Abstractions of linear dynamic networks for input selection in local module identification

In abstractions of linear dynamic networks, selected node signals are removed from the network, while keeping the remaining node signals invariant. The topology and link dynamics, or modules, of an abstracted network will generally be changed compared to the original network. Abstractions of dynamic networks can be used to select an appropriate set of node signals that are to be measured, on the basis of which a particular local module can be estimated. A method is introduced for network abstraction that generalizes previously introduced algorithms, as e.g. immersion and the method of indirect inputs. For this abstraction method it is shown under which conditions on the selected signals a particular module will remain invariant. This leads to sets of conditions on selected measured node variables that allow identification of the target module.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures. Paper to appear in Automatica, Vol. 117, July 202

Three-dimensional geometric morphometrics for studying floral shape variation

Variation in floral shape is of major interest to evolutionary and pollination biologists, plant systematists and developmental geneticists. Quantifying this variation has been difficult due to the three-dimensional (3D) complexity of angiosperm flowers. By combining 3D geometric representations of flowers obtained by micro-computed tomography scanning with geometric morphometric methods, well established in zoology and anthropology, floral shape variation can be analyzed quantitatively, allowing for powerful interpretation and visualization of the resulting patterns of variation

Comparing Galaxies and Lyman Alpha Absorbers at Low Redshift

A scenario is explored in which Lyman alpha absorbers at low redshift arise from lines of sight through extended galaxy disks, including those of dwarf and low surface brightness galaxies. A population of galaxies is simulated based upon observed distributions of galaxy properties, and the gas disks are modeled using pressure and gravity confinement. Some parameter values are ruled out by comparing simulation results with the observed galaxy luminosity function, and constraints may be made on the absorbing cross sections of galaxies. Simulation results indicate that it is difficult to match absorbers with particular galaxies observationally since absorption typically occurs at high impact parameters (>200 kpc) from luminous galaxies. Low impact parameter absorption is dominated by low luminosity dwarfs. A large fraction of absorption lines is found to originate from low surface brightness galaxies, so that the absorbing galaxy is likely to be misidentified. Low redshift Lyman alpha absorber counts can easily be explained by moderately extended galaxy disks when low surface brightness galaxies are included, and it is easily possible to find a scenario which is consistent with observed the galaxy luminosity function, with low redshift Lyman limit absorber counts, and with standard nucleosynthesis predictions of the baryon density, Omega_Baryon.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, accepted to the Astrophysical Journa

Cosmic Shear Analysis with CFHTLS Deep data

We present the first cosmic shear measurements obtained from the T0001 release of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Legacy Survey. The data set covers three uncorrelated patches (D1, D3 and D4) of one square degree each observed in u*, g', r', i' and z' bands, out to i'=25.5. The depth and the multicolored observations done in deep fields enable several data quality controls. The lensing signal is detected in both r' and i' bands and shows similar amplitude and slope in both filters. B-modes are found to be statistically zero at all scales. Using multi-color information, we derived a photometric redshift for each galaxy and separate the sample into medium and high-z galaxies. A stronger shear signal is detected from the high-z subsample than from the low-z subsample, as expected from weak lensing tomography. While further work is needed to model the effects of errors in the photometric redshifts, this results suggests that it will be possible to obtain constraints on the growth of dark matter fluctuations with lensing wide field surveys. The various quality tests and analysis discussed in this work demonstrate that MegaPrime/Megacam instrument produces excellent quality data. The combined Deep and Wide surveys give sigma_8= 0.89 pm 0.06 assuming the Peacock & Dodds non-linear scheme and sigma_8=0.86 pm 0.05 for the halo fitting model and Omega_m=0.3. We assumed a Cold Dark Matter model with flat geometry. Systematics, Hubble constant and redshift uncertainties have been marginalized over. Using only data from the Deep survey, the 1 sigma upper bound for w_0, the constant equation of state parameter is w_0 < -0.8.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures, accepted A&

Reliability of fluctuation-induced transport in a Maxwell-demon-type engine

We study the transport properties of an overdamped Brownian particle which is simultaneously in contact with two thermal baths. The first bath is modeled by an additive thermal noise at temperature $T_A$. The second bath is associated with a multiplicative thermal noise at temperature $T_B$. The analytical expressions for the particle velocity and diffusion constant are derived for this system, and the reliability or coherence of transport is analyzed by means of their ratio in terms of a dimensionless P\'{e}clet number. We find that the transport is not very coherent, though one can get significantly higher currents.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

