827 research outputs found
Quantum coherence engineering in the integer quantum Hall regime
We present an experiment where the quantum coherence in the edge states of
the integer quantum Hall regime is tuned with a decoupling gate. The coherence
length is determined by measuring the visibility of quantum interferences in a
Mach-Zehnder interferometer as a function of temperature, in the quantum Hall
regime at filling factor two. The temperature dependence of the coherence
length can be varied by a factor of two. The strengthening of the phase
coherence at finite temperature is shown to arise from a reduction of the
coupling between co-propagating edge states. This opens the way for a strong
improvement of the phase coherence of Quantum Hall systems. The decoupling gate
also allows us to investigate how inter-edge state coupling influence the
quantum interferences' dependence on the injection bias. We find that the
finite bias visibility can be decomposed into two contributions: a Gaussian
envelop which is surprisingly insensitive to the coupling, and a beating
component which, on the contrary, is strongly affected by the coupling.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
No Evidence for Evolution in the Far-Infrared-Radio Correlation out to z ~ 2 in the eCDFS
We investigate the 70 um Far-Infrared Radio Correlation (FRC) of star-forming
galaxies in the Extended Chandra Deep Field South (ECDFS) out to z > 2. We use
70 um data from the Far-Infrared Deep Extragalactic Legacy Survey (FIDEL),
which comprises the most sensitive (~0.8 mJy rms) and extensive far-infrared
deep field observations using MIPS on the Spitzer Space Telescope, and 1.4 GHz
radio data (~8 uJy/beam rms) from the VLA. In order to quantify the evolution
of the FRC we use both survival analysis and stacking techniques which we find
give similar results. We also calculate the FRC using total infrared luminosity
and rest-frame radio luminosity, qTIR, and find that qTIR is constant (within
0.22) over the redshift range 0 - 2. We see no evidence for evolution in the
FRC at 70 um which is surprising given the many factors that are expected to
change this ratio at high redshifts.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Damage assessment of concrete gravity dams using vibration characteristics
Vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (VBSHM) has emerged as a feasible technique in long-term monitoring, structural performance evaluation and damage assessment of civil structures. As an important as-pect of the complete VBSHM system, over the last three decades, many vibration-based damage detection methods have been developed for buildings and bridges. However, the application of these techniques to con-crete gravity (CG) dams has been limited. In the present study, damage indices based on changes in modal flexibility and modal strain energy are suitably enhanced to be applicable for plane-strain structures. They are then used to investigate the feasibility of detecting and locating damage in a finite element CG dam model without noise effects. Results show that the enhanced damage indices can be promising for locating damage in the upstream part of CG dams by using only the first lateral mode of vibration. In addition, it is necessary to monitor both horizontal and vertical mode shape components and use these for structural damage diagnoses in CG dams
Multiple Wolbachia strains provide comparative levels of protection against dengue virus infection in Aedes aegypti.
The insect bacterium Wolbachia pipientis is being introgressed into Aedes aegypti populations as an intervention against the transmission of medically important arboviruses. Here we compare Ae. aegypti mosquitoes infected with wMelCS or wAlbB to the widely used wMel Wolbachia strain on an Australian nuclear genetic background for their susceptibility to infection by dengue virus (DENV) genotypes spanning all four serotypes. All Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes were more resistant to intrathoracic DENV challenge than their wildtype counterparts. Blocking of DENV replication was greatest by wMelCS. Conversely, wAlbB-infected mosquitoes were more susceptible to whole body infection than wMel and wMelCS. We extended these findings via mosquito oral feeding experiments, using viremic blood from 36 acute, hospitalised dengue cases in Vietnam, additionally including wMel and wildtype mosquitoes on a Vietnamese nuclear genetic background. As above, wAlbB was less effective at blocking DENV replication in the abdomen compared to wMel and wMelCS. The transmission potential of all Wolbachia-infected mosquito lines (measured by the presence/absence of infectious DENV in mosquito saliva) after 14 days, was significantly reduced compared to their wildtype counterparts, and lowest for wMelCS and wAlbB. These data support the use of wAlbB and wMelCS strains for introgression field trials and the biocontrol of DENV transmission. Furthermore, despite observing significant differences in transmission potential between wildtype mosquitoes from Australia and Vietnam, no difference was observed between wMel-infected mosquitoes from each background suggesting that Wolbachia may override any underlying variation in DENV transmission potential
Molecular Gas in the z=1.2 Ultraluminous Merger GOODS J123634.53+621241.3
We report the detection of CO(2-1) emission from the z=1.2 ultraluminous
infrared galaxy (ULIRG) GOODS J123634.53+621241.3 (also known as the
sub-millimeter galaxy GN26). These observations represent the first discovery
of high-redshift CO emission using the new Combined Array for Research in
Millimeter-Wave Astronomy (CARMA). Of all high-redshift (z>1) galaxies within
the GOODS-North field, this source has the largest far-infrared (FIR) flux
observed in the Spitzer 70um and 160um bands. The CO redshift confirms the
optical identification of the source, and the bright CO(2-1) line suggests the
presence of a large molecular gas reservoir of about 7x10^10 M(sun). The
infrared-to-CO luminosity ratio of L(IR)/L'(CO) = 80+/-30 L(sun) (K Km/s
pc^2)^-1 is slightly smaller than the average ratio found in local ULIRGs and
high-redshift sub-millimeter galaxies. The short star-formation time scale of
