3,187 research outputs found
MACHOs, White Dwarfs, and the Age of the Universe
(Abridged Abstract) A favored interpretation of recent microlensing
measurements towards the Large Magellanic Cloud implies that a large fraction
(i.e. 10--50%) of the mass of the galactic halo is composed of white dwarfs. We
compare model white dwarf luminosity functions to the data from the
observational surveys in order to determine a lower bound on the age of any
substantial white dwarf halo population (and hence possibly on the age of the
Universe). We compare various theoretical white dwarf luminosity functions, in
which we vary hese three parameters, with the abovementioned survey results.
From this comparison, we conclude that if white dwarfs do indeed constitute
more than 10% of the local halo mass density, then the Universe must be at
least 10 Gyr old for our most extreme allowed values of the parameters. When we
use cooling curves that account for chemical fractionation and more likely
values of the IMF and the bolometric correction, we find tighter limits: a
white dwarf MACHO fraction of 10% (30%) requires a minimum age of 14 Gyr (15.5
Gyr). Our analysis also indicates that the halo white dwarfs almost certainly
have helium-dominated atmospheres.Comment: Final version accepted for publication, straight TeX formate, 6 figs,
22 page
Thermal noise of microcantilevers in viscous fluids
International audienceWe present a simple theoretical framework to describe the thermal noise of a microscopic mechanical beam in a viscous fluid: we use the Sader approach to describe the effect of the surrounding fluid (added mass and viscous drag), and the fluctuation dissipation theorem for each flexural modes of the system to derive a general expression for the power spectrum density of fluctuations. This prediction is compared with an experimental measurement on a commercial atomic force microscopy cantilever in a frequency range covering the two first resonances. A very good agreement is found on the whole spectrum, with no adjustable parameters but the thickness of the cantilever
Wannier-Stark ladders in one-dimensional elastic systems
The optical analogues of Bloch oscillations and their associated
Wannier-Stark ladders have been recently analyzed. In this paper we propose an
elastic realization of these ladders, employing for this purpose the torsional
vibrations of specially designed one-dimensional elastic systems. We have
measured, for the first time, the ladder wave amplitudes, which are not
directly accessible either in the quantum mechanical or optical cases. The wave
amplitudes are spatially localized and coincide rather well with theoretically
predicted amplitudes. The rods we analyze can be used to localize different
frequencies in different parts of the elastic systems and viceversa.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev. Let
Mirror Dark Matter and Core Density of Galaxies
We present a particle physics realization of a recent suggestion by Spergel
and Steinhardt that collisional but dissipationless dark matter may resolve the
core density problem in dark matter-dominated galaxies such as the dwarf
galaxies. The realization is the asymmetric mirror universe model introduced to
explain the neutrino puzzles and the microlensing anomaly. The mirror baryons
are the dark matter particles with the desired properties. The time scales are
right for resolution of the core density problem and formation of mirror stars
(MACHOs observed in microlensing experiments). The mass of the region
homogenized by Silk damping is between a dwarf and a large galaxy.Comment: 9 pages, LaTex. The present version shows that atomic scattering
inherent in the mirror model can solve the core density problem without the
need for an extra U(1) discussed in the original version; all conclusions are
unchanged. This version is accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Classifying LISA gravitational wave burst signals using Bayesian evidence
We consider the problem of characterisation of burst sources detected with
the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) using the multi-modal nested
sampling algorithm, MultiNest. We use MultiNest as a tool to search for
modelled bursts from cosmic string cusps, and compute the Bayesian evidence
associated with the cosmic string model. As an alternative burst model, we
consider sine-Gaussian burst signals, and show how the evidence ratio can be
used to choose between these two alternatives. We present results from an
application of MultiNest to the last round of the Mock LISA Data Challenge, in
which we were able to successfully detect and characterise all three of the
cosmic string burst sources present in the release data set. We also present
results of independent trials and show that MultiNest can detect cosmic string
signals with signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as low as ~7 and sine-Gaussian signals
with SNR as low as ~8. In both cases, we show that the threshold at which the
sources become detectable coincides with the SNR at which the evidence ratio
begins to favour the correct model over the alternative.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, accepted by CQG; v2 has minor changes for
consistency with accepted versio
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Rates of lobar atrophy in asymptomatic MAPT mutation carriers.
IntroductionThe aim of this study was to investigate the rates of lobar atrophy in the asymptomatic microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) mutation carriers.MethodsMAPT mutation carriers (n = 14; 10 asymptomatic, 4 converters from asymptomatic to symptomatic) and noncarriers (n = 13) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging and were followed annually with a median of 9.2 years. Longitudinal changes in lobar atrophy were analyzed using the tensor-based morphometry with symmetric normalization algorithm.ResultsThe rate of temporal lobe atrophy in asymptomatic MAPT mutation carriers was faster than that in noncarriers. Although the greatest rate of atrophy was observed in the temporal lobe in converters, they also had increased atrophy rates in the frontal and parietal lobes compared to noncarriers.DiscussionAccelerated decline in temporal lobe volume occurs in asymptomatic MAPT mutation carriers followed by the frontal and parietal lobe in those who have become symptomatic. The findings have implications for monitoring the progression of neurodegeneration during clinical trials in asymptomatic MAPT mutation carriers
Anomalous quantum chaotic behavior in nanoelectromechanical structures
It is predicted that for sufficiently strong electron-phonon coupling an
anomalous quantum chaotic behavior develops in certain types of suspended
electro-mechanical nanostructures, here comprised by a thin cylindrical quantum
dot (billiard) on a suspended rectangular dielectric plate. The deformation
potential and piezoelectric interactions are considered. As a result of the
electron-phonon coupling between the two systems the spectral statistics of the
electro-mechanic eigenenergies exhibit an anomalous behavior. If the center of
the quantum dot is located at one of the symmetry axes of the rectangular
plate, the energy level distributions correspond to the Gaussian Orthogonal
Ensemble (GOE), otherwise they belong to the Gaussian Unitary Ensemble (GUE),
even though the system is time-reversal invariant.Comment: 4 pages, pdf forma
Gaussian random waves in elastic media
Similar to the Berry conjecture of quantum chaos we consider elastic analogue
which incorporates longitudinal and transverse elastic displacements with
corresponding wave vectors. Based on that we derive the correlation functions
for amplitudes and intensities of elastic displacements. Comparison to numerics
in a quarter Bunimovich stadium demonstrates excellent agreement.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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