18,497 research outputs found
Giant Pulsar Glitches and the Inertia of Neutron-Star Crusts
Giant pulsar frequency glitches as detected in the emblematic Vela pulsar
have long been thought to be the manifestation of a neutron superfluid
permeating the inner crust of a neutron star. However, this superfluid has been
recently found to be entrained by the crust, and as a consequence it does not
carry enough angular momentum to explain giant glitches. The extent to which
pulsar-timing observations can be reconciled with the standard vortex-mediated
glitch theory is studied considering the current uncertainties on dense-matter
properties. To this end, the crustal moment of inertia of glitching pulsars is
calculated employing a series of different unified dense-matter equations of
state.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
Identifying Galaxy Mergers in Observations and Simulations with Deep Learning
Mergers are an important aspect of galaxy formation and evolution. We aim to
test whether deep learning techniques can be used to reproduce visual
classification of observations, physical classification of simulations and
highlight any differences between these two classifications. With one of the
main difficulties of merger studies being the lack of a truth sample, we can
use our method to test biases in visually identified merger catalogues. A
convolutional neural network architecture was developed and trained in two
ways: one with observations from SDSS and one with simulated galaxies from
EAGLE, processed to mimic the SDSS observations. The SDSS images were also
classified by the simulation trained network and the EAGLE images classified by
the observation trained network. The observationally trained network achieves
an accuracy of 91.5% while the simulation trained network achieves 65.2% on the
visually classified SDSS and physically classified EAGLE images respectively.
Classifying the SDSS images with the simulation trained network was less
successful, only achieving an accuracy of 64.6%, while classifying the EAGLE
images with the observation network was very poor, achieving an accuracy of
only 53.0% with preferential assignment to the non-merger classification. This
suggests that most of the simulated mergers do not have conspicuous merger
features and visually identified merger catalogues from observations are
incomplete and biased towards certain merger types. The networks trained and
tested with the same data perform the best, with observations performing better
than simulations, a result of the observational sample being biased towards
conspicuous mergers. Classifying SDSS observations with the simulation trained
network has proven to work, providing tantalizing prospects for using
simulation trained networks for galaxy identification in large surveys.Comment: Submitted to A&A, revised after first referee report. 20 pages, 22
figures, 14 tables, 1 appendi
On the accuracy of retrieved wind information from Doppler lidar observations
A single pulsed Doppler lidar was successfully deployed to measure air flow and turbulence over the Malvern hills, Worcester, UK. The DERA Malvern lidar used was a CO2 µm pulsed Doppler lidar. The lidar pulse repetition rate was 120 Hz and had a pulse duration of 0.6 µs The system was set up to have 41 range gates with range resolution of 112 m. This gave a theoretical maximum range of approximately 4.6 km. The lidar site was 2 km east of the Malvern hill ridge which runs in a north-south direction and is approximately 6 km long. The maximum height of the ridge is 430 m. Two elevation scans (Range-Height Indicators) were carried out parallel and perpendicular to the mean surface flow. Since the surface wind was primarily westerly the scans were carried out perpendicular and parallel to the ridge of the Malvern hills.
