1,437 research outputs found
Differential Imaging with a Multicolor Detector Assembly: A New ExoPlanet Finder Concept
Simultaneous spectral differential imaging is a high contrast technique by
which subtraction of simultaneous images reduces noise from atmospheric
speckles and optical aberrations. Small non-common wave front errors between
channels can seriously degrade its performance. We present a new concept, a
multicolor detector assembly (MCDA), which can eliminate this problem. The
device consists of an infrared detector and a microlens array onto the flat
side of which a checkerboard pattern of narrow-band micro-filters is deposited,
each micro-filter coinciding with a microlens. Practical considerations for
successful implementation of the technique are mentioned. Numerical simulations
predict a noise attenuation of 10^-3 at 0.5" for a 10^5 seconds integration on
a mH=5 star of Strehl ratio 0.9 taken with an 8-m telescope. This reaches a
contrast of 10^-7 at an angular distance of 0.5" from the center of the star
image.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, accepted APJ
Ising Field Theory on a Pseudosphere
We show how the symmetries of the Ising field theory on a pseudosphere can be
exploited to derive the form factors of the spin fields as well as the
non-linear differential equations satisfied by the corresponding two-point
correlation functions. The latter are studied in detail and, in particular, we
present a solution to the so-called connection problem relating two of the
singular points of the associated Painleve VI equation. A brief discussion of
the thermodynamic properties is also presented.Comment: 39 pages, 6 eps figures, uses harvma
Angular Differential Imaging: a Powerful High-Contrast Imaging Technique
Angular differential imaging is a high-contrast imaging technique that
reduces quasi-static speckle noise and facilitates the detection of nearby
companions. A sequence of images is acquired with an altitude/azimuth telescope
while the instrument field derotator is switched off. This keeps the instrument
and telescope optics aligned and allows the field of view to rotate with
respect to the instrument. For each image, a reference PSF is constructed from
other appropriately-selected images of the same sequence and subtracted to
remove quasi-static PSF structure. All residual images are then rotated to
align the field and are combined. Observed performances are reported for Gemini
North data. It is shown that quasi-static PSF noise can be reduced by a factor
\~5 for each image subtraction. The combination of all residuals then provides
an additional gain of the order of the square root of the total number of
acquired images. A total speckle noise attenuation of 20-50 is obtained for
one-hour long observing sequences compared to a single 30s exposure. A PSF
noise attenuation of 100 was achieved for two-hour long sequences of images of
Vega, reaching a 5-sigma contrast of 20 magnitudes for separations greater than
8". For a 30-minute long sequence, ADI achieves 30 times better signal-to-noise
than a classical observation technique. The ADI technique can be used with
currently available instruments to search for ~1MJup exoplanets with orbits of
radii between 50 and 300 AU around nearby young stars. The possibility of
combining the technique with other high-contrast imaging methods is briefly
discussed.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Effects of Quasi-Static Aberrations in Faint Companion Searches
We present the first results obtained at CFHT with the TRIDENT infrared
camera, dedicated to the detection of faint companions close to bright nearby
stars. The camera's main feature is the acquisition of three simultaneous
images in three wavelengths (simultaneous differential imaging) across the
methane absorption bandhead at 1.6 micron, that enables a precise subtraction
of the primary star PSF while keeping the companion signal. The main limitation
is non-common path aberrations between the three optical paths that slightly
decorrelate the PSFs. Two types of PSF calibrations are combined with the
differential simultaneous imaging technique to further attenuate the PSF:
reference star subtraction and instrument rotation to smooth aberrations. It is
shown that a faint companion with a DeltaH of 10 magnitudes would be detected
at 0.5 arcsec from the primary.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, to appear in Astronomy with High Contrast
Imaging, EAS Publications Serie
A Case Study of Vermont\u27s Health Exchange: Missteps and Progress
Abstract: The implementation of Vermontâs state health exchange has been at the forefront of political debate in the Green Mountain State since the passage of Act No. 48 in 2011. This paper addresses the ways in which federal legislation under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), spurred the development of Vermontâs own state-based exchange. It identifies the objectives that policymakers put forth during development and assesses whether or not these goals have been met. The paper offers insight into the future prospects of Vermont Health Connect (VHC) under both new gubernatorial and presidential administrations. In addition to secondary source research, this analysis draws on informational interviews conducted with leading health care reform policymakers in Vermont, as well as reports to the Vermont General Assembly
Sleep quality influences subsequent motor skill acquisition
While the influence of sleep on motor memory consolidation has been extensively investigated, its relation to initial skill acquisition is less well understood. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of sleep quality and quantity on subsequent motor skill acquisition in young adults without sleep disorders. Fifty-five healthy adults (mean age = 23.8 years; 34 women) wore actigraph wristbands for 4 nights, which provided data on sleep patterns before the experiment, and then returned to the laboratory to engage in a motor sequence learning task (explicit 5-item finger sequence tapping task). Indicators of sleep quality and quantity were then regressed on a measure of motor skill acquisition (Gains Within Training, GWT). Wake After Sleep Onset (WASO; i.e., the total amount of time the participants spent awake after falling asleep) was significantly and negatively related to GWT. This effect was not because of general arousal level, which was measured immediately before the motor task. Conversely, there was no relationship between GWT and sleep duration or self-reported sleep quality. These results indicate that sleep quality, as assessed by WASO and objectively measured with actigraphy before the motor task, significantly impacts motor skill acquisition in young healthy adults without sleep disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).Accepted manuscrip
Tricritical point of J1-J2 Ising model on hyperbolic lattice
A ferromagnetic-paramagnetic phase transition of the two-dimensional
frustrated Ising model on a hyperbolic lattice is investigated by use of the
corner transfer matrix renormalization group method. The model contains
ferromagnetic nearest-neighbor interaction J_1 and the competing
antiferromagnetic interaction J_2. A mean-field like second-order phase
transition is observed when the ratio \kappa = J_2 / J_1 is less than 0.203. In
the region 0.203 < \kappa < 1/4, the spontaneous magnetization is discontinuous
at the transition temperature. Such tricritical behavior suggests that the
phase transitions on hyperbolic lattices need not always be mean-field like.Comment: 7 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
The Stellar Content Near the Galactic Center
High angular resolution J, H, K, and L' images are used to investigate the
stellar content within 6 arcsec of SgrA*. The data, which are complete to K ~
16, are the deepest multicolor observations of the region published to date.Comment: 34 pages, including 12 figure
Near infrared spectroscopy of starburst galaxies
(Abridged) We present new K-band spectroscopy for a sample of 48 starburst
galaxies, obtained using UKIRT in Hawaii. This constitutes a fair sample of the
most common types of starburst galaxies found in the nearby Universe. The
variety of near infrared spectral features shown by these galaxies implies
different bursts characteristics, which suggests that we survey galaxies with
different star formation histories or at different stages of their burst
evolution.
Using synthetic starburst models, we conclude that the best ensemble of
parameters which describe starburst galaxies in the nearby universe are a
constant rate of star formation, a Salpeter IMF with an upper mass cutoff equal
to 30 solar mass and bursts ages between 10 Myr and 1 Gyr. The model is fully
consistent with the differences observed in the optical and FIR between the
different types of starbursts. It suggests that HII galaxies have younger
bursts and lower metallicities than SBNGs, while LIRGs have younger bursts but
higher metallicities.
Our observations suggest that the starburst phenomenon must be a sustained or
self--sustained phenomenon: either star formation is continuous in time or
multiple bursts happen in sequence over a relatively long period of time. The
generality of our observations implies that this is a characteristic of
starburst galaxies in the nearby Universe.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 12 encapsulated Postscript figures, Accepted for
publication in MNRA
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