811 research outputs found
Magnetic and Thermodynamic Properties of the Collective Paramagnet-Spin Liquid Pyrochlore Tb2Ti2O7
In a recent letter [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 82}, 1012 (1999)] it was found that
the Tb magnetic moments in the TbTiO pyrochlore lattice of
corner-sharing tetrahedra remain in a {\it collective paramagnetic} state down
to 70mK. In this paper we present results from d.c. magnetic susceptibility,
specific heat data, inelastic neutron scattering measurements, and crystal
field calculations that strongly suggest that (1) the Tb ions in
TbTiO possess a moment of approximatively 5, and (2)
the ground state tensor is extremely anisotropic below a temperature of
K, with Ising-like Tb magnetic moments confined to point along
a local cubic direction
dramatically reduces the frustration otherwise present in a Heisenberg
pyrochlore antiferromagnet. The results presented herein underpin the
conceptual difficulty in understanding the microscopic mechanism(s) responsible
for TbTiO failing to develop long-range order at a temperature of
the order of the paramagnetic Curie-Weiss temperature K. We suggest that dipolar interactions and extra perturbative exchange
coupling(s)beyond nearest-neighbors may be responsible for the lack of ordering
of TbTiO.Comment: 8 POSTSCRIPT figures included. Submitted to Physical Review B.
Contact: [email protected]
On The Nature of Variations in the Measured Star Formation Efficiency of Molecular Clouds
Measurements of the star formation efficiency (SFE) of giant molecular clouds
(GMCs) in the Milky Way generally show a large scatter, which could be
intrinsic or observational. We use magnetohydrodynamic simulations of GMCs
(including feedback) to forward-model the relationship between the true GMC SFE
and observational proxies. We show that individual GMCs trace broad ranges of
observed SFE throughout collapse, star formation, and disruption. Low measured
SFEs (<<1%) are "real" but correspond to early stages, the true "per-freefall"
SFE where most stars actually form can be much larger. Very high (>>10%) values
are often artificially enhanced by rapid gas dispersal. Simulations including
stellar feedback reproduce observed GMC-scale SFEs, but simulations without
feedback produce 20x larger SFEs. Radiative feedback dominates among mechanisms
simulated. An anticorrelation of SFE with cloud mass is shown to be an
observational artifact. We also explore individual dense "clumps" within GMCs
and show that (with feedback) their bulk properties agree well with
observations. Predicted SFEs within the dense clumps are ~2x larger than
observed, possibly indicating physics other than feedback from massive (main
sequence) stars is needed to regulate their collapse.Comment: Fixed typo in the arXiv abstrac
Measuring the Sources of the Intergalactic Ionizing Flux
We use a wide-field (0.9 square degree) X-ray sample with optical and GALEX
ultraviolet observations to measure the contribution of Active Galactic Nuclei
(AGNs) to the ionizing flux as a function of redshift. Our analysis shows that
the AGN contribution to the metagalactic ionizing background peaks around z=2.
