786 research outputs found
The Deuterium Abundance in the z=0.7 absorber towards QSO PG1718+4807
We report a further analysis of the ratio of deuterium to hydrogen (D/H)
using HST spectra of the z=0.701 Lyman limit system towards the QSO PG1718+481.
Initial analyses of this absorber found it gave a high D/H value, 1.8 - 3.1
\times 10^{-4} (Webb et al. 1998), inconsistent with several higher redshift
measurements. It is thus important to critically examine this measurement. By
analysing the velocity widths of the DI, HI and metal lines present in this
system, Kirkman et al. (2001) report that the additional absorption in the blue
wing of the lya line can not be DI, with a confidence level of 98%. Here we
present a more detailed analysis, taking into account possible wavelength
shifts between the three sets of HST spectra used in the analysis. We find that
the constraints on this system are not as strong as those claimed by Kirkman et
al. The discrepancy between the parameters of the blue wing absorption and the
parameters expected for DI is marginally worse than 1 sigma.
Tytler et al.(1999) commented on the first analysis of Webb et
al.(1997,1998), reporting the presence of a contaminating lower redshift Lyman
limit system, with log[N(HI)] = 16.7 at z=0.602, which biases the N(HI)
estimate for the main system. Here we show that this absorber actually has
log[N(HI)] < 14.6 and does not impact on the estimate of N(HI) in the system of
interest at z = 0.701.
The purpose of the present paper is to highlight important aspects of the
analysis which were not explored in previous studies, and hence help refine the
methods used in future analyses of D/H in quasar spectra.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures. Accepted by MNRA
Persistent Currents in Multichannel Interacting Systems
Persistent currents of disordered multichannel mesoscopic rings of spinless
interacting fermions threaded by a magnetic flux are calculated using exact
diagonalizations and self-consistent Hartree-Fock methods. The validity of the
Hartree-Fock approximation is controled by a direct comparison with the exact
results on small clusters. For sufficiently large disorder
(diffusive regime), the effect of repulsive interactions on the current
distribution is to slightly decrease its width (mean square current) but to
{\it increase} its mean value (mean current). This effect is stronger in the
case of a long range repulsion. Our results suggest that the coupling between
the chains is essential to understand the large currents observed
experimentally.Comment: Revised version, uuencoded compressed file including fig
R.A.Fisher, design theory, and the Indian connection
Design Theory, a branch of mathematics, was born out of the experimental
statistics research of the population geneticist R. A. Fisher and of Indian
mathematical statisticians in the 1930s. The field combines elements of
combinatorics, finite projective geometries, Latin squares, and a variety of
further mathematical structures, brought together in surprising ways. This
essay will present these structures and ideas as well as how the field came
together, in itself an interesting story.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Exact particle and kinetic energy densities for one-dimensional confined gases of non-interacting fermions
We propose a new method for the evaluation of the particle density and
kinetic pressure profiles in inhomogeneous one-dimensional systems of
non-interacting fermions, and apply it to harmonically confined systems of up
to N=1000 fermions. The method invokes a Green's function operator in
coordinate space, which is handled by techniques originally developed for the
calculation of the density of single-particle states from Green's functions in
the energy domain. In contrast to the Thomas-Fermi (local density)
approximation, the exact profiles under harmonic confinement show negative
local pressure in the tails and a prominent shell structure which may become
accessible to observation in magnetically trapped gases of fermionic alkali
atoms.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
The current status of observational cosmology
Observational cosmology has indeed made very rapid progress in recent years.
The ability to quantify the universe has largely improved due to observational
constraints coming from structure formation. The transition to precision
cosmology has been spearheaded by measurements of the anisotropy in the cosmic
microwave background (CMB) over the past decade. Observations of the large
scale structure in the distribution of galaxies, high red-shift supernova, have
provided the required complementary information. We review the current status
of cosmological parameter estimates from joint analysis of CMB anisotropy and
large scale structure (LSS) data. We also sound a note of caution on
overstating the successes achieved thus far.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, Latex style files included, To appear in the
proceedings of ICGC-04. Minor rewording in the abstract and introductio
Inclusive quasi-elastic electron-nucleus scattering
This article presents a review of the field of inclusive quasi-elastic
electron-nucleus scattering. It discusses the approach used to measure the data
and includes a compilation of data available in numerical form. The theoretical
approaches used to interpret the data are presented. A number of results
obtained from the comparison between experiment and calculation are then
reviewed. The analogies and differences to other fields of physics exploiting
quasi-elastic scattering from composite systems are pointed out.Comment: Accepted for publication in Reviews of Modern Physic
Three-dimensional effects on extended states in disordered models of polymers
We study electronic transport properties of disordered polymers in the
presence of both uncorrelated and short-range correlated impurities. In our
procedure, the actual physical potential acting upon the electrons is replaced
by a set of nonlocal separable potentials, leading to a Schr\"odinger equation
that is exactly solvable in the momentum representation. We then show that the
reflection coefficient of a pair of impurities placed at neighboring sites
(dimer defect) vanishes for a particular resonant energy. When there is a
finite number of such defects randomly distributed over the whole lattice, we
find that the transmission coefficient is almost unity for states close to the
resonant energy, and that those states present a very large localization
length. Multifractal analysis techniques applied to very long systems
demonstrate that these states are truly extended in the thermodynamic limit.
These results reinforce the possibility to verify experimentally theoretical
predictions about absence of localization in quasi-one-dimensional disordered
systems.Comment: 16 pages, REVTeX 3.0, 5 figures on request from FDA
([email protected]). Submitted to Phys. Rev. B. MA/UC3M/09/9
Haulout site selection by southern elephant seals at Marion Island
Using data from an ongoing mark-resight programme at Marion Island, we tested empirically whether southern elephant seals prefer certain terrestrial sites to others during the breeding, moulting and winter haulouts, and whether the pattern of site use is the same for different age and sex groups. Southern elephant seals preferred some sites, while discriminating against other sites, with different age and sex classes using different sites for certain haulout events. Wintering young animals did not show strong site selection. Some popular sites were used for all haulouts by all age and sex groups, and apparently have all the requirements of a good site for terrestrial haulout by southern elephant seals. Site selection becomes more apparent with age, suggesting the role of haulout experience in site selection
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