23,946 research outputs found
Broad Absorption Line Variability in Radio-Loud Quasars
We investigate C IV broad absorption line (BAL) variability within a sample
of 46 radio-loud quasars (RLQs), selected from SDSS/FIRST data to include both
core-dominated (39) and lobe-dominated (7) objects. The sample consists
primarily of high-ionization BAL quasars, and a substantial fraction have large
BAL velocities or equivalent widths; their radio luminosities and
radio-loudness values span ~2.5 orders of magnitude. We have obtained 34 new
Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) spectra of 28 BAL RLQs to compare to earlier SDSS
data, and we also incorporate archival coverage (primarily dual-epoch SDSS) for
a total set of 78 pairs of equivalent width measurements for 46 BAL RLQs,
probing rest-frame timescales of ~80-6000 d (median 500 d). In general, only
modest changes in the depths of segments of absorption troughs are observed,
akin to those seen in prior studies of BAL RQQs. Also similar to previous
findings for RQQs, the RLQs studied here are more likely to display BAL
variability on longer rest-frame timescales. However, typical values of
|Delta_EW| and |Delta_EW|/ are about 40+/-20% lower for BAL RLQs when
compared with those of a timescale-matched sample of BAL RQQs. Optical
continuum variability is of similar amplitude in BAL RLQs and BAL RQQs; for
both RLQs and RQQs, continuum variability tends to be stronger on longer
timescales. BAL variability in RLQs does not obviously depend upon their radio
luminosities or radio-loudness values, but we do find tentative evidence for
greater fractional BAL variability within lobe-dominated RLQs. Enhanced BAL
variability within more edge-on (lobe-dominated) RLQs supports some geometrical
dependence to the outflow structure.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figures, 6 tables, accepted to MNRAS, full Appendix A at
http://www.macalester.edu/~bmille13/balrlqs.htm
Biological and physical oceanographic observations pertaining to the trawl fishery in a region of persistent coastal upwelling
An upwelling episode in the Point Sal region of the central California coast is examined by using data obtained by a data buoy. The episodes was interrupted by the abrupt abatement of the strong wind which promotes coastal upwelling. The mean hourly upwelling index is calculated to be higher than the 20 year mean monthly value. During 3 days of light wind commercial bottom trawl operations were possible. Shipboard estimates of chlorophyll content in surface waters during trawling show the high concentrations that are indicative of a rich biomass of phytoplankton, a result of the upwelling episode. Satellite imagery shows the extent of the upwelling water to be of the order of 100 km offshore; the result of many upwelling episodes. Shipboard echo sounder data show the presence of various delmersal species and of zooplakton; the latter graze on the phytoplankton in the upper euphotic layers. The fish catch data are recorded according to species for 2 days of trawling, and the catch per trawl hour is recorded
Lunar resources: Oxygen from rocks and soil
The first set of hydrogen reduction experiments to use actual lunar material was recently completed. The sample, 70035, is a coarse-grained vesicular basalt containing 18.46 wt. percent FeO and 12.97 wt. percent TiO2. The mineralogy includes pyroxene, ilmenite, plagioclase, and minor olivine. The sample was crushed to a grain size of less than 500 microns. The crushed basalt was reduced with hydrogen in seven tests at temperatures of 900-1050 C and pressures of 1-10 atm for 30-60 minutes. A capacitance probe, measuring the dew point of the gas stream, was used to follow reaction progress. Experiments were also conducted using a terrestrial basalt similar to some lunar mare samples. Minnesota Lunar Simulant (MLS-1) contains 13.29 wt. percent FeO, 2.96 wt. percent Fe2O3, and 6.56 wt. percent TiO2. The major minerals include plagioclase, pyroxene, olivine, ilmenite, and magnetite. The rock was ground and seived, and experiments were run on the less than 74- and 500-1168-micron fractions. Experiments were also conducted on less than 74-micron powders of olivine, pyroxene, synthetic ilmenite, and TiO2. The terrestrial rock and mineral samples were reduced with flowing hydrogen at 1100 C in a microbalance furnace, with reaction progress monitored by weight loss. Experiments were run at atmospheric pressure for durations of 3-4 hr. Solid samples from both sets of experiments were analyzed by Mossbauer spectroscopy, petrographic microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, tunneling electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction. Apollo 17 soil 78221 was examined for evidence of natural reduction in the lunar environment. This sample was chosen based on its high maturity level (I sub s/FeO = 93.0). The FeO content is 11.68 wt. percent and the TiO2 content is 3.84 wt. percent. A polished thin section of the 90-150 micron size fraction was analyzed by petrographic microscopy and scanning electron microscopy
Assembly and force measurement with SPM-like probes in holographic optical tweezers
We report a high fidelity tomographic reconstruction of the quantum state of photon pairs generated by parametric down-conversion with orbital angular momentum (OAM) entanglement. Our tomography method allows us to estimate an upper and lower bound for the entanglement between the down-converted photons. We investigate the two-dimensional state subspace defined by the OAM states ±â and superpositions thereof, with â=1, 2, ..., 30. We find that the reconstructed density matrix, even for OAMs up to around â=20, is close to that of a maximally entangled Bell state with a fidelity in the range between F=0.979 and F=0.814. This demonstrates that, although the single count-rate diminishes with increasing â, entanglement persists in a large dimensional state space
Rim curvature anomaly in thin conical sheets revisited
This paper revisits one of the puzzling behaviors in a developable cone
(d-cone), the shape obtained by pushing a thin sheet into a circular container
of radius by a distance [E. Cerda, S. Chaieb, F. Melo, and L.