The measured values of the ionizing background from the AGNs are lower than
previous estimates and confirm that ionization from AGNs is insufficient to
maintain the observed ionization of the intergalactic medium (IGM) at z>3. We
show that only sources with broad lines in their optical spectra have
detectable ionizing flux and that the ionizing flux seen in an AGN is not
correlated with its X-ray color. We also use the GALEX observations of the
GOODS-N region to place a 2-sigma upper limit of 0.008 on the average
ionization fraction fnu(700 A)/fnu(1500 A) for 626 UV selected galaxies in the
redshift range z=0.9-1.4. We then use this limit to estimate an upper bound to
the galaxy contribution in the redshift range z=0-5. If the z~1.15 ionization
fraction is appropriate for higher redshift galaxies, then contributions from
the galaxy population are also too low to account for the IGM ionization at the
highest redshifts (z>4).Comment: 15 pages, Accepted by The Astrophysical Journa
The Line-of-Sight Proximity Effect and the Mass of Quasar Host Halos
We show that the Lyman-alpha optical depth statistics in the proximity
regions of quasar spectra depend on the mass of the dark matter halos hosting
the quasars. This is owing to both the overdensity around the quasars and the
associated infall of gas toward them. For a fiducial quasar host halo mass of
(3.0+/-1.6) h^-1 x 10^12 Msun, as inferred by Croom et al. from clustering in
the 2dF QSO Redshift Survey, we show that estimates of the ionizing background
(Gamma^bkg) from proximity effect measurements could be biased high by a factor
of ~2.5 at z=3 owing to neglecting these effects alone. The clustering of
galaxies and other active galactic nuclei around the proximity effect quasars
enhances the local background, but is not expected to skew measurements by more
than a few percent. Assuming the measurements of Gamma^bkg based on the mean
flux decrement in the Ly-alpha forest to be free of bias, we demonstrate how
the proximity effect analysis can be inverted to measure the mass of the dark
matter halos hosting quasars. In ideal conditions, such a measurement could be
made with a precision comparable to the best clustering constraints to date
from a modest sample of only about 100 spectra. We discuss observational
difficulties, including continuum flux estimation, quasar systematic redshift
determination, and quasar variability, which make accurate proximity effect
measurements challenging in practice. These are also likely to contribute to
the discrepancies between existing proximity effect and flux decrement
measurements of Gamma^bkg.Comment: 25 pages, including 14 figures, accepted by Ap
What Can Information Encapsulation Tell Us About Emotional Rationality?
What can features of cognitive architecture, e.g. the information encapsulation of certain emotion processing systems, tell us about emotional rationality? de Sousa proposes the following hypothesis: “the role of emotions is to supply the insufficiency of reason by imitating the encapsulation of perceptual modes” (de Sousa 1987: 195). Very roughly, emotion processing can sometimes occur in a way that is insensitive to what an agent already knows, and such processing can assist reasoning by restricting the response-options she considers. This paper aims to provide an exposition and assessment of de Sousa’s hypothesis. I argue information encapsulation is not essential to emotion-driven reasoning, as emotions can determine the relevance of response-options even without being encapsulated. However, I argue encapsulation can still play a role in assisting reasoning by restricting response-options more efficiently, and in a way that ensures which options emotions deem relevant are not overridden by what the agent knows. I end by briefly explaining why this very feature also helps explain how emotions can, on occasion, hinder reasoning
People making deontological judgments in the Trapdoor dilemma are perceived to be more prosocial in economic games than they actually are
Why do people make deontological decisions, although they often lead to overall unfavorable outcomes? One account is receiving considerable attention: deontological judgments may signal commitment to prosociality and thus may increase people’s chances of being selected as social partners–which carries obvious long-term benefits. Here we test this framework by experimentally exploring whether people making deontological judgments are expected to be more prosocial than those making consequentialist judgments and whether they are actually so. In line with previous studies, we identified deontological choices using the Trapdoor dilemma. Using economic games, we take two measures of general prosociality towards strangers: trustworthiness and altruism. Our results procure converging evidence for a perception gap according to which Trapdoor-deontologists are believed to be more trustworthy and more altruistic towards strangers than Trapdoor-consequentialists, but actually they are not so. These results show that deontological judgments are not universal, reliable signals of prosociality
Possible evidence for an inverted temperature-density relation in the intergalactic medium from the flux distribution of the Lyman-alpha forest
We compare the improved measurement of the Lya forest flux probability
distribution at 1.7<z<3.2 presented by Kim et al. (2007) to a large set of
hydrodynamical simulations of the Lya forest with different cosmological
parameters and thermal histories. The simulations are in good agreement with
the observational data if the temperature-density relation for the low density
intergalactic medium (IGM), T=T_0 Delta^{gamma-1}, is either close to
isothermal or inverted (gamma<1). Our results suggest that the voids in the IGM
may be significantly hotter and the thermal state of the low density IGM may be
substantially more complex than is usually assumed at these redshifts. We
discuss radiative transfer effects which alter the spectral shape of ionising
radiation during the epoch of HeII reionisation as a possible physical
mechanism for achieving an inverted temperature-density relation at z~3.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS following
minor revision. The accepted version includes an expanded discussion of the
flux power spectru
- …