27,696 research outputs found
Community Change for Youth Development in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri, is one of six sites in Community Change for Youth Development (CCYD), a national demonstration project aiming to increase basic supports and opportunities available to youth aged 12-20. The lead agency is the YMCA of Greater Kansas City; because of its considerable organizational capacity and relationship with funders, the YMCA was successful in operating and expanding CCYD. This report focuses on the benefits of working with the YMCA of Greater Kansas City and the challenges faced by the organization in leading a community-based initiative in three urban neighborhoods
A BeppoSAX observation of the supersoft source 1E 0035.4-7230
Results from a 37,000 s BeppoSAX Low-Energy Concentrator Spectrometer (LECS)
observation of the supersoft source SMC 13 (=1E 0035.4-7230) in the Small
Magellanic Cloud are reported. The BeppoSAX spectrum is fitted either with a
blackbody spectrum with an effective temperature kT = 26-58 eV, an LTE white
dwarf atmosphere spectrum with kT = 35-50 eV, or a non-LTE white dwarf
atmosphere spectrum with kT = 25-32 eV. The bolometric luminosity is < 8 10^37
erg s-1 and < 3 10^37 erg s^-1 for the LTE and the non-LTE spectrum. We also
applied a spectral fit to combined spectra obtained with BeppoSAX LECS and with
ROSAT PSPC. The kT derived for the non-LTE spectrum is 27-29 eV, the bolometric
luminosity is 1.1-1.2 10^37 erg s^-1. We can exclude any spectrally hard
component with a luminosity > 2 10^35 erg s^-1 (for a bremmstrahlung with a
temperature of 0.5 keV) at a distance of 60 kpc. The LTE temperature is
therefore in the range 5.5+/-0.2 10^5 K and the non-LTE temperature in the
range 3.25+/-0.16 10^5 K. Assuming the source is on the stability line for
atmospheric nuclear burning, we constrain the white dwarf mass from the LTE and
the non-LTE fit to ~1.1 M-solar and ~0.9 M-solar respectively. However, the
temperature and luminosity derived with the non-LTE model for 1E 0035.4-7230 is
consistent with a lower mass M~0.6-0.7 M-solar white dwarf as predicted by Sion
and Starrfield (1994). At the moment, neither of these two alternatives for the
white dwarf mass can be excluded.Comment: 6 pages, accepted by A&A March 30th 199
Domain-Wall Energies and Magnetization of the Two-Dimensional Random-Bond Ising Model
We study ground-state properties of the two-dimensional random-bond Ising
model with couplings having a concentration of antiferromagnetic
and of ferromagnetic bonds. We apply an exact matching algorithm which
enables us the study of systems with linear dimension up to 700. We study
the behavior of the domain-wall energies and of the magnetization. We find that
the paramagnet-ferromagnet transition occurs at compared to
the concentration at the Nishimory point, which means that the
phase diagram of the model exhibits a reentrance. Furthermore, we find no
indications for an (intermediate) spin-glass ordering at finite temperature.Comment: 7 pages, 12 figures, revTe
Editorial: Woody plants and forest ecosystems in a complex worldâEcological interactions and physiological functioning above and below ground
International audienc
Luminous supersoft X-ray emission from the recurrent nova U Scorpii
BeppoSAX detected luminous 0.2-2.0 keV supersoft X-ray emission from the
recurrent nova U Sco ~19-20 days after the peak of the optical outburst in
February 1999. U Sco is the first recurrent nova to be observed during a
luminous supersoft X-ray phase. Non-LTE white dwarf atmosphere spectral models
(together with a ~0.5 keV optically thin thermal component) were fitted to the
BeppoSAX spectrum. We find that the fit is acceptable assuming enriched He and
an enhanced N/C ratio. This implies that the CNO cycle was active during the
outburst, in agreement with a thermonuclear runaway scenario. The best-fit
temperature is ~9 10^5 K and the bolometric luminosity those predicted for
steady nuclear burning on a WD close to the Chandrasekhar mass. The fact that
U~Sco was detected as a supersoft X-ray source is consistent with steady
nuclear burning continuing for at least one month after the outburst. This
means that only a fraction of the previously accreted H and He was ejected
during the outburst and that the WD can grow in mass, ultimately reaching the
Chandrasekhar limit. This makes U~Sco a candidate type Ia supernova progenitor.Comment: 4 pages, accepted by A&A Letters 15 June 199
A Systematic Analysis of Supernova Light in Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows
We systematically reanalyzed all Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB) afterglow data
published through the end of 2002, in an attempt to detect the predicted
supernova light component and to gain statistical insight on its
phenomenological properties. We fit the observed photometric light curves as
the sum of an afterglow, an underlying host galaxy, and a supernova component.