A first application of the Alcock-Paczynski test to stacked cosmic voids

We report on the first application of the Alcock-Paczynski test to stacked voids in spectroscopic galaxy redshift surveys.We use voids from the Sutter et al. (2012) void catalog, which was derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7 main sample and luminous red galaxy catalogs. The construction of that void catalog removes potential shape measurement bias by using a modified version of the ZOBOV algorithm and by removing voids near survey boundaries and masks. We apply the shape-fitting procedure presented in Lavaux & Wandelt (2012) to ten void stacks out to redshift z=0.36. Combining these measurements, we determine the mean cosmologically induced "stretch" of voids in three redshift bins, with 1-sigma errors of 5-15%. The mean stretch is consistent with unity, providing no indication of a distortion induced by peculiar velocities. While the statistical errors are too large to detect the Alcock-Paczynski effect over our limited redshift range, this proof-of-concept analysis defines procedures that can be applied to larger spectroscopic galaxy surveys at higher redshifts to constrain dark energy using the expected statistical isotropy of structures that are minimally affected by uncertainties in galaxy velocity bias.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, minor revisions from referee comments, ApJ accepte

Spatiotemporal dynamics of discrete sine-Gordon lattices with sinusoidal couplings

The spatiotemporal dynamics of a damped sine-Gordon chain with sinusoidal nearest-neighbor couplings driven by a constant uniform force are discussed. The velocity characteristics of the chain versus the external force is shown. Dynamics in the high- and low-velocity regimes are investigated. It is found that in the high-velocity regime, the dynamics is dominated by rotating modes, the velocity shows a branching bifurcation feature, while in the low-velocity regime, the velocity exhibits step-like dynamical transitions, broken by the destruction of strong resonances.Comment: 10 Revtex pages, 8 Eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.E 57(1998

The Struve-Sahade effect in the optical spectra of O-type binaries I. Main-sequence systems

We present a spectroscopic analysis of four massive binary systems that are known or are good candidates to display the Struve-Sahade effect (defined as the apparent strengthening of the secondary spectrum of the binary when the star is approaching, and the corresponding weakening of the lines when it is receding). We use high resolution optical spectra to determine new orbital solutions and spectral types of HD 165052, HD 100213, HD 159176 and DH Cep. As good knowledge of the fundamental parameters of the considered systems is necessary to examine the Struve-Sahade effect. We then study equivalent width variations in the lines of both components of these binaries during their orbital cycle. In the case of these four systems, variations appear in the equivalent widths of some lines during the orbital cycle, but the definition given above can any longer be valid, since it is now clear that the effect modifies the primary spectrum as much as the secondary spectrum. Furthermore, the lines affected, and the way in which they are affected, depend on the considered system. For at least two of them (HD 100213 and HD 159176) these variations probably reflect the ellipsoidal variable nature of the system.Comment: 12 pages, 20 figures, in press A&

COSMOGRAIL: the COSmological MOnitoring of GRAvItational Lenses XIII: Time delays and 9-yr optical monitoring of the lensed quasar RX J1131-1231

We present the results from nine years of optically monitoring the gravitationally lensed z=0.658 quasar RX J1131-1231. The R-band light curves of the four individual images of the quasar were obtained using deconvolution photometry for a total of 707 epochs. Several sharp quasar variability features strongly constrain the time delays between the quasar images. Using three different numerical techniques, we measure these delays for all possible pairs of quasar images while always processing the four light curves simultaneously. For all three methods, the delays between the three close images A, B, and C are compatible with being 0, while we measure the delay of image D to be 91 days, with a fractional uncertainty of 1.5% (1 sigma), including systematic errors. Our analysis of random and systematic errors accounts in a realistic way for the observed quasar variability, fluctuating microlensing magnification over a broad range of temporal scales, noise properties, and seasonal gaps. Finally, we find that our time-delay measurement methods yield compatible results when applied to subsets of the data.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, minor additions to the text only, techniques and results remain unchanged, A&A in pres

Consistent phenological shifts in the making of a biodiversity hotspot: the Cape flora

Background The best documented survival responses of organisms to past climate change on short (glacial-interglacial) timescales are distributional shifts. Despite ample evidence on such timescales for local adaptations of populations at specific sites, the long-term impacts of such changes on evolutionary significant units in response to past climatic change have been little documented. Here we use phylogenies to reconstruct changes in distribution and flowering ecology of the Cape flora - South Africa's biodiversity hotspot - through a period of past (Neogene and Quaternary) changes in the seasonality of rainfall over a timescale of several million years. Results Forty-three distributional and phenological shifts consistent with past climatic change occur across the flora, and a comparable number of clades underwent adaptive changes in their flowering phenology (9 clades; half of the clades investigated) as underwent distributional shifts (12 clades; two thirds of the clades investigated). Of extant Cape angiosperm species, 14-41% have been contributed by lineages that show distributional shifts consistent with past climate change, yet a similar proportion (14-55%) arose from lineages that shifted flowering phenology. Conclusions Adaptive changes in ecology at the scale we uncover in the Cape and consistent with past climatic change have not been documented for other floras. Shifts in climate tolerance appear to have been more important in this flora than is currently appreciated, and lineages that underwent such shifts went on to contribute a high proportion of the flora's extant species diversity. That shifts in phenology, on an evolutionary timescale and on such a scale, have not yet been detected for other floras is likely a result of the method used; shifts in flowering phenology cannot be detected in the fossil record