Global water level variability observed after the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic tsunami of 2022

The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano on 15 January 2022 provided a rare opportunity to understand global tsunami impacts of explosive volcanism and to evaluate future hazards, including dangers from “volcanic meteotsunamis” (VMTs) induced by the atmospheric shock waves that followed the eruption. The propagation of the volcanic and marine tsunamis was analyzed using globally distributed 1 min measurements of air pressure and water level (WL) (from both tide gauges and deep-water buoys). The marine tsunami propagated primarily throughout the Pacific, reaching nearly 2 m at some locations, though most Pacific locations recorded maximums lower than 1 m. However, the VMT resulting from the atmospheric shock wave arrived before the marine tsunami and propagated globally, producing water level perturbations in the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean. The resulting water level response of many Pacific Rim gauges was amplified, likely related to wave interaction with bathymetry. The meteotsunami repeatedly boosted tsunami wave energy as it circled the planet several times. In some locations, the VMT was amplified by as much as 35-fold relative to the inverse barometer due to near-Proudman resonance and topographic effects. Thus, a meteotsunami from a larger eruption (such as the Krakatoa eruption of 1883) could yield atmospheric pressure changes of 10 to 30 mb, yielding a 3–10 m near-field tsunami that would occur in advance of (usually) larger marine tsunami waves, posing additional hazards to local populations. Present tsunami warning systems do not consider this threat.</p

Abelian dominance and the dual Meissner effect in local unitary gauges in SU(2) gluodynamics

Performing highly precise Monte-Carlo simulations of SU(2) gluodynamics, we observe for the first time Abelian dominance in the confining part of the static potential in local unitary gauges such as the F12 gauge. We also study the flux-tube profile between the quark and antiquark in these local unitary gauges and find a clear signal of the dual Meissner effect. The Abelian electric field is found to be squeezed into a flux tube by the monopole supercurrent. This feature is the same as that observed in the non-local maximally Abelian gauge. These results suggest that the Abelian confinement scenario is gauge independent. Observing the important role of space-like monopoles in the Polyakov gauge also indicates that the monopoles defined on the lattice do not necessarily correspond to those proposed by 't Hooft in the context of Abelian projection.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Can Tidal Perturbations Associated with Sea Level Variations in the Western Pacific Ocean be used to Understand Future Effects of Tidal Evolution?

This study examines connections between mean sea level (MSL) variability and diurnal and semidiurnal tidal constituent variations at 17 open-ocean and 9 continental shelf tide gauges in the western tropical Pacific Ocean, a region showing anomalous rise in MSL over the last 20 years and strong interannual variability. Detrended MSL fluctuations are correlated with detrended tidal amplitude and phase fluctuations, defined as tidal anomaly trends (TATs), to quantify the response of tidal properties to MSL variation. About 20 significant amplitude and phase TATs are found for each of the two strongest tidal constituents, K1 (diurnal) and M2 (semidiurnal). Lesser constituents (O1 and S2) show trends at nearly half of all gauges. Fluctuations in MSL shift amplitudes and phases; both positive and negative responses occur. Changing overtides suggest TATs are influenced by changing shallow water friction over the equatorial Western Pacific and the eastern coast of Australia (especially near the Great Barrier Reef). There is a strong connection between semidiurnal TATs at stations around the Solomon Islands and changes in thermocline depth, overtide generation, and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). TATs for O1, K1 and M2 are related to each other in a manner that suggests transfer of energy from M2 to the two diurnals via resonant triad interactions; these cause major tidal variability on sub-decadal time scales, especially for M2. The response of tides to MSL variability is not only spatially complex, it is frequency dependent; therefore, short-term responses may not predict long-term behavior

A Measurement of the Angular Power Spectrum of the CMB from l = 100 to 400

We report on a measurement of the angular spectrum of the CMB between $l\approx 100$ and $l\approx 400$ made at 144 GHz from Cerro Toco in the Chilean altiplano. When the new data are combined with previous data at 30 and 40 GHz, taken with the same instrument observing the same section of sky, we find: 1) a rise in the angular spectrum to a maximum with $\delta T_l \approx 85~\mu$K at $l\approx 200$ and a fall at $l>300$, thereby localizing the peak near $l\approx 200$; and 2) that the anisotropy at $l\approx 200$ has the spectrum of the CMB.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Revised version; includes Ned Wright's postscript fix. Accepted by ApJL. Website at http://physics.princeton.edu/~cmb

The EBEX Experiment

EBEX is a balloon-borne polarimeter designed to measure the intensity and polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation. The measurements would probe the inflationary epoch that took place shortly after the big bang and would significantly improve constraints on the values of several cosmological parameters. EBEX is unique in its broad frequency coverage and in its ability to provide critical information about the level of polarized Galactic foregrounds which will be necessary for all future CMB polarization experiments. EBEX consists of a 1.5 m Dragone-type telescope that provides a resolution of less than 8 arcminutes over four focal planes each of 4 degree diffraction limited field of view at frequencies up to 450 GHz. The experiment is designed to accommodate 330 transition edge bolometric detectors per focal plane, for a total of up to 1320 detectors. EBEX will operate with frequency bands centered at 150, 250, 350, and 450 GHz. Polarimetry is achieved with a rotating achromatic half-wave plate. EBEX is currently in the design and construction phase, and first light is scheduled for 2008.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures. Figure 1 is changed from the one which appeared in the Proceedings of the SPI

Galactic microwave emission at degree angular scales

We cross-correlate the Saskatoon Ka and Q-Band Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data with different maps to quantify possible foreground contamination. We detect a marginal correlation (2 sigma) with the Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) 240, 140 and 100 microm maps, but we find no significant correlation with point sources, with the Haslam 408 MHz map or with the Reich and Reich 1420 MHz map. The rms amplitude of the component correlated with DIRBE is about 20% of the CMB signal. Interpreting this component as free-free emission, this normalization agrees with that of Kogut et al. (1996a; 1996b) and supports the hypothesis that the spatial correlation between dust and warm ionized gas observed on large angular scales persists to smaller angular scales. Subtracting this contribution from the CMB data reduces the normalization of the Saskatoon power spectrum by only a few percent.Comment: Minor revisions to match published version. 14 pages, with 2 figures included. Color figure and links at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~angelica/foreground.htm

Measurements of Anisotropy in the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation at 0.5 Degree Angular Scales Near the Star Gamma Ursae Minoris

We present results from a four frequency observation of a 6 x 0.6 degree strip of the sky centered near the star Gamma Ursae Minoris during the fourth flight of the Millimeter-wave Anisotropy eXperiment (MAX). The observation was made with a 1.4 degree peak-to-peak sinusoidal chop in all bands. The FWHM beam sizes were 0.55 +/- 0.05 degrees at 3.5 cm-1 and 0.75 +/-0.05 degrees at 6, 9, and 14 cm-1. During this observation significant correlated structure was observed at 3.5, 6 and 9 cm-1 with amplitudes similar to those observed in the GUM region during the second and third flights of MAX. The frequency spectrum is consistent with CMB and inconsistent with thermal emission from interstellar dust. The extrapolated amplitudes of synchrotron and free-free emission are too small to account for the amplitude of the observed structure. If all of the structure is attributed to CMB anisotropy with a Gaussian autocorrelation function and a coherence angle of 25', then the most probable values of DeltaT/TCMB in the 3.5, 6, and 9 cm-1 bands are 4.3 (+2.7, -1.6) x 10-5, 2.8 (+4.3, -1.1) x 10-5, and 3.5 (+3.0, -1.6) x 10-5 (95% confidence upper and lower limits), respectively.Comment: 16 pages, postscrip