4,714 research outputs found
Topology of Luminous Red Galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We present measurements of the genus topology of luminous red galaxies (LRGs)
from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 catalog, with
unprecedented statistical significance. To estimate the uncertainties in the
measured genus, we construct 81 mock SDSS LRG surveys along the past light cone
from the Horizon Run 3, one of the largest N-body simulations to date that
evolved 7210^3 particles in a 10815 Mpc/h size box. After carefully modeling
and removing all known systematic effects due to finite pixel size, survey
boundary, radial and angular selection functions, shot noise and galaxy
biasing, we find the observed genus amplitude to reach 272 at 22 Mpc/h
smoothing scale with an uncertainty of 4.2%; the estimated error fully
incorporates cosmic variance. This is the most accurate constraint of the genus
amplitude to date, which significantly improves on our previous results. In
particular, the shape of the genus curve agrees very well with the mean
topology of the SDSS LRG mock surveys in the LCDM universe. However, comparison
with simulations also shows small deviations of the observed genus curve from
the theoretical expectation for Gaussian initial conditions. While these
discrepancies are mainly driven by known systematic effects such as those of
shot noise and redshift-space distortions, they do contain important
cosmological information on the physical effects connected with galaxy
formation, gravitational evolution and primordial non-Gaussianity. We address
here the key role played by systematics on the genus curve, and show how to
accurately correct for their effects to recover the topology of the underlying
matter. In a forthcoming paper, we provide an interpretation of those
deviations in the context of the local model of non-Gaussianity.Comment: 23 pages, 18 figures. APJ Supplement Series 201
Theory of stripes in quasi two dimensional rare-earth tritellurides
Even though the rare-earth tritellurides are tetragonal materials with a
quasi two dimensional (2D) band structure, they have a "hidden" 1D character.
The resultant near-perfect nesting of the Fermi surface leads to the formation
of a charge density wave (CDW) state. We show that for this band structure,
there are two possible ordered phases: A bidirectional "checkerboard" state
would occur if the CDW transition temperature were sufficiently low, whereas a
unidirectional "striped" state, consistent with what is observed in experiment,
is favored when the transition temperature is higher. This result may also give
some insight into why, in more strongly correlated systems, such as the
cuprates and nickelates, the observed charge ordered states are generally
stripes as opposed to checkerboards.Comment: Added contents and references, changed title and figures. Accepted to
PR
Social Transmission of Fear in Rats: The Role of 22-kHz Ultrasonic Distress Vocalization
Background: Social alarm calls alert animals to potential danger and thereby promote group survival. Adult laboratory rats in distress emit 22-kHz ultrasonic vocalization (USV) calls, but the question of whether these USV calls directly elicit defensive behavior in conspecifics is unresolved. Methodology/Principal Findings: The present study investigated, in pair-housed male rats, whether and how the conditioned fear-induced 22-kHz USVs emitted by the ‘sender ’ animal affect the behavior of its partner, the ‘receiver ’ animal, when both are placed together in a novel chamber. The sender rats ’ conditioned fear responses evoked significant freezing (an overt evidence of fear) in receiver rats that had previously experienced an aversive event but not in naïve receiver rats. Permanent lesions and reversible inactivations of the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN) of the thalamus effectively blocked the receivers ’ freeezing response to the senders ’ conditioned fear responses, and this occurred in absence of lesions/ inactivations impeding the receiver animals ’ ability to freeze and emit 22-kHz USVs to the aversive event per se. Conclusions/Significance: These results—that prior experience of fear and intact auditory system are required for receiver rats to respond to their conspecifics ’ conditioned fear responses—indicate that the 22-kHz USV is the main factor for socia
Topological Defects Coupling Smectic Modulations to Intra-unit-cell Nematicity in Cuprate
We study the coexisting smectic modulations and intra-unit-cell nematicity in
the pseudogap states of underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+{\delta}. By visualizing their
spatial components separately, we identified 2\pi topological defects
throughout the phase-fluctuating smectic states. Imaging the locations of large
numbers of these topological defects simultaneously with the fluctuations in
the intra-unit-cell nematicity revealed strong empirical evidence for a
coupling between them. From these observations, we propose a Ginzburg-Landau
functional describing this coupling and demonstrate how it can explain the
coexistence of the smectic and intra-unit-cell broken symmetries and also
correctly predict their interplay at the atomic scale. This theoretical
perspective can lead to unraveling the complexities of the phase diagram of
cuprate high-critical-temperature superconductors
Measurement of the Background Activities of a 100Mo-enriched powder sample for AMoRE crystal material using a single high purity germanium detector
The Advanced Molybdenum-based Rare process Experiment (AMoRE) searches for
neutrino-less double-beta (0{\nu}\b{eta}\b{eta}) decay of 100Mo in enriched
molybdate crystals. The AMoRE crystals must have low levels of radioactive
contamination to achieve low background signals with energies near the Q-value
of the 100Mo 0{\nu}\b{eta}\b{eta} decay. To produce low-activity crystals,
radioactive contaminants in the raw materials used to form the crystals must be
controlled and quantified. 100EnrMoO3 powder, which is enriched in the 100Mo
isotope, is of particular interest as it is the source of 100Mo in the
crystals. A high-purity germanium detector having 100% relative efficiency,
named CC1, is being operated in the Yangyang underground laboratory. Using CC1,
we collected a gamma spectrum from a 1.6-kg 100EnrMoO3 powder sample enriched
to 96.4% in 100Mo. Activities were analyzed for the isotopes 228Ac, 228Th,
226Ra, and 40K. They are long-lived naturally occurring isotopes that can
produce background signals in the region of interest for AMoRE. Activities of
both 228Ac and 228Th were < 1.0 mBq/kg at 90% confidence level (C.L.). The
activity of 226Ra was measured to be 5.1 \pm 0.4 (stat) \pm 2.2 (syst) mBq/kg.
The 40K activity was found as < 16.4 mBq/kg at 90% C.L.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, 5 table
Commensurate period Charge Density Modulations throughout the Pseudogap Regime
Theories based upon strong real space (r-space) electron electron
interactions have long predicted that unidirectional charge density modulations
(CDM) with four unit cell (4) periodicity should occur in the hole doped
cuprate Mott insulator (MI). Experimentally, however, increasing the hole
density p is reported to cause the conventionally defined wavevector of
the CDM to evolve continuously as if driven primarily by momentum space
(k-space) effects. Here we introduce phase resolved electronic structure
visualization for determination of the cuprate CDM wavevector. Remarkably, this
new technique reveals a virtually doping independent locking of the local CDM
wavevector at throughout the underdoped phase diagram of the
canonical cuprate . These observations have significant
fundamental consequences because they are orthogonal to a k-space (Fermi
surface) based picture of the cuprate CDM but are consistent with strong
coupling r-space based theories. Our findings imply that it is the latter that
provide the intrinsic organizational principle for the cuprate CDM state
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