about 70 Myr is consistent with a starburst associated with the merger event
and is much shorter than the time scales for spiral galaxies and estimates made
for high-redshift galaxies selected on the basis of their B-z and z-K colors.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
A Conceptual Design and Numerical Analysis for a Small-Scale and Low-Cost Plastic Recycling Machine
A new conceptual design for a small-scale and low-cost plastic recycling machine is generated by combining melting part and compression process. Starting with one of the outstanding requirements is in terms of an affordable-priced machine that can perform two processes with high accuracy and capacity, some issues related to balancing among quality, capacity and cost of machine occurred during a discussion. After implementing various designing methods such as Quality Function Deployment, Reverse Engineering, Morphological Matrix and Pugh Method, an idea of final concept about using an electric oven and hydraulic system to melt down and compress plastic tile which has a dimension of 300x300x9 mm was created. The design of concept is divided into two parts which are mechanical and electrical systems. In a mechanical section, the technical drawing and simulation are made to see how machine performs under operation. Besides, we examined the forces that applied in the moulds to evaluate the strength of the system. In heating and electricity section, we chose electrical components, designed oven parameters and conducted the heating simulation on the mould. In addition, the heating and cooling time was calculated based on the principles of thermodynamics and heat transfer. Furthermore, the manufacturing plan is created to estimate the essential resources producing a certain number of heat-forming machines. In general, the machine needs to be prototyped for controlling its main function and finding practical issues. After that, some improvements could be made to enhance efficiency and increase capacity by designing an optimal mould to more heat absorb and reduce post process, calculate and design more efficient oven, create faster lock mechanism and other improvements for an automatizing machine
The dust un-biased cosmic star formation history from the 20 cm VLA-COSMOS survey
We derive the cosmic star formation history (CSFH) out to z=1.3 using a
sample of ~350 radio-selected star-forming galaxies, a far larger sample than
in previous, similar studies. We attempt to differentiate between radio
emission from AGN and star-forming galaxies, and determine an evolving 1.4 GHz
luminosity function based on these VLA-COSMOS star forming galaxies. We
precisely measure the high-luminosity end of the star forming galaxy luminosity
function (SFR>100 M_Sol/yr; equivalent to ULIRGs) out to z=1.3, finding a
somewhat slower evolution than previously derived from mid-infrared data. We
find that more stars are forming in luminous starbursts at high redshift. We
use extrapolations based on the local radio galaxy luminosity function;
assuming pure luminosity evolution, we derive
or , depending on the choice of the local
radio galaxy luminosity function. Thus, our radio-derived results independently
confirm the ~1 order of magnitude decline in the CSFH since z~1.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures; submitted to ApJ (revised following the referee
report
The camera of the fifth H.E.S.S. telescope. Part I: System description
In July 2012, as the four ground-based gamma-ray telescopes of the H.E.S.S.
(High Energy Stereoscopic System) array reached their tenth year of operation
in Khomas Highlands, Namibia, a fifth telescope took its first data as part of
the system. This new Cherenkov detector, comprising a 614.5 m^2 reflector with
a highly pixelized camera in its focal plane, improves the sensitivity of the
current array by a factor two and extends its energy domain down to a few tens
of GeV.
The present part I of the paper gives a detailed description of the fifth
H.E.S.S. telescope's camera, presenting the details of both the hardware and
the software, emphasizing the main improvements as compared to previous
H.E.S.S. camera technology.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in NIM
Mid- and Far-infrared Luminosity Functions and Galaxy Evolution from Multiwavelength Spitzer Observations up to z~2.5
[Abridged]We exploit a large homogeneous dataset to derive a self-consistent
picture of IR emission based on the time-dependent 24, 15, 12 and 8micron
monochromatic and bolometric IR luminosity functions (LF) over the 0<z<2.5
redshift range. Our analysis is based on the combination of data from deep
Spitzer surveys in the VVDS-SWIRE and GOODS areas. To our limiting flux of
S(24)=400microJy our derived sample in VVDS-SWIRE includes 1494 sources, and
666 and 904 sources brighter than S(24)=80microJy are catalogued in GOODS-S and
GOODS-N, respectively, for a total area of ~0.9 square degs. We obtain reliable
optical identifications and redshifts, providing us a rich and robust dataset
for our luminosity function determination. Based on the multi-wavelength
information available, we constrain the LFs at 8, 12, 15 and 24micron. We also
extrapolate total IR luminosities from our best-fit to the observed SEDs of
each source, and use this to derive the bolometric LF and comoving volume
emissivity up to z~2.5. In the 0<z<1 interval, the bolometric IR luminosity
density evolves as (1+z)^3.8+/-0.4. Although more uncertain at higher-z, our
results show a flattening of the IR luminosity density at z>1. The mean
redshift of the peak in the source number density shifts with luminosity: the
brighest IR galaxies appear to be forming stars earlier in cosmic time (z>1.5),
while the less luminous ones keep doing it at more recent epochs (z~1 for
L(IR)<10^11L_sun). Our results suggest a rapid increase of the galaxy IR
comoving volume emissivity back to z~1 and a constant average emissivity at
z>1. We also seem to find a difference in the evolution rate of the source
number densities as a function of luminosity, a downsizing evolutionary pattern
similar to that reported from other samples of cosmic sources.Comment: Accepted for pubblicantion in Astronomy and Astrophysic
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