17,230 research outputs found
Cosmological Parameters from the Comparison of the 2MASS Gravity Field with Peculiar Velocity Surveys
We compare the peculiar velocity field within 65 Mpc predicted from
2MASS photometry and public redshift data to three independent peculiar
velocity surveys based on type Ia supernovae, surface brightness fluctuations
in ellipticals, and Tully-Fisher distances to spirals. The three peculiar
velocity samples are each in good agreement with the predicted velocities and
produce consistent results for \beta_{K}=\Omega\sbr{m}^{0.6}/b_{K}. Taken
together the best fit . We explore the effects of
morphology on the determination of by splitting the 2MASS sample into
E+S0 and S+Irr density fields and find both samples are equally good tracers of
the underlying dark matter distribution, but that early-types are more
clustered by a relative factor b\sbr{E}/b\sbr{S} \sim 1.6. The density
fluctuations of 2MASS galaxies in Mpc spheres in the local volume is
found to be \sigma\sbr{8,K} = 0.9. From this result and our value of
, we find \sigma_8 (\Omega\sbr{m}/0.3)^{0.6} = 0.91\pm0.12. This
is in excellent agreement with results from the IRAS redshift surveys, as well
as other cosmological probes. Combining the 2MASS and IRAS peculiar velocity
results yields \sigma_8 (\Omega\sbr{m}^/0.3)^{0.6} = 0.85\pm0.05.Comment: 11 pages, ApJ accepte
A Test for Large-Scale Systematic Errors in Maps of Galactic Reddening
Accurate maps of Galactic reddening are important for a number of
applications, such as mapping the peculiar velocity field in the nearby
Universe. Of particular concern are systematic errors which vary slowly as a
function of position on the sky, as these would induce spurious bulk flow. We
have compared the reddenings of Burstein & Heiles (BH) and those of Schlegel,
Finkbeiner & Davis (SFD) to independent estimates of the reddening, for
Galactic latitudes |b| > 10. Our primary source of Galactic reddening estimates
comes from comparing the difference between the observed B-V colors of
early-type galaxies, and the predicted B-V color determined from the B-V--Mg_2
relation. We have fitted a dipole to the residuals in order to look for
large-scale systematic deviations. There is marginal evidence for a dipolar
residual in the comparison between the SFD maps and the observed early-type
galaxy reddenings. If this is due to an error in the SFD maps, then it can be
corrected with a small (13%) multiplicative dipole term. We argue, however,
that this difference is more likely to be due to a small (0.01 mag.) systematic
error in the measured B-V colors of the early-type galaxies. This
interpretation is supported by a smaller, independent data set (globular
cluster and RR Lyrae stars), which yields a result inconsistent with the
early-type galaxy residual dipole. BH reddenings are found to have no
significant systematic residuals, apart from the known problem in the region
230 < l < 310, -20 < b < 20.Comment: 8 pages, PASP, in press (Jan 1999
Nonaxisymmetric, multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium solutions
We describe a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) constrained energy functional for
equilibrium calculations that combines the topological constraints of ideal MHD
with elements of Taylor relaxation.
Extremizing states allow for partially chaotic magnetic fields and
non-trivial pressure profiles supported by a discrete set of ideal interfaces
with irrational rotational transforms.
Numerical solutions are computed using the Stepped Pressure Equilibrium Code,
SPEC, and benchmarks and convergence calculations are presented.Comment: Submitted to Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion for publication
with a cluster of papers associated with workshop: Stability and Nonlinear
Dynamics of Plasmas, October 31, 2009 Atlanta, GA on occasion of 65th
birthday of R.L. Dewar. V2 is revised for referee
Gene-history correlation and population structure
Correlation of gene histories in the human genome determines the patterns of
genetic variation (haplotype structure) and is crucial to understanding genetic
factors in common diseases. We derive closed analytical expressions for the
correlation of gene histories in established demographic models for genetic
evolution and show how to extend the analysis to more realistic (but more
complicated) models of demographic structure. We identify two contributions to
the correlation of gene histories in divergent populations: linkage
disequilibrium, and differences in the demographic history of individuals in
the sample. These two factors contribute to correlations at different length
scales: the former at small, and the latter at large scales. We show that
recent mixing events in divergent populations limit the range of correlations
and compare our findings to empirical results on the correlation of gene
histories in the human genome.Comment: Revised and extended version: 26 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
Fermionic Quasi-free States and Maps in Information Theory
This paper and the results therein are geared towards building a basic
toolbox for calculations in quantum information theory of quasi-free fermionic
systems. Various entropy and relative entropy measures are discussed and the
calculation of these reduced to evaluating functions on the one-particle
component of quasi-free states.
The set of quasi-free affine maps on the state space is determined and fully
characterized in terms of operations on one-particle subspaces. For a subclass
of trace preserving completely positive maps and for their duals, Choi matrices
and Jamiolkowski states are discussed.Comment: 19 page
Generalised action-angle coordinates defined on island chains
Straight-field-line coordinates are very useful for representing magnetic
fields in toroidally confined plasmas, but fundamental problems arise regarding
their definition in 3-D geometries because of the formation of islands and
chaotic field regions, ie non-integrability. In Hamiltonian dynamical systems
terms these coordinates are a form of action-angle variables, which are
normally defined only for integrable systems. In order to describe 3-D magnetic
field systems, a generalisation of this concept was proposed recently by the
present authors that unified the concepts of ghost surfaces and
quadratic-flux-minimising (QFMin) surfaces. This was based on a simple
canonical transformation generated by a change of variable , where and are poloidal and toroidal
angles, respectively, with a new poloidal angle chosen to give
pseudo-orbits that are a) straight when plotted in the plane and
b) QFMin pseudo-orbits in the transformed coordinate. These two requirements
ensure that the pseudo-orbits are also c) ghost pseudo-orbits. In the present
paper, it is demonstrated that these requirements do not \emph{uniquely}
specify the transformation owing to a relabelling symmetry. A variational
method of solution that removes this lack of uniqueness is proposed.Comment: 10 pages. Accepted by Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion as part of
a cluster of refereed papers in a special issue containing papers arising
from the Joint International Stellarator & Heliotron Workshop and
Asia-Pacific Plasma Theory Conference, held in Canberra and Murramarang
Resort, Australia, 30 January - 3 February, 201
Hamilton--Jacobi theory for continuation of magnetic field across a toroidal surface supporting a plasma pressure discontinuity
The vanishing of the divergence of the total stress tensor (magnetic plus
kinetic) in a neighborhood of an equilibrium plasma containing a toroidal
surface of discontinuity gives boundary and jump conditions that strongly
constrain allowable continuations of the magnetic field across the surface. The
boundary conditions allow the magnetic fields on either side of the
discontinuity surface to be described by surface magnetic potentials, reducing
the continuation problem to that of solving a Hamilton--Jacobi equation. The
characteristics of this equation obey Hamiltonian equations of motion, and a
necessary condition for the existence of a continued field across a general
toroidal surface is that there exist invariant tori in the phase space of this
Hamiltonian system. It is argued from the Birkhoff theorem that existence of
such an invariant torus is also, in general, sufficient for continuation to be
possible. An important corollary is that the rotational transform of the
continued field on a surface of discontinuity must, generically, be irrational.Comment: Prepared for submission to Phys. Letts.
- …