13,164 research outputs found
Cosmological constraints from the X-ray gas mass fraction in relaxed lensing clusters observed with Chandra
We present precise measurements of the X-ray gas mass fraction for a sample
of luminous, relatively relaxed clusters of galaxies observed with the Chandra
Observatory, for which independent confirmation of the mass results is
available from gravitational lensing studies. Parameterizing the total
(luminous plus dark matter) mass profiles using the model of Navarro, Frenk &
White (1997), we show that the X-ray gas mass fractions in the clusters
asymptote towards an approximately constant value at a radius r_2500, where the
mean interior density is 2500 times the critical density of the Universe at the
redshifts of the clusters. Combining the Chandra results on the X-ray gas mass
fraction and its apparent redshift dependence with recent measurements of the
mean baryonic matter density in the Universe and the Hubble Constant determined
from the Hubble Key Project, we obtain a tight constraint on the mean total
matter density of the Universe, Omega_m = 0.30^{+0.04}_{-0.03}, and measure a
positive cosmological constant, Omega_Lambda = 0.95^{+0.48}_{-0.72}. Our
results are in good agreement with recent, independent findings based on
analyses of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation, the
properties of distant supernovae, and the large-scale distribution of galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letters (6 pages, 3 figures
Applications of Wavelets to the Analysis of Cosmic Microwave Background Maps
We consider wavelets as a tool to perform a variety of tasks in the context
of analyzing cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps. Using Spherical Haar
Wavelets we define a position and angular-scale-dependent measure of power that
can be used to assess the existence of spatial structure. We apply planar
Daubechies wavelets for the identification and removal of points sources from
small sections of sky maps. Our technique can successfully identify virtually
all point sources which are above 3 sigma and more than 80% of those above 1
sigma. We discuss the trade-offs between the levels of correct and false
detections. We denoise and compress a 100,000 pixel CMB map by a factor of
about 10 in 5 seconds achieving a noise reduction of about 35%. In contrast to
Wiener filtering the compression process is model independent and very fast. We
discuss the usefulness of wavelets for power spectrum and cosmological
parameter estimation. We conclude that at present wavelet functions are most
suitable for identifying localized sources.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures. Submitted to MNRA
Evidence from Patents and Patent Citations on the Impact of NASA and Other Federal Labs on Commercial Innovation
We explore the commercialization of government-generated technology by analyzing patents awarded to the U.S. government and the citations to those patents from subsequent patents. We use information on citations to federal patents in two ways: (1) to compare the average technological impact of NASA patents, other Federal' patents, and a random sample of all patents using measures of importance' and generality;' and (2) to trace the geographic location of commercial development by focusing on the location of inventors who cite NASA and other federal patents. We find, first, that the evidence is consistent with increased effort to commercialize federal lab technology generally and NASA specifically. The data reveal a striking NASA golden age' during the second half of the 1970s which remains a puzzle. Second, spillovers are concentrated within a federal lab complex of states representing agglomerations of labs and companies. The technology complex links five NASA states through patent citations: California, Texas, Ohio, DC/Virginia-Maryland, and Alabama. Third, qualitative evidence provides some support for the use of patent citations as proxies for both technological impact and knowledge spillovers.
