13,631 research outputs found
Viable inflationary models ending with a first-order phase transition
We investigate the parameter space of hybrid inflation models where inflation
terminates via a first-order phase transition causing nucleation of bubbles.
Such models experience a tension from the need to ensure nearly scale invariant
density perturbations, while avoiding a near scale-invariant bubble size
distribution which would conflict observations. We perform an exact analysis of
the different regimes of the models, where the energy density of the inflaton
field ranges from being negligible as compared to the vacuum energy to
providing most of the energy for inflation. Despite recent microwave anisotropy
results favouring a spectral index less than one, we find that there are still
viable models that end with bubble production and can match all available
observations. As a by-product of our analysis, we also provide an up-to-date
assessment of the viable parameter space of Linde's original second-order
hybrid model across its full parameter range.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures. Revised version: corrections to description of
the historical development of the models. v3: Minor corrections to match
version accepted by PR
Implications of Spontaneous Glitches in the Mass and Angular Momentum in Kerr Space-Time
The outward-pointing principal null direction of the Schwarzschild Riemann
tensor is null hypersurface-forming. If the Schwarzschild mass spontaneously
jumps across one such hypersurface then the hypersurface is the history of an
outgoing light-like shell. The outward-- pointing principal null direction of
the Kerr Riemann tensor is asymptotically (in the neighbourhood of future null
infinity) null hypersurface-forming. If the Kerr parameters of mass and angular
momentum spontaneously jump across one such asymptotic hypersurface then the
asymptotic hypersurface is shown to be the history of an outgoing light-like
shell and a wire singularity-free spherical impulsive gravitational wave.Comment: 16 pages, TeX, no figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Light-like Signals in General relativity and Cosmology
The modelling of light-like signals in General Relativity taking the form of
impulsive gravitational waves and light-like shells of matter is examined.
Systematic deductions from the Bianchi identities are made. These are based
upon Penrose's hierarchical classification of the geometry induced on the null
hypersurface history of the surface by its imbedding in the space-times to the
future and to the past of it. The signals are not confined to propagate in a
vacuum and thus their interaction with matter (a burst of radiation propagating
through a cosmic fluid, for example) is also studied. Results are accompanied
by illustrative examples using cosmological models, vacuum space-times, the de
sitter univers and Minkowskian space-time.Comment: 21 pages, latex, no figure
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Estimating drizzle drop size and precipitation rate using two-colour lidar measurements
A method to estimate the size and liquid water content of drizzle drops using lidar measurements at two wavelengths is described. The method exploits the differential absorption of infrared light by liquid water at 905 nm and 1.5 μm, which leads to a different backscatter cross section for water drops larger than ≈50 μm. The ratio of backscatter measured from drizzle samples below cloud base at these two wavelengths (the colour ratio) provides a measure of the median volume drop diameter D0. This is a strong effect: for D0=200 μm, a colour ratio of ≈6 dB is predicted. Once D0 is known, the measured backscatter at 905 nm can be used to calculate the liquid water content (LWC) and other moments of the drizzle drop distribution.
The method is applied to observations of drizzle falling from stratocumulus and stratus clouds. High resolution (32 s, 36 m) profiles of D0, LWC and precipitation rate R are derived. The main sources of error in the technique are the need to assume a value for the dispersion parameter μ in the drop size spectrum (leading to at most a 35% error in R) and the influence of aerosol returns on the retrieval (≈10% error in R for the cases considered here). Radar reflectivities are also computed from the lidar data, and compared to independent measurements from a colocated cloud radar, offering independent validation of the derived drop size distributions
Detecting Early Galaxies Through Their 21-cm Signature
New observations over the next few years of the emission of distant objects
will help unfold the chapter in cosmic history around the era of the first
galaxies. These observations will use the neutral hydrogen emission or
absorption at a wavelength of 21-cm as a detector of the hydrogen abundance. We
predict the signature on the 21-cm signal of the early generations of galaxies.
We calculate the 21-cm power spectrum including two physical effects that were
neglected in previous calculations. The first is the redistribution of the UV
photons from the first galaxies due to their scattering off of the neutral
hydrogen, which results in an enhancement of the 21-cm signal. The second is
the presence of an ionized hydrogen bubble near each source, which produces a
cutoff at observable scales. We show that the resulting clear signature in the
21-cm power spectrum can be used to detect and study the population of galaxies
that formed just 200 million years after the Big Bang.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to MNRAS Let
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Spline-based modelling of trends in the force of HIV infection, with application to the UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package
Objective: We previously developed a flexible specification of the UNAIDS Estimation and Projection Package (EPP) that relied on splines to generate time-varying values for the force of infection parameter. Here, we test the feasibility of this approach for concentrated HIV/AIDS epidemics with very sparse data and compare two methods for making short-term future projections with the spline-based model. Methods: Penalised B-splines are used to model the average infection risk over time within the EPP 2011 modelling framework, which includes antiretroviral treatment effects and CD4 cell count progression, and is fit to sentinel surveillance prevalence data with a Bayesian algorithm. We compare two approaches for future projections: (1) an informative prior related to equilibrium prevalence and (2) a random walk formulation. Results: The spline-based model produced plausible fits across a range of epidemics, which included 87 subpopulations from 14 countries with concentrated epidemics and 75 subpopulations from 33 countries with generalised epidemics. The equilibrium prior and random walk approaches to future projections yielded similar prevalence estimates, and both performed well in tests of out-of-sample predictive validity for prevalence. In contrast, in some cases the two approaches varied substantially in estimates of incidence, with the random walk formulation avoiding extreme changes in incidence. Conclusions: A spline-based approach to allowing the force of infection parameter to vary over time within EPP 2011 is robust across a diverse array of epidemics, including concentrated ones with limited surveillance data. Future work on the EPP model should consider the impact that different modelling approaches have on estimates of HIV incidence
Peeling properties of lightlike signals in General Relativity
The peeling properties of a lightlike signal propagating through a general
Bondi-Sachs vacuum spacetime and leaving behind another Bondi-Sachs vacuum
space-time are studied. We demonstrate that in general the peeling behavior is
the conventional one which is associated with a radiating isolated system and
that it becomes unconventional if the asymptotically flat space-times on either
side of the history of the light-like signal tend to flatness at future null
infinity faster than the general Bondi-Sachs space-time. This latter situation
occurs if, for example, the space-times in question are static Bondi-Sachs
space- times.Comment: 14 pages, LaTeX2
Detection of gravitational waves from the QCD phase transition with pulsar timing arrays
If the cosmological QCD phase transition is strongly first order and lasts
sufficiently long, it generates a background of gravitational waves which may
be detected via pulsar timing experiments. We estimate the amplitude and the
spectral shape of such a background and we discuss its detectability prospects.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figs. Version accepted by PR
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