2,724 research outputs found
Artists and Unconstitutional Conditions: The Big Bad Wolf Won’t Subsidize Little Red Riding Hood’s Indecent Art
Recent developments in the area of academic freedom and artistic expression are examined, considering First Amendment protection for artistic expression as well as the particular problem of government funding of the arts
A study of HII regions in spiral galaxies using multiobject spectroscopy
Multiobject spectroscopy results of HII regions in nearby late-type spiral galaxies are given. Results include excitation measurements, log ((O III)/H beta), for 81 regions in M 101, 30 regions in NGC 2403, and 13 regions in M 51. Researchers conclude that late-type spirals can be classified into two distinct populations, examine possible causes of this division, and derive metallicity gradients for these galaxies. M 51 appears to have an anomalously shallow abundance gradient
Distant radio galaxies in the near IR
We are carrying out a program of near IR imaging and spectroscopy of radio galaxies with redshifts of 1.5 and greater. One of its principal goals is to constrain the ages and star formation histories of massive galaxies at early epochs. The radio galaxies are drawn from the survey of 1Jy class sources by McCarthy et al (1989) and McCarthy (1990). The sample contains 18 radio galaxies with redshifts greater than 2 and an additional 10 objects with 1.5 less than z less than 2.0. The redshifts were obtained from long slit spectra with the CTIO 4 m. While the galaxies are quite faint (r approximately = 21-24.5) all have Lyman alpha emission with rest frame equivalent widths of 100 - 1000 A. Multicolor photometry in the g,r,i and J,H,K bands has been obtained with the 2.5-m Du Pont Telescope on Las Campanas and with the Hale 5 m telescope at Palomar. We have recently obtained near IR spectra, using the 4 m telescopes at KPNO and CTIO, of a few objects with the goal of determining the Lyman alpha/H-alpha ratio and hence the reddening
Zenithal bistability in a nematic liquid crystal device with a monostable surface condition
The ground-state director configurations in a grating-aligned, zenithally bistable nematic device are calculated in two dimensions using a Q tensor approach. The director profiles generated are well described by a one-dimensional variation of the director across the width of the device, with the distorted region near the grating replaced by an effective surface anchoring energy. This work shows that device bistability can in fact be achieved by using a monostable surface term in the one-dimensional model. This implies that is should be possible to construct a device showing zenithal bistability without the need for a micropatterned surface
Discovery of a Color-Selected Quasar at z=5.50
We present observations of RD J030117+002025, a quasar at z=5.50 discovered
from deep, multi-color, ground-based observations covering 74 square arcmin.
This is the most distant quasar or AGN currently known. The object was targeted
as an R-band dropout, with R(AB)>26.3 (3-sigma limit in a 3 arcsec diameter
region), I(AB)=23.8, and z(AB)=23.4. The Keck/LRIS spectrum shows broad
Lyman-alpha/NV emission and sharp absorption decrements from the
highly-redshifted hydrogen forests. The fractional continuum depression due to
the Lyman-alpha forest is D(A)=0.90. RD J030117+002025 is the least luminous,
high-redshift quasar known (M(B)~-22.7).Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures; to appear in the The Astrophysical Journal
Letter
Effects of weak anchoring on C1 and C2 chevron structures
We present a theoretical study of the effect of weak anchoring on the transition between C1 and C2 chevron structures in smectic C liquid crystals. We employ a continuum theory which allows for variable cone, azimuthal and layer tilt angles. Equilibrium profiles for the director cone and azimuthal angles in the C1 and C2 states are calculated from the standard Euler-Lagrange minimisation of the total energy of the system. By comparing the total energies of the C1 and C2 states we can determine the globally stable chevron profile and calculate the critical temperature for the C1-C2 transition, which depends on anchoring strength and pretilt angle variations
What drives the translocation of stiff chains?
We study the dynamics of the passage of a stiff chain through a pore into a
cell containing particles that bind reversibly to it. Using Brownian Molecular
Dynamics simulations we investigate the mean-first-passage time as a function
of the length of the chain inside, for different concentrations of binding
particles. As a consequence of the interactions with these particles, the chain
experiences a net force along its length whose calculated value from the
simulations accounts for the velocity at which it enters the cell. This force
can in turn be obtained from the solution of a generalized diffusion equation
incorporating an effective Langmuir adsorption free energy for the chain plus
binding particles. These results suggest a role of binding particles in the
translocation process which is in general quite different from that of a
Brownian ratchet. Furthermore, non-equilibrium effects contribute significantly
to the dynamics, \emph{e.g.}, the chain often enters the cell faster than
particle binding can be saturated, resulting in a force several times smaller
than the equilibrium value.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
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