459 research outputs found
Probing magnetic fields with multi-frequency polarized synchrotron emission
We investigate the problem of probing the local spatial structure of the
magnetic field of the interstellar medium using multi-frequency polarized maps
of the synchrotron emission at radio wavelengths. We focus in this paper on the
three-dimensional reconstruction of the largest scales of the magnetic field,
relying on the internal depolarization (due to differential Faraday rotation)
of the emitting medium as a function of electromagnetic frequency. We argue
that multi-band spectroscopy in the radio wavelengths, developed in the context
of high-redshift extragalactic HI lines, can be a very useful probe of the 3D
magnetic field structure of our Galaxy when combined with a Maximum A
Posteriori reconstruction technique. When starting from a fair approximation of
the magnetic field, we are able to recover the true one by using a linearized
version of the corresponding inverse problem. The spectral analysis of this
problem allows us to specify the best sampling strategy in electromagnetic
frequency and predicts a spatially anisotropic distribution of posterior
errors. The reconstruction method is illustrated for reference fields extracted
from realistic magneto-hydrodynamical simulations
Modeling the dynamics of biomarkers during primary HIV infection taking into account the uncertainty of infection date
During primary HIV infection, the kinetics of plasma virus concentrations and
CD4+ cell counts is very complex. Parametric and nonparametric models have been
suggested for fitting repeated measurements of these markers. Alternatively,
mechanistic approaches based on ordinary differential equations have also been
proposed. These latter models are constructed according to biological knowledge
and take into account the complex nonlinear interactions between viruses and
cells. However, estimating the parameters of these models is difficult. A main
difficulty in the context of primary HIV infection is that the date of
infection is generally unknown. For some patients, the date of last negative
HIV test is available in addition to the date of first positive HIV test
(seroconverters). In this paper we propose a likelihood-based method for
estimating the parameters of dynamical models using a population approach and
taking into account the uncertainty of the infection date. We applied this
method to a sample of 761 HIV-infected patients from the Concerted Action on
SeroConversion to AIDS and Death in Europe (CASCADE).Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/10-AOAS364 the Annals of
Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org
The Pulsation of Chi Cygni Imaged by Optical Interferometry; a Novel Technique to Derive Distance and Mass of Mira Stars
We present infrared interferometric imaging of the S-type Mira star Chi
Cygni. The object was observed at four different epochs in 2005-2006 with the
IOTA optical interferometer (H band). Images show up to 40% variation in the
stellar diameter, as well as significant changes in the limb darkening and
stellar inhomogeneities. Model fitting gave precise time-dependent values of
the stellar diameter, and reveals presence and displacement of a warm molecular
layer. The star radius, corrected for limb darkening, has a mean value of 12.1
mas and shows a 5.1mas amplitude pulsation. Minimum diameter was observed at
phase 0.94+/-0.01. Maximum temperature was observed several days later at phase
1.02+/-0.02. We also show that combining the angular acceleration of the
molecular layer with CO (Delta v = 3) radial velocity measurements yields a
5.9+/-1.5 mas parallax. The constant acceleration of the CO molecules -- during
80% of the pulsation cycle -- lead us to argument for a free-falling layer. The
acceleration is compatible with a gravitational field produced by a
2.1(+1.5/-0.7) solar mass star. This last value is in agreement with
fundamental mode pulsator models. We foresee increased development of
techniques consisting in combining radial velocity with interferometric angular
measurements, ultimately allowing total mapping of the speed, density, and
position of the diverse species in pulsation driven atmospheres.Comment: 36 pages, accepted in Ap
Milli-arcsecond images of the Herbig Ae star HD 163296
The very close environments of young stars are the hosts of fundamental
physical processes, such as planet formation, star-disk interactions, mass
accretion, and ejection. The complex morphological structure of these
environments has been confirmed by the now quite rich data sets obtained for a
few objects by near-infrared long-baseline interferometry. We gathered numerous
interferometric measurements for the young star HD163296 with various
interferometers (VLTI, IOTA, KeckI and CHARA), allowing for the first time an
image independent of any a priori model to be reconstructed. Using the
Multi-aperture image Reconstruction Algorithm (MiRA), we reconstruct images of
HD 163296 in the H and K bands. We compare these images with reconstructed
images obtained from simulated data using a physical model of the environment
of HD 163296. We obtain model-independent and -band images of the
surroundings of HD 163296. The images present several significant features that
we can relate to an inclined asymmetric flared disk around HD 163296 with the
strongest intensity at about 4-5 mas. Because of the incomplete spatial
frequency coverage, we cannot state whether each of them individually is
peculiar in any way. For the first time, milli-arcsecond images of the
environment of a young star are produced. These images confirm that the
morphology of the close environment of young stars is more complex than the
simple models used in the literature so far.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted A&A pape
User-friendly imaging algorithms for interferometry
