10,366 research outputs found
New Modeling of the Lensing Galaxy and Cluster of Q0957+561: Implications for the Global Value of the Hubble Constant
The gravitational lens 0957+561 is modeled utilizing recent observations of
the galaxy and the cluster as well as previous VLBI radio data which have been
re-analyzed recently. The galaxy is modeled by a power-law elliptical mass
density with a small core while the cluster is modeled by a non-singular
power-law sphere as indicated by recent observations. Using all of the current
available data, the best-fit model has a reduced chi-squared of approximately 6
where the chi-squared value is dominated by a small portion of the
observational constraints used; this value of the reduced chi-squared is
similar to that of the recent FGSE best-fit model by Barkana et al. However,
the derived value of the Hubble constant is significantly different from the
value derived from the FGSE model. We find that the value of the Hubble
constant is given by H_0 = 69 +18/-12 (1-K) and 74 +18/-17 (1-K) km/s/Mpc with
and without a constraint on the cluster's mass, respectively, where K is the
convergence of the cluster at the position of the galaxy and the range for each
value is defined by Delta chi-squared = reduced chi-squared. Presently, the
best achievable fit for this system is not as good as for PG 1115+080, which
also has recently been used to constrain the Hubble constant, and the
degeneracy is large. Possibilities for improving the fit and reducing the
degeneracy are discussed.Comment: 22 pages in aaspp style including 6 tables and 5 figures, ApJ in
press (Nov. 1st issue
Computerized power supply analysis: State equation generation and terminal models
To aid engineers that design power supply systems two analysis tools that can be used with the state equation analysis package were developed. These tools include integration routines that start with the description of a power supply in state equation form and yield analytical results. The first tool uses a computer program that works with the SUPER SCEPTRE circuit analysis program and prints the state equation for an electrical network. The state equations developed automatically by the computer program are used to develop an algorithm for reducing the number of state variables required to describe an electrical network. In this way a second tool is obtained in which the order of the network is reduced and a simpler terminal model is obtained
Improved Parameters and New Lensed Features for Q0957+561 from WFPC2 Imaging
New HST WFPC2 observations of the lensed double QSO 0957+561 will allow
improved constraints on the lens mass distribution and hence will improve the
derived value of H. We first present improved optical positions and
photometry for the known components of this lens. The optical separation
between the A and B quasar images agrees with VLBI data at the 10 mas level,
and the optical center of the primary lensing galaxy G1 coincides with the VLBI
source G' to within 10 mas. The best previous model for this lens (Grogin and
Narayan 1996) is excluded by these data and must be reevaluated.
Several new resolved features are found within 10\arcsec of G1, including an
apparent fold arc with two bright knots. Several other small galaxies are
detected, including two which may be multiple images of each other. We present
positions and crude photometry of these objects.Comment: 7 pages including 2 postscript figures, LaTeX, emulateapj style. Also
available at
http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu:80/users/philf/www/papers/list.htm
Bound states of magnons in the S=1/2 quantum spin ladder
We study the excitation spectrum of the two-leg antiferromagnetic S=1/2
Heisenberg ladder. Our approach is based on the description of the excitations
as triplets above a strong-coupling singlet ground state. The quasiparticle
spectrum is calculated by treating the excitations as a dilute Bose gas with
infinite on-site repulsion. We find singlet (S=0) and triplet (S=1)
two-particle bound states of the elementary triplets. We argue that bound
states generally exist in any dimerized quantum spin model.Comment: 4 REVTeX pages, 4 Postscript figure
Thinking territory historically.
BACKGROUND:
While the randomised controlled trial (RCT) is generally regarded as the design of
choice for assessing the effects of health care, within the social sciences there is
considerable debate about the relative suitability of RCTs and non-randomised
studies (NRSs) for evaluating public policy interventions.
// OBJECTIVES:
To determine whether RCTs lead to the same effect size and variance as NRSs of
similar policy interventions; and whether these findings can be explained by other
factors associated with the interventions or their evaluation.
// METHODS:
Analyses of methodological studies, empirical reviews, and individual health and
social services studies investigated the relationship between randomisation and
effect size of policy interventions by:
1) Comparing controlled trials that are identical in all respects other than the use of
randomisation by 'breaking' the randomisation in a trial to create non-randomised
trials (re-sampling studies).
2) Comparing randomised and non-randomised arms of controlled trials mounted
simultaneously in the field (replication studies).
3) Comparing similar controlled trials drawn from systematic reviews that include
both randomised and non-randomised studies (structured narrative reviews and
sensitivity analyses within meta-analyses).
4) Investigating associations between randomisation and effect size using a pool of
more diverse RCTs and NRSs within broadly similar areas (meta-epidemiology).
// RESULTS:
Prior methodological reviews and meta-analyses of existing reviews comparing
effects from RCTs and nRCTs suggested that effect sizes from RCTs and nRCTs
may indeed differ in some circumstances and that these differences may well be
associated with factors confounded with design.
Re-sampling studies offer no evidence that the absence of randomisation directly
influences the effect size of policy interventions in a systematic way. No consistent
explanations were found for randomisation being associated with changes in effect
sizes of policy interventions in field trials
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