of
images. Perhaps the most important conclusion of this paper is that it is
possible to infer the mass distribution of such gravitational lens systems
using a non-parametric technique. We show that including information about the
null space (i.e. the region where no images are found) is prerequisite to avoid
the prediction of a large number of spurious images, and to reliably
reconstruct the lens mass density. While the total mass of the lens is usually
constrained within a few percent, the fidelity of the reconstruction of the
lens mass distribution depends on the number and position of the images. The
technique employed to include null space information can be extended in a
straightforward way to add additional constraints, such as weak lensing data or
time delay information.Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication by MNRA
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