465 research outputs found
Phase transitions in crowd dynamics of resource allocation
We define and study a class of resources allocation processes where
agents, by repeatedly visiting resources, try to converge to optimal
configuration where each resource is occupied by at most one agent. The process
exhibits a phase transition, as the density of agents grows, from an
absorbing to an active phase. In the latter, even if the number of resources is
in principle enough for all agents (), the system never settles to a
frozen configuration. We recast these processes in terms of zero-range
interacting particles, studying analytically the mean field dynamics and
investigating numerically the phase transition in finite dimensions. We find a
good agreement with the critical exponents of the stochastic fixed-energy
sandpile. The lack of coordination in the active phase also leads to a
non-trivial faster-is-slower effect.Comment: 7 pages, 7 fig
Young starless cores embedded in the magnetically dominated Pipe Nebula
The Pipe Nebula is a massive, nearby dark molecular cloud with a low
star-formation efficiency which makes it a good laboratory to study the very
early stages of the star formation process. The Pipe Nebula is largely
filamentary, and appears to be threaded by a uniform magnetic field at scales
of few parsecs, perpendicular to its main axis. The field is only locally
perturbed in a few regions, such as the only active cluster forming core B59.
The aim of this study is to investigate primordial conditions in low-mass
pre-stellar cores and how they relate to the local magnetic field in the cloud.
We used the IRAM 30-m telescope to carry out a continuum and molecular survey
at 3 and 1 mm of early- and late-time molecules toward four selected starless
cores inside the Pipe Nebula. We found that the dust continuum emission maps
trace better the densest regions than previous 2MASS extinction maps, while
2MASS extinction maps trace better the diffuse gas. The properties of the cores
derived from dust emission show average radii of ~0.09 pc, densities of
~1.3x10^5 cm^-3, and core masses of ~2.5 M_sun. Our results confirm that the
Pipe Nebula starless cores studied are in a very early evolutionary stage, and
present a very young chemistry with different properties that allow us to
propose an evolutionary sequence. All of the cores present early-time molecular
emission, with CS detections toward all the sample. Two of them, Cores 40 and
109, present strong late-time molecular emission. There seems to be a
correlation between the chemical evolutionary stage of the cores and the local
magnetic properties that suggests that the evolution of the cores is ruled by a
local competition between the magnetic energy and other mechanisms, such as
turbulence.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 15 pages, 5 figures, 9 table
Viable tax constitutions
Taxation is only sustainable if the general public complies with it. This observation is uncontroversial with tax practitioners but has been ignored by the public finance tradition, which has interpreted tax constitutions as binding contracts by which the power to tax is irretrievably conferred by individuals to government, which can then levy any tax it chooses. However, in the absence of an outside party enforcing contracts between members of a group, no arrangement within groups can be considered to be a binding contract, and therefore the power of tax must be sanctioned by individuals on an ongoing basis. In this paper we offer, for the first time, a theoretical analysis of this fundamental compliance problem associated with taxation, obtaining predictions that in some cases point to a re-interptretation of the theoretical constructions of the public finance tradition while in others call them into question
MAMBO Mapping of Spitzer c2d Small Clouds and Cores
AIMS: To study the structure of nearby (< 500 pc) dense starless and
star-forming cores with the particular goal to identify and understand
evolutionary trends in core properties, and to explore the nature of Very Low
Luminosity Objects (< 0.1 L_sun; VeLLOs). METHODS: Using the MAMBO bolometer
array, we create maps unusually sensitive to faint (few mJy per beam) extended
(approx. 5 arcmin) thermal dust continuum emission at 1.2 mm wavelength.
Complementary information on embedded stars is obtained from Spitzer, IRAS, and
2MASS. RESULTS: Our maps are very rich in structure, and we characterize
extended emission features (``subcores'') and compact intensity peaks in our
data separately to pay attention to this complexity. We derive, e.g., sizes,
masses, and aspect ratios for the subcores, as well as column densities and
related properties for the peaks. Combination with archival infrared data then
enables the derivation of bolometric luminosities and temperatures, as well as
envelope masses, for the young embedded stars. CONCLUSIONS: (abridged) Starless
and star-forming cores occupy the same parameter space in many core properties;
a picture of dense core evolution in which any dense core begins to actively
form stars once it exceeds some fixed limit in, e.g., mass, density, or both,
is inconsistent with our data. Comparison of various evolutionary indicators
for young stellar objects in our sample (e.g., bolometric temperatures) reveals
inconsistencies between some of them, possibly suggesting a revision of some of
these indicators.Comment: Accepted to A&A. In total 46 pages, with 20 pages of tables, figures,
and appendices. High-resolution version of this article at
https://www.xythosondemand.com/home/harvard_iic/Users/jkauffma/Public/mambo_spitzer.pd
Deep Near-Infrared Survey of the Pipe Nebula II: Data, Methods, and Dust Extinction Maps
We present a new set of high resolution dust extinction maps of the nearby
and essentially starless Pipe Nebula molecular cloud. The maps were constructed
from a concerted deep near-infrared imaging survey with the ESO-VLT, ESO-NTT,
CAHA 3.5m telescopes, and 2MASS data. The new maps have a resolution three
times higher than the previous extinction map of this cloud by Lombardi et al.
