126 research outputs found
MAGIC and the Search for Signatures of Supersymmetric Dark Matter
The 17m Imaging Air shower Cherenkov Telescope MAGIC (Roque de los Muchachos
Observatory, La Palma, Canary Islands) has recently entered its commissioning
phase. One of the main goals of the MAGIC telescope project is to provide an
unprecedented sensitivity for the detection of gamma rays with energies as low
as 30 GeV. A dedicated search for the gamma rays expected to be produced by
WIMP annihilations is a prime object of the MAGIC physics program. We consider
annihilating supersymmetric dark matter in M 87 and discuss a possible
observation strategy. New calculations concerning the extragalactic gamma ray
and neutrino backgrounds owing to cosmological neutralino annihilation are also
briefly discussed.Comment: To be published in the proceedings of the "6th UCLA Symposium on
Sources and Detection of Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe", Marina
del Rey, 200
Discrete Load Balancing in Heterogeneous Networks with a Focus on Second-Order Diffusion
In this paper we consider a wide class of discrete diffusion load balancing
algorithms. The problem is defined as follows. We are given an interconnection
network and a number of load items, which are arbitrarily distributed among the
nodes of the network. The goal is to redistribute the load in iterative
discrete steps such that at the end each node has (almost) the same number of
items. In diffusion load balancing nodes are only allowed to balance their load
with their direct neighbors.
We show three main results. Firstly, we present a general framework for
randomly rounding the flow generated by continuous diffusion schemes over the
edges of a graph in order to obtain corresponding discrete schemes. Compared to
the results of Rabani, Sinclair, and Wanka, FOCS'98, which are only valid
w.r.t. the class of homogeneous first order schemes, our framework can be used
to analyze a larger class of diffusion algorithms, such as algorithms for
heterogeneous networks and second order schemes. Secondly, we bound the
deviation between randomized second order schemes and their continuous
counterparts. Finally, we provide a bound for the minimum initial load in a
network that is sufficient to prevent the occurrence of negative load at a node
during the execution of second order diffusion schemes.
Our theoretical results are complemented with extensive simulations on
different graph classes. We show empirically that second order schemes, which
are usually much faster than first order schemes, will not balance the load
completely on a number of networks within reasonable time. However, the maximum
load difference at the end seems to be bounded by a constant value, which can
be further decreased if first order scheme is applied once this value is
achieved by second order scheme.Comment: Full version of paper submitted to ICDCS 201
X-ray monitoring of the radio and gamma-ray loud Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy PKS 2004-447
We present preliminary results of the X-ray analysis of XMM-Newton and Swift
observations as part of a multi-wavelength monitoring campaign in 2012 of the
radio-loud narrow line Seyfert 1 galaxy PKS 2004-447. The source was recently
detected in gamma-rays by Fermi/LAT among only four other galaxies of that
type. The 0.5-10 keV X-ray spectrum is well-described by a simple absorbed
powerlaw (photon index ~ 1.6). The source brightness exhibits variability on
timescales of months to years with indications for spectral variability, which
follows a 'bluer-when-brighter' behaviour, similar to blazars.Comment: Proceedings for the 'Jet 2013' conference. Includes 3 pages, 3
figure
A population protocol for exact majority with stabilization time and asymptotically optimal number of states.
A population protocol is a sequence of pairwise interactions of n agents. During one interaction, two randomly selected agents update their states by applying a deterministic transition function. The goal is to stabilize the system at a desired output property. The main performance objectives in designing such protocols are small number of states per agent and fast stabilization time. We present a fast population protocol for the exact-majority problem, which uses Theta(log n) states (per agent) and stabilizes in O(log^{5/3} n) parallel time (i.e., in O(n log^{5/3} n) interactions) in expectation and with high probability. Alistarh et al. [SODA 2018] showed that exact-majority protocols which stabilize in expected O(n^{1-Omega(1)}) parallel time and have the properties of monotonicity and output dominance require Omega(log n) states. Note that the properties mentioned above are satisfied by all known population protocols for exact majority, including ours. They also showed an O(log^2 n)-time exact-majority protocol with O(log n) states, which, prior to our work, was the fastest exact-majority protocol with polylogarithmic number of states. The standard design framework for majority protocols is based on O(log n) phases and requires that all agents are well synchronized within each phase, leading naturally to upper bounds of the order of log^2 n because of Theta(log n) synchronization time per phase. We show how this framework can be tightened with weak synchronization to break the O(log^2 n) upper bound of previous protocols
Performance of a Small Array of Imaging Air Cherenkov Telescopes sited in Australia
As TeV gamma-ray astronomy progresses into the era of the Cherenkov Telescope
Array (CTA), there is a desire for the capacity to instantaneously follow up on
transient phenomena and continuously monitor gamma-ray flux at energies above
eV. To this end, a worldwide network of Imaging Air Cherenkov
Telescopes (IACTs) is required to provide triggers for CTA observations and
complementary continuous monitoring. An IACT array sited in Australia would
contribute significant coverage of the Southern Hemisphere sky. Here, we
investigate the suitability of a small IACT array and how different design
factors influence its performance. Monte Carlo simulations were produced based
on the Small-Sized Telescope (SST) and Medium-Sized Telescope (MST) designs
from CTA. Angular resolution improved with larger baseline distances up to 277m
between telescopes, and energy thresholds were lower at 1000m altitude than at
0m. The 300 GeV energy threshold of MSTs proved more suitable for
observing transients than the 1.2 TeV threshold of SSTs. An array of four
MSTs at 1000m was estimated to give a 5.7 detection of an RS
Ophiuchi-like nova eruption from a 4-hour observation. We conclude that an
array of four MST-class IACTs at an Australian site would ideally complement
the capabilities of CTA.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in PAS
Cosmological gamma ray and neutrino backgrounds due to neutralino dark matter annihilation
We compute the cosmological background radiation of gamma rays and neutrinos
due to neutralino annihilation in evolving dark matter halos, assuming the
observed dark matter is comprised of thermally excited neutralinos in the MSSM.
The spectrum of this gamma-ray background radiation does not show strong
annihilation line features, but could amount to a significant fraction of the
extragalactic gamma ray continuum flux observed by EGRET above a few GeV. The
corresponding cosmological neutrino background is weak compared to the
atmospheric foreground. Assuming full mixing, however, the cosmological
tau-neutrino background could be detectable with a flavor-discriminating
neutrino telescope in the energy range 10 GeV - 1 TeV. A small anisotropy of
the background radiation is expected, reflecting the local clustering of dark
matter halos along the supergalactic plane.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures; Accepted for publication by Astroparticle
Physic
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