Cosmology with Hypervelocity Stars

In the standard cosmological model, the merger remnant of the Milky Way and Andromeda (Milkomeda) will be the only galaxy remaining within our event horizon once the Universe has aged by another factor of ten, ~10^{11} years after the Big Bang. After that time, the only extragalactic sources of light in the observable cosmic volume will be hypervelocity stars being ejected continuously from Milkomeda. Spectroscopic detection of the velocity-distance relation or the evolution in the Doppler shifts of these stars will allow a precise measurement of the vacuum mass density as well as the local matter distribution. Already in the near future, the next generation of large telescopes will allow photometric detection of individual stars out to the edge of the Local Group, and may target the ~10^{5+-1} hypervelocity stars that originated in it as cosmological tracers.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP, 2011

Environmental pressure from the 2014–15 eruption of Bárðarbunga volcano, Iceland

The effusive six months long 2014-2015 Bárðarbunga eruption (31 August-27 February) was the largest in Iceland for more than 200 years, producing 1.6 ± 0.3 km3 of lava. The total SO2 emission was 11 ± 5 Mt, more than the amount emitted from Europe in 2011. The ground level concentration of SO2 exceeded the 350 μg m−3 hourly average health limit over much of Iceland for days to weeks. Anomalously high SO2 concentrations were also measured at several locations in Europe in September. The lowest pH of fresh snowmelt at the eruption site was 3.3, and 3.2 in precipitation 105 km away from the source. Elevated dissolved H2SO4, HCl, HF, and metal concentrations were measured in snow and precipitation. Environmental pressures from the eruption and impacts on populated areas were reduced by its remoteness, timing, and the weather. The anticipated primary environmental pressure is on the surface waters, soils, and vegetation of Iceland

Faster algorithms for computing plurality points

Let V be a set of n points in R^d, which we call voters, where d is a fixed constant. A point p in R^d is preferred over another point p' in R^d by a voter v in V if dist(v,p) &lt; dist(v,p'). A point p is called a plurality point if it is preferred by at least as many voters as any other point p'. We present an algorithm that decides in O(n log n) time whether V admits a plurality point in the L_2 norm and, if so, finds the (unique) plurality point. We also give efficient algorithms to compute the smallest subset W of V such that V - W admits a plurality point, and to compute a so-called minimum-radius plurality ball. Finally, we consider the problem in the personalized L_1 norm, where each point v in V has a preference vector &lt;w_1(v), ...,w_d(v)&gt; and the distance from v to any point p in R^d is given by sum_{i=1}^d w_i(v) cdot |x_i(v)-x_i(p)|. For this case we can compute in O(n^(d-1)) time the set of all plurality points of V. When all preference vectors are equal, the running time improves to O(n). </p

Finding plurality points in R^d

Let V be a set of n points in R^d, which we call voters, where d is a fixed constant. A point p in R^d is preferred over another point p' in R^d by a voter v in V if dist(v,p) < dist(v,p'). A point p is called a plurality point if it is preferred by at least as many voters as any other point p'. We present an algorithm that decides in O(n log n) time whether V admits a plurality point in the L_2 norm and, if so, finds the (unique) plurality point

Fast Fréchet queries

Inspired by video analysis of team sports, we study the following problem. Let P be a polygonal path in the plane with n vertices. We want to preprocess P into a data structure that can quickly count the number of inclusion-minimal subpaths of P whose Fréchet distance to a given query segment Q is at most some threshold value e. We present a data structure that solves an approximate version of this problem: it counts all subpaths whose Fréchet distance is at most e, but this count may also include subpaths whose Fréchet distance is up to (2+3v2)e. For any parameter n=s=n2, our data structure can be tuned such that it uses O(s polylog n) storage and has O((n/vs) polylog n) query time