Mahadevan, {\sl Nature} {\bf 401}, 46 (1999)]. The mean curvature was reported
to vanish at the rim where the d-cone is supported [T. Liang and T. A. Witten,
{\sl Phys. Rev. E} {\bf 73}, 046604 (2006)]. We investigate the ratio of the
two principal curvatures versus sheet thickness over a wider dynamic range
than was used previously, holding and fixed. Instead of tending
towards 1 as suggested by previous work, the ratio scales as .
Thus the mean curvature does not vanish for very thin sheets as previously
claimed. Moreover, we find that the normalized rim profile of radial curvature
in a d-cone is identical to that in a "c-cone" which is made by pushing a
regular cone into a circular container. In both c-cones and d-cones, the ratio
of the principal curvatures at the rim scales as ,
where is the pushing force and is the Young's modulus. Scaling
arguments and analytical solutions confirm the numerical results.Comment: 25 pages, 12 figures. Added references. Corrected typos. Results
unchange
Turbulence and Fossil Turbulence in Oceans and Lakes
Turbulence is defined as an eddy-like state of fluid motion where the
inertial-vortex forces of the eddies are larger than any of the other forces
that tend to damp the eddies out. Energy cascades of irrotational flows from
large scales to small are non-turbulent, even if they supply energy to
turbulence. Turbulent flows are rotational and cascade from small scales to
large, with feedback. Viscous forces limit the smallest turbulent eddy size to
the Kolmogorov scale. In stratified fluids, buoyancy forces limit large
vertical overturns to the Ozmidov scale and convert the largest turbulent
eddies into a unique class of saturated, non-propagating, internal waves,
termed fossil-vorticity-turbulence. These waves have the same energy but
different properties and spectral forms than the original turbulence patch. The
Gibson (1980, 1986) theory of fossil turbulence applies universal similarity
theories of turbulence and turbulent mixing to the vertical evolution of an
isolated patch of turbulence in a stratified fluid as its growth is constrained
and fossilized by buoyancy forces. These theories apply to the dynamics of
atmospheric, astrophysical and cosmological turbulence.Comment: 31 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables, see http://www-acs.ucsd.edu/~ir118
Accepted for publication by the Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnolog
Heterocyst placement strategies to maximize growth of cyanobacterial filaments
Under conditions of limited fixed-nitrogen, some filamentous cyanobacteria
develop a regular pattern of heterocyst cells that fix nitrogen for the
remaining vegetative cells. We examine three different heterocyst placement
strategies by quantitatively modelling filament growth while varying both
external fixed-nitrogen and leakage from the filament. We find that there is an
optimum heterocyst frequency which maximizes the growth rate of the filament;
the optimum frequency decreases as the external fixed-nitrogen concentration
increases but increases as the leakage increases. In the presence of leakage,
filaments implementing a local heterocyst placement strategy grow significantly
faster than filaments implementing random heterocyst placement strategies. With
no extracellular fixed-nitrogen, consistent with recent experimental studies of
Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, the modelled heterocyst spacing distribution using our
local heterocyst placement strategy is qualitatively similar to experimentally
observed patterns. As external fixed-nitrogen is increased, the spacing
distribution for our local placement strategy retains the same shape while the
average spacing between heterocysts continuously increases.Comment: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article
accepted for publication in Physical Biology. IOP Publishing Ltd is not
responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or
any version derived from it. The definitive publisher-authenticated version
will be available onlin
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