862 research outputs found
Optimizing ISOCAM data processing using spatial redundancy
We present new data processing techniques that allow to correct the main
instrumental effects that degrade the images obtained by ISOCAM, the camera on
board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO). Our techniques take advantage of
the fact that a position on the sky has been observed by several pixels at
different times. We use this information (1) to correct the long term variation
of the detector response, (2) to correct memory effects after glitches and
point sources, and (3) to refine the deglitching process. Our new method allows
the detection of faint extended emission with contrast smaller than 1% of the
zodiacal background. The data reduction corrects instrumental effects to the
point where the noise in the final map is dominated by the readout and the
photon noises. All raster ISOCAM observations can benefit from the data
processing described here. These techniques could also be applied to other
raster type observations (e.g. ISOPHOT or IRAC on SIRTF).Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Supplement Serie
Matching FinTech Advice to Participant Needs: Lessons and Challenges
The financial services industry is changing rapidly with the arrival of new economies of scale and networking effects attributable to FinTech, particularly via online or ‘robo’ advice. This chapter reviews the ‘robo-experience:’ how does it differ, if at all, from more traditional advice, and what is likely to happen next? After reviewing the goals and objectives of robo-advice, evolving advice models, who uses robo-advice, and investor behavior, we conclude that first adopters tend to be more affluent Millennial investors, as well as others seeking fast, mobile, and easy access to their finances. Nevertheless, though robo-advice has promised much, evidence is thin on the actual effects of using advice, such as changes in asset allocation and long-term effects on financial security
IRIS: A new generation of IRAS maps
The Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) had a tremendous impact on many
areas of modern astrophysics. In particular it revealed the ubiquity of
infrared cirrus that are a spectacular manifestation of the interstellar medium
complexity but also an important foreground for observational cosmology. With
the forthcoming Planck satellite there is a need for all-sky complementary data
sets with arcminute resolution that can bring informations on specific
foreground emissions that contaminate the Cosmic Microwave Background
radiation. With its 4 arcmin resolution matching perfectly the high-frequency
bands of Planck, IRAS is a natural data set to study the variations of dust
properties at all scales. But the latest version of the images delivered by the
IRAS team (the ISSA plates) suffer from calibration, zero level and striping
problems that can preclude its use, especially at 12 and 25 micron. In this
paper we present how we proceeded to solve each of these problems and enhance
significantly the general quality of the ISSA plates in the four bands (12, 25,
60 and 100 micron). This new generation of IRAS images, called IRIS, benefits
from a better zodiacal light subtraction, from a calibration and zero level
compatible with DIRBE, and from a better destriping. At 100 micron the IRIS
product is also a significant improvement from the Schlegel et al. (1998) maps.
IRIS keeps the full ISSA resolution, it includes well calibrated point sources
and the diffuse emission calibration at scales smaller than 1 degree was
corrected for the variation of the IRAS detector responsivity with scale and
brightness. The uncertainty on the IRIS calibration and zero level are
dominated by the uncertainty on the DIRBE calibration and on the accuracy of
the zodiacal light model.Comment: 16 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ (Suppl). Higher
resolution version available at
http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~mamd/IRIS/IrisTechnical.htm
GHIGLS: HI mapping at intermediate Galactic latitude using the Green Bank Telescope
This paper introduces the data cubes from GHIGLS, deep Green Bank Telescope
surveys of the 21-cm line emission of HI in 37 targeted fields at intermediate
Galactic latitude. The GHIGLS fields together cover over 1000 square degrees at
9.55' spatial resolution. The HI spectra have an effective velocity resolution
about 1.0 km/s and cover at least -450 < v < +250 km/s. GHIGLS highlights that
even at intermediate Galactic latitude the interstellar medium is very complex.
Spatial structure of the HI is quantified through power spectra of maps of the
column density, NHI. For our featured representative field, centered on the
North Ecliptic Pole, the scaling exponents in power-law representations of the
power spectra of NHI maps for low, intermediate, and high velocity gas
components (LVC, IVC, and HVC) are -2.86 +/- 0.04, -2.69 +/- 0.04, and -2.59
+/- 0.07, respectively. After Gaussian decomposition of the line profiles, NHI
maps were also made corresponding to the narrow-line and broad-line components
in the LVC range; for the narrow-line map the exponent is -1.9 +/- 0.1,
reflecting more small scale structure in the cold neutral medium (CNM). There
is evidence that filamentary structure in the HI CNM is oriented parallel to
the Galactic magnetic field. The power spectrum analysis also offers insight
into the various contributions to uncertainty in the data. The effect of 21-cm
line opacity on the GHIGLS NHI maps is estimated.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal, 2015 July 16.
32 pages, 21 figures (Fig. 10 new). Minor revisions from review, particularly
Section 8 and Appendix C; results unchanged. Additional surveys added and
made available; new Appendix B. Added descriptions of available FITS files
and links to four illustrative movies on enhanced GHIGLS archive
(www.cita.utoronto.ca/GHIGLS/
Excitation lines and the breakdown of Stokes-Einstein relations in supercooled liquids
By applying the concept of dynamical facilitation and analyzing the
excitation lines that result from this facilitation, we investigate the origin
of decoupling of transport coefficients in supercooled liquids. We illustrate
our approach with two classes of models. One depicts diffusion in a strong
glass former, and the other in a fragile glass former. At low temperatures,
both models exhibit violation of the Stokes-Einstein relation,
, where is the self diffusion constant and is the
structural relaxation time. In the strong case, the violation is sensitive to
dimensionality , going as for , and as for . In the fragile case, however, we argue that
dimensionality dependence is weak, and show that for , . This scaling for the fragile case compares favorably with the
results of a recent experimental study for a three-dimensional fragile glass
former.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
On the use of fractional Brownian motion simulations to determine the 3D statistical properties of interstellar gas
Based on fractional Brownian motion (fBm) simulations of 3D gas density and
velocity fields, we present a study of the statistical properties of
spectro-imagery observations (channel maps, integrated emission, and line
centroid velocity) in the case of an optically thin medium at various
temperatures. The power spectral index gamma_W of the integrated emission is
identified with that of the 3D density field (gamma_n) provided the medium's
depth is at least of the order of the largest transverse scale in the image,
and the power spectrum of the centroid velocity map is found to have the same
index gamma_C as that of the velocity field (gamma_v). Further tests with
non-fBm density and velocity fields show that this last result holds, and is
not modified either by the effects of density-velocity correlations. A
comparison is made with the theoretical predictions of Lazarian & Pogosyan
(2000).Comment: 28 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ. For preprint
with higher-resolution figures, see
http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~mamd/miville_fbm2003.pd
Anisotropic Local Stress and Particle Hopping in a Deeply Supercooled Liquid
The origin of the microscopic motions that lead to stress relaxation in
deeply supercooled liquid remains unclear. We show that in such a liquid the
stress relaxation is locally anisotropic which can serve as the driving force
for the hopping of the system on its free energy surface. However, not all
hopping are equally effective in relaxing the local stress, suggesting that
diffusion can decouple from viscosity even at local level. On the other hand,
orientational relaxation is found to be always coupled to stress relaxation.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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