The Surprisingly Steep Mass Profile of Abell 1689, from a Lensing Analysis of Subaru Images

Subaru observations of A1689 (z=0.183) are used to derive an accurate, model-independent mass profile for the entire cluster, r<2 Mpc/h, by combining magnification bias and distortion measurements. The projected mass profile steepens quickly with increasing radius, falling away to zero at r~1.0 Mpc/h, well short of the anticipated virial radius. Our profile accurately matches onto the inner profile, r<200 kpc/h, derived from deep HST/ACS images. The combined ACS and Subaru information is well fitted by an NFW profile with virial mass, (1.93 \pm 0.20)10^15 M_sun, and surprisingly high concentration, c_vir=13.7^{+1.4}_{-1.1}, significantly larger than theoretically expected (c_vir~4), corresponding to a relatively steep overall profile. A slightly better fit is achieved with a steep power-law model that has its 2D logarithmic slope -3 and core radius theta_c~1.7' (r_c~210 kpc/h), whereas an isothermal profile is strongly rejected. These results are based on a reliable sample of background galaxies selected to be redder than the cluster E/S0 sequence. By including the faint blue galaxy population a much smaller distortion signal is found, demonstrating that blue cluster members significantly dilute the true signal for r~400 kpc/h. This contamination is likely to affect most weak lensing results to date.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to appear in ApJ

Rare insights into intraspecific brood parasitism and apparent quasi–parasitism in black–capped chickadees

Genetic analysis of passerine birds often finds evidence of extra–pair copulations within species, but genetic evidence of intraspecific brood parasitism (IBP) and quasi–parasitism (Q–P) are relatively rare. Further, it is even rarer for genetic patterns that might indicate quasi–parasitism (resident male sires offspring through extra–pair copulations, and allows the female to lay these within the male’s nest) to be coupled with observational evidence of this behavior. In this paper, we report behavioral observations surrounding the nest of black–capped chickadee, one of the few species in which both IBP and Q–P have been detected through a genetic analysis. These were later confirmed to have young genetically mismatched with both attending parents, as well as mismatched with the attending female but sired by the attending male. The behavioral patterns associated with this nest are contrasted with the two previously reported cases of IPB/Q–P in this species, and suggest that rare ‘detection’ of quasi–parasitism may be explained by converging patterns of extra–pair behavior and the rarer strategy of intraspecific brood parasitism. Key words: Interspecific brood parasitism, Quasi–parasitism, Black–capped chickadees.El análisis genético de los paseriformes a menudo se tropieza con evidencias de cópulas fuera de pareja ocurridas dentro de la misma especie, sin embargo las evidencias genéticas del parasitismo de puesta intraespecífico (IBP) y el cuasiparasitismo (Q–P) son relativamente raras. Además, es incluso más raro que los patrones genéticos que podrían indicar el cuasiparasitismo (un macho residente engendra hijos mediante una cópula fuera de su pareja, y permite que la hembra ponga los huevos dentro del nido masculino) estén respaldados por evidencias observadas de esta conducta. En este artículo, informamos de las observaciones etológicas que tuvieron lugar en torno a un nido de carbonero cabecinegro, una de las pocas especies en las que se ha detectado tanto el IBP como el Q–P mediante análisis genético. Más adelante se confrimó que los jóvenes no coincidían genéticamente con ambos padres cuidadores, así como tampoco coincidían con la hembra cuidadora, pero si con el macho cuidador. Los patrones conductuales asociados a este nido se comparan con los otros dos casos conocidos con anterioridad de IPB/Q–P en esta especie, y se sugiere que la "detección” poco frecuente del cuasiparasitismo puede explicarse mediante los patrones convergentes de las conductas extra pareja y la estrategia aún más rara del parasitismo de puesta intraespecífico. Palabras clave: Parasitismo de puesta intraespecífico, Cuasiparasitismo, Carbonero cabecinegro.Genetic analysis of passerine birds often finds evidence of extra–pair copulations within species, but genetic evidence of intraspecific brood parasitism (IBP) and quasi–parasitism (Q–P) are relatively rare. Further, it is even rarer for genetic patterns that might indicate quasi–parasitism (resident male sires offspring through extra–pair copulations, and allows the female to lay these within the male’s nest) to be coupled with observational evidence of this behavior. In this paper, we report behavioral observations surrounding the nest of black–capped chickadee, one of the few species in which both IBP and Q–P have been detected through a genetic analysis. These were later confirmed to have young genetically mismatched with both attending parents, as well as mismatched with the attending female but sired by the attending male. The behavioral patterns associated with this nest are contrasted with the two previously reported cases of IPB/Q–P in this species, and suggest that rare ‘detection’ of quasi–parasitism may be explained by converging patterns of extra–pair behavior and the rarer strategy of intraspecific brood parasitism. Key words: Interspecific brood parasitism, Quasi–parasitism, Black–capped chickadees

Routes towards Anderson-Like localization of Bose-Einstein condensates in disordered optical lattices

We investigate, both experimentally and theoretically, possible routes towards Anderson-like localization of Bose-Einstein condensates in disordered potentials. The dependence of this quantum interference effect on the nonlinear interactions and the shape of the disorder potential is investigated. Experiments with an optical lattice and a superimposed disordered potential reveal the lack of Anderson localization. A theoretical analysis shows that this absence is due to the large length scale of the disorder potential as well as its screening by the nonlinear interactions. Further analysis shows that incommensurable superlattices should allow for the observation of the cross-over from the nonlinear screening regime to the Anderson localized case within realistic experimental parameters.Comment: 4 pages to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Fractional Statistics in Three Dimensions: Compact Maxwell-Higgs System