OPTICON currently supports a Joint Research Activity (JRA) dedicated to providing easy to use image reconstruction algorithms for optical/IR interferometric data. This JRA aims to provide state-of-the-art image reconstruction methods with a common interface and comprehensive documentation to the community. These tools will provide the capability to compare the results of using different settings and algorithms in a consistent and unified way. The JRA is also providing tutorials and sample datasets to introduce the principles of image reconstruction and illustrate how to use the software products. We describe the design of the imaging tools, in particular the interface between the graphical user interface and the image reconstruction algorithms, and summarise the current status of their implementation.European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2013–2016) (Grant ID: 312430 (OPTICON))This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SPIE via http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/12.223338
VITRUV - Science Cases
VITRUV is a second generation spectro-imager for the PRIMA enabled Very Large
Telescope Interferometer. By combining simultaneously up to 8 telescopes VITRUV
makes the VLTI up to 6 times more efficient. This operational gain allows two
novel scientific methodologies: 1) massive surveys of sizes; 2) routine
interferometric imaging. The science cases presented concentrate on the
qualitatively new routine interferometric imaging methodology. The science
cases are not exhaustive but complementary to the PRIMA reference mission. The
focus is on: a) the close environment of young stars probing for the initial
conditions of planet formation and disk evolution; b) the surfaces of stars
tackling dynamos, activity, pulsation, mass-loss and evolution; c) revealing
the origin of the extraordinary morphologies of Planetary Nebulae and related
stars; d) studying the accretion-ejection structures of stellar black-holes
(microquasars) in our galaxy; e) unveiling the different interacting components
(torus, jets, BLRs) of Active Galactic Nuclei; and f) probing the environment
of nearby supermassive black-holes and relativistic effects in the Galactic
Center black-hole.Comment: 15 pages. The Power of Optical/IR Interferometry: Recent Scientific
Results and 2nd Generation VLTI Instrumentation, Allemagne (2005) in pres
Polychromatic Laser Guide Star. Progress report and modeless laser
International audienceWe report the current status of the polychromatic laser guide star pro-gramme ELP-OA, and the new developments: the modeless laser allowinga continuous match of the laser FWHM with that of the Na D2 line in themesosphere, and ATTILA the ¯rst bench of the ELP-OA demonstrator
On the Onset of Stochasticity in CDM Cosmological Simulations
The onset of stochasticity is measured in CDM cosmological
simulations using a set of classical observables. It is quantified as the local
derivative of the logarithm of the dispersion of a given observable (within a
set of different simulations differing weakly through their initial
realization), with respect to the cosmic growth factor. In an Eulerian
framework, it is shown here that chaos appears at small scales, where dynamic
is non-linear, while it vanishes at larger scales, allowing the computation of
a critical transition scale corresponding to ~ 3.5 Mpc/h. This picture is
confirmed by Lagrangian measurements which show that the distribution of
substructures within clusters is partially sensitive to initial conditions,
with a critical mass upper bound scaling roughly like the perturbation's
amplitude to the power 0.15. The corresponding characteristic mass, , is roughly of the order of the critical mass of non
linearities at z=1 and accounts for the decoupling induced by the dark energy
triggered acceleration. The sensitivity to detailed initial conditions spills
to some of the overall physical properties of the host halo (spin and velocity
dispersion tensor orientation) while other "global" properties are quite robust
and show no chaos (mass, spin parameter, connexity and center of mass
position). This apparent discrepancy may reflect the fact that quantities which
are integrals over particles rapidly average out details of difference in
orbits, while the other observables are more sensitive to the detailed
environment of forming halos and reflect the non-linear scale coupling
characterizing the environments of halos.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication, MNRA
Why Chromatic Imaging Matters
During the last two decades, the first generation of beam combiners at the
Very Large Telescope Interferometer has proved the importance of optical
interferometry for high-angular resolution astrophysical studies in the near-
and mid-infrared. With the advent of 4-beam combiners at the VLTI, the u-v
coverage per pointing increases significantly, providing an opportunity to use
reconstructed images as powerful scientific tools. Therefore, interferometric
imaging is already a key feature of the new generation of VLTI instruments, as
well as for other interferometric facilities like CHARA and JWST. It is thus
imperative to account for the current image reconstruction capabilities and
their expected evolutions in the coming years. Here, we present a general
overview of the current situation of optical interferometric image
reconstruction with a focus on new wavelength-dependent information,
highlighting its main advantages and limitations. As an Appendix we include
several cookbooks describing the usage and installation of several state-of-the
art image reconstruction packages. To illustrate the current capabilities of
the software available to the community, we recovered chromatic images, from
simulated MATISSE data, using the MCMC software SQUEEZE. With these images, we
aim at showing the importance of selecting good regularization functions and
their impact on the reconstruction.Comment: Accepted for publication in Experimental Astronomy as part of the
topical collection: Future of Optical-infrared Interferometry in Europ
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