The data were analysed and horizontal winds, vertical winds and turbulent fluxes were calculated for profiles throughout the boundary layer. As an aid to evaluating the errors associated with the derivation of velocity and turbulence profiles, data from a simple idealized profile was also analysed using the same method. The error analysis shows that wind velocity profiles can be derived to an accuracy of 0.24 m s-1 in the horizontal and 0.3 m s-1 in the vertical up to a height of 2500 m. The potential for lidars to make turbulence measurements, over a wide area, through the whole depth of the planetary boundary layer and over durations from seconds to hours is discussed
The Farm Movement in America\u27s Heartland: A Profile of Leaders, Their Power, and Problems
A body of new farm leaders emerged during the mid-1980s in response to the farm crisis in the Upper Midwest. This paper explores the influence of these leaders in shaping the direction of their groups. It does so through examining the farm leaders\u27 socio-demographic characteristics, their use of power, and the way they confront problems. The leaders of two groups, the Farm Crisis Committee (FCC) and Groundswell (GS), are studied. The data for this paper were collected through use of a nonrandom-purposive sampling method. They were gathered through administration of a survey questionnaire in 1986 and intensive interviews during 1986-87. All eight of the FCC\u27s and seven of nine of GS\u27s founding leaders participated. These persons were identified as leaders because they held elected or appointed positions in their groups. The surveys and interviews for the leaders of the FCC were carried out at the group\u27s office in Emerson, Nebraska, while those of GS, because the organization in its early days had no headquarters, were conducted at their individual homes or in restaurants throughout Minnesota. This paper\u27s findings are further supported through use of documentary data from the farm groups and\u27 supplementary secondary data, including scholarly publications, magazines, newspapers, and a television documentary
Results of winglet development studies for DC-10 derivatives
The results of investigations into the application of winglets to the DC-10 aircraft are presented. The DC-10 winglet configuration was developed and its cruise performance determined in a previous investigation. This study included high speed and low speed wind tunnel tests to evaluate aerodynamic characteristics, and a subsonic flutter wind tunnel test with accompanying analysis and evaluation of results. Additionally, a configuration integration study employed the results of the wind tunnel studies to determine the overall impact of the installation of winglets on the DC-10 aircraft. Conclusions derived from the high speed and low speed tests indicate that the winglets had no significant effects on the DC-10 stability characteristics or high speed buffet. It was determined that winglets had a minimal effect on aircraft lift characteristics and improved the low speed aircraft drag under high lift conditions. The winglets affected the DC-10 flutter characteristics by reducing the flutter speed of the basic critical mode and introducing a new critical mode involving outer wing torsion and longitudinal bending. The overall impact of winglets was determined to be of sufficient benefit to merit flight evaluation
Morphological analysis of the cm-wave continuum in the dark cloud LDN1622
The spectral energy distribution of the dark cloud LDN1622, as measured by
Finkbeiner using WMAP data, drops above 30GHz and is suggestive of a Boltzmann
cutoff in grain rotation frequencies, characteristic of spinning dust emission.
LDN1622 is conspicuous in the 31 GHz image we obtained with the Cosmic
Background Imager, which is the first cm-wave resolved image of a dark cloud.
The 31GHz emission follows the emission traced by the four IRAS bands. The
normalised cross-correlation of the 31 GHz image with the IRAS images is higher
by 6.6sigma for the 12um and 25um bands than for the 60um and 100um bands:
C(12+25) = 0.76+/-0.02 and C(60+100) = 0.64+/-0.01.
The mid-IR -- cm-wave correlation in LDN 1622 is evidence for very small
grain (VSG) or continuum emission at 26-36GHz from a hot molecular phase. In
dark clouds and their photon-dominated regions (PDRs) the 12um and 25um
emission is attributed to stochastic heating of the VSGs. The mid-IR and
cm-wave dust emissions arise in a limb-brightened shell coincident with the PDR
of LDN1622, where the incident UV radiation from the Ori OB1b association heats
and charges the grains, as required for spinning dust.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ - the complete article with
uncompressed figures may be downloaded from
http://www.das.uchile.cl/~simon/ftp/l1622.pd
Magnetism: the Driving Force of Order in CoPt. A First-Principles Study
CoPt or FePt equiatomic alloys order according to the tetragonal L10
structure which favors their strong magnetic anisotropy. Conversely magnetism
can influence chemical ordering. We present here {\it ab initio} calculations
of the stability of the L10 and L12 structures of Co-Pt alloys in their
paramagnetic and ferromagnetic states. They show that magnetism strongly
reinforces the ordering tendencies in this system. A simple tight-binding
analysis allows us to account for this behavior in terms of some pertinent
parameters
A shrinking Compact Symmetric Object: J11584+2450?
We present multi-frequency multi-epoch Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA)
observations of J11584+2450. These observations clearly show this source,
previously classified as a core-jet, to be a compact symmetric object (CSO).
Comparisons between these new data and data taken over the last 9 years shows
the edge brightened hot spots retreating towards the core (and slightly to the
west) at approximately 0.3c. Whether this motion is strictly apparent or
actually physical in nature is discussed, as well as possible explanations, and
what implications a physical contraction of J11584+2450 would have for current
CSO models.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Ap
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