Parity Doubling and SU(2)_L x SU(2)_R Restoration in the Hadron Spectrum
We construct the most general nonlinear representation of chiral SU(2)_L x
SU(2)_R broken down spontaneously to the isospin SU(2), on a pair of hadrons of
same spin and isospin and opposite parity. We show that any such representation
is equivalent, through a hadron field transformation, to two irreducible
representations on two hadrons of opposite parity with different masses and
axial couplings. This implies that chiral symmetry realized in the
Nambu-Goldstone mode does not predict the existence of degenerate multiplets of
hadrons of opposite parity nor any relations between their couplings or masses.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; v3: Note added to clarify implications for hadrons
that do not couple to pions: Chiral symmetry can be realized linearly on such
states, leading to parity doubling. To the extent that they are parity
doubled, these hadrons must decouple from pions, a striking prediction that
can be tested experimentally. This applies to the work of L. Glozman and
collaborator
Einstein's mirror revisited
We describe a simple geometrical derivation of the formula for reflection of
light from a uniformly moving plane mirror directly from the postulates of
special relativity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX4, comments welcome; V2: corrected Fig. 5
and the discussion associated with it, co-author include
On the relation between nuclear and nucleon Structure Functions and their moments
Calculations of nuclear Structure Functions (SF) F_k^A(x,Q^2) routinely
exploit a generalized convolution, involving the SF for nucleons F_k^N and the
linking SF f^{PN,A} of a fictitious nucleus, composed of point-particles, with
the latter usually expressed in terms of hadronic degrees of freedom. For
finite Q^2 the approach seemed to be lacking a solid justification and the same
is the case for recently proposed, effective nuclear parton distribution
functions (pdf), which exactly reproduce the above-mentioned hadronically
computed F_k^A. Many years ago Jaffe and West proved the above convolution in
the Plane Wave Impulse Approximation (PWIA) for the nuclear components in the
convolution. In the present note we extend the above proof to include classes
of nuclear Final State Interactions (FSI). One and the same function appears to
relate parton distribution functions (pdf) in nuclei and nucleons, and SF for
nuclear targets and for nucleons. That relation is the previously conjectured
one,with an entirely different interpretation of f^{PN,A}. We conclude with an
extensive analysis of moments of nuclear SF based on the generalized
convolution. Characteristics of those moments are shown to be quite similar to
the same for a nucleon. We conclude that the above evidences asymptotic freedom
of a nucleon in a medium and not of a composite nucleus.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figure
Manifestation of the JLab proton polarization data on the behaviour of strange nucleon form factors
Special eight-resonance unitary and analytic model of nucleon electromagnetic
structure is used to analyze, first the classical proton form factor data
obtained by the Rosenbluth technique and then also the contradicting JLab
proton polarization data on the ratio with the
aim to investigate a manifestation of the latter on the strange nucleon form
factors behaviour.Comment: Latex, 9 pages, 3 figures. Talk given at the PAVI06 International
Workshop, 16-20 May, 2006, Milos, Greec
Modelling the Galactic Magnetic Field on the Plane in 2D
We present a method for parametric modelling of the physical components of
the Galaxy's magnetised interstellar medium, simulating the observables, and
mapping out the likelihood space using a Markov Chain Monte-Carlo analysis. We
then demonstrate it using total and polarised synchrotron emission data as well
as rotation measures of extragalactic sources. With these three datasets, we
define and study three components of the magnetic field: the large-scale
coherent field, the small-scale isotropic random field, and the ordered field.
In this first paper, we use only data along the Galactic plane and test a
simple 2D logarithmic spiral model for the magnetic field that includes a
compression and a shearing of the random component giving rise to an ordered
component. We demonstrate with simulations that the method can indeed constrain
multiple parameters yielding measures of, for example, the ratios of the
magnetic field components. Though subject to uncertainties in thermal and
cosmic ray electron densities and depending on our particular model
parametrisation, our preliminary analysis shows that the coherent component is
a small fraction of the total magnetic field and that an ordered component
comparable in strength to the isotropic random component is required to explain
the polarisation fraction of synchrotron emission. We outline further work to
extend this type of analysis to study the magnetic spiral arm structure, the
details of the turbulence as well as the 3D structure of the magnetic field.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures, updated to published MNRAS versio
An equivalent dipole analysis of PZT ceramics and lead-free piezoelectric single crystals
The recently proposed Equivalent Dipole Model for describing the electromechanical properties of ionic solids in terms of 3 ions and 2 bonds has been applied to PZT ceramics and lead-free single crystal piezoelectric materials, providing analysis in terms of an effective ionic charge and the asymmetry of the interatomic force constants. For PZT it is shown that, as a function of composition across the morphotropic phase boundary, the dominant bond compliance peaks at 52% ZrO2. The stiffer of the two bonds shows little composition dependence with no anomaly at the phase boundary. The effective charge has a maximum value at 50% ZrO2, decreasing across the phase boundary region, but becoming constant in the rhombohedral phase. The single crystals confirm that both the asymmetry in the force constants and the magnitude of effective charge are equally important in determining the values of the piezoelectric charge coefficient and the electromechanical coupling coefficient. Both are apparently temperature dependent, increasing markedly on approaching the Curie temperature
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