We show that a (3+1)-dimensional system composed of an open magnetic vortex and an electrical point charge exhibits the phenomenon of Fermi-Bose transmutation. In order to provide the physical realization of this system we focus on the lattice compact scalar electrodynamics $SQED_c$ whose topological excitations are open Nielsen-Olesen strings with magnetic monopoles attached at their ends.Comment: 8 page

Bragg spectroscopy of a cigar shaped Bose condensate in optical lattices

We study properties of excited states of an array of weakly coupled quasi-two-dimensional Bose condensates by using the hydrodynamic theory. We calculate multibranch Bogoliubov-Bloch spectrums and its corresponding eigenfunctions. The spectrum of the axial excited states and its eigenfunctions strongly depends on the coupling among various discrete radial modes within a given symmetry. This mode coupling is due to the presence of radial trapping potential. The multibranch nature of the Bogoliubov-Bloch spectrum and its dependence on the mode-coupling can be realized by analyzing dynamic structure factor and momentum transferred to the system in Bragg spectroscopy experiments. We also study dynamic structure factor and momentum transferred to the condensate due to the Bragg spectroscopy experiment.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular & Optical Physic

Discovery of Gamma-ray Pulsations from the Transitional Redback PSR J1227-4853

The 1.69 ms spin period of PSR J1227-4853 was recently discovered in radio observations of the low-mass X-ray binary XSS J12270-4859 following the announcement of a possible transition to a rotation-powered millisecond pulsar state, inferred from decreases in optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray flux from the source. We report the detection of significant (5$\sigma$) gamma-ray pulsations after the transition, at the known spin period, using ~1 year of data from the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. The gamma-ray light curve of PSR J1227-4853 can be fit by one broad peak, which occurs at nearly the same phase as the main peak in the 1.4 GHz radio profile. The partial alignment of light-curve peaks in different wavebands suggests that at least some of the radio emission may originate at high altitude in the pulsar magnetosphere, in extended regions co-located with the gamma-ray emission site. We folded the LAT data at the orbital period, both pre- and post-transition, but find no evidence for significant modulation of the gamma-ray flux. Analysis of the gamma-ray flux over the mission suggests an approximate transition time of 2012 November 30. Continued study of the pulsed emission and monitoring of PSR J1227-4853, and other known redback systems, for subsequent flux changes will increase our knowledge of the pulsar emission mechanism and transitioning systems.Comment: 5 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in ApJ, updated to reflect accepted version and add additional coautho

Bosons in Disordered Optical Potentials

In this work we systematically investigate the condensate properties, superfluid properties and quantum phase transitions in interacting Bose gases trapped in disordered optical potentials. We numerically solve the Bose-Hubbard Hamiltonian exactly for different: (a) types of disorder, (b) disorder strengths, and (c) interatomic interactions. The three types of disorder studied are: quasiperiodic disorder, uniform random disorder and random speckle-type disorder. We find that the Bose glass, as identified by Fisher et al [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 40}, 546 (1989)], contains a normal condensate component and we show how the three different factors listed above affect it.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures (low res) v2 Title,Abstract,Introduction: changes; Figure 3: Add label to axi

Long-term trends in anthropogenic land use in Siberia and the Russian Far East : a case study synthesis from Landsat

As globally important forested areas situated in a context of dramatic socio-economic changes, Siberia and the Russian Far East (RFE) are important regions to monitor for anthropogenic land-use trends. Therefore, we compiled decadal Landsat-derived land-cover and land-use data for eight dominantly rural case study sites in these regions and focused on trends associated with settlements, agriculture, logging, and roads 1975-2010. Several key spatial-temporal trends emerged from the integrated landscape-scale analyses. First, road building increased in all case study sites over the 35-year period, despite widespread socio-economic decline post-1990. Second, increase in settlements area was negligible over all sites. Third, increased road building, largely of minor roads, was especially high in more rugged and remote RFE case study sites not associated with greater agriculture extent or settlement densities. High demands for wood export coupled with the expansion of commercial timber harvest leases starting in the mid-1990s are likely among leading reasons for an increase in roads. Fourth, although fire was the dominant disturbance over all sites and dates combined, logging exerted a strong land-use pattern, serving as a reminder that considering local anthropogenic landscapes is important, especially in Siberia and the RFE, which represent almost 10% of the Earth's terrestrial land surface. The paper concludes by identifying remaining research needs regarding anthropogenic land use in the region: more frequent moderate spatial resolution imagery and greater access to more finely resolved statistical and other spatial data will enable further research. Social media abstract Landsat reveals long-term anthropogenic land-use trends in Siberia and Russian Far EastPeer reviewe

Analysis of Localization Phenomena in Weakly Interacting Disordered Lattice Gases

Disorder plays a crucial role in many systems particularly in solid state physics. However, the disorder in a particular system can usually not be chosen or controlled. We show that the unique control available for ultracold atomic gases may be used for the production and observation of disordered quantum degenerate gases. A detailed analysis of localization effects for two possible realizations of a disordered potential is presented. In a theoretical analysis clear localization effects are observed when a superlattice is used to provide a quasiperiodic disorder. The effects of localization are analyzed by investigating the superfluid fraction and the localization length within the system. The theoretical analysis in this paper paves a clear path for the future observation of Anderson-like localization in disordered quantum gases.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure