17,551 research outputs found
Using the chromatic Rossiter-McLaughlin effect to probe the broadband signature in the optical transmission spectrum of HD 189733b
Transmission spectroscopy is a powerful technique for probing exoplanetary
atmospheres. A successful ground-based observational method uses a differential
technique based on high-dispersion spectroscopy, but that only preserves narrow
features in transmission spectra. Here we use the chromatic Rossiter-McLaughlin
(RM) effect to measure the Rayleigh-scattering slope in the transmission
spectrum of HD 189733b with the aim to show that it can be effectively used to
measure broadband transmission features. The amplitude of the RM effects
depends on the effective size of the planet, and in the case of an atmospheric
contribution therefore depends on the observed wavelength. We analysed archival
HARPS data of three transits of HD 189733b, covering a wavelength range of 400
to 700 nm. We measured the slope in the transmission spectrum of HD 189733b at
a significance. Assuming it is due to Rayleigh scattering and not
caused by stellar activity, it would correspond to an atmospheric temperature,
as set by the scale height, of , well in line with
previously obtained results. This shows that ground-based high-dispersion
spectral observations can be used to probe broad-band features in the
transmission spectra of extrasolar planets, by using the chromatic RM effect.
This method will be particularly interesting in conjunction with the new
echelle spectrograph ESPRESSO, which currently is under construction for ESOs
Very Large Telescope and will provide a gain in signal-to-noise ratio of about
a factor 4 compared to HARPS. This will be of great value because of the
limited and uncertain future of the Hubble Space Telescope and because the
future James Webb Space Telescope will not cover this wavelength regime.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication on Astronomy and
Astrophysic
Are the reactions a challenge for the factorized Pomeron at high energies?
We would like to point to the strong violation of the putative factorized
Pomeron exchange model in the reactions in the
high-energy region where this model works fairly well in all other cases.Comment: 4 pages, LaTex, 1 fig. in postscript, minor typos corrected, to be
published in Phys. Rev. D 60, 117503 (1999
Solutions to Cosmological Problems with Energy Conservation and Varying c, G and Lambda
The flatness and cosmological constant problems are solved with varying speed
of light c, gravitational coupling strength G and cosmological parameter
Lambda, by explicitly assuming energy conservation of observed matter. The
present solution to the flatness problem is the same as the previous solution
in which energy conservation was absent.Comment: 5 pages, Replaced with LaTex file with minor change
Theoretical study of turbulent channel flow: Bulk properties, pressure fluctuations, and propagation of electromagnetic waves
In this paper, we apply two theoretical turbulence models, DIA and the recent GISS model, to study properties of a turbulent channel flow. Both models provide a turbulent kinetic energy spectral function E(k) as the solution of a non-linear equation; the two models employ the same source function but different closures. The source function is characterized by a rate n sub s (k) which is derived from the complex eigenvalues of the Orr--Sommerfeld (OS) equation in which the basic flow is taken to be of a Poiseuille type. The O--S equation is solved for a variety of Reynolds numbers corresponding to available experimental data. A physical argument is presented whereby the central line velocity characterizing the basic flow, U0 sup L, is not to be identified with the U0 appearing in the experimental Reynolds number. The theoretical results are compared with two types of experimental data: (1) turbulence bulk properties, and (2) properties that depend stongly on the structure of the turbulence spectrun at low wave numbers. The only existing analytical expression for Pi (k) cannot be used in the present case because it applies to the case of a flat plate, not a finite channel
The power spectra of CMB and density fluctuations seeded by local cosmic strings
We compute the power spectra in the cosmic microwave background and cold dark
matter (CDM) fluctuations seeded by strings, using the largest string
simulations performed so far to evaluate the two-point functions of their
stress energy tensor. We find that local strings differ from global defects in
that the scalar components of the stress-energy tensor dominate over vector and
tensor components. This result has far reaching consequences. We find that
cosmic strings exhibit a single Doppler peak of acceptable height at high
. They also seem to have a less severe bias problem than global defects,
although the CDM power spectrum in the ``standard'' cosmology (flat geometry,
zero cosmological constant, 5% baryonic component) is the wrong shape to fit
large scale structure data
Statistical mechanical description of liquid systems in electric field
We formulate the statistical mechanical description of liquid systems for
both polarizable and polar systems in an electric field in the
-ensemble, which is the pendant to the thermodynamic description in
terms of the free energy at constant potential. The contribution of the
electric field to the configurational integral in
the -ensemble is given in an exact form as a factor in the
integrand of . We calculate the contribution of the
electric field to the Ornstein-Zernike formula for the scattering function in
the -ensemble. As an application we determine the field induced
shift of the critical temperature for polarizable and polar liquids, and show
that the shift is upward for polarizable liquids and downward for polar
liquids.Comment: 6 page
The orbital motion, absolute mass, and high-altitude winds of exoplanet HD209458b
For extrasolar planets discovered using the radial velocity method, the
spectral characterization of the host star leads to a mass-estimate of the star
and subsequently of the orbiting planet. In contrast, if also the orbital
velocity of the planet would be known, the masses of both star and planet could
be determined directly using Newton's law of gravity, just as in the case of
stellar double-line eclipsing binaries. Here we report on the detection of the
orbital velocity of extrasolar planet HD209458b. High dispersion ground-based
spectroscopy during a transit of this planet reveals absorption lines from
carbon monoxide produced in the planet atmosphere, which shift significantly in
wavelength due to the change in the radial component of the planet orbital
velocity. These observations result in a mass determination of the star and
planet of 1.00+-0.22 Msun and 0.64+-0.09 Mjup respectively. A ~2 km/sec
blueshift of the carbon monoxide signal with respect to the systemic velocity
of the host star suggests the presence of a strong wind flowing from the
irradiated dayside to the non-irradiated nightside of the planet within the
0.01-0.1 mbar atmospheric pressure range probed by these observations. The
strength of the carbon monoxide signal suggests a CO mixing ratio of 1-3x10-3
in this planet's upper atmosphere.Comment: 11 Pages main article and 6 pages suppl. information: A final, edited
version appears in the 24 May 2010 issue of Natur
Towards a precession driven dynamo experiment
The most ambitious project within the DREsden Sodium facility for DYNamo and
thermohydraulic studies (DRESDYN) at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
(HZDR) is the set-up of a precession-driven dynamo experiment. After discussing
the scientific background and some results of water pre-experiments and
numerical predictions, we focus on the numerous structural and design problems
of the machine. We also outline the progress of the building's construction,
and the status of some other experiments that are planned in the framework of
DRESDYN.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Magnetohydrodynamic
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