156 research outputs found
On the spherical-axial transition in supernova remnants
A new law of motion for supernova remnant (SNR) which introduces the quantity
of swept matter in the thin layer approximation is introduced. This new law of
motion is tested on 10 years observations of SN1993J. The introduction of an
exponential gradient in the surrounding medium allows to model an aspherical
expansion. A weakly asymmetric SNR, SN1006, and a strongly asymmetric SNR,
SN1987a, are modeled. In the case of SN1987a the three observed rings are
simulated.Comment: 19 figures and 14 pages Accepted for publication in Astrophysics &
Space Science in the year 201
Cosmological background solutions and cosmological backreactions
The cosmological backreaction proposal, which attempts to account for
observations without a primary dark energy source in the stress-energy tensor,
has been developed and discussed by means of different approaches. Here, we
focus on the concept of cosmological background solutions in order to develop a
framework to study different backreaction proposals.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures; major changes, replaced to match the version
published in General Relativity and Gravitatio
Dark energy as a mirage
Motivated by the observed cosmic matter distribution, we present the
following conjecture: due to the formation of voids and opaque structures, the
average matter density on the path of the light from the well-observed objects
changes from Omega_M ~ 1 in the homogeneous early universe to Omega_M ~ 0 in
the clumpy late universe, so that the average expansion rate increases along
our line of sight from EdS expansion Ht ~ 2/3 at high redshifts to free
expansion Ht ~ 1 at low redshifts. To calculate the modified observable
distance-redshift relations, we introduce a generalized Dyer-Roeder method that
allows for two crucial physical properties of the universe: inhomogeneities in
the expansion rate and the growth of the nonlinear structures. By treating the
transition redshift to the void-dominated era as a free parameter, we find a
phenomenological fit to the observations from the CMB anisotropy, the position
of the baryon oscillation peak, the magnitude-redshift relations of type Ia
supernovae, the local Hubble flow and the nucleosynthesis, resulting in a
concordant model of the universe with 90% dark matter, 10% baryons, no dark
energy, 15 Gyr as the age of the universe and a natural value for the
transition redshift z_0=0.35. Unlike a large local void, the model respects the
cosmological principle, further offering an explanation for the late onset of
the perceived acceleration as a consequence of the forming nonlinear
structures. Additional tests, such as quantitative predictions for angular
deviations due to an anisotropic void distribution and a theoretical derivation
of the model, can vindicate or falsify the interpretation that light
propagation in voids is responsible for the perceived acceleration.Comment: 33 pages, 2 figs; v2: minor clarifications, results unchanged; v3:
matches the version published in General Relativity and Gravitatio
Radial asymptotics of Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi dust models
We examine the radial asymptotic behavior of spherically symmetric
Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi dust models by looking at their covariant scalars along
radial rays, which are spacelike geodesics parametrized by proper length
, orthogonal to the 4-velocity and to the orbits of SO(3). By introducing
quasi-local scalars defined as integral functions along the rays, we obtain a
complete and covariant representation of the models, leading to an initial
value parametrization in which all scalars can be given by scaling laws
depending on two metric scale factors and two basic initial value functions.
Considering regular "open" LTB models whose space slices allow for a diverging
, we provide the conditions on the radial coordinate so that its
asymptotic limit corresponds to the limit as . The "asymptotic
state" is then defined as this limit, together with asymptotic series expansion
around it, evaluated for all metric functions, covariant scalars (local and
quasi-local) and their fluctuations. By looking at different sets of initial
conditions, we examine and classify the asymptotic states of parabolic,
hyperbolic and open elliptic models admitting a symmetry center. We show that
in the radial direction the models can be asymptotic to any one of the
following spacetimes: FLRW dust cosmologies with zero or negative spatial
curvature, sections of Minkowski flat space (including Milne's space), sections
of the Schwarzschild--Kruskal manifold or self--similar dust solutions.Comment: 44 pages (including a long appendix), 3 figures, IOP LaTeX style.
Typos corrected and an important reference added. Accepted for publication in
General Relativity and Gravitatio
Virus infection and grazing exert counteracting influences on survivorship of native bunchgrass seedlings competing with invasive exotics
1. âInvasive annual grasses introduced by European settlers have largely displaced native grassland vegetation in California and now form dense stands that constrain the establishment of native perennial bunchgrass seedlings. Bunchgrass seedlings face additional pressures from both livestock grazing and barley and cereal yellow dwarf viruses (B/CYDVs), which infect both young and established grasses throughout the state. 2. âPrevious work suggested that B/CYDVs could mediate apparent competition between invasive exotic grasses and native bunchgrasses in California. 3. âTo investigate the potential significance of virus-mediated mortality for early survivorship of bunchgrass seedlings, we compared the separate and combined effects of virus infection, competition and simulated grazing in a field experiment. We infected two species of young bunchgrasses that show different sensitivity to B/CYDV infection, subjected them to competition with three different densities of exotic annuals crossed with two clipping treatments, and monitored their growth and first-year survivorship. 4. âAlthough virus infection alone did not reduce first-year survivorship, it halved the survivorship of bunchgrasses competing with exotics. Within an environment in which competition strongly reduces seedling survivorship (as in natural grasslands), virus infection therefore has the power to cause additional seedling mortality and alter patterns of establishment. 5. âSurprisingly, clipping did not reduce bunchgrass survivorship further, but rather doubled it and disproportionately increased survivorship of infected bunchgrasses. 6. âTogether with previous work, these findings show that B/CYDVs can be potentially powerful elements influencing species interactions in natural grasslands. 7. âMore generally, our findings demonstrate the potential significance of multitrophic interactions in virus ecology. Although sometimes treated collectively as plant âpredatorsâ, viruses and herbivores may exert influences that are distinctly different, even counteracting
X-Ray and Radio Observations of Bright GeV Sources
We present X-ray and radio studies of sources which are brightabove 1 GeV
(F_{>1GeV} > 4e-8 ph/cm^2/s. Only 11 out of ~30 of these gamma-ray sources have
been identified with lower energy counterparts: 5 blazars and 6 pulsars. Three
of these pulsars are surrounded by radio pulsar wind nebulae (PWN), two of
which are also seen as bright, extended X-ray synchrotron nebulae. The ASCA
X-ray telescope has observed 28 of the bright GeV sources, revealing an excess
of F_{2-10keV} > 10e-12 ergs/cm^2/s sources within the {\it EGRET} error
contours of the unidentified sources. Although several supernova remnants are
positionally coincident with these sources, we find no X-ray evidence of high
energy particle production in SNR shell shocks consistent with the GeV
positions. We also present initial results from follow on radio imaging studies
of several fields containing unidentified sources. We have discovered new
X-ray/radio nebulae in three of these fields which are strong candidates for
PWN. These sources, along with a similar nebula in CTA 1 and the PWN around PSR
B1853+01 in W44, are all positionally coincident with variable EGRET sources.
This suggests a class of variable gamma-ray sources associated with synchrotron
emitting regions powered by the winds of young pulsars.Comment: 18 pages, 26 figures, To appear in the proceedings of the workshop:
"The Nature of the Unidentified Galactic Gamma-Ray Sources" held at INAOE,
Mexico, October 2000, (A.Carraminana, O. Reiner and D. Thompson,
Case-based learning: Predictive features in indexing
Interest in psychological experimentation from the Artificial Intelligence community often takes the form of rigorous post-hoc evaluation of completed computer models. Through an example of our own collaborative research, we advocate a different view of how psychology and AI may be mutually relevant, and propose an integrated approach to the study of learning in humans and machines. We begin with the problem of learning appropriate indices for storing and retrieving information from memory. From a planning task perspective, the most useful indices may be those that predict potential problems and access relevant plans in memory, improving the planner's ability to predict and avoid planning failures. This âpredictive featuresâ hypothesis is then supported as a psychological claim, with results showing that such features offer an advantage in terms of the selectivity of reminding because they more distinctively characterize planning situations where differing plans are appropriate.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46928/1/10994_2004_Article_BF00993173.pd
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