(2006) and are able to resolve structure down to 2600 AU. We detect 244
significant extinction peaks across the cloud. These peaks have masses between
0.1 and 18.4 M_sun, diameters between 1.2 and 5.7e4 AU (0.06 and 0.28 pc), and
mean densities of about 1e4 cm, all in good agreement with previous
results. From the analysis of the Mean Surface Density of Companions we find a
well defined scale near 1.4e4 AU below which we detect a significant decrease
in structure of the cloud. This scale is smaller than the Jeans Length
calculated from the mean density of the peaks. The surface density of peaks is
not uniform but instead it displays clustering. Extinction peaks in the Pipe
Nebula appear to have a spatial distribution similar to the stars in Taurus,
suggesting that the spatial distribution of stars evolves directly from the
primordial spatial distribution of high density material.Comment: Accepted for Publication in The Astrophysical Journal, 10/10. 49
pages, 16 figure
Characterization of the gaseous companion {\kappa} Andromedae b: New Keck and LBTI high-contrast observations
We previously reported the direct detection of a low mass companion at a
projected separation of 55+-2 AU around the B9 type star {\kappa} Andromedae.
The properties of the system (mass ratio, separation) make it a benchmark for
the understanding of the formation and evolution of gas giant planets and brown
dwarfs on wide-orbits. We present new angular differential imaging (ADI) images
of the Kappa Andromedae system at 2.146 (Ks), 3.776 (L'), 4.052 (NB 4.05) and
4.78 {\mu}m (M') obtained with Keck/NIRC2 and LBTI/LMIRCam, as well as more
accurate near-infrared photometry of the star with the MIMIR instrument. We
derive a more accurate J = 15.86 +- 0.21, H = 14.95 +- 0.13, Ks = 14.32 +- 0.09
mag for {\kappa} And b. We redetect the companion in all our high contrast
observations. We confirm previous contrasts obtained at Ks and L' band. We
derive NB 4.05 = 13.0 +- 0.2 and M' = 13.3 +- 0.3 mag and estimate
Log10(L/Lsun) = -3.76 +- 0.06. We build the 1-5 microns spectral energy
distribution of the companion and compare it to seven PHOENIX-based atmospheric
models in order to derive Teff = 1900+100-200 K. Models do not set constrains
on the surface gravity. ``Hot-start" evolutionary models predict masses of
14+25-2 MJup based on the luminosity and temperature estimates, and considering
a conservative age range for the system (30+120-10 Myr). ``warm-start"
evolutionary tracks constrain the mass to M >= 11 MJup. Therefore, the mass of
{\kappa} Andromedae b mostly falls in the brown-dwarf regime, due to remaining
uncertainties in age and mass-luminosity models. According to the formation
models, disk instability in a primordial disk could account for the position
and a wide range of plausible masses of {\kappa} And b.Comment: 20 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysics on August 6, 201
MOA-2010-BLG-477Lb: constraining the mass of a microlensing planet from microlensing parallax, orbital motion and detection of blended light
Microlensing detections of cool planets are important for the construction of
an unbiased sample to estimate the frequency of planets beyond the snow line,
which is where giant planets are thought to form according to the core
accretion theory of planet formation. In this paper, we report the discovery of
a giant planet detected from the analysis of the light curve of a
high-magnification microlensing event MOA-2010-BLG-477. The measured
planet-star mass ratio is and the projected
separation is in units of the Einstein radius. The angular
Einstein radius is unusually large mas. Combining
this measurement with constraints on the "microlens parallax" and the lens
flux, we can only limit the host mass to the range . In
this particular case, the strong degeneracy between microlensing parallax and
planet orbital motion prevents us from measuring more accurate host and planet
masses. However, we find that adding Bayesian priors from two effects (Galactic
model and Keplerian orbit) each independently favors the upper end of this mass
range, yielding star and planet masses of
and at a distance of kpc,
and with a semi-major axis of AU. Finally, we show that the
lens mass can be determined from future high-resolution near-IR adaptive optics
observations independently from two effects, photometric and astrometric.Comment: 3 Tables, 12 Figures, accepted in Ap
Density Profiles in Molecular Cloud Cores Associated with High-Mass Star-Forming Regions
Radial density profiles for the sample of dense cores associated with
high-mass star-forming regions from southern hemisphere have been derived using
the data of observations in continuum at 250 GHz. Radial density profiles for
the inner regions of 16 cores (at distances \la 0.2-0.8 pc from the center)
are close on average to the dependence, where
. In the outer regions density drops steeper. An analysis
with various hydrostatic models showed that the modified Bonnor-Ebert model,
which describes turbulent sphere confined by external pressure, is preferable
compared with the logotrope and polytrope models practically in all cases. With
a help of the Bonnor-Ebert model, estimates of central density in a core,
non-thermal velocity dispersion and core size are obtained. The comparison of
central densities with the densities derived earlier from the CS modeling
reveals differences in several cases. The reasons of such differences are
probably connected with the presence of density inhomogenities on the scales
smaller than the telescope beam. In most cases non-thermal velocity dispersions
are in agreement with the values obtained from molecular line observations.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, 4 table
Cooperation, Norms, and Revolutions: A Unified Game-Theoretical Approach
Cooperation is of utmost importance to society as a whole, but is often
challenged by individual self-interests. While game theory has studied this
problem extensively, there is little work on interactions within and across
groups with different preferences or beliefs. Yet, people from different social
or cultural backgrounds often meet and interact. This can yield conflict, since
behavior that is considered cooperative by one population might be perceived as
non-cooperative from the viewpoint of another.
To understand the dynamics and outcome of the competitive interactions within
and between groups, we study game-dynamical replicator equations for multiple
populations with incompatible interests and different power (be this due to
different population sizes, material resources, social capital, or other
factors). These equations allow us to address various important questions: For
example, can cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma be promoted, when two
interacting groups have different preferences? Under what conditions can costly
punishment, or other mechanisms, foster the evolution of norms? When does
cooperation fail, leading to antagonistic behavior, conflict, or even
revolutions? And what incentives are needed to reach peaceful agreements
between groups with conflicting interests?
Our detailed quantitative analysis reveals a large variety of interesting
results, which are relevant for society, law and economics, and have
implications for the evolution of language and culture as well
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