The latter is modeled using published multi-color light curves of SN 1998bw as
a template. The total sample of afterglows with established redshifts contains
21 bursts (GRB 970228 - GRB 021211). For nine of these GRBs a weak supernova
excess (scaled to SN 1998bw) was found, what makes this to one of the first
samples of high-z core collapse supernovae. Among this sample are all bursts
with redshifts less than ~0.7. These results strongly support the notion that
in fact all afterglows of long-duration GRBs contain light from an associated
supernova. A statistics of the physical parameters of these GRB-supernovae
shows that SN 1998bw was at the bright end of its class, while it was not
special with respect to its light curve shape. Finally, we have searched for a
potential correlation of the supernova luminosities with the properties of the
corresponding bursts and optical afterglows, but we have not found such a
relation.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, accepted by ApJ; revised, shortened and updated
compared to version 1; Title slightly changed; all figures showing individual
afterglow light curves removed, as advised by the referee; conclusions
unchange
Phase transitions in diluted negative-weight percolation models
We investigate the geometric properties of loops on two-dimensional lattice
graphs, where edge weights are drawn from a distribution that allows for
positive and negative weights. We are interested in the appearance of spanning
loops of total negative weight. The resulting percolation problem is
fundamentally different from conventional percolation, as we have seen in a
previous study of this model for the undiluted case.
Here, we investigate how the percolation transition is affected by additional
dilution. We consider two types of dilution: either a certain fraction of edges
exhibit zero weight, or a fraction of edges is even absent. We study these
systems numerically using exact combinatorial optimization techniques based on
suitable transformations of the graphs and applying matching algorithms. We
perform a finite-size scaling analysis to obtain the phase diagram and
determine the critical properties of the phase boundary.
We find that the first type of dilution does not change the universality
class compared to the undiluted case whereas the second type of dilution leads
to a change of the universality class.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure
A new method for analyzing ground-state landscapes: ballistic search
A ``ballistic-search'' algorithm is presented which allows the identification
of clusters (or funnels) of ground states in Ising spin glasses even for
moderate system sizes. The clusters are defined to be sets of states, which are
connected in state-space by chains of zero-energy flips of spins. The technique
can also be used to estimate the sizes of such clusters. The performance of the
method is tested with respect to different system sizes and choices of
parameters. As an application the ground-state funnel structure of
two-dimensional +or- J spin glasses of systems up to size L=20 is analyzed by
calculating a huge number of ground states per realization. A T=0 entropy per
spin of s_0=0.086(4)k_B is obtained.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, 35 references, revte
Ground-State and Domain-Wall Energies in the Spin-Glass Region of the 2D Random-Bond Ising Model
The statistics of the ground-state and domain-wall energies for the
two-dimensional random-bond Ising model on square lattices with independent,
identically distributed bonds of probability of and of
are studied. We are able to consider large samples of up to
spins by using sophisticated matching algorithms. We study
systems, but we also consider samples, for different aspect ratios
. We find that the scaling behavior of the ground-state energy and
its sample-to-sample fluctuations inside the spin-glass region () are characterized by simple scaling functions. In particular, the
fluctuations exhibit a cusp-like singularity at . Inside the spin-glass
region the average domain-wall energy converges to a finite nonzero value as
the sample size becomes infinite, holding fixed. Here, large finite-size
effects are visible, which can be explained for all by a single exponent
, provided higher-order corrections to scaling are included.
Finally, we confirm the validity of aspect-ratio scaling for : the
distribution of the domain-wall energies converges to a Gaussian for ,
although the domain walls of neighboring subsystems of size are
not independent.Comment: 11 pages with 15 figures, extensively revise
Few-Particle Effects in Semiconductor Quantum Dots: Observation of Multi-Charged-Excitons
We investigate experimentally and theoretically few-particle effects in the
optical spectra of single quantum dots (QDs). Photo-depletion of the QD
together with the slow hopping transport of impurity-bound electrons back to
the QD are employed to efficiently control the number of electrons present in
the QD. By investigating structurally identical QDs, we show that the spectral
evolutions observed can be attributed to intrinsic, multi-particle-related
effects, as opposed to extrinsic QD-impurity environment-related interactions.
From our theoretical calculations we identify the distinct transitions
related to excitons and excitons charged with up to five additional electrons,
as well as neutral and charged biexcitons.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revtex. Accepted for publication in Physical
Review Letter
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