Geometric spanners for weighted point sets

Let (S,d) be a finite metric space, where each element p¿¿¿S has a non-negative weight w(p). We study spanners for the set S with respect to weighted distance function d w , where d w (p,q) is w(p)¿+¿d(p,q)¿+¿wq if p¿¿¿q and 0 otherwise. We present a general method for turning spanners with respect to the d-metric into spanners with respect to the d w -metric. For any given e&gt;¿0, we can apply our method to obtain (5¿+¿e)-spanners with a linear number of edges for three cases: points in Euclidean space R d , points in spaces of bounded doubling dimension, and points on the boundary of a convex body in R d where d is the geodesic distance function. We also describe an alternative method that leads to (2¿+¿e)-spanners for points in R d and for points on the boundary of a convex body in R d . The number of edges in these spanners is O(nlogn). This bound on the stretch factor is nearly optimal: in any finite metric space and for any e&gt;¿0, it is possible to assign weights to the elements such that any non-complete graph has stretch factor larger than 2¿-¿e

Geometric spanners for weighted point sets

Let (S,d) be a finite metric space, where each element p¿¿¿S has a non-negative weight w(p). We study spanners for the set S with respect to weighted distance function d w , where d w (p,q) is w(p)¿+¿d(p,q)¿+¿wq if p¿¿¿q and 0 otherwise. We present a general method for turning spanners with respect to the d-metric into spanners with respect to the d w -metric. For any given e>¿0, we can apply our method to obtain (5¿+¿e)-spanners with a linear number of edges for three cases: points in Euclidean space R d , points in spaces of bounded doubling dimension, and points on the boundary of a convex body in R d where d is the geodesic distance function. We also describe an alternative method that leads to (2¿+¿e)-spanners for points in R d and for points on the boundary of a convex body in R d . The number of edges in these spanners is O(nlogn). This bound on the stretch factor is nearly optimal: in any finite metric space and for any e>¿0, it is possible to assign weights to the elements such that any non-complete graph has stretch factor larger than 2¿-¿e

Geometric spanners for weighted point sets

Let (S,d) be a finite metric space, where each element p¿¿¿S has a non-negative weight w(p). We study spanners for the set S with respect to weighted distance function d w , where d w (p,q) is w(p)¿+¿d(p,q)¿+¿wq if p¿¿¿q and 0 otherwise. We present a general method for turning spanners with respect to the d-metric into spanners with respect to the d w -metric. For any given e>¿0, we can apply our method to obtain (5¿+¿e)-spanners with a linear number of edges for three cases: points in Euclidean space R d , points in spaces of bounded doubling dimension, and points on the boundary of a convex body in R d where d is the geodesic distance function. We also describe an alternative method that leads to (2¿+¿e)-spanners for points in R d and for points on the boundary of a convex body in R d . The number of edges in these spanners is O(nlogn). This bound on the stretch factor is nearly optimal: in any finite metric space and for any e>¿0, it is possible to assign weights to the elements such that any non-complete graph has stretch factor larger than 2¿-¿e

Material and mechanical properties of young basalt in drill cores from the oceanic island of Surtsey, Iceland

International audienceCharacterization of 2017 drill core samples from Surtsey, an oceanic island produced by 1963−1967 eruptions in the offshore extension of Iceland’s east rift zone, reveals highly heterogeneous microstructural, physical, and mechanical properties in subaerial, submarine, and subseafloor basaltic deposits. The connected porosity varies from 42% in weakly consolidated lapilli tuff in a submarine inflow zone to 21% in strongly lithified lapilli tuff in upper subseafloor deposits near the explosively excavated conduit. Permeability, however, varies over six orders of magnitude, from 10−18 m2 to 10−13 m2. Uniaxial compressive strength, P-wave velocity, and thermal conductivity are also highly variable: 10−70 MPa, 1.48−3.74 km·s−1, and 0.472−0.862 W·m−1·K−1, respectively. Synchrotron X-ray microdiffraction analyses integrated with major-element geochemistry and quantitative X-ray powder diffraction analyses describe the initial alteration of fresh glass, incipient consolidation of a fine-ash matrix, and partial closure of pores with mineral cements. Permeability, micromechanical, and thermal property modeling highlight how porosity and pore size in eruptive fabrics—modified through diverse cementing microstructures—influence the physical properties of the pyroclastic deposits. Borehole temperatures, 25−141 °C (measured from 1980 to 2018), do not directly correlate with rock strength properties; rather, the abundance and consolidation of a binding fine-ash matrix appears to be a primary factor. Analytical results integrated with archival data from 1979 drill core samples provide reference parameters for geophysical and heat transfer studies, the physical characteristics of pyroclastic deposits that lithify on a decadal scale, and the stability and survival of oceanic islands over time